Military microwave components provider Herley Industries Inc. can't stay out of trouble with the Pentagon, and investors are paying the price. The company disclosed last week that two of its eight manufacturing facilities have been suspended from work on new U.S. government contracts after Herley employees allegedly falsified test data on equipment delivered to a defense contractor.
The European Defense Agency by next July should deliver its first Capability Development Plan, a road map for future spending, the agency's steering committee decided last week. Initial elements of the document should be ready early next year. The plan is to lay out priorities, initial steps to be taken and opportunities for cooperation. The panel also has authorized a study to devise a European approach to network-centric warfare.
Six SkyTeam Alliance member airlines applied for antitrust immunity June 28 with the U.S. Transportation Dept. for transatlantic routes, the first such application under the EU-U.S. open skies treaty. Air France, Alitalia, CSA Czech, Delta, KLM and Northwest applied for the authority, which includes a joint-venture agreement among Air France, Delta, KLM and Northwest that would create a comprehensive and integrated partnership across the Atlantic. Delta currently holds antitrust immunity with Air France, Alitalia and CSA, while Northwest has immunity with KLM.
Italian low-cost carrier Alpi Eagles has launched three-times-weekly regular service from Venice to Moscow's Domodedovo International Airport (see photo), operating 94-seat Fokker 100s. Previously, only charter flights operated in peak tourist season, an airport official says. The Venice-based, privately owned carrier operates a fleet of eight Fokker 100s on 25 routes to destinations in Italy and European tourist centers, such as Barcelona and Prague.
The FAA has adjusted baselines again in its projections for air traffic controller retirements in the current fiscal year--to 800, according to the National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. (Natca). In June 2006, the agency estimated that 643 would retire in the year ending Sept. 30, and it increased the total in March to 700.
Airbus has sold six A320s to Uzbekistan Airways, with an engine decision still pending. It is the first Airbus narrowbody purchase for the carrier, which operates both Russian- and Western-built aircraft. Meanwhile, EasyJet has announced it would exercise options for 35 more A319s, to bring its total order with Airbus to 227.
Researchers using NASA's Swift gamma-ray burst satellite have spotted two supernovae that exploded in the same galaxy only 16 days apart, an "extremely rare" coincidence. This combination of red, green and blue images of the galaxy MGC +05-43-16, taken June 9 and 12, shows the two events. First seen on May 19, SN 2007ck is a Type II supernova in which a massive star runs out of nuclear fuel and collapses into its own gravity, blowing itself to pieces.
Michael A. Taverna and Robert Wall (Paris), Douglas Barrie (London)
The new French government promises to back ongoing modernization of France's armed forces and maintain the country's strong military presence in overseas operations. But it warns the aerospace community to expect a shake-up of major defense programs and a strong government hand in industrial matters.
NASA is giving away half of its space on the International Space Station. The question is whether anyone will be able to get there to use it. As the ISS enters the final stretch of its buildout to completion before the space shuttle fleet is retired in 2010, NASA managers are offering the use of roughly 11 refrigerator-sized experiment racks inside the station's pressurized modules, and perhaps four external sites, free of charge. The catch is that users will have to get their experiments to the ISS at their own expense.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. will award China route authority to two more U.S. airlines and allocate new frequencies through 2009 among them and the four incumbents in the market under a single, "streamlined" proceeding, launched June 21. May 2007 Amendments to the U.S.-China aviation agreement allow, as of Aug. 1, for a fifth U.S. carrier to be chosen as well as allocate a daily round trip between any point in the U.S. and any of eight points in China. This carrier and route almost certainly will be Delta Air Lines, for service between Atlanta and Shanghai.
Once again, the Lockheed Martin Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (Jassm) appears to have gotten a reprieve--but only for a week this time. Pentagon acquisition czar Kenneth Krieg reviewed the $5.8-billion program's status on June 27 after a problematic set of flight tests resulted in a 58% reliability rate. The update was required after the Air Force reported a massive cost overrun to Congress this year.
Sen. Barbara Mikulski, chair of the Senate Appropriations commerce, justice and science (CJS) subcommittee, says she will postpone introduction of an amendment to the Fiscal 2008 CJS spending bill that would add $1 billion to help NASA recover from the lingering financial effects of the 2003 Columbia accident. As approved by the full Senate Appropriations Committee June 28, the CJS bill includes $17.5 billion for NASA--$150 million over the Bush administration's request--and funds the space shuttle and International Space Station programs fully.
Coming to the U.S. or leaving it, air travelers face worsening slowdowns. The Transportation Research Board (TRB) advises foreign experts who plan to attend its mammoth annual meeting in Washington next January to double-check visa requirements, even if there were none this year, and apply for needed visas early because security checks "may take three months or more." Plain old visa paperwork will slow down this summer, too, because the State Dept.
Barrington Antonio Irving has become the first African-American to fly solo around the world. About 2,000 people greeted the 23-year-old upon returning home on June 28 to Miami Opa-Locka Airport, from which he departed Mar. 23 in his single-engine Columbia 400, "Sweet Inspiration." Irving says his motive for the 24,000-mi. journey was to demonstrate to inner-city youth that they can overcome obstacles and attain higher goals.
Bigelow Aerospace launched its Genesis II inflatable space module on a converted Russian ICBM on June 28, as the company continues the successful orbital test of its first sub-scale module, Genesis I, which was launched last July. Genesis II, at 300-mi. altitude, carries a large billboard sign on its exterior reading "Blair," the granddaughter of CEO Robert T. Bigelow, in a test of the imaging system the company plans for marketing purposes. The new spacecraft is being controlled from Bigelow's futuristic space control center in northern Las Vegas.
Atlas Air subsidiary Polar Air Cargo and DHL Express on June 28 sealed a $150-million deal that will give DHL Express a 49% equity share and 25% voting interest in Polar. The deal also includes a 20-year blocked-space agreement that will give DHL access to Polar's capacity in certain markets (particularly U.S.-Asia routes) and on some Atlas aircraft. Atlas Air and DHL Express estimate the partnership could generate more than $3.5 billion in revenues. The closure follows decisions from the U.S. Transportation Dept.
Air New Zealand has begun putting Air China's code on its services between Shanghai and Auckland and on some flights between New Zealand and Australia. In return, Air New Zealand's code will go on Air China services between China and Australia.
Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise has become BOC Aviation Pte. Ltd., changing its name to reflect its sale in December to Bank of China, the world's sixth most valuable bank.
Initial flight tests of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (Sofia) are expected to begin within a few weeks at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB, Calif.
Nigeria is buying two ATR 42MP Surveyor maritime surveillance aircraft, which it hopes to field by 2009. It is the first export order for this configuration. The $73-million contract includes training, logistics support and initial spares. The Nigerian air force wants the aircraft to meet a requirement for surveillance of its large coastal waters zone, search and rescue missions and fishery and environmental monitoring.
A News Break on Aerospace Journalist of the Year Awards in the June 25 edition incorrectly described a story by William B. Scott. He won the Messier-Dowty Safran Group Award for Best Air Show Submission, an account of his F/A-18B flight in the slot position of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels' Diamond formation.
NASA has picked seven "suitcase science" experiments for further development against the day when astronauts can deploy them on the Moon's surface, and also has created two new programs to fund research based on data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) planned for launch next year and to help prepare for long-term human operations on the Moon.
Nav Canada, the country's air navigation provider, reports an average increase of 4.3% to 77.4 million charging units in April traffic, compared to 74.2 million during the same month in 2006. Traffic is measured in weighted charging units for en-route terminal and oceanic services. Traffic for the year ending Aug. 31 has been up 4.5%.
Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Navy completed the Air Systems Critical Design Review (CDR) for the F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter on June 22, paving the way for the initial production process to begin. First flight of the F-35A is tentatively scheduled for 2009.
