William H. Alderman has been named managing director of the aviation group of Fieldstone Inc. of New York. He was senior vice president-mergers and acquisitions for the Aviation Sales Co.
Development of a ground-based interceptor for the national missile defense system is quickly becoming one of the major technical challenges for the program and potentially opens the door to a competing booster system.
Craig Covault, senior editor of Aviation Week&Space Technology, won the Northrop Grumman Award for Best Breaking News Submission at the Royal Aeronautical Society's Aerospace Journalist of the Year awards ceremony in London during the Farnborough air show. This marks the second year in a row that Covault has won the honor for breaking news. His Mar. 27 story, ``Harsh Realities Abound on Russia's New Course,'' covered the impact that Russia's then-newly elected president, Vladimir Putin, will have on that country's aerospace field.
Boeing engineer Jim Hutton has recieved the Royal Aeronautical Society's B.W.O. Townshend Award for his role in the design and development of an automatic over-wing exit door that can be opened faster in emergencies. It is standard on Boeing next-generation 737s.
The U.K. intends to beef up its arsenal of precision strike munitions The U.K. intends to beef up its arsenal of precision strike munitions with an order for Raytheon AGM-65G2 Maverick missiles to equip Royal Air Force Harrier GR7s. Raytheon has been working since March under a U.K. contract on Maverick Harrier integration. The U.K. has also committed to acquiring GPS-guided munitions for RAF Tornados. Raytheon has briefed the U.K. on its enhanced Paveway which adds GPS-guidance to the laser-guided munition.
Orbital Sciences Corp. will manufacture supersonic sea-skimming targets for the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command under a $34-million work order. Six supersonic targets will be used for weapons system tests and antiship cruise missile training.
Swedish defense procurement agency Forsvarets Materialverk has awarded Rockwell Collins a $38-million contract to supply its Ra90 data link communications system with more than 250 terminals.
The competition to supply the military with air-launched decoys is entering a new round. Northrop Grumman and the Air Force have been trying to lure the Navy into buying the Miniature Air Launched Decoy (Mald) they are developing. But the Navy has been using the Israel Military Industries Tactical Air-Launched Decoy (Tald) for a long time and, more recently, the Improved Tald (Itald). The Israeli system has essentially come gratis to the Navy, through add-ons provided by Congress.
The Patriot PAC-3 system has successfully completed the first two intercepts of a cruise missile in testing at the Army's White Sands Missile Range, N.M. Earlier intercepts involved ballistic missiles. One of the key elements of the cruise missile engagement tests is that the interceptor's seeker is looking down on the target, which poses the challenge of having to detect the cruise missile against ground clutter.
James A. Hart has been appointed vice president/general manager of the RF Crystal and Oscillator Products unit of the CTS Wireless Components Group, Schaumburg, Ill. He was worldwide operations manager for Ingersoll-Rand. James M. LaNeve has been named controller of the CTS Corp.'s RF Integrated Modules, Elkhart, Ind. He was corporate planning and budgeting manager for CTS.
Software mavericks, beware! Telelogic Tau's Logiscope 5.0 is a software quality checker that enforces programming rules across an organization, with coding rules and quality metrics approved by the company, something Boeing is doing with ParaSoft's CodeWizard tool (AW&ST May 29, p. 17). Not only should this make better software, the result should be more consistent and portable within the organization, Telelogic Tau says. Logiscope 5.0 can graph the structure and behavior of software to control complexity, and has optimized testing for faster code evaluation.
British officers preparing the C-130J and its crews for Royal Air Force operations have a long list of both complaints and praises for their new aircraft and look to apply lessons learned to the upcoming introduction of C-17 airlifter and Astor airborne ground surveillance aircraft. Primarily the problems stem from a poorly funded training program, insufficient involvement with Lockheed Martin during development and a lack of understanding of the changes in technology between the C-130K, which the RAF has flown for 30 years, and the all-new C-130J.
Emerging cruise missile requirements in the U.S. and U.K. are beginning to look a lot alike, creating embryonic interest in trying to fuse the programs over the coming years prior to the start of serious development work.
Four flight attendants and 12 passengers received minor injuries on July 28 when a Pan American Airlines Boeing 727 encountered severe turbulence. According to National Transportation Safety Board preliminary accident/incident data, the aircraft, with 61 passengers on board, was en route from Sanford, Fla., to Pittsburgh at Flight Level 330 or 33,000 ft. When the aircraft encountered turbulence at about 9:30 p.m., approximately 60 mi. south of Columbia, S.C., it rapidly lost about 1,000 ft. altitude.
South Korea's tight fiscal budget and planned spending reductions in preparation for the cost of reunification with North Korea are threatening the viability of the T/A-50 Golden Eagle program. The future of the supersonic trainer/light combat aircraft, formerly the KTX-2, could now be in jeopardy, according to a leading Korea-based defense analyst, who declined to be named. He said it is likely program cuts will be necessary.
The Boeing 737-900 made its first flight last week, departing the factory at Renton, Wash., for a 3-hr. flight. The 737-900 carries about 15 more passengers in two-class configuration than the 737-800 and is the longest 737 built. Alaska Airlines has ordered 10 737-900s, Continental 15, Korean Air 16 and KLM 4. All four will take their first 737-900 delivery in 2001. Boeing claims the 737-900 is the most fuel-efficient single-aisle jet transport on the market today, including the 757-300.
Northrop Grumman subsidiary Logicon will provide technical support for the Advanced Laser Imaging Analysis Support program under a five-year, $19-million contract from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory's Directed Energy Directorate.
The National Imagery and Mapping Agency is looking toward utilizing a major new secret NRO imaging spacecraft set for launch next week. Although its mission is classified, the spacecraft could be a Lacrosse type imaging radar. The NRO mission patch (right) for the flight has an antenna-type motif proclaiming ``We Own the Night,'' indications that fit well with a radar mission.
Bradley G. Stanius has been appointed executive chairman and David F. Chavenson chief financial officer of Worldwide Flight Services of Fort Worth. Stanius was president/CEO of Smarte Carte Inc., White Bear Lake, Minn., and Chavenson vice president-finance/CFO of the Holly Corp. of Dallas.
For companies that want to rapidly establish an e-commerce capability without custom programming and other overhead, ComponentControl.com says to use its Internet Quantum software. The iQ system puts the complex tasks on ComponentControl's secure server, where the company can centrally maintain them. The user accesses this server for parts searches, dynamic quotes, order placement and tracking status. The iQ software complements ComponentControl's Quantum Control enterprise resource planning software for parts trading.
Bell/Agusta is planning to develop a military version of the AB139 medium twin helicopter (right), even though the civil variant has yet to make its first flight. The U.S.-Italian joint venture, which is also developing the BA609 tiltrotor, displayed a full-scale mockup of the military model here, equipped with a four-LCD ``glass'' cockpit, Flir, missile warning sensor, flare dispenser, particle separator and removable side-window panel for gun emplacement.
The U.S. domestic freight market is maturing, growing 6% during the past year to 6.8 million shipments per day. Growth since 1994 has averaged 7.2% per year, according to Seattle-based Air Cargo Management Group. In its latest U.S. Domestic Air Freight and Express Industry Study, ACMG found shippers in the U.S. domestic freight market are increasingly disregarding the mode of transportation and instead are demanding highly reliable, time-definite service.
Robert B. Cook (see photos) has been appointed director of the Institute for Manufacturing and Sustainment Technologies and Thomas M. Donnellan associate director of the Materials and Manufacturing Office at Pennsylvania State University's Applied Research Laboratory. Cook will assist the Naval Air Systems Command and industry in aviation-related manufacturing issues through the institute's Air Vehicle Technology Group efforts. Donnellan will direct overall air vehicle technology materials and manufacturing R&D efforts.
CAE has won a contract to upgrade the NATO E-3A Airborne Warning and Control System flight simulator at NATO's Geilenkirchen, Germany, air base. CAE will deliver its Medallion Image Generator and Series 600 Motion System.
