The Joint Strike Fighter wasn’t alone in attracting interest to the Pentagon’s review of top military acquisition programs. A further sampling of programs related to aviation and space in the Selected Acquisition Reports includes:
USAF and the National Reconnaissance Office are undertaking an analytical review of space protection needs for national security military satellite constellations. Gary Payton, the deputy Air Force undersecretary for space, says the satellite cadre in the government needs to “take a lesson” from the Navy’s submarine community, which is constantly updating its operational concepts and countermeasures.
Safran units Snecma and Messier-Dowty last week each inaugurated facilities in China, with both situated in the Suzhou industrial park outside Shanghai. Snecma Suzhou will build parts for CFM56-5B and -7B turbofans. The Messier-Dowty operation will build parts of the parent company’s landing gears. Moreover, Snecma launched a facility to build turbine parts for several CFM56 models in conjunction with Guizhou Xinyi Machine Factory, a unit of the Avic 1 group. The operation is called Snecma Xinyi Airfoil Castings.
Raytheon scored another $80-million contract for Phase 2 risk reduction of a radar-jamming variant of the Miniature Air Launched Decoy. USAF plans to launch these missiles from bombers and stealthy strike aircraft to penetrate into even the most formidable enemy air defenses. The 300-lb. missile has a range of about 575 mi. The new MALD-J recently completed developmental flight testing.
Cutting stainless steel on a CNC router can be challenging due to the high spindle RPMs found on routers. Onsrud Cutter has developed a line of tools that are capable of running at high spindle speeds while providing good tool life, according to the company. The combination of cutting geometry and coating allows stainless steel to be routed for sign, exhibit and general sheet applications. The solid carbide tools are available in 1/8-, 3/16-, 1/4- and 3/8-in. dia. and can be run at spindle RPMs from 6,000-18,000. Onsrud is the only router bit facility in the U.S.
Your article “Hometown Hubris” (AW&ST Mar. 10, p. 20) could have been written 30 years ago. The subject would have been the same hubris and arrogance shown by Boeing in refusing to listen to customers’ demands for a 737-200 replacement, thereby giving the Airbus A320 a foothold into the world aviation market.
The problem created by USAF in selecting the Airbus A330 instead of the Boeing 767 as the future tanker is one of perception (AW&ST Mar. 17, p. 32). USAF followed the source selection laws and regulations written by Congress. USAF selected a winner based upon its source selection criteria. However, no one in Congress or in a large portion of the country was prepared for the selection of a European aircraft.
Leonard Weber, 2nd, has become chief operating officer of Seattle-based Boeing subsidiary Alteon Training . He succeeds Brad Thomann, who assumed a similar position at Jeppesen, another Boeing subsidiary. Weber was director of Boeing Support Systems in Fort Walton and Jacksonville, Fla. Honors and Elections
The International Air Transport Assn. has launched another initiative to drive down Africa’s accident rate—which is nearly six times the global industry average of one accident for every 1.3 million flights. The $3.7-million Implementation Program for Safety Operations in Africa (IPSO) will provide 30 of Africa’s airlines access to IATA’s flight data analysis tool for a three-year period. The statistical information is meant to help carriers improve procedures.
Israel Aerospace Industries intends to launch one or two CubeSat-type nanosatellites by the end of 2008. Depending upon final mission plans, the spacecraft will be carried piggyback on a Russian Dnepr rocket with a larger non-Israeli payload. So far, about 32 nanosatellites have been launched worldwide, with a success rate of at least 50%. IAI has purchased some Boeing support hardware for the flight, which marks Israel’s first foray into the nanosat field. “Israel has entered the nanosatellite area relatively late,” says David Zusiman of the Israel Nano-Satellite Assn.
Proton operator International Launch Services says the Russian State Commission is close to determining the root cause of the Mar. 15 failure of a Proton/Breeze M upper stage, while ILS’s own failure-review board is ready to commence work following selection of board members. The commission began meeting on Mar. 18. Peter Freeborn, commercial director at Astrium-Khrunichev joint venture Eurockot, says a report is expected in two or three weeks. Eurockot’s Rockot/Breeze KM booster shares some upper-stage technologies with Proton/Breeze M.
Benjamin Stone, Director, External Relations, Alenia North America (Washington, D.C.)
The C-27As operated in Panama provided a capability to service unprepared and short airfields that no other aircraft in the U.S. Air Force’s inventory could, including the C-130s.
After five years of steady growth, the outsourcing of new MRO activities has reached its zenith as airlines shift emphasis to programs that integrate supplementary services with core repair capabilities.
USAF has desperately needed a replacement tanker for more than 10 years. Several years ago, Sen. John McCain found a footnote in the federal budget addressing a $26-billion tanker lease from Boeing to the Air Force. He felt it was excessive and in his review found two Boeing officers who were breaking the law in the negotiating process. Instead of removing the lawbreakers and renegotiating the lease, McCain blew the entire deal out of the water and delayed the tankers. Now we go from tragic overreaction to enormous debacle.
Carlisle Companies Inc. is acquiring Carlyle Inc., for $200 million. Carlyle of Tukwila, Wash., supplies aerospace and network connections including wire and cable harnesses, racks and panels and cable assemblies for inflight entertainment systems and avionics applications. Carlisle, of Charlotte, N.C., is a diversified manufacturing company.
U.S. Air Force officials are positioned to handle a protest from the losing contractor of the GPS III downselect expected Apr. 18. Lockheed Martin and Boeing are competing for the satellite segment. USAF is in the midst of protests of the Combat Search and Rescue-X contract and its $35-billion KC-45 award to a Northrop Grumman/EADS North America team, and service officials fear this trend will bleed over into the space acquisition arena.
EADS is lashing out over the leaking of large parts of a report by French securities regulator AMF before the company received a copy. The report details insider-trading charges concerning 17 current and former executives. It also lists financial gains, with EADS main shareholders, DaimlerChrysler and Lagardere, having benefited the most, with around €2 billion each.
FLIR Government Systems Has Delivered the first of three Mission Equipment Package (MEP) sensors to the U.S. Army’s Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate for integration into a UH-1 helicopter for flight-testing this spring. The system has been three years in development and is designed with Tier II unmanned aerial vehicles and other small UAVs in mind. Weighing just 16 lb. with a 7.25-in. diameter, the system includes two infrared cameras, a color TV camera, a laser range-finder and a laser designator.
USAF Lt. Gen. Stephen R. Lorenz has been nominated for promotion to general with assignment as commander of the Air Education and Training Command, Randolph AFB, Tex. He has been commander of the command’s Air University, Maxwell AFB, Ala. Maj. Gen. Allen G. Peck has been nominated for promotion to lieutenant general and to succeed Lorenz. Peck has been commander of the Air Force Doctrine Development and Education Center/vice commander of the Air University. Maj. Gen. John T.
Michael Hardesty (see photo) has been named vice president/chief financial officer of the Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp.’s Enterprise Shared Services . He was director of finance for the company’s Irving, Tex.-based Financial Services Center.
A sudden suspension of flights by Hong Kong Oasis Airlines may point to an upper limit on service levels for long-haul non-network carriers. As such airlines proliferate, with service ranging from sardine-style economy to all-business class, the failure of the Hong Kong company after 17 months shows that mixing streamlined non-network operations with full-service cabins, especially business class, is a tough strategy. Oasis had a service standard like that of many regular network airlines—but no network.
Cessna Aircraft Co. will build its new production facility for the large-cabin Citation Columbus business jet in Kansas. President and CEO Jack J. Pelton says the company was considering other locations outside of the state, but the deal was clinched when the Kansas legislature this month voted to provide up to $33 million in bonds to secure the factory through a pool of money designated for aviation projects.
The U.K.’s National Air Traffic Services (NATS) plans to implement precision area navigation procedures in the London terminal maneuvering area (designated Terminal Control North) in March 2009. The adoption of P-RNAV, which will affect operations at Heathrow, Luton, Stansted, London City and Northolt airports, is designed to improve traffic management through use of standard terminal arrival and departure procedures, and business aircraft operators will be required to obtain P-RNAV approval from their country of aircraft registration.
