Complex, integrated air defenses of the future will have a vulnerability in their technological armor that a new electronic warfare weapon is being designed to crack. That futuristic EW weapon is being packed into a single box that can switch almost instantaneously from deceiving enemy radars about the invading U.S. aircraft's range, speed or location to blasting the foe's receivers with enough energy to blind it or even damage electronic components.
EADS Socata has rolled out the 300th TBM 700 single-engine utility turboprop. The aircraft, a new 700C2 model equipped with an optional pilot door and higher gross weight capability, was introduced last year for North American, Australian and other overseas markets. It will be displayed at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis., at the end of the month.
The European Space Agency has concluded a 1-billion-euro ($1.24-billion) framework contract with EADS for the initial utilization phase of the International Space Station program, suggesting that the agency has basically come to terms with station partners on a final crewing configuration for the facility. A Heads of Agency meeting is set for July 23 to nail down final details.
Boeing technical and professional workers at its Wichita, Kan., facility have approved a four-year contract by an 87% margin, to avoid a strike negotiators feared they couldn't win. "It could have been better, but it was good enough," said Charles Bofferding, executive director of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, which represented the 3,400 workers in the negotiations. Most contentious were 18% hikes in medical insurance premiums next July.
Germany's busy leisure and low-fare airline market seems headed toward rapid consolidation after two of the country's major airline players announced their intention to join forces this winter.
U.S. government communications errors and incompatible radar displays were behind the decision on June 9 to empty the Capitol building as a King Air carrying the governor of Kentucky made an approach to National Airport under a waiver. "It is both alarming and unacceptable that in the 21/2 years since Sept. 11, 2001, the federal and local agencies involved in airspace control and security have still not resolved simple coordination, communications and training issues," said House aviation subcommittee Chairman Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla.).
The U.S. Forest Service reinstated contracts for five P-3A Orion airtankers last week, returning the Aero Union aircraft to firefighting operations. Another two P-3As could be back in the air this week, following completion of airworthiness and maintenance program assessments. Industry officials believe some P2V Neptunes also could be returned to service this week.
A prototype communications system now ties Link-16-equipped strike aircraft with regional air operations centers to allow automatic delivery of real-time mission information from pilots to air combat planners. The system, Data Link Automated Reporting System, was designed by the U.S. Air Force and Lockheed Martin to improve the ability to manage missions such as close air support and long-range strike. It also provides an example of machine-to-machine communication that is expected to slash the time it takes to strike a target after finding it.
The FAA has approved the International Air Transport Assn.'s Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) program. Now, U.S. carriers no longer will be required to perform safety audits of code-share partners themselves. They will be able to use IOSA-accredited audit organizations to comply with U.S. audit requirements.
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Encouraging signs of a commercial aerospace rebound seem to abound. Airline traffic in Asia, Europe and North America is up, and interest in Boeing's new 7E7 is strong. The number of newer aircraft in storage is declining, and business aviation continues to improve modestly.
Daniel Stone (see photo) has been named executive vice president/chief operating officer of EADS Aeroframe Services, Lake Charles, La. He was vice president-technical services at Kitty Hawk Air Cargo and Air Jamaica.
The Chinese government is amending local aviation laws to allow foreign airlines or companies to seek Chinese partners to boost the country's growing air freight market. Deputy Director Li Yongqi, head of planning and financial development at the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), says the plan also will loosen controls on the local civil aviation market.
French armaments agency DGA says it has concluded agreements with three suppliers regarding extra costs linked to the replacement of obsolete electronics on Rafale fighters. Resolution of the issue, which stems from past delays in the long-running program, has held up issuance of an order for a follow-on batch of 59 aircraft. However, agreement with two contractors still looms. Director General Francois Lureau wants to ensure that all requirements, including those related to export, are settled before the contract is signed.
Airport operator Aeroports de Paris (ADP) and its key customer Air France are still facing the possibility that Terminal 2E at Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) might have to be torn down, following the publication of initial findings by an accident investigation committee.
A proposal under development by the pilots' group at Northwest Airlines calls for mainline pilots to fly small jets with 70 seats operated under the NW code at rates "competitive with current industry 70-seat jet pilot costs." In an expense-reduction plan introduced last year, NWA management had suggested the Air Line Pilots Assn. unit remove restrictions on outsourcing for crews for small jets.
Gertrude Rogallo, who worked with her husband Francis to patent flexible-wing technology, has won this year's Katharine Wright Award, given by the Arlington, Va.-based National Aeronautic Assn. The Rogallo Wing, which was invented in 1948, became the forerunner to several branches of aviation, including hang gliding, paragliding and ultralight flight. The award is given annually to a woman who has contributed "to the advancement of the art, sport and science of aviation and spaceflight over an extended period of time."
Lockheed Martin is claiming a tenfold increase in hybrid rocket fuel-grain structural integrity after a 7.5-sec. test firing at Stennis Space Center. The 10-in.-dia. motor generated 7,000 lb. thrust during the test, which marked the company's latest activity in an ongoing effort to develop the technology that combines inert solid fuel and a liquid oxidizer. Unlike Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne, which uses nitrous oxide as an oxidizer, Lockheed Martin's test motor used liquid oxygen. Both motors use Hydroxyl-Terminated Polybutadiene, a type of synthetic rubber, as fuel.
Lockheed Martin will supply Bahrain with AN/TPS-59(V)3 ballistic missile defense radars. The company received a $43.6-million contract from the U.S. Marine Corps for the system under a foreign military sales agreement. The 740-km.-range radar, equipped with a 360-deg. field of view, would be used in conjunction with Bahrain's Hawk missile battery. The costs of resuming production of the radar at Lockheed Martin's Syracuse, N.Y., facility are factored into the total.
Gregg Balko has become executive director of the Covina, Calif.-based Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering. He has been senior vice president of Promax and BDA of Los Angeles and was a senior administrator at the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.
Reverberations from this spring's Cope India air-to-air exercises, which produced anecdotal accounts of victories by Indian-flown Su-30MKs over U.S.-flown F-15Cs, are continuing. While top Air Force officials say they are bound by security rules not to discuss the event, they disclose that the F-15s, from Alaska, were standard aircraft and not equipped with long-range active electronically scanned array radars. These radars are designed to find small and stealthy targets such as cruise missiles at tactically useful ranges.
Thales and Alcatel will create a research laboratory dedicated to opto- and micro-electronics. The lab will be devoted to electronic components based on so-called III-V technologies--materials that have three or five electrons in their outer atomic plane--which enable a considerable increase in transmission power. Work at the lab, which will be located at two sites near Paris, will focus on optical fiber transmission; GaN-based high-frequency, high-power transistors and circuits; infrared imaging photodetectors; and high-power laser diodes.
Watch for "space control" defensive issues to surface as a priority for national policymakers shortly after the November elections. Peter Teets, USAF undersecretary and executive agent for space, says protecting U.S. satellite ground stations has become a top priority, arguing that the loss of uplinks and downlinks would be "catastrophic." Although there are few current, credible threats to U.S. and allied spacecraft in orbit, the same cannot be said of the many ground stations.
The sale of 10 aircraft to European charter carriers furthers the 7E7 sales team's drive to identify the medium-sized long-haul aircraft as a choice for those seeking low operating costs.
Michael A. Taverna (Paris), Douglas Barrie (London)
Private financing of defense contracts is proving a considerable headache for EADS, which has seen negotiations over one multibillion-dollar German contract suspended, and the fate of another, this time in the U.K., hanging in the balance.
