The Pentagon is about to begin a feasibility study to assess whether ground-based ballistic missile interceptors for the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense program and Patriot PAC-3 can be fired from F-15s or F-16s. The interceptors would be used to shoot down enemy missiles during their ascent phase, when they are still climbing after motor burnout. The low-key study is estimated to cost less than $3 million and would examine what integration hurdles exist. The findings are to be presented to the Missile Defense Agency director next year.
U.S. national security and global power status may hinge on radically reshaping the country's approach to military, civil and private-sector space programs.
An ongoing British base review could recommend the closure of RAF Kinloss in Scotland by 2012, with the air force's Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft being moved to RAF Waddington.
Irene Yachbes (see photo) has become an application engineer in the Technology Development Group of Honeybee Robotics of New York. She was a spacecraft integration and testing staff member at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md.
Photographer Brian R. Wolff flew for two weeks with the U.S. Air Force's 3rd Wing that operates from Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. Working for Raytheon, he filmed the unit's pioneering operations with the joint helmet-mounted cueing system, AIM-9X and AESA radar (see p. 58). Extensive forest fires filled many of the valleys with smoke, which gave a dream-like quality to many of the photos.
U.S. military officials are confronting shortcomings in their precision strike capabilities, which could trigger wide-ranging changes in areas from targeting weapons to assessing their effectiveness to the stockpiling of key components. The activities are emerging from observations made during recent military conflicts and reviews of development programs.
EADS/Eurocopter says it is seeking partners to win a share of Japan's lucrative defense helicopter market, and is willing to make generous technology transfer concessions to drive a deal. Speaking at Japan Aerospace 2004 in Yokohama on Oct. 6, Chairman/CEO Fabrice Bregier remarked that Eurocopter's military sales in Japan are nil, whereas they account for 50% of corporate revenues worldwide. The partnership deal would permit a joint bid for a $2.5-billion 60-unit search-and-rescue requirement expected to be competed in 3-4 years.
An obituary for Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper incorrectly stated he was the first person to fly in space twice (AW&ST Oct. 11, p. 40). He was the first to fly twice on orbital missions. Virgil I. (Gus) Grissom, who flew on a suborbital Mercury mission and commanded the first Gemini two-man orbital flight, was the first person to reach space two times.
Japan Airlines has taken delivery of a new Boeing 747-400 freighter and a second is scheduled for delivery later this month. The freighters will join JAL's fleet of 77 747s, more than any other airline. The new all-cargo aircraft carries up to 120 tons of cargo, 25 tons more than the 747-200 freighters in JAL's fleet, and operates with approximately 15% less fuel burn. The manufacturer has sold 12 747-400s this year.
Southwest Airlines, while reporting $191 million in third-quarter operating income and a net of $119 million--the latter a double-digit percentage gain over the same quarter of 2003--is waiting as long as it can to nail down its plans for 2005 in order to deal with what CEO Gary Kelly terms "unbelievable change in the airline industry."
A new U.S./Russian crew is taking over operation of the International Space Station this week as the Expedition 9 crew on board for six months prepares to return to Earth after turning in a solid performance on both maintenance and science.
After a government review, state-owned Indian Airlines will stick with an earlier decision to pay $2.2 billion for 43 Airbus aircraft--a mix of A319/A320/A321s as part of a five-year fleet renewal. Boeing was competing with its 737-700/800/900s. Meanwhile, IA has shortlisted a total of nine Boeing 767-300ERs and Airbus A330-200ERs for dry lease to meet capacity demands in other parts of Asia. Tenders for the aircraft will be called in November.
U.S. Air Force planners are convinced it's time to revive the once-famous William Tell weapons competition. Their reasons include the threat of cruise missiles and foreign air forces' improving capabilities, as well as the fielding of new sensors and advanced command-and-control schemes.
The U.S. has quietly endorsed an 11th term for Assad Kotaite of Lebanon as president of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization, the Montreal-based United Nations affiliate that establishes world standards for aviation. Yet the U.S. is not alone among other nations in asking Kotaite, who will be 80 years old next month, about his succession plan. An inkling of his intentions came out at the recent triennial assembly in Montreal.
The Russian air force is to bear the brunt of cuts in the armed forces, losing both fighter and bomber units. Overall, the three main military services will be reduced by slightly less than 10%. While the government intends to increase defense expenditure in 2005, it is also now planning to reduce the size of all three services. The move likely reflects a desire to free up additional funding for research and development (R&D), along with the ability to procure next-generation systems.
The rationale behind the U.S. Air Force's wanting to have a gun on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is simple, says Chief of Staff Gen. John P. Jumper. Fighters operating over Iraq use their guns daily. Jumper even has visions of more sophisticated gun use to combat guerrilla warfare. On his wish list is a hovering unmanned aircraft that could navigate an urban landscape, fly to a specific building, surveil activity inside a room there and, if necessary, fire a sniper rifle to take out a target.
NTT DoCoMo, the big Japanese mobile phone service provider, is the latest to reach agreement with Connexion by Boeing's inflight broadband service for laptop applications. The agreement means subscribers to DoCoMo's Mzone wireless local area network service can use their same user identification and passwords in flight for wireless laptop Internet services and be billed by Mzone. The service is to begin on Lufthansa flights Oct. 22. All Nippon Airways will add Connexion in November, Japan Airlines in December.
Dave Collogan, editor of Aviation Week & Space Technology affiliate Weekly of Business Aviation, last week received the 2004 Platinum Wing Award from the National Business Aviation Assn. (NBAA) for excellence and lifetime achievement in aviation journalism. Fred George, senior editor of the affiliate Business and Commercial Aviation and a writer for B/CA ShowNews, also received an award from NBAA for his reporting on safety issues connected with the new class of very light business jets.
Building on a decade of victories in Asia for its Trent engine series, Rolls-Royce has captured the year's biggest prize for a new engine program with the first big order to equip Boeing's 7E7 midsize jet.
The Boeing Sea Launch heavy commercial booster is ready to resume flight operations following an investigation into the cause for the premature shutdown of its Russian Energia Block DM-SL upper stage June 28. Once again, quality control has been implicated in the cause of a Sea Launch mishap. An investigation team found that a short circuit in a cable that transmits propellant data to the Block DM engine control system tricked the avionics into thinking propellant had been depleted, causing the device to shut the engine down prematurely, the investigation board found.
On another matter, Stone says the government has a sense of urgency on improving methods to detect explosives that might be smuggled onto aircraft by passengers. He notes that 40 million passengers have gone through TSA checkpoints since enhanced checks were instituted in late August after the midair destruction of two Russian aircraft by explosives on Aug. 24. TSA began using explosives trace detectors at passenger checkpoints to examine all carry-on bags of passengers selected for additional screening as a result of that incident.
In similar news, Kid-Systeme has delivered the first cabin management system for the double-deck Airbus A380--the touch-screen Cabin Intercommunication Data System. CIDS controls such functions as heating/air conditioning by zones, entertainment systems and lighting. The CIDS comes in two sizes. Each deck will have a master 15-in. display. The master control can monitor all cabin functions, but within specific cabin zones flight attendants will be able to run systems from as many as 11 half-size displays.
World News Roundup 20 Italian defense budget may be sub- ject to severe cuts for 2005 21 German firms, General Atomics team on Predator B in Europe 21 Finmeccanica's business strategy expected to remain in place 24 NBAA rebuts claims of underpay- ment of fees by business aviation World News & Analysis 28 Stage set for strong deliveries of busi- ness jets for at least year or two 30 Supersonic bizjets, derivative aircraft mark annual NBAA convention
