The U.S. Army released the request for proposal for the extended-range, multipurpose unmanned aircraft late last week, after putting the program on hold for several weeks. The delay was designed so the Army could decide whether to tie the UAV program to its Future Combat Systems umbrella modernization effort. The Army decided to keep it as a stand-alone effort. The service will conduct a fly-off between competitors a few weeks after bids are due Oct. 18. Two likely bidders are General Atomics with Predator and a Northrop Grumman-led team with the Strike Heron.
The Army destroyed a ballistic missile and cruise missile target during an integrated Patriot PAC-3 flight test. Two PAC-3s were fired at an old Patriot converted into a target, while one PAC-3 was shot against a low-flying MQM-107D cruise missile target. Developers wanted to demonstrate the ability to engage both targets simultaneously.
Work on solar sail technology continues apace, with vacuum chamber deployments of two different sail designs and delivery of key components for a privately financed solar-sail spacecraft being assembled in Russia. In the U.S., two NASA-backed teams deployed solar sail designs inside vacuum chambers to test their deployment schemes. L'Garde Inc. used an inflatable boom that stiffens when exposed to the cold of space to deploy a sail measuring almost 33 feet across one side.
The seventh Global Aviation Information Network (GAIN) World Conference, scheduled to be held in Montreal on Sept. 28-30, will focus on the concept and implementation of Safety Management Systems (SMS) as an integral part of an airline's safety culture, according to David Prewitt, GAIN chairman and vice president for safety for Alaska Airlines. Canada is the first country to mandate SMS for the airline industry, although a majority of U.S. and European carriers are working on similar programs, Prewitt says.
Patrick K. Brant has been named president of New York-based Loral Space & Communications' subsidiary Loral Skynet. He was president/chief operating officer of Loral Cyberstar. Brant succeeds Terry Hart, who has left the company.
Pratt & Whitney and the Air Force have developed an engine life-management program for the F100 family that will maintain the engines' current safety, reliability and readiness levels as the military extends frontline deployment to periods greater than two and three times an engine's design life.
There is a war raging within the airline industry. At first glance, the combatants appear to be commercial entities--on the one side the "legacy" carriers with the familiar brand names and on the other the new "discount" airlines that have sprung up like weeds. But as with most warfare, the real combatants are the troops in the field. With some exceptions, the pilots, mechanics, customer service agents and flight attendants of the legacy carriers are represented by unions. The workforces of the low-cost carriers are largely not.
Singapore's Tiger Airways, having secured its air operator's certificate from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, plans to start operations in September with service to Thai cities of Bangkok (three times daily) and Phuket and Hatyai (once daily). It plans to serve 10 destinations in its first year and increase to 15 in its second year. "We expect to become profitable within the first year, and have 200,000 customers by the end of 2004," says CEO Patrick Gan.
Lockheed Martin will devise and build the U.S. Strategic Command's Integrated Strategic Planning and Analysis Network (Ispan) under a contract valued at $213 million. The work will require Lockheed Martin to tie together various existing Stratcom planning tools, and new capability is being added since the command's role has expanded in recent years. Stratcom has taken on mission responsibility in areas such as information operations and global strike and surveillance. In addition, Ispan will devise for mission planners force employment options based on intelligence.
While there is no evidence that Al Qaeda has acquired either a nuclear weapon or a significant biological weapons capability, there is no doubt the group is pursuing that goal, according to a report just released by the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington. To obtain a copy of the full report, see "Transatlantic Cooperation In War on Terror" at www.CSIS.org.
Mark Erwin has become senior vice president for the Asia-Pacific and corporate development at Continental Airlines in addition to his current position of president/CEO of Continental Micronesia. At Continental, he will succeed David Grizzle, who has become senior transportation and infrastructure adviser for the Afghanistan Reconstruction Group under the U.S. State Dept.
Out-of-control oil prices are generating "extraordinary profits" for speculators, the Air Transport Assn. says, and it's time for the government to pull the rug out from under the profiteers. Asking transportation leaders in Congress to conduct oversight hearings on airline fuel costs before adjournment, the ATA urges consideration of government oil sales from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a step beyond the association's earlier bid simply to end purchases for the reserve. This is an uphill battle, given the time remaining.
A preliminary agreement by China Southern Airlines puts SkyTeam on track to become the first airline alliance to gain a Chinese partner. There's likely to be a lot of work in the meantime, though. China Southern is China's largest carrier and has been building international ties with SkyTeam members since 1997, initially with Delta Air Lines, then later with Air France and Korean Air. It also has a cargo agreement with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
The U.S. must display a long-term commitment to South Asia to counter support for extremism, Christina Rocca, assistant secretary of State for South Asian Affairs, has told the House International Relations Committee. Much of her statement centered upon U.S. policies toward Afghanistan and Pakistan. Since 2001, the U.S. has committed more than $4.3 billion to help fund Afghanistan's reconstruction efforts, making it the largest international donor.
Northrop Grumman and EADS will face stiff competition with their NH-90 candidate for the U.S. Air Force personnel recovery vehicle program. The PRV is the service's next-generation combat search-and-rescue helicopter. The Air Force intends to replace 104 HH-60G Pave Hawks with 132 PRVs. The service wants to buy more PRVs than the number of HH-60Gs in inventory to put an end to the existing platform shortage, notes Capt. Jason Pifer, personnel recovery officer for the Air Force.
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Jim Walsh has been appointed senior vice president/general counsel of America West Airlines. He has been senior vice president/general counsel/corporate secretary of the San Antonio-based Fairchild Dornier Corp.
Anne Gynnerstedt has been named group senior vice president-legal affairs for Saab, effective Oct. 4. She has been general counsel of the Swedish National Debt Office. She will succeed Per Erlandsson, who is now president of Saab's operations in South Africa. Dag Rehme will be deputy vice president-legal affairs.
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The plethora of contractors in Iraq has created a new problem for search-and-rescue troops: are military-personnel recovery forces required to aid the civilians who support them? The 1996 Missing Persons Act is ambiguous, contends a U.S. Central Command representative. Moreover, the guidance provided among different services varies, a civilian expert adds. The secretary of Defense can extend Missing Person Act protection to contractors, and in relevant cases in Iraq, that has always happened, says an official with the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office.
William F. Townsend has become vice president/general manager for civil space of the Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. He was deputy director of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Richard W. Bregard has been appointed executive director for missile defense boosters for Aerojet, Sacramento, Calif. He was director for smart weapons at the former Aerojet Electronics Div.
The Europeans believe resurgence of a decades-long controversy on Airbus programs funding will fade after the U.S. presidential election later this year. Three months before taking power, the European Commission's (EC) trade and industry commissioner-designate, Peter Mandelson, says he is convinced a trade war between Europe and the U.S. could be avoided. He adds he would prefer talks in a meeting room "and not credited through megaphones."
