The only F-22 Raptor unit to be led by and primarily staffed with Air National Guardsmen will be based in Hawaii. The squadron, part of the 154th Wing, will start training its aircrews in 2010 and begin receiving its stealth fighters in 2011 as the seventh operational F-22 unit.
Michael A. Taverna (Les Mureaux, France, and Turin, Italy)
Although the protoype flight model has yet to fly, engineers are already designing derivative versions of the ATV that could meet ISS supply requirements after the shuttle is retired, as well as future space exploration endeavors.
Orbiting construction crewmates on the International Space Station are well on the way to achieving a station-design silhouette first set 20 years ago on the old Space Station Freedom program. Still, the ongoing station-assembly mission shows just how close-run a thing it will be to get the orbiting laboratory finished before the space shuttle fleet retires in 2010. Serious problems with critical computers on the Russian side of the station, and perhaps with the shuttle's fragile thermal protection system as well, could further slow assembly.
Alenia Aeronautica hopes its work on a medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aircraft demonstrator will spur interest in a future European collaborative program. The so-called Sky-Y has been underway in secret for several months, but this week the company is expected to lift the veil on the project. A Sky-Y model will be shown at the Paris air show, while the real version is undergoing trials at the Vidsel test range in Sweden.
At CIT Aerospace's Second Annual Aerospace & Defense Finance Forum in New York on June 6, more than 200 industry leaders explored the global issues facing aerospace and defense sector businesses. Among the speakers were U.S. Marine Corps Gen. (ret.) James L. Jones, president/CEO of the Institute for 21st Century Energy, who expounded on the challenges that must be faced when operating in today's multi-polar world, and USMC Brig. Gen. David G. Reist, who offered a front-line perspective on Iraq.
Photo Stencil, a provider of stencils and other high-end tooling for the surface mount technology (SMT) assembly industry, has developed a process--"Intrusive Reflow of Lead-Free Solder Paste." The resulting paper outlines a procedure that increases efficiency for process engineers by eliminating the wave soldering process altogether, according to the company. Bill Coleman, vice president of technology, conducted tests to improve the printing process for lead-free materials.
Santa Fe, N.M., a favorite destination for tourists and artists, wants to be on the A-list of regional jet-setters. The city has received a Part 139 Federal Aviation Regulation Class 1 certification upgrade from Class 3. At Class 3, it was limited to regional aircraft with a maximum capacity of 30 seats. The Class 1 designation permits unlimited seating. Alas, the airport is only large enough to support regional transports with no more than 59 seats.
Two decades after its launch as a regular feature in Aviation Week & Space Technology, the Market Focus column is entering the digital era with the debut of a Market Focus blog on AviationWeek.com. Staffed by our reporters around the globe, the blog expands the volume and scope of the Market Focus franchise, providing readers with a steady diet of news and analysis about aerospace and defense (A&D) and airline industry stocks and business trends.
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Thomas W. Conroy has become Arlington, Va.-based vice president-intelligence programs for the Northrop Grumman Corp. He was vice president-national security programs.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is aiming straight at the Embraer and Bombardier large regional jets with its sophisticated MRJ proposal and is betting it can beat the Brazilian aircraft with a much smaller cross section, defying the trend toward roomier cabins. The first detailed specifications, released ahead of an expected early 2008 program launch, show a big rise in installed thrust from earlier sketch data but otherwise stick to the concept of a conventionally arranged jet with pylon-mounted engines under the wing.
USAF Col. Mark A. Atkinson is among 29 officers who have been nominated for promotion to brigadier general. He is director of logistics, installations and mission support at Headquarters Air Education and Training Command, Randolph AFB, Tex. The others are: Mark A. Barrett, executive officer to the Air Force vice chief of staff at the Pentagon; Brian T. Bishop, deputy director of the Air Force concept of operations/deputy chief of staff for Air, Space and Information Operations at the Pentagon; Michael R.
John Jarman (see photo) has been appointed vice president/general manager of BAE Systems' San Diego-based Command, Control, Computing and Intelligence (C3I) Systems business. He was vice president/deputy general manager of BAE Systems' National Security Solutions business.
Lawrence Grant has been named vice president-purchasing and contract management, Ron Kay vice president-finance/treasurer and David Hinton vice president/controller, all for Pinnacle Airlines, Memphis, Tenn.
Louis Friedman, who is executive director of The Planetary Society, Pasadena, Calif., has won the 2007 Space Education Inspiration Award from the Federation of Galaxy Explorers. FOGE was founded in 2002 to inspire and educate children in space-related science and engineering through after-school activities, field trips, special events and summer camps. Friedman's award recognizes his nearly three decades at the helm of The Planetary Society, which he co-founded with Carl Sagan and Bruce Murray. FOGE also gave its 2007 Space Leadership Award to William H.
The Aerospace Daily and Defense Report article on May 16 on the request for proposals for the U.S. Air Force's Combat Search and Rescue-X (CSAR-X) quoted Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute.
Registered travelers using either the Clear card, marketed by Verified Identity Pass, or Unisys Corp.'s rtGo card can now use one another's facilities. Last week, the first registered traveler holding an rtGO card passed through Clear's Registered Traveler lane at Indianapolis International Airport, one of seven airports or terminals where Clear operates. Now interoperability allows registered travelers, no matter which company is their provider, to use any operating registered traveler lane.
Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce recently completed the last of the three-step gearbox test which validated the design and demonstrated expected engine performance at all required thrust levels for the F135 short-takeoff/vertical-landing (STOVL) propulsion system. The qualification test was conducted at the Rolls-Royce facility in Indianapolis.
Capacity is maxed out at the show's biennial gathering site at Le Bourget, which comprises more than 300,000 sq. meters of inside and outside exhibit space. This highlights how several years of order growth have benefited the industry, and how far the aerospace and defense sector has come since the depths of crisis a mere five years ago.
Garuda Indonesia may restore services to Amsterdam and Nagoya, which it dropped in 2004. Garuda says the Japanese market is recovering and Amsterdam, the capital of Indonesia's former colonial master, remains "highly prospective." But the unprofitable airline isn't talking about returning to London and Paris, two other destinations it dropped in 2004.
NATO defense ministers have authorized a study to assess possible integration of the U.S. missile defense system to be set up in the Czech Republic and Poland with the alliance's Active Layered Theater Ballistic Missile Defense System. The latter, when deployed in southeastern Europe, would plug the gap in missile defense coverage left by the U.S. system, which couldn't engage some of the shorter-range missiles launched from the Middle East.
If you build it, they will come. At least that’s what a few of Eastern Europe’s aircraft companies are gambling on as they keep alive current aircraft and birth new ones in their quest to remain original equipment manufacturers. Steeped in almost a century of aircraft-making history, aerospace centers in Poland and the Czech Republic aren’t fully resigned to becoming mere parts makers for the aircraft heavyweights and their suppliers. But the hurdles they face are large, and the chance of success questionable.
