Specifications for a Russian fifth-generation fighter are practically completed, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov said at the Paris air show. The Sukhoi Design Bureau, which has the most experience in heavy fighter development, will lead the project, with the ``active involvement'' of the MiG Corp. Klebanov said he saw no need to arrange a tender between Russian design facilities on the next-generation fighter project.
Commercial aircraft manufacturer Embraer and turboprop maker ATR last week announced the formation of AeroChain, a joint e-marketplace venture--one they claim is the first dedicated to regional airlines support. Embraer and ATR together invested $21 million in the fully independent company that both aircraft manufacturers say is to link airlines, suppliers and OEMs via the Internet and widen the range of support services, including spare parts inventory and forecasting, technical publications and maintenance planning.
The European Commission has approved a joint venture between NEC and Toshiba to jointly market spacecraft systems and satellite components. The Japanese companies are not active in major European civil or government space programs but needed an EC clearance to sell products within the European Union.
PRECIENCE OF BURTONSVILLE, MD., has an obsolescence manager designed to alert original equipment manufacturers of upcoming electronic component obsolescence, from the start to the end of a product's life. Acting as a watchdog, the system advises users by e-mail of end-of-life announcements on components such as semiconductors, ASICs or hybrids in any of the bills of materials that have been uploaded to Precience. The service also searches for alternative parts using generic/die catalog part number, form-fit-function and attribute equivalents for active components.
Thales has launched a new inflight cabin system for commercial airliners that combines traditional backseat phone and entertainment features with a broadband connectivity network. The system, I-series, is to be tested next year on an Airbus 318 transport. Thales also set up a joint venture company in Abu Dhabi for aeronautical and defense electronics integration, support and training.
As part of its restructuring, HAL has created seven Centers for Core Competence with their respective production divisions. Unified work and research, and computer-integrated prototyping and manufacturing are being used to reduce design-to-delivery cycles. The centers are: -- The Aircraft research and development center in Bangalore concentrates on military aircraft--both fighters and jet trainers. -- The Rotary Wing R&D Center in Bangalore handles upgrades for helicopters.
The Rolls-Royce Turbomeca joint venture signed a contract worth $1 billion to supply RTM 322 engines for the 399 NH-90 helicopters ordered by France, Germany and the Netherlands.
CAE will provide Airbus with a series of special simulation devices aimed at helping the French airframe manufacturer develop the A380. Equipment is berthed on a portable visual system that can be rolled into cockpits. It features a 5-channel image generator, a collimated display to provide pilots with a perception of distance, a selection of databases with more than 250 airports, and an optional cabin motion system.
Goodrich Corp. last week signed a memorandum of agreement with Boeing Commercial Airplane Group under which the company will continue as the exclusive supplier of landing gear--including original equipment and spares--for all BCAG models through 2006.
American Airlines has renewed regional jet agreements with Chautauqua Airlines and Trans States Airlines, two of the three regional carriers that feed hub operations at St. Louis. Operating as Trans World Express, Chautauqua serves 13 points and Trans States 20 from St. Louis. Both airlines are affiliated with US Airways at other locations, and Chautauqua also has an agreement with America West. American Airlines officials said both carriers eventually would transition to 44-seat Embraer ERJ-140 jets.
Robert F. Murphy received the Kelly Johnson Award at the 14th biennial Blackbird Reunion in Reno, Nev. The award honors contributions to the SR-71 Blackbird program. Murphy began working at the Lockheed Skunk Works in 1954, and was involved with the U-2, D-21, A-12, FY-12, SR-71 and F-117 programs until his retirement in 1986.
Geoff Hoon will remain defense secretary in the next U.K. Cabinet, but Lord Bach has been appointed minister of state for defense procurement. He will succeed Baroness Symons, who is now minister for trade. Adam Ingram is now minister of state for defense, succeeding John Spellar, who is now minister for transport.
Taiwan's National Space Program Office picked the Taurus ground-launched solid-fuel booster built by Orbital Sciences Corp. to launch its Rocsat-2 remote-sensing satellite. Set for launch in 2003, the satellite will carry instruments to monitor the terrestrial and marine environment on Taiwan's territory and surrounding ocean, and to study lightning discharges.
Robert L. Crippen, Joe H. Engle, Frederick H. Hauck and Richard H. Truly have been selected by the Titusville, Fla.-based Astronaut Scholarship Foundation as the first space shuttle astronauts to be inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame. Crippen was pilot of Columbia on its maiden flight in 1981and was director of the Kennedy Space Center in the early 1990s. Engle, now a major general in the Air National Guard, made 16 flights in the X-15 rocket plane before becoming an astronaut. He commanded the second flight of Columbia.
Meanwhile, Alcatel Space has concluded an agreement with Babakin to cooperate on sample return and networked experiments for France's Premier Mars Exploration program. French space agency CNES last week awarded Alcatel a contract to build the orbiter for a demonstration Mars sample return mission to be undertaken with NASA in 2007.
They are notorious for bickering at air shows, and this year's gathering in Paris was certainly no exception. But there was one thing on which Airbus, Boeing and the three big engine manufacturers were found to agree with startling unanimity. The airline industry, they insist, is not entering a downturn.
Willy L. Verbrugghe has become president of the PCC Flow Technologies business of the Precision Castparts Corp., Portland, Ore. He was president of the Motion Controls group of Kollmorgen. Verbrugghe succeeds David W. Norris, who has resigned.
Luck and showmanship are playing roles in the short takeoff and vertical landing portion of Joint Strike Fighter flight tests. Both Boeing and Lockheed Martin had hoped to avoid bad weather and technology gremlins to conduct fast-paced Stovl flight tests and grab bragging rights, at least, in this phase of the competition.
Jack Stockmann has become vice president-U.S. fleet and client services for Jet Aviation, West Palm Beach, Fla. He was director of operations for Wayfarer Aviation.
Regional jet manufacturing's good health was evident here last week, with most jet aircraft makers reporting positive results in terms of orders, new projects and market projections. This does not signal the death of the turboprop, however, which meets certain operators' requirements in supplying short-haul, point-to-point service. Regional aircraft activity included:
NASA's space shuttle program faces funding shortfalls in the years ahead that will require significant spending cuts, effectively dashing managers' hopes of raiding the shuttle accounts to help meet a shortfall of at least $4 billion on the International Space Station.
The unmanned Global Hawk reconnaissance aircraft may have snagged a record of a different type by claiming a foreign customer while still in test and before being operationally deployed by its first customer, the U.S. Air Force. During the Paris Air Show, Australia issued a letter of request that begins the process of procuring six Global Hawk aircraft by 2004, said Ralph Crosby, president of Northrop Grumman's integrated systems sector.
Joseph M. Gullion (see photo) has been named vice president/chief operating officer of AAR, Wood Dale, Ill. He was vice president-strategic planning and acquisitions of AAR and had been president of Boeing Airplane Services.'
