NATO has inked a memorandum of understanding with Poland to provide the legal foundation for the alliance to establish its Joint Forces Trainer Center in Bydgoszcz. The facility, which will operate under the auspices of NATO's Norfolk, Va.-based Allied Command Transformation, is to reach full operational capability by June 30, 2006. The focus of the organization is multinational, multiservice tactical training.
The ongoing Boeing-Airbus financial dispute is being waged along the political differences between Europe and the U.S. European governments consolidated their innovative aerospace industry for commerce, prestige and employment. Not bad ideals, but they require (and receive) substantial government investment.
The Kennedy Space Center's successful completion of a major space shuttle propellant tanking test on Apr. 14 puts the program "on an excellent course to launch Discovery in the next few weeks," says Wayne Hale, deputy shuttle project manager. Discovery's initial launch window extends from May 15-June 3. A few days' delay beyond May 15 is possible, but the window may now be extended a few days further into June, says Hale. The complex 11-hr. tanking test, which involved hundreds of NASA and contractor personnel in two KSC firing rooms, required flowing 143,000 gal.
The European Commission could rule by May 10-12 on the controversial Italian government support for the restructuring of flag carrier Alitalia, says Italian Transportation Minister Pietro Lunardi. That would put the verdict ahead of an Alitalia shareholders meeting at the end of May. The carrier is operating on a tight schedule for reorganization and partial privatization. Lunardi added that Rome has provided Brussels with extensive information to defend the aid, which Alitalia rivals have attacked.
The accidental deletion of the word "not" from the text of an interview with International Space Station commander Leroy Chiao made it appear that the prebreathe requirements for U.S. spacesuits are insignificant compared with those for Russian Orlan suits (AW&ST Apr. 11, p. 26). In fact, those requirements are much more significant than for the Russian suits.
Boeing and KLM Engineering and Maintenance have formed a cooperative to manage a pool of parts in Amsterdam for 737 NG operators. Called the Next-Generation 737 Component Services Program (CSP), the venture promises airlines savings equal to 30% of component repair and inventory costs by eliminating the need for them to maintain such inventories themselves. Components will be available for shipment worldwide within 24 hr.
Nine months after completing its purchase of Spectrum Astro, General Dynamics says it wants to maintain the maverick mentality at the Arizona-based satellite builder that has brought it success to date. "Our intention is to preserve the culture that Spectrum Astro had," says Ron Taylor, Strategic and National Systems Div. vice president and general manager. The new Spectrum Astro Space Systems falls under Taylor's business area in General Dynamics C4 Systems group.
The International Space Station Expedition 11 crew of cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, U.S. astronaut John Phillips and European Space Agency/Italian astronaut Roberto Vittori are scheduled to be in the midst of ISS handover operations this week, following the launch of their Soyuz TMA-6 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 6:46 a.m. local time Apr. 15.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries halted plans for its 10-seat MH-2000 helo. A type certificate was issued in 1997, but the first prototype was lost in an accident during a flight test in 2000. Design improvements were made and six more vehicles were built, but sales never took off.
Jeff Bosque, who has been vice president-sales and marketing of Garrett Piedmont Hawthorne/Associated Air Center, Tempe, Ariz., will be interim president after the resignation of Rick Penshorn.
Judy F. Marks has been appointed executive vice president of the Lockheed Martin Corp.'s Rockville, Md.-based Transportation and Security Solutions unit, effective May 1. She is scheduled to become the unit president in October as successor to Don Antonucci, who will be retiring. Marks has been president of Lockheed Martin Distribution Technologies, Owego, N.Y.
Moisture barrier bags by Protective Packaging protect sensitive equipment and machinery of all sizes (helicopters, above, to ball bearings) from a wide range of vapor or humidity hazards. Several materials are available (Mylar, Tyvek, composites and others). The bags are certified to protect corrosion-sensitive items such as generators that can be transported on the decks of oceangoing freighters. Some mil-spec-qualified bags are used to shield weapons systems that wait in storage for 10 years or more in concrete bunkers, according to the company.
AirDat is equipping 64 Saab 340 turboprop aircraft flown by Mesaba Airlines with Tropospheric Airborne Meteorological Data Report sensors in a program being conducted in cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service and Forecast Systems Lab. NASA and the FAA are providing some of the funding. The sensors will measure humidity, wind, pressure, temperature, icing and turbulence conditions every 300 ft. during the climb to cruise altitude.
BAE Systems has delivered the first fully functional JAS 39 Gripen helmet-mounted display system, including a high-speed optical head tracker, to Saab. Denel Optronics of South Africa led development of the electronics unit that incorporates the optical head tracker. The display offers binocular day/night views, 360-deg. visibility in a lightweight system. Full-scale production is set for mid-2006.
Germany for the first time will use the Eurofighter in an exercise, as part of the so-called European Challenge, which is slated to begin Apr. 19. The joint maneuver also will involve the Tiger attack helicopter and Luna reconnaissance drone. The drill will involve 17 countries and 4,000 troops, most of them German.
Sentiment against European launch-aid subsidies for Airbus is running high on Capitol Hill. The Senate passes a nonbinding resolution, 96-0, calling on European governments to pass up helping Airbus develop the A350 transport as competition against Boeing's 787. The resolution also calls for the Bush administration to take subsidies to the World Trade Organization if the Europeans continue them.
The sudden announcement that Transportation Security Administration chief David M. Stone would be leaving in June has aviation officials wondering if the third change of TSA leadership in four years will mean more delays in deploying new programs such as Secure Flight and Registered Traveler. The agency tersely announced Stone's departure Apr. 8, stating he had agreed to stay until June, at the request of the Homeland Security Dept. (DHS), TSA's parent organization, "to assist with the transition of a successor." No reason for Stone's departure was given.
Lufthansa Cargo managed a return to profitability in 2004 after weathering a slump in the international air cargo market. Although yield was down 10%, the freight carrier posted a 34-million-euro ($44-million) gain on sales of 2.47 billion euros, revenues increased by 14.2% over 2003 and more positive results are expected this year. In 2004, the company launched a cost-cutting program aimed at boosting earnings by 233 million euros in 2006.
One of the largest and most important commercial spacecraft launched by China is completing transfer to its geosynchronous orbit slot this week under the control of APT Satellite Holdings and Alcatel. The five-ton APStar 6 was launched Apr. 12 from Xichang on board a Chinese Long March 3B with four liquid strap-on boosters and a Chinese oxygen/hydrogen upper stage. The spacecraft carries 38 C-band and 12 K u-band transponders. Alcatel built the spacecraft without using U.S. components, to avoid U.S. trade restrictions.
AOptix Technologies, a supplier of electro-optical systems and technologies that enable next-generation laser communications, imaging and directed-energy systems announced the availability of the company's first production product, the GT1.0 communicator. Its patented, bi-directional adaptive optics method of beam control achieves a range of more than 20 km. with virtually zero probability of intercept or detection, according to the company.
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The Pentagon's long-awaited Mobility Capabilities Study (MCS), which will outline future requirements for sealift and airlift, is expected "in the next month or so," Martin says. The study was expected earlier this year to enable Pentagon officials to fold its recommendations into the Fiscal 2007 budget plan and the Quadrennial Defense Review, now underway.
The U.S. attorney who prosecuted former U.S. Air Force acquisition official Darleen Druyun and former Boeing Chief Financial Officer Michael Sears says his office is still looking at Boeing. "Anytime something like that occurs, that obviously raises the question about the corporation's responsibilities as well," says Paul J. McNulty, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. "Beyond that, what might happen is speculation," he says.
L-3 Communications' Link Simulation and Training will build two F/A-18C/D Hornet Aircrew Flight Trainers (AFT) for the U.S. Marine Corps. The units will be used for combat training and feature two independent cockpits for the pilot and weapons sensor operator. Each crew station will have a Link-built SimuSphere visual display system to support single-seat F/A-18C or two-seat F/A-18D training. Each SimuSphere has nine display panels that surround each station and provide a 360-deg. field of view.
Airbus formally began work on the first A380 freighter last week, starting with the center wing box, which is primarily made of carbon-fiber reinforced plastic. The freighter is to carry 330,000 lb. of cargo. Airbus has 27 firm orders for the A380F.
