Despite a major shakeup last year, grave problems still dog the Pentagon's national missile defense program, jeopardizing a deployment go-ahead decision in mid-2000. An independent group of 12 military experts chaired by Air Force Gen. (ret). Larry Welch says that, for practical purposes, the real go-ahead decision cannot be made until 2003, when crucial weapons tests will reveal whether NMD performance measures up.
An international investigation team led by French experts is seeking to determine why an ATR 42 crashed in Kosovo on Nov. 12, killing all 21 passengers and three crewmembers. The twin-turboprop transport crashed near the top of a 4,400-ft.-high mountain near Vociturn, 12 mi. northeast of Mitrovica. Visibility in the area was 4-5 km. (2.5-3 mi.) with a 3,000-ft. ceiling. The ATR 42 was being operated on behalf of the U.N.' World Food Program by Si Fly, an Italian startup airline.
The Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) at Johns Hopkins University has shipped a spacecraft to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center for final testing in preparation for a mission to study the Earth's atmosphere in a region 40-110 miles above the surface. The two-year mission is aimed at observing the influence of the Sun and human activity on the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere/Ionosphere (MLTI), considered the least-explored and understood atmospheric region.
ROCKWELL COLLINS EXPECTS its high-speed wireless on-board data link to be the first to comply with ARINC 763 guidelines for airborne network servers and systems. The Integrated Information Systems (I2S) has completed flight certification on board a Condor Flugdienst Airbus A320. It exchanges data such as maintenance diagnostics, navigation databases, flight plans and graphical weather information and at 1 Mbps. has far greater bandwidth than the current 9.6 Kbps. aircraft communications addressing and reporting system (ACARS).
Fairchild Aerospace has selected Honeywell to lead design of a fly-by-wire flight control system for the 728JET. Honeywell is already providing the EFIS for the aircraft. Fairchild also agreed to form a partnership with Garrett Aviation Services for completion and support of the Envoy executive jet line, which is based on the 728/328JET line.
Doug Kennett (see photo) has been named general manager of communications and community relations for Boeing Aircraft and Missile Systems in St. Louis. He has been director of communications for Boeing's Washington office. Kennett succeeds Tom Downey, who is now vice president-internal and executive communications for Boeing in Seattle.
The Air Line Pilots Assn. last week underlined its previous appeal for revised regulations to improve rescue and fire-fighting capability at all airports--not just those served by passenger aircraft with more than 30 seats, as is now required by the FAA. The remarks followed a meeting at which the NTSB requested representatives from government and industry to share data about airport rescue and fire-fighting initiatives. The pilots' union cited the 1996 accident at Quincy, Ill., when a United Express Beech 1900D and Beech King Air collided on an intersecting runway.
Yair Ramati has become general manager of the MLM Div. of the Israel Aircraft Industries Electronics Group. He succeeds Israel Livnat, who is now group assistant general manager. Ramati was head of the Arrow System Program Directorate. David Tobias has been named general manager of IAI's Maman Data Systems Center. He was software projects section manager at Bank Leumi Le-Israel Ltd. Michael Shefer has become manager of corporate industrial services for IAI. He succeeds Menahem Tadmor, who is retiring. Shefer was deputy manager of operations in the Malat Div.
Russian hardware suppliers will use LIMA '99 to showcase their lower cost solutions, primarily for Southeast Asian nations in need of defense upgrades at a time when their national budgets are weak. Sixty Russian suppliers will come to Malaysia for the Dec. 1-5 Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA), compared with 30 from the U.S. and 39 from Europe.
Edward Stone, director of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., received the 1999 Carl Sagan Award and delivered the third annual Carl Sagan Memorial Lecture at the American Astronautical Society's national meeting last week in Pasadena. The award was presented by the AAS and The Planetary Society and goes to an individual who has ``demonstrated leadership in research or policies advancing exploration of the Cosmos.'' Stone's lecture was entitled ``The Role of Robotic Outposts in Establishing a Permanent Presence in Space.''
Richard Hamilton has been appointed president of the specialty products business segment of ITT Industries, White Plains, N.Y. He was president of ITT's Commercial Products Group.
Emirates Airline is to open discussions with Airbus Industrie and Boeing about the purchase of narrow-body aircraft to serve short-haul routes in the region. The Dubai-based carrier of the United Arab Emirates will be considering aircraft with a minimum of 120 seats, such as Boeing's 737 and Airbus Industrie's A320 family of aircraft. The airline, which currently operates services to 47 destinations in 37 countries, could have the aircraft in service within two years' time.
DRS Technologies has received a $9.4-million contract from the U.S. Army to provide missile control and target acquisition subsystem spares for Bradley Infantry M2A3 Fighting Vehicles.
The failure of the X-33 launcher technology demonstrator's right-hand hydrogen tank has thrown that NASA/Lockheed Martin program into obvious turmoil, but growing internal contradictions may have made an upset inevitable. The irony is that the follow-on VentureStar launcher concept no longer uses the same type of tank--it is baselined on aluminum tanks, not the composite honeycomb of the X-33.
Major airframe makers' backlogs may not be what they seem. Although top Airbus officials recently bragged their order backlog had caught up and surpassed Boeing's, the European manufacturer still lists as backlog 95 transports ordered from 1988-91, worth an estimated $7.3 billion. According to data from Airclaims, these include a decade-old order for 10 A330s plus options by Trans World Airlines. The St. Louis-based carrier has warned stockholders in filings with the U.S.
Landa has introduced a line of industrial pressure washers with cleaning power ranging from 4-10.6 gal. per min. with 2,000-4,000 psi. of pressure. All four are skid-mounted and encased in a rugged steel cage. All feature water-cooled Lombardini engines--from 15-23 hp.--with the following features: 4-stroke diesel; indirect fuel injection; pressure lubrication; automatic excess fuel device for cold start ease; and electric start with full instrumentation and fuel shut off solenoid for convenient keyed starting and stopping. Landa Inc., 4275 N.W.
NTT Mobile Communications Network Inc. has chosen Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems and Orbital Sciences Corp. to develop the N-Star for launch in early 2002.
The Lexair type 22J wrench operated collet chuck has a workpiece capacity of 2.4 in. Operated manually with a standard chuck key, they do not require a draw bar or cylinder for actuation. Concentricity can be adjusted using radial setscrews and a dial indicator for optimum accuracy. They feature universal flat back design and are fitted to lathes, grinders and indexers by using a standard Lexair adapter plate.
Crossbow Technology's HF Series of low-noise, wide bandwidth accelerometers for vibration and shock measurements feature sensors compatible with both current source and voltage mode systems. The sensors use SoftSensor embedded software to compensate for sensor inaccuracies, provide algorithms for stabilization, navigation and other crucial functions in both analog and digital outputs. Crossbow Technology Inc., 41 E. Daggett Drive, San Jose, Calif. 95134.
The U.S. Justice Dept. has cleared the way for AlliedSignal and Honeywell to merge--provided they divest significant portions of their avionics businesses. Now all that remains for the two companies to complete their $16-billion transaction is a green light from the European Commission. Company officials expect that to come by year-end. But it is unlikely that EC approval will be granted without conditions similar to those imposed by U.S. regulators, according to Washington-based officials.
The successful live-fire demonstration of directed infrared countermeasures (DIRCM) technology against heat-seeking missiles will strongly influence the future airborne EW systems market. Previously, decoy-flares were the primary defense against IR-guided missiles, which are responsible for 80-90% of aircraft combat losses.
Megadata of Greenwich, Conn., has installed its air traffic tracking system at four more airports in the U.S. The proprietary technology, called passive secondary surveillance radar (Passur), uses phase-lock radar techniques and specialized software to help airports track flights and monitor noise. In addition to the visual airspace picture the system gives users, its predictive modeling software provides accurate estimated arrival times, according to company Vice President James T. Barry.
ATS has developed a light, powerful line of fansinks under the name BalticCool. Model ATS 97-09-039-wf is 40 X 40 X 20 mm. (including the fan) and is one of the lightest fansinks in its class at 28 grams. But it is also powerful, with a thermal resistance of 0.78 deg. C/W (12 volt operating voltage). There is no need for a mechanical attachment--an adhesive conductive tape is used for attaching the BalticCool to the device. Advanced Thermal Solutions Inc., 89 Access Road, Norwood, Mass. 02062.
Raytheon's ALE-50 towed RF decoy proved its worth in this year's Kosovo conflict with a ``significant'' number of observed ``saves,'' according to Ray L. Hanle, Jr., general manager of Rathyeon's EW Operations here. It protected F-16 fighters and B-1B bombers, and wingmen or the pilots themselves saw enemy missiles go for the decoys, often leaving just an empty towline. Pilots call the ALE-50 the ``Little Buddy.''
Italy has agreed to acquire 12 C-27Js, effectively making it the first customer for the transport produced by the Lockheed Martin Alenia Tactical Transport Systems joint venture. The aircraft, which would replace Italian air force G222s, are to be delivered from 2001-04.
