Puerto Rico soon may not be alone in giving the Pentagon major headaches over the use of offshore facilities. Spurred by the example of protests over the Navy's use of Vieques island to drop live ordnance, U.S. officials are now aware of efforts in the Marshall Islands to foment a similar movement over the use of the Kwajalein missile range. Kwajalein has been a key facility for national missile defense tests. Although the U.S.
Pam-Form 2000, the first 3D software for forming simulation of composite and plastic parts, enables virtual and realistic analysis and optimization of a variety of manufacturing processes, including thermoforming, dry-fabric stamping, draping, diaphragm-forming, blowing, extrusion-blowing and stretching-blowing. The product offers engineers the possibility of analyzing the part as it will be actually manufactured.
Aerospatiale Matra shareholders have unanimously approved the company's merger agreement with DaimlerChrysler Aerospace and Construcciones Aeronauticas. The agreement is set to give birth, on July 8, to the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. On the same day, Aerospatiale Matra will cease operations and will be dissolved.
The U.S. Army is initiating a competition for a target to exercise its Patriot PAC-3 ballistic missile defense system. The Tactical Ballistic Missile Training Target is intended to provide Patriot units with a live-fire training capability. Meanwhile, the service's Space and Missile Defense Command has demonstrated the Orbital/Suborbital (OSP) target launch vehicle designed for the national missile defense system. The target includes a shroud on a three-stage Minuteman II booster.
W. Douglas Parker has been named president of America West Airlines. He was executive vice president-corporate group of America West Holdings Inc. Joette Schmidt has been promoted to vice president-customers from senior director of passenger sales, Jonathan R. Leak to vice president-purchasing and fuel administration from senior director of fuel administration and James Reiser to vice president from senior director of corporate real estate.
UTMC Microelectric Systems has added the UTXQ512K32 16M SRAM Multichip Module (MCM) to its Class T memory family. The 16M SRAM MCM packages four 4M memory die using both sides of the substrate in a 68-lead ceramic flatpack. This technique increases packaging density, saving space and weight, and provides high-speed (25ns) access. The product is available for either 3.3.-or 5-volt power supply options. This MCM packaging is advantageous for satellite applications because it reduces board space requirements and component count.
FAA officials in Chicago are working to eliminate ghost returns that have appeared as bogus aircraft on controllers' displays 32 times since the first of the year. The pace of reports has picked up since May 8, when the FAA asked controllers to be more vigilant for spotting the anomalies. Fifteen have been reported since then, but there is no apparent trend--they appear to be random and isolated, said FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory.
The Preston Group is planning to expand the capability of its Total Airspace&Airport Modeler software, to reliably and accurately simulate air traffic in the U.S. national airspace system in any 24-hr. period. The capability, which will require increased computer capacity and enhanced algorithms, also could be applied to Europe's complex airspace. As envisioned, simulation run time would be about 2 hr., according to CEO Stephen Gumley.
Beal Aerospace has concluded an agreement to launch its BA-2 heavy-lift booster from a new spaceport to be built in Guyana (AW&ST Dec. 13, 1999, p. 85). The facility, located 500 mi. west of the Arianespace launch complex at Kourou, French Guiana, will cost an estimated $750 million. The agreement follows an accord struck last April that allows U.S. launchers and satellites to utilize the Brazilian launch complex of Alcantara, southeast of Kourou. All three sites offer lift performance superior to that available at Cape Canaveral.
Irvine Sensors Corp. of Costa Mesa, Calif., is developing a line of compact, low-power infrared camera products. The company's Vision Systems unit has received a $756,000 follow-on contract from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to demonstrate a thermal infrared night vision camera weighing less than 1 lb. that ``can operate for days using AA batteries,'' according to the company. The camera will use Irvine Sensors' chip-stacking technology and extensive solid-state memories to achieve cost and size objectives.
Northrop Grumman is lobbying hard to get a piece of an airport surveillance radar contract awarded to Raytheon four years ago, and is pressing its case with a protest through the courts to block further Raytheon work and with an unsolicited proposal to split the buy.
The Commission to Assess U.S. National Security Space Management and Organization--better known as the ``Space Commission''--was formally launched in late May. Its formation was prompted by Sen. Bob Smith (R-N.H.) to consider the future of U.S. military space. One option to be assessed during the six-month study will be formation of a separate space force, or a new space corps within the U.S. Air Force. The commission will be chaired by former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and includes ex-Wyoming Sen. Malcolm Wallop; Gen.
FAA-industry teams are preparing equipment at Louisville and Memphis airports to evaluate Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) technology, which promises a major step forward in airport safety. ADS-B is a satellite-based system that provides a comprehensive display of aerial and ground activity. Unlike radar for which it is a candidate to replace, ADS-B is effective at capturing targets at all altitudes and on the ground regardless of the terrain or weather conditions.
In the wake of a decision by Iberia and Lufthansa to sell 10.25% of their shares in Amadeus, Air France will become the largest shareholder in the European computer reservation system. After the public offering, the French airline will own 22.75% of Amadeus stock. Iberia and Lufthansa would each hold 14.75%.
Lufthansa Cargo reported a partial turnaround last year, improving load factor by 1.6 percentage points, yields by 0.7 points, and increasing traffic revenue 6.3% to DM4 billion ($1.9 billion). Although 1999 operating earnings fell DM165 million, they bounced back to DM35 million in the first quarter of this year, presaging a stronger performance in 2000.
First flight of the Lockheed Martin X-35A Joint Strike Fighter Concept Demonstrator Aircraft is scheduled for late July. The X-35A will fly profiles that are representative of the company's JSF Preferred Weapons System Concept design, which would be produced if the team is selected to proceed to the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase. Competitor Boeing is offering its X-32A design, which also is set to fly this summer (AW&ST May 29, p. 18).
Len Dalton has been promoted to vice president-maintenance operations and standards from director of maintenance for TAG Aviation Inc., White Plains, N.Y.
Lufthansa CityLine plans to introduce two-class cabin arrangements late this year. Business-class traffic in the last five years increased an average 13% in a trend showing a need to offer upgraded inflight service to business travelers, according to carrier officials. The regional subsidiary of Lufthansa German Airlines seeks to attract more high-yield passengers but is significantly reducing inflight service in its aircraft's economy-class section.
NAV CANADA HAS SELECTED Rannoch Corp. of Alexandria, Va., to provide its AirScene air traffic control surveillance system at Calgary International Airport. AirScene's passive multi-lateration technique tracks responses to secondary surveillance radars, and transmissions from TCAS and ADS-B and is suitable for surface movement guidance and control, terminal and enroute operations, according to the company.
Atlantic Southeast Airlines will become the fourth airline to offer long-haul flights from Dallas Love Field when it begins service to Atlanta in July. Plans call for ASA to operate six daily flights using 50-seat Canadair CRJ200s. ASA will use the same terminal abandoned by parent company Delta Air Lines in 1974 when it moved its operations to the new Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. An ASA official said the old gate area, located on the ground floor of the north concourse, will be renovated.
David Keleher has been named chief financial officer of the Dynamics Research Corp., Andover, Mass. He succeeds Virginia Lavery, who was acting CFO and will continue as corporate controller. Keleher was group controller for the Raytheon Commercial Electronics Div.
James C. Clarke (see photo, p. 18) has been named senior vice president-finance/chief financial officer of Chicago-based Indigo. He was director of structured finance for the Merrill Lynch Capital Markets Group.
Boeing's 777 has achieved a 99.1% schedule reliability rate after its first five years in service, a level almost unheard of for wide-body transports. The reliability figure, based on a 12-month rolling average, has been above 99% since October and exceeded 99.2% in February with all but a few airlines reporting, according to Michael Fleming, 777 fleet support chief, service engineering, for Boeing's customer service division. The aircraft's five-year moving average is better than 98.9%, he said.
EuroSkyWay, a geostationary broadband satellite network proposed by Alenia Aerospazio, will conclude a partnership agreement in July with an unidentified full-service provider. EuroSkyWay, which will comprise two satellites scheduled to be orbited in 2002-04, will cost an estimated $800 million to deploy (AW&ST Nov. 8, 1999, p. 94). According to Alenia Aerospazio Chief Executive Giuseppe Viriglio, the agreement will cover both business-to-customer and business-to-business Internet activity.
It's just too hard to split the Joint Strike Fighter program before picking a prime contractor, a special JSF acquisition panel has reported to Defense Secretary William Cohen and Pentagon purchasing honcho Jacques Gansler. Instead, the panel says, a single winning design should be selected and followed by qualification of both JSF's contending prime contractors, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, for the next phase, engineering and manufacturing development.
