Raytheon has received an FAA experimental airworthiness certificate for its third unmanned aircraft--a 10-ft. wingspan, 9-ft.-long design called Cobra. It is a first for unmanned aircraft of that small size class. Company officials say the idea is to provide cheap, reliable, quick-to-build unman- ned aircraft systems with network-centric intelligence-gathering and surveillance capabilities.
This electro-optical spot image of a U.S. Navy Los Angeles-class submarine in dry dock at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is one of a group taken from the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that recently were declassified by the U.S. Navy. The submarine was photographed from the UAV while it was flying at more than 60,000 ft. Global Hawk executed four missions for the U.S. Navy's 2006 Rim of the Pacific exercise. The UAV's standard integrated sensor suite was used to snap this image.
Italy's defense budget plan for next year will see the first real increase in spending in several years, allowing the military to shore up important modernization programs. But the gain will not be enough to support some of the military's main intelligence and surveillance aspirations. In fact, the basic 2007 budget submission itself is doing little to reverse declines that have affected the military since 2003, showing only a 2% rise. As in past years, the spending proposal represents about 0.82% of gross domestic product.
TAM has placed an order for four Boeing 777-300ERs, with options for another four. Previously an all-Airbus customer, the airline also took on immediate capacity by leasing three MD-11s from Boeing. Delivery of the first 777 is planned in mid-2008, while the MD-11s will enter service within the next six months. TAM will operate the aircraft in a three-class configuration with about 370 seats.
Montreal-based simulator-maker Mechtronix Systems Inc. and Minnesota-based flight simulation software specialist Aerosim Technologies will produce the full-flight trainer (FFT) used by Boeing subsidiary Alteon Training for its Multi-Crew Pilot License program, set to enter beta testing in Brisbane, Australia (see p. 48). The Aerosim-Mechtronix FFT resembles the Boeing 737-800 that Alteon's MPL course is built on.
CIT Aerospace, which manages 300 commercial, regional and business aircraft, has ordered five Boeing 787-8s for delivery beginning in 2012. The deal raises Boeing's orders and commitment count to 455 for the 787, which is to enter service in May 2008.
US Airways may consider the Boeing 787 as part of its long-term fleet plans even though the carrier is a launch customer for the Airbus A350. The airline previously expected to take delivery of the first A350 in 2012, but with an impending extensive redesign, that schedule likely will slip. President Scott Kirby last week warned Airbus the A350 order "is up in the air and we can consider other alternatives."
Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) is going to be out of a job next year, even if he wins re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives next week. That's because his time is up as chairman of the House aviation subcommittee.
The Italian government has given a go-ahead to Piaggio Aero Industries to upgrade the finance ministry's P166-DPI maritime surveillance aircraft. The green light followed successful acceptance of a prototype. The overhaul of the aircraft includes the installation of the Galileo Avionica Atos lightweight mission system.
Scott Selle has been named president of EADS North America's Frederick, Md.-based Fairchild Controls Corp. subsidiary. He was director of component aftermarket services for Honeywell Aerospace.
Three-term Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) is running for re-election as an "independent Democrat" after losing his party's primary in August, so even if he succeeds, his influence in the new Congress remains in question. Impacts ripple across the submarine business, eastern Connecticut's biggest employer. If Lieberman wins as expected, and if Democrats control the Senate, he could head the Senate Armed Services airland subcommittee and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
The U.K. prerequisite that it be able to "independently" support and verify stealth aspects of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is high on the agenda for crucial meetings between senior British and American officials and industry executives.
There was a time when the U.S. didn't have or need a national policy on space. The idea was to catch up with the Soviet Union's first steps in low Earth orbit, surpass its developing capabilities and be first to put men on the Moon and bring them back.
John Prater is pledging use of strong tactics to restore pilot contracts and the profession as the eighth president of the Air Line Pilots Assn. Prater, a Boeing 767 captain, defeated current President Duane E. Woerth, 24,444-23,524. Prater takes office Jan. 1.
Sergio Vetrella, president of Italian Space Agency ASI and the Italian Center for Aerospace Research (CIRA), will remain at the helm of CIRA, but he has stepped down as head of ASI with the recent change of government. It remains to be seen who Research Minister Fabio Mussi will select to replace Vetrella, or even if Mussi will be tasked to do so because the government may name someone from outside the ministry to perform a top-down ASI reorganization.
Twin NASA/European Stereo solar imaging spacecraft are in the first of four loops from Earth to the orbit of the Moon and back. They are being maneuvered to set up low-altitude lunar flybys that will hurtle them far from Earth for the first 3D imaging of the coronal mass ejections that almost daily blast billions of tons of material off the Sun.
The U.S. Army has established a secretive initiative--Task Forrce ODIN--to provide an integrated array of sensors and weaponized platforms for commanders in the field to tackle the improvised explosive device problem in Iraq. The panoply of systems could include existing systems, modifications and, possibly, new ones. Among those discussed are the I-Gnat UAV and modifications to C-12 aircraft.
USAF Brig. Gen. David L. Stringer Commander (Arnold Engineering Development Center, Tullahoma, Tenn.)
Pierre Sparaco kindly, but incorrectly, credits Arnold Engineering Development Center with the lead for the Assured Fuels Initiative (AW&ST Oct. 16, p. 71). This Fischer-Tropsch synthetic fuel test series is led by Air Force Research Laboratory with Air Force Flight Test Center, Oklahoma Air Logistics Center and AEDC as the biggest hands-on participants.
Marta Brito Perez has been nominated to become chief human capital officer of the U.S. Homeland Security Dept. She was head of the federal Office of Personnel Management's Human Capital Leadership and Merit System Div.
Swiss International Air Lines has seen healthy earnings growth through the first nine months, with results reaching 199 million Swiss francs ($159 million) up from 24 million Swiss francs. Operating revenue was up 11% to 3 billion Swiss francs.
Daniel Tharp has been named general manager for the Vought Aircraft facility in Nashville, Tenn. He was head of aerostructures at the Bombardier Aerospace facility in Wichita, Kan.
NASA's space operations organization and the solar and space physics community will need better coordination to protect crews from space radiation once astronauts start spending extended periods on the Moon and in transit to other bodies, the National Research Council warns. For now, predicting solar activity and space weather is hampered by poor understanding of how the Sun affects the heliosphere and the environments of Earth and Mars, according to the report.
