We have numerous recent airline retirees who were once military pilots, often in combat roles. They are generally in excellent health and have logged thousands of hours.
Ongoing operations are exposing the cracks in Britain's airlift capacity, with the threat of further problems in 2006. Availability issues with the Royal Air Force's (RAF) L-1011 Tristar tanker transport and, to a lesser extent, with the Lockheed Martin C-130s, are causing difficulties. Moreover, the pending deployment of additional British forces to Afghanistan next year will place further demands on the RAF's airlift assets.
Allegations that the U.K. is snuggling up to Europe at the expense of its "special relationship" with the U.S. provoked a swift and sharp rebuttal from British Defense Secretary John Reid. In the Center for Policy Studies paper "The Wrong Side of the Hill," the London-based think tank contends there is a "secret realignment of U.K.
Capturing an airfield is only half the battle, turning it into an operational asset is the other. Securing Basra International Airport during Operation Telic provided British forces with a potential air bridge into the Iraqi theater, dependent on establishing an air traffic control (ATC) capability at the airfield.
JetBlue's new Embraer 190s will play a major role in the company's route expansion plans from Boston's Logan International and the carrier's home base, New York-JFK International. The low-cost carrier plans to add up to 10 daily Boston-New York nonstops beginning Nov. 9. It will add new daily Boston-Austin, Tex., services beginning Jan. 19 and New York-Richmond, Va., flights beginning Mar. 31. JetBlue says the Boston-JFK services will open up new connections, including Phoenix, San Diego and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Matthew Boucher and Veronica Clifford have become members of the Titusville-Cocoa (Fla.) Airport Authority board of directors. They succeed Craig Rastello and Russell Alarie, who have resigned.
Smiths Detection began showing a prototype of its passive millimeter- wave body-scanning machine last week at the Inter Airport Europe 2005 trade show in Munich. The Tadar machine can find contraband such as weapons and explosives, and is designed for use in airports, federal buildings, prisons and embassies. It will enter production in 2006.
Rolls-Royce developers are looking deep into their research base to identify technologies that may be ready for use on the Trent 1700 the company will build for the Airbus A350. Rolls this month was able to close negotiations with Airbus to become the second powerplant offering on the new twin widebody, joining General Electric whose GEnx has already scored its first customer commitments.
The U.S. Air Force is launching an education outreach effort for foreign militaries to ensure that during future military operations, the U.S. and its allies will dominate the skies over a battlefield.
Tension is mounting between the European Commission and the management of European airlines about the direction Brussels is taking in regulating the sector. Airline representatives are concerned they are being saddled with billions of euros in additional yearly operating costs as they grapple with intense competition and high fuel costs.
French aerospace industry association Gifas is calling for France to adopt a more concerted approach to supporting foreign arms sales, similar to that which French executives claim to exist in the U.S. Gifas President Charles Edelstenne, who is also head of Dassault Aviation, asserted that lack of such an approach was instrumental in the defeat of Dassault's Rafale by the Boeing F-15 in the recent Singapore fighter competition. "The U.S. can bring to bear enormous political pressure, from the President on down. France must adopt a [similar] procedure."
Recognizing the political problems a nuclear bunker-busting weapon presents, and the unlikelihood it would be approved for operational use even if built, researchers say the Pentagon has become interested in a new approach: high-power microwave (HPM) bomb designs to attack deeply buried and hardened targets. They report that HPM weapons, designed to generate a large spike of electrical energy, have been developed to fit in the casing of 5,000-lb.-class GBU-28 aerial bombs, weapons improvised from 8-in.
European Space Agency Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain has high hopes that the agency's science program will receive a 1-2.5% boost in spending at the upcoming ministerial summit in December, allowing it at least to keep up with inflation. He noted that the entry of Greece and Luxembourg into ESA will trigger a 1.7% increase next year.
Ten European countries are pledging to work more closely together to address air tanker requirements. Following a meeting last week of the European Defense Agency's steering board, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Belgium and Portugal acknowledged a lack of progress in recent years toward meeting air-to-air refueling needs.
Britain is pushing ahead with strategic unmanned aircraft work and examining the utility of the EJ200 turbofan as the basis for an unmanned combat air vehicle engine. Classified work is underway looking at the Eurofighter Typhoon engine as candidate propulsion for an Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV). Defense Ministry material suggests it is looking at a UCAV airframe up to the size of a Hawk advanced jet trainer.
American Airlines is pouring cold water on any suggestion of rapidly deepening its ties with British Airways. Willy Walsh, the recently appointed BA CEO, is interested in closer ties, as is American. But until progress is made on open skies and anti-trust immunity, American sees little hope of moving forward.
While Britain vacillates over future military helicopter purchases, some of its present fleet is being operated flat out in Iraq. Air force, army and navy helicopter units, as well as fixed-wing transports, are at the heart of continuing high-tempo operations in southern Iraq, and a key element of the Multi-National Div. (South East).
King County supervisors, citing concerns about traffic and noise, have rejected plans by Southwest Airlines and Alaska Air Group to operate out of Boeing Field in Seattle. Southwest says Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is too expensive and proposed spending $130 million on an eight-gate terminal for 85 flights a day. Alaska initially strongly opposed commercial operations at the field, but later offered a competing $150-million proposal for eight gates to support 100 daily flights.
The $440-billion U.S. Defense Dept. Fiscal 2006 appropriations bill passed by the Senate recently allots $16.4 million to develop technologies to protect military and commercial aircraft from man-portable air defense systems (Manpads). That was $3 million more than the Pentagon requested to develop a ground-based, networked electro-optical sensor grid combined with directed-energy technology to thwart missile attacks. But it came with a catch: The Senate wants an assessment of commercial off-the-shelf, ground-based systems that can shield an airport from Manpads.
Airbus has firmed up plans for the A380's first "world tour." In November, the aircraft will visit Frankfurt for airport compatibility tests, then head off to Singapore, where it will participate in airport tests and trials with launch customer Singapore Airlines, before heading on to Kuala Lumpur, three cities in Australia, and Dubai.
British Army Lynx (foreground), Royal Navy Sea King and Royal Air Force Merlin (airborne) helicopters are being flown intensively in operations in southern Iraq (see p. 52). The British helicopter force is located mainly at Basra Air Station, on the outskirts of the city, where it is used in a variety of roles in support of ground operations in the region. Douglas Barrie/AW&ST photo.
GULFSTREAM AEROSPACE CORP. HAS ADDED A SECOND AIRPLANE to the G150 flight test program. The first airplane, flown in May, has accumulated more than 250 hours. The G150, developed and built in cooperation with Israel Aircraft Industries, is Gulfstream's entry-level business jet that features a new, wide cabin. Plans call for certification of the G150 in the first quarter of 2006.
Finmeccanica's buying spree is manifesting itself clearly on the company's balance sheet, with debt rising in the last six months to 1.9 billion euros from 371 million euros. But so far the financial exposure isn't raising many eyebrows. The Italian defense and aerospace company's debt-to-equity ratio is at 43%, better than many suppliers in the sector. And the company's debt rating is improving. Overall, Finmeccanica's first-half results were surprisingly high, given that defense operations usually perform better in the second half of the year.
USAF Lt. Gen. Duncan J. McNabb has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate for promotion to general and appointment as commander of Air Mobility Command. He has been director of logistics for the Joint Staff.
