Dik Alan Daso, Andrew J. Dunar and Stephen P. Waring have won the 2001 AIAA History Manuscript Award. Daso was cited for ``Hap Arnold and the Evolution of American Airpower,'' while Dunar and Waring won for their manuscript ``Power to Explore: A History of Marshall Space Center, 1960-1990.''
While U.S. Space Command develops ways to implement its new computer network attack and defense missions, some information security experts claim ``cyberwar'' is already well underway. Military units, nuclear laboratories and defense contractors are combating threats that range from teenage hackers to cyber-criminals and drug cartels allied with foreign governments.
Orlando-based AirTran Airways may have a limited presence in Washington, but its officials are spending a lot of time here lately. Attorneys for the low-fare carrier were in town last week urging the Transportation Dept. to redistribute 255 federally allocated landing/takeoff slots at Reagan Washington National Airport that would be affected by the proposed mergers between United/US Airways and American/TWA. United will get 222 slots at National if the government approves its $11.6-billion purchase of US Airways.
Delta's Air Line Pilots Assn. (ALPA) unit plans to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to review the recent 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision forbidding Delta pilots from engaging in a no-overtime-flying campaign. In its petition, ALPA will tell the high court that Delta misinterpreted the Railway Labor Act in holding the union responsible for its pilots refusing to fly overtime. Furthermore, ALPA said the injunction should not have been issued without a full hearing with witnesses. The ruling exacerbates pilot contract negotiations that are to conclude on Feb.
Bradford W. Parkinson, a professor at Stanford University, has won the AIAA Aerospace Contribution to Society Award ``for contributions to the safety . . . and efficient communications and commerce, through visionary leadership and support of the Global Positioning System.''
Crossair posted a loss of $15.1 million for 2000, compared with a $31.7-million profit the previous year, despite a 9.5% rise in revenues. The SAirGroup affiliate blamed the loss on high fuel costs and an unfavorable U.S. dollar exchange rate, which combined to contribute approximately $60 million in additional costs. Crossair said preliminary data for January 2001 were encouraging, with a 12% increase in passengers over the same period in 2000. Starting on Mar. 25 the regional carrier will take over three Swissair routes--from Geneva to Barcelona, Casablanca and Tunis.
The Canadian Air Force plans to reduce the number of aircraft it operates to about 280 from 500 because of budget constraints. Aircraft affected include the CF-18, of which only 80 of 125 would remain in service, to help pay for upgrading the smaller fleet. Canada's maritime patrol aircraft would be reduced to 16 from 21.
Raytheon Co. last week formally embarked on a program to commercialize defense technologies, with the formation of a new subsidiary dedicated to that challenging but potentially rewarding undertaking.
After much hand-wringing, the Pentagon has at long last told the Air Force it can begin engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) for the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle. USAF officials and Northrop Grumman are expected to start negotiating the terms of the development contract, which could total $1.6 billion, starting this week. The company already has won $84 million in pre-EMD money, to take the program through 2002. It is slated to receive another $39 million soon, as the first portion of EMD.
U.S. airlines will hire 14,500 new pilots this year as airliner and cargo jet fleets continue to grow and 1,415 pilots are forced into retirement by the FAA's age-60 rule, according to a new study by Air Inc. But the added workforce will likely land well short of last year's record-high 19,027 job openings, thanks to uncertainties in the economy, said Air Inc. President Kit Darby.
After a year in business, Aerospan.com, the Chicago-based e-marketplace backed by SITA, counts among its successes the ability of users to complete parts procurement entirely online, from search through placement of purchase order. One element in its expansion is to open offices in Dubai, London and Singapore. It might seem odd for a cyberspace-based company to need global offices. The goal is to provide customer support and training that smaller airlines need.
A local court has cleared the way for expansion at the EADS Airbus plant in Hamburg, Germany, to accommodate work on the A380. The ruling, which stemmed from lawsuits by local residents and environmental groups against the move, was essential for performing fuselage work and interior outfitting that was allocated to Hamburg in an internal Airbus worksharing agreement (AW&ST Feb. 12, p. 34). Final assembly will take place in Toulouse, France.
NASA human spaceflight managers trying to stanch a hemorrhage of funds from the International Space Station face the unpleasant task of deciding where to amputate in order to save the patient, looking for the least painful design changes they can find in order to cut costs.
Robert Pattishall has been appointed senior vice president of Veridian, Arlington, Va., and president of its Systems Div. He was director of the Advanced Systems and Technology Directorate of the National Reconnaissance Office.
Call it what you will--information warfare, IW, cyberwar, netwar, knowledge warfare--it is a hot topic in defense circles these days. But there is little agreement on exactly what it is. One information security expert describes it as ``conflict in which information or information technology is the weapon, target, objective or the method.'' But the word ``conflict'' may make this broad definition too narrow. One of IW's advantages is that it might be conducted with its targets unaware they have been attacked, much less who the enemy is. Indeed, some in the U.S.
Germany's national carrier Lufthansa is facing demands for substantial pay increases from its 4,200 pilots which would make them among the best paid in the industry. Lufthansa's pilot union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) came up with a proposal that would see wages increase by up to 83%. Lufthansa said the demands are ``completely unrealistic.'' Both parties met last week and as a first step decided to establish working groups to try and hammer out an agreement.
Steven F. Gaffney (see photo) has been named president/general manager of the ITT Industries Avionics Div., Clifton, N.J. He was vice president/director of programs for electronic warfare and communication, navigation and identification.
Players in U.S. Air Force and joint exercises this year will be facing a ``full-spectrum'' threat force that includes not only ``Red'' aircraft, but information warfare and space aggressors. A Memorandum of Agreement will integrate specialists from the 92nd Information Warfare Aggressor Sqdn. and the newly activated 527th Space Aggressor Sqdn. with the Adversary Tactics Div. at Nellis AFB, Nev. The latter has simulated enemy air tactics during Red Flag exercises for years.
The latest raid on Iraq's air defenses produced mixed results, with U.S. penetrating weapons scoring successes against hardened facilities, but with many of the less battle-tested JSOW glide bombs striking near but not on softer targets with their wide-area submunitions. Initial analysis of the AGM-154A's performance points to targeting errors and not a fundamental flaw in the weapon.
Should air strikes be launched against the ammunition dump next to the church, or the local radio station, or the bridge with civilians on it? War planners are slated to get some help in future conflicts in determining the consequences of such attacks on the U.S.'s reputation and credibility.
Russia has renewed its efforts to promote a jointly developed, limited missile defense system for Europe as an alternative to U.S. plans for a National Missile Defense system. President Vladimir Putin made the case for the initiative and Russian defense officials provided more details during meetings in Moscow last week with NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson. Putin asked NATO to consider the proposal to create a limited, mobile missile defense system for Europe.
Air New Zealand Group's announcement last week of an executive management restructuring came in the wake of disappointing break-even results for the six-month period ending December 2000. Now-autonomous airline business units are to be integrated and reorganized, and new ones are to emerge. The group's after-tax profits of NZD3.8 million ($1.6 million) were dismal compared to NZD$127.2 for the same period in 1999 (the latter does not reflect profits for Ansett, which was a 50%-owned associate company at the time).
Shandong Airlines Rainbow Jet. Co. in China has signed a letter of intent to buy four Bombardier Challenger 604 business jets for a new global charter operation. Initial deliveries are scheduled for March 2002. Based in Jinan, the capital of Shandong province, the airline operates a small fleet of Bombardier CRJ200 regional jets. In related news, Japan's Civil Aviation Bureau has placed an order for a second Bombardier Global Express for special mission operations, including airways calibration and flight inspection of instrument approaches.
