The recent series of cancellations, delays and in some cases fighter escorts for British Airways, Air France and AeroMexico flights reveal shortcomings in current approaches to security on both sides of the Atlantic, according to several security experts.
Thomas M. Culligan (see photo), who is executive vice president-business development of the Raytheon Co. and CEO of Arlington, Va.-based Raytheon International Inc., has been named to a two-year term as chairman of the board of the National Defense Industrial Assn.
Mars Exploration Rover "Spirit" has had a remarkably good week, but engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory here are already using Spirit data to improve the chances of the other rover, "Opportunity," slated to land on the opposite side of the planet on Jan. 24. These activities are part of a formal entry, descent and landing reconstruction team that started work immediately after Spirit's Jan. 3 landing.
It is disconcerting to contemplate how the American focus in advanced space transportation has degenerated from the National Aero-Space Plane vision of an aircraft-like system to less ambitious reusable single- and two-stage-to-orbit rocket concepts to the current travesty of the Orbital Space Plane program. Despite its misleading name, OSP apparently is a rehash of the decades-old Apollo ballistic capsule design (AW&ST Dec. 15, 2003, p. 22).
Pentagon budget battles have reduced near-term Army purchases of new UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters to two lots of five aircraft each in low-rate production. The number was supposed to be approximately 10 aircraft. As a result, the first UH-60M units will be fielded in 2009 rather than 2007, says Black Hawk program manager Col. William Lake. But not to worry; Congress has consistently boosted the Army's Black Hawk budget, so the situation may yet be reversed.
Boeing Rocketdyne has built and tested a divert thruster for ballistic missile defense (BMD) kill vehicles that is twice as strong as existing big units. The company is also looking at other applications for the motor.
The Italian antitrust authority is studying the country's air transport industry to identify any unfair practices that may be restricting competition. In a related move, the group also called a halt to its inquiry into Alitalia's fare structure, recognizing the market had evolved radically since the probe started in 1993. The authority's efforts are aimed at determining whether the new market with its many new players is reaping benefits for air travelers.
A Gol Transportes Aereos Boeing 737-76N, with 148 people on board, left the runway surface during landing at Florianapolis (Brazil) Navegantes Airport. The Brazilian carrier's Flight 1756, which was arriving from Sao Paolo-Congonhas Airport Dec. 20, crashed into a concrete wall, causing extensive damage to the aircraft. No one was injured. No cause for the accident has been determined, but authorities say poor weather could have contributed to the mishap.
Dominic Romeo, who has been chief financial officer of Honeywell International's aerospace segment, has been named CFO of the Idex Corp., Northbrook, Ill.
Judith Moreton has become managing director for London-based Bombardier Flexjet Europe and Hong Kong-based Bombardier Flexjet Asia-Pacific. She was head of operations for Flexjet Europe. Moreton succeeds James Hoblyn, who is now vice president of Bombardier Aerospace Business Aircraft.
Thomas H. Johnston (see photo) has become vice president-contracts and pricing for the Newport News (Va.) Sector of the Northrop Grumman Corp. He succeeds Ron Ward, who is scheduled to retire next year. Johnston was director of finance and business management for Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems and Sensors.
USAF Col. Jeffrey A. Kennedy has been named deputy commander of the 19th Air Refueling Group at Robins AFB, Ga. He has been chief of the Inquiries and Complaints Div. within the Office of the Inspector General at Air Mobility Command (AMC) Headquarters, Scott AFB, Ill. Col. Larry F. Stephens has been appointed special assistant to the director of logistics, Headquarters Pacific Air Forces, Hickam AFB, Hawaii. He has been chief of the Transportation Div. within the Directorate of Logistics at Headquarters AMC. Col. Daniel H.
John Wesley Hardin (see photo) has been promoted to vice president/general manager of the Aerospace Div. from the same position in the Dixson Div. of Ametek Inc., Paoli, Pa.
Sea Launch Commander and the Odyssey launch platform left Long Beach, Calif., Dec. 30 for a spot on the equator at 154 deg. W. Long., where it is scheduled to launch the Telstar 14/Estrela do Sul 1 communications satellite with a Zenit-3SL rocket on Jan. 9. Built by Space Systems/Loral on an SS/L 1300 bus, half of the spacecraft's K u-band payload will be dedicated to the Brazilian market and half to the Americas and North Atlantic for Connexion by Boeing internet service to aircraft.
Moving to broaden its support portfolio beyond its original product line, BAE Systems Regional Aircraft has inked a six-year agreement with the Virginia-based Avcraft Aviation, covering the Dornier 328 and 328JET regional aircraft. The deal is part of the company's medium-to-long-term strategy of pushing into the third-party platform market, expanding its business base beyond the BAE 146/Avro RJ regional jets, the ATP and Jetstream family of turboprop commuter aircraft.
Orders for new commercial helicopters worldwide are forecast to grow only modestly during the next two years before slowly declining to current levels in 2012. Deliveries of new aircraft are projected to reach 9,500 units worth about $19 billion. Of these, 3,600 would be piston-powered models, according to Bill Dane, senior aerospace analyst at Forecast International of Newtown, Conn. The company specializes in aerospace market intelligence and analysis.
Dana M. Muir (see photo) has been appointed to the board of trustees of The Aerospace Corp., El Segundo, Calif. She is the Louis and Myrtle Moskowitz research professor of business and law, and associate professor of business law, at the University of Michigan Business School.
Jim Roper has been appointed director of defense and intelligence solutions sales and John Lee director of civilian and commercial solutions sales for Denver-based Space Imaging. Roper was director of sales for the Network Operations Software Div. of Lucent Technologies, while Lee was director of worldwide product distribution for DigitalGlobe.
Ulrich Aderhold has been appointed managing director of CAE Gmbh., Stolberg, Germany. He succeeds Dieter Wolf, who is scheduled to retire. Aderhold was president/CEO of Munich-based EADS Satellite Communications Services.
SUPER TUCANO ARRIVES Embraer has handed over the first ALX Super Tucano to the Brazilian air force. Ten more aircraft are to follow next year. The PWC PT6A-68C-powered version of the Tucano will permit advanced pilot and weapons training for Brazil's new advanced fighter, which is to be selected early next year.
The Swedish air force is "flying" a combined flight simulator/centrifuge that doubles as a JAS 39 Gripen fighter-pilot trainer and medical laboratory for researching the stresses of high-g combat. The system allows line pilots to pull up to 9g and command any pitch and roll attitude, ensuring their experience will differ little from actual flight.
France reportedly will select Sagem instead of Thales for its Felin future combatant program. DGA and Thales insisted negotiations were continuing, and Sagem declined to comment. But both domestic and foreign sources said the nod will go to Sagem, under a DGA strategy, which is patterned after one initiated in the U.K. that is aimed at fostering the emergence of a second source for arms purchases. Thales late last month underwent a management shakeup that was said to be motivated at least in part by diminishing domestic defense prospects.
AMOS ALOFT A Starsem Soyuz/Fregat booster launched Israel's second Amos communications spacecraft into geosynchronous orbit Dec. 27 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. While commercial Starsem Soyuz/Fregat launches have become relatively routine--this was the 12th--it was the first time the payload has been an Israeli satcom. The mission was also the first for Starsem to geosynchronous-transfer orbit. The Amos 2's onboard propulsion system will be used to maneuver the spacecraft to its final parking orbit at 4 deg. W.
SECONDARY NEUTRONS Even before its circuits were fried by a solar flare Oct. 28, the Martian Radiation Environment experiment on the Mars Odyssey orbiter counted radiation levels about two and a half times greater than on the International Space Station in Earth orbit. For future Mars explorers, the problem may be compounded by secondary neutrons that split off when high-energy cosmic rays pass into the walls of their spacecraft. Dr.
After a long lull reflecting the global downturn in business aviation, the Middle East is once again generating blips on the bizjet screen. The resurgence in activity is not yet reflected in orders, which remain at modest levels compared with the late 1990s (AW&ST Nov. 22, 1999, p. 25). Dassault Aviation, historically a major Middle East supplier, has not sold a new business aircraft in the region in two years. And orders by other manufacturers at last month's Dubai air show were sparse.
