Virginia-based Veridian Corp. will support the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Div. with scientific and technical services covering information technology and network infrastructure for weapons systems development, under a five-year, $154.4- million contract.
Raytheon and Lockheed Martin have finally stopped haggling over an ATC contract to develop the next-generation En Route Automation Modernization system. After Raytheon's protests twice forestalled the FAA's attempts to award the contract to Lockheed Martin, the two companies finally came to an accommodation. Raytheon dropped its protest, the FAA awarded the contract to Lockheed Martin and Raytheon joined the team as a subcontractor.
Fairchild Dornier was declared permanently insolvent by a German court last week. The regional aircraft manufacturer immediately released 1,830 of 3,600 employees. Those affected will continue to receive around 80% of their salaries for three months. Management hopes it can retain key engineering capabilities until an investor is found. The 728/928 regional jet program will be frozen. Alenia Aeronautica has expressed interest in buying the program along with other units.
Ten months after Sept. 11, Washington abounds with red flags that the ``new arms race'' against terrorism demands a broader conception of catastrophic threats and a blueprint to finance completely new homeland defenses. With both the theoretical and operational realms of national security in a state of flux, the focus on weapons of mass destruction (WMD) should be expanded beyond a terrorist assault with one or two nuclear, chemical or biological devices, authorities say. Government must begin anticipating modes of attack in panoramic terms.
Moscow-based financial and industrial group Defense Systems has completed an upgrade of the S-125 Pechora (SA-3 Goa) surface-to-air missile, improving the capability of the aging but still widely fielded air defense system. Egypt is believed to be the first customer for the upgrade. LIVE FIRING of the low- to medium-altitude Pechora-2M was carried out at the Kaputsin Yar test range during May. The manufacturer is now preparing to start delivery of upgrade kits later this year. Defense Systems also hopes to conclude additional export orders in the near future.
The FAA's marathon solicitation of public comments on arming pilots produced as little as it seemed to, the General Accounting Office confirms. The agency received more than 7,500 comments, more than 99% of them from individuals.
Thales has agreed to acquire the naval C3 and training/simulation activities of Sema from SchlumbergerSema. To be renamed Thales System Integration, the company generates 12 million euros in annual sales. The purchase is part of ongoing plans to reinforce the company's presence in the German naval sector.
Last-minute federal loan guarantee applications to the Air Transportation Stabilization Board have brought the total to 11, and there may be more even though the deadline for applying was June 28. The new applications are from Frontier, Aloha, Great Plains and World Airways. Vanguard Airlines, whose earlier proposal was denied May 28, resubmitted its application. A board spokeswoman said applications from other airlines, which she declined to identify, were submitted on time and were being checked last week for completeness.
EADS is expected to land about 10% of the U.S. Coast Guard's $11-billion Deepwater contract, according to industrial sources. As a member of the Northrop Grumman/Lockheed Martin consortium in charge of the program, the European concern will initially deliver an unspecified number of CASA CN-235ER transports for the maritime patrol mission (AW&ST July 1, p. 28). But later, the contribution would be expanded to include patrol and SAR helicopters and surveillance radar, sources said.
Japan's Transport Ministry, after a long series of talks, has formally requested the Japanese Defense Agency and U.S. Forces-Japan to open some restricted airspace to civil operations. The areas in question are now used for military flight training at 14 military bases. Both parties are said to be amenable to the move, which will reduce fuel burn by allowing more direct flights, and will provide more latitude in bad weather. The intent is to benefit holiday charter flights.
Astronomers have used data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Arecibo Radio Telescope to find a neutron star at the center of a bright ring of high-energy particles in the remains of a distant supernova. The discovery offers clues to the way nature converts the energy of a rotating neutron star into extremely high-energy particles. Chandra detected the X-ray ring in June 2001, and astronomers at the University of Massachusetts and Columbia University used the Arecibo facility to spot the neutron star in April.
Just because Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has five expensive programs under the microscope in the run-up to crafting the Fiscal 2004 budget doesn't mean any of the projects are doomed, says Vice Adm. Michael G. Mullen, the deputy chief of naval operations for resources. The billion-dollar-program list includes the F-22, the Comanche, the V-22, Space-Based Radar and the CVN-X next-generation aircraft carrier.
USN Vice Adm. Edmund P. Giambastiani has been promoted to admiral with assignment as commander, and Army Maj. Gen. Russel L. Honore has been assigned as director of homeland security, both for U.S. Joint Forces Command, Norfolk, Va.
Sobelair, the charter subsidiary of bankrupt Sabena, will be acquired by Belgian World Airlines, an investment company recently formed by entrepreneur Aldo Vastapane. A Brussels court ratified Vastapane's proposed business plan designed to rescue Sobelair and, in the longer term, boost revenues with scheduled flights to long-haul destinations such as Johannesburg and Moscow. Sobelair operates six Boeing 737s and two 767s.
Five hundred of Air New Zealand's 650 pilots have voted to strike for 48 hr. starting July 19, which may cripple domestic and international flights. They are protesting possible job losses for 32 ANZ pilots. The pilots, members of the Airline Pilots Assn., fear further job cuts because of the planned expansion of subsidiary carrier Freedom Air in the next five years.
South Korea has decided to buy Raytheon's AIM-9X next-generation Sidewinder, becoming the first overseas customer for the short-range air-to-air missile. Seoul would arm the F-15K that recently won the country's competition for a new fighter/attack aircraft; the aircraft also will carry Amraam medium-range air-to-air missiles. Raytheon has bid AIM-9X in several other competitions, mainly in Europe.
Japan's Space Activities Commission is using separate philosophies in privatizing the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science's M-5 launcher and the National Space Development Agency's H-IIA program. Production and operation of both are to be the responsibility of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (AW&ST July 2, p. 35). There had been some talk of killing the M-5 program, but it has been spared and will be industry-funded. The H-IIA is to continue to receive government development money to improve its reliability.
Philip A. Holt has become projects director for airport systems and services for Europe, Africa and the Middle East for Arinc, Annapolis, Md. He was consultant to the airlines of London Heathrow Airport, managing the implementation of Arinc's Muse common-use technology.
Fiscal 2004 budget decisions are expected to provide the first concrete insight into what direction the U.S. Navy wants to take under a new operational concept put forward by the service's military leadership. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vern Clark unveiled his Sea Power 21 vision last month, which is supposed to shape the service's future plans and represent a shift in focus from his earlier priorities, personnel and readiness, to modernization. But Clark's outline provided little detail on what it would mean for the Navy's spending on hardware. Now, Vice Adm.
Thales has won tenders to supply complete air traffic control systems for South Africa and Denmark. The award for the South African Advanced Air Traffic Control System (SAAATCS), the value of which was not disclosed, involves the supply of Eurocat ATC centers in Johannesburg and Cape Town that control flights over the country's entire airspace. The 60-million-euro ($58.8-million) Danish Air Traffic Management System contract covers the delivery of Eurocat facilities for Copenhagen, Billund and Roskilde. DATMAS is to enter service in 2007.
Leonard M. Greene, founder/chairman of the Safe Flight Instrument Corp., White Plains, N.Y., will be honored on Oct. 16 at the bicentennial anniversary celebration of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Greene has received more than 100 patents and is credited with saving thousands of lives through his inventions of stall and wind shear warning devices, which have been mandated for installation on aircraft by the FAA.
John J. Andros has been named vice president/general manager and Robert E. Cassidy director of enginering for the Specialty Fluorescent Lamp Div. of Voltarc Technologies Inc., Waterbury, Conn.
In a major shift designed to increase flight safety and boost airspace capacity, the FAA will revise the nation's nonprecision approaches to resemble those used with the Instrument Landing System. The agency and industry collaborated on the concept, which will use the flight management system (FMS) computer in the aircraft to create ILS-like precision guidance to every runway end, without the need for an ILS at the runway.
American Airlines formed executive teams to develop short- and long-term ways to increase revenue and cut costs in a marketplace that no longer values much of what full-service airlines offer, CEO Donald Carty told employees last week. ``Survival means adapting to the realities ahead . . . much as we did after deregulation in '78,'' he said in a recorded hotline message.
India's government-owned Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd. has signed a memorandum of understanding with Canada's CHC Helicopters International for collaboration on maintenance. In the next five years, Pawan Hans expects to add four light- and 10 medium-lift helicopters to its inventory of 29 helicopters.
