The germinating Airbus-Boeing trade case reflects--and in a sense arises from--long-standing and growing differences between the companies on how intercontinental air travel will evolve in the early decades of the 21st century.
A simple nano-scale device developed by Sandia National Laboratories researchers can detect microscopic-level motion, opening the possibility of building extremely sensitive accelerometers and inertial navigation systems. The device capitalizes on a previously unrecognized property of optics: light diffracted by tiny gratings that move very small lateral distances prompt a relatively large, easily measured change in the reflection of bright light. The phenomenon enables a human eye to detect a 10-nanometer movement.
To compete or not to compete? The U.S. Air Force is considering its options when it comes to tanker-selection while also facing the delicate decision of how to deal with projects tainted by the guilty plea of a former acquisition official.
French defense officials have cautioned that plans developed by NATO ministers in Poiana Brasov, Romania, last week to expedite the deployment of instructors to Iraq should focus not just on the size of units committed, but on mission duration, funding and training goals. NATO members, including France, have agreed to send about 3,000 instructors to Iraq, 300 of them by year-end. French officials also say calls for integrating the NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan with the U.S.
A sweeping corporate tax overhaul passed by Congress will eliminate a controversial credit for exports, but critics say a slew of new tax breaks that lawmakers substituted in its place will keep hefty subsidies flowing to aerospace companies and other U.S. manufacturers.
All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines will raise fares from Japan to Europe by 5% as of Jan. 15. That follows an agreement reached at an International Air Transport Assn. conference last month in Switzerland. Separately, the carriers say they expect to raise domestic fares soon to compensate for increasing fuel prices.
Space leaders in Europe, led by France, are recommending the launch of an expanded space imaging effort to ensure long-term viability of its military and commercial imagery capability. Concern over this matter has grown of late, with the emergence of the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGIA) as a major bankroller of U.S. civil imaging companies, and the continuing stagnation of European military space expenditures, now estimated to be 20 times below U.S. levels.
Congress approved $5 billion for transportation security out of the $32 billion in discretionary funds appropriated for the Homeland Security Dept. for Fiscal 2005, which began Oct. 1. The department's allotment was $896 million more than President Bush's request and a $2.8-billion increase over the previous year's appropriation. TSA funding includes $2.6 billion for passenger and baggage screeners, $180 million for explosives detection equipment and $45 million for airport security modifications. The Federal Air Marshal service receives $662 million.
Investors who bet on defense and aerospace stocks are looking pretty prescient these days. The Aviation Week Aerospace 25 index is up 29.6% from a year ago, outperforming the S&P 500, which rose just 6.4% over the same period. And with an estimated $17 billion in defense contracts having been awarded since July, Wall Street is expecting generally positive news when companies start rolling out their third-quarter financial results this week.
ITT INDUSTRIES PLANS A LABORATORY demonstration in December of its advanced digital radar warning receiver integrated with a laser warning receiver. Both one-on-one and multiple-threat scenarios are scheduled. The Army Aviation and Missile Command contract allows ITT to complete the RWR/LWR development. Sharing a central processor between four radio-frequency sensors and the four laser sensors will reduce system weight. The demonstration system, including the AVR-2 LWR, will be a variant of ITT's ALQ-211 RF countermeasures family.
The myth of the lazy, overpaid airline pilot must be stopped! In "Man With a Plan" (AW&ST Sept. 27, p. 45), Frances Fiorino reports the Bureau of Labor Statistics states that pilots average 22 hr. of work per week. That statement should say 22 hr. of pay per week. To earn that pay, a pilot will be away from home for 60-96 hr. and spend 10-14 hr. on duty each day.
TWO PARABOLIC ANTENNAS THAT WERE ONCE USED by the Soviet Union to spy on the West by intercepting unencrypted satellite transmissions are now available for other uses, including radio-astronomy. The 32-meter- and 16-meter-dia. dish antennas are located in the village of Irbene, 30 km. (19 mi.) north of the port of Ventspils, Latvia. A scientist working at the site says these antennas have the best capabilities in Northern Europe, based on performance measurements and the Russian technical specifications. The larger antenna has a pointing accuracy of 20 arc-sec.
A NASA investigation board has found that a lack of procedures and discipline by a Lockheed Martin Space Systems team at its Sunnyvale, Calif., plant were to blame for a September 2003 incident in which a 2-ton polar-orbit weather satellite was dropped onto the floor from its mount (AW&ST Sept. 30, 2003, p. 30). The $240-million NOAA-N spacecraft was heavily damaged in the accident that was caused by a "lack of discipline in following procedures, evolved from complacent attitudes toward routine spacecraft handling, poor communications and coordination . . .
The NATO agency managing the NH90 transport/frigate helicopter program has concluded an agreement with four of its five founding members--France, Germany, the Nether- lands and Portugal--for supply of spare RTM 322 engines, modules and parts. The NH90 operators are attempting to agree on common support and training programs.
Rolls-Royce said Japan's Kawasaki Heavy Industries will join the Trent 1000 program as a risk-sharing partner (see p. 48). KHI is to supply and assemble the intermediate pressure compressor module. It will have an 8.5% share of the program and may carry out some engine testing. KHI is the second Japanese supplier to join the Trent 1000 lineup. Last month, Rolls said Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will take a 7% share, providing the combustor and low-pressure turbine blades.
The development of two supersonic business jets that could fly as early as 2010 underscores the high level of optimism among business aviation operators, manufacturers and suppliers, and accelerated their hopes for better days ahead. More than 30,000 people at the National Business Aviation Assn. convention here surveyed a broad range of new airplanes, products and services aimed at fueling the rebound of an industry that has seen tough times during the past three years.
Washington is getting ready to resuscitate the sale of F-16s to Pakistan. A contract for the fighters hasn't been completed, but once Congress returns, the Defense Dept. will submit a proposal for a deal, says Rear Adm. Craig McDonald, the Pentagon's chief defense representative in Pakistan. At first the program would cover upgrading F-16s Islamabad bought and fielded years ago, but a sale of new aircraft is in the offing, too. An F-16 sale was canceled in 1990 when the U.S.
Organizers of International Helitrade, a new Geneva-based European helicopter show patterned after the Helicopter Assn. International exhibit in the U.S., say the event will be moved to a two-year rotation, starting in 2006, based on feedback from exhibitors at the inaugural edition on Oct. 5-7. Exhibitors noted that with a competing exhibit, Helitech, already in play every other year in the U.K., an annual Helitrade made little sense (AW&ST Oct. 11, p. 43).
Burt Rutan fancies himself a student of history and regularly cites accomplishments of the "little guy" in the face of giant, government-funded enterprises. His favorite whipping boy of late is NASA, but he turns his sharp tongue on any state-funded organization while rallying for the marvels of private enterprise.
William Donohue has been appointed Chicago hub director for Air Wisconsin Airlines at O'Hare International Airport. He was manager of United Express operations at O'Hare.
A new report from the Homeland Security Inspector General's (IG) Office finds that in a pilot project to test private contract screening at five airports, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) maintained such tight control it is difficult to say if private screening can make a difference. The goal of the pilot projects was to see if private contractor screening, under TSA supervision, could provide as good or better service as government employees and give airport operators an alternative to federal screeners. TSA Administrator David M.
Turkey is in talks with the U.S. for a huge arms package to upgrade 218 F-16s and purchase 225 Raytheon AIM-9X high-off-boresight dogfight missiles. The F-16 portion is estimated at up to $3.9 billion, with another $96 million for AIM-9X. On the missile front, Turkey is requesting F-16 weapons integration options for Israel's Python 5 and the European Iris-T. The F-16 upgrades would include 180 APG-68(V)9 radars, 200 Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing Systems and an export variant of the High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile Targeting System.
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) Feb. 16-17--World Aerospace Symposium/Toulouse. Pierre Baudis Toulouse Congress Center, Toulouse, France. Apr. 19-20--MRO Military Conference. Also, Apr. 20-21--MRO USA Conference & Exhibition. Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center, Dallas. May 24-25--Homeland Security Summit & Exposition. Washington.
David S. Currence has been named chief information officer of Aerospace Products International Inc., Memphis, Tenn. He was vice president-international technology and strategy for the UPS Supply Chain Solutions division of the United Parcel Service.
The Pentagon is continuing its quest to flood the battlefield with unmanned aircraft. This year, more than 400 unmanned aerial vehicles are in the field, mostly smaller ones, of 20 different types. Last year only 10 different types were fielded, says Dyke Weatherington, who watched UAV programs for the Pentagon. But this trend runs counter to what the Pentagon has been trying to do for years with manned fixed-wing and helicopter platforms--reduce aircraft types for lower logistics costs. UAVs are different, though, Weatherington argues.
