James Barksdale and Shirley Ann Jackson have been appointed to the board of directors of the FDX Corp., Memphis, Tenn. Barksdale is former head of the Netscape Communications Corp., and Jackson is president of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Virgin Group Chairman Richard Branson has shocked the Australian airline establishment by announcing plans to start a discount domestic carrier by next June--in time for the Sydney Olympic Games--with one-way fares between most cities of just A$100 ($65).
Engineers and technical workers at Boeing's Seattle facilities last week overwhelmingly rejected the company's contract offer. More than 10,500 workers belonging to the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) voted to reject the contract. A strike authorization, also on the same ballot, passed by a wide margin. Boeing employs 22,600 engineers and technical workers in the Seattle area, of which 13,148 are dues-paying SPEEA members. A second SPEEA unit in Wichita, Kan., was to vote on a similar contract late last week.
Aer Lingus has been confirmed as the ninth member of the Oneworld global airline alliance. Chief executives of the established members--American Airlines, British Airways, Canadian Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways, Finnair, Iberia and Qantas Airways--formally brought the carrier on board at their quarterly meeting last week in New York. Both Aer Lingus and LanChile, whose ratification as a member of the alliance was announced in May, will begin offering Oneworld services in mid-2000.
Intramural squabbling about how to wage information warfare--gathering and protecting information while denying the enemy the same--has roiled relations between the military and national intelligence agencies for a decade. Bureaucratic barriers prevented the execution of offensive computer attacks during the Persian Gulf war and Bosnia campaign. But the barriers are falling and communications have ``opened up,'' says Air Force chief Gen. Michael E. Ryan.
Successful tests recently cleared U.S. Air Force combat pilots to use new software that predicts how forecast weather might impact the effectiveness of night-vision goggles. Prior to flying a low-level tactical mission, crews can use the Night-vision-goggles Operations Weather Software (NOWS) to assess how rain, snow, fog, high humidity or heavy cloud cover might affect ambient lighting during a night flight. NOWS was developed for the Air Force Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles Directorate by TASC, a Litton subsidiary.
NASA/Langley Research Center and Honeywell have demonstrated the technical feasibility of conducting parallel instrument approaches to closely spaced runways using a unique algorithm set, ADS-B, and a differential Global Positioning System to provide collision alerts and maintain separation.
Sweden is constructing one of the most effective air defense structures in the world using its air force's Saab Gripen multirole fighter, Saab/Ericsson Erieye airborne early warning platform, tactical information data link, and a modern command and control system.
With the worldwide proliferation of infrared-guided surface-to-air missiles, the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command wants to try to make its C-130 transport derivatives less vulnerable. AFSOC is looking to buy IR signature suppression systems for its AC-130H/U gunships, MC-130E/H/P Combat Talons and EC-130E Commando Solo special operations aircraft. In the coming months, USAF plans to select a contractor to develop an IR suppression system that would make it more difficult for IR-guided missiles to target the hottest portion of the C-130--its engines.
The U.S. Air Force's secretive but short-handed 55th Wing--perhaps the service's most important flying unit for signals intelligence gathering, electronic reconnaissance and foreign missile test monitoring--is getting some help in its worldwide mission with the arrival of two new aircraft.
Greg Ward has been named president of Burbank, Calif.-based Hydro-Aire Inc. and Kevin Wright vice president-group marketing for Hydro-Aire parent Crane Aerospace. Ward was senior vice president-operations and customer satisfaction, while Wright was vice president-sales and marketing.
The Defense Dept. has its own secret Internet, but it has no idea whether that network has ever been penetrated. ``We don't monitor the Siprnet,'' one Pentagon official acknowledges. The Defense Dept. has invested heavily in tools to detect Internet attacks, but none of those devices are watching the Pentagon's own secret network. Since money is tight, all the monitoring tools have gone to the unclassified systems. While the Siprnet is considered secure, it is vulnerable when people log-in from home, he notes.
California Microwave Systems has won a five-year, $7.4-million U.S. Navy contract for Lightweight Tactical Automated Communications Control Systems. The contract also provides for maintenance, training courses, technical software support, field service representatives and on-site maintenance and engineering services.
Data emerging from China indicates the orbital module left in space on Nov. 21 from China's unmanned test of a manned spacecraft remained operational after the descent module returned to Earth (AW&ST Nov. 29, p. 28). The spacecraft is similar to the Russian Soyuz, but the forward orbital module has solar arrays that would allow extended operations. Photos here show the spacecraft and its Long March 2F booster and illustrate China's multibillion-dollar commitment to new space facilities and technology. The shroud holding the spacecraft is hoisted (top left).
The Hong Kong Airport Authority is planning to build a logistics center at the city's new international airport. The authority envisions a facility that will allow manufacturers and third parties to quickly repackage or customize generic products in a highly automated environment. Semifinished goods could be shipped to the center for completion, packing and distribution. Two sites at the airport have been allocated for the project, one of which is adjacent to the cargo area to enable quick delivery of shipments to airlines and air freight carriers.
The initial Block 5D-3 Defense Meteorological Satellite Program spacecraft is set for launch Dec. 11 at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., on board a Titan II. The Lockheed Martin Missiles&Space satellite can accommodate larger sensor payloads than earlier generations, has a larger power supply and greater capacity in on-board computing. LMMS has a backlog of six DMSP satellites in storage for the Air Force and ships them for launch on demand.
Clinton Administration officials are planning a summit with airline industry representatives in late January to craft a plan for avoiding massive air-travel delays next summer and identify long-term measures for reducing the likelihood of severe delays beyond that. The delays summit could draw the participation of President Clinton or Vice President Al Gore, whose office has called the Air Line Pilots Assn. to solicit the union's interest in participating in the meeting, according to Administration and ALPA officials.
European space officials are scrambling to find a replacement for a transponder package on Japan's MTSAT that was to play a key role in Europe's Global Navigation Satellite System. The spacecraft, which was destroyed in a failed H-2 launch in mid-November, was supposed to provide overlay signals for Japan's MTSAT Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), one of three wide-area augmentation systems making up the GNSS.
Cimber Air has ordered two Bombardier CRJ200LR aircraft, under an order valued at up to $46 million including spares provisioning and support. The airline also placed options for four additional CRJ200s.
Sermatech International Inc. and Samsung Aerospace Industries Ltd. have formed Sermatech Korea. The joint venture will apply aluminum-ceramic, diffusion and thermal spray protective coatings to new flight turbine components.
Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Air Force have settled a contract dispute over manufacture of Joint-STARS surveillance aircraft. The settlement will net Northrop Grumman only about $80 million of the approximately $200 million the company was asking for. Northrop Grumman said it does not expect a change in its earnings estimates for next year.
Plans to revive the Hubble Space Telescope have received the most attention in the upcoming servicing mission to the crippled observatory, but one team of NASA engineers will be closely monitoring the installation of new material they designed to cover over cracking and peeling thermal blankets on Hubble's exterior.
