A review of Australian combat aircraft requirements will consider the possibility of scrapping the country’s 2007 order for 24 Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornets. Cancellation costs at this early stage of the contract would amount to only A$300 million ($264 million), less than 5% of the A$6.6 billion budgeted for the purchase and operation of the aircraft until 2020.
Amy Butler (Washington), Michael Bruno (Washington)
China’s stunning demonstration of a direct-ascent antisatellite (Asat) weapon in January 2007 has forced the U.S. government to come to terms with this capability as a realistic threat—not simply a notion of doomsday planning—and begin to organize itself accordingly.
Boeing and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) have signed a 10-year memorandum of understanding that calls for Boeing to develop work packages that can be transferred to HAL. The initial value is $10-20 million annually. Boeing is promoting a number of service and manufacturing options to meet India’s strict offset requirements as it tries to secure military contracts that include winning India’s Multi-Role Combat Aircraft competition.
Scientists at Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) have developed a copper structure with pores of nanometer and micron size that could play a key role in reducing the size and cost of certain military munitions. Plans call for the highly uniform copper structures to be incorporated into integrated circuits and chemically converted to millimeter-diameter explosives, creating micro-electromechanical (MEMS) fuzes for munitions that can be mass-produced like computer chips.
Capt. Clarence (Clancy) Prevost has received the 2007 Presidential Citation from the Washington-based Air Line Pilots Assn. for his efforts to alert the FBI to Zacharias Moussaoui’s attempts to learn to fly an airliner. Moussaoui later was identified as the would-be 20th hijacker in the 9/11 plot. Moussaoui was assigned as a flight student to Prevost, who had retired from Northwest Airlines and was working as a Boeing 747-400 simulator instructor at the Pan Am International Flight Academy in Eagan, Minn.
Shortly after the first flights and start of radar testing on Northrop Grumman’s new E-2D Advanced Hawkeye to detect small and stealthy objects, the company has won a $50.4-million contract for advanced acquisition of long-lead materials and support for low-rate production of three Lot 1 E-2Ds.
Air France faces several weeks of difficult negotiations with Alitalia as it tries to devise a politically palatable way to assume control of the struggling Italian airline. But those near-term hurdles pale in comparison to pending challenges if the acquisition goes ahead.
Beijing Capital Airport’s Terminal 3, China’s largest, is expected to open in March, giving it plenty of shake-out time before visitors begin arriving for the 2008 Olympic Games. The 1-million-sq.-meter (10,764,000-sq.-ft.) terminal will be home to flag carrier Air China. The project includes a 3,800-meter (12,464-ft.) runway, large enough to accommodate Airbus A380s.
The 76th Aircraft Maintenance Group at Tinker AFB is shifting from an old-style, slow maintenance depot into an efficient organization keen on meeting customer demands. The many buzz words associated with contemporary maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) have taken on practical meaning with the changes.
Avic I rolled out the prototype ARJ21-700 regional jetliner on Dec. 21 in anticipation of a planned first flight in March. New regional carrier Kunpeng Airlines has ordered 100 of the aircraft, bringing total orders to 171, all but two of which will go to Chinese airlines and leasing companies.
The U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) unveiled a self-described “major” settlement of a race discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against Lockheed Martin Corp. for $2.5 million and other relief on behalf of an African-American electrician who said he was subjected to a racially hostile work environment at several job sites.
The next attempt for the space shuttle Atlantis to launch with the European Columbus module is not likely until at least Feb. 2-7, depending upon key tests this week at the Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. Kennedy Space Center managers have been asked by the shuttle project, however, to set up work flows here that could enable launch as early as Jan. 24.
Canadian aerospace supplier AvCorp Industries has improved productivity by a whopping 20% over the past year, but President Paul Kalil isn’t smiling. The sharp appreciation of the Canadian dollar has effectively wiped out those gains, sending AvCorp to what likely will be breakeven financial results for 2007. The company, which builds flight structures in British Columbia for Cessna, Bombardier and Boeing, is exploring options to move lower skill work to Mexico or Asia.
Surging demand for data from an international satellite constellation studying the interaction of clouds, aerosols and solar radiation and their effects on climate has planners examining how they can ensure the continuity of such information.
Gregory Bowles has been promoted to director from manager of engineering and manufacturing for the Washington-based General Aviation Manufacturers Assn.
A U.S. research and public education group says moves last year by the Commerce Dept. to relax some export control regulations under a new “Validated End User” (VEU) program have allowed two companies with ties to arms control regulation violators special privileges to bypass review for sales to China of sensitive technology that could be used for military purposes. The first, Shanghai Hua Hong NEC Electronics Company, is linked through a parent company to a separate subsidiary that was cited in 2006 for unapproved sales to Iran and/or Syria.
Nothing in aviation or space in 2007 represented a greater change in the status quo than China’s ascendancy to the first rank of space powers. China had proven its mettle four years earlier by becoming only the third member of the elite club of nations capable of flying humans in space. But in 2007, it accomplished two more feats, proving to the world that it’s a space player to be reckoned with across the board.
Cebu Pacific of the Philippines has firmed up options on four ATR 72-500s, taking its orders for the type to 10, all to be delivered in 2008-09. It retains options on four more.
Indonesian Transport Minister Jusman Syafii Djamal is opposing the purchase of European aircraft while the EU refuses, on safety grounds, to let the country’s airlines fly over its member nations. In the most recent Indonesian safety incident, Lion Air failed for two days to admit it owned a 3-meter “engine exhaust cap” found on a runway on Dec. 4. It said it didn’t realize it had lost the piece.
The Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) is broadcasting the FAI World GP (Grand Prix) Gliding Championships on Internet TV—a first for the international air sports organization. The event takes place Dec. 19-24 in New Zealand’s Southern Alps where The Lord of the Rings was filmed.
Boeing is to set up a U.K. military subsidiary, Boeing Defense Ltd. The move is at least in part a response to the U.K.’s Defense Industrial Strategy. The unit will coordinate Boeing’s overall efforts to win defense work from the British Defense Ministry.
Virgin Atlantic cabin crews will go on strike for two 48-hr. periods in January as a result of a pay dispute. The airline had offered a two-year deal covering a 4.8% increase in the first year, and a retail price index-linked raise in the second year. The airline says it will operate all but 12 of its flights during the four strike-affected days. The strikes are due Jan. 9-10 and 16-17. One inbound New York flight will also be canceled on Jan. 11 and 18.
Piaggio Aero Industries has raised two credit lines worth €220 million to finance its plant expansion and purchase tooling to build the P-180 Avanti at a more efficient rate.
