USAF's new Small-Diameter Bomb (SDB) was flown into combat for the first time Oct. 5 by a formation of two F-15E Strike Eagles executing a close-air-support mission for ground forces in Iraq. SDB is a 250-lb. GPS-guided munition. Four SDBs can be carried in place of each Joint Direct Attack Munition, more than doubling the number of targets per sortie.
Canadian aircraft modifier Field Aviation has delivered the first of 10 Bombardier Dash 8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft to the Australian Coastwatch program. Field is also supplying five upgrade kits to modify five Dash 8s already in service with Coastwatch. The modifications include the latest generation sensors and satellite communications for long-range patrol.
Donald W. Campbell, executive vice president of the aircraft simulator company CAE Inc., has been named chairman of the Aerospace Industries Assn. of Canada. He will serve a one-year term at the helm of the Ottawa-based association, which represents the interests of 400 companies in the world's fourth-largest aerospace industry. He succeeds Pierre Racine, president of Rolls-Royce Canada.
After months of Army-Air Force wrangling over whether they should buy the same variant of the Predator unmanned aerial vehicle--the senior Pentagon civilian leadership says they must, to curb cost--Defense Dept. sources say the Air Force is agreeing to buy the Army version. That one has a heavy-fuel engine, enabling Army operators throughout the battlefield to use the same type of fuel used for ground vehicles rather than jet fuel. This reduces logistics requirements and cost.
Singapore Airlines has signed an agreement with Boeing to buy 20 787-9s worth $4.52 billion, with the option to purchase another 20 for delivery between 2011 and mid-2013. Engines have not yet been selected. Meanwhile, the new SIA economy-class cabin seat designed by Weber Aircraft will debut on the 777-300ER joining the fleet later this year, and subsequently on the Airbus A380. In November, SIA is scheduled to take delivery of the first six new 777-300ERs.
Marine Corps Gen. James Jones, NATO's supreme commander, says taking the Joint Chiefs of Staff out of the command loop was an unintended consequence of the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Act that he'd like to fix. The law concentrated authority in the combatant commands, leaving the joint chiefs of staff and their chairman off to the side, says Jones, a former JCS member.
Lockheed Martin officials are proposing to accelerate a decision whether to go ahead with procurement activities for a third Space-Based Infrared System (Sbirs) High satellite. In December 2005, after Sbirs' fifth major cost overrun, Pentagon acquisition chief Ken Krieg delayed a decision on the third geosynchronous satellite and launched risk-reduction activities for an alternative system. A decision between the two will come in 2008. But that schedule opens up a production gap should the Air Force opt for Sbirs over alternatives.
Britain is planning to deploy the latest version of its Harrier ground-attack aircraft, the GR9, for combat operations for the first time in early 2007 to Afghanistan. There is also the growing possibility its Eurofighter Typhoon could follow in 2008. The GR9 was formally accepted into service Sept. 30. The in-service criterion set by the Defense Ministry was the delivery of 24 GR9s and one T12 trainer.
More than 2,000 space scientists, engineers and other specialists gathered last week at the Mediterranean port city of Valencia, Spain, for the 57th International Astronautical Congress. Presentations at the annual event gave a global view of the state of space exploration efforts, updating the status of active and proposed missions and offering new analysis of the trillions of data bits streaming in from spacecraft positioned from just above the Earth's atmosphere to the edge of the Solar System.
Joseph C. Homko has become president of New York-based L-3 Communications' KDI Precision Products subsidiary. He will remain president of L-3's BT Fuze Products division, Lancaster, Pa. Homko succeeds Eric Guerazzi, who has resigned. Lois G. Bailey has been promoted to vice president from director of international licensing for all of L-3, bas- ed in its Washington operations office.
Preliminary data from last month's test of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) interceptor system shows that a new operational radar provided better than anticipated results, and the entire system performed well enough to consider a more challenging regimen for the next trial, says the Missile Defense Agency's director. USAF Lt. Gen. Henry Obering's confidence continues as North Korea vows to follow up ballistic missile tests from this summer with the test of a nuclear weapon.
Kuwait Airways is planning a major network expansion starting in the 2008-09 fiscal year. The government's Ministry of Planning has endorsed the effort, which could spark a seven-year growth phase for the carrier.
After logging 36 orders for the 737 in the week through Oct. 3, Boeing appears set to break its annual sales record for the narrow-body aircraft. Boeing has 539 net orders for the 737 this year, compared with last year's record of 569. Beating last year's order total for all commercial aircraft will be tougher; Boeing has 723 net orders, and would need to surpass 1,002.
MARKET FOCUS Some analysts say buy EADS, despite gloomy Airbus news 14 NEWS BREAKS First flight for redesigned Boeing's Little Bird helicopter 20 Merger of LockMart's and Boeing's gov- ernment launch businesses OK'd 21 NASA's Mather, Berkeley's Smoot share Nobel for work on COBE 22 More than 2,000 attend International Astronautical Congress 24 WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS A380 doomed to years of losses, as EADS looks to tackle Airbus 'taboos' 26
Northrop Grumman is planning to ramp-up testing of an advanced surveillance radar for the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle after a successful first try on a surrogate aircraft. Successful trials could reinvigorate confidence in the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP) sensor, which is designed to identify and track moving aerial and ground targets, as the Defense Dept. reviews its future in light of budget pressures.
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The top 20 information technology contracts issued by the federal government in Fiscal 2007 will be worth $120 billion, a 50% decrease from the year before, according to the market analysis company Input. The Army, Homeland Security Dept. and General Services Administration accounted for half of the contracts. The average lifetime value dropped by half to $6 billion.
The FAA has awarded a contract to Raytheon worth up to $185 million to test and deploy up to 68 new solid-state transmitter systems in a long- range radar service life extension program. The program will upgrade the primary surveillance radars in the U.S. national airspace system.
Colorado-based Doss Aviation has received the first 11 of 44 Diamond DA20-C1 and one DA40 aircraft to be used in USAF's Initial Flight Screening program. The IFS is a 40-day, 25-hr. program designed to evaluate up to 1,700 USAF officers annually.
Rolls-Royce continues to build RB211-535 turbofans to meet orders. The production line status was mischaracterized in an article on Russia's Tupolev Tu-204 aircraft program (AW&ST Oct. 2, p. 42).
John J. Tracy (see photo) has been appointed senior vice president-engineering, operations and technology for Chicago-based Boeing. He succeeds Jim Jamieson, who is now chief operating officer for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Tracy was vice president-engineering and mission assurance for Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. He will be succeeded by Nanette M. Bouchard, who has been vice president/leader of the Development Process Excellence Initiative.
The FAA has issued type inspection authorization (TIA) to Quest Aircraft Co. in Sandpoint, Idaho, for its turboprop-powered, 10-seat Kodiak utility airplane. The TIA allows Quest and FAA representatives to conduct inspections that ensure the aircraft's conformity to type design before certification flight tests can begin.
The new EADS plan to fix Airbus and the A380 raises as many questions as it answers, ranging from "Can the company deliver on its aggressive cost-savings plan," to "Can it still afford key future programs."
