Originally developed to facilitate installation of high-speed wireless data networks by assessing clear line-of-sight conditions between geographic locations, VexLink has been enhanced to include emergency preparedness and emergency response simulations. The software can be used to study propagation of toxic gas and other airborne contamination, and models created from these studies provide data for risk assessment and evacuation planning. Photo shows a realistic depiction of observed air patterns and pollution measurements.
Unattended ground sensors used in Vietnam are making a comeback. During a recent demonstration, the Navy used Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency-funded, BAE Systems-developed micro-internetted unattended ground sensors (Miugs) to locate moving targets on the ground, according to BAE Systems. The information was relayed to a command site 30 mi. away and used to cue a Predator unmanned aircraft, which provided imagery and positive target identification for an F/A-18 strike.
The Pentagon decides to boost production of the Patriot PAC-3 interceptor missiles after realizing the low rate at which it was buying the weapon could cause a supply shortage in case of conflict. So acquisition czar E.C. (Pete) Aldridge wants to boost procurement this fiscal year to 100 from 79 and to 108 from 100 for Fiscal 2004. With the move to an acquisition program, the Pentagon also wants the Army to start managing the effort, rather than the research and development-focused Missile Defense Agency.
Orbital Sciences Corp. has tested the first stage rocket motor for the ground-based mid-course missile defense interceptor being developed to supplant the surrogate booster currently used. The motor, built by Alliant Techsystems' Thiokol Propulsion division, fired for 70 sec. The test also demonstrated the system's thrust vectoring capability. The first interceptor launch is slated for early next year.
The Concorde's involvement in four incidents in a six-week period is raising industry doubts about the airworthiness of the aging fleet of supersonic jets that entered service in 1972. The most recent event occurred Nov. 27, with British Airways Flight 001's inflight loss of a piece of rudder. On Nov. 6, a Paris-bound Air France Concorde crew shut down an engine after a warning light appeared in the cockpit after takeoff. On Nov. 3, engine problems forced a New York-bound BA Concorde's return to Heathrow. On Oct.
France is studying a high-power airborne jammer intended to bolster Europe's ability to penetrate enemy air defense systems. Carried internally or in a pod, the jammer would utilize digital radio-frequency memory (DRFM) technology to temporarily blind surface radar systems--one of the objectives of SEAD (suppression of enemy air defense) missions. DRFM units store the exact signal received and play it back against enemy threats. The unit could be carried on a dedicated mission platform, manned or unmanned, or directly on strike aircraft.
The U.S. military will be ready to employ several new weapons against Iraq that weren't available months ago for the Afghanistan campaign, including technology to better attack facilities that manufacture weapons of mass destruction. The Air Force alone is mulling more than 20 combat mission needs statements that have emerged during the past few months. The U.S. Navy, for its part, could deploy F/A-18E/Fs that recently saw their first operational use in the Southern No-Fly Zone over Iraq, employing 1,000-lb. Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs).
John G. Borger will receive the Daniel Guggenheim Medal for "pioneering contributions to aircraft and the airline industry from flying boats to jet aircraft." He retired in 1980 after more than 40 yearsat Pan American World Airways.
The Nov. 18 issue was rampant with unsubstantiated attacks on airline labor. Pilot labor costs are cited in several articles as problematic. When I started with American Airlines, my first year's pay was a third of what I made in the U.S. Air Force. A friend who started during the same month at Southwest Airlines made nearly twice as much as me. Southwest pilots receive megamillion-dollar retirements in stock options. Pilots are only willing to work for JetBlue/Comair wages to earn a job with one of the Big Six.
Pratt & Whitney Canada recently signed a five-year agreement with Atlantic Turbines International Inc. for customized component repair support of ATI's Prince Edward Island facility through the exchange of rotable components. The agreement covers all P&WC engines being maintained at the facility. The contract, valued at more than $25 million, marks a significant step in the growth of P&WC's Aerospace Component Services Group.
The company has developed a three-dimensional measuring device that it says will reduce the time necessary to measure aircraft propeller blades during repair or manufacture. The company estimates that Twin Precision AeroScan will save as much as 60 min. per blade during inspection. Based on machines designed for marine propellers, this device scans the blade surfaces with probes that follow the curvature of the article to be inspected and takes 4,000 readings per in. The product will measure with linear resolution of 0.0002 in. and angles to 0.05 deg.
The loss of the Eurofighter Typhoon Development Aircraft 6 is being attributed to a surge in both engines, said sources close to the program. The aircraft was fitted with an early preproduction model of the EJ200 power plant. A recommendation was issued that flying be resumed on the Typhoon. Meanwhile, Britain appears to be anticipating contractual type acceptance on the Typhoon no earlier then March 2003, with handover to the Royal Air Force in June 2003. This had originally been intended for June 2002.
The company's BIOAdvantage HEPA cabin air recirculation filters are used by Southwest Airlines in their Boeing 737s. The filters combine high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration with the antimicrobial activity of "Microban" technology. The antimicrobial additives are effective against a spectrum of bacteria, fungi and yeast that can cause degradation of filters, says the company. The filters have FAA-PMA approval and are available for Boeing 737, 747, 757, 767, 777, DC-10, MD-11, MD80 and MD-90, and Airbus A319, A320 and A321, aircraft. Donaldson Co.
Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) in Tullahoma, Tenn., is automating both the 16-ft. transonic wind tunnel and 16-ft. supersonic tunnel as part of a four-phase Propulsion Wind Tunnel Sustainment Program scheduled to be completed in Fiscal 2004, according to the U.S. Air Force. Major modifications include a new data acquisition and control system, a model installation building, two new motors and transformers, and a 90,000-kw. electronic speed power system in the main drive area.
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) plans to use a newly created battle management experimentation cell to try out technologies that could be useful in its ballistic missile shield architecture. The Pentagon established the Command and Control Battle Management Center-Experimental Laboratory (C2BMC-X) at Shriever AFB, Colo. The facility is designed to allow integration and evaluation of new C2 capabilities.
Satellite manufacturers worldwide are trying to find the magic mix of technology, capability and markets to help them weather ongoing sluggish sales in the commercial geostationary communications spacecraft market.
Boeing airplanes with Crane Hydro-Aire fuel pumps have been hit with another emergency airworthiness directive that requires increasing unusable fuel to keep the pumps submerged away from fuel vapors.
The company offers what it says is the first, complete, single-image online flight planning system with approach charts and on-course overlays of TFRs, SUAs and NexRad weather in a single-pass ultra-high-speed Web image. FlightPrep users can have the overall flight picture in a single image rather than using multiple sites to collect the data. The product has a chart construction engine that allows all pertinent data to be shown immediately on a single Web page chart.
Germany late last week took an ax to several key air force and army procurement programs, wielding numbers cuts aimed at paring defense expenditure by several billion euros over the next few years. However, the move should break the Berlin-induced logjam on collaborative European programs such as the six-nation Meteor air-to-missile and the A400M military airlifter. Alongside the A400M and Meteor, the IRIS-T dogfight missile, the Tiger attack helicopter, and the NH90 transport helicopter are all being squeezed by Defense Minister Peter Struck.
A robotics snafu on the International Space Station that disrupted the Endeavour crew's third excursion outside the ISS is sparking an investigation into configuration control procedures and has uncovered potential operational issues, especially important to less-forgiving robotic operations planned in 2003.
The Chinese Shenzhou 3 orbital module was maneuvered into a destructive reentry over the Indian Ocean last month after 232 days in space, giving its ground controllers practice in varied mission operations. The design allows the module to remain functional for unmanned experimentation once future manned Shenzhou descent modules return to Earth. The fourth unmanned Shenzhou flight test is planned by January.
The latest vision for future air travel includes a timetable for increasing the use of information technology for air traffic management, as well as plans to accommodate new types of air vehicles.
NASA Web masters are already bracing for January 2004, when twin Mars Exploration Rovers are scheduled to be up and running across the surface of the red planet. Orlando Figueroa, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA headquarters, says experts predict Webcasts of the rover imagery will far surpass the number of Internet hits generated by Mars Pathfinder in July 1997. Between July 1 and Aug. 4 of that year, the 20 Pathfinder mirror sites logged 565 million hits. On July 8, as word of the Pathfinder Webcasts spread, 47 million viewers checked the sites.
