USAF Global Hawk unmanned aircraft are finally in operation over Afghanistan. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper saw the first images from one of the Northrop Grumman reconnaissance aircraft Nov. 27. ``I am surprised at how good they were and I am very surprised with the reliability that has been demonstrated,'' Jumper said, but at the same time warned of undue expectations. ``The Global Hawk is still very much a test system,'' he said.
NASA has set a Dec. 7 launch date for two spacecraft--one designed to continue detailed study of the world's oceans, and the other to initiate worldwide study of a section of the upper atmosphere that has previously gone unexamined because it has been too high for airplanes and balloons, and too low for direct observation by satellites.
Canada's Magnifoam Technology International Inc. has won a contract to supply its PlyFab thermal-acoustic insulation system for the three Bombardier Learjet models: 31A, 45 and 60.
AirTran Airways is seeking at least $100,000 damages against a man whose alleged security breach clipped Atlanta Hartsfield International's wings for nearly 4 hr. on Nov. 16. The Orlando-Fla.-based carrier last week filed a civil suit in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, ``seeking relief as a result of events'' that followed the actions of Michael Shane Lasseter. The gentleman was said to have run past guards and down an up escalator, a move which aroused suspicions of security forces at the nation's busiest airport.
Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta committed truth last week at Aviation Week's conference on homeland security and defense, and he is paying a political price for it. Stating what already was evident to everyone in the aviation community (AW&ST Nov. 26, p. 52), Mineta said his department can't deliver on Congress' mandate to begin screening all checked baggage for explosives by Jan. 18 without big increases in airport delays. There aren't enough explosives-detection systems, bomb-sniffing dogs and trained screeners to do the job.
The U.S. Army is making over the RAH-66 Comanche armed reconnaissance helicopter program, prolonging its development, raising its price and incurring the ire of senior Pentagon officials. The Army plan, which hasn't been blessed by Pentagon acquisition officials, could increase the program's development price $1.5-2 billion and tag two years on to its schedule, said one Defense Dept. official. Under the new scheme, fielding an operational version of Comanche won't occur until 2008 at the earliest, with 2010 a more likely date, he added.
Tight budgets in a post-Sept. 11 business climate have prompted American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines to drop out of Boeing Connexion, the in-flight e-mail and Internet service that Boeing launched last summer. The three were financial backers of Connexion, one of the Chicago-manufacturer's most highly publicized recent initiatives. While they may return as customers, their withdrawal raises questions about the project's longevity. Boeing has announced layoffs with Connexion but says the system will enter trials next year with Lufthansa.
As the answer to at least three pressing tactical needs for its forces in the war zone, the U.S. Marine Corps has established an air base in desert country about 55 mi. southwest of Kandahar, the last large city in Afghanistan held by the Taliban.
L-3 Communications has received a $10-million contract from Saab Avionics to supply multi-function, high-resolution, liquid crystal cockpit displays for the JAS 39 Gripen.
Boeing plans to select industry partners in January for a European-based research project ultimately aimed at applying fuel cell technolgy to aircraft auxiliary power units (APUs).
Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. has partnered with its Japanese trading company, Marubeni Aerospace, to supply two G-V special mission aircraft to the Japanese coast guard. Valued at up to $100 million, the work order includes engineering support for modification and integration of mission systems.
United Airlines plans to sew up a deal for an outside investor in its Avolar fractional-ownership affiliate before the unit starts operations in April. Graham Atkinson, senior vice president-international, said no new aircraft commitments, including plans for acquisition of smaller business jets or top-of-the-line Airbus models, will be made until the new investor is on board (AW&ST Nov. 26, pp. 23, 27). Avolar has already made arrangements to purchase a fleet of mid- and large-size aircraft, and events since Sept. 11 point to greater, not less, demand, Atkinson said.
The U.K. has again extended, to Jan. 23, 2002, interim insurance coverage to domestic airlines, filling the shortage in the commercial market touched off by Sept. 11. As before, U.K. airlines and service providers will have to come up with commercial coverage for the first $50 million of third-party war and terrorism liabilities. The government is providing cover above that minimum. Airline premiums will remain based on the per-passenger criterion set forth in European Commission guidelines.
Two years ago, Rick Lazarick, an FAA security expert at the Atlantic City Technical Center, quietly set out to do what had never been done before: Develop a comprehensive overview of how well the FAA's counter-terrorism measures would work against terrorist threats. What came out of the largely unpublicized analysis by Lazarick and others was a window into how difficult or easy it would be for terrorists to wreak havoc on airports, aircraft and air traffic facilities.
Nepal has sought Indian military assistance to help quell Maoist rebels that exploded bombs in Kathmandu at a Coca-Cola bottling plant Nov. 29. The nature of the Indian assistance is uncertain but is likely to include armed HAL Chetaks--Alouette IIIs built under license--with machine guns and wire-guided anti-tank missiles, as well as ground forces. Should Nepal's 10-year-old democracy be unable to stop the attacks, the fear is that the king may decide to reclaim power.
The FAA has approved Reduced Vertical Separation Minima for Learjet 35/36-series business jets, allowing aircraft approved for RVSM to fly at high altitudes with a vertical separation of 1,000 ft. between them instead of 2,000 ft., thereby squeezing more airplanes into controlled airspace. The authorization applies to all Learjet 35/36s equipped with a Century III Softflite wing configuration as well as equipment specified in the Supplemental Type Certificate. Plans are to introduce RVSM rules in late 2004 for Flight Level 350-390 and late 2005 for Flight Level 290-390.
The T-50 trainer offers supersonic performance, fly-by-wire controls and an integrated avionics/cockpit design. Can it find a market? When the T-50 Golden Eagle was rolled out here at Korea Aerospace Industries on a sunny October afternoon, the event was more than the debut of an advanced, supersonic trainer. It marked South Korea's bid to be counted among the world's leading aerospace producing nations, just as it is in electronics, shipbuilding and chemicals.
Ryanair plans to establish a secondary hub at Hahn airport, near Frankfurt. Executives of the Irish low-cost carrier said that more than 30 daily flights will be operated between Hahn and 10 European destinations.
France, the U.K. and Italy are expanding their role in the antiterrorism campaign, even as doubts grow about the aims and relevance of Europe's contributions, and the seriousness of its commitment to common security.
In the story ``LockMart Bracing For JSF Transition Phase'' (AW&ST Nov. 19, p. 86), Northrop Grumman has been designated as prime contractor for the F-35 radar. Any involvement from Raytheon in design of the radar system would be strictly between those two companies.
U.S. and Russian International Space Station managers were reviewing ISS structural loads analysis and extravehicular activity (EVA) planning last week to reschedule liftoff of the space shuttle Endeavour after a Russian Progress docking problem forced postponement of the shuttle launch to the ISS on Nov. 29. Endeavour's liftoff was possible as early as Nov. 30 pending the outcome of the analysis. The difficulty occurred Nov. 28 when the ISS Progress 6 unmanned logistics transport attempted to dock with the aft port of the Zvezda service module.
The investigators of the American Airlines Flight 587 accident are looking at a fundamental question--was the vertical stabilizer of the Airbus A300-600R weak and did it fail under normal forces, or did an overwhelming force break a good tail?
The Air Force Space Warfare Center has signed a cooperative research and development agreement with SGI Federal to use data from spacecraft in real time to form a ``common operating picture'' for area commanders. The agreement covers display, decision support, and command and control technologies that will be installed on the center's testbed. The project will also attempt to integrate real-time video from aerial drones. . . .
Delta Air Lines has selected the Cabin Alert and Monitoring System (CAMS) for installation on one MD-88 aircraft. The system will permit flight crews to view activities in the cabin via cameras with low-light capabilities. Engineers from Securaplane Technologies and Hollingsead International have teamed with Delta's engineering staff to equip the first aircraft. The CAMS utilizes lightweight, low-power airborne camera units coupled with a wireless crew alert system. It lets the cockpit crew view the cabin situation on a high-resolution video monitor.
The Philadelphia Stock Exchange last week began trading options on the newly created PHLX Defense Sector. This is an equal-dollar weighted index composed of 18 of the largest and most actively traded contractors in the aerospace/defense industry.
