Ron Root has been appointed chairman/CEO of Hupp Aerospace/Defense, New Haven, Ind. He succeeds founder Noel Hupp, who will become vice chairman. Rott had been acting president.
ERA OF PARADUBICE, CZECH REPUBLIC, is expanding its multilateration surveillance systems outside the country's borders. Working with Mode-S transponder equipped aircraft and vehicles, its airport surveillance cooperative sensor system will be providing positions within 5 meters, updates once a second, and identification of aircraft and vehicles on the surface at Copenhagen, Palma de Mallorca and Prague Ruzyne airports. Commissioning of all three is slated for this year.
Daniel R. Mulville has been named to the board of advisers of Constellation Services International Inc., Alexandria, Va. He was associate deputy administrator of NASA.
Avigdor Berlin (see photo) has been named vice president-marketing and business development at IAI International, the U.S. subsidiary of Israel Aircraft Industries. He succeeds Zeev Nahamoni, who has retired. Berlin was vice president-operations at IAI's Elta Systems Group.
Robert Wall David A. Fulghum (Orlando, Fla.Washington )
The U.S. Air Force will be making critical choices in the next few months as planners try to fit a growing desire for new weapon systems into the Fiscal 2006 budget request. In addition to their renewed interest in the FB-22 (a bomber-derivative of the F/A-22 fighter) and the F-35B Stovl (short-takeoff and vertical-landing) version of the Joint Strike Fighter, U.S. Air Force leaders want to find money in the next few years for new combat search-and-rescue helicopters, enhancements to A-10 ground-attack aircraft and upgrades to existing fighters.
The Asian aerospace market is showing strong signs of recovery after having been beaten down by the regional economic crisis of the late 1990s, setbacks suffered after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the U.S. and the SARS outbreak (see p. 54). The upturn is expected to be visible at the Asian Aerospace show in Singapore, which opens Feb. 24. By far the highest profile military program there will be the host nation's fighter competition among (from top down) the Boeing F-15T (derivative of the USAF F-15E), Dassault Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon.
Steve DeLoach has been promoted to director of sales-East Coast Maintenance Sales Team, Doc Palm to director of sales-Midwest maintenance Sales Team and Brian Schank to director of sales-West Coast Maintenance sales Team, all for Gulfstream Aerospace, Savannah, Ga. DeLoach was district manager for Eastern U.S. service center sales, while Palm was general sales manager for service center sales and Schank was Western U.S. sales manager for service center sales. John Cooreman and Mark Fischer have become national avionics sales managers.
Gary Hamme has been named vice president-marketing and enrollment management at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Fla. He was vice president-enrollment management at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey.
Donald Fitzmaurice and Justin Adams have been appointed to the board of advisers of Konarka Technologies Inc., Lowell, Mass. Daniel Patrick McGahn has been named executive vice president/chief marketing officer. Fitzmaurice is professor of nanochemistry at University College, Dublin, Ireland, and founder of NTERA Ltd. Adams is CEO of Switzerland-based High Power Lithium.
Also, France has awarded 240 million euros ($304 million) worth of contracts to Thales to expand C4ISR systems and reinforce network-centric warfare capabilities. One, valued at 113 million euros, will cover the supply of common SIC 21 (new-generation command information system) platforms to link 125 onboard and onshore naval sites to national and coalition C3I networks. A second, worth 60 million euros, is for installation of Rifan (a secure aero-naval intranet network designed to ensure shared situational awareness) on 67 navy vessels.
The slow response time of U.S. forces, including the absence of coalition air support, during the recent attacks on Iraqi government personnel and buildings in Falluja is receiving top-level oversight. "We could do better," said Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "We're looking at that [incident]." Large numbers of Army attack helicopters are based at Balad, just 50 mi. away, A-10s at Kirkuk, 150 mi. to the north, and continuous air patrols are flown out of Kuwait. But no help was called up during the attacks by Iraqi insurgents.
Astronomers pushing the Hubble Space Telescope and 10-meter ground-based Keck telescopes in Hawaii to their limits have detected what they believe is the most distant object ever observed, a tiny galaxy that was spewing out new stars 13 billion years ago when it generated the light now reaching Earth. Even with the Hubble and Keck's capabilities, observers were able to see only the ancient galaxy because the massive Abell 2218 cluster created a gravitational lens that magnified its light some 25 times.
The Russian aerospace-defense sector is facing a tough task in sustaining long-term export markets, despite a fourth consecutive year of growth, with sales topping $5 billion for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Figures released by Rosoboronexport, the state arms export agency, show the bulk of the $5 billion was generated by the sale of combat aircraft and air defense systems. Naval systems and combat vehicles also reflected an improved performance.
Iran is beginning production of a helicopter and fast-attack craft-launched anti-ship missile, the Kosar, with the weapon almost certainly based on a Chinese program. The production of the Kosar marks a further step in Iran's intention to develop a sophisticated indigenous guided-weapons capability. The deployment of this class of missile will also pose an additional headache for the U.S. Navy in the region.
Iran is beginning production of a helicopter and fast-attack craft-launched anti-ship missile, the Kosar, with the weapon almost certainly based on a Chinese program. The production of the Kosar marks a further step in Iran's intention to develop a sophisticated indigenous guided-weapons capability. The deployment of this class of missile will also pose an additional headache for the U.S. Navy in the region.
Japan has begun feasibility studies of using global positioning satellites to control train movements as a way to reduce costly sensor systems on rail lines. Four ministries, which control Japan's infrastructure, transportation, science, technology, industry and public management functions, are considering whether the Quasi Zenith satellite system might be used to control train operations. The Japanese space agency JAXA is due to begin launching the system in 2008.
The French government has awarded MBDA a contract to develop and manufacture an improved version of the MM40 shipborne Exocet antiship missile, and to convert existing MM40 Block 2 missiles to modified Block 3 configuration. The Exocet MM40 Block 3 will feature a new turbofan propulsion unit affording an increase in range to 180 naut. mi. from 90, along with an enhanced control system to meet the more complex trajectories required in coastal zones. It is scheduled to enter service in 2006 (AW&ST Oct. 28, 2002, p. 35).
Lockheed Martin awarded an $87.4-million contract for two CN-235-300M medium-range maritime patrol aircraft to EADS, under the U.S. Coast Guard's Integrated Deepwater System program. The CN-235, manufactured by EADS CASA in Spain, will support the USCG's maritime patrol mission by replacing older, less capable aircraft. With a 2,000-naut.-mi. range and 10-hr. flight endurance, the CN-235 can handle surveillance, search, rescue and transport duties.
BOMBARDIER AEROSPACE HAS INTRODUCED the first five Learjet 40 business jets into service. According to Peter Edwards, president of Bombardier Business Aircraft, two aircraft were delivered to U.S. customers, two will be operating with Bombardier's Flexjet fractional ownership program and the fifth is flying for an operator in Germany. The Learjet 40 received FAA certification in July 2003, and approval from the European Joint Aviation Authorities in January 2004.
Lufthansa Cargo and DHL are planning a strategic network alliance that will significantly boost DHL's ambitions in the global parcel express market while positioning the Lufthansa freight affiliate for an expected rebound in world air cargo traffic growth.
ONE OF THE MOST INNOVATIVE CONCEPTS at the ATC Maastricht (Netherlands) 2004 Conference would embed a digital signal in VHF or HF voice transmissions to verify the identity of the sender, adding security to transmission between pilots and controllers, or among controllers. Bogus voice transmissions usually come from pranksters, but could be used by terrorists. Frequentis, working with the University of Technology in Graz, Austria, developed the aircraft identification tag for Eurocontrol.
Recommendations from the Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP) for a 12% more stringent standard for nitrogen oxide emissions and new guidance for noise management have been forwarded to the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The new noise management guidance adopted the "balanced approach" recommended by the ICAO Assembly in 2001. CAEP could not reach consensus on imposing taxes for carbon dioxide emissions, levies that are advocated by European nations.
US Airways and Lufthansa intend to launch code-share service Mar. 26 under an agreement authorized Oct. 16 by the U.S. Transportation Dept. Lufthansa will place passengers in 114 markets beyond Charlotte, N.C., in the U.S., Canada, Central America and the Caribbean on flights operated by US Airways and affiliates Allegheny, Piedmont and PSA Airlines. US Airways passengers will be able to fly Lufthansa beyond Munich to Lisbon and Ankara, and beyond Frankfurt to Munich, Warsaw, Zurich, Vienna, Bucharest, Lisbon and Ankara.
