A U.S. Northern Command-hosted exercise on June 14 showcased how advanced "blue-force tracking" (BFT) and communications technologies can enhance joint military/law enforcement operations to defuse an airliner hijacking.
Eurosam, the MBDA-Thales venture responsible for the Future Surface Missile Family of air defense and antimissile weapons, is talking with Qatar and Finland about buying the Franco-Italian SAMP-T theater missile defense system. Several other nations are also interested in the system, which can defend against cruise missiles and short-range ballistic missiles of the Scud class. First production SAMP-T units are to be delivered to the French forces in September.
Washington and Rome are finalizing a deal that will see Italy garner the prize of a European final-assembly line for the Joint Strike Fighter. London, meanwhile, is focusing on securing "operational sovereignty" of the aircraft and, possibly, a maintenance center for European jets.
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The crew module for Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) descends, in this artist's concept, on parachutes with landing airbags deployed for touchdown in the Western U.S. following a space mission in the post-shuttle era. The Astronaut Office at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston is playing a key role in defining the displays, controls seating and stowage features of the module cockpit (see p. 46). The NASA Langley Research Center, along with Irwin Aerospace, is designing airbag concepts as one candidate landing technique.
Many letters have recommended very large aircraft or the C-17 as replacements for the aging KC-135s. The C-17 traded aerodynamic efficiency in cruise flight to optimize it for combat cargo delivery. A high-drag C-17 would use more of the tanker fuel for itself, and have less to offload, than commercial aircraft its size. Very large aircraft have large wake turbulence. Very large planes can be suitable for refueling other very large planes, but small aircraft have difficulty staying stable close behind very large aircraft.
Rolls-Royce has completed its second annual Shaping Ideas initiative, a joint program with the Tate Liverpool wherein 60 company trainees participate in an intense four-day workshop--two at the museum, two at Rolls-Royce's Learning and Career Development Center in Derby. The attendees are broken into small teams and, addressing a particular theme, work together to produce specific pieces. A key element in the process is that teams continue to develop and problem-solve ideas as they progress.
It is morally wrong to spend $100 billion--and we know it will cost much more--to return to the Moon when America has so many pressing human needs. About 50 million Americans do not have health insurance. There are untold thousands who need shelter. And the Gulf Coast needs to be rebuilt. If you are not concerned about those needs, what about building an impregnable barrier on the U.S.-Mexico border to stop the flood of illegals?
Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne says his biggest concern about the new Army-Air Force partnership to buy a fleet of small cargo airlifters is who will maintain them. The Air Force has repeatedly run afoul of the law that requires 50% of its fleet's maintenance to be handled by service depots. But an Army-led joint program office is reviewing Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA) proposals that include contractor maintenance because its fleet is expected to be so small--about 33 aircraft--that government repair would not be cost effective.
NASA's "shuttle-derived" human exploration program will be guided by recommendations from the Genesis Mishap Investigation Board, which warn against putting too much trust in heritage hardware and urge a direct link between contractor fees and the level of technical oversight in spacecraft development.
Chicago-based IFS North America will provide the maintenance, repair and overhaul of an integrated logistics system that partner Oracle is delivering to the U.S. Air Force to support 250,000 users of the Expeditionary Combat Support System program. The off-the-shelf software system is designed to streamline the logistics process and improve weapons system availability. It will replace the functions of approximately 500 Air Force logistics systems. Another partner, Click Commerce, is providing the advanced planning and scheduling portion of the logistics system.
Technicians are starting to process the Lockheed Martin external tank for the space shuttle STS-115 mission in the Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building. The tank arrived by barge June 9 from the Michoud Assembly Facility. The team at the New Orleans facility continues to draw high praise for their extensive work to modify and build tanks in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Provided the upcoming STS-121 mission launches early in its July 1-19 window, the STS-115 flight is set to launch as early as Aug. 28.
James S. Waugh, Jr., who is executive vice president of New York-based FlightSafety International, has received the Business Aviation Meritorious Service Award from the Alexandria, Va.-based Flight Safety Foundation. The annual award honors contributions to corporate aviation safety.
Europe's share of low-fare air traffic has increased in the past two months, reaching 16.3% of all flights, says air traffic control management agency Eurocontrol. That figure represents a 2.4-percentage-point increase over the past year. The U.K. is the largest low-fare market, with 32%, while 21% of traffic is generated by that sector in Poland and Spain. More than 3,700 daily low-fare flights are flown in Europe, a 23% increase since Jan. 1.
After reinforcing its aeronautics, space and naval systems activities, Thales is moving to beef up its land systems business, especially in Germany and the U.S.
Indian communications regulators are set to issue new rules soon, throwing the satellite radio space open to multiple players. Presently, only U.S.-based WorldSpace operates in the country, and it has run into stiff opposition from Indian FM radio operators with its plan to launch hybrid satellite/terrestrial service there. Presently Indian customers receive WorldSpace radio signals through the company's AsiaStar satellite, uplinked from Singapore. At the end of the first quarter of 2006, its subscribers were up 50% from the 74,574 it booked in the previous quarter.
Robert Wall, Pierre Sparaco and Andy Nativi (Toulouse), Douglas Barrie (London)
Airbus and its main parent EADS will not know for weeks, maybe months, the full cost and market implications from the latest A380 delays and ongoing product strategy uncertainty. The immediate hit is significant, though. It further complicates talks regarding BAE Systems selling its 20% stake in Airbus to EADS. At stake are several billion euros on EADS's balance sheet, Airbus's relationship with some of its main customers, and potentially the fate of some high-level managers.
Visual Collaboration Technologies of Troy, Mich., says it has overcome one of industry's headaches in design visualization software. By now, 3D product visualization is an old trick, but it's not so easy to work across multiple formats, which often ends up being the case when design and manufacturing teams are shifting from computer-aided design to computer-aided manufacturing, to computer-aided engineering files.
Pierre Sparaco's "The Learning Curve" has a lot of good points regarding the A350 problem, but the claim that Airbus is still on the learning curve is not one of them.
U.S. Army Brig. Gen. (ret.) Robert A. Drolet, who is director of Lockheed Martin's Huntsville operations, has received the 2006 Maj. Gen. John B. Medaris Award from the Tennessee Valley Chapter of the National Defense Industrial Assn. He was cited for contributions to the "technical progress of the defense industrial base in support of U.S. defense preparedness." Medaris was the first commanding general of the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., commanding general of the U.S. Army Ordnance Missile Command and a leader in Army space exploration.
John Gallaher (see photo) has been named president/chief operating officer of Aspen (Colo.) Executive Air. He was vice president/chief financial officer of Sunset Aviation, Novato, Calif.
Northrop Grumman, in conjunction with Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems, has begun flight testing an active, electronically scanned array antenna on the B-2 stealth bomber that, combined with other upgrades, will enhance the aircraft's ability to respond to threats. This test of AESA marks a milestone for the radar modernization program because it allows engineers to determine, for the first time, how the radar operates under actual flight conditions. The B-2 radar work is part of a $482-million system development and demonstration contract awarded by the U.S.
Further afield, Raytheon has linked with Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace and Ericsson Microwave Systems to compete for the Estonian Very Short Range Air Defense Missile System, a network-enabled, air defense system to protect Estonian ground forces and other strategic assets. The Raytheon Nordic team consists of the company's Tucson, Ariz.-based Missile Systems Div. as prime contractor responsible for the missiles, launchers and the conducting of mission systems integration.
