Like millions of others, no doubt, I was shocked and saddened at the decision to terminate the U.S. human spaceflight program, which I have followed my whole life. Looking for hope and perspective, I re-read Across the Space Frontier by Wernher Von Braun and others (1952), which contains plans for constructing and maintaining a space station and using it as a base for voyages to the Moon and planets.
Marine Corps aviation units heading for Iraq have undergone special training and equipment upgrades to avoid having to relearn lessons the Army suffered through in recent months. Helicopters in the region face a sophisticated battery of anti-aircraft fire (see p. 43). Forces from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing will support the 1st Marine Div., which is part of what the Pentagon is calling Operation Iraqi Freedom II, a fresh group of units to take over operations throughout the country this year.
United Airlines will discontinue daily nonstop flights from Miami to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Sao Paulo, Brazil, on May 1 and close its Miami domicile where 99 pilots and 481 flight attendants are based. United has been running a poor second against American Airlines at Miami, a hub for American's operations to the south. The closing of international operations at Miami came after a city-pair market review. At least 150 personnel including training and ground personnel will be furloughed as of May 1.
U.S. defense contractors expect to see solid performance in 2004 and are upbeat about the Fiscal 2005 military spending level, with some questions emerging as to what lies ahead in 2006. Lockheed Martin and Raytheon reported strong sales growth for 2003, including the fourth quarter. And in earnings reports issued last week, both projected increases again in 2004, with Lockheed Martin suggesting a more modest uptick for 2005.
Air New Zealand Engineering Services (Anzes) recently launched two new heavy maintenance lines for Boeing 767s and 737s in response to increased demand for services from major regional airlines. Operational since September 2003, the heavy maintenance lines reflect significant maintenance repair and overhaul growth potential by Anzes concurrent with the introduction of Airbus A320s into the Air New Zealand fleet.
Increasingly the U.K. aerospace industry--both civil and defense--is looking to the U.S. as its savior. Recently, there has been much speculation that BAE Systems, the U.K.'s largest defense contractor, is desperately seeking a U.S. merger to increase BAE's penetration of the U.S. market, but undoubtedly this is a high-risk strategy that could be dangerous for one of the U.K.'s most lucrative and highly skilled sectors.
Alma Martinez Fallon (see photo), an engineering manager at the Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Newport News (Va.) Sector, has received the Junipero Serra Award from the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. She was recognized for her contributions to engineering and science, including management, administration and education. Fallon is responsible for structural manufacturing planning for the aircraft carrier George H.W.
The FAA's budget proposal for Fiscal 2005, which goes to Congress this week, ought to have provided the first concrete evidence of how Administrator Marion C. Blakey's five-year planning (AW&ST July 14, 2003, p. 44) will affect funding for the agency's ATC programs. In order to finance initiatives despite a no-growth budget, the FAA intended to generate increasing amounts of money, year by year, through operating efficiencies and reallocations from slow- to fast-track programs.
You can now register ONLINE for Aviation Week Events. Go to www.AviationNow.com/conferences or call Ryan Leeds at +1 (212) 904-3892/+1 (800) 240-7645 (U.S. and Canada Only) Mar. 8-9--European Transport Leaders Conference. Merrill Lynch Headquarters, London. Mar. 10-11--Toulouse Symposium. Toulouse (France) Congress Center. Mar. 25-26--Defense Budget Conference. Hyatt Regency Crystal City Hotel, Arlington, Va. Apr. 20-22--MRO USA/MRO Latin America/MRO Military. Cobb Galleria Centre, Atlanta.
The Pentagon, the public and the press need to get comfortable with the idea that, in the future, troops will be rapidly increased or decreased in critical areas on short notice, says Central Command's chief, Army Gen. John Abizaid.
Lockheed Martin's Mission Systems' delivery of the first major component of an Integrated Space Command and Control (ISC 2) system marks a critical milestone in a 15-year, $1.5-billion upgrade to North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad) and U.S. Strategic Command centers inside Cheyenne Mountain (Colo.).
Recognizing that its massive appetite for new systems cannot be satisfied in future budgets, the U.S. Air Force Space Command is embarking on a path that effectively defers development of a quick-reaction launcher despite high-level Pentagon interest.
France has awarded Sagem a follow-on 200-million-euro ($252-million) contract for the amplifier portion of the Laser Megajoule project, a key component in the country's nuclear simulation capability. An eight-beam prototype unit produced the highest ultraviolet energy jolt ever delivered (9.5 kJ.) in April 2003. The full-scale facility, equipped with 240 energy beams, is scheduled to enter operation in 2010.
6 Correspondence 8 Who's Where 10-11 Market Focus 13 Industry Outlook 15 Airline Outlook 17 In Orbit 18-19 World News Roundup 21 Washington Outlook 63 Classified 64 Contact Us 65 Aerospace Calendar
Aviation Week & Space Technology editors have selected the 2003 Laureates from among the individuals and teams who were nominated in six categories for 2003 Laurels citations. Two recipients were selected for the Lifetime Achievement Award, and a team was chosen to receive the Special Achievement Award. Winners will receive the Laureate Trophy in Washington on Apr. 6 at the National Air and Space Museum. Their accomplishments will be recounted in the Apr. 19 issue. COMMERCIAL AIR TRANSPORT Joe Leonard, chairman and CEO, AirTran Airways.
Scientists at Southwest Research Institute (SWRI) are eagerly awaiting data from a NASA-sponsored suborbital sounding rocket flight last month that may provide the first evidence of Vulcanoids, the small asteroids that are hypothesized to lie in a belt between Mercury and the Sun. The SWRI payload included a secondary instrument dubbed Vulcam, based on a system that has flown before on F/A-18 aircraft, to help settle the question of whether Vulcanoids actually exist. SWRI's main payload on the Black Brandt flight from Wallops Flight Facility, Va., was a 500-lb.
Karl-Heinz Kloos has been appointed to succeed Arnold Vandenbroucke as director of Eurocontrol's Maastricht (Netherlands) Upper Area Control Center. Kloos was director of the Karlsruhe (Germany) Upper Area Control Center.
Sobered by a near-death experience with Spirit and still reeling from the landing of Opportunity at a location with scientific potential "beyond their wildest dreams," Mars Exploration Rover controllers are this week preparing to restart science operations with the first rover, while 6,000 mi. away they plan to drive Opportunity onto the Martian surface for a first taste of the bizarre terrain and soil at its Meridiani Planum landing site.
British Airways is to embark on yet a further round of cost cuts, with the carrier aiming to shave 300 million pounds ($545 million) from its staffing bill in the next two years. The savings target includes cutting staffing costs by nearly a third at BA's head office at London Heathrow Airport, with a similar reduction in support functions. The airline also is looking for a 15% saving in operations staffing. The cuts will come on top of BA's Future Size and Shape strategy review in 2002.
WORLD NEWS ROUNDUP 18 Transport groups protest new EC passenger rights 18 British Airways to embark on further round of cost cuts 19 Defense orders keep Boeing on track in fourth quarter 19 Ryanair warns of decline in financial performance LAURELS 2003 22 AW&ST names Laureates, Laurels and Legends for '03 WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS 28 EADS wins U.K. tanker battle, needs finance contract 29 Increased Pentagon spending bolsters profits in 2003
Iran is developing an indigenously manufactured cruise missile based on the Chinese Silkworm airframe, fitted with a turbojet engine to extend its range. Images of the missile, referred to as the Raad, clearly show its design lineage from the Chinese Silkworm and Russian Styx family. The fuselage, however, has been lengthened, and bifurcated engine intake ducts have been placed forward of the triform rear control surfaces.
Security Intelligence Technologies Inc. of New Rochelle, N.Y., has launched the "Terrorist Trap" digital bodyscan, an X-ray scanning system intended for noncontact visual inspection. It is a radiographic scanner of a full-size human body that detects and images dangerous and/or illegal objects made of both organic and inorganic materials such as guns, knives, and both plastic and electronic explosives, as well as narcotics or contraband concealed in clothing or hidden in body cavities or swallowed.
USMC Brig. Gen. Michael E. Ennis has become director of operations for the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington. He has been USMC director of intelligence.
