Wolfgang H. Demisch has been named a managing director and Joseph San Pietro vice president/senior research analyst of Wasserstein Perella Securities Inc. of New York. Demisch was an aerospace/defense industry analyst and managing director at BT Alex. Brown, while San Pietro was an equity research associate in the Aerospace/Defense Group at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.
Operations and exercises such as Alaska's multinational Cooperative Cope Thunder show the shortfalls of U.S. E-3B/C AWACS aircraft--primarily underpowered engines, limited operating altitudes, outdated computers and aging electronic equipment. They, however, also illustrate the continually growing value of airborne surveillance and, even more, airborne command and control.
Dan Garton has been appointed senior vice president-customer services of American Airlines, effective Oct. 1. He had been president of American Eagle, and will be succeeded by Peter Bowler, who has been vice president-passenger sales. Robert W. Baker, who has been executive vice president-operations, will assume responsibility for purchasing, real estate, air cargo, safety and security. Thomas J. Kiernan has been named senior vice president-human resources.
Jupiter's rings were formed by dust kicked up as interplanetary meteoroids smashed into the planet's four inner moons, according to scientists from Cornell University and the National Optical Astronomy Observatories in Tucson, Ariz. The scientists studied three dozen images of the rings and moons taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft during orbits of Jupiter in 1996-97.
Boeing is touting a new concept for controlling the unmanned fighters the Pentagon hopes to develop one day. These stealthy unmanned air combat vehicles (UCAVs), most planners had assumed, would have to be controlled by crews in stealthy fighters, like the F-22. But Boeing says it might be better to direct up to four UCAVs from non-stealthy, two-seat F-15s. Besides, there won't be enough F-22s for decades to handle the UCAV assignment. As enemy fighters move to attack an F-15, they would be ambushed by the UCAVs, which would fly 40-50 mi. ahead.
Vibration on an F-22 that prompted U.S. Air Force officials to replace the left Pratt&Whitney F119-PW-100 on the second of two flight test aircraft wasn't caused by an engine, program officials discovered after detailed analysis. Instead, improper engine installation was found to be the root cause of the problem, which occurred at high altitudes and high throttle settings. The finding means the engine won't need extensive fixes, leaving the test program with three spare engines available.
Airlines operating six early production Airbus A340-200 four-engine transports have been required to inspect the landing gear after a recent accident involving a Sabena Belgian World Airlines aircraft. Immediately after landing at Brussels airport, the A340's right main leg collapsed, followed by the central leg. The aircraft, which operated the New York-Brussels route, was heavily damaged, but all passengers and crew were evacuated safely.
The U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has opted for Virgin Atlantic rather than British Midland to be the second U.K. carrier to operate London-Moscow services. Virgin plans to begin a daily service from Gatwick airport in late October in conjunction with Russian carrier Transaero. Virgin is also vying with British Airways to win CAA approval for an additional weekly frequency now available on the London-Capetown route. Next week Virgin plans to inaugurate services to the Caribbean from Gatwick--once a week to St. Lucia, and twice-weekly to Antigua and Barbados.
Iraq is hiding its ballistic missile arsenal as components instead of complete missiles, Scott Ritter, the former chief of U.N. weapons inspections, says. ``There are no more ballistic missiles in Iraq,'' he said, but the country still has the necessary guidance and control (G&C) systems and stainless steel to build Al Semoud short-range ballistic missiles. The G&C components are among several items Iraq is hiding by moving them around in trucks and sedans at least every 30 days.
EVANS&SUTHERLAND PLANS TO DEMONSTRATE new desktop simulation products at the I/ITSEC '98 (Interservice/Industry Training Systems and Education) conference and exhibition in Orlando, Nov. 30-Dec. 4. The Ensemble 3000 line of PC-based products was developed specifically for simulation using the new Pentium 2 Xeon processor and Microsoft Windows NT operating system. E&S REALimage 3000 adds the 3D graphics, with real-time deterministic simulation with 10,000 polygons per channel, and resolutions up to 1,280 X 1,024, according to the company.
Arianespace has successfully lofted a PanAmSat communications spacecraft into a geostationary transfer orbit following liftoff here of an Ariane 44LP at 3:31 a.m. local time on Sept. 16. The 3,838-kg. (8,444-lb.) PAS 7 satellite, built by Space Systems/Loral, will be located over the Indian Ocean at 68.5 deg. E. Long. Once it becomes operational in about six weeks, it will be capable of providing communications services to Africa, the Middle East, Asia and eastern Europe.
Loral Orion and Natelco, an Indian telecommunications provider, have formed a joint venture to provide high-speed Internet access and private network services to business customers in India. Dubbed Loral Orion-India Ltd., the venture will focus particularly on providing advanced Internet transmission services to India's software development companies to enable them to send software and technology products within India and abroad. India exported $1.8 billion in software to the U.S. in 1997. Natelco will hold a 51% stake in the new company and Loral Orion a 49% share.
Boeing sales logged at the close of the Farnborough air show earlier this month included five more next-generation 737-800 transports to German tour operator Hapag-Lloyd. The carrier, launch customer for the -800 version, already has taken delivery of five 737-800s from an initial firm order for 16. Last week, Chicago-based Heller Financial acquired two 737-300s. They are scheduled for delivery by the end of the year and likely are deliveries canceled or deferred by a troubled Asian carrier.
Lt. Gen. Thomas Case has been nominated by the White House as the new chief of Alaskan Command and 11th Air Force (see p. 54). He replaces Lt. Gen. Dave McCloud who was killed in the crash of an aerobatic aircraft in July. Case served in Alaska during 1993-95 as commander of the 3rd Fighter Wing at Elmendorf AFB. Case leaves the post of deputy commander-in-chief and chief of staff for U.S. Central Command.
Israel Aircraft Industries continued its return to profitability, posting a net profit of $19.7 million in the first half of 1998, an increase of $6.9 million over the same period last year. Sales were up by $158 million to $929 million. Export sales were up $143 million to $725 million and new orders during the first half of 1998 totaled $934 million.
Business jet manufacturers are closely monitoring the worsening financial Asia-Pacific crisis for signs of a possible impact on booming aircraft sales. Gulfstream Aerospace is discussing possible deferrals of G5 deliveries to some customers in the Far East, while Raytheon Aircraft has seen a 60-70% slowdown in sales in Australia in the last 12 months.
The U.K. and France are seeking a global ban on Yugoslavian airlines, including national carrier JAT, as part of a draft U.N. resolution aimed at pressuring an end to repressive activities by Serb forces in Kosovo. The European Union recently imposed such a ban, which the U.K. belatedly joined last week, waiving a 1959 agreement with JAT calling for 12 months' notice.
Lucas Aerospace has received a contract worth 600 million pounds ($960 million) to provide the complete fly-by-wire flight control system for Fairchild Aerospace's 728Jet. Lucas also won contracts worth $520 million to provide a portion of the thrust reverser actuation and primary and secondary flight controls on the Airbus A340-500/600.
Airbus Industrie will acquire two additional A320 full-flight simulators from Thomson Training&Simulation, to be delivered during the second half of 1999. Thomson also launched a Boeing 737-700/900 full-flight simulator that will become available next year. The first customer is Alaska Airlines.
Top officials of six carriers--US Airways, United, TWA, Tower, Delta and Continental--jointly urged Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater to disapprove the proposed alliance between American Airlines and British Airways unless a number of ``competitive guarantees'' are in place. These include obtaining written guarantees from the U.K.
The National Institute of Justice, the Washington-based research arm of the U.S. Justice Dept., is evaluating novel electromagnetic devices to help law enforcement agencies curtail high-speed vehicle chases. The technologies, which also have military and antiterrorism applications, include electrostatic discharge (ESD), nonnuclear electromagnetic pulse (EMP) and high-power microwave (HPM) or radio energy (RF). Initial laboratory results have shown promise, according to Amon Young, NIJ program manager. Planned tests include stopping vehicles traveling at 60 mph.
British startup Debonair's imminent plan to inaugurate a low-fare route to Paris-Pontoise is expected to revive a proposal to promote the small airport as the third Paris gateway. Pontoise is located 25 mi. northwest of Paris, near Cergy-Pontoise, a rapidly expanding business-oriented town. The general aviation airfield is equipped with minimal facilities, but could be expanded easily. Last year, Pontoise handled 110,000 aircraft movements.
For years, Alaska has been touted for its unique position as a jumping-off point for military and humanitarian emergencies in Asia and Europe. Moreover, it has matchless, unoccupied space that could make it the nation's largest-scale training center. Now yet another inducement is being added as the result of a determined effort to make the state an epicenter of experimentation for new military tactics, communications, sensors and weaponry.
Contracting out for services will continue to grow, even though U.S. government spending on information technology will remain reasonably flat over the next five years, according to a new forecast by the Electronic Industries Alliance. The EIA team predicts government spending on information technology (IT) on the civil and defense side will remain essentially level at $28.6 million in constant-year dollars. Hardware and software sales are expected to decline, while services will grow by 2.3% annually, with 1.6% of that contracted out.
