The effort to improve security will more than double over five years, according to Instat/MDR. The top security budget item for 2003 is improving remote access for employees, business partners and customers. Sales of network security items worldwide were $2.3 billion in 2001 and are projected to reach $5.8 billion. The majority of this, $3.8 billion, will be for firewalls and virtual private network devices, Instat/MDR said. Intrusion detection devices will also have healthy growth.
House Science Committee members will get another whack at NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe this week, after the 4-hr. grilling on the Columbia accident they helped administer Feb.12 (AW&ST Feb. 17, p. 24). But this time, the topic will be the agency's Fiscal 2004 budget request, which was lost in the post-accident shuffle.
The June 16-22 Paris air show would not be affected by a congressional resolution set to discourage U.S. exhibitors from participating in the event, according to French air show executives. Rep. Jim Saxton (R-N.J.), late last week, was circulating the proposed resolution in a quest for support on the House of Representatives' floor after being joined by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, and Rep. Rob Andrews (D-N.J.), a member of the House Homeland Security Committee.
The Missile Defense Agency is sponsoring a technology transfer demonstration project, the Commercial Technology Exploitation Initiative. The undertaking, managed by the National Technology Transfer Center-Washington Ops, is intended to identify commercial, nondefense technologies that can enhance ballistic missile defense capabilities and forge relationships between MDA program elements and commercial industry. The initial meeting was held last October; project findings are scheduled for release this spring.
NASA Johnson Space Center documents from as far back as 1988 show that wing roughness, similar to that associated with the orbiter Columbia's left wing, could result in a catastrophic burn-through when combined with potentially significant wing impact damage resembling that being investigated in the Feb. 1 reentry accident.
Capt. William D. Pollock, who is chairman of the Air Line Pilots Assn. Master Executive Council at US Airways, has been appointed to the board of directors. He succeeds Capt. Chris Beebe, who has become national vice president-finance/treasurer.
CIRA (Italian Aerospace Research Center) in Capua received a contract from NATO Nahema (NATO Helicopter Management Agency) to perform icing tests of the T700/T6E1 GE/FiatAvio engine chosen to equip Italian navy and army NH90s. The work is to be carried out on a full-scale mockup of the NH90 upper deck in an icing tunnel that opened last year.
A nine-day "Schriever II" war game--which began last week and involves about 300 people from the civil, commercial and defense space communities--is exploring critical national security space issues. Through a complex scenario set in 2017, the wargame will look at the impacts current and near-term future space capabilities could have on terrestrial battles. In particular, the effects that laws, policies and strategies have on future space operations will be examined, and insights for "effects-based acquisition" programs will be developed.
Thomas D. Grunbeck (see photo) has been named vice president-sales and marketing for the Safe Flight Instrument Corp., White Plains, N.Y. He was a vice president of the Barnes Aerospace Group.
Japan Airlines and American Airlines are expanding their code-share agreement in April. JAL will start a code-share with American's daily one-way flights, effectively increasing JAL's one-way frequencies to 30 per week. On the Tokyo-Dallas/Fort Worth route, American will increase its code-sharing to 24 from 22 flights per week. The new flights expand the carriers' 1995 basic code-share agreement to 104 international and domestic routes and 1,400 flights a week.
An arbitration court at the International Chamber of Commerce will decide in May whether Alcatel Space should be awarded damages for termination of operational and alliance agreements early last year by Space Systems/Loral and its parent company, Loral Space & Communications, and if so, what the amount should be. Alcatel has filed for $350 million in damages. After finding Loral liable last year for certain breaches in the agreements, the arbitration court on Jan.
The Columbia tragedy offers a chance to reach a new consensus on how best to use the surviving space shuttles' unique capabilities, and how to begin switching to an alternate way to space. Frank Sietzen, Jr., president of the Space Transportation Assn., argues for deliberation rather than emotion in a Viewpoint on the Next Century of Flight on p. 54. The Next Century of Flight is a five-year Aviation Week multimedia initiative to explore the future of aviation and aerospace.
Jeffrey A. Reid has become vice president-information technology for Executive Jet Management Inc. of Cincinnati. He was information technology globalization leader for the services division of General Electric Aircraft Engines.
Air Force Secretary James G. Roche doesn't blanch at reminding the acquisition community of its occasional technological timidity and ingrained conservatism. "I still have in my top desk drawer a memorandum from those who said [the Predator] wasn't ready for production, it was too risky to employ, it didn't work and it was unsuitable for war. It's fun to look at it every now and then." The unmanned reconnaissance and strike aircraft is in "great demand in every theater," he added.
BAE Systems has begun ground trials of its Seaspray 7000E active electronically scanned array radar. The 7000E has been designed to meet maritime helicopter radar requirements, but the company believes it will also be readily applicable for fixed-wing and unmanned aerial vehicle needs.
The U.S. Air Force has fine-tuned a proposed lease of 100 Boeing 767-200 refuelers in the hope of overcoming resistance from lease critics and getting a go-ahead for the deal. After more than a year of negotiations, a decision on whether the Pentagon will give the green light to the lease is anticipated in the coming weeks. Boeing CEO Phil Condit says he expects resolution of the issue this quarter. The topic is under intense scrutiny by the Defense Dept., says Pentagon acquisition chief E.C. (Pete) Aldridge, Jr., with a decision to come soon.
ROCKWELL COLLINS' PRO LINE 21 CONTINUUM avionic system has been certified for the Hawker 700 business jet, bringing to 14 the number of aircraft certified to use the system. The installation features five FDS-2000 liquid crystal displays, TCAS-4000-850 turbulence detection weather radar and dual AHRS-3000A.
DASSAULT AVIATION FLEW its new EASy flight deck avionic system for the first time late last month on a Falcon 2000EX. The 2-hr. 20-min. flight was completed without incident. The fully integrated cockpit management system is based on Honeywell's Primus Epic design.
Kent L. Statler has been appointed senior vice president-operations for Rockwell Collins, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He succeeds Herm M. Reininga, who is now senior vice president-special projects and is expected to retire later this year. Statler was vice president-manufacturing operations.
HONEYWELL'S 2003-07 FORECAST for civil helicopters projects North America to be the largest market for new turbine-powered models, accounting for more than 40% of new sales during the period. About 60% of these acquisitions would occur between 2005-07, with single-engine aircraft dominating the market. Europe is forecast to show "a pronounced increase" in sales during 2005-07, but pending regulations governing the use of helicopters over populated areas will affect how operators choose their next new aircraft, according to the survey.
Lee S. Kreindler, senior partner of Kreindler & Kreindler, a New York firm specializing in aviation disaster litigation, died Feb. 18. He was 78. Kreindler, who graduated from Dartmouth College in 1945 and Harvard Law School in 1949, was considered an expert in the field. Kreindler wrote the three-volume "Aviation Accident Law" and numerous law review articles on aviation law. He organized and led the 1966-83 fight to defeat the Montreal protocols to the Warsaw Convention and was involved in numerous precedent-setting cases.
Finmeccanica and Snecma are evaluating a joint bid for FiatAvio in an attempt to woo the aerospace and naval engine maker from under the eyes of the Carlyle Group, and other contenders may yet appear.
The lifting of U.S. sanctions has prompted Indian defense officials to cast a wider net as they look for foreign manufacturing partners to develop a military industrial base. Unlike their neighbor, China, the Indians aren't seeking self-sufficiency, although their goals include an export capability and the prospect of tapping their own huge labor pool to produce 70% of their own weapons systems, Defense Minister George Fernandes said at this month's Aero India, the nation's fourth international exhibition.
