Government control over key strategic and defense assets is on the rise, whether in the form of Russian nationalization of energy and raw material companies or the assertions of U.S. policymakers that "strategic" assets such as ports and oil companies should be subject to greater government oversight. This comes at a time when, throughout the world, lower levels of innovation and poor financial management are generally the hallmarks of government-owned companies.
NASA is supporting an investigation into the dynamics of commercial transport aircraft upsets and development of a motion simulation to re-create upset events as well as a training program. The agency has awarded $925,000 to Environmental Tectonics Corp. of Southhampton, Pa., for a two-year program.
Tom Burbage, who heads Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter effort, says the battle for a second engine program for the aircraft isn't over even if it is reinstated in next year's Pentagon budget. "I think the Defense Dept. is pretty firm about not doing the second engine," he says. If the joint program office must absorb the cost of "reinventing the [Pratt & Whitney] F135," managers will cut aircraft production to find the money. "It's hard on General Electric and Rolls-Royce [partners on the F136 alternative engine] to get reinstated one year at a time.
Ross Reynolds, vice president for Air Mobility Programs at the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Marietta, Ga., will receive the Hap Arnold Award for Excellence in Aeronautical Program Management, for "leadership in instituting new and robust processes and management disciplines that have brought long-term stability to the . . . C-130J program." And, Leo Burkardt, branch chief for Advanced Planning and Analysis at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, will receive the Piper General Aviation Award, for contributions to the future of general aviation.
John Tucker (see photo) has been appointed chairman/CEO of Sermatech International, Pottstown, Pa. He held those positions at Daimler Benz Aerospace's Motor and Turbine Union Operations and was president of AEG-Westinghouse Transportation Systems.
Ondas, a Spanish media company proposing to build a European digital mobile satellite radio network, has signed up the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Institute of Germany to develop core radio frequency and waveform design. Fraunhofer has provided such services for WorldSpace, which is working on a competing network, and its U.S. partner XM Radio.
Scientists using four-year-old data from NASA's Imager for Magnetopause to Aurora Global Exploration (Image) satellite have discovered an indirect link between thunderstorms near Earth's surface and the weather some 250 mi. out in space. This false-color, 30-day composite image shows two bands of plasma circling Earth over the equator. Glowing in ultraviolet light, the brightest zones correspond to areas of highest density in the plasma found in the ionosphere.
P.K. Chan's office at Taikoo Aircraft Engineering Co. reflects twin passions. On the walls are Chinese calligraphy and art. On the floor are huge Chinese vases. And crowded on a long conference table are rows of airplane models from grateful customers who contracted with Taeco for heavy maintenance.
NASA plans to add another 66 kw. of electrical power to the International Space Station grid in December, thanks to the well-practiced hands of the space shuttle Atlantis crew. After four years of training, the six Atlantis crewmates on the STS-115 mission used spacesuits and robot arms last week to connect a 17-ton, $372-million extension to the main ISS structure.
Eurofly's bid to acquire the Livingston Group is faltering. The two parties were unable to agree on the terms, which included Eurofly acquiring Livingston by paying in Eurofly shares and cash to the current owner, the ailing Viaggi del Ventaglio tour operator. The talks, which started in April, were to have been wrapped up by the end of August. Ventaglio refused Eurofly's request for a month's extension. Livingston, which performed better than expected this summer, is seen as more attractive to other potential buyers, including Air Europa.
Japan's Solar-B observatory is set for launch from the Uchinoura Space Center on Sept. 23 on board an M-V launch vehicle. The second member of the Solar Terrestrial Probes Program, the mission is a follow-on to the Solar-A (Yohkoh) mission (AW&ST Aug. 21, p. 25). The 900-kg. (1,980-lb.) spacecraft is to be put into a 600-km.-high (37.2-mi.) Sun-synchronous orbit. The principal instrument is the Mitsubishi Electronics/National Astronomical Observatory of Japan Solar Optical Telescope.
China has set out an ambitious five-year, 140-billion-yuan ($17.5-billion) airport construction program that includes launching 71 expansion projects, building 49 new airports and relocating 11 others. Zhang Haidong of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) expects the mainland airport industry to average 11% growth from 2006-20. The largest expansion is underway at Beijing Capital International Airport in preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games.
The Missile Defense Agency has halted flight tests of the experimental Theater High-Altitude Area Defense System. Thaad was to be flight tested Sept. 13, but the Hera target missile for the test malfunctioned shortly after launch. MDA says officials are still investigating the problem and a new Thaad schedule hasn't yet been set.
Germany and the U.S. are in talks over the purchase of Patriot PAC-3s, the short-range ballistic missile interceptor version of the weapon. The deal, which has yet to be completed, could include up to 72 of the Lockheed Martin-made interceptors, and cost around $298 million. Germany already uses the Patriot system. Meanwhile, the Netherlands is looking to upgrade some of its Raytheon Patriot radars. The Netherlands already is a buyer of PAC-3s.
Steven C. Babb (see photos) and Malcolm S. Swift have become vice presidents/assistant general counsels of the Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp. Babb was corporate director/senior corporate counsel for labor and employment law matters, while Swift oversaw delivery of mergers, acquisitions and antitrust legal services.
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Korean Air and Asiana Airlines will be working with San Francisco International Airport on an RFID bag-tracking program for flights into Inchon International Airport. Luggage will receive an RFID-embedded tag that will be able to sort and track bags between the airports. The test will begin in the first quarter of 2007 and run for six months.
Greg Wells (see photo) has become senior vice president-operations of Southwest Airlines and a member of its Executive Planning Committee. He will remain the airline's emergency director. He was senior vice president-ground operations. Chris Wahlenmaier, who was vice president-station operations, has been named one of two vice presidents-ground operations. The other is Teresa Laraba, who was senior director of ground operations.
Space underwriters say the recovery in the satellite and launch insurance market appears likely to continue, provided that the launcher sector, which has suffered several failures recently (notably in Russia), does not upset the equation. Stanislas Chapron, executive board vice chairman of Marsh Inc., says underwriter profits look to be good again this year, around $500 million, confirming a turnaround begun in 2002 (AW&ST Apr. 25, 2005, p. 28). The flight of insurers from the space sector has been stemmed, and new players are entering the market.
The recent article on the crash of Comair Flight 5191 highlighted the need for improved human factors training and runway safety (AW&ST Sept. 4, p. 33). The solution may rely minimally in the training realm and more on aircraft system design. There are numerous probable causes and factors contributing to any aviation accident. The basic cause of this accident is that the aircrew attempted to take off on the wrong runway. The simple answer to most human-factors issues is to remove or limit the human factor.
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has become a battleground in the looming Dutch general election, unnerving military and industrial officials. The party leading in the polls has suggested the Netherlands pull out of the program. But industry and military officials insist JSF is a good deal. More than 70 local companies already have workshares worth a total of $700 million. Moreover, advocates project that production could net Dutch businesses $8-10 billion.
Chile has taken delivery of the first batch of used Dutch F-16 Mid-Life Update fighters, which the Netherlands are selling as surplus equipment. The aircraft became available as part of a Dutch plan to reduce its F-16 inventory from 137 fighters to 108--two recent losses have further decreased the number to 106 aircraft. Six Dutch F-16s are now in northern Chile, at the Cerro Moreno air base, and deliveries in two more batches of six aircraft each are planned; Chile also bought F-16s from the U.S., with deliveries of the 10 Block 50 aircraft taking place last year.
Last month's news that British authorities said they had thwarted a plot by Muslim extremists to blow up multiple jetliners over the Atlantic Ocean triggered a big spike in homeland security stocks. American Science and Engineering (AS&E), a company that develops X-ray inspection systems for cargo monitoring, saw its shares soar 26% on Aug. 10, the day the story broke.
