Northrop Grumman, after months of hints, has finally declared itself a prime contractor for the U.S. Air Force's next-generation tanker aircraft, and analysts think the need for new industry in the hurricane-ravaged region could provide new political support for the Mobile, Ala.-based effort.
William B. Scott (Colorado Springs), David A. Fulghum (Washington), Craig Covault (Cape Canaveral)
To the list of casualties being tallied following Hurricane Katrina, at least two more will certainly be added: procedures for requesting assistance from the federal government and rules for how the military should respond to a disaster. With images of desperate flooding victims in New Orleans still fresh, the White House, congressional committees and the Pentagon itself have already announced investigations, and "lessons-learned" studies will probe whether the military could have done more or responded quicker (see p. 22).
Famed "Star Warrior" Lowell Wood was back in Washington this summer in hopes of promoting a new version of Brilliant Pebbles--the space-based kinetic interceptor program that was at the center of the 1990s ballistic missile defense system. Brilliant Pebbles was funded under the old Strategic Defense Initiative, a.k.a. Star Wars, then canceled in 1993 by the Clinton administration in favor of ground-based systems. Wood, a physicist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, was the father of the Brilliant Pebbles concept.
The Army is stretched too thin and there's no way to fix the force without spending a lot of money or making more demands on reserves, says a new Rand study. The increased operational tempo of the past four years has led to lengthier and more frequent deployments, so that now 40% of deployed forces are reservists or Army National Guard personnel.
Maj. Gen. (select) William D. Catto, the head of U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command, wasted no time in getting his message out following the Aug. 14 publication of a New York Times article on body-armor deficiencies.
Eurocopter's AS 550 and Bell's 407--final competitors for the Indian army's order for 197 light 10-ton-class helicopters--completed final summer trials in the glacier heights of Jammu and Kashmir and the desert of Rajasthan. Fifty-five helos will be purchased outright; the remaining 142 are to be built under license at Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.
An article on p. 77 in the Aug. 22/29 edition misstated the site of the NTSB Academy. It is located at George Washington University's Ashburn, Va., campus.
Wizz Air, the low-fare/low-cost carrier operating in Central and Eastern Europe, has signed a contract to purchase 12 Airbus A320-family aircraft and options for 12. International Aero Engines V2500-A5s will power the aircraft, which are configured in a single-class, 156-seat layout in the A319s and up to 180 seats in the A320s. Deliveries are expected to begin in summer 2007.
Forty-four years ago, President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered one of the most definitive statements on the challenges of investing in national security while balancing the competing interests of science, industry and government.
Arianespace and International Launch Services both have signed new launch services contracts that build on recent successes in getting their customers' spacecraft to orbit. DirecTV will use another ILS Proton, flying from Baikonur Cosmodrome in second-quarter 2007, to launch the K a-band DirecTV 11, one of three Boeing 702 spacecraft purchased by the U.S. satellite broadcast provider. ILS launched DirecTV 8 on a Proton in May (AW&ST May 30, p. 17).
The fourth of Russia's 24 Su-33 carrier-based fighters was lost during a Sept. 5 accident. Russia's only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, was cruising in the North Atlantic when the incident occurred. The Su-33 was landing but went overboard when the arresting cable broke.
Advanced technology transforms the battlefield, makes our defense industries more productive, and ultimately protects life and infrastructure. The call to action to introduce next-generation weapon systems has never been louder, as armed forces throughout the Free World seek better communications, lighter armor, faster platforms, and more effective surveillance, detection and intelligence-gathering capabilities.
Delta Air Lines is reallocating flight schedules at major hubs, reducing capacity by 26% at its second-largest hub at Cincinnati, and accelerating the retirement of Boeing 767-200s. The cutback at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport will affect fall and winter flight schedules for mainline Delta and regional affiliates Comair and Atlantic Southeast Airlines. Nine market destinations, primarily in the southern U.S., will lose nonstop service from the hub, and as many as 1,000 employees will lose their jobs.
Efforts to boost the technological base of the European unmanned aerial vehicle industry continued this summer with the announcement of two research projects by the European Defense Agency (EDA). EDA, which was set up in July 2004 and has taken the Occar European procurement organization under its wing, is investing 1.5 million euros ($1.86 million) to develop sense-and-avoid technologies and digital line-of-sight and beyond-line-of-sight data links for UAVs. Research contracts should be announced by next year.
It was an unusual way of resolving a conflict that neither side wanted to admit existed. But in August, the U.S. and Israel released a terse statement saying the two countries signed an agreement "designed to remedy problems of the past" related to defense technology.
The European Union's aviation safety committee is trying to revitalize a push for the EU to establish common criteria to identify unsafe airlines. After a series of crashes drove France, Belgium and Switzerland to publish their aviation blacklists, the committee basically endorsed an earlier European Commission effort to regulate the matter on a EU-wide level. The Interna- tional Federation of Air Line Pilots' Assns. notes that standards for operations exist, but without an international commitment to enforce them.
Timing is emerging as the key element in the British government's deliberations about providing investment cash for the Airbus A350 to industry. Senior ministers are trying to ensure that high-value civil aircraft wing design and manufacture remains in the U.K., without antagonizing Washington any more than necessary, according to industry officials and lobbyists in London.
The reorganization plan United Airlines hopes will take it out of Chapter 11 early in 2006 envisions increasing profits, lots of cash--and oil that costs $50 per barrel through the rest of the decade.
Robert Sumwalt (see photo), a retired US Airways captain, has won the 2004 Air Safety Award from the Washington-based Air Line Pilots Assn. The award recognizes contributions to safety through volunteer service in ALPA's air safety structure. Sumwalt most recently was chairman of ALPA's Human Factors and Training Group. His previous ALPA work, spanning 18 years, includes helping to found ALPA's Critical Incident Response Program and its Training Council, and accomplishments in runway incursions, cockpit procedures, wind shear, and safety research and monitoring.
US Airways, nearing the Sept. 12 anniversary of its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy-protection filing, won U.S. Bankruptcy Court approval of previously announced plans to raise about $100 million in cash through the sale of Embraer regional jets and slots to Republic Airways. Aircraft deals, including the Republic sale and planned sale-and-leaseback transactions involving 19 Airbus aircraft, would generate about $300 million for US Airways' planned merger with America West Airlines.
When Israeli soldiers removed settlers from the Gaza Strip in August, they relied on a technology more typically associated with business than the military. Soldiers used personal digital assistants, or PDAs, to pass information in a tricky and politically charged operation.
American forces in Iraq--primarily soldiers and Marines--are vulnerable to attack almost anywhere they patrol or work, and few areas are immune from explosive devices. Trucks and Humvees, especially, are high-value targets. "If you're in a vehicle, you're on the front lines," says Brian Shelton, application-development specialist for homeland security and government programs at GE Advanced Materials in Pittsfield, Mass.
NASA has awarded astronaut wings to three 1960s-era test pilots: Bill Dana and the late John McKay and Joseph Walker. The pilots previously had not been recognized for going beyond the atmosphere and into space flying the X-15 experimental aircraft at altitudes of 50 mi. or higher. Dana's first space flight took him 58.13 mi. above the Mojave Desert on Nov. 1, 1966. He tried to collect micrometeorite samples, while learning about issues of sky brightness. Walker's third X-15 foray into space claimed the unofficial world altitude record of 354,200 ft. (67.08 mi.) on Aug.
Ginger Carney (see photo) has been named director of export compliance for the Washington-based Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium. She has been on loan to the consortium from BAE Systems, where she has been senior manager of international trade compliance.
Eric Bachelet has been appointed president/CEO of Cincinnati-based CFM International, a joint company of Snecma and GE. He succeeds Pierre Fabre, who will be executive vice president of Turbomeca, a subsidiary of Snecma.
