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.
The Russian air transport industry has had a mere 3.9% growth in air traffic in 2005, after experiencing 14.9% growth in 2004. Total passenger volume reached 35.1 million, compared to 33.8 million the year before, according to Russia's transport ministry. Air cargo fell 3.7%. Russian air transport officials attribute the decline to the high cost of fuel, which drove up ticket prices about 20% and suppressed demand. In addition, they note that the continued use of fuel-inefficient aircraft exacerbates the problem.
ADAM AIRCRAFT OFFICIALS SAY THE COMPANY'S SECOND A700 twin-engine business jet is scheduled to roll off the assembly line late this month, and the eighth piston-powered A500 will be delivered to a customer by mid-month. Adam Aircraft received FAA certification of the A500 in May 2005 and anticipates that the A700 will enter service late this year. The combined A500 and A700 flight test fleet has accumulated more than 2,500 hr.
Ronald Sugar, chairman/CEO/president of the Northrop Grumman Corp., has been elected chairman for 2006 of the Arlington, Va.-based Aerospace Industries Assn. He succeeds Robert Johnson of Honeywell Aerospace. William Swanson, chairman/CEO of the Raytheon Co., was elected vice chairman. John W. Douglass was reelected AIA president/CEO and Ginette Colot secretary-treasurer. Members of the board of governors' executive committee are: James F. Albaugh, executive vice president of Boeing and president/CEO of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems; David L.
Emirates SkyCargo plans to increase services to South India. On Feb. 1, it will serve Thiruvananthapuram eight times weekly using Airbus A330-200s and Boeing 777-200s. The cargo arm of Emirates also plans to increase flights to Cochin, to daily services from five weekly, and to Chennai, to eight from four weekly. Emirates SkyCargo will offer the cargo customers 135 tons of belly-hold capacity weekly to Thiruvananthapuram and Chennai each, and 120 tons to Cochin.
BLR AEROSPACE IS DEVELOPING WINGLETS for the Beechcraft King Air 90 that will increase effective wingspan and aspect ratio to augment lift at cruise altitudes. The company already produces winglet kits for the Beechcraft Super King Air 200 series. Cutter Aviation, based in Phoenix, was the launch customer in 2005 and the first shipset has been installed by Tulsair on Werco Manufacturing's Super King Air. The winglets help the airplane fly at higher flight levels to take advantage of FAA Reduced Vertical Separation Minimums.
Curt Cannon is correct that NASA is in a sorry state (AW&ST Jan. 9, p. 6). Yet he then goes on to say NASA has no well-defined mission other than to waste money. Yes, it lacks the correct mission--NASA should be a true space agency, with the goal of establishing permanent, self-sufficient colonies on other worlds, along with developing the craft to explore space beyond our solar system. But this much-touted argument of NASA wasting money--please.
The British government's financial watchdog, the National Audit Office (NAO), will review whether the government's privatization of most of its defense labs represented good value for money. Qinetiq, as the bulk of the labs are now known, will likely have an initial public offering later this month (AW&ST Jan. 23, p. 12).
THE NTSB ISSUED A REPORT CALLING for the FAA to tighten requirements on operators flying emergency medical services (EMS) missions. The report cites 55 accidents in the January 2002-January 2005 period, and notes that the rate of EMS-related accidents has increased in recent years.
After three months on strike, 1,500 members of the International Assn. of Machinists (IAM) and Aerospace Workers at Boeing Integrated Defense Systems facilities in Huntington Beach, Torrance and Vandenberg AFB, Calif.; Huntsville and Decatur, Ala.; and Cape Canaveral, Fla., ratified a three-year contract. IAM members are to start returning to work Feb. 6.
The Australian Defense Ministry has awarded a further development contract to Canberra-based CEA Technologies to evolve its design for the phased-array radar to allow Anzac frigates to perform missile defense duties. The $9-million award covers additional risk-reduction work and should allow the government to issue a production contract this year, according to the defense ministry.
