The 2005 Paris air show hosted large delegations from an array of countries. Airbus, Boeing, Embraer and other aircraft manufacturers added their order books, while unmanned aircraft were a key theme for the military sector (p. 22). The most visible star of the show was the Airbus A380, which flew every day. The mega-transport was the dominant presence at the show, although commitments for other aircraft types, from Boeing's 737 to Airbus' A350, were far more prevalent. AW&ST photo by Mike Vines.
Pakistan is in line to receive one of the most modern versions of the F-16s, after years of being subject to an arms-sales ban that kept Washington from delivering fighters that Islamabad had bought. U.S. officials are cautious in discussing the exact arms package they plan to deliver to Pakistan, although the deal could be for about 55 new aircraft. The sale is largely a reward for Islamabad's support of U.S. military operations in the region.
Top-ranking British aerospace executives are pressing the U.K. government to go after a bilateral deal with Washington that could provide a path for exchange of classified information at the industrial level. The outcome has fundamental implications for U.S.-U.K. defense industrial relations.
European industry will this week submit a key weapons package proposal on the Eurofighter Typhoon aimed at breaking a 12-month logjam. National armament directors from the four partners--Britain, Italy, Germany and Spain--will receive the proposal, which was hammered out earlier this month between procurement officials and Eurofighter.
A combination of new instruments on the Keck telescope in Hawaii and a lot of dynamic modeling has turned up a new extrasolar planet that some astronomers have dubbed a "super Earth" for its density and relatively small size. Orbiting the star Gliese 876, a common M dwarf about 15 light-years away from Earth in the direction of Aquarius, the planet is estimated to be about seven and a half times as massive as Earth, with a radius about twice as long. That makes it the smallest extrasolar planet found yet.
The British Royal Air Force will merge its two command headquarters, with the loss of 1,000 military and civil positions. The air force's Personnel & Training Command is to be co-located with Strike Command at High Wycombe in the south of England.
The Galileo Masters Competition, intended to gather new ideas for the commercial use of the Galileo satellite navigation system, closes on June 30. Run by Galileo Industries--a Munich-based consortium of builders created to participate in Galileo development--the competition will pick seven finalists in July-August. The winner will be selected at Sophia-Antipolis, France, near Nice, in September. Contact Catherine Gentil of Cote d'Azur [email protected].
Voyager 1 is now outside the region of direct solar influence and flying in a turbulent, higher-density region of "space" where the solar wind mixes with interstellar gas, creating a new environment for the spacecraft. The boundary Voyager crossed is the terminal shock wave of the solar wind plasma emanated by the Sun and, like an aerodynamic shock wave, it is remarkably thin. Voyager spent 27 years getting there, and only about a day crossing it.
The U.S. Air Force is reexamining the way airpower has been applied to the war against insurgents in Iraq, in particular the battle against hidden bombs and suicide bombers. Planners are abandoning the narrow search for single technology solutions to finding and disabling improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and have begun searching for a broader approach that will target enemy planners, organizers, suppliers and bomb makers in their homes and workshops, well before attacks can be put into play.
Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman are teaming to pursue what could amount to billions of dollars of work in new and upgraded intelligence ground stations for U.S. forces after years of bitter rivalry between their intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance sectors. The companies announced they would join forces to pursue work on the Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS) Block 20 program, a follow-on to the existing DCGS Block 10.2.
The final U.S. Air Force/Lockheed Martin Titan IVB carrying a National Reconnaissance Office imaging payload is scheduled for a night liftoff July 10 from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. The USAF's 30th Space Wing and its 2nd Space Launch Sqdn. are managing the vehicle processing along with Lockheed Martin and other key contractors such as Aerojet, Honeywell and ATK Thiokol.
Italy has agreed to become a partner in the French-led Helios 2 optical surveillance satellite program, alongside Belgium and Spain. Italy also agreed to provide data from its CosmoSkyMed radar satellite network to France in exchange for Helios 2 data.
The space shuttle Discovery, equipped with a replacement external tank and solid rocket boosters, inches toward Pad 39B here on its Mobile Launcher Platform, carried atop an Apollo-era crawler. The June 15 rollout to the pad, after the tank switch, sets the shuttle program up for a return to flight July 13-31, pending final critical meetings. They include a Debris Verification Review on June 24, the final assessment by the Stafford-Covey Return-to-Flight Task Group on June 27 and the Flight Readiness Review June 29-30.
The Star Alliance is giving "every indication that the [US Airways-America West] merged carrier would be welcomed," Dennis Tierney told US Airways employees in a June 13 staff newsletter. Tierney, US Airways director of alliances, was referring to comments made by 16 Star airline executives who met in Nagoya earlier this month. Membership would be beneficial for the merged entity, giving it global growth opportunities, similar to those US Airways has enjoyed since joining the alliance in May 2004.
Former Boeing Co. President Malcolm Stamper, who was a leader in development of the 747, died on June 14 from prostate cancer. He was 80. An electrical engineering graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology, Stamper began his career at General Motors but came to Boeing in 1962 and variously led its electronics and turbine divisions. After heading the 747 development program, Stamper became vice president and general manager of Boeing Commercial Airplane Co.
I hope the mock transoceanic hijacking exercise (Operation Atlas) went well and lessons were learned (AW&ST May 30, p. 19). Surely the authorities will note that the event was upstaged by a real one (later found to be a false alarm): A U.S.-bound Virgin Atlantic Airways aircraft transmitted a hijack squawk on June 3. The response: The aircraft was diverted to Halifax, Nova Scotia. It was intercepted by Canadian CF-18s and escorted to the airport. The aircraft was secured by appropriately trained and equipped emergency responders.
Lockheed Martin is planning a three-phase evolution of its Atlas V/Centaur space-launch system aimed at gradually increasing performance to ultimately exceed that of the Saturn V booster, a cornerstone of NASA's Apollo program.
Arinc Inc. and Jeppesen Inc. are partnering to produce Class 1 and Class 2 Electronic Flight Bags for current and new civil and military aircraft. Two weeks ago, the FAA approved Jeppesen's terminal chart application, which is to be first applied on a Boeing 777. Individual operators must still have their systems certified. Jeppesen's Class 1 EFB is a portable laptop that provides navigation charts and data applications, but it cannot be operated below 10,000 ft. during the takeoff/ landing phase.
Britain's moves to completely overhaul its long-range airpower road map will build on classified research efforts being carried out by BAE Systems. However, because of the secrecy surrounding some of the underlying research, British government and industry officials are reluctant to discuss the change in any detail. The ministry is breaking up its Future Offensive Air System (FOAS) work and replacing it with the Strategic Unmanned Air Vehicles (Experiment), or Suave, to meet its deep-strike and surveillance needs.
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Robert E. Davis (see photo) has been named vice president/general manager of the Raytheon Technical Services Co.'s Depot Operations in Norfolk, Va. He was business development growth leader for Raytheon Integrated Defense System in the Tidewater region of Virginia.
Korean Air chose the Engine Alliance GP7200 to power its five Airbus A380s, which are due for first delivery in 2007. The order was for 23 engines and marks the EA's fifth customer. Certification of an 81,500-lb.-thrust growth engine is set for the third quarter of 2006.
World News Roundup 18 Camera on rover captures distant Sun setting behind Martian crater 18 Ex-Boeing President Malcolm Stamper dies, led development of 747 19 Aircraft engine orders among activities headlining Paris air show 19 Pakistan in line to receive one of most modern versions of F-16 19 Boeing displaying 'gullwing' 777-200LR business-class interior 20 Rafael completing trials of newest Spice wing-and-guidance kit
Airbus faces several busy months and some hard decisions as it makes critical supplier and configuration decisions on the A350 in the run-up to the aircraft's formal industrial launch later this year. The European aircraft maker has been able to strengthen its A350 position significantly, after appearing to be in trouble with the new widebody only a few months ago and seeing its formal industrial launch delayed earlier this month.
