The Coast Guard is considering Northrop Grumman’s MQ-8B Fire Scout as a replacement for its scrapped vertical-takeoff unmanned aerial vehicle (VUAV). But officials say the unmanned rotorcraft’s radar needs to be upgraded before it’s a done deal. The Coast Guard halted work on Bell’s Eagle Eye VUAV last year and has been casting about for a replacement ship-launched UAV to extend the patroling reach of its new National Security Cutters.
Italy is on track to sign up for its first F-35 Joint Strike Fighter by the end of this month. Rome is also backing a multinational approach to crafting a five-year production contract, avoiding the pitfalls of annual purchasing. Italy will buy two Lockheed Martin F-35s for the initial operational test and evaluation phases of the JSF program. Partner nations the Netherlands and the U.K. will also take two each, in addition to the U.S. airframes earmarked for this phase.
The Assn. of Flight Attendants (AFA) on May 28 failed for the second time in six years to organize Delta Air Lines’ flight attendants, a union election that would have added about 13,000 members to its ranks. The AFA quickly announced intentions to file a formal charge of interference no later than June 6 with the National Mediation Board against Delta. The union believes Delta’s flight attendants will become AFA members upon a merger with Northwest.
Two air cargo accidents one day apart are highlighting the need to close the safety gap between passenger and cargo operations and implement improvements long sought by aviation authorities and pilots. On May 26, at 6:15 p.m. local time, a Moskovia Airlines Antonov An-12 crashed near Chelyabinsk Airport, located in Russia’s Urals region. According to preliminary data, the four-turboprop-engine aircraft had delivered cargo at the airport, then departed at 6:02 p.m. on a repositioning flight back to Perm, Russia.
South African Air Force (SAAF) JAS 39C/D Gripen fighters will soon be armed with European IRIS-T air-to-air missiles supplied by Diehl Defense of Germany, under a contract signed May 28, the company announced at the ILA 2008 aerospace exhibition in Berlin. The order from South Africa represents the second export sale of IRIS-T outside the six-nation consortium (Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Spain and Sweden) that developed the infrared-guided missile, says Diehl Defense executive Claus Gunther.
Raytheon and Lockheed Martin are taking very different design approaches as they compete to address the Missile Defense Agency’s growing concerns about tracking and destroying multiple targets, even decoys, lofted by ballistic missiles aimed at the U.S.
Larry Flynn has become senior vice president-marketing and sales for Gulfstream Aerospace , Savannah, Ga. He succeeds Raynor Reavis, who will be retiring. Flynn has been president of Gulfstream Product Support and of General Dynamics Aviation Services. He has been succeeded in the former position by Mark Burns, who was promoted from vice president-customer support. Sumi Fonseka has become general manager of Gulfstream’s London Luton Airport Service center. He was senior hangar operations manager at Gulfstream’s South Service Center, Savannah, Ga.
To understand the magnitude of the oil price tsunami that has hit the airline industry, consider two numbers: $3.8 billion and $18 billion. The first is the collective profit turned by U.S. passenger and cargo carriers in 2007. The second is the increased fuel bill they will face in 2008. At that rate, the industry would have to nearly quintuple its profit this year just to cover fuel expenses.
Lockheed Martin’s concept for a U.S. Missile Defense Agency Multiple Kill Vehicle (MKV) includes a large carrier system deploying many small capsules heading to their targets. The MKV program is designed to allow one interceptor to handle multiple ballistic missile targets, including warheads and decoys. Also, the University of Arizona’s HiRise camera captured an image of NASA’s Mars Phoenix lander about 20,000 ft. above the surface during landing May 25. NASA photo.
An article on NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (Sofia) in the May 19 edition (p. 72) stated that the 747-based configuration includes a Raytheon-designed pressure bulkhead. The unit of Raytheon that designed the bulkhead was acquired by L-3 Integrated Systems in 2003.
AeroVironment is to build a flapping-wing UAV weighing less than 10 grams (0.35 oz.) under the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Nano Air Vehicle (NAV) program. Designed to fly indoors and outdoors, carrying a 2-gram payload, the “biologically inspired” NAV will flap its 3-in.-span wing to hover and fly. A rudimentary version is to be demonstrated under the company’s six-month, $636,000 Phase 2 contract, after which Darpa can extend the work by 18 months to allow prototype flights.
Douglas Hillman has been named president/CEO of the Aerosonic Corp. , Clearwater, Fla. He was vice president/general manager of the Kearfott Guidance and Navigation Corp.
I am greatly disheartened by the number of letters to the editor dismissing climate change as a myth, and dismissing the impacts of aviation on carbon dioxide emissions.
Mitchell B. Waldman (see photo) has become Washington-based director of acquisition policy for the Northrop Grumman Corp. He was national security adviser to then-U.S. Sen. Trent Lott.
Carbon fiber wings for air-launched, disposable unmanned air vehicles are being manufactured by KaZak Composites using an automated pultrusion process that produces constant cross-section composite parts at two-thirds the cost of a manual layup process. Dry fiber is wrapped around an airfoil-shaped mandrel, injected with resin and pulled through a heated die that compresses the material into shape and cures the part. The company is manufacturing the wings for Boeing’s Scan Eagle Compressed Carriage UAV.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has indicated that a decision on building a second aircraft carrier to complement the Charles de Gaulle is likely to be pushed back two or three years. The defense white paper being reviewed by the French Parliament did not take a position on the carrier, known as PA2, suggesting that Sarkozy would announce a decision himself in June, when the white paper is to be released.
ICO Global Communications has filed its final milestone certification with the Federal Communications Commission confirming that two-way voice and data links between its ICO G1 satellite and mobile terminals are now operational. ICO G1, launched on Apr. 14, is the first in a new wave of hybrid satellites intended to serve mobile TV, navigation and other high-speed mobile service. One of the largest commercial satellites ever, and the first to use ground-based beam forming, the spacecraft is to go into operation next year, after trials.
French police last week held former EADS co-CEO and Airbus boss Noel Forgeard in custody over allegations of insider trading. A criminal investigation is underway to assess if several current and former executives sold EADS shares on knowledge of A380 assembly problems, which eventually delayed the program and caused the company share price to plummet. The French stock market regulator, the AMF, is conducting a parallel investigation.
Singapore’s Tiger Airways is joining the list of budget airlines that are charging for all check-in baggage. Passengers will be allowed 7 kg. (15 lb.) of carry-on bags, plus a handbag and laptop, but will have to pay S$5 ($3.70) for up to 15 kg. of check-in luggage, rising to S$40 for 40 kg.
The Phoenix Mars lander’s powerful arm and complex mini-labs are being readied for digging and analysis of soil and water-ice samples near the Martian North Pole after an action-packed landing May 25 that opens a new chapter in high-payoff robotic exploration of the red planet. The U.S. now operates three complex stations on Mars—Spirit and Opportunity on opposite sides near the equator, and Phoenix at 68.22 deg. N. Lat. above the Martian Arctic Circle. (For the latest Phoenix mission information, go to: phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/gallery.php)
China will use its newest, most advanced weather satellite to forecast conditions for the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing, but the dual-use spacecraft also will benefit the Chinese military. A Long March 4C carried the Fengyun-3 (FY-3) from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern Shanxi Province on May 27, and it entered its polar orbit 27 min. later, according to the Xinhua news agency. The spacecraft is expected to deliver images with a spatial resolution of 250 meters and temperature accuracy of 0.1F, according to the agency.
MiG General Director Anatoly Belov is confident the company will succeed in selling the Russian air force a modernization package for its fleet of MiG-29 Fulcrums, as well as an additional order for new-build MiG-35s. He believes MiG could book 300-350 combat aircraft sales—both export and domestic—in the next 10 years. The MiG chief says Algeria, which sent back some MiG-29 SMTs earlier this year, is still reviewing a number of options, including the MiG-35.
South Korea may buy surplus Boeing AH-64D Apache Block Is, which first entered service with the U.S. Army Aviation in 1999, at an estimated cost of about 1 trillion won ($970 million).
The U.S. Army is ready for initial production of five Lockheed Martin Enhanced AN/TPQ-36 counter-fire target acquisition radar, having finished a critical design review of the system. Plans call for delivery of two EQ-36 radars to the Army by summer 2009, followed by a third and fourth that autumn. The fifth system would be delivered early in 2010. The radar can detect, classify, track and locate enemy indirect fire from mortars, artillery and rockets in either 90- or 360-deg. modes.
The airline industry is complaining about the Homeland Security Dept.’s decision to hold a hearing June 13 on a proposed rule to require airlines and cruise lines to collect biometric data from non-U.S. citizens leaving the country. A coalition of travel industry groups, including the Air Transport Assn. (ATA) and the International Air Transport Assn., regional airline groups and tour operator associations, called on the department to extend the 60-day comment period past the June 23 deadline.
