Europe is upping the ante in aeronautics research in an expanded effort to support the sustainable growth of air transport, ensure continued aerospace leadership and perhaps provide an alternative source of funding for new development projects.
Work on an advanced version of Singapore Technologies Aerospace mini-unmanned aerial vehicle, called FanTail, has started. With a 2.9-kg. (6.4-lb.) takeoff weight, FanTail was designed and developed in-house using commercial-off-the-shelf products, according to the company.
Tim Brady, dean of the College of Aviation at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Fla., has received the 2005 Excellence in Pilot Training Award from the National Air Transportation Assn. The award spotlights safety, professionalism, leadership and excellence in pilot training. Brady was cited for distinction "as a highly knowledgeable and experienced aviator, teacher, administrator and writer."
You could say that the stars were in a postive alignment four years ago for the space programs at the Pentagon and in the intelligence community. A conservative-leaning Congress was expected to be friendly to national security space priorities, even on the once-taboo topic of building offensive and defensive space systems. George W. Bush was entering office with a hearty military transformation agenda that relied heavily on space technology.
Martin Phillips has been named national industry director for aerospace and defense, and partner in charge of the Aerospace & Defense Risk Advisory practice, at New York-based KPMG. He was a partner in IBM Global Aerospace and Defense.
Christopher Groff has been named vice president-North American sales for the Conduant Corp., Longmont, Colo. He was an executive with Telcordia Technologies.
Albert E. Smith (see photo) has been named to the board of trustees of The Aerospace Corp., El Segundo, Calif. Smith is retired executive vice president-integrated systems and solutions for the Lockheed Martin Corp. and had been executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Space Systems.
John F. Wood has become chief of staff and Brian R. Besanceney assistant secretary for public affairs of the U.S. Homeland Security Dept. Wood was counselor to the U.S. attorney general, while Besanceney was special assistant to the President and deputy director of communications at the White House.
"Unfortunate" is how acting Air Force Secretary Peter Teets describes the timing between his proclamation lifting Boeing's 20-month ban from competing for military space launches and the company's sudden dismissal of CEO Harry Stonecipher after discovering his affair with a female company executive. On Mar. 4, Teets lifted the suspension, imposed after the company was found in possession of proprietary Lockheed Martin documents during a rocket competition in the late 1990s. On Mar. 7, Boeing announced Stonecipher's firing.
Hawker de Havilland plans to invest A$175million ($135 million) in Melbourne to build wing components for the Boeing 787, Australian Innovation Minister John Brumby said last week. The government-backed investment is to generate more than 200 jobs. The company is to provide composite movable surfaces on the trailing edge of the wing, including flaps, ailerons and related structures.
General Electric has committed to an architectural design for the GEnx engine and begun the detailed design phase for a powerplant destined for the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350. In committing to the architecture, Tom Brisken, general manager of the GEnx program, says GE determined the fan diameter, the compressor and turbine stages, and the location of bearings.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), a Washington-based privacy advocacy group, is concerned that sensitive personal information provided to the U.S. government by airline passengers will be misused for non-aviation security purposes. The concerns were voiced in a letter from EPIC Executive Director Marc Rotenberg to Rep. Daniel Lungren (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Economic Security, Infrastructure Protection and Cybersecurity.
The first C-27J ordered by Greece is slated to be delivered next month, but Athens is already mulling upgrades to the tactical transport. The first Greek C-27J was unveiled last week in Turin following completion of a brief flight test program by the joint venture of Alenia Aeronautica and Lockheed Martin that builds the aircraft. Lockheed Martin is bowing out of the arrangement, to be replaced in a more limited role by L-3 Communications, which will be involved in any C-27J activity in North America (AW&ST Feb. 21, p. 40).
Teets believes the Air Force will win a boost from the roughly 180 F/A-22 aircraft now in the budget in the Quadrennial Defense Review of Pentagon resources and missions. The service says it needs at least 381 of the Lockheed Martin-made stealthy fighters to fully equip its 10 aerospace expeditionary forces. Prior to a crippling December cut, spending plans included money for 277 jets. Each F/A-22 is about $256.8 million, including the program's decades-long development cost; flyaway cost is closer to $117 million.
The civil engine market will be worth $550 billion over the next 20 years, according to the latest market survey by Rolls-Royce. Airliner deliveries will account for 63,000 engines, with corporate jets accounting for the remaining 33,000. China is identified as the fastest growing market for the coming two decades, with airline traffic growing at an average of 9% a year.
You can now register ONLINE for Aviation Week Events. Go to www.AviationNow.com/conferences or call Lydia Janow at +1 (212) 904-3225/+1 (800) 240-7645 ext. 5 (U.S. and Canada Only) Apr. 19-20--MRO Military Conference. Also, Apr. 20-21--MRO USA Conference & Exhibition. Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center, Dallas. May 10-11--Net-Centric Operations Conference 2005. Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, Washington. May 24-25--Homeland Security Summit & Exposition, Washington.
India's requirement for around 1,000 anti-tank missiles may have been met with the recent final test firing of the 42-kg. (92-lb.) Nag eight months ahead of schedule. The Nag has a 4-km. (2.5-mi.) range, but is part of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program that includes the 150-300-km.-range Prithvi missiles, already in use by the armed forces.
The 17th and final production Northrop Grumman E-8C Joint-STARS aircraft is being delivered to the U.S. Air Force at the same time the first production aircraft, which was delivered in 1996, completes an upgrade to the Block 20 Computer Replacement Program design using commercial-off-the-shelf computing capability. The new aircraft, designated P-17, "is the most advanced aircraft we have delivered so far," said Dave Nagy, the company's Joint-STARS program vice president.
Per-Arne Sandstrom and Lena Torell have been nominated for the board of directors of Saab. Sandstrom was deputy CEO of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, while Torell is president of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences.
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Germany was granted an extension beyond the end-of-March "deadline" to sign on to the Medium Extended Air Defense System after its parliament deferred a decision on the program until next month. The U.S. and Italy already signed on last year, and originally imposed the deadline. However, to preserve the program, that time frame has been extended. The multinational Meads industrial team, which is working under bridge funding until Germany decides the program's fate, is continuing its efforts under the existing contractual arrangement.
THE GLOBAL MARKET FOR AUTOMATIC Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast is forecast to grow from $20 million a year to $80-100 million by 2010, according to Frost & Sullivan. But Michael Merluzeau, director for airborne systems markets, says the real growth in operational use of the technology will occur in the 2010-15 timeframe. The first areas to utilize ADS-B will be those with poor radar coverage--notably, Australia, which is deploying ADS-B nationwide and will go operational early next year.
The Launch Services Alliance of Arianespace, Boeing/Sea Launch and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries says the Sea Launch Zenith 3SL booster will serve as backup for launch of the first of two Paradigm Skynet 5 military communication satellites, to lift off in the second half of 2006. This is the fourth backup accord by the alliance.
Picking up a handful of missiles at knockdown prices may be a tempting bargain, but exactly what Iran and China gain from buying secondhand strategic cruise missiles from Ukraine remains to be seen. While the leakage of this technology is a cause for concern in capitals such as Washington and London, the illegal purchase of a few aging Raduga Kh-55 cruise missile airframes will not immediately provide a strategic capability to Beijing or Tehran.
