Mechtronix Systems, a small Canadian company that builds flight simulators based on simplified microprocessor technology, has snared C$8 million ($6.8 million) in venture capital. The money is earmarked to expand its manufacturing facilities in Montreal and further extend its marketing to China, Latin America and Eastern Europe.
NASA's recent announcement that the space shuttle would make only 18 more flights to the International Space Station (ISS), leaving much of the hardware of our international partners on the ground, should be the death knell of this long-running boondoggle (AW&ST Oct. 3, p. 25).
The 22 members of the Latin American airlines association Aital reported carrying 6.9 million passengers in August, a 14.7% increase compared with August 2004 and 10.7% compared with July. From January to August, 4.2 million domestic and 2.7 million Aital carriers transported 51 million passengers, a 15.1% increase from the year-before period. Revenue passenger kilometers were up 12.8% to 81.0 billion. Year-to-date load factor reached 71%, 2.3 percentage points higher than the 2004 period.
The $30.8-billion Homeland Security Dept. appropriations bill signed by President Bush last week disperses $933 million to the Coast Guard to upgrade or replace aging ships and aircraft. The Fiscal 2006 spending bill also allocates $4.6 billion to the Transportation Security Administration for aviation security but cut funding for the TSA's Secure Flight computerized passenger-screening program to $56.7 billion. The spending bill also includes transfer of the Federal Air Marshals Service back to TSA from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Linda A. Mills (see photos) has become vice president-operations and processes for the Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Information Technology Sector, McLean, Va. She was vice president-mission assurance/Six Sigma for Northrop Grumman's Mission Systems Sector. Mills has been succeeded by Kelley Zelickson, who was MSS vice president of ground-based midcourse defense programs.
American Eurocopter will convert 11 HH-65B helicopters to the HH-65C configuration for the U.S. Coast Guard. The work will center on installation of the Arriel 2C2 turboshaft engines with digital controls, and will be conducted at the company's facilities in Columbus, Miss.
Alan Doherty has been named vice-president-sales and marketing and John-Pierre Poulet commercial director for global component services for Messier Services International, Velizy, France. Dave Knight has become commercial director for Messier Services in Europe, based in Gloucester, England.
Michael R. Boyce has been appointed to the board of directors of the AAR Corp., Wood Dale, Ill. He is chairman/CEO of the PQ Corp. and Peak Investments.
John Patterson has been appointed a non-executive director of U.K.-based Cobham plc. He is executive director of development at AstraZeneca. Pete Rabey has been named director of group strategy and Martin Burgess group director of human resources. Rabey was a partner in the aerospace and defense practice of McKinsey and Co., while Burgess was vice president-human resources for the Flowserve Corp.
Nancy Jackson and John DeBassige, who work at the Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, N.M., have been selected for honors in the Second Annual Professional of the Year awards from the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. Jackson was named to receive the Professional of the Year Award and DeBassige the Most Promising Engineer/Scientist Award.
French arms maker TDA is becoming a wholly owned Thales subsidiary, after agreeing to buy EADS's 50% stake for an undisclosed sum. The deal should close before year-end. TDA had a turnover of 90 million euros ($108 million) last year, 50% from exports. Thales says the deal gives it "strategic independence" to cooperate with other European weapons makers. The unit will become part of Thales's Land & Joint Systems Div.
U.S. aerospace contractors have begun rolling out their earnings reports for the quarter ended Sept. 30, and Wall Street is not disappointed. Analysts' assessments were filled with phrases such as "classic quality performance," "the momentum continues," "another solid quarter" and "above expectations."
Getting close to targets--for example, with 2-ft.-wingspan UAVs carrying payloads sophisticated enough to monitor, jam, damage or infiltrate enemy communications--is less than a decade away.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week finalized agreements with 24 U.S. airlines to implement new protocols for testing and disinfecting water on passenger aircraft. The protocols are aimed at protecting public health while EPA and other federal agencies step up efforts to develop new rules for potable water on aircraft. They include quarterly disinfection of water delivery systems, increased monitoring of water supply and alerting passengers when water does not meet EPA standards.
Frank Morring, Jr. and Michael Mecham (Fukuoka, Japan)
NASA may be getting itself into a cost bind down the road with its shuttle-derived back-to-the-Moon approach, critics say. Transportation costs alone to support a lunar outpost could reach $7-11 billion a year under NASA's current exploration plan, based on the cost experience with shuttle. And relying on a shuttle-derived heavy-lift rocket to put an entire lunar expedition, minus the crew, into low Earth orbit is riskier--if not cheaper--than breaking the mission into several launches.
There is a "high likelihood" the U.S. Army will have to abandon the Embraer ERJ 145 as the host platform for the Aerial Common Sensor, according to service acquisition chief Claude Bolton. This runs counter to recent hopeful statements by Army Secretary Francis Harvey, who told reporters earlier this month the program could still be executed within its $879-million development cost. Lawmakers, however, suggest that figure could more than double to $1.8 billion. The comments came Oct.
The Japanese government hopes for a breakthrough in so-called "2-plus-2" talks among senior defense and foreign-relations officials, set to begin Oct. 29 in Washington, on the contentious issue of a basing realignment for U.S. forces in Japan. The biggest sticking point has been relocation of the U.S. Marines helicopter base at Futenma on Okinawa. The Japanese want a civilian/military airfield at Camp Schwab at Nago, Okinawa, but the two sides have been hung up over where to locate the airport and base housing.
Work is filtering down the supply chain for the second batch of 236 Eurofighter Typhoons. Ultra Electronics has inked a five-year deal worth 14 million pounds ($24.6 million) with BAE Systems for the supply of cockpit equipment, including the hands-on throttle and stick controls. Ultra expects further contracts for additional equipment items for the second production run to be awarded in the coming 12 months.
I agree with C. Edward Slater of Colorado that amphibious airtankers have a very useful role in fire control (AW&ST Sept. 26, p. 6). I was in charge of the development and marketing of the Canadair CL-215 in the early 1960s. This aircraft is used by virtually every province and territory in Canada. The CL-415 is turbine-powered, with greater water/fire retardant capacity and performance. France was an early customer for both aircraft and a substantial number are in use around the Mediterranean.
A PANAMSAT GALAXY 15 SATELLITE, built by Orbital Sciences Corp., was launched on an Ariane 5 rocket on Oct. 14 to provide signals to aircraft as part of the FAA's Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). The satellite will also supply commercial video services to a variety of customers. A Lockheed Martin Geostationary Communications and Control System team uses two satellites to augment GPS navigation. The team provides ground uplink stations that receive GPS correction information and broadcasts it to satellites for distribution.
Mary Ann Meador and James Kinder are among employees of the NASA Glenn Research Center's Materials Div. in Cleveland who have been named to receive awards for developing three of the top 100 most technologically significant products of the year, as named by editors of R&D Magazine and a panel of outside experts. Meador and Kinder developed a family of rod-coil block copolymers to improve ionic conductivity in lithium polymer batteries.
The aerospace and defense business revolves around programs, which connect industry and government on a global scale and are among the most complicated and long-running commercial and technological endeavors undertaken anywhere.
AirLaunch LLC made the first drop test of its Quick Reach I rocket design on Sept. 29 from a USAF/Boeing C-17 transport at Edwards AFB, Calif. The launcher is a leading contender for the next phase of Darpa's Falcon small launch vehicle program (see p. 56). This view of the full-size drop test article was taken looking aft from the front of the C-17 cargo bay. Photo by Phil Panzera, president of Space Vector Co.
The final 19-ton National Reconnaissance Office/Lockheed Martin Advanced KH-11 type digital imaging reconnaissance spacecraft is undergoing checkout in polar orbit, following liftoff Oct. 19 on the final U.S. Air Force Titan IVB to be launched from Vandenberg AFB, Calif.
