When you go on life support, your every twitch, flutter and sharp intake of breath gets monitored very closely. That's what's happening to U.S. airlines.
Plans to accelerate Global Hawk unmanned aircraft fielding are hitting a major roadblock. The House Intelligence committee wants to strip the entire $33.5 million in long-lead money for additional Block 5 aircraft from the budget.
Australia plans to enhance its military's counterterrorist and incident response capabilities. The goal is to double the special forces counterterrorist means and reestablish the highly specialized Incident Response Unit that existed during the Sydney Olympics to respond to a weapons-of-mass-destruction attack.
The U.S. Air Force and National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) were poised late last week for the launch of an advanced version of the KH-11 imaging reconnaissance satellite that will be used to aid U.S.-allied military operations in Afghanistan, as well as keep watch on other key intelligence targets, including China. The 30,000-lb. spacecraft is to become one of nearly 50 U.S. and European military eavesdropping, communications, navigation, weather and surveillance spacecraft now beginning to support military operations against terrorist-related forces.
Saying the threat of terrorists commandeering the cockpit outweighs traditional concerns for pilot safety, the FAA has allowed airlines to begin installing makeshift bolts on cockpit doors while manufacturers look for more permanent solutions.
Securing hundreds of doors that lead to aircraft ramps has been a challenge for aviation but especially for Chicago O'Hare International, one of the world's busiest airports. The city's Aviation Dept. has been testing a fingerprint-recognition technology for a building-access-control system at O'Hare since last May. In the next few weeks, the new technology will be installed at 1,100 doors at O'Hare and Midway airports. SecuGen Corp. of Milpitas, Calif., developed the technology, which uses smart-card fingerprint-verification readers.
Strangers walking onto Bob Bunting's cornfield airstrip on Maryland's Eastern Shore face a security screen arguably equal to or better than any state-of-the-art weapons detection systems at a major U.S. airport--Bunting's need to know why the hell you're on his property. And his scrutiny of would-be guests becomes particularly intense when the topic turns to the large, dirty yellow Grumman Ag-Cat parked behind the barn.
Active duty Air Force and Air National Guard fighter units flying airspace-protection missions over the U.S. are handling the increased workload well, but refueling tankers and AWACS resources are stretched thin after three weeks of intense operations.
Russia is pushing a high-speed, Mach 2.6 antiship missile system designed to be fired beyond line-of-sight to the target, leaving the attacked vessel little time to defend itself. NPO Mashinostroyenia intends to exploit its somewhat odd mix of missiles, satellites and launchers by drawing on all three product lines to create a long-range strike system.
Boeing has received some relief from the dramatic downturn in the commercial transport market with a long-awaited order from China for 30 737 transports. In making the announcement last week in Washington, Boeing said the order was in addition to another order from China earlier in the year for 10 aircraft, which previously had been listed as an acquisition by ``unidentified'' customers.
NASA is pondering privatization of the space shuttle as a way to loosen the tightening budget noose. Under the closely held plan, United Space Alliance (USA), the Boeing/Lockheed Martin joint venture that already handles most day-to-day shuttle operations under contract, would wind up effectively owning the shuttle fleet and operating it for profit. Astronauts and most other shuttle workers would get their paychecks from USA, and NASA would pay the joint venture for flights to the international space station and elsewhere.
India's former aviation and tourism minister, Madhav Rao Scindia, 56, and seven others were killed Sept. 30 when their 10-seat Cessna C-90 crashed on a flight from Delhi to Kanpur. The aircraft apparently suffered a midair engine fire. The flight took place in heavy rain and poor visibility, authorities said. The crash is prompting renewed calls for tougher oversight of general aviation aircraft. Scindia, an Oxford graduate and member of a former royal family, had often been viewed as an heir to Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born widow of slain prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Rep. Bud Shuster (R-Pa.) introduced the General Aviation Small Business Act in the House of Representatives last week. The bill is aimed at providing financial relief to businesses such as flight schools, fixed-base operations and helicopter operators, some of which are facing possible bankruptcy. The Pennsylvania Republican's measure would authorize the Small Business Administration to issue grants to operators that have incurred major losses stemming from the federal government's restrictions on airspace and flying since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The New Zealand government injected NZ$885 million ($372 million) into ailing Air New Zealand (ANZ) in a two-phase loan. The action effectively returns the now privatized carrier, brought down by its disastrous investment in Ansett Australia, back to government control. The loan includes NZ$150 million to the Ansett Group to pay claims made against ANZ; the rest will go to the airline. ANZ has reached an agreement with the Voluntary Administrators of Ansett to release ANZ's directors from all claims relating to Ansett.
The Bush Administration is in the midst of a major review of how the intelligence community is structured, but don't expect much improvement--at least that's the opinion of insiders. Guided by historic example, the House Intelligence committee suspects ``no major substantive changes will occur after these reviews are complete.'' The committee added that changes are needed, and have been since at least 1996, when it presented a long-forgotten reform plan called IC21. The panel notes that the intel budget for 2002 actually cuts human intelligence.
Senior military officers who produced the Quadrennial Defense Review say it is devoid of analysis and has avoided answering any of the questions asked by Congress. Frustrated by delay and the unwillingness of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to make key decisions, the authors finally adopted the Hippocratic admonition to at least avoid intentional wrongdoing. ``The report is pabulum at best,'' said one of those involved in preparing the QDR. ``The chairman's [Gen. Hugh Shelton] guidance was `just do no harm,' and we adopted that as our role.''
Embraer plans to reduce production of the regional jet product line and will cut jobs in the wake of terrorist attacks on the U.S. last month. The Brazilian manufacturer has revised its delivery schedule to 160 airplanes this year--down from 185 originally planned--while only 135 aircraft would be delivered next year instead of 205. As a result, about 1,800 workers will lose their jobs and the overall workforce will shrink to 10,900 people.
Russia's surface-to-air missile designers say they've improved their products with greater range, improved lethality and the ability to detect stealth aircraft and missiles. Russia's top surface-to-air missile (SAM) system builders, Antey Industrial Co. and Almaz Central Design Bureau, have developed, beginning in the 1950s, the air defense systems most battle-tested and feared by U.S. military planners. But fielding their newer, improved systems is being stymied by the collapse of Russian military spending and a lack of new foreign customers.
Up to 4,000 jobs will be eliminated throughout General Electric Co.'s large aircraft-engine operation (GEAC) during the next several months. The cuts, triggered by the dramatic downturn in the commercial aircraft sector, will be worldwide. This will be the company's largest layoff since 1993.
Boeing and Lockheed Martin have won contracts to develop concepts for the Small-Diameter Bomb (SDB)--the U.S. Air Force's program to field a 250-lb. weapon for its bombers and fighters. The two companies have been given a $12-million down payment to refine their designs over the next two years, before one concept is chosen for final development and production. Accuracy for the SDB, which is guided by GPS signals, is within 6-7 meters. The Air Force plans to buy at least 12,000 of the bombs.
Manufacturing companies worried about the risk of switching from their current computer-aided design or product development system to a new high-tech system can get help, albeit biased, from PTC, which has more than 250,000 users worldwide of its product development software. ``The product development process represents both the potential for huge competitive advantage and incredible disruption,'' said Paul Cunningham, PTC's executive vice president for sales in the Americas.
Political and space leaders in Europe believe that space policy there will be increasingly driven by security considerations, following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S.
The oldest operational airport in the world is still operating--but barely. With general aviation aircraft grounded in a 50-naut.-mi.-wide loop around Washington, air traffic at the College Park Airport has been limited to a few police and emergency evacuation helicopters brought in when a tornado sliced through a nearby college campus.
U.S. carriers--operating half-full flights despite major cuts in capacity--are trying to lure travelers back with discount fares and attempting to shore up weaker markets with the introduction of regional aircraft. Industry data show there are signs of a slight improvement in the business climate, but it's more of a slowing of the downward movement of the market than a bottoming out or net gain.
Russian researchers hope to achieve a major breakthrough soon in the development of a long-range, ramjet-powered, air-to-air missile, but engineers at the renowned Vympel State Machine-building design bureau are still wrestling with design issues that are slowing progress.
