Boeing's 7E7 has taken the spotlight when it comes to the company's new designs, but the aerospace giant's military arm is betting its large-aircraft future on the ultra long-range blended-wing body (BWB).
The Pentagon wants to implement changes to its U.S. Special Operations Forces to better tailor them to combat terrorism. Although military officials have expressed satisfaction with the performance of their elite combat units, particularly during the past two years' high operational pace, areas for further improvement are surfacing. Adjustments to special operations forces (SOF) range from their global posture, skills set and technology, according to several senior Defense Dept. representatives.
The next space shuttle crew will have another way home in case their orbiter suffers the same sort of thermal protection system damage on launch that destroyed Columbia on reentry. William W. Parsons, Jr., the shuttle program manager, says the crew of the second mission after return to flight will be trained to rescue the crew that precedes them to space, with software ready to go for a rescue mission to the International Space Station.
J.D. Nicholas has been elected chairman of the Louisville (Ky.) Airport Authority. He was vice chairman and has been succeeded by Phil Lynch. Robert L. Knust has been elected secretary/ treasurer. Lynch is vice president/director of corporate communications for the Brown-Forman Corp., while Knust is a certified public accountant and financial planner.
Jiang Zhu has been named chief science officer for the US Global Nanospace Co., Carson City, Nev. He is a postdoctoral research scientist at Rice University in Houston.
Lufthansa Cargo forecasts that global freight traffic will grow at an average annual rate of 5.9% through 2010, driven by a global economic turnaround expected to begin this year. The company stated in its annual forecast that the root of the upswing will be in North America--perhaps aided by a strong euro--but there will be a strong Asian component as well. Average yields will remain flat, Lufthansa Cargo believes.
Michael W. Hansen has become vice president-technology for operations for DRS Technologies Inc., Parsippany, N.J. He was the head of the advanced video processing research group at the Sarnoff Corp., Princeton, N.J.
Michael A. Taverna (Paris), Douglas Barrie (London)
France has opted for conventional rather than nuclear propulsion for its new aircraft carrier, clearing the way for cooperation with the U.K. and signaling once again its intention to be at the forefront of European defense integration. Industrialists in France and the U.K. didn't have to spend much time reading between the lines to decide what that means: Rather than building the vessel on its own, France might bring British contractors in on the work.
Southwest Airlines and Transport Workers Union Local 556, which represents flight attendants, are still at loggerheads over the content of the next contract after the first round of talks directed by the National Mediation Board. According to a source close to the negotiations, the union is seeking a pay raise but, more importantly, a traditional airline contract with expanded work rules. Southwest offered a "best" proposal Feb. 6 and asked that the entire proposal be presented to the workforce.
NASA has postponed a planned flight of its X-43A Mach 7 hypersonic testbed so Orbital Sciences Corp. can replace the rudder actuator on the experiment's Pegasus booster. The actuator hit its mechanical stop in a testing anomaly Feb. 11 and exceeded torque limits. The booster and testbed had been on a path to fly as early as Feb. 21 (AW&ST Feb. 9, p. 17), but NASA said that date was slipping into March when the mishap occurred.
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 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.
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.
Boeing could face layoffs in the Seattle and Wichita, Kan., areas if the tanker deal remains stalled much beyond March, and Pentagon officials have indicated issues won't be resolved before May. Boeing has been working on the first USAF 767 tanker since December. But if there is no clear future for the program, that work may cease, says Boeing's senior vice president for Air Force programs, George K. Muellner. Even if the project is restarted, a shutdown would add cost and delay deliveries, he said.
Lufthansa German Airlines is offering its 13.2% stake in Amadeus Global Travel Distribution to investors for 394 million euros ($496 million) in a two-stage offering.
Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $10.9-million contract to supply the U.S. Navy with a dual-function avionics maintenance Trainer for repair technicians servicing MH-60S and MH-60R multi-mission helicopters.
Santovac Fluids recently completed tests of its non-toxic, non-volatile synthetic lubricant TKO2, done in accordance with ASTM D-1748 (modified humidity cabinet testing). After 300 hr. exposure, bearings coated with a volatile commercial rust preventative exhibited rust and corrosion (left). Bearings coated with TKO2 were not, according to the company. The product offers lubricating capabilities at both low and high temperatures, and can be used as a water-replacing industrial cleaner and rust preventative for ferrous and nonferrous metals.
Tom Williams has been appointed vice president-procurement of Airbus and a member of the executive committee. He succeeds Ray Wilson, who has retired. Williams was managing director of Airbus U.K. and will be succeeded by Iain Gray.
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).
The LNB-6300-50-112 low-noise block-down converter has applications in the commercial and military satcom markets. This X-band LNB converts the X-band downlink frequencies of 7.25-7.75 to an output frequency of 950-1450 MHz. Key performance specifications include conversion gain of 50 dB., typical noise figure of 1.3 dB. and flatness of +/- 0.5 dB. above 40 MHz. Temperature range is -30C to +60C. Local oscillator frequency is 6.30 GHz., local oscillator stability is +/- 13 KHz., and phase noise is -75 dBc. at 1 KHz. -85 dBc at 10 KHz., and -95 dBc. at 100 KHz.
Some airlines are finding significant paybacks from outsourcing non-core business activities such as heavy maintenance work as the industry climbs back from a two-year recession. Those advantages may be felt by established carriers that can overcome high labor costs and by newcomers who want to avoid the capital expense of establishing a maintenance, repair and overhaul facility, including the costs of hiring skilled labor to operate it. Regardless, MRO specialists such as Singapore Technologies Aerospace are turning the situation to their advantage.
Goodrich Corp. has won a two-year, $1.4-million contract from the NASA Langley Research Center to supply an integral, high-temperature composite flaperon control surface to be tested on a reusable launch vehicle.
Michael W. Hansen has become vice president-technology for operations for DRS Technologies Inc., Parsippany, N.J. He was the head of the advanced video processing research group at the Sarnoff Corp., Princeton, N.J.
