The Pentagon is taking a hard look at rewriting plans for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) and secure satellite communication programs to address perceived shortfalls in both efforts. Air Force officials are reviewing how they are contracting for EELV with both Boeing and Lockheed Martin, according to USAF Gen. Richard B. Myers, commander of U.S. Space Command. The question being asked is ``whether we need to make any structural changes in the way we set up the contracts,'' he added.
The first Hawk Mk.127 Lead-In Fighter (LIF) trainer set for delivery to the Royal Australian Air Force made its maiden flight last week at BAE Systems' facilities in Warton, England. The aircraft, which flew for 67 min., will join BAE Systems' own Hawk development aircraft to complete the Australian development program and begin conversion training for RAAF instructors. Deliveries will start later this year. The aircraft will act as a stepping-stone for RAAF F/A-18 training.
Regional carrier Express Airlines I, operating as Northwest Airlink, plans to hire 950 pilots during the next four years including 250 this year as part of its program to launch regional jet service from Memphis in May. In April, the airline is scheduled to take delivery of the first of 42 Canadair Regional Jets (CRJ) to fly new routes from Memphis to airports served by Northwest Airlines, which owns Express Airlines I. Phil Trenary, president and CEO of Northwest Airlink, said pilots will be trained by FlightSafety at a facility under construction near Memphis.
In the weeks leading up to the State of the Union address, FAA officials and supporters at the Transportation Dept. are again striving to persuade their White House bosses to include a mention of aviation in the speech that President Clinton is now slated to make to Congress Jan. 27. Every federal agency vies to get some kudos crammed into the constitutionally mandated report, and although the annual speech often runs an hour or more, most federal programs never get mentioned. It's not likely air traffic control modernization efforts will be a winning bid.
AN EXTREMELY HIGH-SPEED SEMICONDUCTOR device will enable incoming threat-radar signals to be converted to digital format at an aircraft's antenna, permitting completely digitized electronic warfare system receivers, according to TRW scientists. They describe a heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) fabricated with a novel cantilever base, which has operated as a frequency divider at 69 GHz.--the highest speed ever reported.
The U.S. State Dept. has told the National Test Pilot School that it must stop instructing foreign military students until it has a license to do so, halting an 11-month class for seven close U.S. allies that started Jan. 3 and threatening the existence of the school itself. A meeting was scheduled with State Dept. officials in Washington on Jan. 7 to discuss the matter, with Pentagon and congressional attendance expected.
TRW has delivered six lightweight distributed user coverage antennas (Ducas) for the medium data rate payload on the sixth Milstar satellite. The Ducas, designed to support dispersed users such as naval vessels, were delivered to Hughes Space and Communications which integrates the medium data rate payload for Milstar prime contractor Lockheed Martin. Delivery of the Ducas for the sixth Milstar satellite completes TRW's currently contracted work for antennas on Milstar medium data rate payloads.
French engine manufacturer Turbomeca has incorporated Turbomeca Africa in Johannesburg to support business agreements with the South African Air Force, Rooilvalk and Denel Airmotive.
Taiwan has signed a contract for nine Boeing CH-47SD (Super D) Chinook helicopters. The procurement, conducted under a Foreign Military Sales agreement, is valued at more than $300 million, including logistical support. Deliveries of the aircraft are expected to begin in 2001. Taiwan's air force already operates three Boeing 234 Commercial Chinooks configured for military service.
Andriy Zhalko-Tytarenko (see photo) has become senior technical staff member at Altair Aerospace, Bowie, Md. He was deputy director general for advanced programs of the National Space Agency of Ukraine and later chief scientist of Akjuit Aerospace, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The acquisition of Racal Electronics by Thomson-CSF would bolster the French company's position as the main rival to BAE Systems in the U.K. defense market, as well as provide a quantum leap in a strategy of making smaller acquisitions to compete against Europe's newly formed defense giants.
U.S. contractors will have to demonstrate their ability to deliver reliable, affordable, ready-to-fly, battlefield-surveillance-radar aircraft in order to tempt NATO to buy into the technology.
US Airways has formed a special working group to begin contingency planning for a possible strike by its 10,000 flight attendants. Company officials called the step ``prudent'' after 99% of those employees, represented by the Assn. of Flight Attendants (AFA), voted in late December to strike if they do not achieve ``a good contract.''
Startup carrier Ozark Air Lines plans to begin revenue operations late this month to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Chicago's Midway Airport, pending final approval by the FAA. The Columbia, Mo.-based airline, which will fly two Fairchild 328JETs, would provide connecting service through an interline pact with American Airlines at DFW Airport. An Ozark official said the airline had planned to offer service to Love Field near downtown Dallas, but legal wrangling between Dallas and Fort Worth over expanding flights at Love Field prevented that arrangement.
JET AVIATION HAS OPENED A REGIONAL HUB facility at Dallas Love Field to accommodate increased demand for charter services and aircraft sales. Formerly operated by Jet East, the facilities include 62,000 sq. ft. of hangar space and 103,000 sq. ft. of ramp area. Jet Aviation Dallas currently is managing 17 business aircraft and logged nearly 5,000 hr. of charter operations last year. That number is expected to increase to 6,000 hr. in 2000, and aircraft sales are projected to reach $60 million, a company official said.
As the Administration readies its Fiscal 2001 budget request, the Pentagon is being pressed to step up grants to prevent the proliferation of Russia's mammoth germ and gas warfare capabilities, the world's largest. Grants to counter chemical warfare proliferation should be at least tripled to $6.2 million annually, and to avert biological diversion at least doubled to $12.4 million, recommends the Henry L. Stimson Center, a public policy research organization here.
NASA has selected a measurement concept known as the Geostationary Imaging Fourier Transform Spectrometer as the next Earth-observing mission under the space agency's New Millennium program. The Earth Observing-3 mission will evaluate advanced technologies for measuring temperature, wind, water vapor and chemical composition with high-resolution from space. The system could significantly improve weather observations and forecasting capabilities when used by geostationary weather satellites.
The U.S. Defense Dept. and Rolls-Royce are close to resolving issues that could ease the operating restrictions imposed on the U.K.-based manufacturer when it acquired U.S. powerplant maker Allison Engine Co. in 1995.
Shorts Missile Systems (SMS) has delivered the first Hellfire II and radar-guided Longbow version anti-armor missiles to the U.K. for British Army WAH-66 Apache helicopters. An initial batch of 17 missiles, the first to be manufactured outside of the U.S., are now undergoing environmental and live-fire tests. Production deliveries will begin in June and run through 2003.
Lockheed Martin and TRW have each been awarded $20.7-million contracts to design the architecture and satellites for the National Polar-Orbiting Environmental Satellite System. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA and U.S. Air Force will decide in 2002 which company will build the system.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT CO. HAS INSTALLED THE WING of the first production Citation CJ2 business jet at its Wichita, Kan., facilities. An upgraded version of the CitationJet, the airplane features a lengthened cabin, more powerful engines and Collins Pro Line 21 avionics. Three CJ2s are participating in an accelerated flight test program designed to achieve FAA certification in May. Initial deliveries are scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter. In related news, Cessna recently delivered its 2,000th single-engine airplane built at the Independence, Kan., factory.
France has commissioned the second of its new-generation nuclear missile carrying submarines, the Temeraire. Like the Triomphant, commissioned in 1997, it carries 16 M 45 strategic missiles, which will be replaced in 2008 with longer-range M 51s equipped with new warheads. Also, late last month, the French armaments agency okayed initial design of the ASMP-A airborne nuclear-armed cruise missile set to equip sea- and land-based Rafale fighters starting in 2007-08.
Even as Defense Secretary William Cohen berated his NATO allies for spending too little on defense--particularly for sophisticated intelligence-gathering that permits precise, low-collateral-damage air strikes--the Pentagon is starving those very same surveillance and reconnaissance technologies in U.S. forces.
To facilitate cross-crew qualification and mixed fleet operations, the proposed A3XX's flight deck will retain a high degree of commonality with Airbus Industrie's in-production fly-by-wire commercial transports, according to the consortium's engineering staff.
Although U.S. Army leaders have largely ignored aviation as they look to reengineer the force to be more relevant in future wars, service-wide changes could drastically alter what type of missiles helicopter pilots will have at their disposal.
