Orbital Sciences Corp. has closed two financing transactions to replace the company's existing debt structure. The new arrangements provide Orbital with lower interest rates, longer term maturities, improved terms and increased borrowing availability.
Condor says the CORE-1553 and CORE-MMSI intellectual property cores for programmable logic devices (PLDs) are the industry's first downloadable encoder/decoder/processing core capable of providing one or more dual-redundant military protocol channels when loaded onto a single PLD, FPGA or ASIC device. CORE-1553 is a solution for the range of Mil-Std-1553 implementations. CORE-MMSI supports the emerging MMSI/EBR-1553 protocol and runs at a 10 MHz. rate over RS-485.
Not a lot has been written about new products from Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works during the last couple of years, but aerospace officials say the advanced projects company has produced prototypes of a classified, unmanned aerial vehicle--built strictly as an intelligence-gathering aircraft--that "has been used" operationally over Iraq.
New U.S.-European altimetry and cloud radiation satellites, and further cooperation on geostationary-Earth-orbit and polar-orbiting satellite systems, promise to greatly enhance meteorologists' ability to predict long-term weather and climate changes.
FURLOUGHS CONTINUE The 10 large U.S.-based passenger airlines have furloughed 7,465 pilots, and more furloughs are coming, according to FLTops.com, the Internet-based career counseling service. American Airlines is planning to furlough another 2,200 pilots; Continental, 200; and Northwest Airlines, a total of 335 pilots through January 2004. ATA Airlines has furloughed 137 flight engineers, some of whom are eligible for right-seat hiring. ATA is among four carriers that have had some hiring activity underway or new-hire classes.
FedEx Capt. James Almlie and First Officer Mark Abbott have received the Lt. Gen. Harold L. George Civilian Airmanship Award from the Order of Daedalians for safely landing an aircraft that experienced multiple inflight emergencies. Almlie and Abbott were nominated by the Air Line Pilots Assn.
The Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) met for the first time last week with Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and his assistant secretaries. He said that partnerships with private industry are key because 85% of the nation's critical infrastructure is owned by the private sector. Ridge has chosen Joseph J. Grano, Jr., of New Jersey to chair the panel. He is currently CEO of UBS Paine Webber and a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War in the U.S. Special Forces.
After the SARS health crisis plunged passenger volumes 90% in May, the country's airline planners are seeing a quick recovery and expect to be back at pre-SARS levels by the first quarter next year.
One of the biggest challenges in building the James Webb Space Telescope will be testing it, given that it will have a sunshield twice the size of Center Court at Wimbledon and the world's biggest mirror put in orbit. NASA and Northrop Grumman Space Technology want no replay of the mirror aberration fiasco on the Hubble Space Telescope. They also have no chance to repair or upgrade the James Webb from its second Lagrangian point orbital position, unlike the Hubble, which is reachable by the space shuttle.
Chuck Allen, Comanche Program Director Boeing Sikorsky First Team (Bridgeport, Conn.)
Your article "Coming Under Fire" (AW&ST May 12, p. 63) quotes unnamed analysts who suggest the U.S. Army's recent experience in Iraq with helicopters raises doubts about the future of the Comanche program. The analysts have misunderstood Comanche's capabilities and failed to appreciate the Army's need for an intelligence surveillance and armed reconnaissance weapon system for fighting effectively on the 21st century battlefield.
Thales has taken a 12% stake in Galileo Industries, a consortium vying to become prime contractor for Europe's Galileo satellite navigation system. The French firm is expected to bring expertise in the user segment and infrastructure security to the venture. Alcatel Space, Alenia Spazio, Astrium Germany and Astrium U.K. each hold 19% of the consortium and Galileo Sistemas y Servicios, a group of Spanish firms, 12%.
DEJA VU Findings in a newly issued Transportation Dept. inspector general's audit of major FAA acquisition programs might have been reached years ago--the agency isn't managing its programs effectively and continues to face cost growth, delays and performance problems. This year's numbers: 20 projects have incurred cost growth of $4.3 billion--48% more than the FAA's total acquisition budget proposal for Fiscal 2004--and schedule slips of 1-7 years since they began.
Elbit's El-Op division has acquired Optronic Instruments & Products. The small, Oudenaarde, Belgium-based company, which builds optical devices for defense and space projects, was acquired from Dutch company Delft Instruments for an undisclosed amount.
Charlie Sheffer, Production System Specialist Boeing 7E7 Program (Seattle, Wash.)
Anthony L. Velocci, Jr.'s article "Lessons in Preparedness" (AW&ST May 12, p. 47) began strongly and correctly by speaking to the cyclic nature of the aerospace business finding its roots in the long lead times typical with our industry.
JET LAG The number of used business jets for sale declined slightly in recent months and prices are stabilizing, according to Byron K. Callan, an analyst for Merrill Lynch. "Even though it probably is too early to draw any firm conclusions, the data suggest that the business jet market may be finding a trough, especially considering the flat trend from January levels." Since mid-May the heavy-jet segment (Gulfstream Aerospace and Bombardier Aerospace) has remained weaker than both the light- and medium-jet segments.
A test crew dropped two Joint Standoff Weapons from a B-1B Lancer at Edwards AFB, Calif., to initiate a stores-separation test program aimed at integrating the glide weapon on the long-range bomber. The B-1B was shadowed by an F-16 safety/photochase aircraft. Crews from Edwards' 419th Flight Test Sqdn. also are evaluating the B-1B's weapons-bay vibration/acoustic environment with various door configurations when carrying JSOWs. In parallel, the unit is conducting similar tests with the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (Jassm) on the B-1B.
As Boeing begins wind tunnel testing of potential 7E7 wing airfoils, it also needs to take into account the letter from United Airlines 767 Capt. Walt Bates. He commented on drag reduction and fuel efficiency gains from using 100% outside replacement air in the ventilation system, when the exit vent prevented boundary layer detachment from the rear fuselage (AW&ST June 23, p. 24; June 2, p. 6).
USAF Gen. (ret.) Howell M. Estes, 3rd, has been named to the board of directors of Analytical Graphics Inc., Malvern, Pa. A former commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, U.S. Space Command and Air Force Space Command, he is now president of Howell Estes & Associates.
Engineers have discovered that the wing of the NASA/Boeing X-37 spaceplane technology testbed was much weaker than expected, and are now proof-testing the beefed-up structure. The load tests were on hold at Boeing's Huntington Beach, Calif., facility last week because results were not matching predictions, and engineers are trying to determine why.
To submit Aerospace Calendar Listings, Call +1 (212) 904-2421 Fax +1 (212) 904-6068 e-mail: [email protected] July 15-17--U.S. Army Aviation & Missile Command's Advance Planning Briefing for Industry 2003. Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Ala. Call +1 (256) 876-4270 or see http://apbi.redstone.army.mil July 17-20--U.S. Air & Trade Show. Dayton (Ohio) International Airport. Call +1 (937) 898-5901 or see www.daytonairshow.com
WMD SMARTS The Pentagon is making inroads toward figuring out how to fight in an environment contaminated by weapons of mass destruction, but much work remains. USAF Brig. Gen. Robert Smolen, who oversees the service's nuclear and counter-proliferation efforts, notes that after years of analysis the Air Force has devised a concept of operations to resume combat after being attacked by chemical weapons. That's a big improvement over several years ago when U.S.
Kees Blekxtoon has been appointed president of Amsterdam-based Boeing Northern and Western Europe. He was president of Stork International, which acquired the Fokker Aerospace Group. John Craig has been named United Arab Emirates-based Boeing regional vice president for the Middle East. He is a former U.S. ambassador to Oman.
HELPING HAND With a big assist from Uncle Sam, United Airlines improved its financial position in May. In a monthly report to its bankruptcy court, the carrier said its operating loss for the month, $155 million, translated into net earnings of $64 million through receipt of $300 million in reimbursed security fees, an airline-aid provision of the Fiscal 2003 supplemental appropriations bill Congress passed in April. Cash increased $456 million to about $2.2 billion, $111 million of it--$3.5 million per day--from operations.
Boeing Air Traffic Management has formed a team with Raytheon and several other smaller FAA suppliers to bid on a fully integrated air traffic flow system designed to maximize the use of capacity in the national airspace system. The first step in the process is to reply to the FAA about the bidder's technical qualifications for the project. Other team members along with Boeing's ATM unit include Metron Aviation Inc. of Reston, Va., which makes decision support computer tools; Kenrob and Associates Inc.
