UNITED STATES Editor-In-Chief: Anthony L. Velocci, Jr. [email protected] Managing Editor: James R. Asker [email protected] Assistant Managing Editor: Michael Stearns [email protected] Senior Editors: Craig Covault [email protected], David Hughes [email protected] NEW YORK 2 Penn Plaza, 25th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10121 Phone: +1 (212) 904-2000, Fax: +1 (212) 904-6068 Senior News Editor: Nora Titterington
Pakistan will receive advanced Lockheed Martin radars through an $89-million contract with the U.S. Air Force. Involved are six Air Navigation/ Transportable Primary Secondary L-band, phased-array, solid-state radars with spares, radomes, generators and training. The work is to be completed by September 2009.
Alfred Grasso has been appointed executive vice president of the Mitre Corp., McLean, Va. Grasso is expected to succeed Martin C. Faga as president/CEO when he retires next year. Grasso temporarily will continue as director of the Defense Dept.'s Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence Federally Funded Research and Development Center.
The first British Raytheon Sentinel R Mk1 Airborne Stand-off Radar aircraft was flown with a radiating radar last week. The flight, from Greenville, Tex., lasted slightly more than 3.5 hr.
The British Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon is expected to be declared operational in the quick-reaction alert air-defense role in the third quarter of 2007. An austere air-to-ground capability using the Litening III laser-designation pod and laser-guided bombs is slated for mid-2008.
Inadequate communications after Hurricane Katrina led to military commanders on the ground resorting to using runners to relay information, says Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense Paul McHale. The Homeland Security Dept. is spearheading an acquisition of common communications systems, but it will take as long as 12 years to field them. McHale says officials are looking for a near-term "patch" solution. During the recovery, the military used National Guard civil support vans, which operate as a switchboard by connecting systems on different frequencies.
The board of directors of Russian flag carrier Aeroflot has approved a plan to boost the airline's capacity by adding seven Airbus A321-200s to the fleet, to be delivered in the next two years. Still to be resolved is whether Aeroflot will sign for new aircraft, or used. The move would boost the carrier's Airbus A320-family aircraft to 25 total. Aeroflot also operates nine Boeing 767s, four Boeing DC-10 freighters and some 60 Soviet-made Tupolev Tu-154, Tu-134, Ilyushin Il-86 and Il-96 passenger transports.
THE OUTLOOK FOR SALES OF NEW BUSINESS JETS IN 2007 is forecast to increase to about 900 deliveries from 800 in 2006. According to a report by UBS Investment Research, strong demand from international customers, replacement of older aircraft and continued interest in fractional ownership could drive deliveries as high as 1,000. Market analyst David E. Strauss says the international market is expanding at a rate of 10% annually and is outpacing growth in the U.S. because of growing economies in Eastern Europe, Russia, Asia and the Middle East and the weak U.S. dollar.
The prime contractor for the FAA's En Route Automation Modernization system was incorrectly identified (AW&ST Oct. 10, p. 41). Lockheed Martin is the prime and Raytheon is a subcontractor.
THE FAA'S WILLIAM J. HUGHES TECHNICAL CENTER in New Jersey has taken delivery of a Bombardier Global 5000 business jet that will be used to evaluate wide area augmentation system, local area augmentation system, automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast, surface detection and other equipment.
The Israel Air Force is considering replacement of its basic trainer, the Zukit, using a public-finance initiative. Performance requirements for the tandem-seat trainer would include stall speed at landing below 90 kt., with a maximum speed of 290 kt. at 15,000 ft. and maximum low-altitude speed of 270 kt. The defense ministry wants reponses to its initial request for information by mid-February, with aircraft evaluations the following spring.
A decision by Eutelsat to issue an initial public offering could, paradoxically, confirm predictions of a near-term downturn in satellite orders, and suggests the satellite operator is positioning itself to take part in the new round of consolidation shaking the industry.
A 37-ft.-long scaled supersonic transport from Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has completed a 15-min., 22-sec. test of its aerodynamics that reached Mach 1.9-2, at Australia's Woomera Test Range. The $10-million test of the National Experimental Supersonic Transport on Oct. 10 involved a solid-rocket launcher boost to 12 mi. altitude before its glide descent. Landing was by parachute drop. JAXA's goal is development of an SST that can travel 2.5 times faster than today's Mach 8.2-8.5 commercial aircraft. The prototype's shape resembles that of the Concorde.
The first of France's new generation Syracuse 3 military communications satellites has been launched successfully on an Ariane 5 booster from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Also launched on the same mission on Oct. 13 was Galaxy 15, an Orbital Sciences Corp. spacecraft that will provide spare in-orbit capacity for PanAmSat's U.S. network.
Safran is looking to stronger commercial engine deliveries and some key defense activities in the second half of the year so it can meet full-year performance targets after a disappointing first half.
Judy F. Marks has become president of the Lockheed Martin Corp.'s Rockville, Md.-based Transportation and Security Solutions (TSS) business. She was executive vice president of TSS and had been president of Lockheed Martin Distribution Technologies.
Pilots for fractional ownership operator NetJets have reached a tentative agreement with management that would increase wages 40-60% based on years of service and types of airplanes flown. Contract negotiations with the Teamsters have been ongoing since 2001. More than 2,000 pilots fly for NetJets.
I am appalled that NASA's "best" plan for our next step "forward" in space is to reinvent Apollo, taking twice as long and spending several times the money as the original. A better plan would be to give 10% of the Apollo II budget to Burt Rutan to see what he can do with it. (NASA's plan actually will cost about 55% of the Apollo expense, in real terms--Ed.)
The first round of stealth testing of Northrop Grumman's X-47B unmanned combat aircraft has been completed at Lockheed Martin's Helendale, Calif., radar cross-section measurement facility. A key feature of the pole model is a full-scale, S-shaped inner exhaust module designed and built by Pratt & Whitney that cools the exhaust and prevents radar signals from being reflected by the engine. A simpler version of the angled exhaust is carried by the B-2 bomber.
Christopher G. Cook has been appointed vice president-financial planning and analysis and Jennifer L. Ryan an associate at The SMR Group Ltd., Wadsworth, Ohio. Cook was managing director of the Cleveland offices of American Express.
Eurofly plans a December stock issue, offering private and institutional investors a 30-40% share in the airline aimed at financing fleet expansion beyond the current 13 aircraft. Eurofly has had a difficult year, a result of tsunami in the Pacific and terrorist attacks at Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, which combined to depress revenue. Management hopes it can improve performance next year and return to 2004 levels, when the carrier recorded 252 million euros in revenue and a 6.8-million-euro profit.
David Castelveter has become vice president-communications for the Washington-based Air Transport Assn. He has been director of corporate communications for US Airways.
Looking around the corner or on the other side of a wall is increasingly high priority as urban street fighting becomes the norm for much of the fighting in Iraq. Even as the U.S. Army finished a week of showing off its latest weapons in Washington, the Pentagon had just completed demonstration of a system that uses several low-flying UAVs to provide front-line soldiers with real-time pictures over hand-held computers. Israel has developed a similar system that uses a wrist-mounted video for infantrymen.
Alaska Airlines is enhancing maintenance procedures for its MD-80s' horizontal-stablizer-trim jackscrew assemblies. They include use of digital cameras to document proper jackscrew lubrication and use of new end-play test equipment. The decision was prompted following the airline's inspection of its 26 MD-80s. Alaska ordered the check after maintenance workers reported finding insufficiently lubricated jackscrews on two aircraft (AW&ST Oct. 10, p. 34). The airline found one jackscrew assembly without sufficient lubrication.
