The Singapore government has postponed a decision on a new fighter to replace its aging A-4SU Skyhawk by six months. Defense Minister Cedric Foo said here that all six of the aircraft proposed for the fighter award--the McDonnell Douglas F-16 Block 60, Boeing's F/A-18 E/F and F15S, Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon and the Sukhoi Su-35--are still in contention, despite reports that three models, the Rafale, the F/A-18 and the Su-35, had been dropped from consideration. The contractors declined to comment.
Trent J. Carman has been appointed chief financial officer of the Denver-based Air Methods Corp. He succeeds Aaron Todd, who will become CEO with the retirement of George Belsey this month. Carman was CFO of StorNet Inc., Englewood, Colo.
Landing a major contract to develop a gearbox for Europrop International's 10,400-shp. TP400-D6 turboprop is expected to help Carlyle-Finmeccanica have a good start. Moreover, the Italian engine manufacturer was selected despite the Italian government's decision to withdraw from the European A400M airlifter program (see p. 26). Carlyle-Finmeccanica is the new name of the former FiatAvio, the Fiat group's aviation arm.
Regarding the British-built Mars lander, the phrase "Milton Keynes, the Beagle has landed" won't have the same ring as "Houston, the Eagle has landed."
AIRBUS HAS SELECTED ROCKWELL COLLINS as the standard supplier for some of the communications and navigation equipment for the new A380. Among the items Collins will provide are its VHF-920 and HF-900 data radios and the GLU-920 multimode receiver, which can provide landing guidance using instrument, microwave, or global navigation satellite landing systems (ILS, MLS or GLS). Collins also will supply a combined omnirange/marker beacon receiver, distance-measuring equipment and automatic direction finder.
Pierre Alary has been appointed senior vice president/chief financial officer of Montreal-based Bombardier Inc. He has held the position on an interim basis and had been vice president-finance. Michael H. McCain and Federico Sada have been named to the board of directors. McCain is president/ CEO of Maple Leaf Foods Inc., while Sada is president/CEO of Vitro S.A. of Mexico.
Alcoa has launched a 20-year initiative aimed at reducing the weight and cost of metallic aircraft components by 20% each. The company plans to follow an approach in which advances will be introduced incrementally. "This significantly improves the probability of success and reduces the risks associated with implementing our advanced metallic products--not only on future generations of aircraft, but with retrofitting them to current platforms and using them on derivatives, as well," said William F.
The Paris air show presents to visitors from around the world a wide selection of aerospace products, commercial and military aircraft, spacecraft, engines, systems and components. This year, nearly 200 aircraft types were displayed on the Le Bourget airport apron, ranging from Boeing's 777 to business jets and utility and light aircraft. AW&ST photos by Robert P. McAuley and Mike Vines.
MISSING LINK The Controller-Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC) program, a key effort in the FAA's plan to increase national airspace system capacity in the coming decade, is the first--but not the last--casualty in the agency's review of what air traffic control advances airlines can afford to take advantage of in the near term. The agency is shelving CPDLC rather than expand work beyond operational testing already conducted in Miami airspace, because it doesn't want to put its money where the carriers won't put theirs.
Craig Covault (Le Bourget), Michael A. Taverna (Le Bourget)
A rebound in the global commercial satcom market is emerging, according to top managers from Lockheed Martin, EADS and Alcatel Space, at the Paris Air Show. Along with a global commercial upturn, Europe's military space programs are also growing into an important new multibillion-dollar sector as European milspace is integrated with air, sea and land forces, much as in the U.S. Military satcom use by Brazil and South Korea also factored in new market gains.
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Attempting to secure a last-minute deal over the acquisition of additional Hawk jet trainers, the British Defense Ministry and BAE Systems are being forced to revamp procurement options. The Defense Ministry had wanted to use private financing in considering the acquisition of an advanced variant of the BAE Hawk, the Hawk 128. It has been considering a BAE private finance bid over the past weeks, for some 31 Hawk 128 aircraft.
Hopes for a quick approval of the Boeing KC-767A tanker lease by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Congress have been buoyed by the release of a U.S. Air Force revised tanker roadmap. Fairchild AFB, Wash., is to be the first facility to receive KC-767As. Units there will operate 32 of the new tankers beginning in 2006. To accommodate the aircraft, there will be $200 million in new construction. Grand Forks AFB, N.D. will receive another 32 767s by 2009 and benefit from $176 million in new military construction.
BAE Systems and the British Defense Ministry are aiming to finally agree on the overall systems configuration of the Nimrod MRA4 aircraft within the next few weeks. It has yet to be determined whether the MRA4 will be capable of using the Storm Shadow land-attack cruise missile.
Airbus' sales of A380 mega-transports are ahead of predictions, but the company soon could be confronted with a Boeing 747 Advanced while the proposed 7E7 Dreamliner is rapidly moving toward launch and is increasingly expected to receive the go-ahead by next year.
ATT METROLOGY HAS DEVELOPED an integrated laser tracker alignment system (LTAS) for the F-16 that provides faster and more accurate alignment of an aircraft's weapons system, including the head-up display. The company has already delivered one system to Lockheed Martin, with a second slated for early next year and a third in mid-2004. The laser system will replace optical systems now in use, and can achieve an alignment in a couple of hours, according to ATT Metrology. No permanent hardware is mounted in the aircraft.
General Electric has agreed to develop a new derivative of its CT7-8 engine to boost the power available to the Sikorsky H-92 Superhawk, a military version of the S-92 helicopter now vying with a version of the EH-101 for the privilege of transporting U.S. Presidents.
Douglas Barrie (Le Bourget), David A. Fulghum (Le Bourget)
The Israel Air Force will introduce an imaging-infrared-guided version of its high-agility Python 4 dogfight missile starting early in 2005. In unveiling the Python 5 here, Israeli guided-weapons developer Rafael said the missile would first be fielded on the IAF's F-16s. The new version has the same airframe configuration as the Python 4, relying on aerodynamic surfaces, rather than thrust-vector control, for its high agility.
Analyst opinions on the recent rally in airline stock prices reflect some common precepts but differ somewhat in outlook and in the details. Gary Chase of Lehman Brothers underscored his belief that a "gradual but powerful airline up cycle" has taken hold. He said the post-Iraq war stock rally has left few opportunities. He named Northwest Airlines and AirTran Airways as among those that had been left out of the rally and yet were deserving.
John R. Wormington has become executive director of program executability and Jeffery A. Quirk has been promoted to general manager from associate general manager of the Space-Based Surveillance Div.at The Aerospace Corp., El Segundo, Calif. Wormington was an executive of Boeing Satellite Systems and Hughes Space and Communications. Quirk succeeds John H. Winterkorn, who has retired. Dean C.
LAUNCH MILESTONE Russia's Proton rocket marked its 300th flight with the June 7 launch of an Alcatel-built communications satellite. Lifting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Proton with a Breeze M upper stage carried the AMC-9 spacecraft to its geostationary transfer orbit. Ultimately Alcatel will deliver the 4,100-kg. spacecraft to SES Americom at 85 deg. W. Long., where it will provide C- and Kuband service to North America. The first Proton, a two-stage version designated UR-500, was launched on July 16, 1965.
The European Commission is studying the establishment of a homeland defense initiative that would combine border patrol, airport surveillance, electronic security, antiterrorism activities and other domestic security matters into a single program supported by a common budget line.
Northwest Airlines cut 150 mechanics from its workforce last week, saying the recent traffic decline in Asia due to concerns about SARS led to the temporary removal of 16 Boeing 747-200s from service.
Mars Exploration Rover engineers were preparing last week for the first trajectory correction maneuver, set for June 20, designed to put the spacecraft on a course for Mars. Telemetry shows the first week of cruise phase has gone well. The mission, known as Mars Exploration Rover-A (MER-A), lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on June 10 for its seven-month trip to Mars (AW&ST June 16, p. 61). The second MER-B mission is now undergoing final preparation for launch on June 26. The MER-A rover is named "Spirit" and the MER-B rover "Opportunity."
ROCKETS FOR RAINFALL A Chinese institute that produces military hardware says it hopes to market a portable rocket-based cloud-seeding system to help farmers by generating rainfall or hindering the formation of crop-damaging hail. The Rainfall Enhancement and Hail Suppression Rocket System would use multiple rockets, each about 6 ft. long, mounted on a launcher rig that can be fixed in the back of a truck or positioned on a simple stationary mount. China's 41st Institute of the Fourth Academy, better known in U.S.
