Midwest Airlines' efforts to fend off a hostile takeover were weakened after AirTran Airways was able to get its three nominees--John Albertine, Jeffery Erikson and Charles Kalmback--elected to Midwest's nine-member board of directors. Even before the results of the shareholder vote were tallied, Midwest's current board opted to finally let AirTran formally make its case to the group. No date has been set for AirTran to make its presentation.
Crane Aerospace & Electronics' new Digital Switch Matrix family provides switching for high data rate emitters coupled logic (ECL) signals up to 300 Mbps. or for the lower data rate of RS-422 signals. The matrices are configured to accommodate up to 144 inputs/144 outputs (which can be distributed among clock and data signals). They provide full fan-out operation, allowing each input to be routed to any or all outputs simultaneously, and are non-blocking, making them well suited for large data routing installations, according to the company.
When Israeli forces moved into Lebanon last year in an effort to quell attacks by Hezbollah paramilitary forces there, the radio traffic associated with the action was monitored by a Special Electronic Mission Aircraft (SEMA), a specially modified business jet, circuiting well overhead.
NASA's planned competition for the cryogenic upper stage of the Ares I crew launch vehicle has spurred some risk-reduction spending among contenders for the $900-million production contract. Lockheed Martin is building a sample of the bulkhead dome separating fuel and oxidizer in the stage, using friction stir welding on thin aluminum plates and new inspection techniques, while teammate ATK is developing new vehicle-health monitoring systems and installing them in large composite test articles.
The U.S. Navy is planning to field its first organic airborne mine countermeasures (AMCM) capability this fall with the introduction of the first of five of the MH-60S’s key mine-hunting components into the fleet by year-end. The AN/AQS-20 Mine Hunting Sonar system is nearing completion of its technical evaluation phase and will be dispatched to the fleet by the end of the year. The device, designed by Raytheon, will be towed behind the MH-60S and is used to detect mines in deep water.
Boeing has finally secured Aeroflot's 787 order, with the Russian carrier opting for 22 of the aircraft, the same number of Airbus A350s it plans to buy. To secure the deal, Boeing has agreed to establish a joint working group with Russia's United Aircraft Corp. to look at cooperative research, design, development and manufacturing of commercial aircraft.
Lockheed Martin has set up a new, larger customer support center in Shalimar, Fla., to assist its nearby Air Force Special Ops Command customer at Hurlburt Field. More than 20 company personnel may be assigned to the 5,000-sq.-ft. facility in the coming months.
Europe's aerospace and defense industry finds itself experiencing mixed blessings at this point in time--a strong business and a raft of headaches to accompany this state. On the one hand, civil order books are booming and companies are building record backlogs. On the other hand, structural hurdles abound, such as the dwindling value of the dollar and emerging rivals in Asia. Charles Edelstenne, in his capacity as chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation and as an advocate for the European industry at large, lives with these stresses daily.
Michael Rudolphi (see photo) has been named vice president-site operations and integration in Huntsville, Ala., for Minneapolis-based Alliant Techsystems. He was director of engineering at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.
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.
