The British government last week was pondering the timetable for an initial public offering of defense technology company QinetiQ, possibly as early as next month. The Carlyle Group now has a 31% share of the formerly state-owned defense research labs.
NASA loses a powerful ally on Capitol Hill with the resignation of Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) as House majority leader. DeLay, who stepped down after Texas state courts ruled against his bid for a speedy trial on money-laundering charges, lived up to his nickname, "The Hammer," more than once on behalf of the space agency, whacking opponents who tried to raid NASA accounts. Last year, for example, he marshaled his forces to block a Democratic attempt to shift $200 million from NASA to a grants program for police (AW&ST June 20, 2005, p. 21).
Michael Romanowski has been named president of the National Center for Advanced Technologies, Arlington, Va. He will remain as vice president-civil aviation at the Washington- based Aerospace Industries Assn. Romanowski succeeds Stan Siegel, who has retired.
A new FAA directive calls for modification of the hydraulic control block of the nose landing gear on Airbus A330-200s/-300s and A340-200/-300s. The directive, aimed at preventing runway excursions, becomes effective Feb. 10. It follows a report of an unexpected steering event during takeoff roll of one of the aircraft types.
Boeing will receive at least $500 million for three big geostationary L-band platforms in its largest commercial satellite deal since 1997, when it sold two spacecraft to Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Ltd. Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV)--a private concern that counts among its investors Motient Corp., SkyTerra Communications and TMI--plans to use the satellites to deliver cellular-type wireless service in the Americas.
Derek Maeer (see photo) has been promoted to vice president-simulation from general manager of simulation and visual systems of New York-based FlightSafety International.
Steven Richards has been named senior account manager for Ladish subsidiary Pacific Cast Technologies, Albany, Ore. He was business development director for the Ion Implant Equipment Div.
The six U.S.-Europe SkyTeam partners seeking antitrust immunity (ATI) for their transatlantic operations withdrew their request Jan. 11, accepting the U.S. Transportation Dept.'s tentative approval of expanded code-sharing authority and its rejection of ATI (AW&ST Jan. 2, p. 60). In a statement, Northwest Airlines, one of the six carriers, said it still believes the tentative decision against ATI was wrong, but the team concluded it was "unlikely" they could persuade the department to change its mind.
Bill Dane (Forecast International/www.forecastinternational.com)
Last October, the U.S. Air Force's Air Combat Command was planning to initiate a 12-month study, or Analysis of Alternatives (AOA), to explore options for modernizing its long-range strike capabilities. The service had already funded next-generation bomber research at $73.9 million in Fiscal 2004-05, and was seeking another $25 million in Fiscal 2006 to continue that effort.
The Aermacchi M346 advanced jet trainer is slated to undergo an intensive flight test campaign that should conclude at year's end, now that the latest flight control version has taken to the air. The M346 performed its first mission with the new set of flight control system rules that will make it fully digital. The flight took place Jan. 9 at Aermacchi's test facility in Venegono, Italy.
Larry Dickerson (Forecast International/www.forecastinternational.com)
So far, the fighting in Iraq has had no measurable effect on the overall tactical missile market, and years may pass before the impact of Operation Iraqi Freedom can be accurately determined. However, this segment of the defense market is likely to remain robust for the foreseeable future. The total worldwide tactical missile market will generate nearly $32 billion in revenues from 2006-10, with Raytheon and Europe's MBDA accounting for the largest individual shares of revenues of $6.8 billion and $3.94 billion, respectively.
ANA's last Boeing 747SR-100 will retire Mar. 10 following its final flight from Kagoshima to Tokyo-Haneda Airport. The aircraft type became known as the Super Jumbo as it was the world's first aircraft to carry 500 people in all-economy configuration. ANA started flying its first 747SR in 1979 from Tokyo Haneda on trunk routes, and by 1989 had 23 aircraft. ANA later instituted a fleet rationalization plan, which called for retiring the Super Jumbos in favor of operating one aircraft type in each of large, medium and small categories.
Tim Campbell has been named executive director of the Maryland Aviation Administration. He held that post at the Salt Lake City Airports Dept. and succeeds Paul J. Wiedefeld.
The article on the Israeli Arrow quotes a Pentagon radar specialist as saying the potential for the Arrow's active electronically scanned array radar would not be in ballistic missile defense (AW&ST Dec. 19/26, 2005, p. 18). Well, I can think of a couple uses in BMD. First, how about melting the mylar decoy balloons, causing the plastic to curl up and identify them as decoys; and, second, just heating the actual warhead a few degrees will improve the signal-to-noise ratio for the infrared detectors on the kinetic kill vehicle.
Supreet Oberoi has become vice president-engineering for Real-Time Innovations Inc., Santa Clara, Calif. He was head of development for Agile Software's strategic product line.
Larry Dickerson (Forecast International/www.forecastinternational.com)
In just four years, worldwide spending on unmanned aerial vehicles has ballooned to levels unexpected prior to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The market for UAVs to perform various missions such as reconnaissance and surveillance is expected to be worth $7.6 billion through 2010 ($13.6 billion through 2014), with the lion's share coming from the U.S.
After development on a ground testbed, Northrop Grumman is disassembling its chemical oxygen-iodine laser for transfer into the Missile Defense Agency's YAL-1A airborne laser aircraft, with the intent of shooting down a missile about three years from now.
Robert V. Dahl (Project Director, Air Cargo Management Group)
Never before has there been so much interest in freighters, and never before have prospective operators had so many aircraft types from which to choose. In the past, the typical freighter was an aging, older-technology aircraft, often selected more for its low acquisition price than for its performance capability. Now, however, the fleet is undergoing a remarkable transformation as additional modern aircraft types become available.
Boeing and Air India executives signed the formal documents last week for the carrier to buy eight 777-200LRs, 15 777-300ERs and 27 787-8s. Subsidiary Air India Express ordered 18 737-800s. AI's order for 777-200LRs is the largest for that model.
Austin Klahn (see photo) has become vice president/chief information officer of Jeppesen Technology Services, Englewood, Colo. He was chief technology officer for MapQuest.
The U.S. Army's Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorates has awarded Goodrich Corp. a contract for an undisclosed sum to design, develop and deliver an indium gallium arsenide detector array for use in high-definition (1,920 X 1,080-pixel) shortwave infrared night-vision cameras. The project will be conducted by the company's Optical and Space Systems team in Princeton, N.J. The camera will have potential for commercial and defense applications such as covert surveillance, optical coherence tomography, hot end process inspection and other machine vision tasks.
On the hunt for acquisitions, Singapore Technologies Aerospace could take a stake in Singapore Airlines Engineering Co. by mid-year. "Both of us have substantial capacities invested in Singapore and putting it together will be advantageous," ST Engineering CEO Tan Pheng Hock said last week. "We hardly compete with each other. We do heavy maintenance while they do line maintenance. If opportunity comes our way, we will take a serious look at it."
The U.K. is considering a series of trials to examine the possibility of re-aiming inflight weapons against moving surface targets. The proposal is an element of the Defense Ministry's Network Enabled Capability (NEC). This is intended to exploit the military utility of the digital environment, providing the ability to share information rapidly across a broad range of platforms.
