French Defense Minister Herve Morin expects the country’s military export business to grow to €6 billion ($9 billion) this year, up from €5.4 billion last year, as an arrangement put in place last year to support foreign military sales begins to kick in. It is geared to reduce paperwork, speed approvals, reduce the number of technologies covered by export controls, improve coordination of government agencies and drive sales to €10 billion by the end of the decade.
Beijing’s decision to develop a mainline airliner is forcing Airbus to rethink its Chinese industrial strategy and seek ways of working with the huge customer without helping a future competitor. One solution could be direct Airbus production in China, just as the company is establishing a greater presence in the U.S. While the European manufacturer still expects to deepen its business in China, it says the country’s decision to move into the Airbus and Boeing market must change the future relationship.
Robert Wall (Paris), Joris Janssen Lok (Delft, Netherlands)
While development of the naval version of the NH90 appears to be stabilizing, only the next six months of flight tests will reveal whether technical problems have been overcome. The NFH90 maritime helicopter suffered a difficult 2007. The schedule was reset several times, angering customers. As difficulties mounted, financial pain hit the main companies in the NH Industries (NHI) consortium, which includes Eurocopter, AgustaWestland and Stork. EADS, Eurocopter’s parent, and Stork had to take charges related to the development effort.
Airbus is due to take delivery of a second ship to transport major A380 sections. The roll-on, roll-off vessel last week was christened the City of Hamburg and will join the already in-service Ville de Bordeaux. ST Marine is also building a third ship, for delivery next year. The vessels are used to transport wings and fuselage sections to Bordeaux, where they are transferred to trucks for transport to the Toulouse final assembly line.
With ever-increasing fuel costs and the spotlight on carbon emissions, why do airlines continue to carry unneeded weight? Not only am I charged a fuel levy every time I fly, but am asked to also offset my own carbon emissions. A duty-free trolley was wheeled out (44 lb. empty weight), laden with booty, from which nothing was purchased during my most recent flight. To reduce weight, a combined global effort would help. Why not offer passengers a carbon-offsetting scheme, so each removes 1 kg. from his/her bag after packing?
Japan’s Skymark Airlines, citing pilot shortage, is cutting more services in July and August. It had already reduced its June schedule by 10%, about six flights daily on average. Now it will drop 465 flights in July and August (7.5 flights daily), most of which operate to or from Tokyo Haneda Airport. Departure of two of 85 pilots on staff has forced the cuts, according to Skymark—although it’s unclear why such a small staffing change would have such an impact on operations. The carrier appears to have a greater problem with profitability.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) has chosen a Northrop Grumman-led academic/industrial consortium for the first phase of developing a panoramic day/night optical system. It will seek to utilize human brain activity to detect, analyze and alert foot soldiers to threats. The goal of the Cognitive Technology Threat Warning Systems program is to develop a neuro-optical system to spot targets of interest at very long ranges.
With international interest in its new-generation Seahawk shipborne helicopters growing, the U.S. Navy is gearing up to take the next step—integrating manned and unmanned rotary-wing operations on its warships. Two new versions of the Sikorsky-built Seahawk are replacing six different Navy helicopters. The anti-submarine/anti-surface warfare MH-60R “Romeo,” for which Lockheed Martin is prime contractor, will serve alongside the multi-role MH-60S “Sierra,” which has been operational for a year.
The U.S. Navy and Boeing are in talks on whether production of P-8As can be accelerated beyond the planned 13 aircraft per year planned peak production rate. The program size of 108 aircraft is not changing. Boeing says production could be increased to 18-24 aircraft, although the exact number is still being studied. Grounding of some P-3s last year has added urgency to fielding P-8As faster.
Regarding Jerry W. Cox’s somewhat idealistic Viewpoint: •First the U.S. is no longer economically head-and-shoulders above any other entity in the marketplace. •Second, nowhere is there a level playing field in big-ticket endeavors where many jobs are at risk.
The sackings of Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley have already thrown a large rock in the placid pond at the Pentagon (see p. 24). For starters, within the Air Force there’s resentment at what some see as a double standard on loose nukes. Defense Secretary Robert Gates cited problems over handling nuclear weapons and secrets when he asked the service’s leaders to leave.
Michael G. Ryan (see photo) has become CEO of Betatronix , Hauppauge, N.Y. He was general manager of Circor International subsidiary Aerodyne Controls.
Strong endorsement by the U.S. Defense Dept. is bolstering Lockheed Martin’s multinational F-35 after it achieved a critical flight milestone last week. However, the company is facing a loss of support for its F-22 after the program’s top two champions were ousted from the Pentagon’s inner circle.
DHL’s plan to wrench North American package express business from rivals UPS and FedEx had disaster written all over it. The business model was flawed, if not clumsily executed. Unable to operate its own airline under U.S. law, the German company has been competing against the world’s most efficient express operators by contracting with two airlines, ABX Air and AStar Air Cargo, to carry packages in five different types of mostly aging aircraft (AW&ST June 2, p. 40).
It’s hard to quibble with the title—“It’s Global. Get Used to It.”—of Jerry W. Cox’s assessment of globalization in the aerospace-defense sector (AW&ST May 12, p. 66). He writes:
A spat is once again breaking out between the British Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee and the top management at defense technology company Qinetiq about aspects of the latter’s privatization. The committee in a report published last week claims government naivete and public servants behaving “dishonorably” conspired to make the privatization of the bulk of the U.K.’s defense labs an unedifying spectacle. The committee criticized the level of reward negotiated for senior management.
Final decisions on a plan to repair Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center will be made by senior shuttle program managers on June 26. But for now, they don’t believe damage caused by the May 31 Discovery launch will delay the Oct. 8 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. LeRoy Cain, the shuttle program deputy manager, says some 5,300 firebricks were blown off the flame trench wall.
Terri Zinkiewicz (see photo) has been appointed vice president/controller for the Northrop Grumman Corp. ’s Redondo Beach, Calif.-based Mission Systems Sector. She has been controller for the Space Technology Sector.
The U.S. Air Force plan to lease its property at Malmstrom AFB, Mont., for construction of a coal-to-liquid synthetic-fuel plant is at the evaluation phase. In a request for qualification, the Air Force suggested a fuel production level of 50,000 barrels a day. Bidders were encouraged, however, to respond with other innovative and creative ideas for the plant. The Malmstrom project would be the latest use of the Air Force’s Enhanced Use Lease program, which allows military property leases to private entities.
Embraer received a four-aircraft order for its new Phenom 100 very light jet from an undisclosed Asian government. The company also sold two Embraer 190s and two more Legacy 600s to Brazil for VIP transport use, and inked a pair of long-term maintenance deals with the Brazilian air force covering 13 ERJ 145/Legacy and Embraer 190 aircraft. Embraer also won an order for eight Super Tucano trainer/light strike aircraft from the Dominican Republic, and said Chile is expected to finalize a deal by next month for another 12 units.
Japan’s military must change quickly to capture the operational sophistication and technical relevance needed to maintain clout, or at least deterrence, in a region roiled by change. But it must do so without creating fear among its sometimes xenophobic and politically erratic neighbors. The defense ministry is defining its new F-X fighter, tackling cruise and ballistic missile defense, eyeing military space surveillance, sorting out the puzzle of network-centric operations and readying a precision bombing capability.
American Airlines and four Oneworld partners have withdrawn their application for anti-trust immunity—but they intend to refile it with information requested by the U.S. Transportation Dept. American, Iberia, Finnair, Malev Hungarian and Royal Jordanian filed the application nearly a year ago. When the Transportation Dept. asked for more information, the carriers decided to withdraw the filing and refine it to address the department’s questions.
Vincent Mascre (see photos) has been named executive vice president and Marc Laubreaux vice president of the Customer Support Div. of France-based Safran subsidiary Aircelle . Mascre was director of Safran subsidiary Snecma’s Rotating Parts Center of Industrial Excellence, while Laubreaux was vice president of Aircelle’s Small Nacelles Div.
