Richard Smallwood has been named Rolls-Royce senior vice president-customer business for Europe and Latin America. He was BMW Rolls-Royce business director. Smallwood's duties there will be performed by Klaus Nittinger, chairman of the management board.
Jean-Yves Le Gall has been appointed chairman/CEO of Starsem. He was assistant managing director of the CNES French space agency. Le Gall succeeds Francois Calaque.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory is preparing the SeaWinds scatterometer radar for integration into the Quick Scatterometer Mission (QuikSCAT) satellite, set for launch on Nov. 1 from Vandenberg AFB, Calif.
PHILIPPINE DEFENSE SECRETARY FORTUNATO U. ABAT has ordered the military to allow media coverage of the issuance of invitations to bid in the competition to supply a multirole fighter to upgrade the Philippine Air Force (PAF). He acted to counter claims by political opponents of President Fidel Ramos that illegal procedures were being used to select the replacement of 10 Northrop F-5A/B/E fighters. The invitations to bid are to be opened Apr. 27.
Joseph M. Syslo has been promoted to vice president from director of defense programs and Mark A. Gordon to director of education programs from manager of integrated product and process development programs, of the National Center for Advanced Technologies in Washington. Robert Post has become director of technology research. He was director of technology transfer for High Performance Technologies Inc.
THE FAA INTENDS TO AWARD A CONTRACT to assess whether the GPS and wide area augmentation system (WAAS), as currently planned, can provide an operational capability for sole means of navigation and precision approaches to landing. RTCA's Free Flight Steering Committee will advise the agency on the solicitation for this risk assessment to ensure the important issues are addressed. The deadline to solicit, award a contract and receive the report is tight--Oct. 1, 1998. The Steering Committee expects to help industry reach consensus.
Japan's Transport Ministry is considering lower airport fees next year to answer complaints by Japan's carriers. Japan's airport fees, said to be three times the world average, have long been criticized. As they try to hold down their operating costs, All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan Airlines (JAL) and Japan Air System (JAS) have formed a lobbying group called the Scheduled Air Transport Assn. to press the case for lower fees. They said they need the relief to build up cash reserves to compete on international routes.
Peter J. Pinter has been named director of sales and marketing for Aviation Systems International Inc., Boca Raton, Fla. He was senior sales manager for the AAR Allen Group.
The Pentagon should be readying for a 21st century strategic climate far different from what it expects, one in which amorphous ``enemies without borders'' are a greater danger than nation-state rivalry, according to U.S. military theorists and historians. Debunking the Pentagon's assumption that the world strategic environment will be about the same in 2020 as it is now, they believe ``cyber states'' might replace nation-states as typical adversaries.
Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA) is forecasting a nearly 20% increase in sales over the next three years, to DM18 billion ($10 billion), and an improvement in profitability commensurate with benchmarks established by corporate parent Daimler-Benz AG.
Industry ministers from five nations have invited Sweden to join talks on restructuring Europe's aerospace and defense industry, while defense ministers pledged support for industry's efforts to consolidate.
Michael J. Henkin has been appointed director of operations planning for Loral Space&Communications Ltd. of New York. He was vice president-business development in the News Technology Group of The News Corp. Ltd.
The shuttle Mission 90 Neurolab Spacelab crew is preparing for landing here either May 3 or 4, depending on a decision by Johnson Space Center flight controllers early this week on whether electrical power margins on Columbia would allow an extra day aloft, extending the flight to a full 17 days.
In a shift of strategy, the Aerospace North America trade show and exhibition, formerly Airshow Canada, will move to a downtown Vancouver venue and away from the flying displays at its traditional Abbotsford Airport location. Conferences associated with the event have become the main magnet for attendees and the show is nearing financial self-sufficiency, according to John Burley, Aerospace North America president and CEO.
U.S. CUSTOMS SERVICE AGENTS CHASED a light aircraft loaded with more than 400 lb. of marijuana on Apr. 19 from Texas until it crashed in Detroit, killing the 66-year-old pilot. The four-place Velocity composite canard homebuilt was first detected flying low across the Mexican border by a park ranger and later picked up on radar. Customs scrambled two Citations and a King Air for the covert intercept, which occurred in the Big Bend area. The Citations are equipped with air-to-air radar adapted from the F-16. The aircraft followed the Velocity RG at 140-150 kt.
NASA has released a full copy of an independent assessment of the international space station project by aerospace consultant Jay Chabrow. As expected, it wasn't pretty. The report sees the potential for many more problems as assembly in orbit begins. It says a slip of one to three years is likely in the completion of assembly, currently slated for December 2003. It also concludes that NASA's Fiscal 1999 budget request won't cover station costs, which would require another $130-250 million annually.
Michael Hancock has been promoted to Miami-based staff vice president-corporate development from regional manager of East Coast operations for Mercury Air Cargo.
The crash near Bogota, Colombia, of a 727 wet-leased to Air France is raising questions about how national aviation regulators can ensure the safety of flights conducted under transnational agreements between airlines. Air France Flight 422 crashed Apr. 20 on departure from Bogota's Eldorado International Airport, killing all 53 passengers and crewmembers on board. The flight was operated by Transportes Aereos Militares Ecuatorianos, or TAME Ecuador, a commercial division of the Ecuadorian air force. The crash was the airline's 12th since 1971.
Dennis Lambell and Rex Tracy have become vice presidents/program directors of imagery/information systems and products business, respectively, for Tracor Inc. subsidiary GDE Systems Inc. of San Diego. Lambell was director of GDE's National Imagery and Mapping Agency programs and succeeds Tracy as program director for imagery/information systems.
Boeing and its staff of 56 training pilots this week will begin a second round of negotiations aimed at establishing an initial contract, following the unanimous rejection of Boeing's first offer earlier this month. Although negotiations are in the early stages and both sides agree the talks are far from a stalemate, the pilot's group last week voted unanimously to authorize a strike, should they deem it necessary.
Former U.S. Air Force Secretary Sheila E. Widnall, who is now Abby Rockefeller Mauze professor of aeronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, has been elected vice president of the Washington-based National Academy of Engineering.
LOCKHEED MARTIN has started testing flight control software for the X-35 Joint Strike Fighter concept demonstrator by flying it on Calspan's Vista/F-16 variable stability fighter. Calibration flights started at Buffalo on Mar. 29, to be followed with evaluations by four contractor and military pilots through May. The two X-35s are to fly in 2000.
After months of delays and huge cost overruns, the European Space Agency believes it finally has its Artemis experimental satcom program on track and the satellite headed into testing. Artemis is intended to enhance Europe's role in mobile and multimedia communications, serve as a stepping-stone for future European data relay and satellite navigation services, and promote critical new space technologies.
U.S. Director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet recently spoke on ``Information Security Risks, Opportunities and the Bottom Line'' at a NationsBank Policy Forum organized by former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) and held at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. Excerpts from Tenet's address follow.
