Airbus says it announced deals worth $33.5 billion during the Paris air show, although not all of those are firm orders. The aircraft maker recorded 320 orders and commitments during Le Bourget, including 40 aircraft orders and commitments that weren't announced. Highlights include a single A380 order from Kingfisher, and the 60 A350 commitment placed by Qatar Airways.
The U.S. Coast Guard is working with the secretive U.S. Air Force Safari program to develop a small, slow, quiet manned patrol aircraft, says Commandant Adm. Thomas Collins. He tells the House Appropriations homeland security subcommittee his agency will issue a request for proposals through the Air Force in September, funded by a $14-million covert-airplane initiative.
The Chilean defense ministry says it will join the European A400M airlifter program. Chile will take three of the EADS-built aircraft, to be delivered in 2018-19, and may build parts for the program under an offset agreement.
Missing from the discussion of low-cost versus legacy carriers is the offer made in the early 1980s by United Airlines pilots to waive parts of their contract, to allow United to compete against new airlines in the deregulated market. United's CEO declined the offer because he believed the new airlines wouldn't be a threat.
Thales will furnish the helmet-mounted display system for 20 Russian Aircraft Corp. MiG-29s. The launch customer for the Thales system on the Russian fighter isn't being disclosed. Delivery of the systems is to be completed by the end of 2007. Thales is already working with MiG on the MiG-AT trainer and upgrades to the MiG-21.
For the second consecutive year, Analytical Graphics Inc. (AGI) has been named the 2005 "Best Small Company to Work for in America" by the Great Places to Work Institute and the Society for Human Resource Management. AGI supplies software for analyses of land, sea, air and space assets.
The United Arab Emirates' national carrier, Etihad Airways, says it will use Boeing's Connexion to provide high-speed inflight Internet services and live global television coverage. Connexion is to be applied on Etihad's fleet of 25 aircraft, including its Boeing 777-300ERs and Airbus A330/A340s and the five A380s Etihad ordered earlier this month at the Paris air show. The win was a coup for Boeing, since Airbus is a partner in its rival, OnAir.
Sea Launch orbited Intelsat's IA-8 communications satellite on June 23, sending the Space Systems/Loral-built spacecraft aloft from its Odyssey floating launch platform at the equator in the Pacific on a Zenit-3SL rocket. The spacecraft will service the Americas, Caribbean, Alaska and Hawaii from an orbital slot at 89 deg. W. Long.
Goodrich Corp. is shuffling top executives at three business segments, a move the company says is aimed at providing more seasoning for potential successors to President Marshall Larsen. John Grisik will leave his post at airframe systems to take over the electronics business from Cindy Egnotovitch, who will run engines systems. She is replacing Jack Carmola, who will take Grisik's chair. The changes are part of planning for succession, according to the company.
Brandon R. (Randy) Belote, 3rd, (see photos) has become vice president-corporate and international communications and Mary Simmerman vice president-corporate procurement for the Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp. Belote has been the Washington-based director of corporate and international communications. Simmerman was vice president-materiel at the company's Integrated Systems Sector.
The NASA/Boeing-Rocketdyne Space Shuttle Main Engine project is correcting flaws in critical Honeywell SSME electronic components that could have caused a potentially dangerous launch pad abort.
Even as the price of oil hits $60 per barrel, U.S. airlines are approaching the end of the second quarter--and the financial reports that will follow in a few weeks--with a few positive revenue trends.
At a time when the U.S. is facing increasing competition from abroad, it is time to think outside the box, when searching for solutions for various helicopter requirements (AW&ST May 30, p. 28). The EADS NH90 would seem like a good candidate for some of the requirements, except for the fact that it is a European product. In fact, EADS has been garnering market share with its innovative and fresh designs. So why don't we do the same?
At the recent Paris air show, ATR logged 20 orders for new turboprop passenger transports and options for at least another 10. The largest sale came from Fincomm Airlines for eight ATR 42-500s plus options for another eight. In addition, CCM Airlines is buying six ATR 72-400s and Air Caledonie is taking two 42-500s and one 72-500. Air Madagascar has signed for one 42-500 and two 72-500s with an option for two more airplanes of an undecided type. This year ATR, a joint venture between EADS and Alenia Aeronautica, has won orders for 51 aircraft.
Scientists who are starting to use drones for civilian research remain enthusiastic about the prospects, but have been frustrated by practical problems that will delay their exercise by about five months.
Erick Epperson (see photo) has been named business operations controller of the Watlow Electric Manufacturing Co. of St. Louis. He was controller of FAG Bearings, Joplin, Mo.
Alan Ladwig (see photo) has been named manager of Washington operations for space systems business development for the Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Integrated Systems Sector. A former associate NASA administrator for policy and plans, Ladwig also was chief operating officer for the Zero Gravity Corp.
Widespread industry opinion and academic analyses notwithstanding, there is "no clear evidence" that Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection contributes to commercial aviation's overcapacity and underpricing, "and there is some evidence to the contrary," the Government Accountability Office tells Congress. And despite the leverage Chapter 11 gives airlines trying to renegotiate labor, supplier and creditor deals, the success rate is low: only 16 of the 146 airlines that filed for Chapter 11 reorganization since deregulation took hold in 1979 are still in business.
Alliant Techsystems' Mission Research unit will build and test a "Scorpion II" high-power microwave system capable of disabling a variety of improvised explosive devices (IED) under a $1.5-million contract from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). The company will work with AFRL's Directed Energy Directorate, High Power Microwave Div. to develop and demonstrate technologies rapidly that can be deployed as ground-transportable, counter IED systems.
The U.S. Army has rolled out its first High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (Himars) unit, at Ft. Bragg, N.C., where the vehicles, which are sized for the C-130, will be stationed as supporting artillery for the XVIII Airborne Corps. This Lockheed Martin-built Himars unit (3/27th Field Artillery) is the first certified for operations, and it demonstrated its ability to fire multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) munitions. It is able to launch the new guided MLRS and generally carries a six-pack of rockets or single Army tactical missile system projectile.
Grob Aerospace plans to enhance its reputation for building high-altitude surveillance aircraft with the introduction of a long-endurance jet that could operate either manned or as a UAV. The high-altitude system, called the Grob G600, is being designed for 65,000-ft. operations and a range of 5,400 naut. mi. An extended-range model, fitted with four 1,000-liter auxiliary fuel tanks carried in the aircraft cabin, is also planned. It could have a range of 11,340 naut. mi. and endurance of 33 hr.
The FAA could save more than $60 million per year on operations and maintenance and $1.7 billion in multi-year replacement costs by retiring 50 of its 750 radars and moving to a system centered on Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, Mitre Corp. Senior Vice President Amr ElSawy tells Air Traffic Control Assn. seminar attendees. This estimate is "just one part of a more comprehensive planning process that the FAA's Air Traffic Organization is targeting for completion by the fall," he says.
Evergreen International Aviation's modified Boeing 747 Supertanker (see photo) could be fighting wildfires in the western U.S. late this summer if discussions with the California Forestry Dept. are successful. Evergreen has invested more than $35 million in developing and testing the airplane, which can deliver more than 20,000 gal. of water or fire retardant from altitudes up to 800 ft.
Eurojet has delivered its 250th EJ200 engine for the Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft. All 363 engines for the Tranche 1 production run will be delivered during 2006.
Vought Aircraft Industries (VAI) has sold its facility in Hawthorne, Calif., to MS Kearny Northrop Avenue, a partnership of Kearny Real Estate Co. and Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund IV, and with principals of Wedgewood and Howard CDM. Vought builds large fuselage assemblies for the Boeing 747 and aft body panels for the 767 at the site and employs about 530 people. The sale is part of VAI's initiative to reduce manufacturing space in Hawthorne to 1.38 million sq. ft.
