Congressional scuttling of a deal that would have seen Dubai Ports World operate six U.S. ports prompts the question of whether Boeing, America's biggest manufacturing exporter, faces retaliation as it battles Airbus for airplane sales in the Middle East. The stakes are huge: By Boeing estimates, the region's airlines will buy about 870 aircraft worth $115 billion over the next 20 years.
Launch of TerraSAR-X, the first civil 1-meter resolution radar imaging satellite to be commercially available, has been rescheduled to Oct. 31. The Dnepr launch had been set for June. In addition to its primary imaging payload, the spacecraft will carry a laser data-relay terminal supplied by Tesat Spacecom, a unit of EADS Space. Meanwhile, German Aerospace Center DLR and EADS Astrium, which are cofunding TerraSAR-X under a public-private partnership arrangement, say they are negotiating a PPP agreement for a follow-up spacecraft, Tandem-X.
The British Defense Ministry is considering whether to consolidate Royal Air Force rotary lift at RAF Lyneham. The base faces closure in 2012, following the relocation of RAF C-130 squadrons to Brize Norton. Under Project Belvedere, however, the Joint Helicopter Command is looking at a "helicopter super base," says Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram.
Meanwhile, in Poland, Alcatel and EADS Astrium demonstrated the role space-based systems can play in European crisis management. This 2-million-euro ($2.4-million), 14-month project, called Astro+, was funded as part of preparatory activities in anticipation of the EU's 7th Framework Research Program, intended to run from 2007-13.
A new analysis is putting some numbers behind the widely held view that aerospace and defense companies are the driving forces behind robust mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the government information technology (IT) sector. Two-thirds of 118 M&A transactions in government IT and defense in 2005 were focused on security and defense, with an emphasis on military communications, sensors and signal-processing technologies, according to the analysis by Input, an IT market research firm in Reston, Va.
Australia's top planners began with the search for an airborne radar that could pick out very small targets at great distances. But that vision has made a quantum leap into the esoteric world of network-centric warfare with development of the Wedgetail aircraft. Dubbed an airborne early warning and control aircraft (AEW&C), the name camouflages much more. As it's fielded in the next couple of years, the Boeing 737-based platform will become the hub of net-centric operations and conduct a wide range of active and passive surveillance.
U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) has received the Satellite Leadership in Government Award from the Washington-based Satellite Industry Assn. This annual award is given to a federal employee who "exemplifies leadership and whose dedication to public service serves as an example to others in government." Stevens was cited for "recognizing the important role that satellites can play before, during and after disasters."
Aer Lingus last week sent a St. Patrick's day present to Toulouse in the form of an order for two Airbus A330s, bringing its total fleet of the type to nine. The General Electric CF6-powered aircraft are to be delivered in mid-2007. Aer Lingus is taking a -200 and -300, both to be operated in two classes.
There were more than a couple of unexplained line items in budgets back in the 1980s and '90s. If the engines of this one were that noisy, the typical black-world sense of humor might well have resulted in the moniker "Aurora." Aviation Week & Space Technology never applied the term "Aurora" to the SR-3/XOV two-stage-to-orbit system. We considered "Aurora" as just a budget line-item cover name for money allocated to a not-so-black program of the period, such as the B-2--Ed.
Revenues at Singapore Technologies Aerospace climbed 9.5% in 2005 to S$1.2 billion ($741 million) over the previous year, with profits after tax of S$210 million, up 11%. The company, ranked by AW&ST's affiliate Overhaul & Maintenance magazine as the world's largest airframe MRO provider, has branches in Europe and the U.S. (AW&ST Mar. 13, p. 58). Last year, it added C-130 depot maintenance work from the U.S. Pacific Air Force and avionics development for various foreign defense forces to its portfolio.
The Spanish air force expects to overhaul its air combat tactics as it realizes what new capabilities it can bring to the battlefield with the Eurofighter Typhoon. But first, military and industry technicians need to work through problems presented by the aircraft.
Problems pulling control-fin locking pins on its Pegasus launch vehicle have delayed the start of NASA's ST-5 constellation-control mission until no earlier than Mar. 21. Orbital Sciences' L-1011 ferry aircraft was almost ready to drop the Pegasus for ignition Mar. 15 when at least one of the pins that hold the fins in place failed to withdraw during the pre-launch sequence. The aircraft returned to Vandenberg AFB, Calif., where engineers were unable to find the cause of the problem on a first look.
Pierre Sparaco's article served as a poignant reminder of our changing aviation world. With the destruction of aircraft plants in San Diego and Los Angeles, it will be hard to imagine the booming aviation industry of the 1940-90 period in Southern California. The same has happened in the Northeast U.S., with only Sikorsky in Connecticut remaining of a proud aviation heritage.
Loss of hydraulic pressure resulted in the crash of a Russian air force Sukhoi Su-24M Fencer strike aircraft on Mar. 15 near Voronezh, while being flown on a training mission. The two crewmembers ejected safely. A Su-24MR reconnaissance variant was lost in January, after the failure of the variable-geometry wing control unit.
New research supporting a hypothesis that primitive microbial life forms existed on Mars during very recent geologic time--or may still exist--will raise new controversy about the possibility that evidence of life is preserved in Martian meteorites recovered on Earth. The findings were presented at the 37th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) by members of the team that 10 years ago garnered presidential attention when they reported evidence of microbial life in a more ancient 3.6-billion-year-old Martian meteorite (AW&ST Aug. 12, 1996, p. 24).
Directed-energy weapons, including the "weapons effects" of large active electronically scanned (AESA) radars, are a worry for researchers and planners who still don't know all the benefits and unintentional damage that such devices might produce.
Pratt & Whitney Canada has delivered the first PW615F engine to Cessna Aircraft Co. for installation on the third Cessna Citation Mustang business jet built at the manufacturer's assembly facility at Independence, Kan. P&WC last week also opened its dedicated PW600 assembly and test facility at its main plant in Longueuil, Quebec.
China Southern Airlines has signed an agreement for 10 more Airbus A330s to be powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines. The contract, which comes with a 10-year full-service support package, is worth about $600 million, Rolls-Royce says. The aircraft are to be delivered in 2007 and 2008. China Southern already operates four Trent 700-powered A330s and has opted for the Trent 900 on its A380s.
Airports Council International's preliminary 2005 results, based on data from more than 850 airports worldwide, show a "firm rebound" in traffic. Compared with 2004, passenger traffic increased 6%, with the airports handling more than 4 billion passengers. Latin America/Caribbean and Middle East regions, with 10% increase each, had the greatest growth, followed by Africa (9%), and Asia-Pacific and Europe (7% each). Meanwhile, cargo (including mail) volume rose 3% to 78.7 million metric tons; the Middle East led with 8% growth, Asia-Pacific had 5% and Europe, 3%.
Russia and Algeria have agreed to an arms deal worth $7.5 billion, including the supply of 36 MiG-29SMT variants of the Fulcrum and 28 Sukhoi Su-30MKA Flanker combat aircraft. The Yakovlev Yak-130 jet trainer is also being acquired, with 16 on order. S-300PMU2 (SA-20) surface-to-air missile systems also are included. Deliveries of the MiG-29SMT will begin this year, with the first of the Su-30MKA aircraft to follow in 2007. Aircraft account by value for just under half of the total deal.
A major reorganization of EADS's Sogerma MRO unit looks like the only hiccup in what otherwise is shaping up as a trouble-free, record-breaking year for the European aerospace and defense giant.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is moving ahead with the transfer of U.S. Marine Corps flight activities from Futenma AB in southern Okinawa to a new site at Camp Schwab near Nago, despite protests by 35,000 Okinawans. The mayor of Nago says he's willing to compromise on a different location, but Koizumi says another shift in policy will only create more problems. The transfer will take eight years, and the government has agreed to establish an advisory council to look into safety issues and possible government investments in the region.
Aerostructures company Latecoere reported a 34% surge in revenues last year, to 355.4 million euros and a 21% jump in operating earnings, to 37.7 million euros, driven by strong deliveries of Airbus, Boeing and Dassault Aviation aircraft. Net profit rose 17%, to 20.5 million euros. The company hopes to win aerostructures and cabling awards for the A350 this year.
Operating results of European legacy carriers smaller than the big three--British Airways, Air France-KLM and Lufthansa--are coming under increasing pressure, as fuel hedging contracts are beginning to expire and record fuel prices are taking a toll. Several European carriers this month reported severe declines in their operating results and cited high fuel costs as the main reason. Traffic, by contrast, continued to be strong, as many European economies experience more significant growth rates than in the past few years.
Dassault Falcon reports it sold a Falcon 7X to an Asian customer during last month's Singapore air show. It marks the second order in the region for the 6,000-naut.-mi. executive jet.
