For those interested in a shiny new jet from Boeing, the cost just went up. The midyear hike in list prices for 2006 averages 4% across all models above 2005 levels and is attributed to "the general inflation rate for manufactured goods." In reality, aircraft list prices bear little resemblance to what customers actually pay because of discounts and such variables as performance options, interiors, avionics and fuel capacity.
The Japan International Transport Institute (JITI) is completing a study, aided by experts from the U.S. and Japan, on the usefulness of the Chicago Convention, the legal framework set up in 1944 to govern international commercial aviation. The study, expected to be released later this year, addresses the impact of government deregulation and liberalization on the document and is likely to contain amendment recommendations. Advisers include Clifford Winston, an economics scholar at the Brookings Institution, and Steve Morrison, professor and chair of the Economics Dept.
Cracks are beginning to emerge in NATO's plans to buy the TCAR multinational radar for its Allied Ground Surveillance (AGS) aircraft system. That radar may be augmented by the U.S. Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program sensor, a sophisticated active electronically scanned array radar built by a Northrop Grumman-Raytheon team. Already, NATO is limiting TCAR's application to the A321 platform while an off-the-shelf alternative may be proposed for the unmanned Global Hawk adjunct. The U.S.
Having followed your excellent coverage of the Tanker/Transport since its inception several years ago it's easy to conclude that U.S. Sen. McCain (R-Ariz.) seems to have a special interest in assisting Airbus. His early multiple roadblocks derailing Boeing's submittals, in retrospect, illustrate obvious purpose. These hindrances started well before the illegal hiring of an ex-government employee and a conviction.
France's way of conducting aircraft accident investigations continues to stun the international flight safety community. Parallel technical and judicial inquiries double the amount of search work, technicians and policemen frequently interfere, while delays in the courts are fiercely criticized by all involved, including victims' relatives and lawyers. Obviously, a top-to-bottom review is urgently needed to prepare for a political initiative to devise new methods.
Maureen A. Dougherty (see photos) has been named vice president-737 Airborne Early Warning and Control programs for Boeing Integrated Defense Systems in Seattle. She was vice president for the F-22 program. Dougherty has been succeeded by Paul J. Bay, who was site director of IDS' Puget Sound (Wash.) area operations.
USN Rear Adm. Matthew G. Moffit has been named director of the Fleet Readiness Div. in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington. He has been commander of the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center, Fallon, Nev. Moffit will be succeeded by Rear Adm. (sel.) Mark T. Emerson, who has been commander of Strike Force Training Pacific, North Island, Calif.
Government-owned domestic carrier Indian (formerly Indian Airlines), defense manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. and Airbus are in talks regarding a $115-million maintenance, repair and overhaul facility to service public and private carriers. According to a senior airline official, two locations--Mumbai and Nashik (western India)--are being considered for airframe work. An engine shop is to be set up in New Delhi.
Even as work on a solid-state laser inches closer to development of a Star Wars-style weapon, other parts of the Pentagon are investing in leap-ahead technologies that could produce even higher-energy beams in a faster timeframe.
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter supporters, who think it's a bad idea to cut more than $1 billion from the project in Fiscal 2007, are exploring ways to restore funding for the Pentagon's most expensive aircraft program. The Senate Armed Services Committee, concerned that JSF is beginning low-rate initial production (LRIP) with too little testing (only about 1% of the flight test program has been completed), voted to trim funding next year by $1.2 billion to slow the process.
A decision to expand and redraw a strategic partnership between Thales and Diehl could have important implications for future consolidation of Europe's aerospace and defense sector.
Virgin Atlantic plans to equip its fleet with the Tempus telemedicine device by 2009. Tempus is to replace the MedLink system, both of which are manufactured by Phoenix-based MedAire. Tempus uses advanced satellite technology that operates the airline's onboard phone system to transmit medical information, such as vital signs, and video images to medical experts on the ground. They diagnose the problem and advise crew on a course of action.
The House Appropriations Committee says it's "very concerned" about the Apr. 25 crash of the Homeland Security Dept.'s sole Predator B unmanned aircraft in the Arizona desert. The panel withheld $6.8 million of the department's Fiscal 2007 budget request of $10.3 million for the Predator program until its Customs and Border Protection unit reports crash investigation findings and the implications for future drone operations along U.S. borders and coastlines.
It is important to determine if there is water ice on the Moon, and I support the effort to return man to the Moon (AW&ST Apr. 17, p. 26). But sending two high-speed high-mass projectiles to gouge a trough "roughly a third the size of a football field" in the Moon's surface strikes me as a most inelegant solution. Has adequate consideration been given to the effects of further man-made contamination of the Moon's surface? We could be in the process of doing something we later will bitterly regret.
Eurocontrol will assist European states enforcing the airline blacklist that has been established. The alerting service will be run from Eurocontrol's Central Flow Management Unit. A warning will be issued to the states if a banned carrier aims to enter European airspace. Aviation authorities in those countries will then be able to order inspection or prevent the aircraft from taking off--or perhaps even from entering the airspace.
The U.S. Defense Dept. is now serious about developing a strategic approach to energy consumption and conservation. No longer will energy be considered a free commodity. There is less tolerance toward practices that divorce energy use from larger department-wide requirements. Such practices carry increasing financial and logistical burdens, which impede new operational and tactical concepts.
The Aircraft Group (TAG) has developed TAG Fleet Online, designed to give subscribers immediate access to digital images of aircraft records, current equipment specifications and the latest operating data for aircraft they own, manage or trade. TAG President Wally Andrushenko says the program replaces traditional methods of auditing and managing commercial aircraft records with a technology-based system that eliminates microfilm and paper.
NASA has picked the Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RS-68 engine to power its planned heavy-lift Cargo Launch Vehicle (CaLV) on future missions to the Moon and beyond, rejecting a "production" version of the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME). To feed the five RS-68s envisioned for the CaLV, each of which can generate 650,000 lb. thrust at sea level, the diameter of the core stage tanks will be increased from the 27.5-ft. dia. originally planned to 33 ft.
DRS Technologies might be called the little contractor that could. In 1994, management, led by new President and CEO Mark S. Newman, brainstormed ways to build the company, based in Parsippany, N.J., into a powerhouse. The strategy they adopted was growth through acquisition. Since then, DRS, whose specialties include advanced electronics and power systems, has acquired numerous companies. It hit $500 million in sales by 2000, and projects $2.9 billion for fiscal 2007.
A drive to downsize its fleet and concern about the continued impact of high fuel costs, risks of terrorism and disease make it unlikely that Japan Airlines will be interested in an aircraft as large as the Airbus A380, according to CEO-designate Haruka Nishimatsu. But he left an escape clause for the 550-seat European aircraft: If JAL's rivals gain a competitive advantage in luxury offerings with the new aircraft, then JAL will have to reconsider. The carrier, a major 747 customer, is evaluating the 450-seat Boeing 747-8, but not for immediate purchase.
Images from Japan's Advanced Land Observing Satellite taken May 16 of the Mount Merapi volcano on Java in Indonesia show a growing dome of lava ash compared with an image taken Apr. 29 (see p. 4). The images were acquired by ALOS's Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer type 2. The threat of an eruption prompted Indonesian officials to evacuate at least 20,000 people from the area last week. Volcanologists say the lava dome--the dark area near the crater--has become bigger and a pyroclastic flow has been generated.
The Pentagon and German defense ministry have signed a memorandum of understanding to ensure interoperability between the Northrop Grumman Global Hawk unmanned aircraft and its European offspring--Euro Hawk--to be built in conjunction with EADS. Germany plans to buy Euro Hawk for signals intelligence roles and is considering it for maritime patrol. The contract for a sigint demonstrator system could be signed this year, followed by a production contract in 2010.
Tom Mepham has been appointed president of the Aircraft Interior Products Div. of the Goodrich Corp., Charlotte, N.C. He was president of the Customer Services Div. and will be succeeded by Paul Snyder, who was the division's vice president-enterprise business development.
Ireland's Aer Arann is buying 10 ATR 72-500 turboprops in the next three years, according to aircraft maker ATR, the Finmeccanica/EADS joint venture. The deal is valued at more than $180 million, and the aircraft will replace and expand the inventory of ATR 42 and ATR 72 turboprops now in the carrier's fleet. The inventory is to reach 20 aircraft by the end of 2009. Two aircraft are scheduled for delivery in 2007, five in 2008 and three in 2009. The A318s are intended to allow Aer Arann to expand its network into the U.K.
