The Indian air force is close to inking a $90-million deal with ThalesRaytheon Systems for 19 (Flair) low-level transportable radars for border protection duty where they will scan for low-flying aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles. While the first six radars will be directly imported, the remaining units will be manufactured by government-owned Bharat Electronics Ltd. under a transfer of technology arrangement. The radars will give the Indian military the capability to view up to 60 km.
The Phoenix reusable launch vehicle prototype made its first atmospheric test flight on May 8, gliding to a landing 90 sec. after its release from a helicopter 8,000 ft. above the runway at Vidsel in northern Sweden. Three more drop tests were planned for the vehicle, which was built by EADS Space Transportation with a mix of public and private funds (AW&ST Mar. 15, p. 17).
The American Arbitration Assn. is expected to announce a decision on May 21 in a case filed by Arlington, Va.-based Apex Technology Inc. that charges ThalesRaytheon Systems with breach of a teaming agreement on a $190-million deal for India to buy 12 Firefinder Weapon Locating Radars (AN/TPQ-37). Apex has accused California-based TRS of breach of an "implied obligation of good faith and fair dealing" and "fraud and negligent misrepresentation" in its role as prime contractor in the radar sale. It is seeking $7 million in compensation.
Under a new bilateral accord, Thailand and South Korea are raising the cap on passenger and cargo flights between the two countries. Effective June 1, each will be able to have 46 weekly services. South Korea now operates 38 of 39 flights for which it holds rights (Korean Air, 19 passenger and five cargo flights; Asiana, 13 passenger and one cargo flight). Thailand's two designated carriers offer 37 weekly passenger services (Thai Airways International, 30, and Orient Thai Airlines, seven). Those two airlines do not operate cargo flights.
The U.S. military's weapons developers are exploring what upgrades to make to some of their newest munitions, such as the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (Jassm), and whether they should begin other efforts (see p. 44). On the cover, a U.S. Air Force AGM-158 Jassm strikes a target during a development test of the stealthy cruise missile. The cover illustration is a retouched photo provided by Lockheed Martin and excludes some features that USAF considers sensitive.
The looming elections and continued military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have quelled some of the acrimony in this year's defense budget deliberations, but on base closings the House and Senate are on a collision course. The House Armed Services Committee is recommending a two-year delay in the base-closing process, which was to be completed next year. House lawmakers considered scrapping base closings entirely, but feared that would trigger a presidential veto threat. Senate Armed Services Committee members have staunchly supported the process.
The U.S. Air Force has sketched preliminary designs for a huge bunker-busting bomb, but questions remain about how best to attack those hard-to-defeat targets. The concept builds on experience the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) gained last year with the 21,000-lb. GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Burst bomb. The MOAB project was aimed at quickly fielding the Pentagon's largest guided bomb for combat operations in Iraq.
SES Americom has shifted launch of its AMC-16 satellite from a Russian Proton early in 2005 to an Atlas V set to fly in the fourth quarter of this year, according to International Launch Services, which markets both vehicles. Built by Lockheed Martin, AMC-16 is a hybrid K u/K a-band spacecraft. The shift brings to five the total number of Atlas V launches SES Americom plans to use this year.
European space leaders hope their troubled space launch program is now back on track, following a massive new order for Ariane 5 boosters and a redrawn contract for development of the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV). The ATV is an element of the Ariane 5 launch system that will serve to resupply the International Space Station and periodically reboost it into higher orbit. However, some development problems related to the vehicle remain.
Europe's mainstream low-fare carriers are taking legal actions to challenge the European Commission's and French authorities' air transportation policies. EasyJet last week filed a complaint against Cohor, the French agency that allocates takeoff/landing slots, over its alleged lack of independence from the Air France group. In addition, Dublin-based Ryanair confirmed that it plans to appeal the EC's ruling on "subsidies" provided by Brussels South Charleroi Airport to support the airline's Belgian operations.
Don't look for consensus among the airlines and Congress on how to ease the tax burden for the industry. "Airlines had better learn to pass it on," offers House aviation subcommittee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.), arguing that the security tax was intended as a user fee anyway. Ditto fees for airport infrastructure and air transport system operations, he says, suggesting tickets clearly state where the money goes. But airline execs argue the fees impact revenues. "We are the least profitable industry in the history of the U.S.
The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are entering another potentially brutal wildfire season, but without 33 large airtankers modified to carry up to 3,000 gal. of fire retardant. Last week, the agencies terminated all existing contracts for the fleet, essentially grounding the ex-military and civilian aircraft. The cancellations were prompted by recent NTSB findings and recommendations related to three accidents involving wing losses. All were traced to fatigue cracking on C-130A and PB4Y airtankers (AW&ST May 10, p. 68, 69).
German missile manufacturer Boden- seewerk Geratetechnik unveiled two weapons development programs at ILA: the HOPE/Hosbo family of glide-weapons and the IDAS submarine-launched weapon. The HOPE/Hosbo weapons include a large kinetic-energy penetrator-warhead and a variety of blast and dispenser payloads. A high-power microwave payload also is envisaged. IDAS uses the company's imaging infrared seeker fielded on the IRIS-T short-range air-to-air missile. IDAS is intended to be torpedo-tube launched, with an initial range of 20 km. (12.5 mi.).
NASA headquarters inmates worried about a possible reorganization are quietly circulating a European theory that President Bush's Jan. 14 space exploration directive masked a final Pentagon takeover of low-Earth orbit (LEO) space activity. Under the theory, the civilian space agency would be pushed into deep space to win the hearts and minds of Russia and third world spacefarers with dramatic feats of derring-do, while leaving LEO space control to the star warriors.
The FAA gets a free pass at a House aviation subcommittee hearing May 13 on the prospect of summer air travel delays, as panel members concentrate their firepower on security rather than airspace management. TSA Deputy Administrator Stephen McHale says his agency is at or near its arbitrary, congressionally imposed cap of 45,000 screeners. Loaded-for-bear panel members skewer him anyway for understaffing at airports in or near their districts--Dallas/Fort Worth, Las Vegas, Newark, San Jose, Orlando, Atlanta and Chicago Midway.
The directive from the chief of the U.S. Forest Service and director of the Bureau of Land Management to discontinue the use of contract large airtankers marks the end of four decades of public service by these aircraft and crews (see p. 31). It was a difficult decision, but an essential and correct one. The recent National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommendations signaled quite clearly that the government had reached the end of the line on what it was able to manage in a safe and responsible manner with these aircraft.
The Royal Australian Air Force should see its combat capability increase under the government's new defense spending plan, with the expected purchase of GPS-guided bombs and a two-aircraft boost to the Wedgetail airborne early warning and control fleet.
Lufthansa Technik Group and BizJet International have begun operating a new test cell designed to evaluate engines rated up to the 50,000-lb.-thrust level. The Tulsa, Okla.-based overhaul and service provider will use the cell to test Rolls-Royce Spey and Tay engines, as well as Honeywell TFE731-2s and -3s, General Electric CJ610s, CF700s and Pratt & Whitney JT15Ds.
To submit Aerospace Calendar Listings, Call +1 (212) 904-2421 Fax +1 (212) 904-6068 e-mail: [email protected] May 16-20--Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering's 2004 Symposium and Exhibition (49th ISSE). Long Beach (Calif.) Convention Center. Call +1 (626) 331-0616 ext. 610, fax +1 (626) 332-8929 or see www.sampe.org May 17-18--Air Force Research Laboratory's Wright Opportunity Days Conference. Dayton (Ohio) Convention Center. Call +1 (937) 426-2808 or see www.wrightoppdays.utcdayton.com
Standard & Poor's downgrade of its US Airways credit rating from B- to CCC+ on May 5 raises concerns about the future of GE Capital Services' (Gecas) financing for deliveries of regional jets to the airline. That, in turn, could jeopardize the airline's restructuring plan and financial recovery, ultimately putting at risk a firm order for 79 Embraer aircraft.
Kistler Aerospace has encountered another obstacle on the road to flight with its K-1 reusable rocket--a formal protest by Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) to a sole-source NASA contract the struggling startup hoped would pull it out of bankruptcy. In written testimony for a Senate hearing Musk said he filed the protest with the General Accounting Office because he and others "were denied the opportunity to compete on a level playing field." William F.
Sidney E. Fuchs (see photo) has been named president of the Herndon, Va.-based TASC unit of the Northrop Grumman Corp. He was the unit's vice president/executive director of intelligence operations.
Richard Abruzzo of Albuquerque, N.M., has won the Harmon Aeronaut Trophy for the year's outstanding balloonist from the Arlington, Va.-based National Aeronautic Assn. He was honored for his 2003 solo transcontinental flight across the U.S., from San Diego to Waverly, Ga. Abruzzo's flight also set a distance record for balloon class and size AA-6 and AA-7, traveling 2,074 mi. and breaking a record set in 1983. His craft is a 37,000-cu.-ft. non-pressurized helium-filled homebuilt balloon. The award was created in 1926 and is named for philanthropist Clifford B.
The wholesale expansion of the European Union and NATO into Eastern Europe this spring will create new opportunities, as well as stiff competition, for Europe's aerospace industry. The 10 new EU members and seven new NATO entrants--which, with the exception of Romania and Bulgaria are also joining the EU--will bring 12 additional nations into the fold of the two organizations.
