Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. is seeking long-term, firm commitments from its supplier base to help meet stringent customer requirements for the schedule and affordability associated with the F-35, F/A-22, F-16 and C-130J programs. At a supplier conference hosted by LMAC earlier this month, senior company officials promised the business will exceed $4 billion annually providing vendors meet the company's mandates for cost, schedule and responsiveness, according to Mike Walters, vice president of material management.
Why would a sophisticated airborne intelligence-gathering system like Rivet Joint be needed against a seemingly primitive military foe like the Taliban or Al Qaeda in Afghanistan? Because in several respects--including human intelligence gathering and secure communications--they are actually among the world's sophisticated practitioners, and their wireless networks serve as the central nervous system of Al Qaeda's military reconnaissance and command structure.
George W.S. Abbey, former director of Johnson Space Center and long a central figure in NASA's human spaceflight activities, will retire on Jan. 3, 2003. Abbey joined the Apollo program at JSC as an Air Force captain in 1964, and became a civilian NASA employee there in 1967. After rising through the JSC flight operations bureaucracy, he was appointed center director in 1996. He held that post until February 2001, when Administrator Daniel S. Goldin shunted him aside after big funding shortfalls in the ISS program came to light.
Datamat has received a $5.6-million contract from Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. to operate and support the C-130J National Training Center for the Italian air force. The facility is located in Pisa, which is home for the 46th Air Brigade that is scheduled to receive 22 of the four-engine transports. The contract is effective beginning in January and is part of an industry offset package provided by Lockheed Martin.
A team of subcontractors from the U.S., Europe, Canada and Japan has been assembled by Boeing to develop Delta IV flight hardware and provide manufacturing technologies at its Decatur, Ala., plant. They include: * Boeing Rocketdyne Div.--RS-68 engine. * Alliant Techsystems--GEM-60 solid rocket motors. * Pratt & Whitney--RL10B-2 upper stage engine. * Honeywell/AlliedSignal--Avionics and gyros. * Snecma Moteurs--French company providing composite nozzle extension for RL10.
Jack Ellis has been appointed manager of the Orlando (Fla.) International Airport Learning Center and Chip White assistant manager of the St. Louis Learning Center for New York-based FlightSafety International. Ellis was manager of the Toledo (Ohio) Learning Center, while White was an instructor pilot for the Embraer 145 and DC-9 at St. Louis. Ellis has been succeeded by Ken Baggett, who has been promoted from assistant manager. Baggett, in turn, has been succeeded by Kyle Davis, who was promoted from regional marketing representative.
Airlines--especially majors in the U.S. and Europe--are facing an unprecedented array of troubles. The crisis is detailed in a special report that bgeins on p. 52. AW&ST editors outline possible remedies in an editorial on p. 82. Background photo by Joseph Pries.
US Airways Group Inc. is developing a contingency plan in case revenues become harder to generate because of a drop in air traffic in response to a U.S.-led war with Iraq, according to President and CEO David Siegel. As part of the plan, management is trying to determine how quickly the bankrupt carrier could reduce the size of its fleet below the 279 aircraft it currently operates. The airline would accelerate the retirement of mainline jets, replacing them with regional jets.
The F-22 has completed the first supersonic engagement of an aerial target. An F-22 flying at Mach 1.5 and 35,000 ft. altitude fired an AIM-120C Amraam against a target flying 15,000 ft. above it and approaching nose-on. The missile had no warhead, but telemetry of the Nov. 5 test showed it would have detonated within the lethal range of the target, the Air Force and Lockheed Martin said.
With a goal of putting an end to "the high-fares dominance," Ryanair executives are determined to create Europe's biggest airline by the end of the decade. The Irish carrier's traffic--about 13 million passengers in fiscal 2002-03--is expected to soar to more than 40 million passengers by 2010, according to the company's business model and growth forecast.
The Nov. 14 final submission date on the British Civil Aviation Authority's (CAA) proposals over increases to air traffic control charges was marked by a not unusual critical blast from low-cost carrier Ryanair. The CAA proposals cover allowing the National Air Traffic Services to raise airline charges to offset lower than anticipated revue. Ryanair described the proposal as "anti-competitive," among other less flattering suggestions. A final decision from the CAA is expected by the end of this month.
Key European capability shortfalls will be featured high on the agenda at this week's NATO summit, with efforts to address military airlift and alliance ground surveillance needs. This week could see the emergence of a road map directing the creation of an airlift-equivalent of NATO's E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System squadron. Officials have also been trying to thrash out a last-minute compromise on the Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) program, in the run-up to the summit.
John B. Lockwood has been appointed assistant vice president-tax for the Kaman Corp., Bloomfield, Conn. He was vice president-taxes for the Dexter Corp., Windsor Locks, Conn.
Robert K. (Kelly) Ortberg (see photos) has been appointed vice president/general manager of air transport systems and Rose M. Donnelly vice president-manufacturing operations within Rockwell Collins Commercial Systems, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Ortberg was vice president/general manager of communication systems within the Rockwell Collins Government Systems. He has been succeeded by Bruce M. King, who was director of air mobility, bomber and special mission programs. Donnelly was senior director of air transport manufacturing operations. John W.
Michael Schwartz has been elected chairman and Salvatore J. Miraglia, Jr., vice chairman of the board of trustees of the Ohio Aerospace Institute of Cleveland. Schwartz succeeds Patrick Parker, who is chairman emeritus of the Parker Hannifin Corp., also of Cleveland. Schwartz is president of Cleveland State University, while Miraglia is senior vice president-technology of the Timken Co.
There has been increasing political criticism here regarding the procurement of Advanced Jet Trainers (AJTs) and the government's failure to complete a purchase, even as human error is being cited in an increasing number of military crashes.
John Krings, a former U.S. assistant Defense secretary, is now lead American defense industry consultant for Defense Industries International of Los Angeles.
Orbital Sciences Corp. is conducting a series of wind tunnel tests of its Pegasus booster and NASA's Hyper-X research vehicle to determine loads on the booster's fin actuator systems in preparation for a return to flight status next year.
Trevor Cornwell has become vice president-strategy and business development for Bombardier Business Jet Solutions of Dallas. He will remain president/CEO of Bombardier Skyjet.
Mark Malkowsky (see photo) has been appointed senior manager for technical training for CAE SimuFlite at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. He was manager of technical training for Bombardier Aerospace.
Richard Lund has been appointed president and Jeff Hurst vice president-engineering for Jedco, Grand Rapids, Mich. Company owner Dan Szymanski will be chairman/CEO. Lund was president/CEO of Cade Industries, while Hurst was director of sales, marketing and business development for Woodward Aircraft Engine Systems, Rockford, Ill.
Few government-sponsored evaluations of security and anti-terrorism measures appear to include tabulations of their impacts on national productivity. The article on screening checked bags for explosives (AW&ST Oct. 14, p. 48) mentions costs to the federal government and operators of security equipment. It also quotes FAA calculations that value avoidance of fatalities. But lines of passengers seem to be economic throwaways.
The low-cost carriers' formidable ambitions, egged on by the traveling public's insatiable demands, are fueling the European airline industry's rapid transformation. Pressure from low-cost carriers recently forced executives of competing airlines to reassess long-term goals and determine new priorities. Although still worried by the economic downturn, they unexpectedly relegated the economy to a distant second behind concerns over competition from low-cost airlines. European carriers, however, have been less seriously hit by the downturn than U.S. airlines.
