With an eye to carving its niche in a new market, Lockheed Martin plans to put directed-energy weapons on ``our own unmanned air vehicle concepts,'' a company official said. The concept competes with Northrop Grumman's, the Navy-backed X-47 unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) that can be flown from aircraft carriers, and Boeing's, the Air Force's X-45, which has been test-flown. The Boeing aircraft is already being designed to carry a high-power microwave (HPM) device as an ``anti-electronics'' weapon.
Unmanned aerial vehicles are rapidly coming of age after years of being relegated to the sidelines of limited, specialized missions. While they will proliferate and assume unforeseen roles, it's unlikely they'll replace manned combat aircraft for some time, if ever. Though still in their infancy, UAVs and their armed cousins, unmanned air combat vehicles (UCAVs), achieved a new level of respect during the recent antiterrorist campaign in Afghanistan.
Norbert Arndt has been named engineering director of Rolls-Royce Deutschland. He succeeds Duncan Forbes, who has become director of engineering and technology of the Rolls-Royce Marine Div. Arndt was vice president-engineering and quality of International Aero Engines.
Korean Air and Delta Air Lines will be allowed to expand their marketing agreements to develop a network-to-network flight system on transpacific routes as a result of a U.S. Transportation Dept. decision to grant them antitrust immunity. Delta has won similar rulings with Air France, CSA Czech Airlines and Alitalia to immunize the SkyTeam alliance.
The Indian government approved development of a naval version of the Light Combat Aircraft for operation in 2006. The aircraft is to be carrier-capable. Three LCA flight test articles are in operation.
Pratt & Whitney Space Propulsion has hot-fired its first component for the proposed RL60 upper stage rocket engine, a full-scale thrust chamber injector (see photo). The injector was tested at the company's West Palm Beach, Fla., facility under full-power conditions equivalent to 65,000 lb. of thrust. A full-up test of the developmental engine is planned for the second quarter of 2003. That test engine will use Russian and Japanese turbopumps, but Pratt has said it could produce the turbomachinery in the U.S. if the new engine is bought by the U.S.
International Launch Services has contracted to launch MBSAT on an Atlas III in the fourth quarter of 2003. Built by Space Systems/Loral for Mobile Broadcasting Corp. of Japan, MBSAT is an FS 1300 spacecraft that will provide mobile telephone services in Japan and South Korea.
Matthew J. Goodman has become president/chief operating officer of the Commander Aircraft Co., Bethany, Okla. He was senior vice president-marketing and sales.
NASA has been helping U.S. military and intelligence organizations fine-tune some of the nation's classified optical reconnaissance satellites as it continues to broaden cooperation with the Pentagon under Administrator Sean O'Keefe. In return, the civil space agency has gotten some defense dollars.
Europe's mainstream airlines are ready to take the offensive against increasingly aggressive low-cost carriers. Possible initiatives include the adoption of correspondingly low fares on highly competitive city-pairs and the elimination of restrictions applied to bargain rates. This reorientation, although it could affect yields, theoretically could generate additional off-peak revenues and boost load factor, according to some marketing executives. In the last few weeks, several European airlines significantly reduced their prices.
Lockheed Martin is tailoring a laser for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter that could be ready as early as 2010 for demonstration and the start of a full-scale development program. Variants of the solid-state laser, powered by a drive shaft from an aircraft's engine instead of batteries, also are being considered for use on AC-130 gunships and Lockheed Martin-designed unmanned aircraft. The high-energy laser system is being designed in a joint project with Raytheon.
The German parliamentary budget committee on July 3 approved the purchase of the Taurus KEPD-350 land-attack cruise missile, according to German industry sources, but decisions on both the A400M military airlifter and Meteor radar-guided air-to-air missile were deferred. The parliament will be in recess until September, potentially leaving both the A400M and the Meteor procurements in limbo. German industrialists pointed to internal politics within the government as the cause of the latest delay on the A400M.
Rising post-Sept. 11 insurance rates and expenses related to opening a new route from Tokyo to the southern island of Kagoshima have saddled Skymark Airlines, Japan's first discount carrier, with a $6.6-million loss for fiscal 2001. The carrier's revenues of $53.4 million was 1% more than the previous year. Fortunately for Skymark, it is backed by one of Japan's biggest travel companies, so it's shielded from the bankruptcy that's facing Hokkaido International Airlines, the country's second discount carrier.
In a bid to improve revenue growth, ImageSat International plans to increase its commercial imaging satellite constellation and target a new customer niche it hasn't focused on so far. The backbone of ImageSat's business is the Earth Remote Observation System (Eros) A1 satellite with a panchromatic camera launched in December 2000. The contract for the next, more capable satellite, Eros B-1, has already been signed. That spacecraft is to be delivered late next year and launched in early 2004--a few months later than first planned.
Thomas J. Haulik, business manager of Cytec Carbon Fibers, Alpharetta, Ga., has been elected international president of the Covina, Calif.-based Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering. He succeeds Boeing retiree Allen Penton. Other new officers include: executive vice president, Clark Johnson, project manager for Boeing Satellite Systems; senior vice president, Anthony Falcone, lead materials engineer for Boeing; vice president, Tia Benson Tolle, technology development engineer for the U.S.
In pursuit of a longtime goal--foreign cash--China said last week it will relax rules on foreign investment in its airlines and airports. The new rules have long been under discussion and were hinted at in June. They are expected to be implemented Aug. 1, subject to approval by the State Council, China's cabinet. Caps on the level of foreign investment were implied rather than stated in the announcement last week by the official China News Service.
Japan's Multi-functional Transport Satellite (MTSAT-1R), scheduled for launch next year to geosynchronous orbit, constitutes Japan's first attempt at combining independent payloads for more efficiency and cost-effectiveness. The Space Systems/Loral-built satellite, a replacement for one lost in 1999 in an H-II launcher failure, has aeronautical and meteorological missions.
The Shuttle Training Aircraft's Advanced Digital Avionics System (ADAS), which converts the Gulfstream II into an orbiter from a lift/drag and handling qualities standpoint, is being given a 10-fold increase in computer capability. The upgrades will enable critical STA training to better keep pace with shuttle flight software changes and the new glass cockpit displays in the orbiters and STA. The ADAS employs a model-following technique with mathematical equations that duplicate the orbiter's aerodynamic and flight control qualities.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. has awarded grants totaling $20 million to 40 communities in 38 states to help fund pilot programs to improve air service to small communities. States and localities added $14.8 million. Programs include stimulating initial and competitive service, increasing aircraft sizes and frequencies, and reducing fares. In a $500,000 grant, Casper and Gillette, Wyo., will buy an aircraft and lease it back to Big Sky Airlines for service to Billings, Mont. The Transportation Dept.
In a blow to Raytheon's credibility, the company for the third time this year has raised its estimate of how much it will cost to complete two power plant projects abandoned by Washington Group International Inc. (WGI) in 2001. The figure rose by another $400-450 million last week, bringing the total cost of completion to $1.21-1.26 billion. The increase will be taken as a charge against second-quarter earnings. Investors were aghast at the news, dumping large blocks of shares on July 1. The stock sank 3.60, or nearly 9%.
Kenneth E. Wilson has been appointed vice president-Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Targeting Networked Systems for the Baltimore-based Northrop Grumman Corp. Electronic Systems Sector.
European airlines hope to create a mutual insurance plan to restore affordable premiums. The plan, which would be temporarily supported by governments, is being discussed by airline executives, trade associations and the European Commission (EC). In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, aviation liability premiums covering third-party damages soared to unprecedented levels, further exacerbating the industry's dire financial straits.
Francois Lureau has been named executive vice president/chief operating officer of France-based Thales' defense businesses. He was CEO of the group's aerospace units. Jean-Paul Perrier has been appointed executive vice president/chief marketing officer of Thales International. He was senior vice president- group marketing and sales.
Northrop Grumman Corp.'s acquisition of TRW Inc. will profoundly alter the aerospace/defense industry's competitive landscape, assuming the proposed $13.3-billion transaction is approved by U.S. and European regulators. The combined company will become the U.S.' second largest defense contractor, with 2003 revenues of $26-27 billion. In addition, it will have the financial and technological clout to compete head-on with Boeing Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp. in missile defense and other classified space systems, as well as for large system integration projects.
One would have thought life would have become simpler for airlines after the government took over airport security. Not so. Instead of simply requiring the airlines to pay Uncle Sam the aggregate amount of what they spent for private security in 2000, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) ordered them to produce complicated cost breakdowns last May that carriers say required them to make many subjective assumptions. The trouble didn't end there, however; the law also requires airlines to produce by Aug. 1 an independent audit of security expenses.
