Northrop Grumman's demonstrator unmanned combat aircraft has made its maiden flight at the China Lake, Calif., Naval Air Warfare Center, although the future of the sea service's UCAV program remains in flux. During its initial 12-min. sortie on Feb. 23, the tailless, 27.9-ft. long, 27.8ft. wingspan, diamond-shaped X-47A Pegasus autonomously climbed about 1,200ft., reached a speed of 150 kt. and landed within 20 ft. of a predetermined spot on the runway.
Frontier Airlines' new pricing structure is linked with a larger company drive to eradicate as many complications of doing business with the Denver carrier as possible. All one-way fares are capped at $499, including coast-to-coast flights, and the highest-level business fares are reduced by 44%. Sample fares indicated that some discounts may be even deeper than under the former fare structure, but their availability is not known. Fares may be booked on a one-way basis.
Japan is expected to order another set of four military recon satellites for launch in 2008 as a second-generation update of the four to be put into 400-600-km. (250-375-mi.) high orbits this year. As with the first group, the improved versions are likely to be built by Mitsubishi Electric Corp. Launch date for the first two satellites has been scheduled for Mar. 28; the second set will follow in July.
Nature abhors a vacuum, and so do airlines. Little more than a week after America West announced it will shut down its hub in Columbus, Ohio, by mid-June, AirTran applied to take over the Washington Reagan National Airport slot exemptions Amwest has used for Columbus nonstops. AirTran, which won four DCA exemptions recently for service to Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers or West Palm Beach, Fla., (AW&ST Feb. 3, p. 17), would use the three additional slots to serve its hub, Atlanta.
William S. Ayer, who has been president/CEO of Alaska Airlines, has been named to succeed John F. Kelly as chairman/CEO of parent Alaska Air Group. Kelly is scheduled to retire on May 20.
France Tele- com Mobile Satellite Services will integrate Thuraya mobile satphone services into its portfolio of satellite products in a move the company says will allow it to expand the offering throughout its distribution network. Unlike the ill-fated Iridium and Globalstar low-Earth orbit ventures, Thuraya uses a single geostationary Boeing spacecraft that permits the use of compact, low-cost receivers. Thuraya provides sat/cell phone, GPS location finding and 9.6-Kbps. fax/data transmission services to customers in the Middle East, Central Asia, Africa and Europe.
Top USAF generals are also discussing information operations/warfare doctrine and how to fine-tune it. "An awful lot of good work has been done over the last 6-7 years, but there are significant differences in view among those in the Office of the Defense Secretary and the worlds of intelligence, special operations and strategic command," Martin said. "We're in the process of realigning to make sure we're all looking at the problem in the same way." Some Air Force factions are urging caution.
Looking beyond the threat of war in the Middle East and financial woes in its own ranks, the Star Alliance is marking a major expansion in South Korea and China as it strengthens its offerings in a region where airline markets have growth rates that are the envy of Europeans and Americans.
The British Defense Ministry is confronted with either extending the life of its venerable Canberra PR9 strategic reconnaissance aircraft or facing a funding constraint-driven capability gap. While the Defense Ministry last month moved toward resolving a long-standing tactical reconnaissance requirement--through its Watchkeeper unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program--the timely replacement of the strategic capability now met by the aged PR9--likely with a UAV--poses significant financial challenges.
Italian space agency ASI has given the green light for full-scale development of Italy's 1.15-billion-euro ($1.24-billion) Cosmo-SkyMed radar surveillance system. ASI plans to sign off on a contract with prime contractor Alenia Spazio this week for the first phase of the system--part of a planned dual-use radar/optical imaging network to be deployed in cooperation with France. This phase will be worth 220 million euros.
War with Iraq almost certainly will cause financial pressures on the U.S. airline industry to go from bad to worse, with sharply higher fuel prices sure to ensue. Exacerbating the situation will be the military's substantially increased use of jet fuel, which is apt to cause traders to bid up the price of oil, ATA economist David Swierenga noted. As it is, there has been a huge run-up in jet fuel prices, he said. Every $1 increase in the price of a barrel of oil adds $450 million to the industry's fuel bill, according to Merrill Lynch analyst Michael J. Linenberg.
Those Earth-like gullies on Mars first spotted by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) three years ago may have been caused by melting snow, according to a new theory advanced by an Arizona State University researcher who drew on the high-resolution MGS images and the newer, wider field images collected by the Mars Odyssey orbiter. Philip Christensen, principal investigator on Odyssey's camera system, postulates that the gullies formed underneath melting snowpack that left them exposed when it had completely evaporated.
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."
