Specialists on stealth say a cellular telephone-based detection system that reputedly can detect stealth aircraft within an accuracy of 30 ft. has so many flaws that it would be less effective than a 1960s-era air defense sensor like the Soviet-built Flat Face radar.
Boeing has concluded a pair of strategic agreements with Mitsubishi Electric involving satcom, air traffic management, multimedia, launch services, microgravity and a range of other fields. The accord covers Boeing's Connexion onboard broadband system and a block launch agreement for up to six Delta IV missions from 2002-08 (see pp. 46 and 72). Specific launch assignments are expected to be announced by year-end. Boeing could also supply subsystems or components for Melco's new satellite bus.
The German Bundestag agreed on June 27 to proceed with Meads (Medium-Extended Air Defense System), a three-year risk-reduction effort which allows the U.S.-Italian-German program to continue.
Saab continued its restructuring following its merger with Celsius, selling off two Asian subsidiaries. Hawker Pacific is being sold to Lynton International Holdings. The general aviation specialist and maintenance company has operations in Singapore, Dubai and Sydney. Meanwhile, Australian Aerospace Pty. Ltd., which encompasses the defense activities of Hawker Pacific, is gong to EADS. Australian Aerospace provides aircraft modifications and maintenance for the Royal Australian Air Force.
The organization representing Cathay Pacific Airways' pilots and flight engineers, the Hong Kong Airline Officers' Assn., last week said it would begin a limited labor action against the airline July 1. The dispute revolves around such issues as flightcrew fatigue and a two-tier pay system, according to the International Federation of Airline Pilots' Assns.
Ryanair continues to grow by 25% per year despite high fuel costs and an economic downturn which have started to hit other carriers. The Irish low-cost airline posted a record pretax profit of 123.4 million euros ($105.4 million) for the fiscal year ending Mar. 31, compared with 90 million euros a year earlier. Passenger traffic was up 35% to 7.4 million during the year. Marketing and distribution costs declined 60% due to increasing Internet sales, which meant less in sales commissions paid to travel agents. Ryanair's Web site now accounts for 72% of all bookings.
Sergio Aguirre (see photo) has been named director of corporate aviation sales for Securaplane Technologies, Tucson, Ariz. He was Western U.S. sales manager for Airshow Inc.
Companies are looking to position themselves for the launch of a long-range European Technology Acquisition Program (ETAP) this autumn to investigate future technologies for current and next-generation manned and unmanned aircraft.
Gary Swanson has been named managing director for sales and marketing of Delta Air Logistics. He was managing director of North American sales for Delta Air Lines.
Jeff Morgan and Carolyn Coarsey, both of Atlanta, have cofounded the Family Assistance Foundation there as president and vice president, respectively. Russell Goutierez, former manager of the CARE team at American Airlines, is executive director. Morgan was founder of aviation emergency management consulting firm Aviem International. Coarsey owns the emergency response training and education company Higher Resources.
Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt no longer plans to link military procurement spending to industrial offset agreements negotiated with the armed forces' contractors. The Belgian aerospace/defense industry is now expected to acquire subcontracts on the sole merits of competitiveness, a policy viewed with growing concern, according to Gen. (ret.) Gui Vanhecke, director general of Gebecoma Belgian aerospace industries association.
President Bush named the director of the Energy Dept.'s Brookhaven (N.Y.) National Laboratory to be his science adviser. John H. Marburger, 3rd, former president of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, will take over the White House Office of Science and Technology.
President Bush chose public relations executive Marion Clifton Blakey to be a member of the National Transportation Safety Board and said he will nominate her to be chairman if she is confirmed by the Senate. Blakey headed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration during Bush's father's term as President. Carol Carmody, vice chairman of the board, has been acting chairman.
In a complete policy reversal, the French government plans to float about one-fourth of Snecma's shares. An initial public offering (IPO) is tentatively scheduled for the third quarter. State-owned Snecma's partial privatization is expected to significantly advance slow-moving discussions about the long-overdue need to streamline and consolidate Europe's engine industry.
EDO Corp. has won a $38.5-million contract from the U.S. Navy for continued production of the universal exciter upgrade (UEU) receiver and a $3.2-million contract for production of UEU subassembly spares. The UEU is carried in the underwing pod of EA-6B aircraft.
Athena Technologies has signed a contract with Micro Craft to provide the GuideStar flight control system for the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Organic Air Vehicle program.
NASA headquarters has picked HotJobs.com to keep track of job applicants. The company's Resumix 6 system works over the Web, has searching technology to pair employer with job seeker, and prevents unwanted eyes from seeing who's job-searching. . . . Rolled Alloys' e-commerce site (www.rolledalloys.com) has the usual order status and shipment tracking features, and customers can also download material test reports of the metals they have ordered as well as other metallurgical data. Quotes are placed online and the customer can revise them or buy online.
Paul H. Poberezny has been named to receive the 2001 Award for Meritorious Service and Myron W. Collier the John P. Doswell Award from the Washington-based National Business Aviation Assn. The award to Poberezny, who was founder/ chairman of the Experimental Aircraft Assn., recognizes contributions that have advanced aviation interests. Collier, a corporate pilot and writer on aviation for decades, will be honored for achievements in support of business aviation.
An Aster 30 surface-to-air missile tracked and intercepted a C22 target in a multiple-threat, electronic jamming environment during a May 31 test at the Landes Test Center in France. The test involved two high-performance C22 targets equipped with jamming systems that flew in formation toward the Aster battery. The hypervelocity ``hit-to-kill'' missile, launched with the two C22s approaching at 15-km. range, scored a direct hit on the first target.
Gary Glynn has been named senior vice president-sales and marketing, Paul Sapp senior director of engineering and Mike Tiffany director of marketing of Airshow Inc., Tustin, Calif. Glynn was vice president-marketing, sales and business development of the Airlines and Avionics Product Business Unit of Honeywell, while Sapp was a product development executive at Universal Avionics. Tiffany was a marketing executive for Xerox. Alan Bearden has been promoted to vice president-sales from senior director for airline sales.
Charles S. Abell has been sworn in as assistant secretary of Defense for force management policy. He was a professional staff member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel.
Just where $6 billion in a supplemental to the 2002 defense budget will actually be added to Pentagon programs is still being hammered out in Washington, but military and aerospace officials here are encouraged by the areas of the Administration's interest--intelligence gathering, reconnaissance, precision strike and unmanned aircraft.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov said that an agreement setting the level of Russian aviation industry participation in the Airbus A380 development program is to be completed by the end of June, just prior to French President Jacques Chirac's scheduled trip to Moscow.
Bob Keane has become commercial director of the Resource Group Ltd. and head of the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul Div. of Resource Aviation Management, Newport, England.
