USN Rear Adms. (lower half) Michael C. Bachmann, John W. Goodwin, Richard W. Hunt, Arthur J. Johnson, Jr., Joseph F. Kilkenny, Douglas L. McClain, Kevin M. Quinn, Raymond A. Spicer and Peter J. Williams have been nominated for promotion to rear admiral.
The U.S. Air Force is rethinking the future of its space surveillance network as it tries to balance the need to replace aging ground sensors against the costs of the recently restructured Space-Based Surveillance System program. "If you look at all the [ground] systems that we are maintaining today, and then add SBSS to this constellation of capability . . . we can't afford it all," says Col. Gary Henry, system group director for space situational awareness at the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center.
Australia's defense department should see steady budget increases of 3% through 2016, with A$2.5-billion ($1.9-billion) spending infusions between the 2011-12 and 2015-16 fiscal years, according to the last budget figures. The funds include money for four Boeing C-17s that are set to be delivered by the end of 2008. Naval aviation received a plus-up of A$26.2 million for logistics requirements from current operations; Chinook helicopters are to remain in Afghanistan through November.
Joseph B. Leonard, chairman/CEO of AirTran Airways, has been inducted as president of the New York-based Wings Club. He succeeds Allan McArtor, chairman of Airbus North America. Other officers for 2006-07 are: vice president/president-elect, David Barger, president/chief operating officer of JetBlue Airways; vice president, John Slattery, managing director of the Royal Bank of Scotland; and secretary/treasurer, Raymond L. Connor, vice president-North American sales of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Republican and Democratic aviation leaders from the House visited a Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing May 9 on loosening foreign ownership rules and--to the surprise of no one--turned out to have views similar if not identical to those of Republican and Democratic aviation leaders in the Senate.
Paul Hathaway (see photos) has been appointed director of original equipment manufacturer product marketing and Jamie Luster director of U.S. aftermarket sales for the Avidyne Corp., Lincoln, Mass. Hathaway was an OEM sales manager, while Luster was aftermarket product marketing manager.
Japan Airlines, which is in the midst of restructuring, suffered a 47.2-billion yen ($428-million) loss for fiscal 2005, which was widely expected. Rival All Nippon Airways saw its profits fall 1.9% due to a change in accounting methods, but posted 26.7-billion-yen net profit. JAL's entry into the Oneworld airline alliance this year is expected to help the carrier drop some low-yield international routes. A three-year business plan emphasizes strengthening its JALways low-cost tourist flights.
MiG is emerging as a likely lead for any Russian unmanned combat air vehicle effort, as the company looks to reinvigorate its aircraft business. Russian military officials recently identified MiG as acting as the industrial focus for unmanned aerial and combat air vehicle (UAV/UCAV) work. The manufacturer is also looking at a medium-weight "fifth-generation" fighter design. Commercial projects, however, particularly through the partnership with EADS, are also of growing importance to MiG Corp.
Delta Air Lines reported an operating loss of $485 million for the first quarter of 2006, nearly 50% less than in the year-ago quarter. Its net loss swelled to $2.1 billion due to $1.7 billion in noncash charges for reorganization and special items. CEO Gerald Grinstein says results were "in line with expectations, especially in light of fast-rising fuel prices." Revenues increased slightly over the 2005 quarter, even though the carrier reduced capacity by 8.6%.
Israel's new Eros B spacecraft is returning excellent high-resolution imagery, enabling the Israel Defense Forces to double its overhead monitoring of Iranian and Syrian facilities along with other potential threats.
Dassault Systemes' first-quarter results show that Airbus is expanding its use of Delmia software, adding Delmia Version 5 robotics to simulate, validate and program the robotics assembly lines in association with Dassault's partner Cenit AG Systemhaus of Stuttgart. Boeing is also using Delmia and other Dassault Systemes tools in the design of the 787.
L. Hugh Redd has been appointed senior vice president/chief financial officer of General Dynamics, Falls Church, Va., effective June 1. He will succeed Michael J. Mancuso, who is retiring. Redd has been vice president/controller of General Dynamics Land Systems, Sterling Heights, Mich.
Raytheon has won a $60.6-million contract to begin long-lead procurement of materiel for low-rate initial production of six RQ-4B Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, three mission control elements and three launch recovery elements. The company's missile systems branch also won a $21.8-million contract increase for lead time materials for 12 operational test missiles: the new AIM-120C-7 and the AIM-120D.
Adequate funding and departmental buy-in are deemed essential if the U.K. government's Defense Industrial Strategy (DIS) is to succeed, according to the Parliament's Defense Committee. Its report into DIS welcomes the initiative, but cautions that its success ultimately will be judged on implementation, and that much remains to be done. "The Ministry of Defense . . . needs to change to demonstrate that it is serious about DIS," the report states.
When the Army and the Navy both backed out of the Aerial Common Sensor intelligence-gathering aircraft program, it was a big blow to the signals and communications intercept community. However, there seems to be no end of ways to reconstitute the program. A scheme now making the rounds in the Pentagon is to divide the mission between manned and unmanned systems. The Air Force would control manned aircraft, supplemented by the high-flying Global Hawk UAV.
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The space shuttle Discovery is set for a planned May 19 rollout from the Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Complex 39B. This will place the vehicle in the home stretch toward launch as early as July 1. The 100-ton orbiter was to be lifted this week for stacking to its external tank and solid rocket boosters inside the VAB. The transport of the orbiter from Orbiter Processing Bay 3 into the VAB was moved up a day to May 11 as processing proceeded ahead of schedule.
Eight years ago, aerospace barely registered on Eaton Corp.'s balance sheet, accounting for just $195 million of sales. Today, the sector is playing a central role in the industrial giant's move to remake itself into a less cyclical, high-growth company.
The U.K. Defense Ministry has awarded an 8.45-million-pound ($15.75-million), two-year contract to a team comprising Qinetiq, Thales UK, Airborne Systems and management lead Selex Sensors to develop a high-performance thermal imaging (TI) technology for military applications. Known as Albion, the program will create next-generation thermal imaging technology capable of capturing a higher resolution, with greater sensitivity and lower cost than current second-generation technologies.
John Krasnakevich, principal engineering fellow and technical director for Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) Missile Defense business area, is one of four current or retired Raytheon employees who have received the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) Pioneer Award for contributions to missile defense. The others are: Stephen B.
Randall Shealy has been appointed senior vice president/chief financial officer and Chris Warden director of internal audit for the Pemco Aviation Group Inc., Birmingham, Ala. Shealy was chief accounting officer and succeeds John Lee, who has retired. Warden was audit manager for Tempur-Pedic International.
The FAA has approved the Airbus A320 family of aircraft for 180-min., extended-range, twin-engine operations. It follows the European Aviation Safety Agency's (EASA) approval in March 2004. The aircraft family encompasses the A321, A320 and A319, including the corporate jet version. The first FAA-certified, 180-min. ETOPS aircraft, an A319 Corporate Jet, is to be delivered this month to an undisclosed U.S. customer, according to Airbus. Joint EASA and FAA approval for the A318 is targeted for the second half of this year.
Boeing has completed testing of modifications to underground silos and launch systems in preparation for summer trials of the burgeoning U.S. ballistic missile defense system. The tests validated mods to the three arms that stabilize interceptors inside the silo, mechanisms which caused a flight-test abort during a demonstration in February 2005. Boeing is the prime contractor for the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense System.
After 10 years of development, and a long delay following the Columbia shuttle accident, Europe's Columbus module is ready to be shipped to the Kennedy Space Center for launch to the International Space Station.
