Six European nations have agreed to undertake a collaborative effort in advanced technologies that would enable them to jointly develop future combat aircraft systems.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the owner of a twin-engine Cessna that crashed in August, killing singer Aaliyah and eight other people. The agency is seeking logbooks and other documents related to the aircraft and its pilot, Luis Morales.
FAA-mandated inspections of Airbus A300-600 series and A310 aircraft with composite vertical stabilizers were underway last week while American Airlines Flight 587 accident investigators eyed rudder deflection as another contributing factor in the Nov. 12 crash. Wake turbulence and composite structure of the vertical stabilizer were identified as possible accident components by the National Transportation Safety Board in the first few days of its probe (AW&ST Nov. 19, p. 32).
Iraq should be ``the principal next target'' the military goes after, says Richard Perle, who chairs the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board--a group that gives informal advice to the Defense secretary. Perle, who has long advocated action against Saddam Hussein, warns more than airpower will be needed, particularly if the U.S. wants to eliminate Iraq's nuclear weapons program. He says there are hundreds of dispersed nuclear facilities.
The tendency to throw money at a problem is not the answer when it comes to employing new technologies to improve security at aerospace manufacturers and airports. Rather, individual technologies like biometrics have a place in improving security but only as one piece in a cohesive network of technologies and strategies.
With Osama bin Laden, his three wives, children, bodyguards and advisers on the run, Indian intelligence officials were monitoring the Jammu and Kashmir region of the disputed border with Pakistan for signs that the Al Qaeda leadership may be seeking sanctuary there. The thought is that U.S. surveillance flights are not concentrating on the area, so it would be a good hiding spot. Of special interest to Indian forces is the Kashmir valley where militants' morale is said to be low because of the quick routing of Al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan.
China's Remote Sensing Ground Station (RSGS) will be the first customer to receive imaging data from Spot Image's new Spot 5 imaging satellite, to be launched early next year. Spot 5 will provide 10-meter (33-ft.) color and 2.5/5-meter black-and-white resolution over a 60 X 60-km. (37 X 37-mi.) swath. RSGS already receives imaging from Spot Image via a receiving station in Miyun, 60 km. northeast of Beijing, and markets them through a joint venture, Beijing Spot Image.
TWO TEAMS AT BAE SYSTEMS' Information&Electronic Warfare division, who were developing EW system designs for the Joint Strike Fighter contenders, will now join forces to develop prototypes for Lockheed Martin's winning F-35. For nearly five years, the two groups have been working on their competitive EW designs with an ``information firewall'' that prevented public complaints of ``leakage'' by either Boeing or Lockheed Martin.
USAF recently accepted delivery of its 100,000th smoke hood from Essex PB&R. The military smokehoods, which are termed Emergency Passenger Oxygen Systems (EPOS), are for all USAF passenger-carrying aircraft. The EPOS is a self-contained, flame-resistant hood with an independent source of compressed oxygen and self-sealing neck seal. It can also provide supplemental oxygen for decompression protection at altitude. The EPOS is a smaller version of the company's FAA&CAA commercially mandated smoke hood for airlines crewmembers.
Mike Rowland has been named vice president-programs for the Gulfstream 100/200--former Galaxy Aerospace aircraft--for the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., Savannah, Ga. He was head of the EC-37 special mission program of the Gulfstream V. John Hodskins and Bill McLeod have become Western and Eastern U.S. vice presidents-sales for mid-size accounts. Hodskins was Eastern U.S. vice president-sales for Galaxy, while McLeod was mid-Atlantic sales director. Robert Harless has been named general manager of Gulfstream's Brunswick, Ga., facility.
A.C.E.S. HAS CREATED AERODOME, a new 6 X 6 X 8-ft., low-cost ($60,000), motion-based flight simulator for military aircraft. It can be test flown in the Elumens booth at the I/ITSEC show in Orlando, Fla., this week. A 180-deg. out-the-window view is provided on a 5-ft.-dia. dome by an Elumens Vision Station projector. Display resolution has improved over earlier simulators, and airborne targets are now visible at 10-15 mi. The projector is inside the cockpit and directly under an LCD instrument panel that's in approximately the same location as in the F/A-18 aircraft.
Top airline executives and financial analysts are still trying to determine whether the ongoing industry crisis will be long term or suddenly shift into a slow, gradual recovery. According to the International Air Transport Assn.'s chief economist, Peter Morris, experts are putting undue emphasis on terrorism as a deterrent to air transport, while travel requirements are generating great confidence in a rebound--although travelers will have to accept that flying is becoming more expensive. Corporate travel, for instance, is expected to revive.
Japan's National Space Development Agency has set a Jan. 31, 2002, date for launch of the second H-IIA rocket, with the entire month of February reserved at the Tanegashima Space Center range as a fallback period. The F-2 vehicle will carry the Mission Demonstration Test Satellite (MDS-1), a 990-lb. testbed for commercial satellites, as well as a vehicle evaluation payload and a hypersonic atmospheric reentry demonstrator.
James B. Dagnon, senior vice president-people, for the Boeing Co. of Chicago, has been inducted as a fellow by the National Academy of Human Resources. He was recognized for his work in completing several corporate mergers and overseeing development and launch of the Boeing Leadership Center.
In a strange saga, Lockheed Martin Space Systems and TRW Space&Electronics have been awarded a $2.7-billion firm, fixed-price contract to begin building the U.S. Air Force's Advanced Extremely High-Frequency next-generation communications satellites. Boeing Satellite Systems, which had been part of the original design team, promptly dropped out after the award was announced Nov. 16, saying the program's technical and financial risks were ``disproportionate to our role.''
The shuttle Endeavour is set for liftoff to the International Space Station Nov. 29 on a crew changeout and logistics flight guarded by the tightest launch security in the history of the U.S. space program. The mission is taking on increased importance because a planned extravehicular activity (EVA) by the Endeavour STS-108 astronauts could prove critical to averting a much more difficult and critical ISS repair early next year.
Not all astronauts are thrilled with the recommendations about the International Space Station that NASA received from the independent panel led by Tom Young. The group urged that Soyuz missions--to replace old crew rescue vehicles with new ones--last one month, not one week. ``The station is not yet capable of accommodating a six-man crew for such long periods,'' complained Claudie Haignere. She recently returned from an eight-day Franco-Russian mission.
Among the major U.S. airlines, America West is, by its own description, the closest to the brink. As detailed in its Securities and Exchange Commission filing for the third quarter of 2001, America West is in big trouble. It needs to borrow money but might not be able to, it has suspended payments to lessors and vendors despite the risk of foreclosure proceedings, it lacks financing for 20 Airbus narrow-body aircraft set for delivery from December 2002 to December 2004, and it plans to apply by year-end for a federal loan guarantee.
Developing cutting-edge technology and intelligence-gathering methods dominate U.S. counterterrorism efforts today. But a comprehensive Homeland Security battle plan will have to employ a broader spectrum of weapons to eradicate long-term problems, such as terrorist funding, as well as a stealthy threat known as ``ultra-terrorism.''
This Ukrainian-built AN-74 was spotted at Bagram airport just 15 mi. north of Kabul. The light STOL (short-takeoff-and-landing) transport, with Iranian marking, reportedly carried British and U.S. troops to the air base. Iran supplied the Northern Alliance for years, and the British flew large amounts of relief supplies into eastern Iran to feed Afghan refugees camped along the border. Iran ordered more than a dozen of the aircraft in transport and combination passenger, cargo configuration.
The Biometric HandReader identifies a person by the size and shape of their hand, ensuring that only authorized personnel are allowed to enter secured areas. The system offers a positive, nonintrusive, nontransferable means of identification.
Airborne reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering in Afghanistan have improved since combat operations in the Balkans, but continuing shortfalls have solidified U.S. Air Force requirements for additional improvements.
Airline pilot education is changing since a shrinking number of new hires come from military cockpits. In contrast with their civilian-trained counterparts, military pilots brought broader experience in recovering from unusual attitudes and an awareness of the hazardous effects of hypoxia and kinesthetic illusions. These areas are now being covered in the training curriculum for prospective commercial pilots. However, air combat training remains specialized with centrifuge-based simulators providing realistic high g-forces for military pilots.
The AeroGUARD design is a reinforced titanium cockpit door incorporating horizontal vents made of a composite ballistic material. It is designed to resist brute force, ax impact or small arms fire, according to the company. The door is also airtight to prevent gas intrusion. Installed with the door is a camera system that lets the pilots see who is immediately outside. The open-vent door design, along with three hinged panels on the cockpit side, allows pressure between the cabin and the cockpit to equalize in the event of a cabin decompression.
