EADS has confirmed it is working on an unmanned combat aerial vehicle demonstrator program for the German defense ministry. The UCAV, known as Barrakuda, could be flown before year-end. The vehicle is expected to help base design for the French-led Neuron UCAV demonstration program, in which EADS' CASA is partnering (AW&ST Mar. 21, p. 26).
Capt. Friedrich Janser (Lufthansa German Airlines, Sulzbach, Germany)
In the article "High Expectations for RNAV" (AW&ST May 16, p. 61), I do not agree with the statement: "STARs also save fuel, but not as much as SIDs, where power settings are higher." The operational savings (fuel, time, etc.) associated with the shortening of standard instrument departures (SIDs) or standard terminal arrival routes (STARs) comes from the resulting shortening of the cruise segments. To climb or descend to or from cruise altitude requires the same distance irrespective of the length of the SID or STAR.
The Russian space world was in turmoil last week following two launch failures on June 21, and brash statements by the Russian Space Agency that became inoperative in the face of data the next day.
Weather forecasters are using a new airborne tool, Tamdar, to assess the severity of thunderstorms that routinely disrupt summer airline schedules in the U.S. Midwest region. Tamdar probes are installed on 63 Saab aircraft operated by the Northwest Airlines regional partner Mesaba Airlines. The instruments provide up to 16,000 observations daily as the Saab aircraft fly at altitudes and in areas where information is scarce.
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U.S. Air Force space programs still face challenges in the near-term because programs created in the 1990s to streamline the acquisition process "have not worked out well," says the department's top civilian. Acting Air Force Secretary Michael Dominguez says the service relied on the private sector to generate efficiencies. But when a competitive marketplace for space assets failed to emerge, "we lost those bets," he tells a Capitol Hill seminar. Cost overruns and schedule delays have plagued several space systems.
Madeline Hamill has been appointed to the board of directors of Atlanta-based World Air Holdings. She is managing director of Hildebrand Hammill and Associates and was vice president-worldwide strategic planning for the Coca-Cola Co.
Airlines face conflicting requirements and unjustifiably high compliance costs unless the FAA harmonizes with European regulators its proposed rules for cockpit voice and digital flight data recorders before making them final, Boeing Commercial Airplanes has told the agency. In their current form, the prospective U.S. and European regulations differ significantly and harmonizing the two standards is critical for DFDR parameter and data-link requirements. According to Boeing, trying to satisfy two sets of rules could lead to complex, expensive system designs.
USAF Gen. (ret.) Bernard A. Schriever, who is considered to be the father of U.S. military space and missile forces, died on June 20 at his Washington home. He was 94. A German immigrant who was commissioned as an Army Air Corps pilot in 1933, Schriever flew bombers in World War II and served briefly as a test pilot.
As the C-17 production line shutdown nears, Boeing is making an aggressive push for the next sale with the U.S. Air Force, offering up the possibility of improving the performance of future jets with minor tweaks. A redesign of the C-17's flaps, improvements to the landing gear and a boost to its engines could allow the massive airlifter to land on shorter, more austere runways while carrying more payload, says Ron Marcotte, Boeing's vice president of airlift and tankers.
World News Roundup 18 First captive-carry flight for Darpa/Boeing X-37 19 American U-2 crashes while attempt- ing to land in United Arab Emirates 19 U.S. Army rolls out High Mobility Artillery Rocket System 20 Bernard Schriever dies, called father of U.S. milspace and missile forces World News & Analysis 22 SSME flaws being corrected that could have caused pad abort 23 Problems also found in SSME monitoring systems
The Society of British Aerospace Companies took the opportunity of the show to launch its Scottish office. Previously Scotland was the only part of the U.K. lacking a representative aerospace and defense lobby group. Scotland has 140 aerospace and defense sector companies supporting 30,000 workers. The SBAC and the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems Assn. are also to set up an Autonomy and UAV Systems Policy Group.
Bob Joseph, three weeks into his new job succeeding John Bolton as undersecretary of State for arms control and international security, doesn't trust Iran's proclaimed lack of interest in weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The axis-of-evil charter member "hasn't made the strategic decision to give up nuclear weapons," Joseph tells reporters. "We have seen a commitment, across the board, to nuclear programs in Iran.
Ah ha, another (former Lockheed Martin Skunk Works chief) Clarence (Kelly) Johnson! Were I but 30 years younger I'd volunteer to work for Tom Cassidy as well. Let's just hope he can avoid being swallowed by one of the "biggies" and thus see another "can-do" company degenerate into a mega-bureaucracy.
Airbus North America will install a high-capacity Wide Area Network fiber "ring" linking its headquarters in Washington with the company's worldwide data transport network. The system will be designed and managed by Global Internetworking Inc., a telecom carrier and network solutions provider. It will connect facilities in Herndon, Va., with an office in Washington and a spare parts center in Ashburn, Va., that serves Airbus customers in the U.S., Canada and a majority of Latin America, as well as supporting spares stored in Hamburg and Beijing.
European satellite manufacturers are moving to reinforce their offerings at the top and bottom of their product lines to remain competitive with U.S. players.
Elbit Systems is expanding the role of its Hermes-1500 long-endurance unmanned aircraft by giving it a maritime surveillance mission. The two-engine system was devised as a payload demonstrator for Israel's military and intelligence community, but Elbit officials believe the redundancy makes it an attractive operational system, particularly for multi-sensor, over-water operations. The UAV would operate at 7,000-10,000 ft. to provide high-resolution imagery. It will be able to get enough information to determine whether a vessel carries weapons.
Loss of situational awareness by the flight-deck crew was ruled the cause of a Mar. 31 crash in Albania that killed nine crewmembers of a USAF MC-130H Combat Talon II. An accident investigation board says the aircraft, which was on a night mission in mountains near Tirana, was too low in a climb. In responding, the crew didn't use all available power and stalled during a turning climb, causing an almost immediate crash, the board says.
Continental Airlines asked the National Mediation Board (NMB) to intervene in negotiations with the only union that has not accepted the carrier's plea for contract concessions totaling $500 million annually. The International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers represent flight attendants who were originally assessed $82 million as their share of the goal. Continental officials say fairness demands that the initial giveback be larger because other unions already have implemented their concessions.
Vought and Alenia North America see the start of construction at their new South Carolina manufacturing complex as the first step toward their goal of shipping 787 fuselage sections to Boeing early in 2007.
Rocket science isn't just for rocket scientists anymore, at least not just those who are funded by the U.S. government. NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin, himself a "rocket scientist" who has worked both sides of the public/private street, tried to pound that point home last week with a bracing call for private enterprise to carry crew and cargo to the International Space Station. Let's hope he's taken seriously, in and out of the government.
Paul DeHerrera (see photo) has been promoted to vice president-marketing and product support from senior marketing director of Universal Avionics, Tucson, Ariz.
Jose Kuri Orvananos has become senior vice president of Aeromexico's U.S. Div. He has been a counselor and adviser to Aeromexico and a consultant to the president of Avianca.
Quality control for the shuttle main engine project has caught manufacturing flaws in electronic components intended for the new SSME Advanced Health Monitoring System (AHMS). These are in addition to the problem components found in engine controllers. The AHMS will be used starting in late 2006 to sense abnormal engine vibrations to trigger emergency shutdowns. The health-monitoring-component flaws were discovered in bench testing of the parts, not a firing test as with the controller.
