After waiting more than two decades, astronomers will move another step closer to exploring the infrared region of the universe when two major elements of the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) are joined this month.
Turbomeca has begun development of a 1,200-shp. turboshaft engine intended for 5-6-metric-ton-class helicopters. The engine, dubbed the Ardiden TM333 2C2, was launched at the Paris air show with India's Light Attack Helicopter (LAH) as its first application. The LAH version, called the Shakti, will be codeveloped and assembled by Hindustan Aviation Ltd., under an agreement signed in 2000 (AW&ST Sept. 4, 2000, p. 41).
Alliant Techsystems has been awarded a contract from BAE Systems in Austin, Tex., to develop and demonstrate solid propellant insensitive munitions (IM) rocket motors for the U.S. Army's Mongoose countermine system program. The Mongoose system is a rocket-deployed array of countermine shaped charges designed to provide a cleared path though anti-vehicle minefields by explosively neutralizing surface-laid and buried mines. The system's shaped-charge neutralization technology will clear a wide variety of mines regardless of the fuze.
Maintenance, repair and overhaul providers in the U.S. are cooperating with airlines to cut costs and readjust work schedules as the aviation industry copes with fallout from the terrorist attacks, but demand for freighter conversions remains high as cargo carriers brace for a business upturn this year.
While the public may never learn of the results, the Pentagon is beginning to assemble its ``lessons learned'' from the Afghanistan campaign. A team seemingly dominated by aviation specialists is leaving for a two-week fact-finding trip to the country. The eight-member group is led by Air Force Gen. (ret.) James McCarthy, who participated in a similar examination of the Kosovo air campaign. Other members include USAF Gen. (ret.) Larry Welch, Vice Adm. (ret.) David Frost, Army Gen. (ret.) Glenn Otis and former Pentagon advanced technology specialist Larry Lynn.
The National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) has lifted a ban imposed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the release of 3D terrain elevation measurements made over the U.S. by the NASA/NIMA shuttle radar topography mission (SRTM) flown two years ago. Restrictions, some of them in place prior to Sept. 11, remain on the release of higher resolution SRTM terrain elevation data over other countries--including Afghanistan. NIMA imposed the initial U.S. data restrictions to make sure its policy was in line with overall national security policy in the wake of the Sept.
German airship producer CargoLifter is attempting to interest Airbus in a modified plan to transport A380 subassemblies from its production facilities in Germany, Spain, the U.K. and France to its final assembly line in Toulouse. Airbus has already made a decision in favor of a land route between the French cities of Langon, on the Gironde River, and Toulouse in order to meet the program's tight schedule. The A380 is scheduled to make its maiden flight in 2004 and to enter service in the second quarter of 2006 (AW&ST June 18, 2001, p. 106).
Chengdu-based China Southwest Airlines has become China's fourth major international carrier, a move that should help the nation's putative flag carrier--Air China--with its long struggle to improve operations.
Europe's political leaders are hoping that the successful introduction of the euro and the deployment of a British-led peacekeeping force in Afghanistan will provide renewed impetus to European unification. The switchover from local currencies to euro bills and coins, which began smoothly on Jan. 1, is not expected to have an immediate economic impact, because the euro has already been in use for currency transactions for three years (AW&ST Jan. 18, 1999, p. 54).
Microsemi Corp. has received an 18-month, $7.5-million contract for its military/aerospace inflight entertainment semiconductor products. The contract from Rockwell Collins includes all of Microsemi's semiconductor classifications: power management, RF/management and optoelectronics, transient protection and power conditioning.
Citing the rapid rate of commercial computer development, President Bush has relaxed limits on computer and microprocessor exports to so-called ``Tier 3'' countries, including China, India, Pakistan, Russia, parts of southeastern Europe and the entire Middle East. Bush notified Congress last week he would raise the ceiling on computer performance levels. The pro-business Bush White House bought the rationale of America's high-tech companies.
Diplomatic efforts led by the U.S. and others last week tried to avert a fourth round of war between India and Pakistan, sparked by India's assertion that terrorists from Pakistan were responsible for a Dec. 13 attack on the Indian parliament that left eight dead. But both countries moved tactical ballistic missiles into place and positioned armored columns along the disputed Kashmir border. Pakistan's mobilization included Shaheen (Chinese M-11) missiles from a base near Sargodha, 150 mi. west of Lahore. India deployed its Prithvi missiles. Indian air chief marshal, S.
Peter B. Teets has been sworn in as undersecretary of the U.S. Air Force and director of the National Reconnaissance Office. He is a former president/chief operat- ing officer of the Lockheed Martin Corp.
As predictable as the Sun rising, there are already worries about requirements, mission and price creep in the F-35, formerly the Joint Strike Fighter. The program has a built-in dilemma. The Air Force wants the airplane as a low-cost adjunct to its high-end F-22, and therefore will seek to keep per-copy costs down. The Navy, on the other hand, will want to maximize capabilities of what will become its lone stealthy aircraft. Lockheed Martin appears to have anticipated this problem and sought to take care of it in the initial design.
The Israeli government has appointed a steering committee to evaluate how and when to privatize state-owned airline El Al. Other tasks of the committee include negotiating the sensitive topic of operations on the Sabbath, hotly opposed by the religious right, and resolving the fractious employee pension plan issue. There is no timetable scheduled for privatization.
BAE SYSTEM'S TACTICAL AIRCRAFT DIRECTABLE infrared countermeasures (TADIRCM) prototype successfully defended a QF-4 drone in two live-fire tests recently conducted at the Naval Weapons Range at China Lake, Calif. One test involved an IR-guided surface-to-air missile, while the other was an air-to-air missile. The TADIRCM, developed by the company's Information&Electronic Warfare Systems operation in Nashua, N.H., uses a two-color IR missile warning system whose algorithms were developed by the Naval Research Laboratory.
Bruce Moore has become president/ general manager and Tim Carey vice president-marketing of Celerity Systems Inc., Cupertino, Calif. Moore was a senior manager with KPMG Consulting Financial Services, while Carey was director of marketing for the Anritsu Co.
The cargo operator Atlas Air has launched a global network with a high-frequency schedule of Boeing 747 flights between its first-ever hubs at Miami, Anchorage and Liege, Belgium. Under the new program Atlas is offering clients the option of chartering a piece of freighter space on a one-way basis. This is a new concept for Atlas operations which have been limited to charters of an entire aircraft for outbound and inbound flight legs.
Aerojet has fired a ``green'' reaction control system for future-generation reusable launch vehicles in the first test of new propulsion technology funded through NASA's Space Launch Initiative. The company tested ignition and pulse-firing of its Reaction Control Engine, which burns liquid oxygen and ethanol to generate two thrust levels for course and attitude control.
Goodrich Corp. has been selected by Dassault Aviation to provide the SmartProbe air data system and primary ice detection system for the Falcon 7X business jet, under a $60-million contract.
NASA has funded a mid-decade Earth-trailing satellite that will carry a unique telescope to employ ``transit signature'' photography in a search for planets capable of sustaining life.
The initial production UH-1Y utility helicopter for the U.S. Marine Corps made its first flight Dec. 20 at Bell Helicopter Textron facilities in Arlington, Tex.
W. James McNerney, Jr., chairman/ CEO of 3M and former president/CEO of General Electric Aircraft Engines, has been named to the Boeing board of directors.
DigitalGlobe has released the first imagery from its new QuickBird commercial remote-sensing satellite, including color and panchromatic imagery with a resolution of only 2 ft. In a panchromatic 2-ft. image of the Royal Grand Palace in Bangkok (shown), intricate roof structures and landscaping are clearly visible, and individual people can be seen passing through a gate and along walkways at the top of the image.
