Pinched by competition, government-owned Air-India has put a fleet acquisition plan for 68 aircraft--a mix of midsized ultra-long and long-range types--on the fast track. At least by India's standards. The acquisition plan--AI's second this year--came after Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel asked for the original idea of ordering 28 aircraft to be expanded to include eight Boeing 737-800s with winglets on behalf of the carrier's new low-fare carrier, Air-India Express, which is to be launched next April.
Jim Blair has become assistant administrator of the U.S. Transportation Security Administration for aviation operations. He succeeds Ken Kasprisin, who was acting in that post and will return to Minneapolis-St. Paul as area director/federal security director. Blair was federal security director for McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. He will be succeeded by Dennis Clark, who has been deputy assistant administrator for aviation operations.
Sun Laiyan, the new head of the Chinese National Space Agency, wants NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe to pay him a visit the next time he's in Beijing. Sun dropped by O'Keefe's Washington office Dec. 2 for a "courtesy visit" that the Chinese requested last summer, when Sun was named to his post. O'Keefe and Sun shared their respective space exploration plans, and O'Keefe may accept Sun's invitation if the schedules can be worked out, NASA says. No concrete plans for cooperation emerged from the Washington get-together, and the pair issued no communiqué.
The DGA French armaments agency on Dec. 2 awarded to Thales a 1.3-billion-euro contract covering the ground segment of the Syracuse III satellite communications system. Alcatel Space will have a 30% share in the program that includes 600 satcom terminals.
With all the gloom brought by continued high fuel prices, Boeing's midsized 7E7, which boasts the promise of a 20% overall savings in operating costs, should be attracting a lot of orders--but the company's best customers lack cash.
David Tamir, vice president of aviation consulting firm Carter and Burgess of Fort Worth, has been appointed chairman of the Information Technology and Systems Committee of the International Airport Consultants Council. Vice chairman will be Enrique M. Melendez, senior director of aviation security and airline applications for Arinc Inc., Annapolis, Md.
NetJets Europe has ordered 25 Hawker 400XP business jets from Raytheon Aircraft Co. worth $160 million. The fractional ownership operator will receive 10 airplanes in 2005 and the remainder by the end of 2007. NetJets has 500 customers in Europe.
Dan Kidder has become manager of communications for the Alexandria, Va.-based National Air Transportation Assn. He was director of communications for U.S. Rep. Michael A. Collins (R-Ga.).
FlightSafety International's Learning Center in West Palm Beach, Fla., is training an increasing number of military, governmental and commercial helicopter pilots to fly the Sikorsky S-92 and the UH-60L Black Hawk on missions ranging from corporate trips to counterterrorism and drug interdiction missions.
Russia's Energia space corporation has unveiled the full-size mockup of a new 6-passenger reusable Clipper lifting body spacecraft to replace the Soyuz design that has been used for Russian manned flights since 1967. The first Clipper test flight could occur as early as 2010-12, depending on Russian government or international funding. The Clipper could be launched atop the Ukrainian Zenit-2 booster or new Onega that Energia is developing.
India may rethink buying upgrades to ex-U.S. Navy P-3B anti-submarine warfare aircraft "if Washington goes ahead with sales of these naval spy planes to Pakistan," says the navy's chief, Adm. Arun Prakash. Last month, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a proposed sale to Pakistan of eight P-3Cs at $970 million, six Phalanx close-in weapon systems at $155 million, and 2,000 TOW-2A missiles at $82 million (AW&ST Nov. 29, p. 38).
Using automation to free up controllers for more strategic management of air traffic is one approach being studied by NASA as it seeks to boost airspace system capacity and efficiency, thereby saving fuel. Heinz Erzberger, a NASA Ames Research Center senior scientist, says the Advanced Airspace Concept (AAC) has been studied for several years. It could increase efficiency 15% by providing optimal routes that cut airlines' direct operating costs. A 25% increase in landings on existing runways could follow, an important benefit.
Traffic flow management upgrades provide the best prospect for the FAA to help airlines cut fuel consumption during the next 10 years, but overall budget pressures on the agency have forced a nearly $20-million cut in improvement efforts for Fiscal 2005.
Establishing a KC-135 replacement plan in the wake of the defunct KC-767 lease proposal is going to take longer than first thought and could engulf Boeing, EADS, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. The slow pace at which the Pentagon is expected to proceed may open the door for a new U.S. bidder that could provide the Pentagon the competition it wants without alienating influential members of Congress who want no part of an Airbus offering. But low production rates may foul up everybody's calculations.
Repositioning the Soyuz TMA-5 spacecraft on the International Space Station has cleared the way for the U.S./Russian crew to perform two extravehicular activities to finish configuring the station to receive Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV). The EVAs are planned in late January and late March to support ATV dockings that are set to begin by early 2006. With the U.S. spacesuits on board out of commission, the crew will wear Russian suits that require use of the Russian Pirs airlock.
The U.S. Air Force is raising the bar for the future combat search-and-rescue helicopter, with an eye on improved electronic warfare and combat capability. The HH-60 replacement program, called the Personnel Recovery Vehicle (PRV), is already shaping up as one of the fiercest competitions next year, with the award of a contract for more than 100 aircraft at stake. Likely bidders include Sikorsky, with the VH-92; Lockheed Martin, with the US101; Northrop Grumman and EADS, with the NH90; and Bell Helicopter Textron, with the CV-22 tiltrotor.
Aerospace executives looking to sell their company should keep Frank Lanza's phone number handy. Lanza, the chairman and CEO of L-3 Communications Holdings, has been on a $600-million buying spree--six acquisitions in six weeks. The latest: a $185-million deal to buy General Dynamics' Propulsion Systems, a manufacturer of engines, transmissions and drive systems for combat vehicles. The acquisition is expected to close in first-quarter 2005. Wall Street seems to approve. L-3 stock began December by nearing $75 a share--up 12% since Nov. 1 and 47% since January.
U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Douglas E. Lute has been nominated for promotion to major general. He is director of operations, J-3, U.S. Central Command, MacDill AFB, Fla. Other brigadier generals nominated for promotion to major general are: James R. Myles, commanding general of the Army Test and Evaluation Command, Alexandria, Va.; Roger A. Nadeau, commanding general of the Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.; Richard J. Rowe, Jr., director of operations, J-3, for the U.S. Northern Command, Peterson AFB, Colo.; and Jeffrey J.
EADS is confident its KC-330 tanker proposal will receive a fair hearing at the Pentagon when U.S. defense officials assess how to replace their fleet of KC-135s (see p. 28), even though departing Air Force Secretary James G. Roche disparaged the European aerospace company in e-mails to colleagues. EADS North America Chair- man Ralph Crosby says, "Based on the reaction to Boeing and with the amount of focus on the issue, I think it's absolutely guaranteed that fair and equitable treatment of competition will occur."
USMC Lt. Col. (ret.) Richard Meydag (Wallingford, Conn.)
I read with interest the Viewpoint article "Buy the Best" by USMC Lt. Gen. (ret.) Fred McCorkle concerning the upcoming selection of the successor to the current presidential helicopter (AW&ST Nov. 15, p. 90). I view this as just another "Been There, Done That" article from someone who may have flown a lot of different helicopter models but is not intimately familiar with one of the missions of HMX-1, the safe transportation of the President.
The European Commission and India's ministry of civil aviation have extended a three-year, 32-million-euro ($43-million) civil aviation cooperation agreement for two years. Another three million euros are being infused by the European Union, matched by Indian and European manufacturers. The EU's ambassador to India, Francisco da Camara Gomes, lauded the cooperative agreement for providing India with more than 200 training programs. They involved 5,000 aviation experts working on air safety, aerospace management and regulatory standards issues.
Ministers participating in the European Space Agency's first Space Council, which was held in Brussels in late November, agreed to stress that "the unique nature of the space sector requires the development of an appropriate industrial policy and public authorities' close attention." The council is to devise a European space program by the end of next year.
Eddy W. Hartenstein, vice chairman of DirecTV, will retire Dec. 31 after 32 years with the company and its predecessors. Named president when DirecTV was formed in 1990, he was a pioneer in the use of satellites to deliver pay television directly to U.S. homes through small rooftop dishes.
Pakistan test-fired its Hatf-3 Ghaznavi short-range ballistic missile Nov. 29 from an undisclosed location. Pakistan's PTV World television reported the test was the third in a yearly series that began in 2002 for the indigenously developed Ghaznavi. What design parameters were being tested were not revealed, but authorities said the test was a success. The missile has a range of 290 km. (180 mi.) and is already part of the Army Strategic Missile Command.
The Pentagon recorded $13.5 billion in foreign military sales in Fiscal 2004, reaching the goal the Defense Security Cooperation Agency set for itself even though one anticipated deal, the sale of E-2C Hawkeyes to the United Arab Emirates, has failed to materialize. The agency hopes to achieve $13.8 billion in FMS accords this fiscal year.
