A plan to train pilots to carry guns in the cockpit has been approved by the Transportation Security Admini-stration director, James Loy, but pilot unions aren't happy with the details. The Air Line Pilots Assn. said the plan raises "significant security, safety and liability issues" due to requirements that pilots carry the handguns in a lock-box when away from the flight deck rather than in a holster, which would protect against loss or theft. The Allied Pilots Assn., bargaining agent for 13,500 American Airlines pilots, also protested.
There's a policy split in the Pentagon over information warfare, driven partly by calculations that attacking key civilian Iraqi computer systems might damage banking in France and, possibly, the U.K. as well. Another concern is that the strain on the U.S. tanker fleet generated by its support of the air bridge to Europe and the Middle East might prevent simultaneous, round-the-clock combat operations, say senior Air Force officials. That, in turn, could delay the start of offensive operations against Iraq.
Singapore has become the first Asian country to acquire the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. It signed a letter of intent last week to acquire an indefinite number in 2008 as replacements for its A-4 Skyhawks and F-5 Tigers after 2010. Singapore also flies the F-16. As part of the JSF agreement, Singapore's defense industries are to take part in design and development of the multirole fighter.
One has to assume that Stephen J. Cabot's Viewpoint represented a position supported by your editorial board. Otherwise, his views would be stated in a letter to the editor, where they belong. I am disappointed by your position as you often have presented information and statistics that have left no doubt that the airline industry has long suffered from poor management and low productivity. Rarely does management suffer from its incompetence, whereas rank-and-file employees face a loss of seniority and have to start over.
War worries? Not in Qatar, where the Mar. 13-16 Qatar Masters Golf Tournament will proceed as scheduled, and Qatar Airways says it will fly in any guest who wants to attend.
BAE Systems and Rheinmetall are finalizing a deal that would see the breakup of STN Atlas, which is jointly owned by the two other companies. The naval systems business would be transferred to BAE, with land systems going to Rheinmetall.
Boeing and the National Reconnaissance Office are negotiating a contract to launch four additional satellites from 2005-08. The order would be only for Delta IV Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles sent up from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. Boeing's EELV competitor, Lockheed Martin, opted not to build a heavy EELV infrastructure at Vandenberg, leaving Boeing with a monopoly. The deal is set to be concluded in April. The missions are designated NROL-25, NROL-41, NROL-39 and NROL-45.
Paul Clark has been appointed managing director of the European Center for Aeronautic and Aviation Studies. He was manager for marketing development and training for Airbus.
Lengthening the airlines' list of government measures needed to help them survive, Delta CEO Leo Mullin calls for the Justice and Transportation Depts. to stop discouraging mergers, alliances and asset sales. Justice blocked a United-US Airways merger in 2001 before permitting an alliance last year, and Delta still wants to join the Northwest-Continental alliance under terms more favorable than Transportation has been willing to go along with.
The steady drop in projected F/A-22 purchases is forcing U.S. Air Force leaders to consider retaining more F15C/D air superiority fighters to avoid a shortfall in operational capability. USAF has been counting on having a number of F-15C/Ds in service for the long term, since the F/A-22 procurement goal has languished below what would be required to replace all the existing fighters. But with the F/A-22 procurement number now hovering at 276 aircraft, the service may be forced to retain more than the expected 179 F-15C/Ds.
It is hard to decide which of the many reactions I should communicate regarding "Pulling Tickets: TSA Weighs In" (AW&ST Feb. 3, p. 44). Briefly then, a summary: *Growing up, I wanted to live like a pilot in an Ernest K. Gann novel, not like one in a Franz Kafka novel. *Looks like "Don't ask, don't tell" should be the motto of this program. "Don't let the pilot ask, don't tell the pilot anything."
Ivan A. Getting and Bradford W. Parkinson (see photos) have received the annual Charles Stark Draper Prize from the Washington-based National Academy of Engineering for their work to develop GPS. Getting is president emeritus of The Aerospace Corp. of Los Angeles. In the 1950s, he envisioned a system that would use satellite transmitters to pinpoint locations anywhere on Earth with extreme accuracy. Getting later worked to ensure the system was built. Parkinson was the Defense Dept.
The future of British Airways' Concorde operations is being reviewed in response to weak premium-passenger business. Airline executives last week acknowledged they "have discussed the retirement of Concorde," but stressed that no decision has been made. No similar review is being planned by Air France, Vice President-Marketing Bruno Matheu said. Both carriers, however, have declined to publish average load factors in an indication that supersonic services between Paris, London and New York could be seriously affected by the long-lasting economic downturn.
WORLD NEWS ROUNDUP 18 Midori II satellite transmits first images 19 Full-scale development of Cosmo-SkyMed system OK'd 19 Last signal for 31-year-old Pioneer 10 spacecraft WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS 22 Satcom industry trims ambi- tions as weak market persists 24 Partners pull together to help Russia keep ISS stocked 33 USAF redefines boundaries of computer attack vs. Iraq 34 Researchers plan more tests for X-47A after first flight
Europe's Ariane 5 has been selected as the primary launch vehicle for Orbital Recovery Corp.'s Geosynch Spacecraft Life Extension System. Arianespace will orbit at least four SLES space tugs beginning in 2005. ORC recently signed an agreement with German aerospace center DLR to use its robotic capture tool concept (AW&ST Dec. 9, 2002, p. 23).
Douglas Barrie (London), Michael A. Taverna (Paris)
Germany's continuing economic difficulties are placing defense and space spending plans under renewed pressure--with cuts in both areas. All three air components of Germany's armed services are to suffer reductions as the defense ministry moves to trim more than $3 billion in potential expenditure over the next 10 years. Space research programs have also been squeezed by the parliament's budget committee.
It seems clear that Airbus and Boeing are at the same point in the evolution of aircraft design as racing yacht designers: They are refining minor imperfections of a perfect circle (AW&ST Jan. 20, p. 20). If Boeing wants to capture 100% of the commercial aircraft market, it should create a quiet (silent) airplane. Every commercial airport is restricted by the power of environmental groups. People will not tolerate aircraft noise, which limits the use and expansion of runways, and leads to lost airport revenues.
The U.S. Air Force plans to convert 10 C130s into special operations MC-130H Combat Talon II-like aircraft that are used to insert elite combat units and refuel special ops helicopters. The upgrade will be done in phases, with the C-130Hs first receiving most of the Combat Talon II kit, but not the terrain-following, terrain-avoidance radar. The aircraft will then undergo the C-130-wide avionics modernization program that should provide all C-130s with a modern and highly common cockpit--the new C130Js don't require the upgrade.
Japan's Midori II Earth observation satellite has transmitted its first images in real-time via the National Space Development Agency's Kodama data relay test satellite.
Also tapped for the Middle East are two USAF Global Hawk recon UAVs--air vehicles 3 and 6. They will be flown sequentially, starting this week, back to their base in the United Arab Emirates. Both will be equipped with the combination electro-optical, infrared and synthetic aperture radar payload. Air vehicle 7 was delivered to the Air Force Feb. 14 (see p. 58). It and air vehicle 1 will continue as test aircraft. Three of the long-range, high-altitude unmanned aircraft have crashed.
The seventh Global Hawk lands at Edwards AFB, Calif., on Feb. 14 following a flight from Northrop Grumman's fabrication plant at nearby Palmdale. As the unmanned aerial vehicle program's last advanced concept technology platform, No. 7 will be used for development testing and upgrade evaluations. A number of improvements incorporated into this version evolved from lessons learned during operational missions over Afghanistan, according to U.S. Air Force officials.
Robert P. Barker has been appointed president of the Cleveland-based Parker Hannifin Corp.'s Aerospace Group. He was vice president-operations for flight controls and hydraulic systems. Barker succeeds Steve Hayes, who is scheduled to retire later this year.
The U.S. Air Force's top civilian leader chided uniformed officers and Lockheed Martin officials for a lack of attention to details in the F/A-22 program. This failure, he asserted, resulted in fewer stealthy fighters that the service will be able to buy under the congressional spending cap--276 instead of the 339 planned earlier.
