Northrop Grumman won a $171-million contract to develop a new satellite communications system for the U.S. Air Force B-2 bomber. The five-year development and demonstration program would be the first increment of a new extremely high-frequency satellite communication system designed to overcome improvements in technological advances by U.S. foes.
After months of being coy, Israeli defense and aerospace officials have admitted their huge new unmanned aircraft--the Eitan or Heron TP--does exist and will be on public display this week at the Paris air show. A few poor-quality bootleg pictures of the unmanned, missile-carrying aircraft leaked out last month (AW&ST May 21, p. 32). Now the Defense Ministry has given Israel Aerospace Industries permission to release pictures. The UAV has been test flown sufficiently since its first flight last July that IAI says it is ready for serial production.
Gerry Coady has become vice president/chief information officer for Frontier Airlines. He was chief technological officer/executive vice president-engineering at Evident Software, Bloomfield, N.J.
USN Rear Adm. Allen G. Myers, 4th, has been named director and Rear Adm. (lower half) Kenneth E. Floyd deputy director of the Air Warfare Div. in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington. Myers has been commander of Carrier Strike Group Eight, Norfolk, Va., while Floyd has been director of the aviation plans and requirements branch in the Office of the CNO.
In Iraq, the U.S. Air Force's focus is on close air support, intelligence gathering and surveillance, often in tightly packed urban areas. It is an increasingly high-tempo version of low-intensity guerrilla war; but, it's not the only war the military is obligated to fight.
Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) are marrying their White House races with the inside-the-Beltway brouhaha over congressional earmarks, and things are starting to get testy. The two high-profile members of the Senate Armed Services Committee are trading barbs over the panel's version of the Fiscal 2008 defense authorization.
Preston Carter has been named chief technology officer of Cyber Defense Systems Inc., St. Petersburg, Fla. He was director of Defense Dept. programs at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and had been a program manager in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Tactical Technology Office.
European transport ministers have accepted a European Commission proposal to abandon plans to fund the space and ground segment of the Galileo satellite navigation system through a public-private partnership (PPP), and instead finance the entire system with public money. But foot-dragging by some transport council members could prevent the new plan from being implemented.
Michael Scanlan has become director of industry affairs for the Arlington, Va.-based Assn. of the U.S. Army. He was assistant director and succeeds Joseph Hollis, who has retired. Alex Brody, who has been manager of the sustaining member program for industry affairs, succeeds Scanlan.
Now that the FAA has decided to certify Class 2 electronic flight bags to show a moving map of the airport surface with a pilot's "own-ship" position marked, more airlines may take the plunge and retrofit these systems.
Lewis Peach has been appointed vice president-exploration and technology at the Universities Space Research Assn., Columbia, Md. He remains chief engineer. Robert Senter, who has been treasurer/chief financial officer, now also will be a vice president.
Dassault Aviation's Falcon 7X long-range business jet has entered service with delivery to Gilbert Chagoury, the first customer to sign for the aircraft in November 2001. The second aircraft has gone to Serge Dassault.
After a decade of pioneering work on Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, UPS aims to reap the benefits later this year by being the first U.S. airline to fly continuous-descent approaches on more than a trial basis. CDAs are promising new procedures that will allow airlines to cut fuel burn, noise and emissions, and they're expected to grow in popularity.
Its defense officials say France is inching closer to joining Sicral-2, a next-generation Italian X-band/EHF satellite system. Engineers are studying a dedicated French payload for the system, which would mean abandoning plans to acquire a third Syracuse 3 satellite.
EasyJet, one of the members of Airbus's next-generation narrow-body study group, last week unveiled its concept of a short-haul aircraft design that has been optimized to reduce environmental impact. The open rotor-powered design is aimed at cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 50%, and oxides of nitrogen by 75%. The notional in-service date is 2015.
Honeywell's ducted-fan Micro Air Vehicle (MAV), a 15-lb. unmanned aerial vehicle small enough to be carried in a backpack, is being introduced into service in Iraq in a bid to improve detection of improvised explosive devices.
NGRAIN's Portable Maintenance Aid (PMA) uses 3D equipment simulations to accelerate damage assessment, parts ordering and access to technical manuals to improve maintenance turn-time and quality of task performance by at least 30%, according to the company. The PMA is deployed on ruggedized PDAs, tablet PCs and laptops, or can be integrated with existing embedded logistics systems to allow technicians to inspect a vehicle or aircraft using an intuitive 3D virtual model of the equipment.
Jeffrey B. Harris has been named senior vice president/chief operating officer of AirNet Systems, Columbus, Ohio. He was senior vice president-bank services.
Airbus CEO Louis Gallois wants to call a meeting of airframe and engine makers to establish joint research and technology efforts aimed at improving the industry's environmental performance. Gallois also has set goals for Airbus to reduce its own pollution, including cutting water usage by 80% and waste production and carbon dioxide emissions by 50% each. Financial savings will be reinvested into eco-efficiency projects, he promises.
Michael Bragg, associate dean for research and administrative affairs and professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has been named to receive the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' 2007 Aerodynamics Award in late June. Other winners will be: Fluid Dynamics Award, Ronald Adrian, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Arizona State University; Plasmadynamics and Lasers Award, George W.
Thai Airways International has accepted its first Airbus A340-500 equipped with Lufthansa Systems' Lido electronic navigation charts, as it moves to equip its fleet of 40 Airbus and 50 Boeing aircraft with electronic flight bags. Thai has been using paper charts from Lufthansa Systems since late last year. The Lido eRouteManual database provides taxiway displays for airports, approach and takeoff charts, and a seamless worldwide route chart.
Robert Sutherland has become senior vice president-global sales and marketing at Sermatech International, Pottstown, Pa. He was vice president- sales and marketing at Zolo Technologies Inc., Boulder, Colo.
