British Aerospace has completed the first test flight of a Royal Air Force Tornado F3 carrying an Amraam missile. Further Amraam integration tests are to be carried out this summer. Work is being conducted under a 125-million-pound ($205-million) Tornado F3 upgrade program.
America West began planning for a major overhaul of maintenance and operational systems last week in the wake of a $5-million FAA fine levied against the carrier for alleged maintenance violations.
Norhrop Grumman has merged its Data Systems and Services Div. of Herndon, Va., and Logicon Inc. of Torrance, Calif., into a new Logicon Inc. infotech subsidiary that has its headquarters in Herndon. Northrop Grumman started DSSD in 1994 to specialize in large-scale information systems integration and professional services across a broad field of clients. In 1997 it acquired Logicon Inc., whose services in information security, command and control systems, and simulation and training are better known to the aerospace industry and military clients.
The Aerospace Industries Assn. has selected John W. Douglas, 57, the assistant Navy secretary for research, development and acquisition, as its president and chief executive to succeed the retiring Don Fuqua on Sept. 18.
Kayser Threde of Germany will build a dummy telecom payload for the third and final Ariane 5 qualification flight, scheduled to be launched on Oct. 13. The structure, dubbed Maqsat-3, will closely match the mechanical and dynamic features of Eutelsat's W2 satellite, the originally intended payload, which was destroyed by fire in May.
Alliant Techsystems is negotiating a contract with the Boeing Co. to produce composite structures for the new Delta 4 rockets that will comprise Boeing's entry in the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle competition (see p. 58).The contract would be valued at about $1 billion, with all options exercised.
Boeing's entry in the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program will include a reengineered first stage, new cryogenic first-stage engine, a dedicated factory in Alabama with water access to launch sites and a horizontal processing system for its proposed family of vehicles. The second stage of the next-generation booster, however, will largely be adapted from the current Delta 3 launch vehicle design in an effort by program officials to reduce cost and increase system reliability. The first Delta 3 launch is scheduled for next month.
Thin margins are forcing U.S. airlines toward one-brand fleets as carriers maximize training and maintenance commonality to lower costs, according to Gordon Bethune, chairman and CEO of Continental Airlines. They also receive bulk fleet purchase discounts that protect them from competitors buying lower-cost aircraft. Although Continental's recent marketing alliance with Northwest Airlines was a good fit with little route duplication, the combination created what amounts to only the fourth largest U.S. carrier, Bethune said.
Florida's Technology Research and Development Authority is spurring development of new aerospace software firms and other businesses through its Business Incubation Initiative with the Kennedy Space Center. Under the program, small upstart firms are commercializing software and technology licensed by NASA. Ten high-tech companies are currently involved in the program and share the same facility adjacent to Kennedy.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is investigating two incidents involving General Electric CF6-80 engines installed on American Airlines' Airbus A300-600 transports.
Cross-crew qualification on transports sharing similar cockpits and systems--plus the same cockpit crew type rating--typically increase a pilot's revenue flying time by 15%, according to Regine Vadrot, director of the operational flight group for Airbus. In addition to increasing flexibility and lowering crew staffing requirements, the concept also allows an airline to operate simulators easily convertible between two types, such as the A330 and A340.
The Navy is more interested in cheap, disposable unmanned attack aircraft than the reusable, uninhabited air combat vehicles (UCAV) being designed for Air Force and Darpa flight demonstrations. Reusable UCAVs are apt to cost $5-15 million each and would likely use many components from the Joint Strike Fighter program. Navy planners say they want something like a $2,000 mini-UCAV that can be packed like submunitions in a JSOW glide bomb or a Tomahawk cruise missile and released near dangerous targets like modern air defense missile sites.
FAA Administrator Jane Garvey is getting favorable reviews of some recent key appointments. The reactions to naming Steve Brown the air traffic services chief and Steven B. Zaidman research and acquisition honcho were particularly enthusiastic. ``Brown is sophisticated politically,'' said one old hand. ``If anyone can pull the air traffic services workforce together, he can,'' said another. Zaidman is very strong technically, knows people and is well-accepted. ``He is as good as you can get [for the research and acquisition job] inside the agency,'' another said.
Yuli M. Vorontsov, Moscow's ambassador here, categorically rejects the notion that his country might all too easily slip into chaos (see p. 22). Addressing a colloquium ominously titled ``Russia On the Brink,'' sponsored by George Washington University and the Brookings Institution, Vorontsov solemnly intoned that Russia has existed for about a thousand years ``and will stay here for the next thousand years.'' He agreed Russia's problems are more internal than external--particularly home-grown opportunists trying to destabilize the ruble.
Autonomous, real-time hyperspectral detection of airborne and military ground targets and cueing of a high-resolution imager has been demonstrated using a Naval Research Laboratory Lockheed P-3 (AW&ST June 1, p. 13). The four-year development program, called Dark Horse and initiated in 1997, included target designation with pointing optics and a pulsed laser.
American Airlines and Delta Air Lines led the earnings parade last week with record profits for the second quarter as passenger demand was strong, yields were up and fuel costs were down. AirTran Holdings, the successor to Valu-Jet Airlines, also reported a profit, ending eight consecutive quarterly losses.
Increased competition, new technologies and highly efficient, computer-controlled and integrated transportation networks are ``blurring the line'' between air express, mail and ground transportation in the U.S. According to a report by Seattle-based Air Cargo Management Group, the domestic air freight and express market has changed dramatically in the past year, driven by factors such as the United Parcel Service strike, increased use of the Internet for document delivery and the greater application of trucks and regional hubs by air express companies.
Rolls-Royce will receive $50 million for Trent 700 engines for two additional Airbus A330-200s ordered by U.K.-based charter company Airtours International. Airtours' Scandinavian subsi- diary Premiair will operate the aircraft and take delivery in late 1999.
The U.K.'s decision to move to larger aircraft carriers and combine vertical/short takeoff and landing aircraft of the Royal Air Force and Navy into a joint force could mean additional purchases of Joint Strike Fighters.
Rockwell Collins and Sextant Avionique are planning major offensives into each other's civil air transport territory in hope of boosting market share and chipping away at the dominant position of their common rival, Honeywell.
Pratt&Whitney and Singapore Airlines' SIA Engineering Co. (SIAEC) have launched a Singapore-based joint venture, Eagle Services Asia, for overhaul and repair of the 94-in. and 100-in. versions of PW4000 engines, the JT9D and CFM56-5. Plans call for third-party customers such as neighboring Malaysia Airlines and carriers from India to Australia to make up 35% of the venture's business by 2000. Pratt&Whitney has a 51% stake in Eagle Services Asia, which is jointly managed but will operate within SIAEC's existing staff and facilities.
Although Eurocopter expresses little desire to acquire Boeing's commercial rotorcraft business, it is interested in reopening talks with Agusta. The Italian helicopter maker concluded a preliminary agreement in April to combine its operations with those of GKN Westland. However, Agusta already is cooperating with the Franco-German firm on the NH-90 frigate/transport helicopter, and its heavy-lift EH-101 would fill a gap at the top of Eurocopter's product line.
Europe will gain few slots in the latest reallocation at Tokyo's Narita airport. Japan's Transport Ministry has divided 202 takeoff/landing slots--that were underutilized by dignitaries--for scheduled flights starting in October (AW&ST July 6, p. 15). The breakdown--86 to Japanese carriers; 74, U.S.; 10, Russia; six, Philippines; four each to China, U.K. and France; and two each to Germany, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. The Japan-U.S. bilateral signed earlier this year called for increased access for U.S. carriers.
