Work is filtering down the supply chain for the second batch of 236 Eurofighter Typhoons. Ultra Electronics has inked a five-year deal worth 14 million pounds ($24.6 million) with BAE Systems for the supply of cockpit equipment, including the hands-on throttle and stick controls. Ultra expects further contracts for additional equipment items for the second production run to be awarded in the coming 12 months.
I agree with C. Edward Slater of Colorado that amphibious airtankers have a very useful role in fire control (AW&ST Sept. 26, p. 6). I was in charge of the development and marketing of the Canadair CL-215 in the early 1960s. This aircraft is used by virtually every province and territory in Canada. The CL-415 is turbine-powered, with greater water/fire retardant capacity and performance. France was an early customer for both aircraft and a substantial number are in use around the Mediterranean.
A PANAMSAT GALAXY 15 SATELLITE, built by Orbital Sciences Corp., was launched on an Ariane 5 rocket on Oct. 14 to provide signals to aircraft as part of the FAA's Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). The satellite will also supply commercial video services to a variety of customers. A Lockheed Martin Geostationary Communications and Control System team uses two satellites to augment GPS navigation. The team provides ground uplink stations that receive GPS correction information and broadcasts it to satellites for distribution.
Mary Ann Meador and James Kinder are among employees of the NASA Glenn Research Center's Materials Div. in Cleveland who have been named to receive awards for developing three of the top 100 most technologically significant products of the year, as named by editors of R&D Magazine and a panel of outside experts. Meador and Kinder developed a family of rod-coil block copolymers to improve ionic conductivity in lithium polymer batteries.
The aerospace and defense business revolves around programs, which connect industry and government on a global scale and are among the most complicated and long-running commercial and technological endeavors undertaken anywhere.
AirLaunch LLC made the first drop test of its Quick Reach I rocket design on Sept. 29 from a USAF/Boeing C-17 transport at Edwards AFB, Calif. The launcher is a leading contender for the next phase of Darpa's Falcon small launch vehicle program (see p. 56). This view of the full-size drop test article was taken looking aft from the front of the C-17 cargo bay. Photo by Phil Panzera, president of Space Vector Co.
The final 19-ton National Reconnaissance Office/Lockheed Martin Advanced KH-11 type digital imaging reconnaissance spacecraft is undergoing checkout in polar orbit, following liftoff Oct. 19 on the final U.S. Air Force Titan IVB to be launched from Vandenberg AFB, Calif.
Indian carrier IndiGo has ordered International Aero Engines V2500s to power the low-cost carrier's fleet of Airbus A319/A320s. The $1.7-billion deal represents the largest order for the IAE consortium. IndiGo also is becoming the launch customer for IAE's latest endeavor, the V2500Select program. The first round of engine upgrades under the Select program is expected to be introduced around 2008.
Wanda L. Adelman, Air Traffic Manager (Milwaukee ATC Tower, Milwaukee, Wis.)
I am writing in response to Ed Wischmeyer's letter about the air traffic controll operation at the Experimental Aircraft Assn.'s AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis. (AW&ST Sept. 12, p. 6).
Lufthansa may be facing a pilot strike due to the airline pilot union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) standoff over the long-running dispute regarding proposed scope clause changes. Europe's second-largest airline and the union are scheduled to meet by the end of this week in what observers describe as the last attempt to find a negotiated solution.
The Pentagon acquisition community has a scheme to get budget planning out of the way before the December holidays in order to avoid a surprise like the one in 2004, when a small group of senior Defense Dept. civilians slashed programs while most acquisition officials were on vacation. The current plan would release results of the Quadrennial Defense Review early in November, followed almost immediately by Program Decision Memorandums. The Office of Management and Budget would do its calculations and respond by mid-November with a "pass back," noting budgetary realities.
The Aerospace Div. of Korean Airlines will make the 17-ft.-long raked wingtips for the standard-length Boeing 787-8. In May, Korean Air ordered 10 787-8s, which will seat 223 passengers in a three-class configuration. Korean Air values the contract at $200 million.
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While we all applaud the air crew's skillful handling of the JetBlue nose gear incident on Sept. 21, the emergency responders on the ground get fewer kudos.
Continental Airlines eked out its second consecutive quarterly profit while Southwest logged its umpteenth, nearly four times greater. American ended its streak at one, falling back into red ink, and JetBlue forecasted a loss this fall bigger than its net profit of $22.2 million during the previous three quarters. In other words, the summer was just another quarter in the fourth year of the U.S. airline industry's wrenching realignment.
International Lease Finance Corp. has agreed to buy 20 Boeing 787s in a more than $2-billion deal that neither the aircraft maker nor leasing company is discussing. ILFC is in talks with Airbus about a potential purchase of the 787's rival, the A350.
JAXA has identified wireless energy transmission technology as an area where it wants to contribute to future exploration initiatives, starting with the Moon. The Japanese agency and its industry partners, notably Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), plan to orbit a demonstration satellite able to beam 100 kw. of solar power collected in orbit back to Earth as microwaves or lasers by 2010. But the technology might be better applied to support lunar bases, says JAXA Vice President Kaoru Mamiya.
Planned talks in Washington next month are expected to determine the climate for transatlantic commercial air-transport relationships for the foreseeable future. Last week's resumption of open skies talks in Brussels between the U.S. and European Union has air transport industry officials hopeful that relations between the two will lead to more positive spirit on a broader level, but significant concerns remain on both sides about what is achievable.
Space officials in Moscow are watching the U.S. House of Representatives closely as it nears action on amending the Iran Non-Proliferation Act of 2000 to allow NASA to buy Russian hardware for the International Space Station. But at the working level that doesn't necessarily mean they are eager to gouge Uncle Sam on the price. Alexander Medvedchikov, a senior space engineer who is deputy director general of the Russian space agency, says amending the act would strengthen the ISS partnership by giving it more flexibility to add a second Soyuz to the station.
U.S. aviation assets will be needed in Afghanistan for the foreseeable future, even if NATO troops expand their role as planned, a panel of military experts says. "If you look at the European members of NATO, what they can actually generate in helicopter lift is very, very small," Christopher Langton, a retired British army colonel, tells a conference on Afghanistan at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. Another speaker, U.S. Army Col. David Lamm, former chief of staff of Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan and now a National War College professor, agrees.
News Breaks 18 Airbus adds second A380 to flight test program 19 NASA team proposes changes to reduce the chance of foam loss 19 Saturn moon Dione poses for photographing scientists 20 Former Air Force One lands at Reagan Library pavilion 20 Russia promotes sale of MiG-29s to fulfill Indian fighter requirement World News & Analysis 24 ISS partners working with NASA to move their hardware forward
Boeing has snagged a new export customer for its Joint Direct Attack Munitions guidance kit, winning an Australian competition to fit the near-precision weapon on F/A-18s. The contract was signed last week. Australia plans to spend A$50 million ($37.5 million) for the weapon. Lockheed Martin and Raytheon were the losing bidders in the program. The Royal Australian Air Force expects to field the new system in 2008. The JDAM will be not integrated on the F-111, which is slated for retirement around 2010.
Northrop Grumman has chosen Alabama as a home for its plant to modify commercial Airbus A330s into refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force. It would join teammate EADS North America at the Mobile facility if the new team manages to snag all or a piece of the KC-135 replacement work. The facility will be next to EADS's assembly plant. The property would be leased from the local airport authority, says Martin Dandridge, Northrop Grumman's top tanker official.
