Northrop Grumman will build and test a 40,000-lb.-thrust-class liquid hydrogen turbopump for rocket engines under a new contract for the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory's Upper Stage Engine Technology program. The company has already received $19.9 million in AFRL contracts for the program for advanced engine-design software tools, and will apply those tools to building the turbopump assembly, integrating it on an AFRL test stand at Edwards AFB, Calif., and conducting validation tests by mid-2009.
Standard & Poor's removed British Airways' credit ratings from Credit Watch on June 20, raising long-term corporate ratings to investment grade status and upgrading ratings of unsecured debt by two notches. The improved ratings should provide fiscal relief as British Airways is reviewing orders for 34 replacement and growth aircraft. Credit analyst Leigh Bailey recognizes positive implications for the airline's capital structure and future cash flows.
MyAir, a nearly three-year-old Italian budget carrier, expects this summer will be a test of its business formula featuring two aircraft types. Headquartered near Vicenza's Tommaso dal Molin Airport, the airline carried 1 million passengers in its first year as the fleet grew to five Airbus A320s. MyAir was a launch customer for the Bombardier CRJ1000. It is also operating CRJ900s and has ordered a mix of 19 900s/1000s.
Unhappy with the vertical takeoff unmanned aerial vehicle (VUAV) it was counting on to close a maritime air patrol gap, the Coast Guard hopes another Homeland Security Dept. unit will help out. "We're looking, right now, at partnering potentially with Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and whether or not we can come up with a [departmental] solution," says Adm. Thad Allen, Coast Guard commandant. CBP, which monitors the U.S.-Mexican border with MQ-9 Predator Bs, confirms that talks are underway.
The French navy has been conducting trials to allow Tiger attack and reconnaissance helicopters to operate from ships. Ship landings were performed during a trial period from May 21 to June 7, using the Guepratte frigate and Guepratte landing ship. Tigers are supposed to be able to operate from ships beginning late next year. The helicopter trials involved crosswinds of as much as 100 kph. and a deck listing at 12 deg.
Dassault Aviation flew its Falcon 2000DX for the first time last week. The DX replaces the basic Falcon 2000 and comes with the EASy cockpit. Additionally, Dassault posted four firm orders and 16 options for Falcon 2000LXs to National Air Services of Saudi Arabia. Deliveries are to start in the third quarter of 2008 and spread over six years. Meanwhile, NetJets has converted orders for Falcon 2000EXs to the LX version with winglets for extended range.
The U.S. Defense Dept. has a bevy of high-end nonlethal weapon technologies being developed, but whether it can better exploit the seemingly endless possibilities that nonlethal weapons promise, even by the next major war, is still uncertain.
The European Space Agency has contracted with the Russian Space Agency to acquire the first four Soyuz rockets for the launch pad being constructed at the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The launch vehicles will be built by Samara and operated by Arianespace. ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain says he hopes to have the vehicles and pad ready for an initial launch by early 2009. Two Soyuz rockets are earmarked for launch of the first four Galileo in-orbit validation satellites in 2009, and Dordain reaffirmed his intent to orbit them from Kourou.
The trend of blending sensors such as radars, lasers and infrared optics into a single system is accelerating. In fact, driven by increased processing power from ever-smaller packages, researchers plan to put these multispectral sensor systems into space. Moreover, they are examining a larger spectrum of mission for these fused systems.
Rolls-Royce's Trent 1000 engine for the Boeing 787 made its long-awaited debut on June 19, on the U.K.-based engine maker's 747-200 flying testbed at Waco, Tex.
The European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization will boost overseas cooperation in the coming months, but concerns linger over the relationship between these, sometimes rival security establishments.
Amy Butler, Robert Wall, Michael A. Taverna and Andy Nativi (Le Bourget)
The global demand for unmanned aircraft is far from abating, with Singapore looking to overcome international opposition to buying Global Hawks and European industrial rivals lining up to meet long-standing demand for medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) surveillance systems.
NetJets has ordered 96 Cessna Citation business jets worth more than $1 billion. The order includes 50 Encore+, 37 XLS and nine Citation X aircraft. NetJets, which is Cessna Aircraft Co.'s largest Citation customer, operates 304 Citations in the U.S. and Europe.
Singapore Airlines Cargo is cutting back in response to the freight market slowdown, offering 10% less capacity between April and August compared with last year. The cargo business operated slightly below its calculated break-even load factor of 63.8% last year.
Robert Wall, Michael Mecham and Amy Butler (Le Bourget)
A wake-up call is shaking up the aerospace industry on environmental concerns as manufacturers scramble to devise ways to achieve a greener footprint. Europe is considering enticements to encourage fleet replacements and phase out old aircraft faster, says Guenther Verheugen, European commissioner for enterprise and industry. He's concerned that even as cleaner aircraft emerge, it could take decades to generate the full environmental effect as old aircraft are kept in service
In "U.S. Global Warming Initiative Is A Step Backward," you quote NASA Administrator Michael Griffin as saying: "To assume that [warming] is a problem is to assume that the state of Earth's climate today is the optimal climate . . . and that we need to take steps to make sure it doesn't change." And deciding that today's climate is best for everyone else is "a rather arrogant position for people to take." Kudos, Mr. Griffin! I couldn't have said it better!
Fighter manufacturer Sukhoi is trying to persuade the Russian government to contribute development funds for its latest version of the Su-27 Flanker family, the Su-35, with indications that the air force has already decided to acquire the aircraft. Three Su-35 prototypes are initially being manufactured, with a first flight planned by the end of September, according to a senior Sukhoi executive involved in the program. "Currently, there's no government funding," he says. "The program so far is being funded by industry participants."
India's minister of civil aviation, Praful Patel, was in Washington on June 22 to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Transportation Dept. and U.S. Trade Development Agency to create a U.S.-India Aviation Cooperation Program. The program is modeled after an aviation safety agreement the U.S. signed with China. The program allows the U.S. government and private industry to work with India on aviation safety programs that could include air traffic control.
USAF Maj. Gen. Kevin J. Sullivan has been nominated for promotion to lieutenant general with assignment as deputy chief of staff for logistics, installations and mission support at the Pentagon. He has been commander of the Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill AFB, Utah. Maj. Gen. Donald C. Wurster has been nominated for promotion to lieutenant general with assignment as commander of Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), Hurlburt Field, Fla. He is its vice commander. Maj. Gen. Kurt A. Cichowski has been appointed special assistant to the commander of AFSOC.
Boeing's push-back of a potential service entry date for the 787-10 by a year is an ironic endorsement that the as-yet-unlaunched second stretch of the new jet is on its way. Boeing Vice President and 787 General Manager Mike Bair says the earliest the 300-plus-seat 787-10 will enter service is 2013, a year later than previously forecast.
Airbus will conduct key meetings on its A350XWB in the next few weeks, when it will submit the plan for the twin-widebody to an independent review and start detailed talks with potential industrial partners for the project. The assessment of the A350XWB design will take place early next month, says Airbus Chief Operating Officer Fabrice Bregier. Such drills will be performed throughout the program's development to avoid surprises.
Robert Wall, Amy Butler and Douglas Barrie (Le Bourget)
NATO's decade-long effort to develop a critical ground surveillance system has never been closer to fruition--but also never this close to dying. The 23 NATO members participating in the Alliance Ground Surveillance program to field Global Hawks and A321s fitted with ground-target tracking radars have until year-end to make up their minds. That's when the contract has to be inked with an international consortium to initiate development, or the carefully drawn up terms expire.
Embraer and Brazilian airline BRA Transportes Aeros have signed a preliminary agreement for 20 firm orders for the Embraer 195, plus 20 options. Italy's Alpi Eagles has confirmed five options for the 195 from its original order for five of the aircraft. Addition- ally, Aeromexico will operate four Embraer 190s under a lease from GE Commercial Aviation Services, which confirmed three options.
It's good to read that the "first BA609 has been flown 'to all corners of the flight envelope" (AW&ST June 4, p. 43). And since the BA609 will not go into combat and has benefited from some of the Bell/Boeing V-22 Osprey's extended and flawed development, the program managers will not have to worry about wrong cabin size or window placement, or efficacy of a ramp-mounted defensive weapon. Unlike its larger cousin, it is pressurized. But as it approaches multiple certifications in the U.S. and Europe, some safety-related questions remain:
