NASA Administrator Michael Griffin has it right in de-emphasizing "global warming" alarums. His knowledge and record in this area far surpasses yours. Your criticism of his opinion is wide of the mark. You should stick to the field you know (in which you are both expert and excellent), or provide your readers with opinions and data on both sides of this issue. Griffin's being made to recant, Galileo-like, is neither a good testimonial for science nor for the scientific validity of the evidence supposedly supporting catastrophic global warming.
Boeing expects to have 42 aircraft parked outside its 787 final assembly building in Everett, Wash., by the time the 250-seat jet achieves certification next spring and delivery in May to its launch customer, All Nippon Airways. Despite that optimism, the company has learned that an industry-wide fastener shortage makes for an unpleasant picture.
Amy Butler, Robert Wall and Joris Janssen Lok (Le Bourget)
A global shortage in military airlift capacity is driving aircraft makers on both sides of the Atlantic to explore options at different ends of the airlift spectrum, though governments haven't yet fully backed the projects. EADS CASA is working on a new turboprop airlifter design, while Boeing and Lockheed Martin offer competing proposals to the U.S. Air Force to add to its strategic airlifter fleet.
The European Parliament budget committee last week issued a resolution saying it would oppose combined European Commission/European Space Agency funding for the 24 remaining operational satellites still to be purchased for the Galileo satellite navigation system, and their associated ground segment. The Parliament wants the estimated €2.4 billion ($3.22 billion) for this so-called full operating capability phase to be acquired entirely with EC money and according to EC rules.
Bombardier has linked up with China's Avic 1 for development of regional jets and its CSeries narrowbody. Bombardier plans to spend $100 million to help Avic 1 define the ARJ21-900 once the program is launched. The Canadians also would assist with Western certification of the Chinese regional jet, which is expected to enter service in 2011. The aircraft, which will have five-abreast seating, is derived from the ARJ21-700.
Steve Schneps (see photo) has been named vice president-operations for BAE Systems' Nashua, N.H.-based Electronics and Integrated Solutions. He was director of operations for the unit's electronic warfare section.
India's long-delayed civil aviation policy, Vision 2020, is now under review by the country's Group of Ministers, including civil aviation, finance and tourism. The cabinet was set to act on the policy, which aims at opening up the international market to private domestic carriers. However, dissension over several proposals led to the call for deeper discussions involving the ministers. There was disagreement, for example, about spinning off air traffic management into a separate entity and introducing private and foreign participation.
Australia and the U.S. have conducted the first flight test of a scramjet engine with an inward-turning inlet. The test engine reached Mach 10 over the outback on June 15. Its inlet form promises greater efficiency than earlier, so-called two-dimensional inlets. A sounding rocket took the engine from the Woomera launch site to an altitude of 530 km. (330 mi.). During the descent, the engine fired for 3 sec.
Italy has launched the first phase of the Lyra program, which is aimed at studying evolutions of the Vega launcher. The €35-million ($46.8-million) contract went to a joint venture of Avio and the Italian space agency. Lyra, which is focused on a liquid propulsion engine and a new guidance system, should boost the rocket's payload capability to send 4,400 lb. into a polar 700-km. orbit. A full-scale demonstrator of the new engine, called Mira, is scheduled to be built. Another €70-80 million are needed to complete development.
A technology that allows pilots to control aircraft systems by voice command has completed a new round of flight trials on a U.K. Army Air Corps Gazelle helicopter. Qinetiq's Direct Voice Input (DVI) system enables the direct-voice-input control of avionics equipment via standard aircrew helmet microphones and intercom and is speaker-independent--the system does not need to recognize a specific user. This provides aircrew the ability to control aircraft systems using voice commands and access information without removing their hands from the flight controls.
The in-the-centerline infrared search-andtrack system idea saves time and money, although it is ironic that a now-retired fighter is the hardware source to catch up with the rest of the fighter world (AW&ST June 4, p. 30). However, fuel tanks are jettison items, especially in shipboard catapult launches. This might promote just a slight, possibly fatal, hesitation in a single-engine, heavy weight shot, if a $2.5-million limited availability item cohabitates with 2,500 lb. of fuel. Perhaps the weight should depart without the money.
Northrop Grumman has completed work on the main fuselage of its first X-47B in the jig at its Palmdale, Calif., facility. The X-47B is a candidate for the U.S. Navy's Unmanned Combat Air System competition, which will be decided this fall. Boeing is also proposing a variant of its X-45 family of UAVs. Installation of the engine and component parts are the next steps for Northrop Grumman's UAV.
BC Partners, a London-based private equity firm, has struck a deal to buy a 76% stake in Intelsat for $5 billion and the assumption of $11.4 billion debt. Intelsat's current owners, a group of four private equity firms, acquired the global satellite operator in 2005 and purchased chief competitor PanAmSat--from a private equity owner--for $3.2 billion last year. The group plans to retain a 24% stake in the company, which is based in Bermuda but largely run from Washington.
VolgaDnepr and the Antonov design bureau say the Russian and Ukrainian civil aviation authorities have confirmed that plans to modernize the An-124 freighter, in particular the flight deck, will comply with certification requirements. However, funding to cover the modernization and reopen the assembly line remains to be clarified. Meanwhile, VolgaDnepr concluded an agreement with Ilyushin to acquire three additional modernized Il-76TD-90VD cargo aircraft, plus 10 units on option.
Peter J. Carian (see photos) and Tsou-Chiang Huang have been appointed distinguished engineers and James D. Barrie and Michael J. Meshishnek have been named distinguished scientists at El Segundo, Calif.-based Aerospace Corp. Carian was a principal engineer and works in the Electronics Engineering Subdivision. Huang was promoted from senior project engineer and works in the Systems Engineering and Technology Directorate, Chantilly, Va. Barrie and Meshishnek were promoted from senior scientists and work in the Space Materials Laboratory.
MARKET FOCUS Low-cost carriers face threats from environmental fees 10 NEWS BREAKS DLR releases initial images from new radar imaging spacecraft 18 Embraer's Phenom 100 very light jet makes its debut 20 Taurus Systems and Textron Systems to pursue new standoff missile 20 Wanda Austin named new president of The Aerospace Corp. 22 AVIATION WEEK writers win seven Aero space Journalist of the Year Awards 22 PARIS AIR SHOW 2007, BRIEFLY
Lockheed Martin's Mission & Combat Support Solutions will upgrade radar capabilities for the reconnaissance version of Japan's Air Self-Defense Force fleet of F-15 aircraft. As part of a Japanese-led team, the company will equip select F-15s with advanced synthetic aperture radar (SAR) pods. The modified F-15s are slated to replace several aging RF-4 recon aircraft.
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United Launch Alliance (ULA) is investigating why one of its Atlas V/Centaur vehicles with a pair of National Reconnaissance Office ocean surveillance spacecraft on board fell short June 15, and it isn't ready to predict when the next flight of the vehicle will be. ULA Chief Operating Officer Dan Collins tells the Washington Space Business Roundtable "it's really too early to say" whether launch of the first Boeing-built Wideband Gapfiller System (WGS) satellite, now set for early August, will slip.
Thales has agreed with Samtel of India to jointly develop, produce and sell cockpit display systems in a move that could lead to creation of a joint venture company. Samtel already supports Thales products, which include helmet-mounted displays for Indian navy MiG-29s.
A team of psychology graduate students from George Mason University, Fairfax, Va.--doctoral candidates Carl Smith and Peter Squire, and master's students Jane Barrow, Kevin Durkee and Jennifer Moore--has won a design competition sponsored by the FAA and intended to improve runway safety at the nation's airports. Raja Parasuraman, professor of psychology, is the team's faculty adviser.
Washington and London signed a treaty last week, intended to ease British access to U.S. defense equipment and related data. The treaty is a successor to the abortive International Traffic in Arms Regulations waiver (ITAR) discussions. The treaty will require U.S. Senate support for it to become law, a step that could prove problematic. The ITAR waiver was strongly--and successfully--opposed by some U.S. politicians. The treaty was signed by the outgoing British prime minister, Tony Blair, and President George Bush.
The National Business Aviation Assn.'s (NBAA) 2006 convention and exhibition in Florida has been recognized by Tradeshow Week as the eighth-largest event in the U.S., based on square footage occupied by exhibitors, up from a ranking of 37 in 2005. NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen says last year marked the largest attendance in the association's history with more than 33,000 visitors over a three-day period at the Orlando Executive Airport. This year's show is scheduled for Sept. 25-27 at Atlanta's Georgia World Congress Center. See www.nbaa.org/2007.
European Joint Strike Fighter nations met recently in Rome to discuss closer cooperation, and to look at ways to reduce the price tag of early-production aircraft. Italy, the Netherlands and Norway also signed a memorandum of understanding covering greater cooperation in the production sustainment and follow-on development phase of the program. Turkey and Denmark attended the meeting, too. The attendees discussed the idea of an "average acquisition price" that would set a fixed cost for the overall number of aircraft to be acquired.
