Karl-Heinz Hartmann has become president of the military aircraft division of DaimlerChrysler Aerospace. Hartmann, previously president of Mercedes-Benz-Argentina and director of planning at Deutsche Airbus, succeeds Aloysius Rauen, who is head of corporate strategy.
EXIGENT INTERNATIONAL'S SOFTWARE Technology Inc. (STI) subsidiary will supply a key tool for validating the software architecture for the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS), the military's 21st century digital radio. The Defense Dept. awarded a $21.7-million contract to a consortium led by Raytheon Tactical Systems to develop and validate the software architecture for JTRS. The consortium plans to use STI's Domain Manager Tool Kit for that effort.
The Pentagon is facing $100-billion annual budget shortfalls that will wipe out the six-year, $112-billion nominal increase the Administration proposed just last January, a respected think tank claims. With the Fiscal 2001 budget debate set to begin Feb. 7, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimates the Defense Dept. will run $88 billion short next year, and a whopping $573 billion behind what it will need in 2001-05 to maintain a force able to prosecute two regional wars at once.
DuganAir Technologies Inc. has obtained FAA approval for ``flaps 40-deg.'' operation of Boeing 727 transports outfitted with DTI's Quiet Wing System. The capability provides the same landing and approach speeds and landing field lengths as the basic 727 at the 40-deg. flap setting.
The 312-ft. vessel designed to carry Delta IV booster components from Boeing's production facility in Alabama to Cape Canaveral, Fla., and Vandenberg AFB, Calif., has been launched. The Delta Mariner will carry Delta IV common booster cores, second stages and payload adaptors and fairings to the two launch sites. Second stages will be transported in climate-controlled containers. Delta IV components will be rolled on the Delta Mariner, built by Halter Maritime in Pascagoula, Miss., near Boeing's Decatur, Ala., Delta IV factory.
Organizers of the Asian Aerospace 2000 Exposition are promising the return of aerobatic displays. On the flight schedule for this year's show, to be held Feb. 22-27, are aerobatic demonstrations by teams such as the Republic of Singapore's Black Knights and the Australian Air Force's Roulettes, which will fly Pilatus PC-9s, and the l'Armee de l'Air's Patrouille de France, flying Dassault Alpha Jets.
A Jan. 6 computer problem at the FAA's Washington Center, Leesburg, Va., control site snarled air traffic for several hours along the East Coast between Boston, Raleigh and Pittsburgh. A data transfer problem caused the main computer to overload around 6:15 a.m. EST, forcing officials to shut it down and make use of the slower, direct access radar control system. Around 8:30 a.m. air controllers ordered a halt to any new takeoffs to reduce air traffic. The problem was fixed at 9:49 a.m. FAA officials said the computer problem was not Y2K related.
A Texas appeals court has notified startup Legend Airlines that it may prevent the low-fare carrier from inaugurating service next month until a federal appeals court in New Orleans rules on the legality of long-haul flights from Dallas' Love Field.
The operational debut of Space Launch Complex-3E here for the Atlas IIAS at the Western Test Range signals the start of a new era of smaller, more capable satellites fulfilling multiple missions for the National Reconnaissance Office. How the NRO will exploit that advantage is classified, but it readily acknowledges its interest in exploiting advances in satellite structural designs, electronics, power systems and on-board processing, all of which promise spacecraft that are smaller, cheaper to build and launch, yet more capable.
Although growth rate for international air express shipments was low in 1999 for the second year running, a gradual shift in shipment mix to more packages and fewer documents produced strong growth on a tonnage basis. According to a study by Seattle-based Air Cargo Management Group, the average weight of an air express shipment has grown at a 7% annual rate during the past five years.
French space agency CNES is attempting to turn its Corot small satellite mission into an international venture in order to save it from the budget ax. Confronted with a F160-million ($27-million) shortfall, instead of the F50-million ($8.4-million) increase expected, budget watchdogs see Corot, which is virtually all-French--and thus politically expendable--and F110 million over cost, as an ideal sacrificial lamb. However, project officials hope to cut the cost overrun in half and convince European partners to support the rest.
EUROPE'S JOINT AVIATION AUTHORITIES' 30 member states have approved FlightSafety International as a Type Rating Training Organization, paving the way for European-based business aircraft operators to receive JAA-approved training at all FlightSafety facilities in North America. The authorization comes in the wake of an 18-month initiative by JAA and European national aviation officials to ensure that FlightSafety was in compliance with new JAA Flight Crew Licensing standards that became effective in July 1999.
In contrast with U.S. industrial giants such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin, company executives predict that the proposed European Aeronautic, Defense and Space Co. will rapidly create shareholder value. While other European segments--such as insurance and petroleum companies, banks and utilities--have completed major cross-border mergers in recent years, EADS managers will nevertheless be venturing into unchartered territory when they try to establish a 96,000-employee group working in three languages.
Rockwell Collins will upgrade 183 Collins AN/ARC-186 transreceivers into VHF-186R high-frequency transreceivers for Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16 aircraft and Cougar and Chinook helicopters. Deliveries are scheduled to begin late this year.
Swissair passengers are now able to check in on a flight they have booked using Internet-enabled WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) cellular telephones, which were introduced in Europe last fall. Swissair started the interactive service, developed by IBM, late last year for select frequent flyers in Zurich. Passengers checking in with the service receive information on exact departure time, gate and seat numbers on the telephone's display panel.
United Airlines has committed to a two-year quality assurance training program for senior Chinese airline managers, regulatory personnel and mechanics at its Fleet Operations center here at San Francisco International Airport.
Avions de Transport Regional's ATR 42MP maritime patrol twin turboprop has obtained a supplemental type certification from Italy's civil aviation authority. The ATR 42MP was developed by Alenia Aerospazio.
DaimlerChrysler Aerospace President and CEO Manfred Bischoff added his voice last week to the crescendo of lobbying over the politically charged Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) competition in the U.K. Senior British defense officials, who met in December, are set to meet again on Feb. 21 to try and reach a recommendation. Bischoff claimed that opting for Raytheon's Amraam-based solution would make European nations ``dependent on American export licenses when selling Eurofighter to other countries,'' a charge the U.S. company rebuts.
Guangzhou Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Co., a China Southern Airlines/ Lockheed Martin Corp. partnership, has secured its largest third-party maintenance contract, with China Southwest Airlines for D checks and end-of-lease checks for up to six Boeing 737s.
Aerospace engineering graduate Rajan Bindra, who now works for British Aerospace Engineering, has won the inaugural Sir Frank Whittle Award from the U.K.'s North West Aerospace Alliance. The award, sponsored by Rolls-Royce, is to be given annually to the best aerospace-related project by final year engineering students at eight universities in northwestern England.
The Pentagon has killed the Army's plan to build the Prophet Air airborne electronic warfare system. Funding for production and engineering and manufacturing development was zeroed to free money for the effort to transform the Army from one dominated by heavy divisions to a more mobile, medium-weight force. The Army will maintain low-level spending on research for the electronic warfare system, which is supposed to be flown on unmanned aerial vehicles or helicopters.
Barry L. Valentine (see photo), former acting FAA administrator, has become senior vice president-international affairs of the Washington-based General Aviation Manufacturers Assn. Most recently, he was head of the Aviation Technical Services Group at Farragut International.
