The first of up to eight Type 45 air-defense destroyers for the British Royal Navy was launched on Feb. 1. The HMS Daring is due to enter service in 2009. It is fitted with the Principal Anti-Air Missile System. Six Type 45s are on order from BAE Systems, and discussions continue with the Defense Ministry over contracting for a further two of the class.
L-3 Cincinnati Electronics is providing its advanced NightConqueror thermal imager for use in the Vistar 350 sensor suite in the U.S. Navy's FSF-1 Sea Fighter. The device produces high-resolution thermal images for 24-hr. observation in poor weather. L-3 Titan is prime contractor for the Sea Fighter, an aluminum catamaran that operates at speeds of 50 kt.-plus. The ship is designed to conduct performance evaluations of high-speed vessels.
With an election-shortened legislative calendar, growing deficits, the Quadrennial Defense Review and the ongoing war on terrorism, the Defense Dept.'s Fiscal 2007 budget request is coming under more pressure than usual.
Bell Helicopter Textron is implementing an aggressive plan aimed at positioning the company to offer a broad range of vertical unmanned aerial systems by 2010. The company is developing two separate and distinct aircraft for vertical unmanned missions--the TR916 and the TR918. The former fulfills a requirement for the U.S. Coast Guard's Deepwater fleet modernization program, while the latter targets both military and commercial customer applications, according to Bob Ellithorpe, executive director of vertical unmanned aerial systems (VUAS).
Planing and deplaning are often the longest legs of a trip. Ted, United Airlines' low-cost unit, is set to become the first carrier to operate a fully automated over-wing dual-end jet bridge for its Airbus A320 fleet. The Double-Docker Bridge, designed and developed by Ogdensburg, N.Y.-based Dewbridge Airport Systems, is aimed at reducing boarding and deplaning time by half on narrow-body aircraft.
Dan Smith, president of Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, Tewksbury, Mass., has been appointed to the Alliance Principals' Council for Australia's Air Warfare Destroyer Program. The council will be chaired by Royal Australian Navy Vice Adm. (ret.) Chris Ritchie. Other members include John Prescott, chairman of shipbuilder ASC; Lt. Gen. David Hurley, chief of the Capability Development Group; and Stephen Gumley, CEO of the Defense Materiel Organization.
Had he decided to retire a decade ago, Bernard L. Schwartz would have gone down in history as one of the greatest financial whizzes the aerospace industry had ever seen. Between 1972 and 1996, he transformed the old Loral Corp. from a small company with a market value of $7.2 million into a defense electronics powerhouse worth $15 billion by taking on--and often beating--much larger competitors. On Wall Street, he was a CEO that could do no wrong.
USAF Brig. Gen. (select) Joseph D. Brown, 4th, has been appointed executive officer to the commander of Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe of NATO. He was executive assistant to the commander and remains commander of the U.S. European Command, Casteau, Belgium.
The emergence of Morocco-based Jet4you, a startup low-cost operator, could signal the beginning of a new competitive trend in the European airline industry. Although based in North Africa, Jet4you is expected to focus on Europe, including flights to be operated on behalf of TUI, Germany's leisure travel group. TUI owns a 40% stake in the new carrier. Morocco's cost base is significantly lower than Europe's and should boost a low-cost/low-price operator's profitability.
Lockheed Martin is completing development of the prototype Joint Strike Fighter's cockpit and helmet-mounted display in preparation for first flight this autumn.
Lockheed Martin has won a $491-million contract to build the third Advanced Extremely High Frequency spacecraft for the U.S. Air Force. Based on the company's A2100 spacecraft bus, the Advanced EHF constellation will replace the Milstar satellite communications system. Lockheed Martin Space Systems of Sunnyvale, Calif., is prime contractor. The first satellite core recently was shipped to the company's facility in Mississippi for propulsion system integration, and the second core is in production at Sunnyvale.
Congress is opening an informal probe into a key NASA scientist's charge that the agency has tried to stifle his calls for reduced greenhouse-gas emissions. Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.), chairman of the House Science Committee, says "NASA is clearly doing something wrong" after James E. Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, complained publicly that agency headquarters was showing excessive zeal in screening his public statements.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin is building a program based upon the assumption that the in-space assembly approach used on International Space Station has been costly and risky. The problem needs to be re-phrased. The assembly approach that requires payloads launched on the shuttle to be assembled by crews also launched on the shuttle has been costly and risky. Cut any element of this chain, and in-space assembly could be a viable approach.
One of three new-generation Inmarsat 4 spacecraft that will form the backbone of Broadband Global Area Network awaits launch go-ahead in a clean room of EADS Astrium's plant in Toulouse. BGAN will make high-speed mobile broadband service available for the first time for maritime, aeronautical and land-based users around the world. Satellite industry analysts expect BGAN to help galvanize a rebirth of the mobile satellite service sector, which has been moribund since the collapse and reorganization of Iridium and Global$tar earlier in the decade (see pp. 52-55).
USN Capt. (ret.) G.R. Allender (Severna Park, Md.)
I read with interest the article "X-Band Afloat" (AW&ST Jan. 16, p. 420) that said the Missile Defense Agency's Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX) is in Hawaii and expected to reach its home base of Adak, Alaska, in the spring.
Budget cuts will force the Italian air force to slash its flying-hour program, ground some aircraft and defer key maintenance efforts. The bleak outlook presented by chief of staff Gen. Leonardo Tricarico comes as the service is heading into what could be one of its most high-profile operations this year, providing air defense coverage for the Winter Olympic Games in Turin, which are forcing a redeployment of assets.
The European Defense Agency is at the center of European efforts to strengthen troop transport capabilities. If successful, the initiative could lead EDA to embrace a nascent German-French effort to develop a heavy-lift transport. At a meeting of the EDA's steering board last month, top European officials reinforced the view that the European Union may still not have done enough to meet its airlift and other transport needs to support the battle groups being established.
A breakthrough small telecom satellite sale, in partnership with India's Antrix, is expected to initiate a sharp rebound in sales and earnings at EADS Space this year, after three years of belt-tightening and streamlining.
The British Defense Ministry is testing an AgustaWestland Lynx helicopter with modified Rolls-Royce Gem Mk. 205 engines in Iraq to try to counter sand erosion on engine blades. Low-pressure compressor blades on the helicopter have been treated with an erosion-resistant, titanium nitride-based coating. The Russian-conceived coating consists of both "hard" and "soft" layers--the former provides surface protection, the latter allows particles to "bounce off." If all goes well, the modification will be implemented across the Lynx fleet, and beyond.
Chahram Bolouri has become president/CEO of Montreal-based Air Canada Technical Services. He was president of global operations for Nortel. Bolouri succeeds Bill Zoeller, who is retiring.
United Airlines finally is out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy and ATA Airlines will exit soon, each putting into effect business plans as different as night and day, yet facing the same problem of building morale in their distressed workforces.
Airbus has selected Singapore Technologies Marine to build two roll-on, roll-off ships to transport major A380 sections. The two ships are to be delivered in 2008, bringing to three the number of vessels in the A380 assembly logistics infrastructure.
