An Australian decision to purchase 12 NH-90 transport helicopters will considerably augment the country's airlift and counterterrorism capabilities while reinforcing NH Industries' position in the military export market.
Over the high desert here, U.S. Air Force researchers are learning how to increase duress on foes but not by dropping more high explosives. The weapons of choice are those that create distrust, insecurity and uncertainty. To make such weapons formidable, researchers are creating databases of effects that will one day allow them to offer to national leaders a menu of nonlethal options for international problems.
EasyJet, after being hit by "a ludicrous 132% increase in passenger fees," will end its London Luton-Zurich route by the end of October. The British low-fare carrier plans to switch the route to Basel-Mulhouse, a Franco-Swiss airport dubbed EuroAirport. Airport costs, including passenger fees and ground handling operations, account for as much as 32% of EasyJet's direct operating costs, Chief Executive Ray Webster stresses. In contrast, another EasyJet base, Geneva-Cointrin, is opening a passenger terminal dedicated to low-fare operations.
The Aug. 26 failure of the Israeli Arrow ballistic missile interceptor has been linked to an electronic malfunction in a steering device seconds before the air-launched target was to be engaged. Yaw control was lost, causing the interceptor to miss the reentry vehicle. Until then, the interceptor was on the correct course, program officials say. The test failure breaks a string of successful intercepts. Israeli officials do not expect any effect on the operation of the system.
United Airlines won U.S. Transportation Dept. authority for service between two points in Mexico--Cancun and Puerto Vallarta--and its Denver hub. One designation was available; United rival Frontier Airlines already is in both markets, and only two carriers are permitted under the U.S.-Mexico aviation agreement. United faced two competitors originally (Allegiant Air also applied for Denver-Cancun and Champion Air wanted to enter both markets), but both carriers dropped out and United was left unopposed.
South African Airways just received the first of 11 Airbus A319s it has on order The single-aisle aircraft will be powered by IAE V2500 engines and operated on short-haul routes. The A319s are part of SAA's 10-year, $3.5-billion fleet modernization plan that includes nine A340-600s, six A340-300 "enhanced" versions and 15 A320s. The remaining 10 A319s are to be delivered one per month, starting this month.
I can just see Indian pilots' smirks as they squeezed off their simulated AA-10s after locking-up F-15s during the recent Cope India. Apparently, the Pentagon believes the only place to buy air-to-air missiles is Tucson, Ariz. Ironically, the lack of competition created an innovative competitor: Russia. So now the U.S.' fourth-generation fighters are at risk because of Russian missiles, carried by Russian fighters and flown by whoever has the cash.
U.S. homeland defense strategists have quietly implemented a novel way to protect sensitive facilities from GPS-guided weapons, such as cruise missiles. Electronics experts have noted large errors in GPS navigation units used within about 0.25 mi. of a nuclear facility. Monitoring different models of commercial GPS receivers, while repeatedly driving past the plant, they found GPS-indicated speeds were consistently about twice that of their car. And GPS readouts of the terrain elevation near the plant were zero--several thousand feet low.
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter managers have again tweaked project plans, this time to speed up testing of a production-representative short takeoff and vertical landing version of the multi-role fighter. Moreover, representatives of the Lockheed Martin-led JSF industry team are updating the program's schedule and software plans for presentation to senior Pentagon leaders in October. The meeting could put an end to the turmoil the program has been in for more than a year, since developers discovered the Stovl model was more than 3,000 lb. overweight.
The Russian Progress-15/M-50 unmanned transport is being unloaded this week by International Space Station Expedition 9 crewmembers Gennady Padalka and Michael Fincke, after docking with the aft port of the Russian Zvezda service module on Aug. 14. Supplies included 1,521 lb. of propellant, 926 lb. of water and 110 lb. of oxygen. Importantly, the Progress also delivered new cooling pumps to return the U.S. spacesuits on the station to service. U.S.
The coming months will see key developmental events for two of the Pentagon's next-generation missile defense systems, with particular scrutiny ahead for the Airborne Laser (ABL) before year-end. The future of ABL may hang in the balance as developers try to meet near-term milestones and reassure Pentagon officials after lack of progress forced program restructuring less than a year ago. Government and industry supporters worry that if they can't show progress, the Pentagon may give up on the project designed to shoot down ballistic missiles early in flight.
The Indian Space Research Organization is completing development of a 1,100-lb. recoverable spacecraft planned to be launched from India in 2005. The Space Recovery Experiment (SRE) is designed to carry out microgravity experiments including metals research, formation of composite materials in microgravity, and measuring the effects of space on living microbes. It will be launched as a piggyback payload with India's Cartosat-2 advanced remote sensing spacecraft, which will carry a single large panchromatic camera. While Cartosat-2 will remain in 400-mi.
Hamilton Sundstrand and Honeywell International have joined Boeing's Integrated Materials Management program. IMM, which has attracted AirTran Airways, Japan Transocean Air and Delta Air Lines as customers, involves having the original equipment manufacturers operate the airline's inventory system for maintenance supplies, including spare parts. Boeing and its suppliers own the parts; airlines pay only for parts they use. Aviall Services, which makes expendables, was the first IMM partner, and Boeing expects 17 other suppliers to come on board.
Robert Rapp, Jr., has been appointed vice president/chief information officer of Frontier Airlines. He has been a principal with Knowledge Reservoir and had been vice president-systems for Southwest Airlines.
Instrument Technology's new IR Thermal Telescopic camera enhances the capabilities of telescopic pole cameras, according to the company. The system gives operators the option to employ thermal imaging to locate people in total darkness using the target's heat signature. A standard 13.8-ft. lightweight carbon fiber pole allows users to see in normally out-of-reach areas such as attics, stairways and under vehicles. Six-ft. and 220-ft. poles are optional.
Bernard P. McVey, Jr., (see photo) has been named vice president/controller for the Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Information Technology Sector, Herndon, Va. He was vice president/business manager for the Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, and Naval Systems Div. of the company's Electronic Systems Sector in Baltimore.
The proposed reorganization plan filed last week by Loral Space & Communications in federal court in New York follows a script backed by a committee of its unsecured creditors, based on its having sold off satellite assets to raise cash (see p. 54). The biggest change from the company's previous strategy is that it plans to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, probably in November, as a single business with two subsidiaries, Space Systems/Loral and Loral Skynet.
The U.S. government is embarking on the next stage of its assessment of the value of equipping airliners with countermeasures against shoulder-fired, heat-seeking missiles. Flight trials could take place within two years. The initiative is run by the Homeland Security Dept. and supports companies working with an array of missile warning and infrared countermeasures (IRCM) technologies.
Hytec has a broad offering of products and services through its Ports & Security Group. Its large X-ray container scanners are used to check shipping containers to assure compliance with manifests and prevailing regulations for import/export, contraband, explosives and/or biological and chemical or nuclear weapons, and for developing forensics and intel information for enforcement and customs authorities. The systems can be truck or rail mounted, or fixed. The energy levels are 6 or 9 MV. It takes about 20 sec. per container to conduct a full scan, the company says.
Rolf Schuette has been named a visiting scholar in European Union-Russia relations at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. He is on sabbatical from the German foreign ministry, where he oversees relations with Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova.
Singapore has established a National Security Coordination Secretariat to monitor and address biological, chemical and cyber terrorism threats. Minister for security and defense, Tony Tan, says a system to protect commercial aircraft against surface-to-air missile terrorist attacks should be ready in 12-18 months. The system will be installed on the entire fleet of flag carrier Singapore Airlines and its SilkAir regional subsidiary. Except to say the system was developed in cooperation with "friendly countries," Tan declined to provide details.
The Transportation Security Administration is considering the possibility of certifying "system-of-systems" to detect explosives in an effort to speed up the flow of baggage without sacrificing detection performance. Chuck Burke, assistant acting administrator for TSA and chief technology officer for the agency, said TSA favors the system-of-systems approach because it may increase the number of bags that can be processed per hour while lowering the false alarm rate. Vendors are developing concepts to present to TSA.
Emirates and Sri Lankan Airlines applied on Aug. 17 to the U.S. Transportation Dept. for authority to code-share on Emirates' daily nonstops between Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and New York Kennedy Airport. Both carriers operate between Colombo, Sri Lanka, and Dubai, and Emirates told the department the code-share deal offers "significant service enhancement" between the Eastern U.S. and Sri Lanka. Emirates received authority to serve the U.S. in July 2003.
