Italy desperately needs a new generation of tankers, multi-role fighters and unmanned aircraft--with their links to network-centric operations--that can both protect the homeland from illegal immigration and smuggling as well as project airpower as part of an international force.
Airport maps that did not accurately reflect runway and taxiway reconstruction may have been a factor in the Aug. 27 crash of Comair Flight 5191. Comair's Flight Dept. last week warned flight crews to exercise "extreme caution" operating at Lexington (Ky.) Blue Grass Airport. They were asked not to follow the airport taxi diagrams, but to follow airport markers and signs in place.
Mary Simmerman (see photo) has been named senior vice president-supplier and material management for Bell Helicopter Textron of Fort Worth. She was vice president-procurement for Northrop Grumman Corp. in Los Angeles.
Lockheed Martin has received its formal authority to proceed on the Orion crew exploration vehicle, and NASA has decided to work from the company's design for the vehicle instead of one of its two internal concepts. The Northrop Grumman/Boeing team that lost the competition allowed the deadline to pass without filing a procurement protest with the Government Accountability Office. However, one of the losing bidders in NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services competition has filed a protest. Exploration Partners notified the GAO of its protest on Sept. 12.
Dassault Aviation plans to begin work on a midsize Falcon 7X follow-on early next year and is serving notice that suppliers will have to ensure that their skills match their reputation to gain a place on board the aircraft.
Raytheon has been awarded a $369-million contract to provide Phalanx Close-In Weapons Systems, a ship-defense missile, for the U.S. Army and Navy as well as Pakistan and Australia.
The price of the first F-35 Joint Strike Fighters coming off Lockheed Martin's assembly line could jump by 25-35% per aircraft to as much as $58-62 million or more in today's dollars if Congress puts the brakes on early production of the aircraft, say U.S. Air Force and Lockheed Martin officials.
State-owned arms trading company Rosoboronexport says it has now acquired 41% of VSMPO-Avisma, the big titanium producer that has a joint venture with Boeing and is a key supplier to Airbus and other Western airframers as well. The move reflects Rosoboronexport's growing clout within the Russian aerospace and defense industry (AW&ST Aug. 14, p. 54).
NASA is mounting an experiment the agency hopes will shed light on boundary layer transition, which caused considerable uncertainty during the space shuttle's return-to-flight mission in August 2005. The boundary layer transition is the point at which airflow over a surface traveling at hypersonic speed changes from smooth to turbulent.
MARKET FOCUS Homeland security stocks sluggish, de- spite concern over threats 11 NEWS BREAKS Safran seeks to stem losses at mobile phone unit 16 BAE Systems defends decision to exit from Airbus 16 FAA issues full type certification to Cessna Citation Mustang 17 Struggling Alitalia begins new turnaround plan 18 China Cargo Airlines takes delivery of the first of two Boeing 747-400ERFs 19 WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS
The Indian Army plans to induct four regiments of Spyders (Surface-to-air PYthon 5 and DERby air defense missile systems) from Israel's Rafael armament company. The $239-million award is awaiting final approval of the Cabinet Committee on Security. The Spyders will replace the army's Russian-made OSA-AKM and Strela-10M missile systems. The system incorporates Rafael's advanced air-to-air missiles, the Derby active radar missile and Python 5, a dual-waveband imaging infrared missile. Both weapons can be launched in lock-on-after launch and lock-on-before launch modes.
Sagem officials say Canada is looking to acquire a further batch of Sperwers tactical unmanned aerial vehicles to support its force in southern Afghanistan. The vehicles, which are likely to enter the inventory within the next few months, could be in the basic configuration or the higher-capacity Sperwer B version. Canada recently purchased 10 Sperwer vehicles from Denmark to supplement its 11-unit Afghan UAV fleet.
Italy's first KC-767 tanker, in air force markings, flies near Mt. Rainier, Wash. Ruddervators on the boom have been added by computer manipulation. The first two tankers have returned to the U.S. to speed FAA flight certification following a redesign of the wingtip aerial refueling pods (see p. 52). The first tanker was modified by Boeing, but subsequent tankers for Italy, Japan and some other overseas customers are being modified by Aeronavali in Naples.
Hong Kong Express, which gave the Embraer 170 an entree into the Chinese market with the airline's regional services, says it will add the 737 to its fleet. CEO Andrew Tse says the larger aircraft are needed to serve five recently added mainland routes.
Bill Gilliland has been promoted to director of research from manager of engineering and design at New York-based FlightSafety International. He will be succeeded by Jennifer Peppard, who has been a courseware developer. Dan Koen has been promoted to general manager from assistant manager of courseware support and Linda Zinn to director of business application development from head of system testing, quality assurance and training.
ATK, which is already prime contractor on the first stage of NASA's planned Ares I human-rated rocket, will head a team with Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) bidding to build the vehicle's upper stage. Lockheed Martin has just been named prime contractor to build the Orion crew launch vehicle that will fly atop the Ares I, and PWR is under contract to develop the J-2X rocket engine that will power the upper stage.
The Swiss Air-Rescue service will buy eight AgustaWestland Grand helicopters for mountain rescue operations and medical transport services. The helicopters will replace AgustaWestland A109K2s. Deliveries are to start in late 2008.
As the cost of war continues to pinch available funding for U.S. defense programs, Pentagon acquisition chief Kenneth Krieg is asking industry and scientific experts to help sort out the department's future technology investment path.
Boeing has confirmed orders for 15 737s as the last of a 150-aircraft order for eight Chinese carriers placed on their behalf by the China Aviation Supplies Import and Export Group. The first 50 were booked last December, 20 in January and 65 in August. Deliveries extend through 2010.
General Electric has opened its China Operations Center in Shanghai to provide 24-hr. support for more than 1,600 GE and CFM International CFM56 engines in use in China.
Lockheed Martin plans to take over the marketing of commercial launch services on its Atlas V vehicles, shifting from collaboration to competition with its Russian partners and their Proton launchers. The U.S. aerospace giant last Thursday announced the proposed sale of its interest in International Launch Services (ILS) and Lockheed Khrunichev Energia International (LKEI), the U.S.-Russian partnership under which it gained access to Proton services, to a startup headed by its former Moscow consultant.
WHILE GENERALLY SUPPORTING ADS-B, the National Business Aviation Assn. asserts that transmission of position data from aircraft ("ADS-B out") initially provides benefits mainly to the FAA. But "ADS-B out" development must be connected to "ADS-B in," which allows aircraft to display in the cockpit the location of other traffic, weather and so on. NBAA wants the FAA to have a "firm plan for certification of equipment that's affordable and makes sense" to aircraft manufacturers and operators.
David Gee (see photo, p. 10) has been appointed director of engineering for Seattle-based Raisbeck Engineering. He has been vice president-manufacturing for the Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corp. in San Antonio.
Jet Airways has invested $15 million on a new maintenance facility at Mumbai to accommodate C checks for the airline's Boeing 737-series and ATR turboprop aircraft. The hangar can house two 737s and one ATR simultaneously and has work spaces for avionics, hydraulic and composite repair, as well as panel and seat repairs, a wheel and brake shop, and an engine storage area.
Embraer sees the very light jet as the "next most significant change in aviation" and has taken the concept to market--the New York stock market--to stress the aircraft's crucial role in revolutionizing air travel. The Brazilian manufacturer--which launched its Phenom 100 very light jet/ Phenom 300 light jet program in May 2005--parked a full-scale mockup of its Phenom 300 in front of the New York Stock Exchange building last week.
