The International Space Station Expedition 11 crew, set for liftoff Apr. 15 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, is to perform two extravehicular activities--one in Russian and the other in U.S. spacesuits, a unique combination that points up different national space-operating styles. The outgoing Expedition 10 commander, astronaut Leroy Chiao, addressed the differences in an e-mail exchange from the ISS with Aviation Week & Space Technology.
Plans by Russian Space Communications Co. (RSCC) to deploy five new-generation Express AM series telecom satellites by the end of 2005 took another step toward realization with the Mar. 29 launch of AM 2 by a Proton K booster from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The spacecraft, built by Russia's NPO PM and equipped with a payload of one L-band, 16 C-band and 12 K u-band transponders supplied by Alcatel Space, was launched to an orbital slot at 80 deg. E. Long., where it will reinforce RSCC's position in Siberia and Central and Southeast Asia.
USAF is asking BAE Systems to further upgrade the small UAV-based Lightweight Modular Support Jammer and wants the company to assess options for a networked electronic attack battle management system. Upgrades to the jammer, including tying it into the Advanced Threat Alert and Response digital receiver, are to be flight-tested at Nellis AFB, Nev., against real threats. The work signals a potentially larger role for BAE in USAF's emerging electronic attack mission.
French press reports suggest Alcatel is ready to give a green light to a long-stalled merger of the naval systems of Thales, in which Alcatel owns a 9% stake, and government-owned naval shipyard DCN. However, the reports say Alcatel wants Thales to agree to subsequently place its naval activities under DCN control, giving DCN, and not Thales, a key role in future European naval system consolidation.
The U.S. Marine Corps is getting a new aviation chief. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has named Maj. Gen. John Castellaw as the next deputy commandant for aviation. Castellaw has been U.S. Central Command chief of staff. He will succeed Lt. Gen. Michael Hough.
THE FAA HAS ISSUED A NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING that would require increased recording times for cockpit voice (CVR) and digital flight recorders (DFDR) installed in business aircraft. The proposal also would mandate increased recording rates for specified DFDR parameters, physically separate the CVR and DFDR units and require improved reliability of the electrical power supply. If adopted, the rule would affect business aircraft operators flying under FAR Part 91 and Part 135. The FAA has set Apr. 29 as the deadline for comments.
Raytheon hopes its unsolicited proposal to the U.S. Air Force for a Space Radar demonstration can be the company's foot in the door on a larger follow-on program expected to be worth billions of dollars. The surprise move, disclosed here last week, could allow Raytheon to get back into an arena in which it had been shut out. The company previously failed in its bid to be one of two industry teams competing for the future Space Radar contract. Lockheed Martin is said to be interested as well.
Lockheed Martin Astronautics has received a $125-million contract to manufacture aft fuselages, wing leading-edge flaps and stores management systems for the Mitsubishi F-2. The contract also covers wing boxes and avionics, and avionics support equipment. The contract raises the total number of F-2s supported by Lockheed Martin to 76 aircraft.
U.S. Air Force officials in the Pacific are expecting to fold the 13th Air Force into a new, standing air operations headquarters at Hickam AFB, Hawaii. The new center will oversee all air activity in the Pacific, except for South Korea, which will continue to be handled by Osan AB there.
Virgin Blue is increasing its fuel surcharge on domestic flights to A$19 ($12) from A$10 per leg and to A$35 from A$20 on the carrier's international arm, Pacific Blue.
Alexey Komarov (Moscow), Michael A. Taverna (Paris)
A Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) industry/airline team is attempting to restart manufacture of the giant Antonov An-124-100 cargo carrier--one of the rare, Soviet-era aviation products that finds ready demand in global markets. Aviation industry and airfreight officials from Russia and Ukraine met in Moscow in late March to analyze the feasibility of resuming An-124 assembly and draw up a business plan for approval by the two governments, without which the restart cannot be envisioned.
Yuji Nishizawa, 34, the man who killed All Nippon Airways Capt. Naoyuki Nagashima after hijacking a 747 bound from Tokyo to Chitose in July 1999, has been sentenced to an indefinite period of imprisonment. That usually means 20 years' confinement and is Japan's second-most severe sentence, after the death penalty. The incident was the first hijacking involving manslaughter in Japanese history and prompted a series of security reviews at the country's airports.
"Stop the cell phone invasion"--so says the Assn. of Flight Attendants in an alert to its 46,000 membership. The AFA is strongly opposed to the FCC's January NPRM to consider lifting restrictions on cell phone use in flight. (Currently, cell phone use is prohibited after airplane doors are closed.) Members are asked to write to the FCC by Apr. 11 to oppose repeal of the ban or at least urge a "most cautious relaxation" of it.
The European Union has approved collection of fees by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for certification activities. Beginning on June 1, these fees will replace those collected by national authorities.
Bombardier Inc. last week reported total revenues of $15.8 billion for fiscal 2005, which ended Jan. 31, compared to $15.5 billion in fiscal 2004. Transportation segment figures were higher and aerospace dvision numbers lower. Consolidated revenues stood at $4.8 billion for the fourth quarter. "Despite a challenging environment, our cash position is solid, and we had a good cash flow performance this year," said Chairman and CEO Laurent Beaudoin.
Taiwan is developing an air-launched powered standoff weapon, which is undergoing trials. The initial application for the system, which is seen being carried on an air force Ching Kuo Indigenous Defense Fighter, may be as a submunitions dispenser. The airframe design appears similar to that of the Israeli Modular Stand-Off Vehicle or French Apache, with an upper-fuselage mounted wing that deploys after release.
Lockheed Martin received a $37.8-million USAF contract to provide Precision Engagement production kits to modify the A/OA-10 aircraft fleet over the next five years at a total cost of $168 million. The modification will enable the A-10 to use advanced precision-guided weapons like the Joint Direct Attack Munition and Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser.
The article "Caution: COTS Ahead" (AW&ST Feb. 28, p. 52), notes that for open source, "an ad hoc network of experts fixes glitches." This misses the point of the free-software and open-source movement. You don't treat the code as a zero-cost COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) replace- ment. In fact, the problem of "not knowing how COTS really works" is at the heart of why the movement was started. These packages should be tailored to your needs, not plugged in a socket and turned on.
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The Pentagon may not be as overloaded with military bases as it has indicated in recent years. The issue went back and forth last week at a press conference, when Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld claimed: "I don't know that I've said that we have 20-25% excess" and put the onus on assessments by the Clinton administration. "I don't believe I've ever asserted that I necessarily believed it," he said. "I just quoted it." Then an aide handed him a note saying that Rumsfeld's staff revalidated the excess at 20-24% in a 2004 report to Congress.
Rumsfeld also says he wasn't criticizing Turkey in a reference to not being able to deploy the 4th Infantry Div. into northern Iraq when fighting began in 2003. If the U.S. could have sent forces through Turkey, "a considerably smaller number of the Ba'athists and regime elements would have escaped [and] the insurgency would have been at a lesser intensity," he said in an earlier interview. At the press conference, Rumsfeld said he wasn't blaming the Turks "at all." What's more, he contended that when the U.S. commander, Army Gen.
A syndicate of Russian state-owned banks has approved an initial financial support package for the Russian Regional Jet (RRJ) program. The four banks agreed to provide 2.7 billion rubles ($98 million) in government-backed loans for the Sukhoi-led program, with further financing a possibility. The total cost of RRJ development is estimated at $700 million, of which $70 million has already been committed by Sukhoi.
