The FAA has issued a letter of intent to acquire 21 Airport Surface Detection Equipment (ASDE-X) systems and services from Sensis Corp. for $100 million. The letter signals the agency's plan to begin development of the system in a program to enhance surface safety and efficiency at 21 airports. ASDE-X fuses data from surface movement radar, transponder and automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast sensors. Aircraft positions, labeled with flight call signs, are portrayed on air traffic controller displays. Sensis partnered with Raytheon in the ASDE-X contract.
The Flight Safety Foundation and the Society of Automotive Engineers/Aerospace are sponsoring the first annual North American Aviation Safety Conference, scheduled for Feb. 4-5, 2003, in Atlanta. The meeting will focus on security issues, ramp damage to aircraft, ultralong-range flight operations, runway incursions and criminal investigations associated with commercial aircraft accidents. Additional information on the conference is available at www.sae.org/calendar/aas/index.htm.
The first of two test vehicles in Japan's spaceplane development program flew Oct. 18 on an abandoned runway on Christmas Island in Kiribati. The 3.34-meter-long (11-ft.) unmanned vehicle, jointly developed by Japan's National Aerospace Laboratory and National Space Development Agency, was powered by a single 450-kg. (990-lb.) thrust Teledyne Continental Motors J69-T406 turbojet engine on a 9-min. 30-sec. flight that achieved an altitude of 550-600 meters.
Fabrice Bregier has been named deputy to the president of Eurocopter, effective Jan. 1, and its president/CEO effective Apr. 1. He will succeed Jean-Francois Bigay, who will be reassigned within EADS. Bregier has been CEO of MBDA and will be succeeded there by Marwan Lahoud. He has been senior vice president-mergers and acquisitions for EADS.
Eight months ago, some satellite industry observers put the odds at 50-50 that the U.S. government would approve EchoStar Communications Corp.'s high-stakes bid to create a satellite-broadcasting behemoth by acquiring Hughes Electronics Corp, owner of DirecTV. It now looks increasingly as though the odds are considerably longer. Neither company was able to persuade the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Justice Dept.
China is fielding new airborne electronic warfare platforms and may have an operational electronic pulse weapon by 2010, according to U.S. and Taiwanese military officials. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) has been working on EW systems for years, but now appears to be making important advances that are sparking concern among outside military analysts. China is developing ``new electronic equipment to form a partial dominance in wars and seize electromagnetic superiority in wartime,'' contends a recent assessment by the Taiwanese Defense Ministry.
Japan Airlines signed a ``multiyear, multimillion-dollar'' contract with Burlington, Mass.-based Enigma for Version 8 of its 3C documentation software to support JAL's MRO operations. To be deployed globally via the Web in support of 5,000 mechanics (with CD-ROM as backup), the software will provide maintenance support for JAL's 150-aircraft Boeing fleet (747s, 767s, 777s and MD-11s), including manuals, illustrated parts catalogs and JAL's specific modifications to Boeing's basic fleet configuration data.
There are signs that the mission of the U.S. Air Force's EC-130H Compass Call communications jammer is slowly starting to migrate to unmanned aircraft and space, although experts maintain a human must remain in the loop. Compass Call has been the backbone of the Air Force's electronic attack aircraft mission, although in recent years it also has become one of the service's premier information warfare tools for penetrating enemy air defense computer systems.
Textron Lycoming is introducing a number of initiatives aimed at resolving metallurgical anomalies for crankshafts installed in more than 1,000 IO-540-series, 300-hp. piston engines. On Oct. 23, officials of the Williamsport, Pa.-based company said a number of service bulletins addressing the problems have been issued to affected customers, detailing a recall program as well as plans for replacement of defective components.
Galaxy IIIC, the first Boeing 702 satellite with new solar array panels, has demonstrated slightly better-than-expected solar power performance in its first four months of operation, and has been formally accepted by PanAmSat Corp. The result is an important turnaround for the 702 model, which had faster-than-expected declines in solar array power in its first six spacecraft due to dropping reflectivity of concentrator panels that throw extra light on the cells (AW&ST Sept. 23, p. 60).
By ROBERT WALLBy DAVID A. FULGHUM ( WASHINGTON NASHUA, N.H.)
New threat systems, technology advances and looming military action are stirring the electronic warfare community, but the Pentagon has yet to address these developments with new programs. One of the most prominent advances in threat is the emergence of air-to-air missiles with imaging infrared (I2R) seekers, replacing comparatively easy-to-spoof IR sensors. A second is the fielding of more capable ground-based air-defense radars relying on electronically scanned array technology. These have longer range, are more frequency-agile and, therefore, harder to jam.
Seven airlines are competing for two slot exemptions at Washington Reagan National Airport for service to points beyond the facility's 1,250-mi. perimeter. National Airlines, which received the exemptions in 2000 for daily round trips to Las Vegas, is surrendering them, and the Transportation Dept. intends to choose a successor ``expeditiously.'' America West, Frontier and Alaska airlines, which already hold exemptions, are proposing a second daily Las Vegas round trip, a second Denver flight and new service to Los Angeles, respectively.
Astronomers are expecting a newly launched European gamma-ray telescope to greatly enhance their knowledge of super-dense objects like black holes and neutron stars, and provide important insights into gamma-ray bursts and other extreme radiation phenomena. Integral (the International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory), developed by the European Space Agency, was lofted from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, by a Proton booster on Oct. 17 (AW&ST Oct. 21, p. 18).
Raytheon Co. has reported third-quarter net income of $228 million, or 56 cents a diluted share, from continuing operations. That compares with a loss of $280 million, or 78 cents per diluted share, for the same period last year. Sales were up 3.3%, to $4.1 billion, with stronger growth from defense businesses slightly offset by a flat performance from Raytheon Aircraft.
Advanced weapons are usually countered by turning their own sophistication against them. But dumb weapons fired from close range, with no sensors to jam or electronics to damage, have proven over the decades to be almost impossible to stop. Therefore, developing a system to at least change the trajectory of dumb weapons is one of several concepts that BAE Systems researchers here think could change the complexion of future wars and possibly serve as major profit centers for the company.
ShinMaywa Industries Ltd., Yokohama Rubber Co. and Nikkiso Co. will join the Airbus A380 manufacturing team. ShinMaywa is set to produce the main wing root fillet fairing; Yokohama Rubber will supply tanks for the water/waste management system and Nikkiso will supply carbon fiber-reinforced plastic cascades for engine nacelle thrust reversers. With seven firms who have already joined the A380 team, Japanese companies expect to earn $1.75 billion in revenues over the next 20 years.
Information technology officials at NASA are looking for sources to provide an ``enterprise-wide messaging system.'' The objective is to help begin the process of pulling the agency's disparate field centers into the ``One NASA'' organization Administrator Sean O'Keefe is pushing.
Arthur Money, a C3I consultant and former assistant Defense secretary and Defense Dept. chief information officer, has been appointed to the board of directors of Rainbow Technologies, Irvine, Calif.
This is the second in a series of editorials dealing with the most vexing problems facing aerospace and aviation--and the opportunities these problems present. Americans seeking to solve the riddle of how to make their homeland secure in an age of terrorism and asymmetric warfare would do well to turn first to a Prussian for advice, for it was Frederick the Great who said, ``He who wants to defend everything defends nothing.'' The post-Cold War world has no bipolar standoff, but it certainly seems to be more vulnerable in the post-Sept. 11 era.
Paul Bevilaqua and seven other Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. engineers have won the Washington-based American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' Aircraft Design Award for 2002 for contributions to the design of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The others are: Dave Butcher, George Law, Gerry Murff, Paul Park, Brian Quayle, Kevin Renshaw and Rick Rezabek. The award is presented for ``the conception, definition or development of an original concept leading to a significant advancement in aircraft design or design technology.''
C. Phillip Combs (see photo) has been named president/CEO of the Belcan Corp. of Cincinnati. He was general manager of the Joint Strike Fighter F120 Projects and Advanced Military Programs Dept. at GE Aircraft Engines.
Boeing expects to maintain an annual growth rate of 15% in its space-related business over the next several years, nearly double the 8% rate the company forecasts for its military aircraft and missile systems, said Jim Albaugh, president and CEO of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. Albaugh's comments at the World Space Congress came as Boeing conducted a successful flight-readiness firing of the first Delta IV Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle on Pad 37 at Cape Canaveral. The critical test will allow Boeing to schedule the first launch of the Delta IV between Nov.
Frank W. Otto has been promoted to executive vice president of the New York-based EDO Corp. from vice president of its Integrated Systems and Structures Group. USN Adm. (ret.) Dennis C. Blair and James Roth have been named to the board of directors. Blair was commander of the U.S. Pacific Command. Roth is the retired chairman/president/CEO of GRC International Inc.
