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.
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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.
