It's now official. Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $1.046-billion contract add-on to provide the U.S. Air Force with 23 F-22s and one replacement test aircraft as part of the Lot 6 full production contract. Work is to be completed by February 2010.
Samuel D. Wyman, 3rd, has been named vice president and USCG Vice Adm. (ret.) Terry Cross director of homeland security programs for EADS North America, Arlington, Va. Wyman was a member of The Spectrum Group and was president of the Harris Corp.'s Microwave Communications Div. Cross was USCG vice commandant.
Indonesia will buy six Sukhoi fighters to add to its two Su-27SKs and two Su-30MKMs, Air Force Chief of Staff Marshal Herman Prayitno says, looking forward to the creation of a full squadron. The fighters are part of a $1-billion deal that also includes two Kilo submarines, five transport helicopters and four attack helicopters, with deliveries from 2007-10, the Antara news agency reports. A Russian loan will pay for the equipment.
The Canadian air force has ordered four EDO Corp. AN/PLM-4 flight-line test units for $2.4 million. The test units simulate enemy radar signals and allow pilots to verify that their aircraft's self-defense electronics are working properly.
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London and Washington are exploring British ambitions to provide greater technical input into the nonnuclear payload and systems of any Trident-based successor to the country's nuclear deterrent.
Johannes Bussmann has been appointed senior vice president-aircraft component services and Andreas Heizner senior vice president-aircraft overhaul for Lufthansa Technik in Hamburg. Bussmann was vice president-marketing and sales, and succeeds Uwe Mukrasch, who is now chief executive of human resources and information management. Heizner was president/CEO of Lufthansa Technik Philippines in Manila. He succeeds Andreas Meisel, who has become general manager of Ameco Beijing.
MARKET FOCUS Moog stock success helps price realize its upside potential 12 NEWS BREAKS Boeing Delta II launches modernized GPS satellite 20 Officials try to downplay concerns over acquisition of Aero Vodochody 21 Royal Malaysian Air Force orders eight MB-339CM trainer aircraft 22 WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS Lebanon fighting produced information warfare coup for Hezbollah and Iran 26 Fusing of mission systems key to fighter's combat effectiveness 28
I once worked for a bureaucracy whose upper management was inclined to put out messages such as "there will be no more collisions at sea," and other inanities that contributed nothing to solving problems. The "Close Calls" article has a similar ring to it. Without question, horrific accidents require immediate action to prevent recurrence and determine responsibility. FAA and NTSB all too often respond with new regulations when someone did not follow existing ones.
The launch of the HEO-2 second Space Based Infrared System (Sbirs) High test payload is likely to occur from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., on board a Lockheed Martin Atlas V currently scheduled for early April 2007. This will be the first launch of an Atlas V Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle from Vandenberg. The mission is designated National Reconnaissance Office 28 (NRO-28), since the HEO-2 sensor will be carried aloft with an NRO host satellite, most likely an NRO data-relay satellite, as with the HEO-1 mission.
Airbus will appeal a French judge's decision holding the aircraft maker liable for damages in the 1992 Air Inter A320 crash in St. Odile which killed 87 people. The court dismissed charges brought by families of the crash victims against six individuals, but upheld liability against Airbus and Air France, which has taken over Air Inter. Air France has not determined yet if it will also appeal the ruling.
Three years after it began studying the complexities of a moving assembly line for its big twin-engine 777s, Boeing has begun the process at the company's wide-body aircraft headquarters in Everett, Wash., north of Seattle. The process will be phased in. Initially, the line is moving at 1.6 in. per minute, and only after the wing-body join is complete and the landing gear have been installed. So the moving assembly line is focused on systems installation, not the major structural buildup.
NATO member nations are likely to increase cost-sharing for alliance operations, the State Dept.'s assistant secretary for European and Eurasian affairs, Daniel Freed, tells reporters. One impetus for spreading the burden is the experience of Spain, which was doing its NATO Response Force rotation in 2005 and bore most of the alliance's financial burden for Pakistan earthquake relief. If countries doing their rotations must cover all costs themselves, they might be less willing to participate, Freed says.
Boeing has found that once the Defense Dept.'s adaptation of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) technology for weapons systems moves past the concept stage it runs into some practical hurdles in design, development and certification. These obstacles range from suppliers' resistance to giving up proprietary data to the Pentagon to the FAA's concern about whether subsystems or components taken from a military jet for refurbishment can re-enter the supply chain in commercial service.
Lockheed Martin has lost its bid to be reinstated in the competition to provide the U.S. Army and Air Force with a Joint Cargo Aircraft. The program could involve up to 100 aircraft worth $5 billion. At least some participants say the decision turned on an Army demand for GATM (Global Air Traffic Management) system capability on the first aircraft. The company's plan was to add it at a later date approved by the Air Force. Lockheed Martin pitched the only four-engine design--a version of its standard body C-130J.
Hezbollah is incapable of penetrating and exploiting the Israeli army's tactical radio systems as it claimed it did during the recent fighting in Lebanon, say senior U.S. electronics industry officials.
Delta Air Lines plans to recall about 700 maintenance technicians next month. The move, following the recent recall of 200 furloughed maintenance workers, indicates the airline's Technical Operations division is strengthening at its core service business, the carrier says.
Swedish defense materiel organization FMV is extending cooperative work between Italy's Selex Sistemi Integrati, Elettronica and Saab on multi-function active electronically scanned array technology. The goal is to have a demonstrator ready by 2010. The new contract, covering the project's second phase, is aimed at defining the system's capability to perform radar, electronic warfare and communication tasks simultaneously. The research may grow into a future joint Italian-Swedish radar program.
Sichuan Airlines has chosen a Rockwell Collins avionics package including the 320-naut.-mi.-range WXR-2100 multi-scan radar for 12 Airbus A319, A320 and A321 aircraft, with an option for 10 more. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in June 2007. The avionics package includes navigation and communications radio equipment. The agreement also covers Rockwell Collins Programmable Audio Video Entertainment Systems.
Petroleum Helicopters is the Sikorsky S-92's first fleet operator to attain 10,000 flight hr. PHI received the first two production aircraft in 2004 and currently flies six S-92s. Two more are scheduled for delivery by the end of the year. The company also operates S-92s for BHP Billiton, a petroleum and mining company in Australia.
Three months ago, Bank of America Securities analyst Robert Stallard upgraded his rating on Moog Inc. to "buy," saying a recent swoon had left shares undervalued and ripe for appreciation. Stallard's forecast was so on target that he recently lowered his rating back to "neutral," saying the stock--up about 25% since late August-- is now fully valued. "Moog is still in good shape," he says, but "further upside potential is limited."
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has selected Rockwell Collins to lead an industry and university team to develop advanced radio designs. The Analog Spectral Processors program would create revolutionary radio technology employing micro electromechanical systems. Its first application would be the Joint Tactical Radio System.
Australia's biggest domestic air routes are stagnant or shrinking, even as the country's domestic system enjoys robust growth, because proliferating budget airlines are bypassing the main hubs. Services linking the eastern cities Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane account for about 33% of Australia's traffic, but their collective business was down 1.3% in the fiscal year to June 30, according to the Transport Dept.'s annual aviation industry review.
Six Muslim clerics were removed from a Phoenix-bound US Airways flight at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 20, detained by police, and questioned by the FBI and other federal agencies before being released at 11 p.m. without being charged. The six men were unable to continue their trip until the following day. US Airways reportedly asked airport police to remove the passengers after another traveler passed a note to the crew commenting on behavior described as suspicious. This behavior allegedly included cursing of U.S.
German aerospace center DLR will establish a space transportation institute in Bremen intended to provide the ability to develop complete space transportation systems. Annual funding is planned at €17.8 million. Johann-Dietrich Woerner will succeed Sigmar Wittig as head of DLR on Mar. 1. Woerner is president of the Technical University of Darmstadt. Wittig, who also chairs the council of the European Space Agency, is retiring after five years at the DLR helm.
