A troubled NASA effort to explore two "protoplanets" in the asteroid belt with a solar-electric-propelled spacecraft will go forward as planned, following a review by the U.S. agency's top engineer. Associate Administrator Rex Geveden overturned an earlier decision by NASA's Science Mission Directorate to kill the Dawn mission to Vesta and Ceres (AW&ST Mar. 6, p. 21), finding that its "risk posture is not atypical for this type mission." The science directorate cited technical uncertainty with the spacecraft, which was assembled at Orbital Sciences Corp.
BAE Systems has been selected to develop the British Defense Ministry Falcon battlefield communications network. The 200-million-pound ($349-million) program is due to enter service in 2010. Falcon will be able to use the Skynet 5 satellite system to provide communications between a theater of operations and the U.K. headquarters.
Loral Space & Communications reported adjusted earnings before interest, depreciation and amortization of $37 million for 2005, down from an adjusted EBITDA loss of $49 million the year before. The net loss--excluding a $1.1-billion gain from the discharge of pre-petition obligations and fresh-start adjustments pursuant to its emergence from bankruptcy on Nov. 21, 2005--was $74 million, compared with a $177-million deficit in 2004. Revenues rose 20% to $626 million.
Weight of the 787 is "a couple of percent" over Boeing's targets, and some suppliers have had to wake up to the fast speed of the development program, says Vice President Mike Bair, head of the program.
Thales has been selected to supply the multimode receiver for the Airbus A400M airlifter. The receiver will include GPS, WAAS/Egnos GPS overlay and ground-based augmentation capabilities, as well as instrument, microwave and FMS landing system functions. The unit will be part of operational qualification trials of the A400M, which is tentatively scheduled to fly late in 2007. In related news, Thales will supply a TopDeck glass cockpit under an upgrade program for Brazil's P-3 maritime patrol aircraft. EADS-CASA will install the displays and avionics in eight airplanes.
Aviation Fleet Solutions and Pratt & Whitney have received FAA certification of a QuietEagle hushkit for Boeing MD-80 series jets powered by JT8D-200 engines. The modifications, which center on a new fan case, 16-lobe mixer, muffler and special exhaust nozzle, are projected to reduce noise by up to 6 dB. and allow the aging transport to meet FAR Part 36 Stage 4 and ICAO Annex 16 noise rules. Initial kits will ship to customers in May.
First it was the Air Transport Assn. laying down "principles" by which FAA financing should be reformed. Next came the National Business Aviation Assn. and other representatives of business and general aviation, with their own set of ground rules. Now comes aviation economist Darryl Jenkins with a contrarian study, commissioned by the National Air Traffic Controllers Assn., that questions one of the central arguments for reform--whether airfares really are getting lower and eroding the major source of revenue for the aviation trust fund.
The Air Force's space acquisition staff has been reduced "way too much," Secretary Michael Wynne tells Senate defense appropriators. He cites progress revamping oversight and quality of military space programs but says the loss of talent is hurting engineering quality and causing cost overruns. In several milspace programs, the Air Force is pushing a "configuration freeze routine," which stops further requirements from even being proposed. "We're trying to make sure we have the right level of technology, not more, going up on our rockets.
Full release of scientific data from Europe's Smart-1 lunar-orbiter mission will begin in the coming weeks, following validation by the European Space Agency's scientific team. Additional data will be posted on ESA's Smart-1 web site for months. The Smart-1 probe started orbiting the Moon on Nov. 15, 2004, after a year-long journey using ion propulsion. It is expected to continue sending data until it crashes on the surface in August, following an 18-month scientific campaign.
Finmeccanica expects to obtain 400-490 million euros ($484-593 million) for new acquisitions by selling part of its Ansaldo railways business. The Italian contractor intends to place 60% of the capital in Ansaldo on the market, to reduce its non-defense business and obtain fresh cash to strengthen core aerospace and defense activities. Ansaldo earned 44 million euros last year on revenues of 840 million euros. The Ansaldo share price is expected to be 6.8-8.2 euros.
L-3 Communications is working with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's air and marine unit to return the agency's P-3 aircraft to flight. The fleet was grounded recently after L-3 personnel discovered a crack in a wing corner fitting. Further inspections found similar cracks on other aircraft. L-3 has begun repairs to several aircraft and is developing a long-term sustainment plan that deals with fatigue damage. Using data from the repair of Navy P-3s, it is thought possible to add at least 7,000 flight hours to the airframes without having to re-wing them.
AirTran pilots have never had it so good--at least in terms of information about their contract with the company. The 1,400 pilots last week received sometimes scorching e-mails comprising a thread between Steve Kolski, senior vice president of operations, and Allen Philpot, president of the National Pilots Assn. The subject: the fractured attempt to settle on a tentative contract outside mediated talks.
It was big. It was futuristic. Now it's dead. In 2004, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) jump-started its ambitious concept for a heavier-than-air dirigible. Appropriately dubbed "Walrus," the enormous airship met with skepticism in the U.S. Congress, which expressed concerns that the same heavier-than-air concept, in prior incarnations, proved unaffordable. Darpa, on the other hand, argued that those issues are what made it a "Darpa-hard" challenge.
The Scottish Ambulance Service will begin operating two Beechcraft B200C Super King Air special mission aircraft on Apr. 1 as part of the National Health Service. Both airplanes will be operated by U.K.-based Gama Aviation. The B200Cs feature large cargo doors, a pneumatically operated patient-loading system and cabins fitted with overhead medical modules for patient-monitoring equipment. B200s are also operated by the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, Luftransport in Norway, the Swedish Air Ambulance, Spain's Helisureste and Germany's DRF and Medair.
The sheer magnitude of the U.S. Air Force's B-2 stealth bomber development effort is difficult to grasp when characterized by only statistics and technical data. It also was a career-defining experience for thousands of participants.
French World War II ace, celebrated aviation author and politician Pierre Clostermann died on Mar. 22 in Montesquieu-des-Alberes in southwest France. He was 85. After graduating from the U.S. Ryan Engineering School and becoming a private pilot, Clostermann in 1942 joined the U.K.-based French Free Forces. Flying Spitfires and Tempests, he finished the war with a score of 33 confirmed and five probable kills.
Lufthansa aims to reach an operating profit of 1 billion euros ($1.21 billion) in 2008, after posting improved results in all of its business units last year and seeing the integration of affiliate Swiss International Air Lines progress faster than expected.
USAF Gen. (ret.) Richard B. Myers, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff until September, has been named to the board of directors of the Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp.
Finnair has become the first airline to select the Rolls-Royce Trent 1700 to power its fleet. The carrier placed nine firm orders, plus four options, for Airbus A350-900s in a deal valued at $470 million. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2012. Finnair's links with Rolls date from the 1960s when its Caravelle airliners were equipped with the Avon engine.
The Spanish government plans to acquire 51 Eurocopter EC135 helicopters and 2,000 tactical missiles to boost antiterrorism and battlefield capabilities. The missile acquisition is part of a 2.5-billion-euro ($3-billion) defense appropriations plan that will mark the biggest outlay for military hardware since the Socialist government came to power in early 2004. The plan includes a fifth F-100 frigate and four maritime patrol boats.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) won kudos last year for the stunning success of its Grand Challenge, a race of unmanned vehicles across the Mojave Desert. The results opened the door a little wider to a future filled with advanced robots and represented a symbolic step toward the Pentagon's stated goal of having one-third of its ground vehicles unmanned by 2015.
The Hellenic Aerospace Industry (HAI) is anticipating a return to profitability in 2007, after several years of lackluster revenues stemming in part from Greek defense spending cuts. As part of its new strategy, Greece's main aerospace contractor is undergoing an internal shift as it tries to expand its nondefense activities and focus on higher-value-added subcontract work. Much of the transformation aims to exploit offset work the company generates as a result of U.S. and European sales to the Greek military.
The British Army's largest acquisition of a family of next-generation armored vehicles remains veiled in uncertainty after recent meetings between procurement officials and industry. U.S. companies are debating whether to compete with BAE Systems to be prime contractor for the Future Rapid Effect System (FRES) or to try and partner with what is now a transatlantic land-systems giant. While the Defense Ministry has belatedly launched several technology demonstrators for its 3,700-vehicle FRES program, industry is unsure of the acquisition strategy.
Providing fire support to troops fighting on the beaches has been a traditional naval mission from the days of the first amphibious operations and, given the emphasis on power projection into coastal areas, it's also an increasingly urgent requirement. Naval forces need to deliver accurate fire inland to strike a variety of fixed and mobile targets, while at the same time keeping the ships at a safe distance from the threats onshore.
Teamsters Union Local 1150 has rejected a revised contract proposal offered Mar. 13 by Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. to a federal mediator. The offer "rearranged" annual wage increases and cash bonuses, but the union's grievance against new health care plans was unchanged. Union workers remain on strike after walking off the job early in February.
