Air Berlin will reduce overall capacity 10% and long-haul capacity 30% by parking 14 short- and medium-haul aircraft and reassigning some long-haul aircraft, starting this winter season. Three Airbus A330-300s deployed on long-range routes are being moved to medium-haul operations. New routes to Beijing and Shanghai will be closed and may not be reopened soon. Hot-weather vacation destinations will see frequencies increase.
The British Defense Ministry hopes to extend available airspace for unmanned aerial vehicle trials and training at its Salisbury Plain exercise area. A public consultation process began last week. The Thales Watchkeeper system now in development will likely be the first to use the expanded range space.
Israel Aerospace Industries is expanding its unmanned-aircraft activities, beginning work to turn helicopters into drones and offer them for a variety of intelligence gathering roles.
The White House’s hard line is nothing compared with a proposal from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. The veteran Republican wants a large portion of NASA’s budget redirected to incentives and huge tax-free prizes to spur private-sector innovation. What remained would be converted into a research organization similar to the National Science Foundation, he told the National Space Foundation’s Space Business Forum in New York last week.
David A. Fulghum (Washington), Graham Warwick (Washington)
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will “redefine the concept of multirole strike” aircraft, says Lockheed Martin, but it won’t say exactly what that means. However, some capabilities can be spotted in purposely vague descriptions and the basic concept of low-observable electronic attack (LO EA). The principle is that jamming and other EA equipment becomes more effective as it gets closer to a target.
The U.S. space program leads the world. It has produced more firsts, delivered more discoveries and still possesses more capability than any of its competitors. Yet NASA does not enjoy the strong public support it once did. Why is this so? In part, because NASA’s current efforts are too disconnected from everyday life and U.S. society. It’s no wonder that few Americans can say when they last heard the space program developed something which demonstrably touched their life.
Air New Zealand is grappling with a dilemma faced by many other smaller international airlines: How do you defend your markets when the global heavyweights are doing battle in your backyard? Finding an answer hasn’t been easy, but Air NZ believes it has hit on the right formula to thrive in a tough industry environment. This has required a top-to-bottom shake-up of a formerly complacent national carrier, with a second wave of change on the horizon in the form of a major fleet upgrade.
Northrop Grumman is giving the Shepherding Spacecraft for NASA’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (Lcross) its final checkout, after completing thermal vacuum testing of the fast-track hardware some two months early. Based on the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Secondary Payload Adapter, known as an ESPA ring, Lcross will be ready to fly to the Moon as a piggyback payload on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) just 25 months after the contract award.
European aerospace and defense companies may be scouring the U.S. market for acquisitions and driving up prices, but Elbit President and CEO Joseph Ackerman says he’s not worried about finding opportunities. He argues that while others are looking for specific technologies, he’s seeking a company that has an established rapport with the Pentagon along with some viable ongoing programs. Elbit will bring to the table the technology to build on that relationship and expand the business.
EADS says it is proceeding with the sale of its 10% stake in Russian aircraft maker Irkut, even as it waits for the doors to be opened to take a stake in the country’s aerospace holding company Oak. EADS is looking to take a 10% stake in that entity, but the valuation remains to be completed and terms need to be ironed out.
Extra charges for checked baggage and higher airline fares apparently are not as bothersome to travelers as airline employees who are not knowledgeable, courteous and helpful at every stage of the travel process. According to a survey by J.D. Power and Associates, Alaska Airlines and Continental are tied for first place in passenger satisfaction, followed by Delta Air Lines, Air Canada, American Airlines and US Airways, with Northwest and United airlines tied for last place.
Phoenix Mars Lander computer and engineering teams at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Lockheed Martin detected a potentially serious flash memory situation developing on the vehicle last week, and acted to prevent a worsening of the event.
The recent letter lamenting the loss of engineering subject matter expertise (SME) points out that system engineering isn’t a substitute for detailed technical knowledge (AW&ST June 9, p. 10). As a practicing system engineer, I couldn’t agree more.
EchoStar Corp. reportedly has filed an application to build and fly a C-band satellite at 84.9 deg. W. Long. The company has yet to name a satellite manufacturer. EchoStar Corp., which was spun off from Dish Corp. earlier this year to develop its fixed satellite service business, currently offers capacity on three FSS spacecraft, all in Ku/Ka band (AW&ST Mar. 3, p. 37). The units, two of which are owned by SES Americom, are located at 85, 105 and 121 deg. W. Long., respectively.
A 20% hike in hardware spending and a doubling of the military space budget are among the highlights of a new defense plan to be submitted to French lawmakers this week.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has announced that two Sky Warrior Block 0 unmanned aircraft systems are in Iraq supporting U.S. Army ground forces. The first mission for WY-201 occurred on Apr. 18 and lasted 10.5 hr. The second UAS, WY-202, was deployed at the end of April. Block 0s feature the same airframe design, diesel engines and highly redundant avionics as the anticipated Block 1s and data from these missions will support their development. Seventeen Block 1s are set to be produced—four for deployment; nine to serve as test program assets.
The International Astronomical Union, which knocked Pluto off its official list of planets in 2006 (AW&ST Sept. 4, 2006, p. 16), has decided to name the whole class of dwarf planets in the trans-neptune region “plutoids.” They are objects orbiting the Sun beyond Neptune with enough gravity to assume a near-spherical shape, but not enough to clear the “neighborhood” around their orbits; so only Pluto and Eris fill the bill as plutoids at the moment. “It is expected that more plutoids will be named as science progresses and new discoveries are made,” the IAU states.
Russia’s major airlines are showing little sign of being affected by the slowdown in passenger volume hitting many other carriers. Traffic figures from the first five months show Aeroflot boasting a 16.8% growth in volume, with S7 airlines recording an increase of 32.7%. AiRUnion traffic is up 23%, Rossya Airlines 16.5% and Utair 24.8%. Transaero Airlines was up a staggering 47% through the first four months.
Engineers are developing a relatively lightweight emergency airbag system for NASA’s Orion crew exploration vehicle, in case circumstances force it to return to Earth on dry land instead of hitting its nominal target in the ocean off the California coast.
USN Capts. Jerry K. Burroughs and Paul A. Grosklags have been nominated for promotion to rear admiral (lower half). Burroughs has been named chief engineer directorate of the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, at San Diego. He has been program manager for special operating forces and undersea mobility in the Program Executive Office for Submarines in Washington. Grosklags has been appointed commander of fleet readiness centers at NAS Patuxent River, Md.
Northrop Grumman strongly defended its X-47B naval unmanned combat air system (UCAS) demonstrator late last week as the U.S. Navy threatened to remove funding for the program from its Fiscal 2010 budget. The program, which calls for the first autonomous carrier landings in 2011, “is on plan, on schedule and on cost,” the company says, adding, “and more than $1 billion has been invested in this program after many stops and starts during J-UCAS.” Navy UCAS is intended as a carrier-based persistent, reconnaissance and strike platform that could enter service around 2025.
Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Society of Japanese Aerospace Cos. and Boeing will participate in a radio frequency identification workshop this week to validate the value proposition of the technology.
The FAA is providing Military Airport Program (MAP) funding to seven facilities that are scheduled for conversion to civilian or joint use. New to the MAP initiative is Roosevelt Roads International Airport in Ceiba, Puerto Rico. It joins six airports previously selected: Griffiss Airpark, Oneida County, N.Y.; Okaloosa Regional Airport, Valparaiso, Fla.; Phoenix-Mesa Gateway, Mesa, Ariz.; Chippewa County International, Sault St. Marie, Minn.; March Inland Port, Riverside, Calif., and A.B. Won Pat International, Agana, Guam.
A small air-to-surface missile developed as a private venture by Raytheon has been deployed on the Predator UAV by an unidentified U.S. customer. The Griffin munition is a 45-lb., 42-in.-long, tube-launched missile with semi-active laser guidance and provides the Predator with an organic, self-targeted direct attack capability and the potential to reduce collateral damage. Up to three of the low-cost missiles can be loaded for every Hellfire the Predator now carries.
Development of Israel’s anti-rocket air defense umbrella is getting ready to kick into high gear, and already program officials have designs for expanded employment of the system with an eye on the international market.
