The U.S. Army is turning to leasing surveillance assets to augment its intelligence-gathering capability in the Balkans region due to a shortage of available surveillance aircraft. The Army has contracted with Titusville, Fla.-based AirScan to conduct at least six months of surveillance operations in Europe, said one official for the U.S. Army in Europe. While the Army is being tight lipped about the program, it did say missions would be flown out of either Tuzla in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Taszar, Hungary or Skopje, Macedonia.
Ian Morgan has been named San Francisco-based vice president-North America and Mexico for Cargolux Airlines. He succeeds Sigmar Sigurdsson, who has become head of business development at the carrier's headquarters in Luxembourg.
The House decision to retreat from a genocide resolution against the Ottoman Empire's mass killing of Armenians in the early 20th century drew a corporate sigh of relief from Bell Helicopter Textron. President Clinton opposed the nonbinding House initiative on grounds it might jeopardize relations with Turkey, a strategically located NATO ally.
Michael L. Knaebel (see photo) has been appointed vice president/general manager of operations for Carco Electronics, Menlo Park, Calif. He was senior director of worldwide operations at S3 Inc., Santa Clara, Calif.
Boeing's X-32A Joint Strike Fighter demonstrator aircraft had to make an unexpected landing on a dry lakebed runway at Edwards AFB, Calif., last week as a result of a brake system problem, according to program officials. The aircraft had touched down at Edwards after its third test flight on Oct. 24 when Boeing pilot Dennis O'Donoghue determined the aircraft ``didn't have brake power'' and aborted the landing, according to Boeing officials.
General Electric Co.'s successful counterbid for Honeywell International Inc. is sending tremors through the aerospace/defense industry. It may even touch off a new wave of consolidation among a handful of large and medium-size suppliers that have been steadily expanding their franchises through relatively small acquisitions.
John Moore has been appointed president of ATR Support Inc. of Washington. He succeeds Jean-Daniel Leroy, who has returned to ATR headquarters in Toulouse, France, in a senior management position.
Airbus operations provided the bulk of the revenues for the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. (EADS) which announced its six-month results last week. EADS reported earnings before interest and taxes of 553 million euros ($459 billion) for the first six months of 2000, based on sales of 10.6 billion euros. The figures have been calculated on a pro forma basis since EADS was only created on July 10. The Airbus division contributed around 70% of total revenues with 516 million euros in earnings before interest and taxes.
Initial testing in the flight demonstration phase of the Joint Strike Fighter program is now fully underway with first flight of Lockheed Martin's X-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) aircraft. The company's contender successfully completed an initial 22-min. flight Oct. 24 that began at Air Force Plant 42 at Palmdale, Calif., at 9:06 a.m. PDT and ended with a landing at Edwards AFB, about 30 mi. from Palmdale.
John Mazach (see photo) has become vice president/integrated product team leader for aircraft product support and services within Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Airborne Early Warning and Electronic Warfare Systems, Bethpage, N.Y. He was deputy director of field support services.
August-Wilhelm Henningsen is scheduled to become executive board chairman of Lufthansa Technik on Jan. 1. He will succeed Wolfgang Mayrhuber, who will head Lufthansa German Airlines' passenger division. Henningsen was general manager of Beijing-based Ameco.
Dassault Falcon Jet, a Dassault Aviation subsidiary, late last week concluded an agreement to acquire Philadelphia-based Atlantic Aviation Wilmington, a major FBO and approved maintenance center for Honeywell TFE731 turbofans, auxiliary power units and avionics suites.
Rockwell Collins plans to expand into new market niches--displays for tactical aircraft and optical technologies for instrumentation and communications--with the purchase of K Systems Inc., the parent company of Kaiser Aerospace and Electronics Corp.
The U.S. Air Force's Advanced Fighter Technology Integration (AFTI) F-16, equipped with a new, electrohydrostatic flight control system designed for the Joint Strike Fighter, made its first flight on Oct. 24, only 11 min. before Lockheed Martin's X-35A took off on its maiden flight in Palmdale, Calif.
James Burke has been named vice president-information technology and tele-communications for the Greater Toronto Airports Authority. He was head of information technology development for Terminal 5 at London Heathrow Airport for the British Airports Authority.
It sounded good when North Korean leader Kim Jong Il quipped to Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright in Pyongyang that the Taepo Dong missile's first satellite launch, in 1998, was also its last. But what Kim really meant will not be known until Albright's closed debriefings on Capitol Hill. Because North Korea is honoring its missile testing moratorium, Washington's goal now is to shut down Pyongyang's missile research and development program altogether. That the North Koreans might turn to Russia for satellite launches seems promising.
SGI Origin 200 servers will replace aging Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) at 45 of the nation's busiest airports that also are susceptible to wind shear. The Doppler systems provide early detection of wind shear in the terminal area. Each TDWR will receive two new SGI servers--one active and one for backup. By upgrading existing TDWRs, the FAA is projected to achieve greater reliability at a fraction of the cost of maintaining the old computers.
John Menard (see photo) has been appointed director of business development for corporate aircraft products for BAE Systems Canada, Ville Saint-Laurent, Quebec. He was sales manager for the EMS Satcom Div.
F-22 funding relief was in the legislative works as the 106th Congress struggled toward its scheduled end late last week. A trio of key Republican appropriators--Reps. Randy Cunningham and Jerry Lewis (Calif.), and C.W. Young (Fla.)--was collaborating on last-minute language to provide for early release of $900 million-plus in Fiscal 2001 procurement monies to avert potential F-22 work-stoppages (AW&ST Oct. 23, p. 49).
Marcio Nogueira has been elected president of the International Astronautical Federation for a two-year term. He heads Brazil's Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais. Elected vice presidents were Oleg M. Alifanov, Jean-Jacques Dordain and Martin Sweeting.
The space shuttle Discovery landed at Edwards AFB, Calif., on Oct. 24 at the conclusion of Mission STS-92, which went to the International Space Station. The touchdown completed the 100th shuttle mission and was the 46th shuttle landing at Edwards, but the first there in four years. The landing at 1:59 p.m. PDT came after a two-day delay due to weather conditions at the primary and alternate landing sites.
Bob Bond, president of the Automation Group, Marwan Kashkoush, president of the Hydraulics Group, and Tom Mackie, president of the Instrumentation Group, have become corporate vice presidents of the Parker Hannifin Corp. of Cleveland.
