Boeing has received a $194-million contract from the U.S. Army to remanufacture 12 CH-47s into the special operations MH-47G configuration. The award is an installment on a total $224-million contract. The helicopters are to be completed by mid-2006.
Boeing has completed the first live warhead drops of the Small-Diameter Bomb as part of the development program to deliver the first 250-lb.-class GPS-guided bombs to the military next year. Weapons were dropped last month from an F-15E in two separate missions, Dec. 13 and 15, at the White Sands Missile Range, N.M., and achieved direct hits, Boeing reports. The tests are the second major event for the company's SDB program. The other was when Pentagon acquisition officials dismissed the idea proposed by some in the Defense Dept.
6 Correspondence 8-9 Who's Where 10 Market Focus 12 Industry Outlook 13 Airline Outlook 15 In Orbit 16-18 World News Roundup 19 Washington Outlook 53 Contrails 55 Classified 56 Contact Us 57 Aerospace Calendar
General Electric says five international companies will contribute about a 36% share of the GenX engine under development for the Boeing 7E7 and Airbus A350. Ishikawajima Harima Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan will hold a 15% stake in producing the low-pressure turbine rotating components and module assembly. They also will produce compressor airfoils, the mid-fan shaft and combustor casing. Avio of Italy will hold a 12% share and make gearboxes, the low-pressure turbine static components and casing, and the lubrication system.
Michael A. Taverna (Darmstadt, Germany), Alexey Komarov (Moscow)
A wide-ranging agreement between the European and Russian space agencies will enable the two organizations to cooperate in developing, building and operating launch vehicles. The move sets the stage for a reinforced role for Russia in the European space program and, perhaps, joint development of future launchers.
Nav Canada reports that Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum procedures that began in southern Canada on Jan. 20 should save airlines $22 million this year. Separation was reduced to 1,000 ft. from 2,000 ft. between Flight Level 290 and FL 410 inclusive, as it was in the U.S. and the rest of the Western Hemisphere last week. Airspace capacity at those altitudes will increase by 80%, says Nav Canada President/CEO John Crichton.
Shares in fast-growing EDO Corp. got a nice bounce on Wall Street last week after the U.S. Army added $56 million to the defense electronics company's contract to build cutting-edge bomb-jamming devices to protect soldiers in Iraq. The Army's Warlock electronic countermeasures effort attaches EDO-built devices to military vehicles to jam remote-control frequencies that Iraqi insurgents are using to trigger hidden roadside bombs.
The Chilean air force is expected to purchase four Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. Dhruv advanced light helicopters. Recent flight demonstrations in Chile were performed under a joint venture company owned by Israel Aircraft Industries and HAL that is marketing the helicopter internationally. It features a glass cockpit and avionics from IAI. A pair of Turbomeca TM 333-2B2 engines produce 1,000 shp. each.
Airbus officially introduced the A380 mega-transport to the world last week amid great fanfare, making its debut look almost easy. Now comes the hard part: proving the 555-seater's viability in the airline market of the future.
An item in last week's World News Roundup misstated the relationship between two space companies (Jan. 17, p. 389). Launch services startup SpaceX has taken a 10% stake in small-satellite builder Surrey Satellite Technology, not the other way around.
John Liotta (see photo) has become regional sales manager for aircraft technical services for the Montreal Jet Center. He was Mid-Atlantic sales manager for Gulfstream Aerospace.
World War II tactician and fighter ace John R. Alison and record-setting aviatrix and aerobatic champion Betty Skelton Frankman are among the individuals named for enshrinement in the National Aviation Hall of Fame, Dayton, Ohio, on July 16. Also selected were the late military aviatrix Nancy Harkness Love and the late Benjamin R. Rich, a longtime member of the engineering staff at the Lockheed Skunk Works.
James Loy, the U.S. Homeland Security Dept.'s second in command, will take over for Tom Ridge if he leaves before the Senate confirms Michael Chertoff, who has been nominated for the top post. Ridge is slated to depart Feb. 1. c The U.S. will appoint a full-time homeland security attache to the European Union to coordinate antiterrorism activities. The appointee will work closely with Gijs de Vries, the EU counterterrorism coordinator named last year following the Madrid train bombings (AW&ST Apr. 5, 2004, p. 46).
U.S. Army pilots are establishing new boundaries in operational flexibility by remotely controlling armed, unmanned Vigilante rotorcraft from another helicopter. The Ft. Eustis, Va.-based test crew flew on a UH-1 Iroquois (see photo below) operating over the Yuma, Ariz., Proving Grounds. They became the first to fire weapons from an unmanned helicopter, in this case four 2.75-in. Hydra 70 rockets with dummy warheads (see right photo).
India successfully tested its Trishul short-range surface-to-air missile last week from a mobile launcher at its Integrated Test Range in Chandipur. Trishul is 3 meters (10 ft.) long and 200 cm. (61 in.) in diameter. Powered by two solid-stage motors, it can deliver a 33-lb. payload up to 9 km.
Fred Buttrell, Comair's new president, is telling employees in back-to-back meetings that they must restore the carrier's tarnished reputation for reliable customer service while he focuses on rekindling growth with large-capacity regional jets.
Astronomers think they may have acquired the first direct image of an extrasolar planet (shown as a pink spot), using the combined capabilities of the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile and the Hubble Space Telescope in orbit. Following up on the VLT discovery last April of a faint companion to a brown dwarf in the constellation Hydra, astronomers used Hubble's Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (Nicmos) to gain more evidence that the object is a planet.
Debbie Adams has been named head of the legal division of U.K.-based National Air Traffic Services. She succeeds Kate Gregory, who has resigned. Adams was senior legal adviser for Angel Trains Ltd.
U.S. military leaders are worried the upcoming Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) is being hijacked by a small cadre of civilians, and they believe they will be kept out of the loop, just as they were when budget cuts were decided only a few weeks ago.
UNITED STATES Editor-In-Chief: Anthony L. Velocci, Jr. [email protected] Managing Editor: James R. Asker [email protected] Assistant Managing Editors: Stanley W. Kandebo--Technology [email protected] Michael Stearns--Production [email protected] Senior Editors: Craig Covault [email protected], David Hughes [email protected] NEW YORK 2 Penn Plaza, Fifth Floor, New York, N.Y. 10121 Phone: +1 (212) 904-2000, Fax: +1 (212) 904-6068
With U.S.-India relations running at an all-time high, the U.S. will sign an open-skies agreement with India in February, despite India's rejecting its bid to conduct a security audit of all Indian airports. "Security is an internal issue and India has rejected this proposal," an aviation official said. Both countries have agreed to remove each other's right to veto promotional or other fares, open code-sharing flights, ban charters and end limits on destinations.
William R. Ermatinger (see photo) has been promoted to vice president-human resources and administration for the Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Newport News (Va.) Sector from director of employee relations for the Electronic Systems Sector in Baltimore.
Boeing will end production of its smallest commercial airplane, the 717, in 2006 and is considering what to do with the historic California factories where the aircraft is produced.
Jim Hazlett (see photo) has become engineering department manager for new product development for the Watlow Electric Manufacturing Co. of St. Louis. He was probe sensor engineering manager for Honeywell.
