A Pentagon contract award may bolster EDO Corp.’s bid to win shareholder approval to sell the company to ITT for $1.7 billion. EDO, the sole producer of the current generation of electronic bomb-jamming devices used to interrupt the detonation of roadside explosives in Iraq, was passed over on Dec. 7 when the Naval Sea Systems Command awarded three contracts to develop technologies that will underpin the next generation of bomb jammers. ITT, Northrop Grumman and Sierra Nevada Corp. received those contracts.
Officials at Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems say they could snag contracts in 2008 worth as much as $17 billion, an unprecedented sum. That is, if they win the contracts. Among the possibilities are the U.S. Air Force’s GPS III and Transformational Satellite (TSAT) deals, the latter of which is being considered for termination in the Fiscal 2009 budget proposal (AW&ST Dec. 10, p. 28). Additionally, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s GOES-R weather spacecraft and NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite systems awards are expected in 2008.
The space shuttle fleet is grounded until technicians find and fix a vexing problem with engine cutoff (ECO) sensors—a component that NASA now realizes has likely never worked throughout the 26-year history of the shuttle program.
The first stealthy, short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing version of the Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter—the F-35B—will be rolled out this week at Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth facility. Meanwhile, the F-35A conventional-takeoff variant has completed its 20th flight. Air refueling testing starts soon. Also, BAE Systems has opened a facility in Nashua, N.H., to produce electronic warfare systems for the F-35 and F-22. The EW suites detect, analyze, evaluate and react to the electronics on enemy sensors and missiles.
U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. John Castellaw, deputy commandant for programs and resources, says the service plans not to buy any fourth-generation fighters and instead will wait until the F-35 is ready for delivery. The Marines view the F-35 as the centerpiece for its future battlefield networking and electronic warfare system. However, Castellaw says the service wants a sensor and electronic warfare suite tailored to its needs.
Dale Burton, vice president-technology/chief technology officer for the Northrop Grumman Corp.’s Melbourne, Fla.-based Integrated Systems Sector, has been elected to the Washington-based National Academy of Engineering . Burton was elected for innovations and leadership in the development, testing and fielding of the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System as head of the Joint Stars engineering flight test system integration and flight test effort. As technical adviser to the Engineering Dept.
John Scannell has been promoted to chief financial officer from vice president-contracts and pricing of Moog Inc. , East Aurora, N.Y. He succeeds Robert R. Banta, who plans to retire as executive vice president/CFO. Banta will remain on the board of directors. Donald R. Fishback has been promoted to vice president-finance from corporate controller/principal accounting officer.
Ginny Carruthers has been named Washington-based director of government affairs for the Alaska Air Group . She was Alaska Airlines’ East Coast sales manager.
Derek Kerr, who is senior vice president/chief financial officer of US Airways, has been named Arizona’s Chief Financial Officer of the Year by the Arizona Chapter of Financial Executive International . The award recognizes Kerr’s commitment to the community and his professionalism and leadership at “Phoenix’s hometown airline.”
Pilot-bashing Paul N. Nash makes a valid point and Capt. Steve Roach is wrong about the Concorde accident (AW&ST Nov. 12, p. 10). The aircraft was just beginning to rotate when the tower advised the crew of a fire. There were more than 9,000 ft. of a 12,000-ft. runway remaining—more than enough distance to abort! But let’s us look at some similar incidents that caused or could have caused tragedies:
Spain is acquiring €44 million ($64 million) worth of fourth-generation Spike-ER multipurpose air-to-surface precision missiles from Rafael Advanced Defense Systems of Israel. The missiles are to be the primary armament for the Spanish army’s 24 Eurocopter Tiger-HAD combat support helicopters. The deal follows the procurement of Spike missiles to equip Spanish land forces last year, and involves General Dynamics-owned GD Santa Barbara as the local contractor. The Spike-ER missiles will be delivered through 2012.
BAE Systems has completed the first test of an Autonomous Approach and Landing Capability at Edwards AFB, Calif., on a C-130H aircraft. The technology fuses millimeter-wave radar and infrared imaging to allow pilots to see the runway and obstacles in reduced visibility. The work was conducted under an $11.4-million contract to the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. “This technology essentially lets aircrews maintain their vision through all weather and obscurants,” says Clark Freise, vice president of defense avionics for BAE Systems in Johnson City, N.Y.
The large, long-range, long-endurance Eitan UAV is the latest unmanned aerial system from Israel Aerospace Industries. And, it’s already being modified. The latest pictures (see p. 52) show the addition of a large under-fuselage payload bay that could carry a ground surveillance radar (for precision attack of small objects) or missiles for striking air or ground targets as a response to changing defense needs. Israel Aerospace Industries photo.
Ed Feick (see photos) has become vice president-customer support and Bill Schmiege group vice president-integrity for Parker Aerospace , Irvine, Calif. Feick has been director of worldwide commercial business development and interim division general manager. Schmiege was the division’s director of product integrity.
New European Space Agency maps of the Moon’s north pole are expected to help in planning future robotic and manned lunar missions. The lunar poles are of particular interest because they include areas of quasi-eternal sunlight and permanent dark that might host water ice—two critical requirements for long-term exploration. The 800 X 600-km. (497 X 372-mi.) mosaic, put together from data returned by an advanced micro-camera on ESA’s Smart-1 lunar orbiter, shows several large impact craters near the north pole. One of them, Peary, had been partially observed by the U.S.
Japan’s ATD-X Shinshin stealth technology demonstrator will fly in 2011 and will look much like a Lockheed Martin F-22 scaled to the size of a Saab Gripen, but with a more conventional planform than the U.S. fighter’s. The aircraft’s electronics and IHI Corp. XF5-1 engines are to be completed by 2009, ready for final assembly of the aircraft in 2010.
China’s Anyang Angel Aero Science and Technology Co. Ltd. and Liberty Aerospace Inc. have signed an agreement whereby the Anyang Angel Aero will build up to 600 Liberty XL-2 airplanes at a new factory in Henan, China. The facility will be capable of producing 100 airplanes annually, with a majority to be used for flight training at the Science and Technology University’s school at Anyang. The Liberty XL-2 is certified by the FAA to FAR Part 23 standards for day/night VFR and IFR flying. It received Chinese approval in May.
Nabeel Mohammed Saeed has become executive vice president-corporate and legal affairs and Ahmed Mohammed Al Banna vice president- human resources of Bahrain-based Gulf Air . Saeed has been an executive in government and financial institutions, while Al Banna was human resources manager for Bahrain Airport Services. Hashim Mahmood has been named vice president-network.
Eurocopter has received three firm contracts for EC145 helicopters with options for two more from French armaments agency DGA. The rotorcraft will be used by the French civil security organization and replace six Alouette IIIs. Deliveries are to start in 2009.
Honda Aircraft Co. broke ground in Burlington, N.C., to house its new headquarters and jet engine assembly facility for the HondaJet, scheduled to enter service in 2010. The factory will employ about 70 people and eventually will produce up to 200 HF120 engines annually. In addition, Honda Aircraft Co. is building a manufacturing facility at Piedmont Triad International Airport near Greensboro, N.C., that will build and deliver the HondaJet.
Qatar Airways plans to expand its long-range network using new Boeing 777-200LR/300ERs, and has ambitions to run high-frequency services in the Persian Gulf with a fleet of single-aisle aircraft. The airline’s first pair of Boeing 777-300ERs will enter service on its prestigious Doha-Washington route in mid-January, replacing Airbus A340-600HGW (high gross weight) variants for which Qatar was the launch customer.
Singaporean budget carriers Tiger Airways and Jetstar Asia have each won the right to operate a single daily service between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur beginning in February as part of an agreement between the city-state and Malaysia to liberalize the market.
Flight testing has finally started on the SaM146 turbofan, which is set to power the Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Superjet 100. Integration hurdles between the Western-standard engine developed by the PowerJet joint venture of Snecma and NPO Saturn, with the Russian flight test aircraft, an Ilyushin Il-76LL, caused trials to begin several months late. Flight testing started Dec. 6 at the Russian flight test center at Zhukovsky and program officials still target a March 2008 engine certification.
Miriam Rivera (see photo) has become director of human resources for Circor Aerospace Products , Corona, Calif. She was vice president-human resources for Summa Industries.
Israeli cargo conversion house Bedek is looking to boost heavy maintenance activity next year to make use of industrial capacity that’s been underutilized because of a crunch in the cargo conversion business.
