Look for senior Army officials to fight for an increase in science and technology funding to support the service's transformation into the lighter, more mobile force. The service's new vision has caused priorities to change in research and development, says Lt. Gen. Paul Kern, the Army's top acquisition officer. Some of the additional funds would flow toward aviation, he noted.
Intelsat awarded a contract to Matra Marconi Space to build its largest and most powerful satellite to date. The 5,000-lb., 8-kw. Intelsat NI Alpha is to carry 36 C-band transponders to provide communications services in the Americas and Western Europe and 20 Ku-band transponders for services in Latin America. The satellite is based on Matra Marconi's new Eurostar 3000 bus and is sized for launch on an Ariane, Proton or Sea Launch booster. The spacecraft will operate from an orbit at 310 deg. E. Long. Delivery is scheduled for mid-2002.
The National Missile Defense program's failure to intercept a target in a Jan. 18 test was likely caused by a malfunctioning component shared by both infrared sensors on Raytheon's kill vehicle.
Rolls-Royce has won a 25-million-pound ($41-million) share of a 140-million-pound ($229-million) contract for the first 320 of approximately 1,000 MTR 390 engines that will power Eurocopter Tigers of the French and German armed forces.
The estimate on the number of large asteroids in the vicinity of the solar system has been reduced as a result of observations made by NASA's Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking System (Neat). Neat began tracking near-Earth asteroids and comets in 1995 with a charge-coupled device camera on a 1-meter U.S. Air Force telescope in Hawaii. Project officials said they now believe there are approximately 500-1,000 near-Earth asteroids larger than 1 km. in diameter. Previous estimates ranged from 1,000-2,000 asteroids.
John Enticknap has become vice president/chief operating officer of Mercury Air Centers of Los Angeles. He was general manager of the Mercury FBO at Dekalb Peachtree Airport, Ga.
Sabena Belgian World Airlines' traffic in the last four years doubled despite intense competition at Brussels Zaventem, the carrier's main hub and European Union's ``capital.'' In 1999, the Belgian carrier carried slightly more than 10 million passengers, a healthy 13.9% increase over the previous year. Sabena, which recently inaugurated eight additional routes, is actively promoting Internet sales and ticketless travel in an effort to streamline operations and further cut costs.
Under a $450-million contract, Boeing has begun upgrading NATO's Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft as part of a Mid-Term Modification Program.
Joseph R. O'Gorman has joined the board of directors of Avcorp Industries Inc. of Vancouver. He was president/CEO of Reno Air and had been CEO of Aloha Frontier Airlines.
Graham Thornton has been appointed vice president-business development of TRW Aeronautical Systems, Solihull, England. He was group director of Smiths Industries. Thornton succeeds David Bundred, who has resigned.
Helicopter companies, tantalized by the growing popularity of fractional business-jet ownership, are trying to use the same marketing vehicle to stimulate rotorcraft sales. But it's proving to be a struggle. The equivalent of only a few civil helicopters have been sold to fractional owners, compared with 350-400 business jets. At this point, the concept's viability as it applies to helicopters remains to be proven.
Signal Technology has signed an initial $500,000 contract for the AN/ALQ 135 (V) Band 1.5 Tactical Warfare System for Northrop Grumman's Electronic Warfare System, to be used on F-15 aircraft. Shipments are scheduled to begin in March.
Stringent cost controls helped most U.S. major airlines partially offset escalating fuel prices in late 1999, but fourth-quarter profits still nosedived. Hardest hit was US Airways, whose operating costs rose by more than 16%, to $2.3 billion. The substantial rise reflects, among other things, a 52.1% jump in fuel costs in the quarter.
Passenger traffic at the seven U.K. airports operated by BAA reached a record 116.9 million in 1999, 5.7% higher than 1998 despite a slight decline during the last month of the year. The overall increase was paced by an 8.4% rise in scheduled European traffic to 41 million and a 7.1% growth in North Atlantic traffic to 19.4 million. Stansted, home for a number of low-cost carriers, was the fastest growing airport, up 38% to 9.4 million passengers. Edinburgh posted a 12% rise, while London's two largest airports grew at a slower pace.
Last year's brisk sales, including a major multiyear order for Tigers, and the long-waited go-ahead for the European NH-90--scheduled for the next few months--are expected to reinforce Eurocopter's growth and profitability, according to company officials.
A story on controller-to-pilot data link (AW&ST Jan. 10, p. 36) incorrectly listed two sites at which the FAA plans to conduct initial operations. Miami will be the only site initially.
United Technologies Corp. last week reported a 21% increase in fourth-quarter earnings, to 70 cents, before restructuring and other charges. Yearly revenues were up 9%, to $6.5 billion. For the full year, UTC posted a 19% gain in earnings, to $3.01, on net income of $1.53 billion.
More details about the Y2K software snafu at a National Reconnaissance Office imagery processing facility at Ft. Belvoir, Va.: The failure led to the loss of data from the electro-optical imagery system for about 3 hr., and the system wasn't fully brought back on line for almost two days. Sources familiar with the NRO say Aviation Week was correct in reporting that the optical satellites were switched to a backup ground station at White Sands, N.M., used by NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (AW&ST Jan. 10, p. 27).
Penelope Longbottom has become vice president-corporate communications of Washington-based XM Satellite Radio. She was vice president-communications and branding for Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications in London. Thomas Donohue and Nathaniel Davis have joined the board of directors. Donohue is president/CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Davis executive vice president of Nextel Communications.
The Navy is launching a new unmanned aerial vehicle program designed to provide an aircraft with greater range and more capability than the vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) system now being developed for short-range missions. The Multi-Role UAV (MR-UAV) would effectively be a medium-range aircraft, compared with the VTOL system that only has a 110-naut.-mi. range requirement. Navy and Marine Corps officials want to field the longer range system between 2006 and 2014.
Russian space agency director Yuri Koptev said last week in Moscow that the Proton launch of the critical Service Module for the International Space Station is now scheduled for late July, confirming that the ISS program and the space shuttle schedule will continue to lag into late summer (AW&ST Jan. 17, p. 408). Koptev also said some Soyuz and Progress vehicles originally assigned to the ISS will be shifted to Mir to keep the old station aloft, possibly into August. He insisted, however, this will have no impact on Russian contributions to the ISS.
State-owned Snecma does not anticipate privatizing anytime soon, although it might pursue any consolidation opportunities that cross its path, according to company executives. The French engine manufacturer just completed an in-depth, in-house restructuring in an effort to streamline operations, cut costs and facilitate additional cross-border alliances. Although the European aircraft-engine industry remains fragmented, no specific consolidation moves are currently in sight, Snecma Chairman/CEO Jean-Paul Bechat asserted.
All Nippon Airways will introduce discounts of up to $95 each way on tickets worth more than $100 beginning in April. It is acting in response to a new round of discount fare approvals set by Japan's Ministry of Transport, which has been relaxing government fare restrictions on a step-by-step basis. The latest step takes effect in February. ANA says it will follow the discount plan for three months to gauge public reaction.
Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control has been awarded a $65-million contract to supply its High Mobility Artillery Rocket System launchers to the U.S. Army Aviation&Missile Command.
