Boeing and Siemens Corp. have formed a team to bid for the U.S. government's requirement to install, operate and maintain a system of explosives detection devices at U.S. airports.
South Korea's plan to procure 40 next-generation combat aircraft, a $3-billion-plus deal, is rapidly deteriorating into a highly charged legal and political wrangle. Dassault Aviation executives claim the final phase of the F-X competition isn't fair and is intended to favor the rival U.S. offering submitted by Boeing. Last week, the French manufacturer filed an injunction in a Seoul court asking the government to freeze the procurement process and clarify the selection procedure.
Raytheon's second limited production system of the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (Stars) Early Display Configuration has achieved initial operational capability for the terminal radar approach control facility servicing Bradley International Airport near Hartford, Conn. This is the first step in the deployment of the full Stars system that provides new, high-resolution color displays, and an emergency back-up system to be used in conjunction with the airport's existing technology.
Long-lasting, healthy traffic growth at Paris airports is expected to resume in the second half of 2002, after the gradual lessening of the recent economic downturn and post-Sept. 11 difficulties. Not unexpectedly, the unfriendly marketplace seriously affected the demand during 2001's last quarter, ADP Paris airports authority executives said. Last year, Charles de Gaulle and Orly combined traffic decreased 3.5% to 71 million passengers, while freight moved back 1.5% to 1.7 million metric tons.
Former U.S. Sen. and astronaut John H. Glenn, Jr,. is among the six new members of the NASA Advisory Council. He joins Richard Danzig, Navy secretary from 1998-2001 and now a director of the National Semiconductor Corp. and Human Genome Sciences; Roger E. Tetrault, retired vice chairman/CEO of McDermott International and former president of General Dynamics' Electric Boat Div.; Donald C. Fraser, founder/director of the Photonics Center at Boston University and former principal deputy undersecretary of Defense for acquisition; David J.
Scott Otteman has become director of trade policy in the International Economic Affairs Dept. of the Washington-based National Assn. of Manufacturers. He was director of the Trade Policy Project of the Inter-American Dialogue.
The Pentagon is getting ready to begin a concept demonstration of a mini-airborne laser intended to destroy cruise missiles or attack targets on the ground. The five-year program with Boeing would involve a 20-kw. Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser (Coil), the same technology used in much larger scale on the anti-ballistic missile YAL-1A Airborne Laser. The smaller configuration in the Advanced Tactical Laser would use a sealed exhaust system. The program, under the auspices of the U.S. Special Operations Command, could cost up to $250 million.
Neil Raynor has been named senior vice president-Canadian affairs and Ian A. Redhead vice president-airport facilities and services of the Washington-based Airports Council International-North America. Raynor also is executive director of the affiliate Canadian Airports Council. Redhead was director of aviation for the North Carolina Global TransPark Authority.
A pair of satellites--which died for lack of power in 1996 after the third stage that carried them to orbit failed to release them--reentered the atmosphere over China on Apr. 6, along with the faulty stage. NASA's High Energy Transient Experiment (Hete) and Argentina's SAC-B spacecraft reentered at about 10:55 p.m. EST Apr. 6 at 92.4 deg. E. Long., 31.5 deg. N. Lat., still attached to the Pegasus third stage that stranded them following launch over Wallops Island, Va., on Nov. 4, 1996. Although the two satellites and the stage weighed 1,177 lb.
NASA and the U.S. Air Force are preparing to develop reusable launch vehicle (RLV) technology in tandem, abandoning the Clinton-era policy that restricted the military to expendable launcher development in favor of cooperation on dual-use RLV technology work alongside separate efforts to meet unique NASA and military requirements.
DIAMOND AIRCRAFT HAS DELIVERED TWO DA20-C1 trainers to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., for use in its introductory flight program, which provides midshipmen with 25 hr. of flying to acquaint students with aviation before they advance to military pilot training at Pensacola, Fla. The aircraft will be based at Bay Bridge Airport near the Academy.
Conventional navigation aids are slated to begin a phasedown in the U.S. in 2010, as part of the transition to satellite systems, according to the Federal Radionavigation Plan released by the Transportation Dept. recently. Preconditions for the cuts are that the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) must be approved as a primary means of flight navigation and that WAAS procedures must have been published. ILS for Category 2 and 3 approaches will remain, and Loran-C will continue to operate in the short term while the government evaluates the long-term need.
In the topsy-turvy world of post-Sept. 11 aviation, the ``scope'' clauses in labor contracts that protect pilot jobs at major airlines are threatening to retard the vital growth of regional air services, which has been one of the few encouraging developments for the slowly recovering airline industry.
Perhaps it was just too much to hope for: Europe would finally move to address its paltry airlift capability, while the U.S. government would proffer only encouragement to its allies in tackling a glaring capability gap.
Toronto-based Atlantic Systems International Inc. has been chosen by Westland Helicopters Ltd. of the U.K. to supply a cockpit procedures trainer and Full Cockpit Emulator (FCE) suite for the new CH-149 Cormorant, a search-and-rescue variant of the AgustaWestland EH-101. The FCE is a PC-based software application that provides supplemental cockpit procedural training. Using high-fidelity replica controls and indicators with tactile and visual feedback, crews will be able to practice cockpit routines and drills in a range of simulated environments.
German aerospace center DLR has contracted with Astrium to build a civil radar imaging satellite that is intended to further reinforce Europe's X-band remote sensing capability while raising anew the question of how to coordinate disparate national space projects.
SES Global, Gilat Satellite Networks and Alcatel Space will team to provide two-way satellite broadband services in Europe, giving new impetus to the sputtering broadband market.
The U.S. Army is trying to determine which sensors to put on its Hunter unmanned aircraft to aid in finding the most effective combination of UAVs with manned aircraft. The Army has been interested for some time in linking Hunter with Black Hawk and Apache helicopters and is running a concept demonstration to assess the combination's utility. Now the service wants to find electro-optical/infrared and radiofrequency sensors, as well as laser rangefinders and designators, to install on Hunter. The service requirements include a 500-10,000-ft. range, 360-deg.
Kathrine Johnson Lewis (see photo) has become technical development manager for aerospace and bonding adhesives for the Adhesives and Tooling Div. of Vantico Inc. of Los Angeles. She was senior scientist/corporate research and development group manager for PRC-Desoto International, Burbank, Calif.
NTSB Chairman Marion Blakey said there is no reason to ground the Airbus A300-600, in response to a letter from eight American Airlines pilots urging that it be grounded. ``We have not seen anything to this point that indicates that kind of radical action is warranted,'' Blakey told the House Appropriations transportation subcommittee. An FAA official agreed.
PRODUCTION OF THE VENERABLE Lockheed Martin C-130 military airlifter will continue until at least 2008 if the U.S. military services and other countries that are evaluating the current Super Hercules ``J'' versions place the anticipated number of orders, according to company executives. They said 118 C-130Js have been ordered, of which 85 have been delivered. The current backlog will last through 2004, executives said. The U.S. Air Force is mulling procurement of 40 stretch CC-130Js, and the U.S.
Domestic and international airlines are preparing for a possible battle with the U.S. government over how much they'll have to pay for Transportation Security Administration-run passenger and cargo security services. The issue is heating up as a May 31 deadline for their first installment--about 20% of what each airline spent in 2000 on passenger screening--draws near.
Spot Image is preparing to sign a five-year framework agreement with the French ministry of defense that would give the company exclusive rights to supply French security imagery. Spot Image recently inked a $12-million three-year agreement with Image One of Japan--soon to be extended to five years--and a $50-million five-year pact with Digital Globe of the U.S. giving them exclusive rights to market and sell Spot imagery to Japanese and U.S. government customers (AW&ST Mar. 18, p. 15; Jan. 28, p. 33).
