Any carrier wanting to fly the new Airbus A380 in U.S. airspace would have to equip it with defenses against surface-to-air missiles under legislation introduced by Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), chairman of the House aviation subcommittee. He wants to require an anti-missile system on the 800-passenger European aircraft within two years of a defensive system's certification. Mica says 27 non-governmental entities, including Al Qaeda, have shoulder-fired anti-aircraft weapons.
GE Commercial Aviation Services (Gecas), a unit of GE Commercial Finance, is opening offices in Mexico City, New Delhi, Sao Paulo, Shanghai and Toronto. "With the growth of the airline industry outside the U.S., we wanted to be able to respond more quickly to customer needs," said Norman Liu, executive vice president, commercial operations. Gecas has also announced an expansion of its passenger-to-freighter conversion program to include four Boeing 747-400 freighters. Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) will convert the aircraft.
Jan Van Doorn has become director of the Eurocontrol Experimental Center. He was manager of research and development coordination and validation. Van Doorn succeeds Jean-Marc Garot.
When is an aircraft part just a part and not a whole? That's a question that rattles Jack Buster, owner of Aviation Data Research near Medford, Ore., who keeps track of parts produced under the FAA's Parts Manufacturer Approval (PMA) authority. This is the process under which the FAA approves a design by third-party parts makers for production of an aircraft part. PMA parts serve as spares in equipment manufactured by type certificate holders or original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). They are usually cheaper than OEM-produced parts.
George Muellner, Boeing's Air Force Systems vice president, says he "can't think of a more ludicrous" idea than a split-contract concept floated in the Pentagon for the beleaguered Air Force refueling tanker recapitalization. One concept for replacing the aging KC-135 fleet that has gained some attention in the building would have the government buy unmodified jets from either Airbus or Boeing and then hire a different company to modify the plane. "Nobody could afford that," Muellner says, arguing that the approach would add unnecessary complexity and risk.
The European Commission and Eurocontrol have issued a contract for definition of Sesame, a master plan to harmonize Europe's hodgepodge of ATM systems and make them fully interoperable. The 60-million-euro ($72-million), 18-month project will be conducted by a consortium of airlines and airline associations, airports, air navigation service providers and industry, led by the Air Traffic Alliance, a joint venture of Airbus, Thales and EADS.
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Austrian Airlines will be the fifth Star Alliance member to use high-speed Internet services from Connexion by Boeing. Initial installations will be on seven 777s and three 767s, with an undisclosed number of options. Star members Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Asiana and SAS also are Connexion customers. Meanwhile, TK Shipping will become the first maritime user of Connexion by Boeing Maritime Service, a spinoff of its aircraft broadband service.
The U.S. Army has awarded Smiths Aerospace a $4-million contract to provide its new-generation cockpit voice and data recorder systems for the service's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment MH-47 Chinook, MH-60 Black Hawk and U.S. Coast Guard HH-60 Jay Hawk and HH-65 Dolphin helicopters (shown). The crash-survivable recorders are designed and manufactured at Smiths' facility in Michigan, and deliveries are expected to be completed this year.
USAF Brig. Gen. Dana T. Atkins is among the officers of his rank who have been nominated for promotion. He is vice commander of the Seventh Air Force, Pacific Air Forces, Osan AB, South Korea. Others are: Ted F. Bowlds, deputy for acquisition at the Aeronautical Systems Center, Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio; Philip M. Breedlove, commander of the 31st Fighter Wing, United States Air Forces in Europe, Aviano AB, Italy; David E.
The five Bell AH-1Z and UH-1Y helicopters undergoing flight testing at NAS Patuxent River, Md., have accumulated more than 3,000 hr. in the air since the first aircraft flew in December 2000. Both the AH-1Z and UH-1Y are being remanufactured from AH-1W and UH-1N airframes under the H-1 modification program. The test aircraft are preparing to enter operational evaluation by the U.S. Marine Corps this summer. According to Bell Helicopter Textron, the test fleet has fired more than 2,000 2.75-in.
Safran has acquired 100% control of SMA, a startup founded with EADS and Renault that is tasked with developing Jet-A diesel engines for the light aviation industry.
Frank Morring, Jr. (Washington), Michael A. Taverna (Paris)
Two teams headed by three U.S. aerospace giants will prepare bids for the planned Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) that will replace the space shuttle and eventually carry humans to the Moon and Mars.
Boeing has completed the sale of its commercial aircraft operations at Wichita, Kan., and Tulsa and Mc- Alester, Okla., to Onex Corp. The sale does not affect Boeing Integrated Defense Systems operations in Wichita or Oklahoma.
U.S. Special Operations Command has awarded three contracts worth up to $100 million each for "media approach planning" and product development and dissemination as well as "media effects analysis" for the Joint Psychological Operations Support element and other government agencies to SYColeman Inc., Lincoln Group and SAIC, all of Washington. The work is scheduled to continue through June 6, 2010.
Firth Rixson Ltd. will set up the first Western-owned facility in China to produce seamless forged rings for aircraft engines. The 50,000-sq.-ft. plant near Shanghai is expected to begin commercial production later this year. The plant will generate offset credits that Firth Rixson's customers need to sell their products in China. Labor costs--which account for 12% of the rings' expenses--were not a factor, company executives say. Firth Rixson is owned by The Carlyle Group.
The long-predicted UAV explosion finally hits. New UAV squadrons, to be operated by the Air National Guard in the border states of New York, Arizona, Texas and North Dakota (among others), are expected to carry an increasing share of the homeland defense burden, by monitoring illegal immigration, and provide operational relief in combat for overworked active-duty UAV units. Even with the Air Guard support, the U.S. Air Force will quickly double its three Predator UAV squadrons to six.
Bradley M. Berkson has been appointed director for program analysis and evaluation in the U.S. Defense Dept. and acting deputy undersecretary of Defense for logistics and materiel readiness. He succeeds Ken Krieg, who is now undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics. Berkson was director of studies and analysis for the department's senior executive council.
Controllers at the European Space Operations Center in Darmstadt, Germany, have deployed the second 20-meter antenna boom on the Mars Express orbiter, using the same solar-heating technique they employed to lock the first boom into place after it initially faltered. The third boom on the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding, measuring 7 meters long, was to have been deployed June 17, completing instrument activation on the ESA orbiter with a capability to look for aquifers beneath the planet's surface.
The last of two Northrop Grumman RQ-4A Global Hawk maritime unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, built for a U.S. Navy demonstration program, has made its first flight. It took off from the company's Palmdale, Calif., production facility and after a 4-hr. flight landed at nearby Edwards AFB. Later this year, both aircraft will be flown to their main operating base at NAS Patuxent River, Md. Ground stations will link the UAVs directly to the Navy's entire information network, which can be tapped into by any ship. Meanwhile, the U.S.
Germany's KEPD-350 Taurus cruise missile will undergo a further series of trials at South Africa's Overberg test range later this year before entering service in 2006. The missile is in series production for the German air force. EADS' LFK missile unit is looking at further variants, including one with a high-power microwave payload.
Two of the largest maintenance, repair and overhaul organizations, Lufthansa Technik and Air France Industries, have joined forces to provide support for Airbus A380 components. The Spairliners venture will be headquartered in Hamburg, with an operations center in Paris. Spairliners will provide overhaul, repair, management of the spare parts pool and associated logistics. In particular, Spairliners is targeting airlines that have small fleets of A380s and can't afford to set up independent facilities.
NASA continues to enjoy strong funding support in the House of Representatives, thanks largely to Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.). Known as "the hammer" for his take-no-prisoners political style, DeLay blocked a Democratic attempt to divert $200 million from President Bush's Moon/Mars exploration program to Clinton-era police-grant programs. House members rejected the amendment 230-196, leaving intact the Appropriations Committee level of $16.5 billion for NASA in Fiscal 2006, including $3.1 billion for space exploration (AW&ST May 30, p. 23).
Airbus and Boeing may squabble over subsidies, composite usage and market strategy, but they agree about one thing: Demand has improved so much that delivery rates may need to be ramped up across their product lines.
