The Pentagon finalized an agreement with Northrop Grumman to settle up for changes made to the Joint Unmanned Combat Air System (J-UCAS) program following a $1.1-billion budget cut handed down last year. The deal, worth up to $56 million, allows for a third vehicle in the company's X-47 program, even though the requirement has gone away. Also included are an in-flight refueling test and a carrier-landing demonstration on a ship, as opposed to an earlier plan to showcase the capability at NAS Patuxent River, Md.
EADS IS TEAMING WITH DRS TECHNOLOGIES of Parsippany, N.J., to market and produce the EADS Hellas laser-based obstacle warning system that's being evaluated for possible use on U.S. military helicopters. The system can detect obstacles such as power lines. Hellas systems are already in use on German police helicopters, and a version is in development for German military NH90s. The U.S. Special Operations Command is testing and evaluating the system.
Eminent scientists want the British government to reconsider its disdain for participating in manned space exploration, prior to a key European meeting later this year. A trio of top U.K. scientists argue politicians need to revisit the rationale for not supporting British involvement in human space exploration. At 3 billion pounds ($5.3 billion) plus, the cost may prove prohibitive. The scientists suggest a required investment of around 150 million pounds a year over a 20-25-year period.
Ground controllers hope they can adjust the orbit of the International Space Station by this week, after Progress transport thrusters being used to raise the ISS by about 6 mi. cut off early Oct. 18. The maneuver is needed to position the station for the planned Dec. 23 docking of the next Progress set for launch. The initial cause was isolated to a problem in the Progress pressure sensor feedback loop. Should the Progress system be unusable, the ISS can use its own thrusters for this and future orbit changes.
Extreme-weather trials of the Airbus A380 are expected to begin soon, now that a second aircraft has joined the flight test program. The Rolls-Royce Trent 900-powered A380, designated MSN004, along with the first-flight aircraft (MSN001), are to be joined by a third A380, MSN002 soon, so Airbus can ramp up the pace of flight testing. In the almost six months of flight trials so far, the first A380 has completed more than 105 flights and 360 hr. More than 2,500 hr. are planned for the entire program, which will involve five aircraft.
To reduce the chance of foam loss from the space shuttle external tank, a NASA team after a review is proposing near-term changes that should be accomplished before the next flight. Officials expect the changes can be implemented in time for the current May 3-23, 2006, launch planning period.
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Chapter 11 reorganization of Delta Air Lines is striking hard at Comair, its Cincinnati-based regional subsidiary. Comair intends to trim $70 million from annual expenses through downsizing that will include the layoff of 1,000 employees, a 26% reduction of block hour flying and a decrease in aircraft utilization rates to 8.5 from 11 hr. a day. Comair President Fred Buttrell says 30 leased aircraft, chiefly 50-seat Canadair Regional Jets, will be removed from the 174-aircraft fleet, 11 by December.
Mesaba Airlines, regional partner of Northwest Airlines, last week filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Mesaba President John Spanjers said the decision "was not an easy one" but a necessary one. He said the changes imposed on his airline by Northwest since its own bankruptcy filing, along with industry turmoil, caused a dramatic reduction in Mesaba's revenues and left the Airlink partner with an "unsustainable" cost structure. The filing will not affect operations, says Spanjers.
Katie A.M. Pribyl has been named director of communications for the Washington-based General Aviation Manufacturers Assn. She was an administrator at Phaneuf Associates for the FAA National Aviation Safety Data Analysis Center and a pilot for Independence Air.
Backscatter X-ray machines are not being used at U.S. airports yet to screen passengers for explosives, weapons and drugs, but American Science and Engineering Inc. (AS&E) may change that with its upgraded system. The Billerica, Mass.-based company has extensive experience with backscatter systems used by the U.S. government to examine baggage and cargo, but its Body Search system shows images of a passenger's body deemed too revealing for airport use by the American Civil Liberties Union, which also opposes scanning based on ethnic profiling.
Envisat, the European Space Agency's environmental spacecraft, has confirmed global warming trends across the globe. Mission Manager Henri Laur says data from Envisat, which was launched in 2002, in combination with results from the earlier ERS and Topex-Poseidon spacecraft, show the average sea level has risen 3mm. per year since 1992. The rise is attributed partly to ice melt, but mostly to thermal expansion due to an increase in water temperature.
Finnair is boosting its Boeing MD-11 wide-body fleet, focusing on adding frequencies and destinations in Asia. Before year-end, the Finnish flag-carrier expects to add a seventh MD-11 to its fleet, with another to come next year. After starting operations to Guangzhou last month, Finnair plans to offer service next year between Helsinki and Nagoya--its third route to Japan. Finnair President and CEO Keijo Suila says that in the coming years "we will add between one and two new destinations in Asia per year and increase frequencies to current destinations."
Scientists using NASA's High-Energy Transient Explorer-2 (HETE-2) have gotten what they say is the best evidence yet that colliding neutron stars produce short-duration gamma-ray bursts. In findings published in the journal Nature, a team from the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, says HETE-2 picked up a 0.1-sec. burst in the southern constellation Grus on July 9 and cued space- and ground-based telescopes to its location.
Cathy Bain (see photos) has been appointed vice president-marketing and sales and François Dorval vice president-quality assurance and continuous improvement for Montreal-based CMC Electronics Inc. Bain was director of marketing for commercial aviation for CMC, while Dorval was vice president-programs at Thales Avionics Canada Inc.
Woody McClendon has been named head of aircraft sales for the Swift Aviation Group of Phoenix. He was senior vice president-aircraft sales for PrivatAir.
Having spent years bent on its destruction, the U.S. is now trying to put an Iraqi air force back together again. A handful of units have already been formed, including 70 Sqdn., which operates from Basra International Airport. Attached to the squadron is a U.S. advisory support team, including two Lockheed Martin F-16 pilots who now find themselves flying something much more prosaic.
Bulgaria is putting off modernization of its fighter force. After first canceling an effort to upgrade 20 MiG-21s under a deal with MiG Corp.--six of them had already been upgraded--the defense minister now says plans to buy a fourth-generation western fighter also are being put on ice due to a lack of money. Also on hold because of budget constraints is the purchase of four corvettes. Other projects, meanwhile, are moving forward, including the proposed purchase of C-27J tactical transports from Alenia Aeronautica.
India is to purchase the MBDA SM-39 Exocet anti-ship missile to equip the six Scorpene-class submarines it has on order. India becomes the 34th country to purchase the weapon. The first submarine will be delivered in seven years, with the remaining five following at the rate of one per year. An initial batch of 36 SM-39s is to be procured.
Joseph Petrone has become vice president-human resources for Lockheed Martin Electronic Systems, Bethesda, Md. He succeeds Kenneth J. Disken, who is now corporate senior vice president-human resources. Petrone was vice president-human resources for GE U.S. Equipment Financing.
Pfalz-Flugzeugwerke of Speyer, Germany, has won its first contract from Boeing, to provide metallic tubing and ducting for the 787's hydraulic systems. PFW also will design and manufacture fuel line tubes for the engines, auxiliary power unit and nitrogen generation system. Garner CAD Technic of Munich will assist with the tubing design.
The EADS-Alenia Aeronautica ATR joint venture continues to fill up its order book, with Air Tahiti signing for one more ATR 72-500 to be delivered in 2008 and taking an option for another. ATR has now booked more than 60 new aircraft sales this year.
The International Air Transport Assn. (IATA) expects to roll out in November a set of global jet fuel specification and transaction standards, as well as a system to help the airline industry better estimate future fuel costs, according to Lasantha Subasinghe, an IATA director. The procedures have been adopted by several U.S. and European airlines and will be implemented next month, but the industry badly needs Africa- and Asia-based airlines to adopt the methods, too.
Northrop Grumman has opened a new electronic warfare systems integration laboratory at its Bethpage, N.Y., facility to support development of the EA-18G electronic attack aircraft that, after its 2009 operational debut, will first supplement and then replace the EA-6B Prowler. The new ICAP III electronic attack capability will be operational late this year and make its initial deployment to Iraq. An even further upgraded version of the system will be developed for the EA-18G.
French aerospace industry representatives are trying to ensure government backing for engines, onboard systems and lower-tier subcontracts even as the dispute between the European Union and U.S. over assistance to airframers reaches heightened levels.
