Intelligence gathering systems supporting U.S. Central Command are not adequate, Army Gen. Tommy Franks testified at a Senate hearing. ``The current mix of platforms and sensors does not provide the full range of collection required for comprehensive threat warning and support to fast-paced combat operations,'' he said. The emerging discipline of measurement and signature intelligence has great potential, but operational sensors and a formal architecture are lacking in that arena, too. Air Force Gen. Joseph W.
The Australian government, Dassault Aviation, Thales Systemes Aeroportes and ADI have concluded an agreement for the joint development of simulation models. They will be used to evaluate the performance of combat aircraft that will be considered as replacements for the Royal Australian Air Force's F-18s and F-111s.
There were fewer U.S. civil aviation accidents in 2000 compared to 1999, but more fatalities. The National Transportation Safety Board's recently released statistics indicate there were 748 fatalities among 1,975 accidents in the U.S. civil aviation sector last year. In 1999, 697 people were killed in 2,053 accidents.
Last week's column erred in stating the Navy had told the Marine Corps it was no longer buying the HV-22. Navy officials have determined in internal deliberations they ``probably'' would decline the HV-22 because it does not fit mission requirements, but no written decision has been made.
Administration officials will look at ``what more can be done'' to help the Israeli military maintain its qualitative edge in the Middle East, at the behest of new Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who met with President Bush last week. Tel Aviv is particularly interested in new intelligence satellites--both U.S./Israel and Israel-only birds--and new families of longer endurance, missile-equipped unmanned aircraft to hit ground-based mobile ballistic missile launchers.
Two groups representing U.S. airports are sponsoring legislation aimed at prompting the construction of new airports and runways by expediting the environmental review process and easing restrictions on the use of funds by airport authorities for environmentally related projects. The Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) and the American Assn. of Airport Executives stress that their aim is not to alter environmental law, but streamline the process. ``Slow decision making does not translate into better environmental results,'' said ACI-NA President David Z.
Sea Launch orbited the XM-2 spacecraft for XM Satellite Radio Mar. 18 on board a Zenit-3SL rocket launched from its Sea Launch Odyssey floating pad at 154 deg. W. Long. on the equator. Dubbed ``Roll,'' the satellite is scheduled to be joined by XM-1--another Boeing 702 spacecraft dubbed ``Rock''--in May after a second Sea Launch Zenit flight, to provide digital radio programming in the U.S.
Oman intends to acquire an undisclosed number of Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters and AgustaWestland Super Lynx helicopters, according to the country's defense minister. The buy is part of a defense modernization package that includes plans for a new air surveillance system. Oman is increasing total defense spending this year by 38% to $2.4 billion. In November 2000, Oman struck a deal with Matra BAe Dynamics to acquire Mistral 2 air defense missiles.
Drawing on record revenues and profits, Dassault Aviation is betting that it can sustain its plan to develop all-new business jets, an export version of the Rafale and UAVs.
Boeing has completed final X-32B Joint Strike Fighter demonstrator engine runs with Pratt&Whitney and Rolls-Royce flight-certified propulsion system hardware and final flight and propulsion control software. The ground tests, in the short takeoff and vertical landing mode, clear the way for flight certification.
Starting this June, airlines, airports and aviation businesses can sign up for an .aero domain suffix, according to Giovanni Strigari, senior vice president for the global information and telecommunications firm SITA. The .aero suffix was approved late last year, and .aero partners ICAO, IATA, ACI and SITA are currently defining the naming structure and policy (AW&ST Dec. 11, 2000, p. 31).
Under pressure from the European Commission, Deutsche Post has agreed to separate its postal and parcel express activities in a move that is likely to affect express carriers in both Europe and the U.S.
Northwest Airlines' newly installed CEO, Richard Anderson, said he plans to reduce payroll expenses by 5% as a result of an expected $150-million loss in the first quarter. Savings will come from the elimination of unprofitable routes, as well as a freeze on wage hikes and discretionary programs. Anderson's announcement mirrors austerity plans at other major airlines facing a reduction in business flying as a result of the eroding economy.
Boeing Rocketdyne officials are pounding the halls of NASA and the Pentagon for some quick funding to complete tests of the two XRS-2200 linear aerospike engines rigged in tandem in a stand at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Without more money, the test program dies at the end of the month, along with the X-33 reusable launch vehicle prototype, which NASA already killed. Continuing the tests could benefit future designs, says Rocketdyne's Byron K. Wood.
Bob Brooks (see photos) has been named director of marketing for the Repair Div., John C. Calvert director of enginering for the Interiors and Structures Div. and Jerry Massegee performance excellence manager, all for the Nordam Group, Tulsa, Okla. Brooks was his division's director of sales and customer service, while Calvert was manager of design and project engineering for the Nacelle/Thrust Reverser Div. Massegee held a similar position with the Amoco Corp.
Mike Benzakein, general manager of advanced engineering programs for GE Aircraft Engines, Evendale, Ohio, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
David J. McComas, executive director of the Space Science and Engineering Div. of the Southwest Research Institute of San Antonio, has been appointed to the NASA Space Science Advisory Committee and chair of its Sun-Earth Connections Advisory Subcommittee.
Charles B. Wands has been appointed vice president-business management/chief financial officer and Paul K. Meyer vice president-business and advanced systems development for the Air Combat Systems (ACS) business area of the Northrop Grum- man Corp. Integrated Systems Sector (ISS), El Segundo, Calif. Wands was director of business management/CFO for ACS' unmanned systems integrated product team. Meyer was director of business and advanced systems development. He succeeds Thomas E. Vice, who is now sector vice president-materiel.
U.S. airlines and their customers paid an estimated $1.7 billion in 2000 to global distribution systems (GDS) like Sabre and Galileo, a new study claims. ``The History and Outlook for Travel Distribution in the PC-based Internet Environment'' shows that fees for GDS have been increasing at a rate of approximately 7% per year during the last decade. A ``heavy price'' for airlines and consumers to pay for ``archaic computer reservations systems,'' said John Ash, managing director of Global Aviation Associates Ltd., who along with Northwestern University Prof.
A new ``National Hypersonics Strategy'' is being formulated to spearhead a much more focused government/industry plan for the development of U.S. hypersonic technologies, propulsion and X-aircraft flight test vehicles. The road map, which is being coordinated by the Air Force, NASA, Navy, Army and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, could enable a whole new range of Mach 5-plus air-breathing engines, aircraft, weapons, launch systems and industry R&D.
A senior Indian defense official says the Agni-II surface-to-surface missile has been cleared for production. The Agni (named after an Indian fire god) was test-fired from the interim test range at Chandipur Jan. 17. It was the second test of the 2,000-km. (1,250-mi.) Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile, but the first ``in its final operational configuration,'' according to a defense ministry official. The missile is expected to be inducted into India's defense arsenal this year.
The emergence of increasingly sophisticated electronic warfare equipment in the international marketplace has given pause to Pentagon officials who want to exert more control over the type of hardware that can be installed on U.S. aircraft sold overseas. But the initiative is encountering some fierce resistance from foreign makers of electronic warfare equipment, most notably Israel. Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) has been particularly successful in recent years in winning several EW programs for foreign F-16s.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. has received a $211.8-million contract for 24 S-70A Black Hawk helicopters in a Foreign Military Sales agreement between the U.S. Army and Israel Air Force. Deliveries to Israel will begin in 2002.
Lockheed Martin is using flight test data to validate models leading to design and development of an electrohydrostatic flight control system for production versions of the Joint Strike Fighter.
