Edward M. Francis (see photos) has been promoted to president from vice president-operations and Lawrence R. McNamara to director of programs and business development from director of business development, for Hamilton Sundstrand Space Systems, Windsor Locks, Conn.
A powerful U.S. Navy weather and ocean-modeling computer has been upgraded to be the 13th fastest supercomputer in the world, according to the ``Top 500'' list (www.top500.org). The Cray T3E, located at the Naval Oceanographic Office at Stennis Space Center, Miss., now has 1,088 processors and 404 gigabytes of memory, yielding peak performance of 980 gigaflops. The system is one of four Defense Dept. Major Shared Resource Centers used by all services and contractors from industry and academia.
U.S. lawmakers agreed last week to present Congressional Gold Medals to the Apollo 11 astronauts who carried out man's first landing on the Moon in 1969. Neil A. Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins will receive gold medals struck by the Treasury for the ``historic feat'' of ``conquering the Moon at great personal risk to their safety, paving the way for future missions to other regions of space.''
Tolis Deslis has been appointed vice president/chief operating officer of Davidson Optronics, West Covina, Calif. He was senior optical designer/engineer for the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
The use of advanced design and manufacturing techniques helped Boeing assemble its X-32A Joint Strike Fighter candidate in just over 52 weeks using 58 employees. The X-32A's one-piece wing was attached in 6 hr., according to Harry Stonecipher, president and chief operating officer. Quality also significantly improved with about 80% fewer defects than in the equivalent build of the F-22 fighter, a program in which Boeing is a 33% partner with Lockheed. Overall, the X-32 is costing about 75% less than Boeing's YF-22 and F-22 experience, Stonecipher said.
The FAA certified Cessna Aircraft Co.'s Model 525A Citation CJ2 business jet on June 21. Plans call for the first three production aircraft to be used as company demonstrators beginning in the third quarter of this year, according to Cessna officials. Initial customer deliveries are scheduled for the fourth quarter.
The State of New York (motto: Excelsior, Ever Upward) appears to be kindling the competitive spirit among a few airlines. JetBlue Airways, based at New York JFK airport, launched operations with an all-Airbus A320 fleet in February 2000. The low-cost carrier, which already provides service to Buffalo, N.Y., plans service to Rochester beginning in early August. Southwest Airlines, which is expanding services in the Northeast region, plans to begin daily nonstop flights out of Buffalo's Niagara International Airport on Oct.
The satellite builders at Hughes Electronics believe their future will brighten if their acquisition by Boeing gets an antitrust okay. Several big satcom outfits--Intelsat, Inmarsat and GE Americom--have long had a to-heck-with-you attitude toward the satellite shop (Hughes Space and Communications), since Hughes Electronics also operates competing satellite service companies. (Imagine Boeing or Airbus running an airline.) But if U.S.
The U.S. Navy has signed an $8.9-billion contract with Boeing for multiyear purchases of 222 F/A-18E/F--36 in Fiscal 2000, 42 in Fiscal 2001 and 48 in each of the following three years.
Reinhard Schnabel has been named vice president-Europe at the Stuttgart, Germany, offices of Hughes Space and Communications International Services Co. He was vice president-business development and programs of the Space Communications Div. of Bosch Telecom.
The propulsion system of Lockheed Martin's vertical landing variant of the Joint Strike Fighter is suffering from a new problem, this time an overheating bearing where power from the engine is transferred to the lift fan.
Lutz Wierschin has become customer service manager and Walter Kattwinkel key account manager of Lufthansa Technik at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
Congress is pushing the Pentagon to abandon an ongoing competition for the Joint Strike Fighter ejection seat in favor of keeping the selection open until 2005 when more modern seats should be available.
TWA was the subject of a buyout offer by Global Airlines Corp., a privately held holding company based in New York. The $5-per-share offer last week consisted of $2 in Global stock, $2 in convertible preferred bonds and $1 in cash. TWA stock was trading at less than $3 at the time. Earlier in the week, AirTran, formerly ValuJet, was revealed to be in talks about a possible merger with or acquisition of St. Louis-based TWA.
Herley Industries subsidiary Robinson Laboratories has been selected to supply microwave components to Raytheon and DaimlerChrysler for the multinational Rolling Airframe Missile program.
The European Commission has unveiled plans for legislation and voluntary commitments by airlines and airports to bolster passengers' rights. Legislation would include requiring airlines to reimburse passengers who had been delayed more than a few hours at an EU airport the price of their ticket, or provide an alternative flight at the earliest opportunity. Carriers would be forbidden from canceling entire tickets when a delay or cancellation prevents passengers from flying on one leg of the journey.
House Democrats critical of the Pentagon's national missile defense (NMD) system are calling for an FBI investigation of the program. They allege that the Pentagon has covered up test information, citing findings by scientists about earlier NMD tests. Defense Dept. officials have dismissed the claims. They note that the test being cited by the scientists and congressmen involved a kill vehicle that is no longer being used.
PartsBase.com of Boca Raton, Fla., has turned to USA Information Systems Inc. to provide it with online access to government procurement and technical documents for aerospace and defense contractors. Primarily known for its online parts buying-and-selling operations for airlines, the move represents an expansion of PartsBase's market. The company said the alliance with USA Information Systems will give it access to more than 20 million part numbers, 7 million national stock numbers, and 550,000 manufacturers and vendors that supply Defense Dept. agencies.
Northrop Grumman Corp. and BAE Systems of the U.K. were in a fierce competition for Lockheed Martin/Sanders, as of last Thursday. The rival companies each had submitted bids substantially greater than $1.5 billion, according to people familiar with the situation, and Lockheed Martin was under pressure to select a winner. A winning bid of $1.8-2 billion might be reasonable, given the potential value of Directed Infrared Countermeasures programs in which Sanders is involved, they said.
In Australia, public opinion polls are showing rising public concern about Australia's defense capability, after the East Timor emergency last year and recent troubles in the neighboring Fiji and Solomon Islands. The government is due to release a defense policy this week and Prime Minister John Howard is moving to associate himself with its release, as rumors of an early election--after the Olympics--increase. Australia is considering a number of buys including attack helicopters and light tactical transports, but cost has stalled the selections.
The U.S. Marine Corps has concluded the mishap investigation report for the Apr. 8 crash of an MV-22 in which 19 Marines died. The report, along with a still-continuing investigation, will determine if any changes need to be made to the aircraft or procedures. The flight manual is expected to reemphasize that pilots not exceed a descent rate of more than 800 fpm. at a forward speed less than 40 kt., conditions that were exceeded with the accident aircraft.
San Francisco International made it official last week. It will use the Future Flight Central control tower simulator at NASA's Ames Research Center to help it design a new air traffic control tower (AW&ST Jan. 10, p. 38). The airport, which is located about 25 mi. north of Ames, was one of the first in the country to express interest in the FFC facility, which provides a walk-in, full-fidelity tower (see photo) that permits designers and engineers to judge how surface traffic movements might be impeded or enhanced by various designs.
