Boeing has conducted the first captive carry test of a Standoff Land Attack Missile-Expanded Response that has been upgraded with moving-target, network-centric software. Tests were conducted at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Range at China Lake, Calif. The weapon was carried on an F/A-18 Hornet operated by a VX-13 air test and evaluation squadron. It received real-time data via Link-16 messages sent from an orbiting E-8 Joint-STARS aircraft. The weapon then trained its seeker on the moving target and assessed its speed.
The Transportation Security Administration is partnering with U.S. funeral homes to ensure remains are more securely led through checkpoints. Documentation from a funeral home vouching for the contents of a crematory container--a possible hiding spot for explosives--is no longer sufficient to pass a checkpoint. Since February, all containers have had to pass through X-ray equipment. If the vessel is made of material that prevents screeners from seeing the contents, it will not be allowed through a checkpoint.
The Link Simulation and Training Div. of L-3 Communications will build a Tactical Operational Readiness Trainer (TORT) for the U.S. Navy's P-3C. Delivery to NAS Jacksonville, Fla., is set for August 2006. The trainer will allow P-3C crews to practice acquiring information from onboard sensor systems and sharing that information with other aircraft and command centers, and train across the full mission spectrum, including anti-submarine and Anti-Surface Warfare.
Bidders for the future presidential helicopter are putting heavy emphasis on engine integration and production readiness as they jockey for position in the Marine Corps One White House rotorcraft competition.
The Indian Space Research Organization plans a $66.7-million plant at its spaceport at Sriharikota in South India to produce 2,500 tons of solid propellants annually. The new plant should be ready within three years, according to ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair. A second launch pad at Sriharikota, 80 km. (50 mi.) north of Chennai, built at a cost of $88.9 million, is ready for its first launch in the first quarter of 2005, Nair says.
NATO needs to get on with it and adapt to new security requirements, argues Hans Binnendijk, a longtime defense analyst and director of the Center for Technology and National Security Policy and the National Defense University. The security alliance still has not internalized the need for new missions, he argues.
A potent combination of punishing fuel prices, unrelenting competition from discount carriers and outmoded business models is propelling U.S. legacy hub-and-spoke carriers toward inevitable restructuring on a massive scale. "This fall, many airlines will be determining their optimal size and shape," Merrill Lynch analyst Michael Linenberg predicts. Chances are, some also will be struggling just to survive.
Dunlop Aerospace Equipment has developed a new low-noise bleed valve to replace an earlier design in the V2500 engine. The contract to develop the new bleed valves, which was issued by Rolls-Royce, includes extensive support for the IAE engine partnership and its customers. The after-market support program is designed to provide equally for the requirements of the engine constructor and aircraft operators.
Invention Machine Corp. offers Goldfire Innovator software. The product brings simplicity and predictability to the innovation process--from idea generation, product development and renovation of existing products through improvement of production processes, according to the company.
U.S. Air Force officials have finally admitted to the successful demonstration of a new radar that is to be the heart of Pentagon defenses against small and stealthy cruise missiles. It is a crucial initial step in an $888-million program that is to provide a cruise missile defense capability for the E-10A wide-area surveillance aircraft and an improved moving target detection capability for the Global Hawk.
Brazil and the Pentagon are in discussions about the sale of 10 Sikorsky UH-60L Black Hawks and related equipment. The potential $250-million deal would cover 25 T700-GE-701C engines, 22 7.62 mm. guns, search-and-rescue equipment, litters, hoists and other support elements. Brazil would use the helicopters for search-and-rescue and to enhance mobility.
THE NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSN. (NBAA) IS OBJECTING to the reinstatement of the Airport Reservation Office slot program for general aviation aircraft operating at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. The program, scheduled to become effective Nov. 1, restricts the number of small airplanes that can take off and land at the airport. NBAA officials are trying to determine details, such as hours of operation and number of slots available per hour. Interim President/CEO Don Baldwin has sent letters to Transportation Secretary Norman Y.
South Korea has requested information on a potential $70-million depot maintenance support deal for the RC-1800 signals intelligence aircraft bought under the Peace Pioneer program. L-3 Communications, which integrated the intelligence systems on four Hawker 800s, would provide the support. The contract extends an existing deal and provides eight more years of depot maintenance.
OFFICIALS OF KAMAN AEROSPACE CORP. PLAN TO CONTINUE marketing the K-MAX helicopter designed specifically for medium- to heavy-lift operations. The company will support the aircraft and evaluate reopening the production line if a sufficient number of orders are received. This year Kaman has sold or leased seven of the helicopters to a mix of new and repeat customers, according to Roger Wassmuth, director of the K-MAX program. There are 27 aircraft serving worldwide that fly an average of 2,000 hr. annually.
Allan Douglas Meador (see photo) has become vice president/general manager of Dallas Airmotive's Forest Park facility. He was plant manager in Dallas for General Electric Engine Services.
Two suspects in suicide-bombing attacks on two Russian passenger jets on Aug. 24 (AW&ST Sept. 6, p. 43) were arrested in Russia last week. Russian prosecutors have not commented on the matter, but aviation sources say one of those arrested is alleged to have assisted the suicide bombers in purchasing tickets for the flights and in checking in at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport. Authorities have not said whether the suspect who provided this assistance is an employee of the airport or either of the airlines that lost aircraft.
U.S. C4ISR spending--covering everything from information technology to UAVs--is expected to top $29 billion by 2010, about $10 billion more than being spent now, according to a new Frost & Sullivan assessment. The beneficiaries are expected to be large, established defense firms. But as those companies focus on systems integration, opportunities for small technology firms will open, the report states.
Your editorial "Eleven-Point Plan for U.S. Aviation Security" (AW&ST Aug. 23/30, p. 90) came up four short. The first seven points you made should be implemented. The remaining four points were weak for providing aviation security, if you meant to prevent a terrorist from harming an aircraft and its passengers.
Sharon L. Goddin has been promoted to vice president-inflight from senior director for corporate communications, employee relations and recruitment, and Charles Kettler to vice president from senior director of purchasing and technical services for the Mesa Air Group Inc. Goddin succeeds Kristen Brookshire, who has resigned. Matt Hand has been named director of crew planning. He was director of crew scheduling for Continental Express.
CMC Electronics Inc. has launched a second-generation Class 2 Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) designed for airlines and business jets. The PilotView EFB bridges the gap between low-end off-the-shelf PC tablets and high-end Class 3 EFBs, by offering an avionics-grade hardware package and certification to D0-160D, according to the company. Designed for use in all phases of flight, PilotView consists of a lightweight, self-contained electronic display and processing unit, and companion power and expansion module unit.
The space industry is predicting a modest upswing in demand for telecommunications satellites next year, after an unexpected slump in 2004, driven by pent-up demand for additional TV broadcasting capacity and growing requirements for new services such as high-definition TV and high-speed broadband. However, industry officials warned the uptick will be modest.
The Italian Civil Protection Dept. is leasing a Beriev Be-200 amphibian for operational trials as a water bomber. The aircraft is being leased from Beriev's owner, the Irkut Corp., and will be flown by private firefighting company Sorem. This is the first confirmed international contract for the Be-200. Seven of the type are already on order for the Russian government.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board reports an overall decrease in transportation fatalities in 2003 to 44,888 from 45,311 in 2002. Aviation had the fewest number of deaths as opposed to those in highway, rail and marine accidents, but it was the only sector in which fatalities increased, rising to 707 in 2003 from 625 in 2002. General aviation accidents accounted for 626 fatalities compared with 581 the previous year. Air taxi fatalities also grew, to 45 from 35.
Israel lost its most modern reconnaissance satellite--Ofeq-6--to an apparent upper stage failure on Sept. 6 that sent the satellite into the Mediterranean Sea. Intended to monitor missile activity in Iran, the Ofeq-6 was developed by Israel Aircraft Industries Ltd., which also developed the three-stage Shavit launch vehicle that failed shortly after liftoff. Israel's ministry of defense, the customer for the launch, said it was investigating a malfunction in the launcher's third stage.
Northrop Grumman has snagged a $388-million U.S. Air Force contract for a new phase of B-2 radar modernization. It is part of a program that will be worth $900 million through 2011. The company's Integrated Systems Sector will replace the current radar antenna with an active electronically scanned array (AESA) antenna. It involves the same technology as used on the F/A-22, F-35, F/A-18E/F and F-15s modified for cruise missile defense. During the system development and demonstration phase, new antennas will be integrated on six B-2s for operational training.
