Defense surveillance equipment supplier DRS Technologies Inc. is bolstering its product line with another niche acquisition. DRS wrapped up a $29-million deal to buy Codem Systems Inc., a Merrimack, N.H.-based signal intelligence systems manufacturer. The new company is expected to add $25 million to DRS' annual revenue, which is forecast to rise 30% to $1.3 billion in the fiscal year ended Mar. 31.
Thomas O. Hunter has been appointed president of the Sandia Corp./director of Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, N.M., effective Apr. 29. He was senior vice president-defense programs. Hunter will succeed C. Paul Robinson, who will be assisting the Lockheed Martin Corp. in its bid to operate the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Hunter will be succeeded by Joan Woodard, who has been executive vice president/deputy director.
Researchers are trying to understand the clues to early star formation contained in a recently discovered primitive star that contains extremely low levels of heavy elements. Designated HE1327-2326, the star (shown) is a southern-sky dwarf that lies an estimated 4,000 light-years from Earth. Based on measurements with Japan's Subaru Telescope High Dispersion Spectrograph and the Multicolor Active Galactic Nuclei Monitoring (Magnum) telescope, it has the lowest iron level ever measured in a star--only 1/250,000 that of the Sun.
Darryl W. Davis (see photo) has become vice president-Air Force Systems Global Strike Solutions for the Boeing Co. in St. Louis. He was head of the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems X-45 program.
SES Astra has issued a request for proposals for a 32-transponder K u-band satellite to replace Astra 1H. The new spacecraft will also ensure backup of other Astra spacecraft at 19.2 deg. E. Long., and guarantee additional capacity at the company's 28 deg. E. slot.
I am a huge air show fan. Several years ago, my wife and I attended a show in Frederick, Md. Among the air demonstrators were the USAF Thunderbirds. They flew in from another location and a few minutes into their routine, they had to cancel the rest of their show due to a mechanical problem on one aircraft, as announced to the crowd. So it is slightly inaccurate to state that "no performance has ever been canceled due to a mechanical problem."
U.S. Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Richard Cody and U.S. Air Force Gen. John Handy, head of Air Mobility Command and U.S. Transportation Command, represent those who organize and operate the two services' airborne medical evacuation organization as it has been shaped and specialized for the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. This multifaceted evacuation system is considered a major factor in increasing the survival rate of U.S. military wounded to 90% today from 75% as recently as the end of the Vietnam War.
The FAA has awarded a $57-million contract to Raytheon for 23 more Standard Terminal Automation Re- placement Systems--14 for the FAA and nine for the Defense Dept. There are 52 Stars in operation.
Yet another entrepreneur is banking on the new light jets under development being cheap enough to buy and fly that he can coax business travelers now driving between smaller cities out of their cars and into the air. This startup aims to offer regional "air taxi" services in mid-2006 with very light jets (VLJs) and plans to announce an order this week for 239 Eclipse 500 jets with options for an additional 70.
Randy S. Bolinger has become vice president-marketing and sales for the Lancair Co., Bend, Ore. He was vice president-marketing for the Cirrus Design Corp.
William R. (Bob) Laidlaw's half-century-plus aerospace career encompasses roles as combat pilot, researcher, test pilot, engineering executive and founder of two companies. As a high school student in Toronto, he "augmented" his age by a year, joined the Royal Canadian Air Force and flew a photo-reconnaissance version of the deHavilland Mosquito during World War II. He later earned master and doctor of science degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, specializing in aeroelasticity.
The FAA is proposing an airworthiness directive on Airbus A320-series aircraft. The AD would require installation of insulator and cable ties to the electrical cables of the S routes at gaps in the raceway in the wing trailing edge as well as wing tip and wing root areas. The action, prompted by results of Airbus fuel system reviews, is aimed at preventing injection of high-voltage current into low-voltage wiring that passes through fuel tanks.
James Reeves (see photo) has been named vice president-marketing and business development of AOptix Technologies, Campbell, Calif. He was a director of business development at the Northrop Grumman Corp.
The U.S. Air Force reports an 18% overrun on Global Hawk's per-unit cost. The Nunn-McCurdy Law requires the Pentagon to inform Congress of program cost growth of more than 15%. In a report to Congress last week, the Air Force attributes the higher cost for the Northrop Grumman UAV to "increasing aircraft capacity to accommodate requirements for a more sophisticated, integrated imagery and signals intelligence sensor suite." The shift from the RQ-4A bird to the larger RQ-4B led to much longer manufacturing times than anticipated.
Airbus expects to double the number of service providers in its Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul Network and will be seeking candidates through mid-2006, Wolfgang Kortas, senior director of MRO support management for Airbus North America said at Aviation Week's MRO Conference in Dallas. A catalog of services will be sent to Airbus customers in the coming weeks. The company is concentrating on airframe maintenance, but has chosen network providers who offer other repair services.
It appears as if you have been misled about the photo in the World News Roundup section (AW&ST Apr. 11, p. 15). The C-130 depicted is USMC KC-130T 162786 from VMGR-234, rather than a USAF MC-130 Combat Talon II. Further, the MC-130H Combat Talon II does not have wing-mounted refueling pods; this is a feature of the MC-130P Combat Shadow. (The reader is correct. Several C-130s were used during the 12-sortie test series, and a last-minute substitution of photos led to the error--Ed.)
The Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity are continuing in 2005 the remarkable science and engineering operations that earned the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Cornell University rover team and its contractors the 2004 Space Laureate from Aviation Week & Space Technology.
Required Navigation Performance (RNP) operations have been demonstrated at Lhasa, Tibet, by the Civil Aviation Authority of China, Air China, Boeing and Naverus on a 757-200. The new procedures will lower the weather minimums that Air China can use to operate into Lhasa airport, which is situated in mountainous terrain. This should reduce flight turnbacks, delays and cancellations while enhancing safety, Boeing says.
There has been a remarkable amount of fuss surrounding the decision by British Airways captains to continue their 747 flights on three engines. Why should these captains be upbraided for continuing to their destinations on three engines, when every day ETOPS allows hundreds more captains to leave the gate for transoceanic flights with just two engines? Ah yes, there is the specter of the dreaded three-engine landing.
AirTran Airways receives a revenue guarantee from the City of Wichita under an agreement to serve Wichita Mid-Continent Airport. Delta Air Lines also serves the Kansas airport but receives no subsidy. The FAA says the agreement between AirTran and the city represents "unjust economic discrimination." Even if this dispute is solved in Wichita--Delta has a similar revenue guarantee from Lansing, Mich.--an issue could be developing over how airports offer incentives to attract airlines.
Canadian low-cost carrier WestJet last week took delivery of its first Boeing 737-800. Configured for 166 passengers, the airplane will operate on longer routes. This year WestJet officials expect to accept 15 new 737s, including five -800s, seven -700s and three -600s. In addition, the carrier has exercised options on three more -700s to be delivered in 2006.
Lufthansa, Europe's second largest airline, plans to get much tougher on tackling supplier costs and adapting low-cost carrier business practices wherever feasible, according to Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber.
Pentagon officials are preparing for what is expected to be a protracted discussion about the cost of the massive, international F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. Rear Adm. Steven Enewold says he thinks the cost will grow by about $900 million due to inflation projections. During a talk on Capitol Hill, Enewold says, "Everyone except the Brits have declined to contribute" to paying for the cost growth. Memoranda of understanding with Italy, Canada, the Netherlands, Turkey, Australia, Denmark and Norway don't require those governments to chip in on cost growth.
The Northrop Grumman/EADS team that was planning to offer the NH90 for USAF's Personnel Recovery Vehicle program has opted not to pursue the contract that could total almost 200 helicopters. EADS says the team made the decision after consulting with Air Force officials about the service's needs for a combat search-and-rescue helicopter. Still in the running are the Lockheed Martin-led US101, Sikorsky S-92 and Bell-Boeing V-22.
