The U.S. Marine Corps is beginning to lay the groundwork to rebuild its first V-22 unit after two years of interrupted flight operations following two fatal accidents in 2000.
Several members of the Senate Armed Services Committee have asked the General Accounting Office to review the Pentagon's decision to buy commercial satellite service. Congress in 2000 passed a measure dubbed Orbit, short for Open-market Reorganization for the Betterment of International Telecommunications Act, to ensure competition in satcom services. Now Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) and James M.
After much talk in recent months, the Pentagon is now getting ready to launch the competition for its next-generation missile warning equipment. The development is packaged as an upgrade to the Northrop Grumman Directed Infrared Countermeasures (Dircm) and Large-Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (Laircm) system. Dircm is installed on 59 special ops C-130s, while Laircm is being installed on C-17s and is slated to be used on C5s at a later date.
Wolfgang Weinreich, president of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale--The World Air Sports Federation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, has been awarded the Cross of Merit of Poland, that country's highest distinction for foreign citizens. In presenting the award, Jan Karpinski, president of the Aeroklub Polski, said Weinreich's life has been devoted to aviation. "Everything Mr. Weinreich did in aviation has been aligned with Otto Lilienthal's vision of flight being global, free, peaceful and without any borders," Karpinski said.
Bruce D. Parker has been named to the board of directors of AirNet Systems Inc., Columbus, Ohio. He is president of the IT Management Group and had been senior vice president/chief information officer at United Airlines.
The Pentagon hopes to complete the next intercept of its ground-based mid-course missile defense system before Dec. 25. The Missile Defense Agency has been stepping up the pace of testing after achieving a series of successes.
USAF Lt. Gen. (ret.) Charles J. Cunningham, Jr., has become director of Air Force strategic programs for DynCorp, Reston, Va. He was director of the Defense Security Service and had been deputy assistant secretary of Defense for intelligence.
The lawyers and politicians are arguing intensively about the recent decision by the European Court of Justice on the legality of the bilateral agreements between the U.S. and several European Union member states. Does this mean that these agreements have to be renounced? Is it the end of bilateralism? Has the European Commission overstepped the mark, and will it be put back in its box by member states at the Ministerial Transport Council meeting in Brussels this week?
Denmark's Sterling European has awarded a five-year contract to Snecma Services for the maintenance and overhaul of CFM56-7 turbofans powering the carrier's Boeing 737s.
A team led by Northrop Grumman is helping the U.S. Transportation Command keep track of passengers and cargo in the Defense Transportation System (DTS). The team recently received a contract to develop the Global Transportation Network-21 (GTN-21) information system. Besides improving in-transit visibility, GTN-21 will give commanders better decision support tools. The GTN-21 is to set a technical standard for other DTS information systems. The six-year contract is worth $63.8 million and includes options out to 15 years worth potentially $204.7 million.
The Pentagon and the British Defense Ministry plan to collaborate on a next-generation supersonic strike weapon. Dubbed SHOC (stand-off high-speed option for counterproliferation), the project is intended to explore development of a Mach 3.5-4.5 missile with a 400-600-naut.-mi. range. The effort is set to get underway in Fiscal 2004 as a Defense Dept. ACTD (advanced concept technology demonstration) with about $150 million in funding. Britain aims to contribute around 10% of the overall costs. Program go-ahead could come as early as this month.
Maurizio Tucci has been named chief executive of Alenia Spazio. He succeeds Giuseppe Viriglio, who has become vice president-international affairs. Tucci was chief operating officer of Bull Italy.
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NASA will pay the California Institute of Technology about $8 billion to operate the Jet Propulsion Laboratory over the five-year period beginning Sept. 30, 2003, under an agreement announced last week. The new cost-plus award fee contract, which continues an arrangement between Caltech and NASA dating back to December 1958, includes a new award-term provision that could see the contract period extended another five years, based on performance reviews.
Correction: The story in last week's issue on the RC-135 Rivet Joint upgrade package (p. 56) incorrectly stated the cost per aircraft. The correct figure is $31.5 million per aircraft, $15 million of which is for reengining.
The U.S. Air Force wants to restock its supply of 5,000-lb.-class penetrator bombs and use the opportunity to enhance the design over the currently fielded enhanced GBU-28 laser- and GPS-guided weapon. During recent military conflicts, the Air Force has expended a large portion of its GBU28 inventory, dropping the hard-target penetrator weapon from B-2s and F-15Es. The 19-ft.-long, 14.5-in.-dia. weapon debuted during the 1991 Persian Gulf war, when it was employed by F111s.
Ken Smith has become interim director-general of the Brussels-based International Air Carrier Assn. Smith was managing director of Air 2000. He succeeds Marc Frisque, who has formed a business consultancy.
Juergen Weber, chairman/CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, has been appointed chairman of the supervisory board of Frankfurt-based Thomas Cook AG. He succeeds Walter Deuss, the former chairman of Karstadt Quelle, who is retiring. Karstadt Quelle board member Peter Gerard was named to the Thomas Cook board.
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In response to C. Norman Winningstad's recommendation that pilots "combine it [their response to a TCAS advisory to climb or descend] with a right-hand turn" (AW&ST Sept. 30, p. 6), the aircraft may be traveling in opposite directions and passing right wing to right wing.
