Ahmed M. Metwalli has been appointed president/chief operating officer of First Aviation Services Inc. subsidiary Aerospace Products International, Memphis, Tenn. He has been vice president/ general manager of Lockheed Martin Aircraft and Logistics Centers Co.
Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is proposing to help develop India's titanium mining industry as a novel way of meeting its obligatory offset requirements. As it looks for sales of its F/A-18E/Fs, P-8As, T-45 Goshawks and Harpoon missiles in India, Boeing IDS will have to commit to 30% investment of contract value in India as laid out in the country's Defense Procurement Policy.
William Weaver has been appointed president of DeCrane Aerospace subsidiary PATS Aircraft, Georgetown, Del. He will remain president of Hollingsead International Inc., Ventura, Calif.
Europe signals it might review elements of the certification fees and charges system that has elicited strong criticism from aircraft makers globally. But European officials caution that drastic changes to the much-reviled rate structure are not likely anytime soon.
The B-52 is 50 years old, still flying, planned to be kept in service for another 10 years, and no other country has an equal! And yet, billions of dollars are being spent on the F-22, an aircraft that no other country has or will have an equal based on the cost. Despite these expenditures, the "old" technological aircraft, F-14 Tomcats and F/A-18 Hornets, are types that no other country has or will have the equal. Why are we building F-22s when we can provide the same military hardware that, based on the B-52, can last for a long time.
A tantalizing early picture of the way humans can explore and settle the Solar System emerges from a key pair of documents drafted by lunar scientists and representatives of 14 space agencies. Driven first by the pristine scientific artifact the Moon represents, and later by a high-tech version of the horse-trading and barter that typifies frontier societies, human explorers and their robotic helpers from many nations will expand Earth's culture beyond today's toehold in low Earth orbit (LEO).
Urs Stulz has been appointed managing director of cargo for Europe for Swiss International Air Lines' Swiss WorldCargo. He was director of cargo for Switzerland and succeeds Hans Nilsson, who has resigned.
USN Rear Adm. (lower half) (select) James C. Grunewald has been named commander of Patrol and Reconnaissance Fifth/Seventh Fleet, Misawa, Japan. He has been deputy director of the Air Warfare Div. in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington.
The French defense armaments agency has contracted with Thales to lead an advanced research project into laser power for military uses. Thales is working with France's Manlight, a business with expertise in fiber-lasers, on the €11-million effort. Laser applications are aimed at jamming, target designation, range-finding and active imaging.
John Brooks has been named vice president-international business development for the Northrop Grumman Corp., El Segundo, Calif., and president of Northrop Grumman International Inc. He was director of business development in the company's Washington office and for its Air Force and Air National Guard programs.
Airborne mission equipment supplier Skyquest Aviation of the U.K. will supply and support a range of multi-function displays, rugged video recorders and video distribution systems for the AgustaWestland A109 and AW139 helicopters.
Austin Shontz has been appointed vice president-Savannah (Ga.) operations and final phase engineering for Gulfstream Aerospace. He held a similar position at its Long Beach, Calif., facility.
At the heart of Phoenix lander science capabilities are two highly complex mini-laboratories for the analysis of Martian soil, water and ice. Each unit has numerous moving parts and mechanisms to deliver Martian samples to baking ovens or wet cells that will bring them in contact with spectrometer transport gases and ultra-pure Earthly water to determine soil chemistry.
John Goglia is a former member of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. He is affiliated with DA Aviation Technology Solutions, a consultant on safety and FAA policy issues to the Engineered Arresting Systems Corp. (ESCO), the Aston, Pa., developer of EMAS.
The proposed takeover of Portugalia by its larger rival, TAP, has received regulatory clearance by the Portuguese competition authority. The assessment is still undergoing a final review, but should be set in stone this week. TAP had to make some concessions.
President Bush and Russian President Putin will discuss Iran, civil nuclear cooperation and probably the source of Russia's greatest political heartburn, missile defense, when Putin visits the Bush family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, July 1-2, according to White House representatives. "Cooperation between the United States and Russia is important in solving regional conflicts, stopping the spread of weapons of mass destruction and combating terrorism and extremism," says one official. But Russia continues to vociferously oppose a U.S.
Alden A. Andre has been named FJ44 engine retrofit sales manager for Clifford Development, Kalamazoo, Mich. He was sales manager for Sierra Industries.
USAF Brig. Gen. Andrew E. Busch has been named commander of Defense Supply Center-Richmond (Va.) of the Defense Logistics Agency. He has been commander of the 402nd Maintenance Wing, Warner Robins Air Logistics Center of Air Force Materiel Command, Robins AFB, Ga. Brig. Gen. Stephen L. Hoog has been appointed commander of the 57th Wing of Air Combat Command (ACC), Nellis AFB, Nev. He has been commander of the Coalition Air Force Transition Team, U.S. Central Command/director of the air component coordination element, Multi-National Force-Iraq. Brig. Gen.
Sagem's attempts to forge an alliance with Thales in inertial navigation systems center primarily on the commercial aircraft market (AW&ST May 28, p. 46). The global market for INS is dominated by Honeywell.
The Defense Dept.'s plan to create a combatant command for Africa faces numerous challenges, including what neighbors in the region will say about increasing U.S. presence on the newly strategic continent, according to a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report. Those neighbors include France, long a military and economic power in Africa, and China, which is pouring money and manpower into the continent as part of a worldwide quest for resources, customers and partners. Africa Command (Africom), the sixth U.S.
Russia tested improved strategic and tactical missile systems last week, amid continuing political sniping over U.S. plans to site forward elements of its missile defense system in Europe. Russia launched what was described as the RS-24 intercontinental ballistic missile from Plesetsk, while an improved variant of the army's Iskander system, known as Iskander-M, was tested at the Kapustin Yar range. The latter development appears to allow the Iskander system to launch not only short-range ballistic but also cruise missiles.
Montreal-based CAE reported net earnings of C$34.3 million ($32 million) in its fourth quarter, and C$127.4 million for the fiscal year, which ended Mar. 31. This compared with previous fourth-quarter net earnings of C$9.2 million and C$63.6 million for the last fiscal year. The simulator maker, which had C$93.6 million in cash at year-end, received C$1.455 billion worth of new orders in the year, for a total backlog of $C2.775 billion. Orders included seven civil-sector full-flight simulators, bringing the backlog to 34 (10 Airbus, 22 Boeing, one Embraer and one ATR).
Lockheed Martin has begun assembly of the first short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing version of the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, and is scheduled to start mating the wing and aft fuselage to the airframe this month. Designated as BF-1, the F-35B is tentatively scheduled to make its first flight in mid-2008, according to company officials.
The space shuttle Atlantis is poised for a June 8 launch carrying the first set of 240-ft. solar arrays for the starboard side of the International Space Station. The crew will also complete retraction of the station's center arrays. STS-117 was to have launched in mid-March until a hailstorm severely damaged the insulation on the nose of its 155-ft. external tank (AW&ST Mar. 5, p. 53). A Herculean effort by NASA and contractor technicians repaired the tank at Kennedy, preserving the ability to loft four missions this year.
Malaysian Airline System says it plans to buy as many as 110 aircraft, including 55 widebodies. While the company is giving no other details, it has said it needs to replace its 39 Boeing 737-400s. MAS's financial performance continues to improve, with a January-March profit of 133 million ringgit ($38.6 million), compared with a loss of 321 million ringgit a year ago.
