You have had many articles about the travails of the Airbus A380. However, it is unclear from what date the two-year delay will start. On the one hand, I understand the first deliveries will not start until around June 2008, but there will be a small handful of A380s delivered in the second half of 2007. Maybe Airbus does not know when its production problems will be resolved.
Russia is pushing ahead with a significant upgrade to its MiG-31 Foxhound, which is intended to help bolster air defenses in the more remote areas of the country.
A Pentagon official has revealed a bit about how the Air Force is supporting the war in Iraq with electronic warfare. The service keeps four EC-130 Compass Call jamming aircraft in theater, says Brig. Gen. Andrew S. Dichter, Air Force lead for airborne electronic attack. It's "one place in the war we're doing pretty well." Of the four deployed, two are dedicated to the global war on terrorism by jamming, mapping and exploiting communications and "picking up what the enemy is doing." The other two focus on the "pre-detonation of IEDs," Dichter says.
At nearly $70 billion in annual spending and growing, it's about time for defense technology to get the attention it deserves. From the boardroom to the battlefield, we are seeing advanced technology flexing its muscle as the largest and fastest growing component of the global defense industry. It drives supply-chain strategies, interoperability, tech-transfer thinking and real-time decisions in the global war on terror.
In the wake of the recent Lebanon war, one deficiency emerging from after-action reports of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is that its commanders were not trained well enough for what they faced on the battlefield. The IDF now is fielding a solution--a new Tactical Battle Trainer (TBT) from Israel's Elbit Systems. It connects an advanced 3D simulation network to an army battalion's existing battle management systems.
France is seeking to acquire more strike weaponry to help deploy additional resources, including its new Rafale fighter, to assist troops operating in Afghanistan.
The Indian Space Research Organization hopes to develop a human-rated spacecraft that can be orbited by upgrades of one of its existing launch vehicles, and it is rounding up the necessary paperwork for government clearance of a $2.2-billion manned orbital mission in 2014. ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair told a gathering of more than 80 scientists and engineers--including representatives of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.
SES Global reported a 53.9% rise in sales in the third quarter, and a 49.3% jump in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). Most of the increase stemmed from consolidation of New Skies Satellites and ND Satcom, acquired earlier this year, and one-time payments from the termination of Connexion by Boeing and the sale of nine transponders on SES Americom's AMC-23 satellite to SES's Brazilian affiliate Star One. On a like basis, revenues grew 7.6% and EBITDA 8.1% (see p. 14).
Lockheed Martin has received a $3-million U.S. Navy contract to demonstrate its High-Altitude Anti-Submarine Warfare Weapons Concept, or HAAWC, which is designed to deliver the Mk-54 lightweight torpedo from a P-3C aircraft at approximately 20,000 ft. The award follows the recent successful completion of wind tunnel and wing-separation tests using Lockheed Martin's LongShot wing adapter kit. Alan Jackson, the company's HAAWC program director, says the new capability gives the Mk-54 a range well in excess of 10 naut.
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Linda Hudson has been appointed president of BAE Systems Land and Armaments, Rockville, Md., efffective Jan. 1. She has been president of General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, Charlotte, N.C. Hudson will succeed Tom Rabaut, who is retiring.
The U.S. Army and the company iRobot unveiled several prototype unmanned ground vehicles being developed for the service's Future Combat System (FCS) at the annual Assn. of the U.S. Army convention in Washington, Oct. 9-11. But the star of the show was the Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle (SUGV), according to retired Vice Adm. Joe Dyer, president of iRobot's government and industrial division.
Lt. Gen. John F. Kimmons, the U.S. Army's deputy chief of staff for intelligence (G-2), told the annual Assn. of the U.S. Army convention in Washington on Oct. 9 that the service is increasing the number of military intelligence personnel at the brigade and battalion levels and expanding its human intelligence (Humint) capabilities. A total of 7,000 military intelligence soldiers will be added during the next five years.
The U.S. Army Natick Soldier Center announced that its GPS-guided Joint Precision Air Drop System (JPADS) is enabling more accurate aerial delivery of supplies to soldiers in Afghanistan. The system allows pilots to place loads within 50 meters of their intended ground target from altitudes as high as 24,500 ft. and 5 km. away, while giving soldiers on the ground a way to retrieve supplies more easily. JPADS includes the means for self-guided cargo parachutes, military free-fall parachutes, mission planning and weather forecasting.
I am delighted letters accusing AW&ST and others of picking on Airbus have stopped, especially since the full extent of the problem is not known. Christian Streiff's resignation as CEO (AW&ST Oct. 16, p. 50) because of meddling governments shows the problem will likely not be totally resolved and Airbus is not free to make decisions based solely on business. I hope the financial strings that helped Airbus rise will not turn it into an ineffective puppet.
Amy Butler, Sharon Weinberger and David A. Fulghum (Washington)
The commander of U.S. nuclear bomber forces says he'd forgo speed in favor of longer range and improved payload as the Air Force explores requirements--including classified technologies--for its next-generation bomber.
Australia's Defense Science and Technology Organization and the U.S. Air Force will jointly spend more than $54 million on the hypersonic HIFiRE project, which is set to run eight years. Plans call for 10 or more flight experiments during the next five years, to take place at the Woomera test facility in South Australia.
In the Middle East, luxury is a marketing point. Qatar Airways plans to open a $90-million "Premium Terminal," built nine months ago at Doha International Airport, in time for the Asian Games that begin Dec. 1. The terminal is for business- and first-class passengers. Next summer, the airline is inaugurating nonstop services to New York, Lagos, Dar Es Salaam, Bali, Ho Chi Minh City and two European cities, as yet undisclosed.
Kathy Fox, who is vice president-operations for Nav Canada, has accepted the J.A.D. McCurdy Award from the Air Force Assn. of Canada for her company's achievements in the field of civil aviation in Canada. The company was cited for "delivering safe, efficient and effective civil air traffic services across the country and in international airspace assigned to Canada." The award is named affter the pilot of the first heavier-than-air flight in Canada, which lifted off from Baddeck, Nova Scotia, on Feb. 23, 1909.
Airbus likely will take advantage of the extra time resulting from the delayed first customer delivery in October by paying special attention to concerns about the A380's weight, reliability and wake vortex.
Eutelsat reported a 6% boost in first-quarter 2006-07 revenues, in line with full-year projections of better than €800 million. The company raised capital expenditure spending plans for the next three years by €210 million to €980 million, reflecting the recent advance procurement of a new broadcasting satellite, Hot Bird 10.
Over the creek, past a small house and up a dirt track, it's pitch dark near the Romanian-Moldovan frontier, a place that will soon be the outer edge of the expanded European Union.
