Competitors for the U.S. Navy's Multi-Mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA), the prospective P-3 and EP-3 replacement, are worried. Although the Navy released its request for proposals for the 200-plus-aircraft program late in March, there is growing anxiety about whether the service will have enough money to buy everything it wants. The signals intelligence version may be the most vulnerable because of the small fleet size, several industry officials believe. But even the maritime patrol and targeting aircraft may not be affordable.
The U.S. Air Force has authorized Boeing Space and Communications to move forward with long-lead plans involved in the production of spacecraft for the Global Positioning System IIF modernization program (see rendering). The new model will be compatible with the U.S. Air Force's evolved expendable launch vehicle (EELV) program. Boeing received the GPS upgrade contract in April of 1996.
Lufthansa Cargo has concluded an agreement to use DHL's freighter fleet for intra-European overnight shipment of its td.flash express products. The shipments, currently made on Lufthansa Boeing 737 quick-change aircraft, will be transferred to new 757 freighters being integrated into the DHL fleet and then carried on a blocked space basis. The agreement will cover 13 destinations in this summer's schedule and is to be expanded substantially next year, officials said. Lufthansa and Deutsche Post own a majority of DHL.
Swiss, an outgrowth of regional carrier Crossair, obtained an air operator certificate on Mar. 27. This week, it begins to operate from Zurich and Basel to 126 destinations in 59 countries with a 128-aircraft fleet and about 10,000 employees. The emergence of Switzerland's new flag carrier, rising from Swissair's ashes, is widely ranked as ``a national undertaking.'' Swiss expects to regain solid market shares in Europe and on long-haul routes despite the ongoing economic downturn, the airline industry's excess capacity and heightened competition.
Phyllis J. Campbell has been appointed to the board of directors of the Alaska Air Group Inc. She is a former president of U.S. Bank of Washington and is chair of its community board.
With a final go-ahead for Europe's Galileo satellite navigation system at last assured, European and U.S. experts are now turning in earnest to the matter of interoperability with the U.S.' Global Positioning System, and the potential impact on mutual security and economic interests.
It's a long shot, but the Transportation Security Administration faces the potential of getting squeezed between politics and public apathy late this year, participants at a Mar. 26 Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Boeing aviation conference speculate. The TSA tasted controversy Jan. 18, the deadline for screening all baggage, which it finessed by exempting bags passing through hubs. Based on this experience, there's plenty of opportunity for finger-pointing on Nov. 19, when all screeners are to be federal personnel, and Dec.
BAE Systems Aircraft Services Group has received a mandate from a bank consortium to sell four Airbus A319s and a A321 previously operated by Sabena Belgian World Airlines.
Ernest Levert, senior staff manufacturing engineer at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Dallas, has been elected president of the Miami-based American Welding Society.
Korean Air, following United Airlines' lead, plans to install Advanced Taser M26s on all its aircraft, under a contract worth more than $145,000. The airline is obtaining the devices under an agreement with C&S Corp., the distributor in South Korea for Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Taser International. According to Taser, the devices are to be installed on all Korean Air aircraft and are intended for use by flight crews and, possibly, cabin crews.
NASA International Space Station program managers believe the project will be able to achieve the critical ISS ``core complete'' configuration for $8.3 billion through Fiscal 2006. The Bush Administration has approved development of the ISS through at least core complete--and NASA is now maintaining the $8.3-billion figure as a formal internal target. Core complete would include all major U.S. elements minus the crew return vehicle needed to increase the crew number above three.
Airbus has won what is believed to be India's biggest commercial transport order with approval last week by the board of government-owned Indian Airlines of a $2-billion fleet renewal plan. India's domestic carrier, IA, has taken advantage of what officials characterized as softer pricing in the post-Sept. 11 market by buying 43 new aircraft: 19 A319s, four A320s and 20 A321s, all with CFM56 engines. They are to replace AI's aging A300s and 737s at its Alliance Air subsidiary. Deliveries are to be over five years starting in 2003.
John Lester Miller has been named manager of the Portland, Ore., aerospace technology office of the Research Triangle Institute of North Carolina. He has been chief scientist of RTI.
Germany's A400M airlifter partner governments late last week were anticipating delivery of a letter of clarification covering Berlin's attempt to finalize its funding, as a precursor to activating the 5.1-billion-euro ($4.4-billion) development contract. Following an A400M steering committee meeting on Mar. 22, a mechanism was put in place to work around Germany's inability to reconcile the number of aircraft it has said it would buy--73--against its ability to pay for only about 40.
U.S. Navy aviators believe the acceleration of a plan to retire S-3B aircraft will cut by one-fifth the ability of East Coast-based air wings to generate missions at wartime rates. Underlying the move is the need to pay for new F/A-18E/F strike fighters and speed their introduction into the Navy, say critics of the early retirement plan. Initially, the ``sundown plan'' to retire S-3 surveillance/strike/tanker aircraft had three parts:
LOCKHEED MARTIN IS LEADING A TEAM comprising Computer Sciences Corp., Boeing, Harris and Northrop Grumman in bidding for the FAA's En Route Automation Modernization program. The main effort is to redesign old software at 20 en route centers. Raytheon, which protested a year ago when the agency attempted a sole-source award to LockMart, is also competing, according to the FAA.
A new deadline of June 20 has been set for gathering public commentary on long-term capacity solutions for New York LaGuardia Airport. The commentary period, originally scheduled to end on Oct. 12 last year, was suspended following the Sept. 11 events. The debate should be lively, as the proposed demand management options include slot auctions, hefty landing fees and incentives to encourage operation of larger aircraft (AW&ST June 11, 2001, p. 45).
The Pentagon is shifting gears on the type of targets it wants for the ballistic missile test program. Instead of solid-fueled boosters, the military is interested in liquid-fueled rockets that would provide more flexibility for testing, said Army Lt. Gen. Joseph M. Cosumano of the Space and Missile Defense Command which manages joint target programs. By adjusting the booster's nozzle, the speed of the target can be altered, making the system more useful since the target can stress different parts of the missile defense engagement envelope.
A Navy/Lockheed Martin Trident II D5 submarine-launched ballistic missile was fired down the U.S. Air Force 45th Space Wing's Eastern Range Mar. 17 from the USS Alaska, submerged off Cape Canaveral, Fla. The test was aimed at validating conversion of the Alaska to fire D5 missiles instead of the Trident 1 C4 originally carried. Additional firings will be conducted off the Cape by the USS Nevada, USS Henry M. Jackson and the USS Alabama.
If there are generals who fight wars and generals who prepare for them, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe is shaping up as one of the latter. Dismissing specific exploration objectives like Mars (with humans) and Pluto and Europa (with robots) as ``whimsical fantasy'' using today's technology, O'Keefe told Women in Aerospace he won't designate a target for his agency to attack. Instead, he will devote his tenure to preparing the technology that will enable exploration of the whole solar system at a later date.
Delta Air Lines' Technical Operations division will perform integrated support services for Boeing 767-300ER transports operated by code-share partner Royal Air Maroc, including engineering, maintenance and administrative work. The airline is preparing to introduce the new aircraft into service. In addition, Delta and Royal Air Maroc are cooperating on maintenance programs for the latter's 757-200s as well as support services for engines and components installed on its 737-800s.
CAE has won service contracts valued at up to $13.81 million from the U.S. Coast Guard and the German armed forces. The USCG has selected CAE to provide five years of C-130 Hercules training to its aviators, and the Germans have awarded CAE a one-year contract extension for on-site flight simulation equipment maintenance.
