The Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center will start ``benchmarking contractors'' in an effort to improve the performance of space programs, according to the center's commander, Lt. Gen. Brian Arnold. The benchmarking process will involve reviewing a company's past performance on key programs and determining who is the best in each industry category and ``who's not,'' he said. Companies will receive feedback on ``rights and wrongs'' in order to improve the overall health of national security space programs.
A testbed version of USAF's next-generation, wide-body intelligence-gathering aircraft made its first flight this month, less than a year after it was conceptualized. The MC2A is being designed to replace the RC-135 Rivet Joint, E-8 Joint-STARS and E-3 AWACS aircraft and, as an added benefit, to spot stealthy targets such as low-flying cruise missiles.
David Schwarte, executive vice president/general counsel of the Sabre Holdings Corp., Southlake, Tex., has been appointed chairman of the American Bar Assn.'s Air&Space Law Forum. He succeeds Jeffrey N. Shane, who is now associate deputy secretary of Transportation.
Perception can be a powerful force in the investment world and that point was dramatically illustrated last week, much to the dismay of two leading aviation industry suppliers. U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta announced on Wednesday that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) would buy about 1,100 explosive detection systems. TSA is hoping to meet a deadline for 100% inspection of checked baggage by the end of 2002.
France's defense procurement and aerospace research agencies plan to strengthen their ties to the scientific community and industry in order to better exploit their combined resources during a period of low government spending.
Japan's National Space Development Agency has formally approved development of the H-IIA-204 vehicle with four solid rocket boosters for lifting 6,000-kg. (13,200-lb.) class payloads to a geostationary transfer orbit. The vehicle's debut will be the 2004 launch of NASDA's 5,800-kg. ETS-8 engineering test satellite. NASDA forecasts its launch cost as $72 million, versus $64 million for a standard H-IIA with two smaller SRBs.
NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous mission was remarkably successful, all the more so when its scientific output is measured against its relatively modest cost. The first planetary mission the U.S. space agency ever entrusted to an outside organization, the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft was developed by the Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University. Under the leadership of project manager Thomas Coughlin, APL designed and built the spacecraft on time and under budget for a Feb. 17, 1996, launch.
Charles T. (Tony) Robertson (see photos) has been named vice president-business development for military aerospace support for St. Louis-based Boeing Military Aircraft and Missile Systems. He recently retired from the U.S. Air Force as commander-in-chief of the U.S. Transportation Command and commander of the Air Mobility Command, Scott AFB, Ill.
The U.S. Air Force is launching an overhaul of how it does business in the Command, Control, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance business, C2ISR. At a summit meeting sponsored by the Air Force Assn. last week in Danvers, Mass., Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John P. Jumper made it clear he expects every command in the Air Force to rethink how it handles information to serve the needs of the warfighter more effectively. And Lt. Gen. Leslie F.
Joann Svejcar has been promoted to vice president-worldwide travel supplier services from associate for sales and marketing within the Supplier Services Group of Atlanta-based Worldspan.
A select group of corporate travelers have registered the weakening effects that post-Sept. 11 security screenings are having on an air travel economy already hit by recession. Their message is not good for U.S. airlines.
Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Jim Burnley has become a partner in Venable, a Washington legislative practice. He also has been a partner in the Washington law office of Winston&Strawn.
Royal Air Maroc's reshuffled management team has devised a new growth strategy whose primary goal is to create a truly African airline. Chairman/CEO Mohamed Berrada said the Moroccan flag carrier also will seek more maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) business in order to diversify revenues, reduce financial risks and sustain the country's quest for highly qualified jobs.
Engineers are working to fix the Galileo spacecraft's science tape recorder, which malfunctioned during monthly maintenance movements on Apr. 12. The device is not needed until November, when the Jet Propulsion Laboratory spacecraft will encounter Jupiter's tiny moon Amalthea.
The main private shareholder of Russia's fifth largest airline, Tyumenaviatrans Aviation, has bought a 49.6% stake in the country's sixth biggest carrier, Domodedovo Airlines, based in Moscow. If the Russian government, which holds a major stake at Domodedovo, approves the deal, the investor aims to merge both companies. This would create a strong competitor for Russian flag carrier Aeroflot, St. Petersburg-based Pulkovo Airlines and Siberia Airlines of Novosibirsk, which hold first, second and third rankings, respectively, as Russia's top operators.
Airbus CEO Noel Forgeard says the European aircraft manufacturer has entered the final stage of talks that will bring Mitsubishi and Fuji orders worth $1 billion as subcontractors on the A380 program. Speaking here Apr. 19 after meeting with officials from both companies, Forgeard said the agreement will be completed in 4-6 weeks. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has done work for Airbus previously, but Fuji Heavy Industries has not. Kawasaki Heavy Industries, which is participating in the A321 program, is not to take part in the A380.
Dassault Aviation and Sagem have decided to team to develop future tactical unmanned aerial vehicles. Sagem has sold more than 100 UAVs to four European countries, including an 18-unit Sperwer sale to France last year. However, it is under heavy pressure from Israeli competitors, who sold their Eagle 1 right in Sagem's home market.
Lockheed Martin Corp.'s strategy of managing its business units for cash flow and concentrating on internal growth--versus getting caught up in the pursuit of more acquisitions--continues to show results.
Companies are missing a bet if they don't tap into the expertise of NASA's research centers and Jet Propulsion Laboratory before exploring new technologies. NASA is soliciting partnerships with industry, universities and other researchers--foreign and domestic. It recently established the nonprofit Girvan Institute at NASA Research Park in the Ames-Moffet, Calif., complex, to encourage entrepreneurial spirit and help speed innovations to commercial markets. A two-day tech-transfer workshop for small businesses is set for May 30-31.
Correction: The U.S. Navy Space&Naval Warfare Systems Command misidentified a photo annotation and description of a carrier battle group (AW&ST Apr. 8, pp. 30 and 77). The Navy said it should have identified the carrier as the USS Carl Vinson.
Photograph: American Airlines won the Laureate in the Commercial Air Transport category. From left are AW&ST Executive Vice President/Publisher Kenneth E. Gazzola, American Vice Chairman Bob Baker, AW&ST Editor-In-Chief David M. North and American Chairman Don Carty. Commercial Air Transport For American Airlines and the 122,820 men and women of AMR Corp., 2001 was a year of triumph and tragedy. A trend-setter across the decades, American in 2001 assumed the mantle as the U.S.' largest air carrier.
NASA has picked two pieces of critical technology to test for a planned effort to measure the deep-space gravity waves Albert Einstein predicted in his General Theory of Relativity. One is an extremely fine sensor that can detect drag on spacecraft from solar wind and other sources, and the other is an equally sensitive thruster that can counteract that drag so true gravity measurements can be made.
TRW Inc. shareholders last week approved a Northrop Grumman Corp.-sponsored resolution giving the company access to TRW's books, paving the way for Northrop to offer a takeover bid that reflects TRW's strategic value.
Canadian Forces Gen. (ret.) Jean (John) Boyle has been nominated for election to the board of directors of Simula Inc., Tempe, Ariz. Boyle, a retired chief of the Defense Staff of Canada's Armed Forces, was managing director of Brussels-based Boeing International Corp.-Europe.
