The General Accounting Office has found major shortcomings in the Transportation Security Administration's efforts to manage passenger and baggage screening, and some airport officials are finding this is already crimping growth. One of the sorest points for airport directors is how slowly the federal government is moving to assist large airports in removing explosive detection systems (EDS) from lobbies, where they were placed on an emergency basis, and installing efficient in-line EDS machines on baggage conveyor systems.
Poland is understood to have selected BAE Systems as the avionics integrator for a Mil Mi-24 Hind upgrade program. Two Hinds will serve as the prototypes for the upgrade, with Poland expected to later contract for at least 16 helicopters to be modified.
Ipstar, an affiliate of Thailand's Shin Satellite PCL, has signed an agreement with Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), a state agency, to deliver high-speed broadband services for Internet access, rural telephones and electronic education. Ipstar will sell STPI up to 400 Mbps. of bandwidth on its new iPSTAR satellite for an undisclosed amount. India is one of the major foreign markets for iPSTAR.
Henry Grooms, Joseph C. Mills, Michael A. Avery and Michael J. Emanuel are four Boeing Integrated Defense Systems employees who are among winners of 2004 Black Engineer of the Year (BEY) Awards. Grooms, who is senior manager of strength, structural analysis and design at Boeing's operations in Huntington Beach, Calif., received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his work in structural engineering on the Apollo, Skylab and space shuttle programs.
Problems with electromagnetic interference will force another delay in the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) warning satellite, pushing first launch to 2007 from 2006. Peter Teets, Air Force undersecretary for space, told a House panel that a sensor redesign will be required to correct the "adversity." Last month the Air Force launched a Defense Support Program warning satellite, which SBIRS is to replace, and the final DSP launch is scheduled for March 2005 (AW&ST Feb. 23, p. 99).
This magazine is sometimes accused of never having seen an airplane it doesn't like. And, indeed, if we ever had had the opportunity to fly the RAH-66 Comanche armed reconnaissance helicopter that Boeing and Sikorsky were developing, we probably would have liked it, too. It now looks very unlikely that we, or anyone else, will have the chance to fly the aircraft (see p. 20).
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration, considering changes in the formula for levying security fees on airlines, is getting plenty of advice from carriers and their trade associations about what to do. But the one change that nearly everybody advocates--eliminating the fees altogether--won't happen.
French space agency CNES says agreement is near on a new plan for Mega-Tropiques, a joint mission with India to collect vital information on climate change in the monsoon region. The mission was put on hold under a CNES mission reshuffle last year (AW&ST May 5, 2003, p. 24). India would now provide the spacecraft bus, in addition to the launch and ground segment. France would chip in most of the 30-million-euro ($38-million) payload. The launch may also be pushed back to 2009 from 2006.
Northrop Grumman has finished development work on NASA's Aura atmosphere-monitoring spacecraft and is scheduled to ship it to Vandenberg AFB, Calif., this month. Based on the Earth Observing System (EOS) Common Spacecraft design, Aura weighs about 6,500 lb., measures 22.5 ft. tall and is similar to the Northrop Grumman Aqua satellite launched in May 2002 (AW&ST July 1, 2002, p. 31).
The Bombardier Challenger 300 made its Asian debut last week, with firm orders from customers in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. Separately, Global Wings Inc. of Tokyo has placed a firm order for a Bombardier Learjet 45 XR super light business jet, and option for a second aircraft. It is the first Learjet 45 XR to be ordered by a Japanese operator, and paves the way for Global Wings to offer nonstop Japan-to-China executive charter service.
Thales by year-end plans to stand up a technical center in Singapore to work with its Ministry of Defense. The company already has an 800-person presence in Singapore. The new facility will work on military and dual-use technologies.
Rob Mauracher (see photo) has been appointed general manager of Bombardier Business Aviation Services' Tucson (Ariz.) Service Center. He was head of Bombardier's Montreal support facility for out-of-production aircraft.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is investigating the loss of a lock box containing a loaded pistol. The box was issued to a pilot participating in the Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO) program. Although details regarding how the box disappeared have not been released, pilots typically place them in the cargo hold when they fly as passengers. Only the pilot who was issued the box knows the cyber-lock combination, according to the TSA.
In trying to predict when a scientific breakthrough might unlock zero point energy (ZPE) as a space transportation power source, a few scientists suggest looking for clues in historical cycles.
Indigo Systems' VisGaAs sensor is now available in the Alpha NIR camera, enabling simultaneous imaging in both the visible and near-infrared spectrum with a real-time, 12-bit, all-digital camera. The standard Alpha NIR camera head employs a 320 X 256 Indium Gallium Arsenide (InGaAs)-based focal plane array with a spectral sensitivity range from 900-1700 nm. The new Alpha NIR with VisGaAs sensor provides a 400-nm. cut-on wavelength, extending the short-wavelength spectral response beyond the range of previous infrared imaging systems, according to the manufacturer.
Dennis P. Gauger has been appointed chief financial officer for Groen Brothers Aviation Inc. of Salt Lake City. He succeeds Robin H.H. Wilson, who has become senior vice president-business development. Gauger has been a corporate consultant and was an accounting and auditing partner at Deloitte & Touche.
Lockheed Martin is protesting the U.S. Army's decision to award Alliant Techsystems the program to develop the Precision Guided Mortar Munition. The win was seen as a strategic victory for Alliant Techsystems and huge loss to its competitors. Lockheed Martin has asked the congressional General Accounting Office to re-evaluate "the Army's best value determination."
Steve Bohnenkamp has become vice president-strategic accounts for the St. Louis-based Watlow Electric Manufacturing Co. He was vice president-global sales and international operations.
Bell Helicopter Textron has signed a 15-year lease with Hillwood Development to occupy facilities formerly used by Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. at Alliance Airport near Fort Worth. In a few weeks, Bell will begin moving its commercial business and worldwide sales and marketing units, along with the Bell Training Academy, to the campus. Plans are to complete the move in the second quarter of the year. The facility also will serve as the training and delivery site for BA609 tiltrotors, set for FAA certification in 2007.
The 41 member states of the European Civil Aviation Conference have launched the first phase of a long-term effort to improve air traffic management (ATM). The priorities of the two-year-long initial phase, dubbed the European Strategic Safety Action Plan, will include human resources and safety training, incident reporting and use of airborne and ground-based warning systems.
Gene Roy has become general manager for the Orlando, Fla.-based Aircraft Services International Group at Terminal 4 of New York John F. Kennedy International Airport. He was regional director for GlobeGround for New York LaGuardia, JFK and Newark Liberty International airports.
If the FAA has its way, cash-strapped airlines will have to find $600-700 million in the next seven years to pay for onboard fuel tank inerting systems. The FAA later this year plans to propose a rule that would mandate retrofit of the system on 3,814 transports in the U.S. fleet at a cost of $140,000-220,000 per aircraft. A fuel tank inerting system reduces the amount of oxygen in the tank, a source of flammability, with an inert gas like nitrogen to prevent ignition of fuel vapors.
Unified Defense 04, a $1.5-million U.S. Northern Command-led homeland defense exercise that ends this week, is challenging more than 50 federal, state and local organizations to cooperatively deal with both natural and terrorist-caused disasters. Most of the UD-04 events are simulations, such as the mock detonation of a 3-5-kiloton nuclear weapon smuggled into Texas, a hurricane hitting the Gulf of Mexico coast or a radical environmentalist action at an Alaskan port.
