Airbus is aiming at having 100% of A350 supplier contracts denominated in dollars and is trying to use the new aircraft to advance other critical elements of its supply chain management strategy. The coming months are going to be critical to the A350, and second- and third-tier suppliers, as Airbus puts together its contractor team. Before month's end, the aircraft maker plans to name the builder of the new twin widebody's landing gear, with Safran's Messier-Dowty and Goodrich in the running.
In "Better 'Bomb Truck' " (AW&ST Sept. 5, p. 58), there is a claim that the B-2 is ". . . stuck with one launcher and one weapon type." The B-2 can carry up to four different weapon types per rotary launcher and carries two launchers. The B-2 also can carry the Smart Bomb Rack Assembly, which allows the bomber to carry up to 80 individually guided weapons at once. The ability to carry more than one weapon type on the SBRA must wait until the B-2 can carry more than one smart weapon with 14-in. lug spacing. The Mk-82 JDAM is the only such weapon the B-2 carries.
Two Chinese astronauts were scheduled to parachute back to Earth over the weekend after continuing their shakedown of the Shenzhou spacecraft during five days in orbit.
Gulf Coast area airports damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita will be receiving federal grants to fund repairs under legislation recently passed by the House. The bill, introduced by Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and passed by the Senate last month, gives the Transportation Dept. the authority to use millions of dollars in existing federal development grant money for emergency repairs to damaged public airports in Alabama, Louisiana, Missis- sippi and Texas.
Former Portuguese-colony Macau is to launch its first yet-to-be-named budget carrier by Macau Eagle Aviation Services in June 2006. Moving away from traditional narrowbodies used by neighboring budget startups, it plans widebodies for medium- to long-haul routes in the Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and North America. The carrier expects to derive 25% of its revenue from cargo. Macau's expansion of its casino sector will provide a large potential customer base, according to Tom Wong, business development director.
As India heads into its peak travel season through next February, airline travelers are expected to see fares fall because the market has become Asia's new hot spot for legacy and budget carriers alike. Consider Malaysia Airlines. It's introduced daily flights to New Delhi from Kuala Lumpur, up from four times weekly, and cut its fares to $310 round trip from $500.
U.S. aerospace and defense companies are in more trouble than any other industry when it comes to science and technology education, according to retired Lockheed Martin Chairman and CEO Norm Augustine. This is because they can only hire U.S. citizens with clearances to work on Defense Dept. contracts, but foreign nationals earned 59% of the engineering Ph.D.s awarded in the U.S. in 2003. Augustine led a comprehensive National Academies study of U.S. commitment to science and technology education, research and development, which found, among other things, that the U.S.
The Turbomeca/Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. Ardiden 1H turboshaft engine, intended for India's Dhruv helicopter, has completed its first bench run. Flight tests on the engine (known as Shakti in India) are to begin in July 2006. The Dhruv is set to enter service in March 2007 with Indian forces.
Larry Evans, President (Orange County Space Society, Lake Forest, Calif.)
The space shuttle fleet will be retired in the next few years. There is no reason to ground the fleet now and stop all human spaceflight until a new vehicle is built, as discussed by Rick Schreiner (AW&ST Sept. 5, p. 6). This attitude is typical of many after the foam-shedding incident on the flight of STS-114 and does nothing to bring the future closer.
Gen. Moseley, USAF chief, says spiraling cost in some programs means "it is time to be killing some things." During an American Enterprise Institute speech, Moseley deviated little from the agenda of his predecessor, Gen. John Jumper, saying USAF needs the F/A-22, the Joint Strike Fighter and a replacement tanker. But termination is not off the table for programs experiencing "exponential" cost increases. Which programs are in the crosshairs?
Michael A. Taverna (Rome), Alexey Komarov (Moscow)
European space officials want to see a change in attitude from their Russian space partners after a pair of mission mishaps involving converted ballistic missiles raised questions about the reliability of some of the partners.
India may select two aircraft types to fulfill its requirement for 126 multirole fighters in a competition pitting the U.S. against France. The likely candidates are the Dassault Mirage 2000-5 and Boeing F/A-18E/F--nods to longtime supporter France and India's new partner in the worldwide fight against terrorism, the U.S. Dassault and Boeing are considered the frontrunners in the request for proposals phase.
Ray H. Siegfried, 2nd, chairman of The Nordam Group of Tulsa, Okla., died Oct. 6 from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. He was 62.
The European Commission has approved UPS's acquisition of Lynx Express, a U.K.-based parcel express company. The decision came shortly after the conclusion of a deal by Deutsche Post, the owner of rival DHL, to acquire British logistics firm Exel for 3.7 billion pounds ($6.7 billion)--reportedly in competition with UPS. Exel will expand Deutsche Post's reach in the U.K. and Asia greatly, and give it 10% of the global logistics business.
Alcatel Alenia Space has contracted to supply a K u-/K a-band payload for Israel's Amos-3 communications satellite, to be built by Israel Aircraft Industries. Alcatel will also provide four antennas and a telecommand and ranging system for Amos-3, which is to be launched late in 2007. The award is the first for the venture since the merger of Alcatel and Alenia Spazio on July 1, and the fourth for the combined companies this year. Alcatel previously supplied the payload for Amos-1, which Amos-3 will replace, while Alenia provided hardware for Amos-2.
Thales has agreed to sell its High-Tech Optics activities to private equity firm Candover for 220 million pounds ($352 million). HTO makes high-precision optical components and modules for civil and military applications.
In "Bad to Worse"(AW&ST Sept. 19, p. 26), airline industry consultant Mike Boyd says ". . . something is going to have to snap." The article then says: "That snap arrived with the bankruptcy filings by Delta and Northwest." There's been no "snap" yet. The bankruptcies of United, US Airways, Aloha, ATA and Hawaiian haven't yet produced a single workable airline. Why should the Delta and Northwest cases be different? Even if all these bankruptcies result in Southwest-like airlines, do we need 8-9 Southwest-sized low-cost carriers (LCC)?
Poland's PZL will install a Swedish surveillance system on Polish M28 aircraft to be used for monitoring the eastern border of Poland and the EU. The Swedish Space Corp. (SSC) will supply PZL with its MSS 6000 Marine Surveillance System, including a mission management system, infrared/ultraviolet line scanner, video and still-camera recorders and communications gear. SSC will also deliver a forward-looking infrared sensor and search radar for the border guard aircraft.
SpaceShipOne, winner of the $10-million Ansari X Prize as the first private craft to reach space, has taken its place alongside other historic aircraft at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Museum crews hung the 28-ft.-long air-launched hybrid-fueled rocket plane between Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis and the Bell X-1 that took Chuck Yeager through the so-called sound barrier. Built by Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites, SpaceShipOne topped 100 km.
The new House Homeland Security Committee chairman says the issue of screening cargo on board passenger aircraft for weapons of mass destruction is a top priority. Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), who took over the panel last month, says the goal should be 100% screening of air cargo, although he admits that's almost impossible to achieve. The government must resist industry claims that widespread screening can't be conducted without slowing commerce, King tells Aviation Week & Space Technology.
First Officer Magnus Rasmusson (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
Regarding "Bad to Worse,'' one major reason why U.S. labor costs are 38% of expenses versus 30% for Europe is that in most civilized societies with universal health care, corporations are not burdened with multimillion-dollar insurance premiums. Without that burden, I'll bet American companies would be in line with those in Europe. It is long overdue to stop blaming labor in this ever worsening catastrophe that is U.S. commercial aviation.
The U.S. Air Force doesn't face any major program terminations for the next couple of years, and the F/A-22 program may even get some extra money, says Michigan Sen. Carl Levin, ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee. But he sees some clouds on the horizon. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is likely to be trimmed back, and a new tanker program isn't expected anytime soon. "There's going to be budget pressure on those programs and others," he says. "The top five procurement programs have doubled [over] their projected costs.
You can now register ONLINE for Aviation Week Events. Go to www.AviationNow.com/conferences or call Lydia Janow at +1 (212) 904-3225/+1 (800) 240-7645 ext. 5 (U.S. and Canada Only) Oct. 18-20--MRO Europe. Estrel Hotel & Convention Center, Berlin. Nov. 8-10--MRO Asia, Suntec City, Singapore. Nov. 14-16--A&D Programs & Productivity Conference, Phoenix. PARTNERSHIPS Oct. 25-27--ARA '05. Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore. Nov. 3-4--UV North America. Hyatt Regency Hotel, Miami.
