USAF needs another $100 billion over the next five years to recapitalize its aging fleet and cover rising fuel and personnel costs, Lt. Gen. Arthur J. Lichte, assistant vice chief of staff, told an investor audience in New York. Lichte says the average age of Air Force aircraft is now a record 24 years. His appeal echoes a public campaign by the U.S. Army for additional funding.
It has taken 45 years, but the view that first thrilled Yuri Gagarin as his Vostok 1 capsule coasted through the black sky of space will soon be available to anyone with enough moxie and money to buy a ticket.
China was due to launch a second geostationary weather satellite Dec. 8, and will send up a Sun-synchronous meteorological spacecraft in the second half of next year. The satellite scheduled for this month--Fengyun 2D--will extend the coverage of Fengyun 2C, which is already in geosynchronous orbit, and each will act as a backup for the other, the country's meteorological office says. (Fengyun means "wind and cloud.") Next year's launch will put into orbit the "second-generation" Fengyun 3 satellite, state media report.
U.S. Air Force Reserve Commander Lt. Gen. John Bradley says he's worried about the U.S.'s strategic airlift capability, given the current procurement cap on the C-17 program. "We have about the same amount of C-5s that we have had for a number of years, but we got rid of 280 C-141s," Bradley says. The Air Force has congressional approval to buy 190 C-17s, but Boeing has repeatedly threatened to shut the production line down if it doesn't receive more firm order commitments each year.
Michael A. Taverna (Paris), Douglas Barrie (London)
Britain's space industry is calling for additional funding to secure its future as the government finalizes its long-term spending plans. Although a big across-the-board increase is ruled out, space contractors want the government to boost funding across several key areas thought to be crucial to the industry's long-term survival. The aim is to inscribe the upward adjustment in the next comprehensive spending review (CSR), setting out its departmental spending from 2008-11, which is due to be published by mid-2007.
Internal squabbling at Safran over strategy, including troubled cell-phone operations, could lead to a change at the helm. In an interview in Parisian weekly La Tribune last week, French finance minister Thierry Breton said the government, which owns 30% of the aero-engine/system and defense contractor, will address the issue at a meeting of the supervisory board on Dec. 12. The long-running dispute has already cost the jobs of executive board member Gregoire Olivier and Jacques Paccard, who headed Sagem's Defense & Security Div. (AW&ST Nov. 6, p. 23).
The Air Line Pilots Assn. has won an unusual legal bout with Astar Air Cargo over whether the pilots were planning a wildcat strike. A U.S. District Court in Dayton, Ohio, has ordered Astar to pay court costs and attorney fees related to a temporary restraining order issued Nov. 15 that forced an end to picketing at the Astar/DHL hub at Wilmington, Ohio. ALPA argued that Astar wrongfully sought a restraining order on the basis of a groundless rumor that ALPA was intending to conduct a wildcat strike.
The first of four C-17 Globemasters that Australia is buying arrived in the country Dec. 4. The A$2-billion ($1.6-billion) C-17 program is the most off-the-shelf deal conceivable, in contrast to troubled procurement plans that have derailed as local contractors struggle to meet special requirements from the Australian military: the country has taken aircraft right off the U.S. Air Force production run. This allowed the RAAF to receive the first aircraft only nine months after committing to the program, with the remainder due by 2008.
Rolls-Royce in the next few months will firm up design and supply-chain issues for the TrentXWB to power the Airbus A350. By then, it should also be clear what competition the engine maker will face on the new twin widebody.
WHILE IT MIGHT TAKE ONLY ONE MAN-YEAR to write software code that can be certified to the FAA's DO-178B Level A standard for avionics, it could take 6-10 man-years of effort to complete certification, depending on how familiar software engineers are with RTCA/DO-178B processes. Gurjot Singh, CEO and president of San Jose, Calif.-based LynuxWorks Inc., says it could easily cost $6-10 million to certify software that cost just $1 million to develop.
The U.S. and France plan to conclude a broad-ranging space cooperation agreement, setting down mutual responsibilities and liabilities in the many areas in which they collaborate. The pact, to be signed next month, is intended to facilitate cooperation by replacing multiple ad-hoc accords.
William B. Scott's article "Contract of Trust" seemed to imply that the Blue Angels represent something unique or special in the military (AW&ST Nov. 13, p. 48). If that were the case, they would be nothing more than the equivalent of an expensive and thrilling high-wire circus act. Fortunately, they are much more.
Lou Nemeth has been named vice president-training delivery and standards for Montreal-based CAE's commercial aviation training business. He was a line pilot, instructor pilot, pilot training manager and courseware developer for US Airways.
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) scientists have developed a process for training common honeybees to detect vapors emitted by TNT, C 4 and other explosives and propellants. By harnessing their exceptional olfactory sense, honeybees could alert troops to the presence of deadly improvised explosive devices in combat zones, the researchers believe. The "proboscis extension reflex"--analogous to a bee sticking out its tongue--is a natural response to nectar.
The compelling evidence that water exists on the surface of Mars discovered by Mars Global Surveyor will focus new robotic and manned exploration strategies for the planet. Most immediately, it could accelerate development of a rover that would be the first U.S. spacecraft in 30 years geared specifically to search for alien life.
Regarding G. Scott Hubbard's Viewpoint (AW&ST Nov. 20, p. 70), through treaties or its unsurpassed military might, the U.S. government should back up private title to portions of the Moon. Providing clear title to any private entity willing to colonize, a grant would be a powerful incentive toward long-term colonization of the Moon. Its poles contain most of the known water on those bodies. The motivation for the companies that pursue the goal and capitalize would be the attainment of water rights at the poles.
Michael A. Heffron has been appointed president of BAE Systems Electronics and Integrated Solutions, Nashua, N.H., effective Jan. 1. He will succeed Walt Havenstein, who has been named prresident/CEO of BAE Systems in the U.S. Havenstein will succeed Mark Ronald, who will be retiring.
Britain's Atomic Weapons Establishment is to examine the country's present nuclear warhead to determine whether its life can be extended or if a successor weapon should be developed. The U.K. last week said it intended to participate in the U.S. Trident D5 Life Extension (LE) program and to develop a new ballistic missile submarine to maintain its strategic nuclear deterrent. This will replace the Vanguard class of ballistic missile submarine by the mid-2020s.
An "Integrated Stage 2" for AirLaunch's QuickReach rocket was installed recently in a vertical stand at the company's Mojave, Calif., test site in preparation for liquid-oxygen and propane cold-flow testing. A series of short- and full-duration firing tests will follow shortly, according to AirLaunch officials. By October, the company had completed 32 engine firings on a horizontal test stand, validating the rocket's vapor pressurization system. The air-launched QuickReach booster is part of the U.S.
Regarding your Air Transport story "Tough Love" (AW&ST Nov. 20, p. 35) which detailed the US Airways ramp and equipment issues at Philadelphia International Airport, while a problem for this carrier, it is not the major operational issue facing the airlines that operate there.
Stephen Cambone, undersecretary of Defense for intelligence and a Donald Rumsfeld protege, says he will resign at the end of the year. The hatchet man for Rumsfeld's transformation policy, Cambone became a lightning rod for many unhappy military program officials.
Success begets success. After the Air Force showed its first Space-Based Infrared System (Sbirs) sensor images from a highly elliptical orbit last month, senior civilians at the Pentagon are agreeing to provide additional funding for more sensors and satellites, according to industry and Defense Dept. sources. Program Decision Memorandum No. 4, which should be out by Dec.
Globalstar is proceeding with plans to deploy a second-generation satellite voice/data network, the latest in a growing crop of hybrid broadband mobile satellite systems, and the first in low Earth orbit.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) will be the first carrier operating with an FAA-approved weather radar that automatically alerts pilots of imminent encounters with turbulence. Both passengers and crew have been injured on flights in which jetliners experience sudden, and sometimes violent, movements at altitude due to turbulence. The risk of such injuries is apt to be lower on aircraft that have the FAA-approved radar.
Peter Flory has become NATO assistant secretary general for defense investment. He was assistant U.S. Defense secretary for international security policy.
