The F-35 Lightning II’s complex electronic warfare package is being designed for a broad spectrum of digital attack and surveillance missions and as the launch point for a new generation of small, powerful systems. It already offers some capabilities that are not available on the F-22. The Raptor, for example, has no other way, other than verbally, to send the detailed electronic surveillance data it collects to other types of aircraft or to ground-intelligence facilities.
David Copeland (see photo) has become vice president-sales and marketing for the Avidyne Corp. , Lincoln, Mass. He held the same position at the Mooney Airplane Co. Matt Cowan has been named Southeast U.S. sales manager. He was an accounts manager for Guaranty Bank Home Equity.
France is establishing a permanent base in the United Arab Emirates, to accommodate air, naval and land forces, and be used to support multilateral exercises with Qatar and Kuwait. France says the Abu Dhabi base will improve its ability to back peacekeeping and security activities in the region, particularly in light of a perceived growing Iranian threat. French officials refused to say whether Afghanistan operations would be supported from the base.
David A. Fulghum (Washington), Robert Wall (Paris)
China’s integrated air defenses—based on cheap, sometimes stolen digital technology—are now considered potentially more threatening to the U.S. than Russia’s. The wholesale use of commercial products has made Chinese networks flexible, easy to upgrade and tough to exploit.
British Airways is expanding its carbon offset initiatives, including simplifying how passengers can buy offsets for their flights. But the airline also is supporting research at Cambridge University to better understand the non-CO2 effects of aviation on the environment. BA hopes to have results by 2012. Additionally, the carrier is backing Brazilian efforts to halt deforestation.
USAF Maj. Gen. Dana T. Atkins has been appointed special assistant to the commander of Pacific Air Forces, Hickam AFB, Hawaii. He has been director of operations at headquarters of U.S. Pacific Command, Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii. Maj. Gen. Douglas L. Raaberg has been named deputy combined forces air component commander, U.S. Central Command/deputy commander, Air Force Forces/vice commander, 9th Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force, Air Combat Command (ACC), Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. He has been director of air and space operations at ACC Headquarters, Langley AFB, Va.
Engine uncertainties for the A400M military transport are far from over and will likely persist even once the powerplant finally takes to the air in April. The TP400 being built by a European engine consortium has been a major, though not the only, source of schedule delays for the A400M, which is already running six months late and is at risk of being fielded at least a year behind schedule. “We need to stabilize the program,” emphasizes Airbus CEO Tom Enders.
Clayton M. Jones, chairman/president/CEO of Rockwell Collins, has been elected this year’s chairman of the Arlington, Va.-based Aerospace Industries Assn. He succeeds William H. Swanson, chairman/CEO of the Raytheon Co. Robert J. Stevens, chairman/president/CEO of the Lockheed Martin Corp., was elected vice chairman. Marion C. Blakey was elected president/CEO and Ginette C. Colot secretary-treasurer. Members of the board of governors executive committee are: James F.
Cole Hedden (see photo) has been promoted to vice president/chief operating officer from vice president/head of the Business Innovation and Execution Group of L-3 Communications and Thales Co.’s ACSS of Phoenix.
The work done by space shuttle Discovery astronaut Scott Parazynski late last year and all of NASA plays second fiddle to a space program that destroys a satellite (AW&ST Jan. 7, p. 61)? Perhaps you turned the final selection over to the editor at Time magazine? He made the same empty argument about “not an honor.” What were you thinking?
New data from Japan’s Selene Moon probe validates two more of its instruments—the Lunar Radar Sounder (LRS) and the Laser Altimeter (LALT). Both will feed into the first comprehensive map of the Moon. The LRS captures and calculates 5-MHz. radio waves that bounce back after penetrating a few kilometers beneath the lunar surface. Japanese space agency JAXA says LRS data taken over the eastern Mare Imbrium between Nov. 20-21 supports the probable existence of alternating beds of lava, volcanic ash and ejecta blankets.
Development of the Mitsubishi Regional Jet will cost 150 billion yen ($1.4 billion), of which the government will finance about 30%. Mitsubishi will decide in March whether the project is feasible.
A News Breaks column item says French President Nicolas Sarkozy is studying how to reinforce France’s efforts in Afghanistan, either through training or other means (AW&ST Nov. 12, 2007, p. 26). I urge Sarkozy to do so by having France join the NATO countries that are actually fighting in Afghanistan, such as Canada and the U.K. Perhaps France could thus shame, if such a thing is possible, the non-fighting NATO allies into carrying more of the burden.
Astronauts Dan Tani and Peggy Whitson will venture out of the International Space Station Jan. 30 to replace a piece of hardware believed to be responsible for a triple circuit breaker trip that has crippled a key solar array mechanism. The Expedition 16 crewmates have already retrieved the spare bearing motor roll ring module—known as the “broom”—from unpressurized storage and, by happy coincidence, Tani has actually trained on replacing it (AW&ST Jan. 7, p. 27). Their 6.5-hr.
The U.S. Marines have demonstrated they can use Swift Engineering’s Killer Bee tactical UAVs as communications relays to link remote, separated ground units. The fourth-generation vehicles were configured in the field with relay payloads based on Enhanced Position Locating Reporting System, SecNet 11 and MeshNet that provided data, voice, video and command capabilities in rugged terrain. Two UAVs were deployed sequentially to provide over-the-horizon comms.
Adam Aircraft, a piston-twin and very light jet manufacturing startup company, announced it would immediately cut 300 of its 800 employees to reduce costs while it seeks to secure $75-150-million in long-term financing through Citibank. Cash flow is tight at Adam because of the slow production rates of its A500 piston twin and several delays in the A700 VLJ development program. Only eight A500 aircraft have been delivered to U.S. operators since FAA type approval was obtained in May 2005.
International Launch Services is building a second processing facility on its launch site at Baikonur, Kazakhstan, to enable two simultaneous Proton M launch campaigns. The move parallels steps by archrival Arianespace to meet demand (AW&ST Jan. 14, p. 21). ILS landed 17 orders worth $1.5 billion in 2007, bringing the total order book to 22 missions, says ILS President Frank McKenna.
Socata faces a critical year for assuring its future, as it hands over the first TBM 850 fitted with a glass cockpit and possibly launches a new general aviation program. The EADS unit is in talks with potential partners to begin work on an aircraft with eight or more seats to augment its six-seat TBM 850, says Jean-Michel Leonard, Socata chairman and CEO. “We believe that we have the competence, capability and credibility on the market to do more” than the TBM 850.
Regarding Boeing’s plan to use electric power for gear retraction on the 787 (AW&ST Nov. 26, 2007, p. 49), I flew the Boeing 247D, which also used electric motors for gear retraction, for Avianca in the late 1940s. There was no automatic shut- off; when the pilot heard the motors start to load up, the gear handle was returned to neutral. What goes around comes around.
European Space Agency chief Jean-Jacques Dordain says ESA is talking with China about using the Shenzhou capsule to carry its microgravity experiments. Europe already uses Russian Foton capsules, but even the arrival of ESA’s Columbus orbital facility (see below) will not be sufficient to meet demand, scientists say. China is already working with ESA on the DoubleStar solar exploration and Chang’e lunar missions.
Mark A. Cancilla (Global Director, Commercial Transparencies)
Michael Mecham’s excellent article about electrochromic windows (AW&ST Nov. 26, 2007, p. 54) shows that interest in the technology is crossing markets, with manufacturers of jetliners, regionals and business jets keen on their application. I appreciated the opportunity to talk about PPG Aerospace supplying Boeing 787 window shades, but want to clarify two points.
Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center believe they have duplicated the failure mechanism that has delayed launch of the space shuttle Atlantis, making it more likely the STS-122/1E mission can get underway to the International Space Station with Europe’s Columbus laboratory. The failure produced an intermittent open circuit in the pass-through connector that draws information from engine cutoff sensors in the shuttle’s liquid hydrogen tank, raising the risk the engines would cut off prematurely or run dry (AW&ST Dec. 17, 2007, p. 25).
