BAE Systems has landed two contracts worth $80 million for production of 29,000 day/night, all-weather thermal weapons sights for a range of individual and crew-served weapons which brings the program total to $285 million. The company also received National Security Agency Mode 5 certification for three of its Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) products, becoming the first Defense Dept. contractor to do so. The company is under contract with the U.S. Army and Navy for low-rate initial production of Mode 5 systems and installation on ship- and airborne platforms.
The European Union is refining rules governing its air transport system, with changes due for both how airports and the European Aviation Safety Agency operate. As part of the EU's air transport sector evolution, the European Commission (EC) last week called for a much anticipated proposal on regulating airport charges, as well as on how capacity is governed.
The German government is eyeing modernization of its aging VIP transport fleet, with a contractual decision due this year. The air force currently operates six Challenger CL-601 for those missions, but in recent months the government has realized it needs a replacement. Rather than fielding a common aircraft type, two large aircraft with a 48-seat-capacity, and four smaller, business-jet sized aircraft that can accommodate 12 persons, are being sought, according to a Defense Ministry official.
An Italian air force Boeing KC-767 tanker last week used the aircraft's fifth-generation, fly-by-wire boom to make a series of contacts, without pumping fuel, with a B-52. The system is designed to deliver up to 900 gal./min. despite simplified construction to cut costs and improve reliability. Additional tests will include refueling a variety of aircraft and exercising the entire system. Data from the tests are to be used in designing the boom that will be offered to USAF for its KC-X tanker competition.
France's Corot planet-finding mission has sent back initial images from its high-precision afocal photometric telescope, which was designed to detect Earth-like planets orbiting other stars in our galaxy that previous space- and ground-based instruments have been unable to see (AW&ST Jan. 1, p. 35). The operation, which followed removal of the telescope's protective cover on Jan. 17, produced views "equal in quality to simulated imagery," says Michel Auvergne, an astrophysicist at the Observatory of Paris-Meudon who is lead scientist for the mission.
Singapore Airlines is now the world's most valuable airline, having finally overtaken longtime leader Southwest. The share price and market capitalization of SIA have marched 40% higher over the past year, while Southwest's value has stagnated. And the dollar's drop has made the baton-change decisive: SIA was valued at $14.3 billion last week, 16% more than Southwest.
Fernando Conte, who is chairman/ chief executive of Iberia, has been elected chairman of the Belgium-based Assn. of European Airlines for 2007. He succeeds Wolfgang Mayrhuber, who is CEO of Lufthansa.
The FAA in the coming months will be evaluating whether to follow the International Civil Aviation Organization and allow one pilot over 60, most likely the captain, to share the controls of airliners.
The possibility that Italy may launch military reconnaissance and communications satellites on U.S. or Russian boosters is forcing Europe to take a new look at launch policy. Space ministers agreed in December 2005 to give the Ariane 5, Vega and a Europeanized version of the Soyuz rocket preference in launching European Space Agency satellites (AW&ST Dec. 12, 2005, p. 67). However, the agreement does not cover other international organizations, such as the European Commission and Eumetsat, or the national projects of ESA nations.
The fact that China has tested an anti-satellite weapon in space--news that we broke on our web site Jan. 17 and analyze in the magazine this week (see p. 26) and last--should not have come as a surprise. While the precise timing of the test may have startled most of the world--maybe up to the highest reaches of the central government in Beijing--the People's Liberation Army has been signaling its intent to master the space realm for more than a decade.
Now that U.S. airlines are back in the black, Congress is back in the business of suggesting--sometimes mildly, sometimes not--things the carriers can spend money on. Talk of a passenger bill of rights, not heard much since the airline economy soured in 2001, surfaces in the House.
Space Systems/Loral already has two new contracts in 2007. Intelsat has picked the Palo Alto, Calif.-based manufacturer to build Intelsat 14, a high-power C- and K u-band communications link intended to begin serving the Western Hemisphere, Europe and Africa after 2009. And EchoStar will buy a new direct-to-home broadcast satellite from SS/L. Both EchoStar XIV and Intelsat 14 will be based on the SS/L 1300 spacecraft bus. Intelsat 14 will be sent to the orbital slot at 45 deg. W. Long. now occupied by the PAS-1R satellite, which it will replace.
If a form letter will sway a U.S. Transportation Dept. certification proceeding, Virgin America is in excellent shape. The would-be U.S. airline orchestrated more than 6,000 letters to the department in the first few days following its offer to change its application to overcome concerns about whether it is owned and controlled sufficiently by U.S. citizens (AW&ST Jan. 22, p. 16).
The Russian air force is beginning to take delivery of new airframes as part of a realistic modernization plan which also sees upgrades to in-service aircraft. By the end of 2006, the air force had received a few dozen upgraded combat aircraft and helicopters. While modest, this figure is impressive considering that the previous decade had seen no renewal of the combat aircraft inventory.
Boeing has revealed that GE Commercial Aviation Services (Gecas) was responsible for ordering 39 aircraft that the manufacturer listed late last year on its unannounced list. The order capped a good sales year for Boeing from the leasing company, which signed up for a total of 69 aircraft. The latest order carries a list-price value of $5.34 billion and mixes seven 777-300ERs, eight 777 Freighters and 24 737-800s. The deliveries begin in 2008 and extend for two years. Gecas President/CEO Henry Hubschman said most of the aircraft were not ordered on speculation.
The second of NASA's twin Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatories (Stereo) spacecraft has used a gravity assist from the Moon to move into orbit around the Sun, setting up the first 3D images of the Sun as early as April. Stereo "B" flew within 5,468 mi. of the lunar surface Jan. 21 and headed into a heliocentric orbit that will take it behind that of Earth while the "A" spacecraft moves ahead.
Trash generated by U.S. airlines and airports, equal to a year's waste stream of a large American city, is dumped into landfills or burned in incinerators. About 20% of the wastepaper, aluminum cans, plastic and food is recycled, a percentage lower than the U.S.'s relatively poor recycling rate of 31% of the total amount of waste.
The Navy is retrofitting its Standoff Land-Attack Missile (SLAM) to operate on a new frequency. The missile was among government systems operating on a portion of the L-band spectrum that was auctioned by the federal government to mobile communications companies. Cost of the project is $110 million, according to the Navy. The change affects SLAM and SLAM-ER.
The Pentagon has endowed the defunct Joint Common Missile, which was mired with fits and starts of support from the Army and Navy, with a new name for its rebirth in the Fiscal 2008 budget. Both services are expected to include procurement funding in their upcoming spending plans for the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile, which will replace a host of existing programs, including air-launched TOW, Hellfire and Maverick missiles. JCM was terminated in the Fiscal 2006 budget request, but supportive Pentagon civilians reviewed the program and moved it forward.
NASA is considering an unmanned reprise of the 1968 Apollo 8 lunar mission to test thermal protection and other systems on the Orion crew exploration vehicle, using an interim "Ares IV" variant of NASA's planned crew launch vehicle.
Northrop Grumman also recently garnered two U.S. Army contracts, the first, via the General Service Administration, to provide an integrated Defense Dept. biometrics solution to integrate the service's global biometrics effort. The company's IT sector will administer program management, systems engineering and support under the $75-million award.
The Air Force's C-130 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) development, managed by Boeing, is "experiencing significant cost and schedule growth," according to Pentagon budget documents. The Air Force plans to strip $168.4 million from procurement funding, decreasing the number of kits bought, to backfill development. The program has never been far from controversy.
International Space Station crewmembers are unpacking a fresh Russian Progress cargo capsule, which made an automated rendezvous and docking at the station's Russian-side Pirs docking compartment Jan. 19. Progress 24 delivered more than 2.5 tons of supplies, including 1,720 lb. of propellant for the station's Russian thrusters and 110 lb. of oxygen. The rendezvous antenna on the Progress automatically retracted as planned when the vehicle was within the final 50 meters (164 ft.) of its approach. That didn't happen on Progress 23, which docked Oct. 23 (AW&ST Oct.
To those clamoring for changing airline pilot retirement age to 65, I say why stop there? If 60 is wrong, so is 65, or 70! Healthy is healthy! No cheating with mandatory age pairings to keep a younger eye on the old-timer, either. When you eventually board a jumbo jet piloted by two of the most senior great-grandfathers at the airline, you will finally have what you're asking for--affirmative action for the aged trumping safety.
