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.
Airbus North America, that middle-American aircraft company from Wichita, wants Congress to "keep U.S. aviation manufacturing competitive." Bill Greer, Airbus NA engineering vice president and general manager, tells a House aviation subcommittee field hearing at Wichita that shortages of engineers could "undermine America's dominance in this field." Greer manages 200 engineers at the expanding facility and will lead a second Airbus engineering complex at Mobile, Ala., now under construction. It's set to open early in 2007 and will employ about 150 engineers.
Market Focus 12 BAE Systems again in the center of a buyout swirl News Breaks 20 Although aviation accidents rose in 2005, fatalities declined 21 Black-nosed NKC-135E begins tests of ABL's laser beam control 22 Italy upgrading helicopters for com- bat search and rescue missions 23 Lufthansa and Swiss post improved financial results for 2005 23 Pierre Clostermann--French war ace, aviation author and politician--dies World News & Analysis
As concerns about a flu pandemic increase, more of the world's major airports may be adopting an influenza surveillance program similar to Honolulu International's, the first implemented in the U.S. Hawaii is a gateway to Asia--where the avian flu has hit hard--and heavily reliant on tourism. While there is little risk of infection among the state's bird population, Hawaii Health Dept.
Europe's first polar-orbiting satellite, Metop-1, was being prepared late last week for shipment to Baikonur Cosmo- drome, Kazakhstan, where it is on track for a June 30 launch on a Starsem Soyuz rocket. The EADS Astrium-build spacecraft will share responsibility for providing polar weather coverage to the world's meteorologists with the U.S. Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite system.
The military depends on technology. Technology depends on science. So the military depends on science. That's been true for decades: From the Manhattan Project through the Cold War, the military built astounding technologies out of the inventions and advice of scientists. But it's less true now.
editorial director Anthony L. Velocci, Jr. editor-in-chief Sharon Weinberger managing editor Pat Toensmeier assistant managing editor Michael Stearns contributing editors Douglas Barrie Peter A. Buxbaum David Eshel Ann Finkbeiner B.C. Kessner Ron Laurenzo Catherine MacRae Hockmuth Andy Nativi Rich Tuttle
The FAA has been modeling the possible effects of thunderstorms on flight delays, and has discovered something quite alarming. By 2014, with projected traffic growth of 27%, there could be 29 days of delays exceeding the worst single day of delay in 2004. It's not that thunderstorm activity is expected to get worse; it's just that the disruptive effects will be magnified with increased traffic levels.
The U.S. plans to send a delegation to Beijing next month for the first of several rounds of bilateral talks with China in the hope of eventually negotiating an open-skies deal. The first round of talks on Apr. 19-20 is not expected to yield a breakthrough agreement, but will "set the framework" for future meetings, says John Byerly, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of State for transportation. He says the U.S.
Airbus has concluded a preliminary agreement with the Polish foundation of major applied research organizations to work together on research and technology projects. Airbus already subcontracts components such as doors, fire protection and floor grids to Swidnik, Okecie and other companies in Poland. Together with parent company EADS, the European airframer expects to have spent $140 million on purchases and investment outlays in Poland from 1998-2008.
Bell Helicopter Textron's new Repair and Overhaul Center in Roanoke, Tex., has completed work on its first military helicopter component assignment. The 82,000-sq.-ft. facility is designed for maintenance and overhaul of rotor hubs, transmissions, gearboxes and rotor blades. The center also coordinates second-tier supplier repairs for Bell's U.S. military rotorcraft platforms.
EADS describes its new simulation center in New Port, Wales, as a virtual battlefield on which military and law enforcement can practice decision-making and quick response to crises. Opened in February, NetCOS is designed to be Europe's most advanced simulation and modeling facility. The center also plans to compete for security contracts for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2012 games in London. NetCOS links Germany, France and the U.K., and plans are underway to add North America.
FEATURES too many bots 14 The Pentagon's buying lots of robots. Question is: Can they work together? In Israel, cooperation is blooming (p. 16).on sale soon 20 Italy and Russia develop a mid-size attack sub that's effective, affordable and available for export. firing frenzy 29 U.S. Navy's search for advanced munitions to support Marine amphibious operations is running into problems. Italy, however, has its own approach (p. 32). missile gap 34 Israel looks to upgrade its ballistic missile capabilities in response to evolving threats from hostile neighbors.
With all the controversy surrounding Boeing 767 tanker lease, it should be a no- brainer when it comes to selecting the next tanker for the U.S. Air Force. You can see the generals tiptoeing around the issue because of the "Buy America" campaign. But even putting all the Boeing issues aside, you can see that Airbus has the better product with the KC-30 when it comes to getting the job done. It was obvious to the Australian Defense Ministry, which has a significantly smaller budget than does the U.S., so maybe we should follow their lead.
The FAA intends to enact a third extension, this time through Oct. 28, of its August 2004 order limiting flight operations at Chicago O'Hare International Airport. The restrictions, based on arrival limits negotiated by the FAA with U.S. and Canadian airlines serving O'Hare, would expire Apr. 1 without an extension. The agency is preparing a permanent regime of capacity limits for O'Hare and says it expects to issue it "shortly," but not in time to govern summer 2006 airline schedules.
Space Exploration Technologies was attempting to make its first launch of the Falcon 1 rocket late last week, in a Mar. 21-29 launch period in the local western Pacific Ocean time zone. SpaceX didn't try on the first three available days as it was analyzing results of a brief static test firing on Mar. 19 at the tiny Omelek Island launch site in the Kwajalein Atoll, which is 17 hr. ahead of Eastern Standard Time. The Mar. 24 opportunity was dropped as the company examined the results of a second static firing made on Mar. 22. That 3-sec.
Alitalia appears to be gaining the upper hand in its struggle to acquire bankrupt low-fare carrier Volare airlines, despite a stiff challenge from AirOne. Italian industry minister Claudio Scajola declared last week that Alitalia had won a competitive offer for Volare. The decision overturned an initial ruling in favor of AirOne, which had bid 29 million euros ($35 million) for the no-frills airline. Alitalia offered 38 million euros for the carrier, which employs 700 people.
A team led by Lockheed Martin, which has aggressively been expanding its information technology work, recently nabbed the FBI's $305-million, six-year Sentinel contract. Much like the Defense Dept., the FBI intends to link its disparate information systems into one that could be accessed by analysts and agents worldwide. Team members include Accenture, Anteon, CACI and Computer Sciences Corp.
sharon weinberger, editor-in-chief of Defense Technology International, interviewed Roger Lough, Australia's chief defense scientist, for this issue's On the Record. Her book, Imaginary Weapons, about the Pentagon and fringe science, is slated for publication in June. peter buxbaum, a long-time defense and homeland security reporter based in Washington, wrote the cover story on the Pentagon's "battle of the bots." His last article for DTI, on the meltdown in the Pentagon's next-generation radios, was a prescient look at overly ambitious military technology.
