THE PENTAGON HAS SIGNED OFF on an international memorandum of understanding to begin production of the Multifunction Information Distribution System (MIDS) sized for fighter aircraft. European MIDS participants France, Germany, Italy and Spain are expected to sign soon. MIDS will provide Link-16 data link functionality to U.S. and allied aircraft.
SITA has signed an agreement with Jersey-based AirTV Ltd. to jointly offer e-mail services, Internet access and live television feeds to airline passengers. ``We are building this service to provide passengers with access to live multi-channel television, radio, Internet and e-mail 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year,'' said John D. Larkin, CEO of AirTV. The plan calls for the service to be available by the last quarter of 2002.
U.S. military officials know that any conflict with North Korea is going to involve heavy casualties, with a good chance of early use of weapons of mass destruction. But one of the greatest concerns for war planners is Pyongyang's large and well-maintained special operations force (SOF) that would try to cause havoc behind U.S. and South Korean lines.
Al Gross, a principal electrical engineer in the Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Launch Systems Group, Chandler, Ariz., has won this year's Lemelson-MIT Lifetime Achievement Award for invention and innovation. He was cited for pioneering work in wireless communications and his efforts to excite students about invention.
Patrick Finneran has been appointed vice president/general manager of U.S. Navy and Marine Corps programs for Boeing Military Aircraft and Missile Systems in St. Louis. John Van Gels has become St. Louis site manager. He will remain vice president/general manager of production operations and general services. Finneran was general manager of the F/A-18 program. He succeeds Jerry Daniels, who is now sector president.
With a winner-take-all Joint Strike Fighter all but certain, senior civilian Air Force acquisition officials are trying to persuade Pentagon acquisition chief Jacques Gansler to let them divvy up the work on the project. Industry leaders are against the plan and think it's illegal. They say the winning contractor should apportion work. To those who say that would slow JSF, they answer that a six-month, congressionally driven slowdown of the program seems to be in the offing, anyway. The budget pressures are growing.
Although the interoperability problems that plagued the NATO air war against Yugoslavia may be typical of most allied operations, years of work between U.S. and South Korean forces should result in better cooperation if conflict on the Korean peninsula breaks out.
Susan O. Rork is one of the final four members to be named to the Alaska Airlines Safety Audit Team. She is managing director of security for the Air Transport Assn. of America. The other new members are: David P. Lewis, a consultant specializing in large gas turbine engines; Stanley W. Switzer, a maintenance and quality consultant for Northwest Airlines; and Vincent J. Lepera, manager of the FAA International Office in New York.
Jim Albaugh is president of the Boeing Co.'s Space and Communications Group. He spoke about the aerospace industry in the ``new economy'' at the U.S. Space Foundation National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs. Excerpts follow.
The designation of one Titan IV vehicle involved in previous geosynchronous mission failures was misidentified in a story in last week's issue (p. 24). The article should have said the initial geosynchronous mission failure in 1998 involved a Titan IVA/Centaur.
China Great Wall Industries is planning the next launch of the Shenzhou-2 unmanned spacecraft for toward the end of this year at its Jinquan launch site using a Long March 2F booster. The mission will be one of seven planned for this year, including Loral's Chinasat-8, which is currently held up because of U.S. export restrictions. Two domestic telecom satellites, a pair of weather satellites and a recoverable capsule round out the launch manifest.
Jersey European Airways, the U.K.'s third-largest domestic carrier, has changed its name to British European. An Air France franchise partner, the airline operates a fleet of 27 aircraft to 17 U.K. and six international destinations. British European said it is increasing frequencies from London City airport to Jersey following British Airways' decision to drop services to the Channel Islands destination.
Aerospace industry officials here say Israel is surveying U.S. airframe and payload manufacturers for potential partners in developing as many as three types of sophisticated unmanned craft. Israel wants UAVs that can replace observation sites in the Golan Heights. On the wish list are a high-speed penetrator for tactical reconnaissance, a long-endurance surveillance aircraft to spot mobile targets, and a missile-carrier to destroy them. For payloads, the Israelis are interested in targeting sensors and lightweight, low-power lasers that could be used as airborne weapons.
The mission of the independent U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is, first, to investigate an accident and determine the probable cause (or causes). Then, its job is to propose changes to aircraft design, maintenance or operational procedures, air traffic control, management oversight or other factors that led to the accident.
Government regulations, rather than attracting customers, are shaping up to be the greatest hurdle for the burgeoning aerospace e-commerce businesses in the near-term.
James T. McKenna has been named executive director of the Washington-based Aviation Safety Alliance. He was transport and safety editor of Aviation Week&Space Technology.
The size of the Asia-Pacific market was misidentified in the article ``China Market Offers Major Opportunities, Poses Challenges'' in the May 8 issue (p. 61). The story meant to say the Asia-Pacific region--not China alone--has 55% of the world's population, 25% of world output, 28% of world exports, 16 of the world's top 25 most populous cities and 25% of the world revenue passenger kilometers.
Joan Bauerlein, who has been the FAA's director of international aviation, is now a senior adviser for transportation to the InterAmerican Development Bank.
John Courtright has been appointed vice president-sales and Aaron Burnett vice president-marketing of the Seattle-based Aviation Communications Div. of AT&T Wireless Services.
China's Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xian has partnered with Rolls-Royce in a two-year research program investigating the internal cooling of high-pressure turbine parts. The research complements experimental heat transfer work in progress at England's Oxford University. NPU and Rolls-Royce have been collaborating on gas turbine heat transfer research since 1992.
