Honeywell has been selected by the U.S. Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command to provide color displays for their Block 25/30/32 F-16 aircraft, under a $3-million contract.
Qantas Airways pulled out of talks to lease some of Ansett Australia's aircraft, but Ansett and administrators appointed by the government to try to salvage the carrier said 11 of Ansett's A320s are to begin flying again. Initial services were to start Sept. 29 from Melbourne to Sydney. c
Russia's Kamov Design Bureau plans to develop an advanced training helicopter by 2003 designated the Ka-60U to replace Mil Mi-8 and Mi-2 aircraft used to train pilots for the past 30 years. The new helicopter would be based on the Ka-60 multirole aircraft that is undergoing tests, and would be built at the Lukhovitsy factory east of Moscow. That facility had been producing MiG-29 fighters but is in need of new work. Officials of Russia's helicopter flight academy in Syizran anticipate a long-term need for as many as 200 new aircraft.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China says no Chinese carrier need worry about insurance for war or terrorism claims, at least for the next month. The CAAC's guarantee covers claims of more than $50 million, according to Li Hongyu, a CAAC official. Another Chinese air transport official said it will be extended on a month-to-month basis. ``As China is a vast country, air transport is an essential means of commuting from one city to another,'' the official said.
Swissair Group is facing the difficult task of merging its two core airlines, Swissair and Crossair, in the months ahead, while the company's precarious financial situation continues to deteriorate.
An Ariane 4 rocket launched the Atlantic Bird 2 telecom satellite for Eutelsat. The flight was the Ariane 4's 64th straight successful liftoff. The next mission, set for Nov. 27, will orbit DirecTV-4S. The Ariane 5 heavy-lift launch vehicle will return to service in January.
SAS Scandinavian airlines, already hit by a weakening economy, is coping with the resignation of its entire board, and sharing the blow dealt to all airlines following the terrorist attacks in Washington and New York.
Canada's airline and aerospace sectors, also reeling from the economic repercussions following the terrorist attacks, slashed jobs and services and awaited word of government bailout plans under consideration late last week by the country's transport minister, David Collenette.
The long-time vision of radar, electronic warfare and communications sharing a common antenna is coming closer to reality through a research program at the Office of Naval Research. Scientists in ONR's advanced multifunction radio frequency (AMRF) concepts program envision using multiple, simultaneous beams to achieve all three functions from a common RF aperture. As a further benefit, it could be difficult for an enemy to distinguish a radar transmission from a communication signal.
Senior Northrop Grumman officials are trying to create a company-wide modeling and simulation system they hope will allow them to win new military business as the Pentagon focuses increasingly on highly integrated or networked capabilities.
Pratt&Whitney Engine Services will support Brazil-based TAM Airlines' fleet of Airbus A330 and A320 aircraft under a 10-year work order valued at more than $125 million.
Data links and flight control systems developed for U.S. Air Force Predator unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) could be used to prevent aircraft hijacking, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems of San Diego told Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta. Under the proposal, each pilot would have a hijack switch in the cockpit. If either pilot activated the switch, control of the aircraft would be irrevocably passed to a controller on the ground or a pilot in an ATC center.
Controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory are preparing the 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter for its arrival at the Red Planet later this month. The spacecraft telecommunications subsystem has been checked out for Mars orbit insertion, and the probe has been reoriented to reduce the demand on its small thrusters to de-spin its reaction wheels.
NASA believes it has whittled its $4.8-billion shortfall on the International Space Station to about $500 million, but that only buys a three-member crew--barely enough to keep the station operating and woefully inadequate for ``world-class science.'' Estimates of how much more it would take to build a station capable of supporting a crew of six or seven are starting to push into the $8-billion range, or about what the Reagan Administration originally estimated the total project would cost.
Small and medium-sized companies in Europe and Canada that want to enter the small-satellite marketplace may get a boost from the European Space Agency. ESA's Telecommunications Dept. has launched a program to help companies with money, expertise and access to Europe's existing satellite industry. The program is targeted at existing and startup companies in participating nations that have promising satellite-based concepts in information technology and telecommunications.
Modern Technologies Corp. has won a contract valued at $25 million to support the NASA Jet Propulsion Labora- tory Deep Space Network. The contract is for three years with two one-year options.
The U.S. Navy is testing the next generation of antiradiation missiles, designed specifically to hit enemy air defense sites that transmit intermittently to thwart current missiles that home on those emissions.
The Aerospace Industries Assn. lauds a preliminary European ruling against the continent's ban on older aircraft engines that have been hushkitted to comply with internationally approved Stage 3 noise curbs. A final decision by the European Court of Justice is expected by the end of the year, the lobbying group AIA says, and it usually accepts the recommendation of the court's advocate general, which found in favor of a challenge brought by AIA member Omega Air, a retrofitter of Boeing 707s. Although AIA supremo John W.
General aviation advocates and lawmakers last week came to an understanding--neither knows why the National Security Council continues to put the squeeze on GA. Phil Boyer, president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Assn., told the House aviation subcommittee that 41,000 aircraft are ``trapped'' in no-fly or restricted zones at 282 public-use airports, put in place after the Sept. 11 attacks.
A flip of a switch (and $1.4 billion) launched S-band commercial radio service in the U.S. last week, ushering in what promoters hope will be an entertainment revolution comparable to the rise of cable television.
Airbus is teaming up with Tenzing Communications, Astrium and Arinc to develop a broadband onboard communications system to compete with Connexion by Boeing.
Parliamentary leaders from seven countries have urged European political and space leaders to reinforce cooperation in space following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. The countries called for closer links between civil and military space programs and quickly launching key dual-use projects like the Galileo satellite navigation system and the Global Monitoring, Environment and Security (GMES) network.
Dassault Aviation has delivered the company's 1,500th Falcon-series business jet. The Falcon 2000 was accepted by an official of Executive Jet Inc. for use in the company's Netjets fractional-ownership program. NetJets has more than 100 Falcons on order. According to Dassault, the worldwide Falcon fleet has flown more than 9 million hr. since 1963 when the first Falcon 20 entered service. The company delivered 70 new business jets last year.
