Directed-energy technology is ready to be used as weaponry and, in a mature state, one device carried by an unmanned aircraft could attack each of 100 targets with 1,000 pulses of energy in a single sortie, says a former director of the U.S. Air Force's high-power microwave program. ``Except for the standard rifle, gun, knife or grenade, virtually all military equipment contains some electronics'' that are vulnerable to a large pulse of energy, wrote Air Force Col. Eileen M. Walling.
Startup of the AirTrain light rail system at New York's JFK International Airport, set for sometime in 2003, will be delayed indefinitely, pending progress of the NTSB's probe into the cause of a recent derailment that killed the train's operator. According to observers, during a test run of the three-car monorail about 8 tons of concrete ballast, used to simulate passenger load, apparently shifted, causing the train to veer into a concrete retaining wall.
Goodrich Corp. can now officially claim TRW Inc.'s former aeronautical systems business as its own. The two companies closed the $1.5-billion deal last week--at which point both Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's, a unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies, abruptly lowered Goodrich's credit rating. Goodrich initially will finance the acquisition with a bridge loan, which the company expects to repay using proceeds from bond and equity offerings, as well as the sale of non-core businesses.
Ralph L. Richardi has been appointed senior vice president-customer service for American Airlines. He succeeds Daniel P. Garton, who is now executive vice president-marketing. Richardi was vice president-operations planning and performance and has been succeeded by Robert C. Cordes. Garton succeeds Michael W. Gunn, who is retiring. Cordes was vice president-St. Louis hub and will, in turn, be succeeded by C. David Cush, who has been vice president-international planning and alliances. Robert E. Olson has been named vice president-corporate planning.
Having completed the bulk of development for the baseline Cooperative Engagement Capability system, Navy officials are slowly ramping up production to proliferate the network throughout the fleet. One of the biggest challenges developers faced for the emerging airborne application was bringing the 3,200 lb. of CEC equipment used in a ship (USG-2) down to a size that can be packaged into the E-2C Hawkeye. Prototype equipment was tested in 1995 on a P-3, but the installation had to be much smaller for the E-2C.
This month, Cessna Aircraft Co. plans to lay off 400 workers at its facilities in Wichita where Citation-series business jets are built. The furloughs will be ``across the board'' and affect management as well as production line employees. The reduction in force is part of Cessna's effort to realign weaker production schedules for 2003-04, according to the company.
BAE Systems will produce laser warning receivers for the ATK Integrated Defense Co. under a $3.1-million contract. The receivers are slated to be installed in more than 3,000 U.S. Navy and Air Force helicopters and transport aircraft.
The first of 10 Airbus A330-300s ordered last week by Lufthansa German Airlines is scheduled to be delivered in 2004. The 295-seat long-range twinjets will be operated between Germany and Africa, the Middle East and North America.
GKN Aerospace has won $14.4 million in contracts from Pratt & Whitney to produce components for the F135 engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. GKN will manufacture fan inlet cases, inlet guide vanes, nozzle static structures, front compressor cases, blade finishing and lift fan containment cases.
Matthew Tucker has become station manager at Reno (Nev.)/Tahoe International Airport for Southwest Airlines. He held the same position at Midland/ Odessa, Tex.
The NTSB has concluded that fatigue cracks caused the wing failures of both firefighting airplanes that crashed this year--a Lockheed C-130A near Walker, Calif., and a Consolidated-Vultee PB4Y-2 near Estes Park, Colo. In a related move, the FAA issued an airworthiness directive on the C-130A last week. Both investigations are still underway as the agency tries to determine why the cracks started and how they were able to propagate to a critical length without being detected.
The Missile Defense Agency wants to launch a concept technology demonstration of a lighter than air (LTA) airship that could stay aloft up to a month, fly at 70,000 ft. and carry a multimission payload. The demo is designed as a stepping-stone to an operational high-altitude airship that could deploy from the U.S. to locations overseas. The prime contractor role is limited to U.S. companies, and the team must have a demonstrated LTA capable of operating above 60,000 ft.
The team NASA assembled to find out what happened to the Comet Nucleus Tour (Contour) spacecraft last month has started work, with a mid-October deadline for at least a preliminary report (AW&ST Aug. 26, p. 68). But Chief Engineer Theron M. Bradley, Jr., and his team are likely to have a problem writing a coherent report, since the best evidence of what happened to the probe comes from a classified Defense Support Program (DSP) early warning satellite. A DSP infrared sensor detected an explosion 48 sec. into the 50-sec.
At least five Navy systems deployed for possible combat in Iraq aren't up to snuff, the Pentagon's operational test and evaluation chief, Thomas Christie, complained on Aug. 1. But Navy Secretary Gordon England retorted last week, ``Operational considerations sometimes dictate that we establish an early operational capability to meet warfighting needs. . . . The risks were evaluated and considered acceptable.'' Christie expressed concern about three systems on the F/A-18E/F--the ATFLIR targeting system, Sharp reconnaissance pod and a classified system.
AirTran is starting a regional jet feeder operation, AirTran JetConnect, set to begin Nov. 15 using CRJs operated by Air Wisconsin. Initial service will be on short-haul routes to AirTran's Atlanta Hartsfield hub currently served by AirTran. The carrier hopes the regional operation will expand to additional markets. AirTran would then refocus its operations to longer-haul flights with its Boeing 717 and DC-9 fleet.
Loral will buy a half-interest in the Aptstar-V satellite its Space Systems/Loral unit is building for APT Satellite Co. Ltd. of Hong Kong, while the Chinese company has dropped a requirement that the satellite be launched on a Long March rocket. Loral will pay $115 million ``in increments'' through 2008 for its share of the C- and Ku-band hybrid platform that is scheduled to enter service to Asia in the third quarter of 2003. Loral's portion of the satellite will be designated Telstar 14.
Russian and Chinese aviation authorities caused a major crimp in trade between the countries with the ban of Russian charter freight operations to Chinese airports last month in response to unsafe overloading practices, an accident and many incidents. Only regular freight carriers were permitted to continue scheduled service after charter flights were abruptly halted on Aug. 6. Authorities have since started a major revamping of the China-Russia air trade, leading to a case-by-case resumption of flights.
Ross Terrazas has been named Dallas-based military marketing manager for Crane Aerospace. He was business development manager for airborne power for Unitron Inc. of Dallas.
The British Defense Ministry's investment approval board has come to no firm conclusion on whether the government should buy the short takeoff and vertical landing or aircraft carrier (CV) F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, according to industry officials. Although Stovl was seen as the preferred option, some panel members also backed the CV model. Secretary of State for Secretary Geoffrey Hoon is slated to make a decision in the coming days.
With the successful flight of a Lockheed Martin Atlas IIAS rocket Sept. 18, the U.S. Air Force's Eastern Range at Cape Canaveral marked the 100th consecutive launch where range instrumentation didn't cause a postponement. Col. Mike Lehnertz, vice commander of the 45th Space Wing, which manages Eastern Range operations, says it's a ``myth'' that range problems cause an inordinate number of scrubs at the Cape. ``It's been more than three years since problems with range instrumentation scrubbed a launch,'' Lehnertz says.
Funding shortages are putting the U.S. Air Force's supply of critically needed airborne targets for testing modern air-to-air and other weapons in jeopardy. The service is trying to replace both its QF-4 full-scale targets and the BQM-34 and MQM-107 subscale targets, but efforts are being hobbled by a lack of money. The stockpile of subscale targets could run out by 2006, while Air Force officials expect to face a shortage of full-scale models about 2004.
David Jennings (see photo) has been appointed director of aftermarket services for Dunlop Aerospace, Coventry, England. He was general manager of the Rolls-Royce disk manufacturing facility.
Although D.C. street demonstrations over the weekend were primarily targeted at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, aerospace companies weren't exempt. Among the objectives of an ``anti-capitalist scavenger hunt'' promoted by infoshop.org, ``your online anarchist community,'' were contractor ads in Washington's subway system. ``Remove defense contractor ads from Metro system--50 points each,'' the scavenger hunt rules urged.
