The U.K. Defense Ministry is ordering an additional batch of the Raytheon-Lockheed Martin Javelin lightweight antitank missile. The follow-on order is worth $170 million. The British Army first ordered the missile in 2003, with main deliveries to begin 2005. The latest order covers deliveries from 2007.
Meaningful U.S.-European Union talks on resolving a dispute over Airbus and Boeing subsidies are unlikely before the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 2, even though a 30-day clock to begin consultations is running.
Harold Kugleman has been named senior vice president of AAR Aircraft Sales and Leasing, Wood Dale, Ill. He was senior vice president of GE Capital Aviation Services.
U.S. Air Force space personnel will be wearing new wings sometime next year, assuming a proposed space badge receives final approval from the service's uniform board and the Institute of Heraldry. Unveiled by USAF Space Command chief Gen. Lance W. Lord during the Strategic Space 2004 conference, the badge is part of a concerted AFSPC effort to develop a national resource of space professionals. It partially addresses a 2001 Space Commission recommendation that the Defense Dept. better train and develop a unified, professional space cadre.
The nearly 20% higher use of sick leave by controllers versus other government employees is simple to explain. Other workers are not prohibited from working while taking any of a number of medications. If I am not allowed to work when I take a decongestant, I have little option but to use my sick leave. With an average of 11.2 days of leave used per year, controller usage is still below the 13 days per year earned by all federal employees.
THE FAA HAS IMPROVED ITS PROCESSES for acquiring ATC modernization software, according to a Government Accountability Office report. Since software has long been the Achilles' heel for large integrated systems, the congressional watchdog looked at four major projects: the En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM), Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS), Airport Surface Detection Equipment (ASDE-X) and Voice Switching and Control System (VSCS).
The U.S. Navy is about to field the first EA-6Bs with the Improved Capability electronic warfare enhancement. But first, developers must weather a not entirely flattering assessment from the service's test community as well as funding shortages that could limit fleet installations.
Michael A. Dornheim (Los Angeles and Mojave, Calif.)
Rocket motors that either wouldn't ignite or stop burning, sticky dampers that gummed up the controls and bleak choices after being dropped from the mother ship--these are some of the trials that faced designers and pilots of SpaceShipOne on its way to being the first private spaceship and claiming the $10-million Ansari X Prize on Oct. 4.
A forgotten cotter pin in a bolt in the tail rotor of a Sikorsky CH-53D is being blamed for the crash of the Marine Corps helicopter near Futema airfield in Okinawa on Aug. 16.
Carolyn Ezzell has been named vice president-airport customer service for the Eastern U.S. and Jerome Miller vice president-global diversity and community affairs for Delta Air Lines. Ezzell has been vice president for the Atlantic Region and Miller vice president/chief diversity officer for the Americas for the InterContinental Hotels Group. James Sarvis has been promoted to director of the Latin America and Caribbean business unit from field director for international services at Delta's Atlanta airport operation.
Linda M. Leukhardt (see photo) has been appointed chief financial officer/vice president-business management for the Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Electronic Systems Sector of Baltimore. She held the same posts at the company's Newport News (Va.) Sector. Leukhardt succeeds Wylie B. Smith, who is expected to retire at year-end.
The U.S. Navy is on the way to becoming a major player in directed infrared countermeasures for helicopters and, later, fighters, expanding on its aggressive program of upgrading Marine Corps helicopters headed to Iraq.
While I respect his thoughts, I really chuckled at former American Airlines President Robert L. Crandall's comment: "labor costs, pure and simple." Pilots at Southwest make more than those at American, United and US Airways. How come no one talks about management plans: more room in coach, less room in coach; open and close hubs in Nashville, Raleigh-Durham and San Jose; have 11 different fleet types; buy three airlines in the last 15 years, then eliminate most if not all of the aircraft and keep the employees.
European Space Agency planners are looking ahead to the day when ISS assembly is complete and the space shuttle permanently retired, depriving scientists of its capability to return bulky experiments and test samples to Earth for study. Although the first flight of the European Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) is still a year away, engineers are already studying ways to replace its pressurized cargo section with a recoverable unit that could augment the minuscule down-mass capability of Soyuz capsules.
Boeing has commenced flight-testing of the first of 17 NATO E-3 AWACS aircraft being upgraded under the $1.3-billion mid-term modernization program. The program is one of those implicated in the recent controversy surrounding former Air Force acquisition chief Darleen Druyun, who, the Pentagon's inspector general found, awarded a contract under the program without proper cost considerations. Testing of the first aircraft is to be completed by March, Boeing says.
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Keeping up with today's more powerful laptops is prompting cabin systems suppliers to improve power to cabin seats. Kid-Systeme of Buxtehude, Germany, an Airbus subsidiary that provides its aircraft with cabin systems, has introduced ISPC Plus (In-Seat Power Supply Converters) with a capacity of 150 watts to three sockets in each seat row. General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems has a similar capacity in its EmPower AC "Fusion" power supply for Airbus or Boeing aircraft.
Brent Davies (see photo) has been appointed manager of technical completions, James Aspell vice president-business development and John Brodeur vice president-sales and marketing, all for Aerospace Concepts of Montreal. Davis was project coordinator for Global Express warranty and aftermarket service, Aspell was director of customer account management and interior aircraft sales, and Brodeur was a Mexico-based vice president-business development and marketing, all for Bombardier Aerospace.
Indonesian domestic carrier Batavia Air has taken delivery of the first two of five Boeing 737-200s it is buying from Latin American operator Copa Airlines. The remaining three aircraft will be delivered within the next six months. Batavia already operates a fleet of 737-200 and -400 aircraft.
Predicting that 75% of U.S. airlines' capacity could be operating under bankruptcy court protection next year, the Business Travel Coalition is urging Congress to authorize a formal contingency plan to avoid poor crisis decisions. BTC recommends the Transportation Research Board prepare a list of policy options.
Audits of state-run safety offices, carried out by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), will be expanded to cover all aspects of commercial aviation, but one official scolded unnamed countries for not promptly responding to advice on how to comply with international safety standards. In an address to the 35th assembly in Montreal, William Voss, director of ICAO's Air Navigation Bureau, commented: "It is imperative that the aviation community does more than prepare itself for a new round of audits. It must commit to act on the results.
With the Ansari X Prize won, NASA's exploration systems organization is getting ready to announce a prize of its own, designed to spur space technology. Just as the X Prize gave birth to SpaceShipOne and some worthy competitors in the race to nongovernment human suborbital flight, NASA's "Centennial Challenges" program hopes to generate technology needed for human exploration.
New Zealand has tapped L-3 Communications' Integrated Systems to upgrade its fleet of six P3-K maritime patrol airplanes operated by the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Plans call for replacing the data management, radar, electro-optics, communication and navigation systems. The first airplane will be modified at L-3's facility in Greenville, Tex., the remaining five in New Zealand.
Aviation Week & Space Technology overstated the status of FAA and JAA certification of Boeing's satellite-based Global Landing System, in the Sept. 20 issue (p. 45). Flight tests have been completed, but the paperwork process is still underway. Certification is expected by year-end.
