The death and ruin rained on U.S. military and commercial interests last week herald more of the same, because mass-casualty terrorism is a cheap and simple way for an enemy to take America to war without frontally engaging its superpower might, international security experts agree.
Raytheon Aircraft Co.'s Premier I business jet offers operators performance, cabin comfort and mission flexibility in a package that strives to redefine the entry-level segment.
Congress moved quickly to push through a $40-billion emergency spending package to cover the cost of the terror attack, doubling the White House proposal with scarcely a mention of the dwindling surplus. The extra funds, added at the request of the New York delegation, will go to aid victims' families and pay for the recovery effort. The remaining $20 billion will be a first installment on security upgrades and possibly retaliation for the attack, although lawmakers were considering separate legislation endorsing the use of force.
A Lockheed Martin Athena 1 is set to launch a flock of small satellites from Alaska's Kodiak Launch Complex Sept. 17. If successful, it will mark the first time the state-owned facility has sent spacecraft into Earth orbit. Dubbed Kodiak Star, the four-satellite payload consists of three U.S. Defense Dept. satellites--the PICOsat technology demonstrator, the PCSat position locator built by midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy, and the Sapphire infrared sensor testbed, as well as NASA's Starshine satellite.
U.S. government suspicion centered on Saudi exile Osama bin Laden in the opening days of the World Trade Center/Pentagon terrorism investigation, but other Islamic fundamentalist groups and seven terrorist states are at least nominal suspects as well. In addition to individual terrorist cells and networks, the seven nations named on the State Dept.'s list of state sponsors of international terrorism comprise Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Cuba.
David Shih (see photo) has been appointed vice president-manufacturing operations for the Raytheon Aircraft Co., Wichita, Kan. He was vice president-manu- facturing and six sigma at Raytheon Aircraft Integration Systems, Greenville, Tex.
James R. Gannett, a commercial transport aircraft test pilot for Boeing from 1954-83, will be one of five people inducted into the Aerospace Walk of Honor in Lancaster, Calif., on Sept. 22.Two of the honorees will be inducted posthumously: Carl A. Bellinger, who helped design and test the P-47, set a speed recod in the F-84B and made the first flight of the XF-91 Thunderceptor; and USAF Col. (ret.) Frank T. Birk, who was chief B-1B test pilot at Strategic Air Command headquarters and commander of the B-2 Combined Test Force at Edwards AFB, Calif.
Mexico will require 391 new aircraft worth $21 billion in the next 20 years, according to Boeing's annual forecast for the commercial airplane market, an increase over last year's predictions. Mexico represents one-fifth of the predicted requirement for Latin America through 2020--2,012 aircraft worth $104 billion. Boeing is forecasting that about 86% of all aircraft delivered to Mexico will be single-aisle aircraft such as the 717, 737 and 757; 6%, wide-body aircraft such as the 767 and 777; and the remaining 8%, regional jets.
Fokker Services Asia (FSA) based at Seletar Airport in Singapore has received JAR 145 repair station approval to perform routine and heavy maintenance on ATR 42/72 turboprop regional transports, adding to the company's role as the primary provider of support for Fokker airplanes in Southeast Asia.
U.S. Rep. Saxby Chambliss says he no longer objects to the Air Force transferring B-1 bombers out of the Air National Guard. The quid pro quo is the shift of Georgia ANG B-1 crews into new roles as operators of E-8 Joint-STARS ground surveillance radar aircraft, which also are based at Robins AFB, Ga. ``I am very pleased with the news that the Air Force has kept its promise to provide a new mission for the 116th Bomb Wing,'' Chambliss (R-Ga.) said.
Logicon is working to further automate protection of Defense Dept. computer networks from attacks over the Internet. Under a two-year contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in Rome, N.Y., the company is applying familiar artificial intelligence buzzwords like fuzzy logic and neural networks to automate the manual review of intrusion reports and event logs to give system operators a near-real-time picture of an unfolding coordinated attack.
It's one of the toughest problems facing the military's GPS community: how to assure that the relatively weak GPS signals can get through when they are being subjected to an adversary's jamming.
Israel plans to buy another 52 F-16 fighters built to Block 50+ configuration in addition to 50 of the jets ordered in January 2000. According to Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Fort Worth, the two-seat aircraft will be powered by Pratt&Whitney F100-PW-229 engines and feature electronics/ avioncs produced in Israel. The agreement includes logistics support and training, and is worth $2 billion, of which $1.3 billion is for aircraft. The acquistion marks the sixth time Israel has acquired F-16s.
The National Reconnaissance Office is beginning a launch surge to orbit three secret missions worth nearly $2 billion over the next month. Two involve NRO spacecraft flying on Lockheed Martin Atlas IIAS vehicles, indicating the launch of new, or relatively new, NRO spacecraft designs. The third flight involves a much heavier but more traditional reconnaissance payload on a Titan IVB.
Rejecting Air New Zealand's offer to buy Virgin Blue, Sir Richard Branson last week said he will instead invest ``millions more'' in fleet and new route expansion for his Down Under low-fare carrier. The sale ``would have meant A$250 million [$130 million] net profit on our investment,'' Branson said, but it also meant ``selling out'' the Australian public and the Virgin Blue staff. The decision is aligned with the carrier's position of keeping low fares and competition alive and well in the region.
Inevitably, Lockheed Martin's claim that its X-35 Joint Strike Fighter contender is the first aircraft to conduct a short takeoff, go supersonic, hover and land vertically, all in a single flight, is under fire. A group of Marines, led by former test pilot Art Nalls, say that members of VMA-231 accomplished the feat in October 1983 while patrolling off Lebanon. The AV-8A--smaller and faster than today's AV-8B--would take off from the USS Tarawa, climb to 40,000 ft. and dive. On the way down, the Harriers were clocked at up to Mach 1.09.
The European Space Agency has rolled back proposed funding increases for new space telecommunications and Earth observation projects in anticipation of expected resistance from some countries, especially Germany. ESA will propose 1.5 billion euros ($1.3 billion) for the Artes telecom program at the agency's Ministerial Council in November, more than the 1 billion euros requested in 1999 but less than the 2.1 billion euros initially planned (AW&ST June 25, p. 51). Spending will include 500 million euros for a new large satellite project.
DGAC French civil aviation authority and the British Civil Aviation Authority have jointly ratified modifications needed to permit Concorde operators to once more take to the skies. Last week, after months of detailed scrutiny, Michelin Air X radial tires, Kevlar fuel tank liners and additional protection to electric and hydraulic systems located near the aircraft's main landing gear evolved into a Franco-British Mandatory Airworthiness Directive. It lists modifications that must be applied by Air France and British Airways to their Concorde fleets.
President Bush's nearly $200-billion, 10-year defense buildup is running athwart the fiscal and political tensions sired by the teetering economy. With the nation just barely skirting a recession, tax receipts are down and the federal surplus is shrinking dramatically. Many in Congress would prefer to jettison some portion of Bush's $330-billion defense request for the new fiscal year, 2002, which starts Oct. 1, rather than court the political risks of tapping into Social Security and Medicare trust funds.
India's efforts to partially privatize its state-owned airlines have been given a bitter dose of reality by Singapore Airlines' decision to withdraw as a partner with one of India's largest family conglomerates that wanted to buy into Air India. The Sept. 1 withdrawal has prompted its erstwhile Indian partner, the Tata Group, to seek another high-profile candidate to bring the kind of airline management expertise that Singapore Airlines (SIA) would have offered.
The Sukhoi Su-80 two-engine utility turboprop made its maiden flight at Zhukovsky airfield near Moscow (AW&ST Aug. 27, p. 25). The 26-min. flight on Sept. 4 was performed by Sukhoi tests pilots Igor Votintcev and Yury Vashuk. The manufacturer is planning to test and certify the aircraft, powered by General Electric CT7-9B, by 2004.
The European Commission's competition directorate is considering whether to launch an in-depth investigation of the Rolls-Royce Trent 900's funding. The British government plans to provide up to 250 million pounds ($360 million) in loans to help develop the 68,000-lb.-thrust turbofan, a derivative of Trent versions in production. According to ``a rival engine manufacturer,'' this manner of funding constitutes illegal state aid and distorts competition. The Trent 900's rival, the Engine Alliance GP7200, was jointly developed by General Electric and Pratt&Whitney.
Nav Canada, the Canadian air traffic control service, will use Orthogon's O4D trajectory prediction program in its new Sequencing and Scheduling System intended to improve flow at the airports of Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary. The program takes into account aircraft type, weight and performance, airline operating procedures and preferences, and weather as well as flight plan information and ATC constraints (AW&ST Apr. 9, p. 21).
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt has become director of community and education relations at Boeing headquarters. She was executive director of the Brain Research Foundation, an affiliate of the University of Chicago.
