Atlanta’s city council has unanimously approved plans to build the $1.6-billion Maynard Holbrook Jackson, Jr., International Terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. The terminal, scheduled to open in 2011, had been delayed over a lawsuit filed by the city against the original design team over $140 million in cost overruns. Delta Air Lines, which is focusing more on international destinations, offered its tentative support for the new terminal, but has nixed the inclusion of a $110-million increase in the project’s contingency fund.
Eurocopter and Sikorsky stand to benefit from Australia’s cancellation of its disastrous Kaman SH-2G(A) Super Seasprite naval helicopter project, with a competition for a replacement program likely to be launched within a year. More immediately, Australia will look for ways to upgrade and improve the availability of its fleet of 16 Sikorsky S-70B Seahawk naval helicopters to fill the gap before 22 to 24 new aircraft arrive next decade to replace both types.
David Reith (see photos) has been named vice president/controller and Gregory A. Schmidt vice president/general manager of strategic planning and operations for the Northrop Grumman Corp.’s Technical Services Sector , Herndon, Va. Reith was controller of the company’s Newport News Sector, while Schmidt was vice president for radio frequency combat and information systems in the Electronics Systems Sector.
U.K.-headquartered aerospace and defense company Cobham has released preliminary results that show increases in both revenue and pre-tax profit. Turnover was up 4.5% to £1.061 billion for 2007, with underlying pre-tax profit up by 12.9% to £206.5 million. The company continues to be acquisitive, with the purchase of U.S.-based Sparta Inc. for $416 million in January.
The sky is falling at the Boeing Co. At least that’s what one might be led to believe by recent news. The company’s stock is down about 25% since peaking at $107.15 last Oct. 2. First delivery of the 787 jet has been delayed at least nine months to early 2009 after three flight test delays. And now Boeing has royally botched its bid for the U.S. Air Force’s KC-45 refueling tanker, with the $35-billion contract shockingly awarded to a Northrop Grumman Corp.-EADS team that based its design on a European Airbus A330 (see p. 20).
Controllers at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) expect to complete the transfer of Winds—“the world’s fastest” Internet satellite—to its geostationary orbital slot above Japan on Mar. 14 following its Feb. 23 liftoff on an H-11A from the launch facility on Tanegashima Island. The Wideband InterNetworking engineering test and Demonstration Satellite is described as generally healthy. But as they were deploying its multibeam antenna on Mar.
The Polish air force will receive the Rockwell Collins F-16C modular simulated aircraft maintenance trainer in April. The system-specific device is made up of off-the-shelf hardware and employs both immersive and interactive virtual image-based approaches to teaching. The design supports classroom-based training for novice and advanced F-16 maintenance workers. This marks the company’s second foreign sale for this trainer; the Egyptian air force opted for the system last year.
Snow swirled around the hangars and aircraft at Morristown Municipal Airport as we taxied out for takeoff in a Gulfstream G450 to see what Honeywell’s newly certified synthetic vision system (SVS) can do for business jet pilots. The night flight, from New Jersey to Vermont and back, convinced me that the days of conventional primary flight displays, or PFDs, are numbered on bizjets.
The Rockwell Collins acquisition of tiny Athena Technologies Inc. may be one of the most important ones in the company’s history if its vision of the future of air navigation proves correct. Athena, which employs just 70 people, makes navigation and control systems for unmanned air vehicles. Its equipment is gaining a lot of combat experience on platforms such as Luna (see photo) in places such as Afghanistan and Iraq.
China Southern Airlines, now profiting from a decision to hedge some of its exposure to jet fuel prices, is taking steps toward further increasing its trading in oil derivatives. The state-owned airline, China’s largest by fleet size, launched a limited hedging program in 2005 after a series of heated debates by its board. Since then, China Southern has typically hedged up to 15% of its fuel needs, chief economist Su Liang told a jet fuel conference in Hong Kong late last month.
Singapore and Portugal have completed an open skies agreement, which will go into effect in the summer of 2010. The two countries will be allowed to operate flights between Singapore and Portugal, and to cities beyond.
The National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) at Wichita State University in Kansas, working in collaboration with V5 Engineering, will take courses for the institute’s computer-aided three-dimensional interactive applications (Catia) program on the road this spring. Two large semi-trailers are being refurbished into classrooms and a mobile display for trade shows, says Brian Barsamian, owner of V5 Engineering. Plans call for using the mobile classrooms to teach V5’s clients in the California area, followed later by locations throughout the U.S.
Thai Airways International proposes developing a passenger-to-freighter conversion business at its maintenance facility at Bangkok’s old Don Muang airport and has gained preliminary approval from Transport Minister Santi Prompat. If the conversion business proceeds, Thai will need a year to build more hangars at Don Muang.
Amy Butler (NAS Patuxent River, Md.), Robert Wall (NAS Patuxent River, Md.)
The U.S. Navy is stepping-up efforts to field an unmanned F/A-18 replacement, propelling the service to the forefront of the Pentagon’s combat drone activities. Emerging plans call for the replacement to be on carrier decks in 2025. It marks the first time Navy leadership will be faced with a decision to consider shifting from a manned fleet of carrier strike aircraft; fighter communities in all of the services have resisted the introduction of unmanned strike aircraft.
Component-maker Ametek will open an 18,000-sq.-ft. maintenance facility in Singapore by the end of this month to cut turnaround times for Asian customers. Initial work will include maintenance and repair of pneumatic and hydraulic parts. Company executive Richard Madamba says the move is partly a response to the growth of the aerospace industry in Singapore. “If you look at the concentration of businesses that have expanded here, we felt we needed to be near our customers, both airlines and other third-party repair facilities,” he says.
The first of South Africa’s 26 Saab Gripen fighters sits on the ramp at AFB Overberg. The aircraft, a two-seat D-model, has been used for an in-country flight test program for the South African Air Force (see p. 44). The aircraft is due to be formally handed over to the SAAF in April. The Gripen will replace the Cheetah C as South Africa’s front-line combat aircraft. AW&ST photo by Douglas Barrie.
Flush with oil revenue, the Abu Dhabi government is eager to build an aerospace hub within the next decade spanning everything from aircraft production to maintenance. Some of the near- to mid-term targets are ambitious. By 2011, the goal is to set up an aerostructures operation in Abu Dhabi and, by 2016, to be building an aircraft, says Homaid Al Shemmari, associate director for aerospace and technology at Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Development Co.
A poster hanging on the wall at an All Nippon Airways training center already has become a collector’s item. “Welcome to the future of flight,” it reads. “Boeing 7E7 service scheduled for 2008.”
Grant C. Aufderhaar (see photos), Mark A. Brosmer, Richard L. Donnelly and Sherrie L. Zacharius have been promoted to general managers at The Aerospace Corp. Aufderhaar, based at the Chantilly, Va., office, will be general manager of technology. He was principal director of the Sensors, Signals and Electronics Subdivision of the Electronics and Sensors Div. Brosmer, as general manager of the Launch and Satellite Control Div., was principal director of Delta IV operations. Donnelly, also based in Chantilly, will head the Ground Programs Div.
In less than a year, government-backed Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) has built an aircraft leasing business from scratch. That division, DAE Capital, recently announced $29 billion in orders from Airbus and Boeing for 200 jets: 70 A320s, 30 A350s, 70 737s, 15 787s, 10 777-300ERs and five 747-8 freighters. While it awaits those deliveries, DAE has acquired 20 aircraft from GE Commercial Aviation Services (Gecas) and eight from Emirates in a leaseback arrangement.
There’s concern in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter community that higher upfront aircraft costs will prompt governments to delay their purchases, driving up costs for all nine program participants. But those issues, coming into focus this year, aren’t stopping several key international buyers from making important, near-term commitments to the strike fighter program.
Lockheed Martin won a $58-million contract plus-up for modifications to the F-35’s electronic warfare verification station at the U.S. military’s reprogramming laboratory at Eglin AFB, Fla. The idea is to provide the new fighter with a capability for EW mission data verification.
