Multiple orbital sanders can be connected to the GB 833 vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter to reduce paint dust levels during aircraft repair, repainting and refurbishment. A Gore-Tex main filter captures dust and debris, which is held in an 18-gal. vacuum tank. When using the optional HEPA filter, the GB 833 retains 99.97% of all particles down to 3 microns, keeping the level of hazardous particles below that at which employees must wear respirators and protective clothing under OSHA standards. Nilfisk of North America Inc., 300 Technology Drive, Malvern, Pa. 19355.
A CONTRACTOR IS EXPECTED TO BE CHOSEN SOON to develop and produce a next-generation airborne precision sigint (signal intelligence) system to determine characteristics of threat radars, for use on ``a classified USAF platform.'' The platform is believed to be the Lockheed Martin DarkStar or the Teledyne Ryan Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (AW&ST Sept. 30, p. 74). The High-Band Sub-System (HBSS), as it is called, is an operational companion to the Low-Band Sub-System (LBSS), intended for airborne sigint against enemy communications and lower-frequency radars.
GEC-Marconi, Britain's major producer of airborne EW systems, has just been selected to provide the passive portion of its helicopter integrated defensive aids system (HIDAS) for the British version of the AH-64D Apache Longbow. The system will include the company's Sky Guardian 2000 radar warning system, its type-1220 laser illumination warning system and a passive ultraviolet-type missile warning system (MWS). The two MWS contenders are the Northrop Grumman AAR-54 and the Lockheed Martin AAR-57, with the selection to be made by the Ministry of Defense.
Congressional supporters of the SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft probably don't have the votes to override President Clinton's Oct. 14 line item veto of the Air Force program. Instead, they will consider challenging the legality of the cut because the law that allows line item vetoes has ``national interest'' exceptions. The aircraft have been serving as a gap-filler until the Tier 2+ and Tier 3- drones are operational. Don't hold your breath for this to happen. Tier 3- crashed on its second flight in April 1996, and has yet to fly again.
New types of defensive electronic countermeasures systems, designed to protect aircraft against ``smarter'' infrared and radar-guided missiles, are attracting great interest around the globe and are highlighted in this report on electronic warfare. Some of these new systems are the first to offer defense against IR-guided (``heat-seeking'') missiles, which are responsible for about 90% of aircraft lost in combat. But operations in Bosnia emphasize the need for EW techniques that can more rapidly counter mobile surface-to-air missiles.
Iscan Inc. is experiencing strong sales of its new head-mounted eye-tracking system with more than 50 sales in the last eight months. The 8-oz. headband uses two lightweight video cameras, one tracking eye movement while the other, an outward-facing camera, records the general scene the subject is viewing. A cursor indicates exactly what the subject is looking at on a video monitor, according to Rikki Razdan, president of the Burlington, Mass.-based company. USAF's Armstrong Laboratory has ordered two for use in an F-117 simulator and in situational awareness studies.
THE EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY and French space agency CNES have scheduled the second launch of Europe's new Ariane 5 heavy booster for Oct. 30, within two days of the target established earlier this month. The slight delay was required to examine main-engine fuel-line mounts. Subsequent checks run on the flight 502 vehicle showed these mounts to be in accordance with specifications. The final item to be qualified, the flight program software package, should be cleared early this week.
Stephen J. Fortune has been named an Arlington, Va.-based director specializing in strategic planning, airline fleet development, aircraft economic analysis and aircraft trading, for MergeGlobal Inc. He was co-founder/executive vice president of Potomac Financial Group and Gemini Air Cargo.
A fast-growing market for airborne missile warning systems has developed around the globe--except in the U.S., which pioneered the MWS. The delay in outfitting U.S. military aircraft stems from the Pentagon's mandate that a common MWS (CMWS), which is still under development for Army helicopters, also be used for high-speed fixed-wing aircraft.
A significant increase in the sensitivity of the imaging ultraviolet sensors of the AAR-54 missile warning system will enhance the ability of the AAQ-24 Directed Infrared Countermeasures (DIRCM) to counter heat-seeking missiles. The AAQ-24 was developed by an international team headed by Northrop Grumman's Electronic Warfare Systems operation here (AW&ST Sept. 30, p. 50).
V4/2.0 is an upgraded data warehousing tool designed for helping aerospace executives manipulate data and make decisions. Users can run contextual, what-if scenarios involving such issues as varying flight hours, raw material projections, maintenance escrow and warranty costs. V4 runs on Windows NT, most Unix platforms and Open VMS. Its reports can be read in Microsoft Excel. MKS, Suite 906, 992 Old Eagle School Road, Wayne, Pa. 19087-1803.
The Model 690 L-70 is a three-cylinder, two-stroke engine that could find use on light aircraft. The engine has a displacement of 684 cc. It can produce up to 70 bhp. at 6,250 rpm. and peak torque output of 68 ft.-lb. at 5,250 rpm. The engine develops more than 60 ft.-lb. of torque over a range of 4,500-6,400 rpm. The cast aluminum alloy engine features a liquid cooling system and 150-watt charging system. The engine weighs about 100 lb. with starter and gearbox. 2 Stroke International, 8 Schein Loop, Beaufort, S.C. 29906.
This free play trainer is designed for use by Fokker 70/100 pilots. The trainer simulates the entire flight management system and can be used for all phases of operation from the preflight inspection until the aircraft is shut down and parked. The trainer can be programmed with a customer's navigation database to allow realistic training by flight crews. The trainer can be used in a classroom configuration with a video project, on individual workstations or on a laptop computer. FAROS, Rue Blaise Pascal, Parc Pegase, 22300 Lannion, France.
At its recent annual meeting, the European Regions Airline Assn. (ERA) called for member states of Eurocontrol and the Joint Aviation Authorities to give airlines adequate time to modify aircraft to meet new navigation and communications requirements. It said agreed-upon specifications should be implemented and interpreted consistently throughout Europe. ERA members also voiced fears that moves to harmonize flight crew time and duty limitations within Europe may fall victim to social politics.
The key issue of whether USAF and Navy tactical aircraft a decade hence will operate with the protection of a modern escort/standoff jamming aircraft may be decided during the coming year. The only potential replacement for the Navy's aging EA-6Bs is the F/A-18G, the unofficial designation of the Command and Control Warfare (C2W) variant of the F/A-18F.
The HP 4351B 130-volt solar array simulator helps solve the problem of simulating the output characteristics, or I-V curve, of solar arrays accurately. Engineers program a series of curves to simulate the capture of solar energy as a satellite moves from darkness to light. The HP4351B works in three operating modes, simulator, table or fixed. The simulator responds to changes in array output in less than 5 millisec. Hewlett-Packard Co., Test and Measurement Organization, P.O. Box 50637, Palo Alto, Calif. 95303-9512.
Jonathan Gibbs has been named director/general manager of Heliwork Services Ltd., Andover, England. He was commercial director of Wessex Traincare Ltd.
Night-vision technologies continue to proliferate in the civil sector. Innovative applications already on the market include a real-time video crib monitoring system using low-level infrared light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to illuminate the subject while leaving the room dark. The monochrome image can be viewed on a portable monitor or with the ``picture-in-picture'' feature of some television sets.
Perry Bradley, senior editor of Business&Commercial Aviation, an Aviation Week Group magazine, and Dan Lothian and Tony Dill of NBC News, have won the 1997 Gold Wing Awards for Reporting Excellence from the Washington-based National Business Aviation Assn.
Senior U.S. Air Force officials are guardedly optimistic that Defense Secretary William Cohen will OK their proposal to give contracts to both Lockheed Martin and Boeing to develop families of Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELV), instead of downselecting to a single contractor next year, as had been planned (AW&ST Jan. 6, p. 27). The Air Force was scheduled to outline the idea to Defense Dept. officials on Oct. 24. The EELV program is aimed at cutting U.S. launcher operating costs by at least 50%.
The ``Mars Express'' orbiter that the European Space Agency (ESA) wants to launch to the red planet in 2003 may allow NASA to cancel plans to launch its own Mars orbiter the same year. The U.S. is planning to launch two landers to different spots on Mars in 2001 and 2003. The landers, which would be equipped with long-range rovers, would gather rocks, analyze them, and assemble the best samples into a ``package'' that a sample-return spacecraft would pick up in 2005.
The U.S. Army's new Intelligence&Electronic Warfare Common System (IEWCS), which uses both airborne and surface-based sensor platforms, is under test at the Owego, N.Y., facility of Lockheed Martin's Federal Systems division. This is to check out system performance and software preparatory to its operational evaluation next summer at the Army's Ft. Huachuca, Ariz., facility.
Dennis D. Freeman has become executive vice president, Jerry R. Kukulka vice president-operations, David R. Lillington vice president-technology and Paul K. Ballew chief financial officer, all of Spectrolab Inc., Sylmar, Calif., a unit of Hughes Electronics.
