World News Roundup 16 New missile plume simulator to begin tests next year 17 NOAA-N set to launch from Vandenberg AFB on May 11 17 Haneda ATC controllers sent aircraft to closed runway 18 Lockheed Martin receives JSF center fuselage structure at Fort Worth site 18 Dassault Aviation begins flight tests of ultra-long-range Falcon 7X World News & Analysis 20 Explosives detection becomes more urgent as bombings in Iraq escalate
A bill to return non-scheduled charter and general aviation operations to Reagan Washington National Airport cleared a U.S. House Appropriations subcommittee last week.
EADS has acquired Nokia's professional mobile radio unit in a move aimed at reinforcing the company's portfolio of homeland security products and services. Acquisition of the unit, of which the Tetra terminal and infrastructure line is a part, is scheduled to close at year's end.
Embraer of Brazil is developing two aircraft to compete in the very-light- and light-jet niches, a step in what the company hopes will make it a major player in business aviation. Its very-light jet (VLJ) is to enter service in mid-2008 and will carry a list price of $2.75 million, making it more expensive than any current competitor. However, Embraer hopes to persuade customers--which are likely to include innovative, but unproven, "air-taxi" operators--that the aircraft is more comfortable and offers better performance.
Dassault Aviation has begun flight testing of its new, ultra-long-range Falcon 7X business jet. The aircraft that flew for the first time May 5 from the company's facility in Bordeaux is the cornerstone of Dassault's future aircraft plans. The new highly swept wing and fly-by-wire system are core elements on which next-generation shorter-range Falcon business jets will be built.
Lockheed Martin Commercial Space systems will build BSAT-3A, a 1.8-kw. satellite for Japan's Broadcasting Satellite System Corp. The A2100A platform will carry eight, 130-watt K u-band channels and is scheduled for launch in the second quarter of 2007. BSAT-3A is the 12th contract Lockheed Martin has won for satellites in the 1-4 kw. small-class category.
A new forecast by The Teal Group predicts the manufacture of 7,417 new business jets worth $106.7 billion from 2005-14. But the fate of Very Light Jets, coupled with fears of weak profits for fractional ownership programs, dampens market analysts' outlook.
Yannick d'Escatha, president of the French space agency CNES, says the time is ripe for sale of all or part of CNES' 32% share in Arianespace. The Ariane 5 ECA launch vehicle has been qualified for missions, public support for Ariane is assured and an Arianespace capital injection has been completed. In the past, the selloff has been held up by disagreement over valuation and strategic guarantees (AW&ST Feb. 16, 2004, p. 15).
Space shuttle engineers will spend the next two months trying to minimize the threat from ice falling off the external tank, opting for safety over schedule as they work to reactivate the stalled human spaceflight program.
Russian aircraft designer MiG Corp.'s six-year dalliance with commercial aircraft manufacturing is at an end. MiG has abandoned any interest in building the Tupolev Tu-334 regional jet, with the Russian government now scrambling to save the moribund program by transferring production to the Kazan Aircraft Production Plant (KAPO).
The NASA rover exploring the Meridiani plains of Mars has found the smallest two impact craters ever seen on the planet. Measuring 10 and 20 cm. (3.9 and 7.9 in.) in diameter, the tiny craters are no more than 1 cm. deep, at most. The Mars Opportunity rover spotted the craters with its navigation cameras, which produce a stereo image that lets engineers make accurate measurements of the distance and size of features.
Space-Based Infrared System-High program officials are touting the recent completion of vibration testing on the first geosynchronous satellite of the constellation. The tests focus on the pointing and control assembly, which manages two optical scanners--one designed to scan large swaths of the globe while another will stare. Myles Crandall, prime contractor Lockheed Martin's SBIRS-High vice president, says the tests produced "outstanding" results.
Airports in Mobile, Ala., Melbourne, Fla., Kiln, Miss., and Charleston, S.C., are the finalists to house EADS North America's KC-330 support facility if the aircraft is chosen to replace hundreds of aging USAF KC-135 tankers. Seventy locations in 32 states responded to EADS' solicitation, and the winner will be announced in July. EADS officials have vowed to open major support facilities stateside if it gets the work. Boeing was a shoo-in with a $23.5-billion deal for KC-767s until a spate of acquisition improprieties and congressional scrutiny derailed it.
Engineers are optimistic they can free the Opportunity Mars rover, perhaps as early as this week, from fluffy soil that trapped it during a long run over flat terrain late last month. Under a thin top crust, the soil appears to be as fine as flour and at least as fine as anything Opportunity or its twin Spirit has driven on. Opportunity's wheels are sunk up to about three-fourths of their 10-in. dia., deeper than rover wheels have ever been, including when they were digging trenches.
Necessity breeds invention and--in the case of an engagement between dueling rocket makers Boeing and Lockheed Martin--very strange bedfellows. Until last week, the two contractors had been at each other's throats, sparring in the marketplace and in court. Now, Lockheed Martin has agreed to bury the hatchet and drop its lawsuit against Boeing after the latter was found to have used stolen proprietary data on Lockheed Martin's rocket during a heated competition.
Impending military program decisions in Europe will determine the fate of several major electronic warfare efforts that would put them on a par with or surpass their U.S. competitors' technology, developers here believe.
Lockheed Martin and a Northrop Grumman/Boeing team expect the Crew Exploration Vehicle proposals they submitted last week to change, given the new top-down push at NASA to close the gap between space shuttle retirement and launch of the new crew carrier.
Although well written and full of useful information, "Military Space: Who's in Charge?" (AW&ST Apr. 4, p. 50) never answered the question. The author can't be blamed because, on the surface, it appears that everyone is in charge. Years ago the U.S. Air Force was designated the lead agency in space, but realistically every service is vying for the all-important space dollars. For years after USAF received this designation, space got some attention--but only in the support role--very little in actual space operations.
Brazil is to acquire 12 EADS Casa C-295 medium-lift military transport aircraft, while the company will also upgrade eight P-3s bought by the Brazilian government from the U.S. Navy. The two contracts are worth 238 million euros ($307.8 million) and 320 million euros, respectively.
Edward M. Greitzer, who is H.N. Slater professor of aeronautics and astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been named to receive the R. Tom Sawyer Award from the New York-based American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Greitzer is being recognized "for the development of practical engineering models that unify the understanding of compressions system stability and end wall flows . . . and for service to the ASME's International Gas Turbine Institute."
Robert J. Stevens, who has been president/CEO of the Lockheed Martin Corp., Bethesda, Md., also has been appointed chairman. He succeeds Vance Coffman, who has retired.
A new U.S. Air Force Warfare Center is being created by integrating elements of the Space Warfare Center and Air Warfare Center, according to USAF Space Command officials. Headquartered at Nellis AFB, Nev., the new center will belong to Air Combat Command and also may incorporate information warfare capabilities.
Ross McInnes has been named executive vice president-finance of the France-based Pinault-Printemps-Redoute Group. He was senior vice president/chief financial officer of the Thales Group
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is making his first use of a provision passed by Congress last year that allows the Pentagon to "bypass all existing laws" to speed the purchase of urgently needed combat equipment. Rumsfeld last week signed a directive fast-tracking the purchase of "Warlock" devices that jam electronic signals used by Iraqi insurgents to detonate roadside bombs. The congressionally approved shortcut calls for a final contract with manufacturer EDO Corp. to be in place within 15 days.
Japan Airlines becomes the first carrier to offer transpacific Internet connections with flights beginning May 10 from Tokyo to New York. The service is an extension of JAL's Boeing Connexion broadband system that currently operates on Tokyo-London routes. The New York service will initially be available on alternate flight days but will become daily by the end of June. JAL serves New York with 747-400s.
