RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT CO. AND NETJETS have signed a 10-year maintenance contract covering the Hawker 1000, 800XP and 400XP business jets used in NetJet's fractional ownership program. Heavy maintenance for the Hawker 1000 and 800XP will be accomplished at Raytheon's Little Rock, Ark., facility, while the company's Tampa Beach, Fla., site will handle work on the smaller 400XP. Since December 2003, NetJets has placed orders for 50 Hawker 400XP and 10 800XP jets. Deliveries of the 400XP begin this year and will continue through 2009, according to Raytheon.
The Pentagon's two main unmanned combat air vehicle efforts are beginning to find direction after the shotgun marriage of programs meant to satisfy disparate U.S. Air Force and Navy requirements.
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.
Darrel B. Fuller (see photo) has been appointed manager of the Thin Film Coatings Dept. of Janos Technology Inc., Townshend, Vt. He was a senior development engineer for Exotic Electro Optics, Murrieta, Calif.
Asian carriers have learned to deal aggressively with new health threats and roll with the punches on security. That wasn't always the case. The global panic and confusion following Sept. 11, 2001, and outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) rendered airlines helpless. But when crisis gave way to industry cooperation, the region's carriers found resiliency and strength.
Leonard Maniscalco has become vice president-finance of the Miami-based Safire Aircraft Co. He was executive director of finance for Noven Pharmaceuticals, also in Miami.
Enstrom Helicopter Corp. nearly doubled aircraft production in 2003 to 17 from nine in 2002. Plans call for nearly doubling that number this year to 32 helicopters.
To improve relations with the Air Force, Boeing is expanding its field offices and reestablishing some that had been closed, says Boeing's George Muellner. Among the sites are Nellis AFB, Ariz.; Air Force Space Command in Colorado Springs; and Hanscom AFB, Mass. Operations also will be established near the service's battlelabs, where USAF works on some of its most cutting-edge technologies. The goal is to establish contact with service representatives earlier and "better understand what the customer's problems are," Muellner said.
Signs of recovery are nowhere to be seen as the African airline industry faces a punishing crisis. In West Africa alone, barring Senegal, Ghana and Cameroon, all national carriers have collapsed. Competition from large Western companies with 70% of the lucrative international traffic threatens to further weigh down their African counterparts.
Col. Michael Cantor, Project Manager (Comanche Project Office, Redstone Arsenal, Ala.), Michael Blake, Boeing Sikorsky Program Director (Comanche Program Office, Bridgeport, Conn.)
In response to the article assessing several Pentagon development projects, allow us to update your readers about the Comanche program status (AW&ST Feb. 2, p. 55).
Add the National Business Travel Assn. (NBTA) to trade groups impatient with slow-moving airport security and restive about Capps II privacy concerns (see p. 43). The association supports legislation pending in the House of Representatives that would require a "privacy impact analysis" before a federal agency issues security regulations. It backs provisions of last year's aviation security bill, still wending its way through Congress, that would improve security procedures and move toward standardizing them at all airports.
Pat Aherne has been named vice president-marketing and business development for Europe, the Middle East and Africa for the Wood Dale, Ill.-based AAR Corp. He was head of the London sales office.
Comments made by Russian President Vladimir Putin are prompting speculation that the country is continuing to work on a strategic scramjet missile. Following a triservice exercise involving nuclear delivery systems, Putin claimed Russia's strategic missile forces would soon have advanced systems able "to hit targets at an intercontinental ranges . . . with hypersonic speed, high precision" and great maneuverability. During exercises, RS-18 (SS-19 Stiletto) silo-based and RS-12M (SS-27 Topol) ballistic missiles were launched from Baikonur and Plesetsk, respectively.
All Nippon Airways expects to pay its first corporate dividend in seven years, in the fiscal year that ends Mar. 31. ANA's corporate plan through fiscal 2007 includes streamlining its fleet to three types: the Boeing 737 and 777 and a midsize aircraft that Boeing hopes will be the 7E7. Besides new routes to China, ANA's strategy includes introducing a common brand, moving to a new terminal at Tokyo's Haneda Airport and creating a short-haul Asian hub at Nagoya's new Central Japan International Airport.
A new 6,000-lb. Air Force Defense Support Program missile-warning spacecraft is beginning checkout in geosynchronous orbit on a flight important for transitioning critical surveillance to the Space-Based Infrared System. The $750-million mission is also drawing Northrop Grumman into a more operational role, well in advance of future SBIRS in-orbit operations. The DSP-22 satellite was launched Feb. 14 on an Air Force/Lockheed Martin Titan IVB with a Boeing Inertial Upper Stage (IUS).
Asian carriers have learned to deal aggressively with new health threats and roll with the punches on security. That wasn't always the case. The global panic and confusion following Sept. 11, 2001, and outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) rendered airlines helpless. But when crisis gave way to industry cooperation, the region's carriers found resiliency and strength.
Mark Hughes has been named to a two-year term as chairman of the Arlington, Va.-based Government Electronics and Information Technology Assn. He is president of the Science Applications International Corp.'s System and Network Solutions Group, McLean, Va.
John Bailey has been named head of Kenyon International Emergency Services. He was director of crisis communications for the International Air Transport Assn.
Recent advancements in solid-state, high-energy pulsed lasers that dissipate heat rapidly will enable the deployment of mobile directed-energy weapon systems that heretofore have been limited to science fiction. When fielded, they are expected to revolutionize the battlefield, solving real-world tactical problems that range from small-unit air defense to clearing land mines.
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL HAS BEGUN construction of a new learning center for business aviation customers at Farnborough Airport near London. Plans call for the facility to be operational early in 2005, according to an FSI official. It will house 14 full-flight simulators aimed at serving the European and Middle East pilot communities. The initial mix of simulators and JAA-approved training programs will be determined in the next few months.
The United Airlines Indianapolis Maintenance Center, vacated last May when the airline filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, is getting a second chance and a fresh marketing push. An agreement with the trustee bond holders allows Indianapolis Airport Authority to manage its redevelopment. The authority will have access to $14 million that can be used for operating costs and capital improvements to attract a new tenant. In 1995, the airport authority issued bonds valued at $220 million to build and equip the state-of-the-art maintenance center.
In another sign of its drive toward self-reliance in weapons systems, India says it has developed its first electronic warfare system. Christened "Sam- yukta," it will be mounted on a ground vehicle and is designed to defend against ground-based and airborne threats. The army plans to deploy the system in 2005. It is expected to have a range of up to 150 km. (90 mi.).
