IMPLEMENTATION OF the U.K. government's 2002 Export Control Act in May caused EADS to cancel the signature of at least three memoranda of understanding at Farnborough 2004. The legislation was intended to address the "intangible transfer of technology." The new rules were in part driven by the government's wish to receive a waiver from Washington regarding its International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Industry executives, however, suggest the legislation is overly clumsy.
Emergency medical supplies could be delivered into high-threat areas where vulnerable helicopters may not survive, by using a missile-like projectile dropped from an unmanned aircraft.
KAMOV IS PITCHING its Ka-31 early warning helicopter for coastal surveillance and other homeland security and civil applications. The Ka-31 can detect flying objects from a distance of 200 km. (125 mi.) and surface objects from 250 km. With a ceiling of 3,500 meters (11,500 ft.), the Ka-31 can cover up to 250,000 sq. mi. in 1 hr. Russia has 12 of the AEW craft in operation; India has nine.
Finmeccanica is seeking partners for its Aermacchi M-346 advanced trainer. Alenia Aeronautica CEO Giorgio Zappa said Alenia is considering a partnership along the lines of the U.S. Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program, with participating companies funding a share of the development phase--including a low-rate initial production batch of 12-15 aircraft--while being assured of retaining that role in production.
The European Space Agency was due to sit down with industrial partners late last week to come to grips with a number of festering issues that threaten to play havoc with key space programs. Among the disputes, industry is said to be seeking yet another injection of money for the Ariane 5 program, beyond the 1-billion-euro ($1.23-billion) public support package and other measures approved earlier this year. Public officials have expressed surprise at the demands, saying they suggest streamlining and cost-cutting may not have gone far enough.
The Pentagon has notified Congress of a potential $40-million foreign military sale to India of three aircraft self-protection systems: the AN/AAQ-24 large-aircraft infrared countermeasure; AN/ALE-47H countermeasure dispensing; and AN/ALQ-211 early warning suite controller and radar warning. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement that the systems are to be installed on three Boeing 737s by prime contractor L-3 Communications of Greenville, Tex.
You can now register ONLINE for Aviation Week Events. Go to www.AviationNow.com/conferences or call Ryan Leeds at +1 (212) 904-3892/+1 (800) 240-7645 (U.S. and Canada Only) Sept. 14-16--MRO Europe. Bella Center, Copenhagen. Oct. 12-14--MRO/Asia. Shanghai Convention Center. Nov. 16-17--A&D Programs. Biltmore Hotel, Phoenix. PARTNERSHIPS Oct. 12-14--Shephard Heli-Asia 2004, Bangkok. Oct. 20--Shephard ARA 2004, Bangkok Nov. 1-7--Air Show China, Zhuhai. www.airshow.com.cn
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Loral Space & Communications expects to exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy-protection proceedings by the end of the year after reaching agreement last week with unsecured creditors on terms of the reorganization. Loral is to keep its current management with its two business units, Space Systems/Loral and Loral Skynet, intact and substantially debt-free. The agreement, which will leave Loral under its current management, calls for pre-petition institutional debt to be exchanged for essentially all of the equity in the reorganized company.
NASA has picked twin lunar sample return landers and a Jupiter polar orbiter as finalists for its next New Frontiers mission, which would follow the flight to Pluto scheduled for launch in 2006. The "Moonrise" mission proposed by the Colorado School of Mines aims to return about 5 lb. of lunar samples from two sites in the Aitken Basin at the Moon's South Pole, while the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's "Juno" probe would orbit the gas giant with an instrument suite designed to see if it has a solid core of ice and/or rock.
Honeywell's latest improvements to its current-generation weather radars include auto tilt to relieve pilots of having to make constant antenna adjustments to spot thunderstorms plus an upgrade to improve reliability for long-range flights.
Using airborne side-looking radar technology derived from a dual-use technology-development program, a Colorado company is radar-mapping the U.S. for homeland security and myriad commercial applications. It's also mapping global hot spots to 1-meter accuracy as an aid to the war on terrorism.
THE DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY is contracting with Lockheed Martin to develop a prototype network that combines direct laser communication for high bandwidth (at 10-40 Gbps.), with K u-band radio frequencies as a backup for reliable data links in the presence of clouds, sandstorms and other obscurants. The goal is more sensor-to-shooter information, without overloading the communication system, as happens today.
China and India are emerging as possible customers for a Russian air-to-air missile originally designed to force U.S. and other NATO fighter pilots to turn off their aircraft's radar. The missile, a version of Vympel R-27 (AA-10 Alamo), is fitted with a passive seeker that homes in on the emissions from a threat-fighter's radar.
By Roger W. Claire Broadway Books; a Random House Inc. Div. 288 pp., Hardcover ($24.95) Raid on the Sun is a factual account of the Israeli attack of an Iraqi nuclear reactor on June 7, 1981, based on interviews with the eight pilots who flew, the officers who planned, and the senior Israeli leaders who approved the mission. It is a story largely forgotten 23 years later, except perhaps in parts of the Middle East.
To submit Aerospace Calendar Listings, Call +1 (212) 904-2421 Fax +1 (212) 904-6068 e-mail: [email protected] Aug. 1-6--University of Tennessee Short Course. "Advanced Lean: The Process Flow Course." Also, Sept. 19-24--"Advanced Lean: Go Configure to Demand." Knoxville, Tenn. Call +1 (865) 974-5001 or see http://TheCenter.utk.edu
Charles W. Sweeney, who piloted the "Bock's Car," the second B-29 to drop an atomic bomb on Japan during World War II, died July 15 in Boston. He was 84. The cause of death was not disclosed. On Aug. 9, 1945, only three days after the "Enola Gay" struck Hiroshima, Sweeney and his crew flew their bomber to the primary target of Kokura, but weather forced a shift to the secondary target, Nagasaki. The bomb, dubbed "Fat Man," killed nearly 70,000 people.
Australia has shortlisted three targeting pods to replace the increasingly obsolete Nite Hawk system used on the country's F/A-18s. The candidates include Raytheon's Advanced Targeting Forward-Looking Infrared (Atflir) pod, Lockheed Martin's Pantera and the Litening AT co-produced by Rafael and Northrop Grumman. All would feature a higher-resolution focal plane array than the current system, allowing pilots to discern and attack targets from greater distances. Canberra will decide next year which of the systems to buy, with an in-service date of early 2007.
THE FINMECCANICA GROUP expects to complete acquisition of AgustaWestland's British arm soon. "It is a matter of days," Chairman/CEO Pier Francesco Guarguaglini says. However, comple- tion of the 1.6-billion-euro ($1.97-billion) deal to acquire GKN's 50% stake in AgustaWestland is being influenced by the British Defense Ministry's lagging plan to upgrade Army and Royal Navy Lynx helicopters.
FRANCO-ITALIAN ATR concluded orders for a total of eight preowned ATR 42-500 twin turboprops, which were acquired by India's Air Deccan and French operator Airlinair. Air New Zealand ordered its 11th ATR 72-500.
Turbomeca's Makila 2A turboshaft engine--for Eurocopter EC 225/725 helos--received European certification. The first production powerplants conforming to certified standard are set to be delivered by August. The 2A provides 14% more power than the basic Makila.
John Goglia (see photo), who has been a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, has become professor of aviation science in St. Louis University's Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology.
Indianapolis-based ATA Airlines has reduced management salaries by 10%, 7.5% or 5%, depending on rank, for a two-year period, according to the carrier's Air Line Pilots Assn. Master Executive Council. The communications department has been abolished, and other personnel cuts are expected. The cutbacks are in response to the company's expectation of a second-quarter loss. During the quarter, military charter operations fell below forecast numbers, and scheduled airline revenues were not sufficient to offset high fuel prices, the company says.
USAF Maj. Gen. Paul D. Nielsen, who is scheduled to retire Aug. 1, has been named CEO and director of Pittsburgh-based Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute. He has been commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. Nielsen will succeed Stephen E. Cross, who is now a vice president at Georgia Institute of Technology and the director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute. Angel Jordan, a university professor emeritus of electrical and computer engineering and founder of the SEI, has been its interim director.
