Gordon Pratt, president of Chelton Flight Systems, Boise, Idaho, has received the 2004 Aerospace and Defense Executive of the Year Award from industry analyst and market research firm Frost & Sullivan. Chelton was cited for innovations in flight display, guidance and control technology. The company developed and gained FAA certification of the only synthetic vision flight display system.
The U.S. Navy has awarded Raytheon a $1.6-billion contract for full-rate production of up to 2,200 Tactical Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles. The five-year contract is the first multi-year procurement for a Navy missile, the service says. Production will ramp up to about 38 missiles a month.
The British have two distinct advantages over the U.S. when it comes to airport security--fewer primary targets, and almost 30 years of experience. The U.K. mainland has only a limited number of international airports (fewer than 10), with Heathrow and Gatwick the two most significant. The three-decade-long Northern Ireland conflict focused attention on the vulnerability of airports, underscored in March 1994 when the Irish Republican Army carried out a mortar attack at Heathrow.
The nearly month-long delay in the latest missile defense integrated flight test may represent a setback for the project, but managers are pressing ahead to prepare the system to be declared operational as early as next month.
Let's see, now. The airlines have been responsible for sifting their lists of passengers through watch lists of potential threats compiled by the government's intelligence agencies, but the watch lists aren't complete because the agencies believe some names shouldn't be revealed to private organizations like airlines. It took the 9/11 commission to figure out--and recommend--a better way to handle this, and the Homeland Security Dept.'s undersecretary for border security, Asa Hutchinson, tells the Senate Commerce Committee the department will adopt it.
The FAA has issued a Supplemental Type Certificate to Chelton Flight Systems for installation of the FlightLogic Synthetic Vision EFIS system in Cessna 501-series Citation business jets certified for single-pilot operations. The installation includes GPS/WAAS receivers, a flight management system, fiber-optic gyros, terrain awareness warning system, autopilot interface and dual air data computers for Reduced Vertical Separation Minimums.
As the world's largest travel market--and largest economy--the U.S. can exert enormous economic and political weight on airline operations. Other nations have little choice but to go along, or be banned from the lucrative U.S. market. Although they remain high on security alert levels, European airlines are complaining massively about new U.S. security regulations that they consider often unnecessary, badly implemented, sometimes redundant and conflicting with their national laws.
After reaching a 50-year low of 568,700 in February, U.S. aerospace employment appears to be headed back up. It reached 579,800 in June, according to Labor Dept. data compiled by the Aerospace Industry Assn.'s Aerospace Research Center. The uptick coincides with increased U.S. shipments in the commercial, general, defense and helicopter sectors. Besides Boeing's expectation of a slight increase in shipments this year (to a total 284 aircraft), the General Aviation Manufacturers Assn. reports that billings for its members were up 17% for the first half of the year.
Estelle Condon, associate director for astrobiology and space programs at the NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., has won the Lifetime Achievement Award of Washington-based Women in Aerospace. Other winners are: Outstanding Leadership Award, Celeste V. Ford, president/CEO of Stellar Solutions Inc., Palo Alto, Calif.; Outstanding Achievement Award, Rebecca A. MacKay, science adviser to the Materials Div.
Cargo shipped on passenger aircraft still poses a serious security threat, according to the 9/11 commission's report. Concerned that not enough is being done, the panel advises the Transportation Security Administration and Congress to devote more attention and resources toward "reducing or mitigating the threat posed by explosives in vessels' cargo holds." The report calls on the TSA to intensify efforts "to identify, track and appropriately screen potentially dangerous cargo."
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Regulators and researchers continue the drive to infuse human factors training into the maintenance arena--in a climate where cash-strapped carriers are reluctant to devote dollars to training. The FAA defines human factors as "the study of the interaction between humans and machines" and includes what can go wrong, and why.
Plastic tubs are used now at airports to process luggage through check-in in an efficient manner, but tubs accumulate at the end of the loading area. This trailer was designed to carry an efficient number of totes, but is not too big to travel around tight quarters. The Cignys unit is constructed of square steel tubing and can carry up to 252 tubes with a total weight of more than 3,600 lb. The 5 X 15-ft. trailer has a deck height 8 in. off the ground allowing ramp attendants to nest the tubs and slide them into position. Cignys, 68 Williamson St., Saginaw, Mich.
Malev Hungarian Airlines in October plans to tender 99.5% of the government's stake in the airline. Potential buyers will be required to guarantee the repayment of Malev's $175.2 million in debts. Austrian Airlines has expressed interest in Hungary's national carrier, as has George Soros-backed Hainan Airlines. Hainan last month announced plans to start a $92.96-million carrier, Shilin Airlines, in Southwest China's Yunnan Province to tap its tourism potential.
U.S. Army Maj. Gen. (ret.) Joe G. Taylor has been named corporate lead executive for the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command at the Northrop Grumman Corp., Reston, Va. He was vice president for strategic programs-land forces for the company's Mission Systems sector.
Elaine Seat has been appointed program director for the University of Tennessee aerospace MBA program. She has been a visiting professor in the College of Engineering and was a design engineer and engineering manager for Lockheed Martin Energy Systems.
A flurry of exchanges of defense delegations between India and Israel have erupted in the past month to fast-track 21 major procurements that the previous Indian government approved in February but current political leaders may walk away from. The concern is that Israel will seek other buyers if its deals with India appear to be going sour.
Guardian Technologies International's PinPoint threat identification and detection system combines software with artificial intelligence to augment traditional baggage-scanning equipment, greatly improving the detection of guns, explosives and a wide variety of threat items in checked and carry-on baggage, according to the company. The technology also has applications for full body scanning, cargo scanning and detection of money laundering and illicit drugs.
John L. Bean has become senior vice president-government business for Bell Helicopter Textron of Fort Worth. He was vice president/general manager of F-16 programs for Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems, also in Fort Worth. Bean succeeds Terry Dake, who has retired.
The Cockpit Security Technical Corrections Act has been introduced in Congress. This long-awaited legislation will force the Transportation Security Administration to implement the federal flight deck officer program as Congress intended in the FFDO legislation signed in November 2002.
A whistle-blower's revelations about poor testing at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' Nagoya Guidance Propulsion System Div. has prompted the Japanese Defense Ministry to demand new tests of the Type 88 (SSM01) surface-to-ship missile system. MHI's previous structural tests were conducted with insufficient loads, the ministry says. It was tipped off by a company insider. MHI apologized and is to rerun the tests. The improved SSM is being developed for Japan's army; deliveries are set for 2008.
The Pentagon may place greater emphasis on the sea-basing option for its kinetic energy interceptor (KEI). The ship-based version of the boost-phase interceptor weapon was to trail the land-based model by about two years--the latter is slated for fielding around 2012. However, Missile Defense Agency (MDA) representatives now suggest it would make sense to accelerate the ship configuration, notes Frank Moore, general manager for missile defense at KEI prime contractor Northrop Grumman. Discussions still are in the early stage and revised program plans haven't been drafted.
