The Bush Administration's evolving missile defense plan is running into technical and political hurdles that will restrict the extent to which the new architecture can differ from the Clinton-era design.
Canadian Air Force Lt. Gen. Raymond Henault has been named his country's next chief of defense staff with the rank of full general, effective June 28. He has been deputy chief.
The U.S. Air Force has completed the first development test of a Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile from a B-52. The test, conducted at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., is the third of eight in the cruise missile's development test series. The missile was launched from 30,000 ft. and flew 23 min. for 195 naut. mi. before impacting the hardened bunker target.
The X-40A demonstrator has completed a series of seven approach and landing tests at Edwards AFB, Calif., as a precursor to first flight of the larger X-37, which is to begin final assembly this summer at Boeing facilities in Palmdale, Calif. The 22-ft.-long, unpiloted X-40A was drop tested at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center facilities at Edwards over two months as a pathfinder for the X-37, which is to conduct its own series of five drop tests there next year from a B-52 aircraft flying at about 40,000 ft.
Orbitz, the on-line travel agency funded by five major airlines, officially opened its Internet site for business June 4 after operating in ``beta'' mode since September. The opening caps months of intense lobbying efforts by consumer groups and online travel agents to persuade the Justice Dept. to halt the launch. Opponents fear Orbitz's backers--American, Continental, Delta, Northwest and United airlines--will provide their lowest fares to Orbitz alone, crippling major third-party vendors like Travelocity and Expedia. The Transportation Dept. on Apr.
Scott Olmstead has been appointed chief financial officer of Evergreen International Aviation Inc., McMinnville, Ore. He was comptroller/tax director of Evergreen Holdings Inc.
The Society of British Aerospace Companies is gearing up for some changes at future Farnborough air shows as the site transitions to new owners. The next air show is to take place July 22-28, 2002, and The Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC) has announced July 19-25 will be the dates for the show in 2004. The sale of Farnborough airfield by the U.K. Ministry of Defense to TAG Aviation is expected to be concluded with the signing of a 25-year leasehold in early January 2003. There is to be
The FBI has agreed to get involved in the investigation of suspicious wiring damage Boeing has found on some of its 737 commercial transport aircraft at the company's Renton, Wash., production facility. The company refused to make further comment on the situation, citing the FBI involvement which began June 7.
Jean-Michel Leonard, formerly president of EADS ATR, has been named CEO of ATR Integrated, which combines EADS ATR and certain activities of Alenia Aerospazio. Other executives appointed are: Paolo Revelli-Beaumont, senior vice president-commercial; Roberto Bellino, senior vice president-customer services; Serge Queille, senior vice president-finance/chief financial officer; Luigi Lombardi, senior vice president-operations; Jean-Pierre Cousserans, general secretary; and Alain Prat, head of human resources.
The first NASA X-43A hypersonic research vehicle and its single-stage booster went out of control after loss of what appeared to be two control surface fins on the aft end of a modified Pegasus XL first-stage motor. While NASA officials last week would not comment on the cause of the June 2 failure, video imagery from one of two chase aircraft showed two elevons falling off the aft end of the winged booster about 8 sec. after ignition of its solid rocket motor.
Indian Space Research Organization officials said the first GSLV equipped with an indigenous Indian cryogenic upper stage is set to be launched in late 2003. The mission is to orbit an approximately 2,000-kg. (4,400-lb.) GSAT-3. The new engine has already undergone one 30-sec. test firing at 7.5 metric tons (16,500 lb.) of thrust, and two more are planned for later this year. A decision on whether to go with this engine version or develop a 9.5-10-metric-ton variant will be made this year. The heavier model would be available for flight testing by 2004-05.
Engine makers are refining their propulsion offerings for Boeing's Mach 0.95 sonic cruiser transport and are using parametric studies to help focus on likely candidates.
A graph in the June 4, 2001, issue of Aviation Week&Space Technology (p. 57) mislabeled trends in asset utilization for several large aerospace companies. Those trends are correctly depicted in the graph at right. HOLT Value Associates, listed as the source of the data, was not responsible for the mistake. The point of the chart is that only three of the industry's largest aerospace companies have been doing an above-average job of utilizing their assets efficiently.
Genesis, a solar wind sample return spacecraft built by Lockheed Martin Astronautics for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, has arrived at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The spacecraft is scheduled for launch July 30 on a Boeing Delta II booster. The spacecraft is designed to capture particles in the solar wind and return them to Earth in 2004. outlook
David Vaughan has become Northeast U.S. regional vice president for Orlando, Fla.-based Signature Flight Support. He was general manager in Houston for Raytheon Aircraft Services. David Napier has been promoted to general manager from operations manager in Memphis, Tenn.
European and Russian space officials have published price lists for use of the International Space Station that they hope will entice customers unable to afford the conditions proposed by NASA.
Israeli defense officials selected Pratt&Whitney's F100-PW-229 engine to power the Israel Air Force's follow-on buy of fighter aircraft, a decision worth about $300 million. This is the third consecutive time the country has chosen the F100 to power front-line fighters, according to Maj. Gen. (Res.) Amos Yaron, director general of the Israel Ministry of Defense. The contract will cover 61 engines for delivery in 2005-08.
The European Commission is setting tough conditions for approval of the proposed merger between General Electric and Honeywell. Conditions are thought to include divestiture of Honeywell's regional jet engine unit and some of its avionics businesses, along with measures to separate or spin off GE's GECAS financing and leasing arm and prevent bundling of aerospace products. GE is willing to consider the jet engine sale and some limitations on bundling and GECAS operations, but is balking at more extensive remedies, Brussels sources say.
Petra Mayer has been appointed manager for market planning and product development, Malcolm Pryor manager of frequent-flier program development, Rob- ert Antoniuk manager for brand performance and development and Shelley Morrison airports customer service analyst, all for the Oneworld Alliance in Vancouver. Mayer was with British Airways, Pryor with Qantas Airways, Antoniuk from ICBC of Canada and Morrison from Canadian Airlines.
NASA needs to get to work soon on a facility to contain any microbes it may collect on Mars if it plans to mount a sample return mission in 2011, according to a National Research Council panel. The NRC Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration notes that protecting Earth from alien organisms and protecting those organisms from contamination at the same time so they can be studied will be difficult.
Dogged by airline delays, pilloried by travelers and pressed by Congress, the FAA is trying to accomplish two things with its newly issued National Airspace System (NAS) Operational Evolution Plan: accommodate a 30% increase in commercial aviation operations by 2010, and break the mold of its previous planning. Unlike acquisition-oriented schemes of the past, the ambitious new plan integrates dozens of hardware, operations and administrative initiatives into 20 program packages meant to solve specific problems that limit the capacity of the system.
While the U.S. airline industry is on the verge of another major consolidation move, European airlines are barely beginning to take the first steps down that road in spite of large-scale inefficiencies and a relatively widespread lack of profitability.
An advisory committee formed by Japan's new prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, is considering privatizing major government-owned airports as part of an overall budget-trimming effort.
China said it expects to choose 15 airports for a $600-million upgrade program to make them ready for international services. Work is to start in mid-2003 and be completed in time to support Beijing's entry to host the Summer Olympic Games in 2008.
