Honeywell has been selected by the FAA to provide development, manufacturing, airport installation, training and support for a satellite-based precision approach and landing system. The initial contract is valued at $16.7 million, but the program could be worth up to $350 million with all options exercised.
HH-60G aircrew operated in Iraq with both new weapons and a tool to receive intelligence updates in flight, boosting the U.S. Air Force's efforts to gradually improve its combat search-and-rescue (CSAR) helicopters. The Air Force established HH-60G units all around Iraq in the run-up to the war, with each unit assigned a sector of the country. Once forward operating locations were secured, the helicopters moved into Iraq to reduce the response time in case pilots of downed aircraft had to be rescued.
In an overtime legislative session that Gov. Gary Locke called out of fear that Boeing might shift assembly of its next big aircraft project out of Washington State, the manufacturer won a series of tax breaks and regulatory reforms last week. Locke said the tax breaks, valued at $3.2 billion over 20 years, constituted a "a big gulp" but were necessary as Boeing considers where to assemble the 7E7, the mid-sized "super-efficient" twinjet that is expected to be its next big project (see p. 111).
Assembly of the first two Automated Transfer Vehicles (ATVs) that Europe will use to resupply and reboost the International Space Station is in the home stretch here. The second flight article is set for shipment to the Netherlands this month for detailed developmental testing and the first--dubbed Jules Verne--is scheduled to move on in August to Germany, where it will be mated with its propulsion unit.
Grady C. Wright (see photo) has been named president/chief operating officer of Universal Systems & Technology Inc., Centreville, Va. He was president of the telecommunications division of the Computer Sciences Corp. and had been senior vice president-telecommunications and network solutions at DynCorp.
Telephonics Corp. has won a contract from L-3 Communications to deliver three ground surveillance radars to be deployed by USAF's force protection unit for long-range surveillance.
MORE EMBRY-RIDDLE MBAS It was announced here earlier this year that the University of Tennessee's College of Business Administration had recently introduced "the first fully accredited executive MBA program in the U.S." focused on aviation. In fact, this August, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University expects to bestow Executive MBAs for Aviation and Aerospace Professionals to its fourth class to receive this degree.
Capt. Don Bliss in "Airline Service Cheapened"(AW&ST May 5, p. 6) has it all wrong. The low-cost carriers didn't win, but rather the majors lost. If there is any "dragging down," the majors have done it to themselves. The passengers simply voted with their feet.
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW Wonks at the State Dept. are in for a spanking after they refused to let Deputy Assistant Secretary Steve Pifer testify on Capitol Hill as part of a panel on U.S.-Russian cooperation in space. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), who chairs the House space and aeronautics subcommittee, directed a staffer to place a Russian Matryoshka doll at Pifer's seat to protest the official's absence. Pifer would have testified alone, Rohrabacher said, but apparently not on a panel that included Henry Sokolski, an ex-aide to Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz.
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Gerald Ford, vice president-corporate strategic planning for Arinc, Annapolis, Md., has been named a member of the Chesapeake Innovation Center (CIC) Advisory Committee of Anne Arundel County. A primary focus of the CIC will be development of companies specializing in homeland security/defense technology. c
Messier-Bugatti-Tracer has selected Avexus' Impresa software to manage its maintenance, repair and overhaul process at its FAA/JAA Part 145 repair stations in Milwaukee and Miami.
The company has introduced a range of precision RF coaxial adapters for connecting test equipment such as vector network analyzers and Mil-C-39012 interfaces. They are designed to assure optimum electrical performance. The adapters feature a 7-mm. interface on one end and an SMA, Type N, TNC, HN and SC on the other, and operate from DC to 18GHz. with a VSWR 1.10 max., depending on the series. Featuring a six-slot center contact on the 7-mm.
In Air Canada's May traffic report, the carrier attributes ongoing revenue deterioration to severe acute respiratory syndrome and said advisories cautioning travelers to avoid Toronto is an ongoing factor. The report says SARS continues to have "a major negative impact" on traffic not only on Asian routes but throughout Air Canada's network because travelers link SARS to the entire country, not just Toronto. The carrier said SARS resulted in a C$125-million ($92.6-million) loss in revenue in April.
Charles Celli has been appointed vice president/general manager of Gulfstream Aerospace's Dallas aircraft service and completion facility. He was director of operations at the Savannah, Ga., service center.
China's fourth-largest carrier, independent Hainan Airlines, is in talks to acquire Sanya Phoenix International Airport on Hainan Island. The airline manages the facility, which was $76 million in the red last year and embroiled in more than 100 lawsuits. China's aviation regulators want to close airports that continuously lose money, but the airline says Sanya Phoenix can be saved.
At the simple, cheap and available end of the spectrum for devices to protect airliners from infrared missile attack is Elta Electronics Industries' Flight Guard system.
The French air force's Eagle I unmanned aerial vehicle made its first flight June 2 at Israel's main UAV training and test facility at Ein Shemer north of Tel Aviv. The aircraft is continuing with envelope expansion flights and this week is slated for its first automatic takeoff and landing. The aircraft is a joint venture between Israel Aircraft Industries' Malat Div. for the airframe and EADS for the mission equipment.
Dassault Aviation recently delivered the first five of 32 new-design Mirage Space 2000-9s to the United Arab Emirates (see p. 125). At the heart of the system is a Thales Radar that can track 24 targets and engage four simultaneously. When the Mirages are joined by the UAE's Block 60 F-16s, that nation will have one of the most modern, sophisticated fighter forces. Dassault Aviation photo by Francois Robineau.
The U.S. Air Force has selected Lockheed Martin to supply the AN/TPS-77 transportable radar system for the USAF Pacific Alaska Range Complex, under a contract worth up to $14 million.
This enhanced bit rate (EBR) 1553 PC/104 card is built with the company's Enhanced Mini-ACE 1553 core. The EBR 1551 is a next-generation 10Mb/s product that is Mil-Std-1553 compliant with the SAE Miniature Munitions/Store Interface standard. It was designed to meet the needs of munitions applications by enabling 1553 data rates of 10Mb/s. Code-written for Mil-Std-1553 libraries, it will also run with EBR-1553 libraries and can be used to decrease development times and reduce risk, according to the company.
Designed for low-Earth orbit and launch vehicle power systems, the M3L28 family of off-the-shelf radiation-tolerant DC-to-DC converter "building blocks" addresses space industry demand for shorter design cycles and less costly design analyses. The converters are designed for extended operation in moderate radiation environments, and will operate without performance or power de-rating at temperatures from -55C to +125C. The mechanical design has been qualified to absorb the mechanical shock and vibration normally encountered during launch.
Much of Israel's defense technology future is predictable: more precise weapons, improved intelligence gathering, long-range strike capabilities, larger unmanned aircraft and networking of information. Less obvious is an almost invisible but very focused effort on developing systems, particularly weapons, that don't rely on GPS guidance (which can be jammed), that include both offensive and defensive computer network attack capabilities and make extensive use of armed unmanned aircraft.
Jim Thiele, CEO, American Blimp Corp. (Hillsboro, Ore.)
As the head of one of the few legitimate airship manufacturing companies, I can respond to John A. Eney's comments about "naive enthusiasm for a hybrid ultra-large airship" and the role of lighter-than-air (LTA) "as entertainment on the Discovery and History channels" (AW&ST May 12, p. 6).
