The first Multirole Tanker Transport (MRTT), designed for the Royal Australian Air Force by EADS, conducts a test flight over Spain in January. The design used for this Airbus A330-based refueler is similar to the one selected last week by the U.S. Air Force as a replacement for its oldest KC-135s (see p. 22). During this sortie, the MRTT extended its wing-mounted hose-and-drogue refueling pods to a Spanish F/A-18 on approach. EADS photo.
Bold moves by Thales Alenia Space to remain competitive in the face of the swooning dollar could put the Thales-Finmeccanica venture on a collision course with U.S. export control rules, if rival Space Systems/Loral has its way.
Your Jan. 21 edition contained an ad for the Airbus Military A400M, followed by on its ongoing problems (pp. 26 and 33). Lockheed Martin must be smiling that Marshall Aerospace is having to use a C-130 as the testbed for the troubled TP400 engine, while Lockheed Martin is selling 17 C-130Js to Canada.
Finmeccanica is starting to more closely integrate its defense electronics activities, but a single operating unit will not emerge for some time because of residual problems with some of the businesses.
Northrop Grumman and Space Systems/Loral have agreed on a broad cooperation plan that will increase SS/L’s military and government business and improve the competitiveness of its commercial satellites (see p. 34). The plan also will help reduce the cost and lead times of Northrop’s government programs. The agreement will permit SS/L to expand its production capacity by using Northrop’s satellite integration facilities, and to use reflectors built by Northrop’s Astro Aerospace unit on its satellites.
Apr. 15-16—AVIATION WEEK Interiors, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Apr. 15-17—MRO Conference and Exhibition, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Sept. 23-25—MRO Europe, Madrid. Oct. 14-16—MRO Asia, Singapore. PARTNERSHIPS Mar. 31-Apr. 6—FIDAE, Santiago, Chile. Apr. 1-3—JEC Composites, Paris. Apr. 7-10—U.S. Space Foundation, Colorado Springs. May 27-June 1—ILA Berlin air show. June 16-18—Aircraft Interiors-Middle East, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
India has test-fired the nuclear-capable K-15 “Sagarika” submarine-launched ballistic missile from a pontoon in the Bay of Bengal. A Defense Research and Development Organization official says test-firing had been conducted several times before. The solid-propellant-powered, seven-ton, 8.5-meter-long (26.25-ft.) missile can carry about 500 kg.
Douglas Barrie (Johannesburg and AFB Overberg, South Africa)
Ten years after a contentious selection process, the South African Air Force will formally receive the first of its 26 Saab Gripens next month. These aircraft will form the core of the service’s defensive and offensive capability for the coming decades.
EADS Defense and Security and Tata of India have agreed to team for the Indian Army’s $1-billion tactical communications system, for which a request for proposals is expected this year.
Sukhoi and partner Alenia Aeronautica are still banking on a first flight of the Superjet 100 regional jet by the spring, following the successful power-up of one of the aircraft’s SaM146 engines under the wings of the first prototype last week. The test was carried out at the Komsololsk-On-Amur Aircraft Manufacturing Assn. plant. The second engine has also been delivered and is being installed. Meanwhile, the SaM146 has completed 42 flight hours on an Ilyushin IL-76 flying testbed operated by the Gromov Flight Research Institute.
First flight of India’s Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) powered by a GE F404-GE-IN20 engine is scheduled for April. Plans call for the afterburning powerplant to be installed in the first operational squadron of LCAs for the Indian air force. The engine features increased thrust, single-crystal turbine blades and full authority digital engine control.
When AVIATION WEEK broke the story on its web site Feb. 12 that the U.S. was considering trying to shoot down an ailing National Reconnaissance Office satellite, Washington was between the proverbial rock and a hard place.
Swedish Space Corp., operator of Europe’s Esrange Space Center, has agreed to purchase the Centro de Estudios Espaciales (CEE) from the University of Chile, and will use the spacecraft tracking facility to serve customers of its own PrioraNet global ground station network and those satellites already served by CEE. Although all facilities and contracts of the Santiago satellite station will be transferred, management and the staff of 60 will remain the same.
Engineers are adding instrumentation to the first full-scale flight vehicle of NASA’s Ares I crew launch vehicle development in an effort to gather real data about vibrations from its solid-fuel first stage that initially were predicted to be seriously excessive.
European Space Agency officials say a revamped undertaking to prepare basic technologies for future-generation launch systems is beginning to show tangible results. However, the effort must be maintained and even accelerated if Europe wants to remain competitive in the launcher sector, they warn.
The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee wants Defense Secretary Robert Gates to expand the scope of the U.S. military headquarters in Afghanistan. Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) is urging Gates to bump up the headquarters’ status to a three-star command—headed by a lieutenant general or vice admiral. Based in Kabul, the upgraded command would improve coordination between U.S. forces and NATO’s International Security Assistance Force on military, political and economic assistance, Skelton says.
Aerospace lecturer William F. Shea has been elected to the boards of directors of the Aerospace Museum of California Foundation and California Transportation Foundation , both in Sacramento. He was FAA associate administrator for airports and first chief of the California Aeronautics Div., director of aviation for the Port of Portland, Ore., founding director of the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Aviation Institute and Aviation Dept. chairman at the University of North Dakota.
NATO and Russia are preparing for a key live test of the Cooperative Airspace Initiative on airspace surveillance and air traffic coordination in March, according to NATO. The Cooperative Airspace Initiative (CAI), being developed under the auspices of the NATO-Russia Council, is the first NATO-Russian system of its kind to be fielded and aims to strengthen capabilities required to deal with so-called “renegade” situations in which aircraft are suspected of being controlled by terrorists.
Former U.S. Defense Undersecretary Paul G. Kaminski has been named the Aerospace Industries Assn. representative to the NextGen Institute Management Council. He is chairman/CEO of Technovation Inc. and senior partner in Global Technology Partners.
Intelligence organizations in the U.S. and Israel are examining data on Iranian rocket tests early this month to determine if the Iranians tried and failed to launch their large new Safir space booster, and then attempted to cover up the loss by launching a much smaller sounding rocket that did reach space—but not orbit. Analysts believe there is some evidence for a launch failure because of the odd editing of a launch video shown in connection with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to the launch site.
The crash of a Trent-powered Boeing 777 at London Heathrow Airport last month (AW&ST Jan. 21, p. 20) underscores the fact that we are in a new paradigm of aircraft operations and do not fully realize it.
Over half of the British Royal Air Force’s C-130J Hercules fleet will not presently meet the planned out-of-service date, as far greater than foreseen utilization in harsh operational environments is hitting airframe life.
The flawless landing of the space shuttle Atlantis here Feb. 20 ended the European Columbus delivery flight, clearing the way for the launch in less than three weeks of the shuttle Endeavour with a load of Japanese and Canadian hardware for the International Space Station. The STS-123 Endeavour crew will continue the assembly sequence of the Columbus laboratory using the Canadian Dextre (“dexterous”) manipulator for the station’s robotic arm. Endeavour also will carry a pressurized logistics module for the big Japanese lab to follow later in the spring.
Total cost of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission could reach $2 billion as the program races to surmount its developmental problems and make its scheduled 2009 launch, warns Alan Stern, NASA’s science chief. Originally approved at $1.5 billion, the big surface rover program estimate has reached $1.8 billion and counting, Stern tells the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group. Following an evaluation by an independent cost team, NASA is bracing to shift an estimated $165 million more to keep MSL going.
Walter S. (Woody) Hogle, Jr., has become senior vice president-international business and Washington operations for Rockwell Collins , Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He was vice president/general manager of integrated systems for Rockwell Collins Government Systems.
