Pressure on research and development funding is forcing the British Defense Ministry to put high-speed weapons work on the back burner, despite an ongoing program into ramjet propulsion.
First results from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter provide provocative new evidence that there were diverse watery habitats capable of supporting life on Mars eons ago. MRO is also finding evidence of recent Martian climate changes only hundreds of years apart that could influence Earth climate studies.
The European Commission has approved a directive to oblige Europe to open its postal service market to full competition by 2009. The directive would notably liberalize parcel express shipments, which account for 13% of the €90-billion postal market. The measure must still be OK'd by the European Parliament and the 25 states of the European Union.
Your report on the Amazon midair underlines the tragic consequences of a single altitude error, regardless of who made it. On two-way airways, the risk of a midair following such an error is obvious, and modern navigation capability means there is no longer any protective track scatter. But there is a simple defense: Flying an offset of 1 mi. right would have put 2 mi. between the two aircraft.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin and top Hubble Space Telescope and space shuttle managers are scheduled to meet this week for a decision on whether to proceed with a final shuttle mission to service the telescope on flight STS-125 in mid-April 2008. All indications are that the mission will be approved.
Anyone who has flown in the high-altitude structure in South America knows of the inadequacies of air traffic control over Brazil and most of the rest of South America. Embraer 600 Legacy Capt. Joe Lepore and First Officer Jan Paladino are being made scapegoats for a broken ATC system. Little is being said in defense of these two pilots, whose aircraft was involved in a midair collision with a Gol Boeing 737-800 on Sept. 29 (AW&ST Oct. 9, p. 44).
U.S. aerospace companies began announcing third-quarter earnings last week. United Technologies Corp. reported net income of $996 million, up 21% from the same period a year ago. Quarterly revenues rose 12% to $12.2 billion. Among UTC units, Pratt & Whitney revenues were up 15% to $2.8 billion and operating profit rose 17% to $443 million. Sikorsky's revenues rose 36% to $867 million, and profit increased 9% to $70 million.
Plans by Goodrich's Aerostructures Div. to double the size of its component MRO facility in the Prestwick International Aerospace Park in Scotland will create demand for several hundred new jobs. Working with £1.8 million ($3.35 million) from the Regional Selective Assistance program of the Scottish Executive, the Goodrich facility will be expanded to 250,000 sq. ft. and employ more than 500 people. The endeavor is aimed at services across Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, Middle East and African markets.
Sampling aircraft and ground-based collection sites have found two isotopes of xenon, indicating North Korea's Oct. 9 detonation probably was a nuclear weapon test. However, doubts remain. Despite Bush administration assertions that the device was a plutonium-based weapon, an official close to the analysis process is somewhat less certain, suggesting "it was most probably a plutonium device." If aircraft or ground sites find particulate nuclear debris, such remaining doubts likely would disappear.
Mel Hilderbrand has been promoted to president from senior vice president-customer operations of the S-TEC Corp., Mineral Wells, Tex., a subsidiary of the Meggitt Aerospace Systems Div.
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India is considering withdrawing from the Galileo team because of security concerns over the sharing of data. Its concern is that Galileo has insufficient firewalls to protect national data. Concerns have been voiced since the project's onset over access to Galileo's public-regulated service (PRS) because it was unclear how the system would function in an emergency. Since the U.S. has withdrawn from Galileo, Indian officials are concerned whether funding will be assured.
Richard Hallion, a former museum curator and U.S. Air Force historian, has received the 2006 Combs Gates Award from the National Aviation Hall of Fame, Dayton, Ohio. Hallion was recognized for the research he conducted before writing High Enterprise: America and Aerial Competitiveness in the Golden Age of Flight, 1919-1939. The award was established to encourage and support aviation history research and preservation.
The Defense Science Board is focusing on export controls' impact on the space industrial base. A board task force expects to make recommendations to Pentagon acquisition chief Kenneth Krieg this spring. The tea leaves are hard to read so far. Some members say industry complaints show the U.S.'s international licensing is gummed up but don't point to systemic problems. Others aren't so sure and want to probe deeply into how ITAR arms trafficking rules and other regs affect companies deep into the supply chain.
Three investor organizations have acquired 50.5% of Icelandair Group shares from FL Group. Langflug holds 32%; Naust, 11.1%; and Blue-Sky Transport Holding, 7.4%. Glitnir banki HF will underwrite Icelandair's remaining shares for sale to other investors in a public offering, with up to 4% for employees and 4% for airline management. FL Group estimates proceeds from the sale at €410 million ($512 million).
Robert P. Frueholz has been promoted to general manager of the Communications and Networking Div. of the The Aerospace Corp., El Segundo, Calif., from principal director of the Communication Systems Subdivision. William C. Krenz has been promoted to general manager of the Computers and Software Div. from principal director of developmental planning. William H. Hiatt has been named general manager of the Electronics and Sensors Div. and Marilee J. Wheaton general manager of the Systems Engineering Division.
Dennis E. Ferguson has been appointed CEO of the Mooney Airplane Co., Kerrville, Tex. He succceeds Gretchen L. Jahn, who has resigned. Ferguson was president of Airshow Inc.
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U.S. Air Combat Command says it has set a new record in Fiscal 2006 for the lowest number of Class A mishaps (ground and flight) and has completed its fifth year without a weapons accident. There were four Class A accidents compared to 12 in Fiscal 2005. It is the lowest rate for 16 years if Tactical Air Command's record is considered. Class A ground accidents dropped to 14 in 2006 from 20 in 2005.
Raytheon has fired the surface-launched Advanced-Range Medium Air-to-Air Missile against a sub-scale target drone, demonstrating the system's command destruct/self-destruct capability. The tests at Sweden's Vidsel test range were managed by Raytheon, the Spanish army and U.S. Air Force.
Deidre E. Cusack has become vice president/general manager of the Measurement and Power Systems Div. of Ametek Aerospace Defense, Paoli, Pa. She has been vice president of the Sensors Fluid Management Systems Div.
The article about using synthetic kerosene on the B-52 (AW&ST Oct. 9, p. 62) seems naive. The numbers for the demonstration plant compute to being more than $400 per barrel more expensive than crude oil, but that's the least of the B-52's problems. The B-52H's TF33 engines, when enter- ing service more than 45 years ago, were among the most efficient in the fleet. Years ago, I suggested the eight engines on the B-52H be replaced by four that have more power, longer range, less fuel consumption and fewer problems with particulate.
An inert model of France's next-generation M51 intercontinental ballistic missile clears the water during breach tests performed recently off Toulon in southern France. The first missile firing, from land, is set for year-end (see p. 56). The M51 will provide a more potent, flexible deterrent to fit the country's evolving nuclear policy. DGA photo.
Raytheon is continuing its work on expanding the capabilities of Active Electronically Scanned Array radars. The company snagged a $9.7-million award from the U.S. Air Force to assess the feasibility of using radars as communications data links. Raytheon has demonstrated the capability in flight, but this assessment will make the effort official. The idea is to transmit synthetic aperture radar and other data--using a modified common data link waveform--in real time. The effort is due to be completed in October 2011.
