Japan Airlines expects operations of a new discount subsidiary, JAL Express, to begin in the first half of its 1998 fiscal year with two Boeing 737-400s. JAL Express will operate some of JAL's low-demand routes on a wet-lease basis and study the possibility of taking over some domestic trunk routes and international sectors. Cockpit crews will not be Japanese initially, although Japanese recruits will be sought later.
China is poised to resume commercial Long March flights by early April after major software and quality control improvements to the booster and launch operations following the failure of three of the last five missions, two involving fatalities. A successful return to flight is critical to the survival of the Long March commercial program following the fatal accidents of 1995 and early 1996 and an upper stage failure last August, which halted commercial launch operations for seven months.
Major management changes are underway at both the NASA Kennedy Space Center and U.S. Air Force Cape Canaveral Air Station and Eastern Range as a result of retirements and reassignments at both facilities. The management changes are underway as both the NASA and USAF facilities are dealing with major operational changes.
The Defense Dept. is reviewing a U.S. Space Command ``informational'' proposal for establishing space as a separate military Area of Responsibility (AOR) equivalent to those associated with air, land and sea operations.
GLOBAL WARMING IS HEATING UP, at least as a scientific debate. Many scientists believe, based on a century of surface thermometer readings, that Earth has been warming about 0.13C per decade. Carbon dioxide and other ``greenhouse gases'' produced by modern humans have increased, and 1995 is the warmest year on record. But skeptics have long pointed to satellite data which indicate a slight cooling trend in the lower atmosphere over the last 18 years. But James W.
Communications, navigation and flight control systems will assume greater importance in Rockwell International's future as the company prepares to divest its $3.1-billion automotive business. Following the spin-off, which should be completed within the next six months, Rockwell will focus exclusively on three segments of the electronics market.
Ann Miller has been appointed director of information technologies in the U.S. Defense Dept. Office of the Director of Defense Research and Engineering. She was chief software engineer for Motorola's Iridium program.
LUXEMBOURG-BASED Societe Europeenne des Satellites and Intel Corp. formed the European Satellite Multimedia Services (ESM) company, which is scheduled to operate the Astra-Net personal computer linkup network. ESM plans to offer Astra-Net initially to the business market such as retail chains, banking, automotive industry and oil-gas companies.
Aero International to Italian customs' Guardia di Finanza. The aircraft is a derivative of the ATR 42-400 commercial transport equipped with two bubble windows, search lights and flare launcher. The cargo door can be opened in flight to drop rescue packages. The ATR 42MP's Mission Management System includes a Texas Instruments' SV2022 5-meter (16.4-ft.) resolution pulse-compression radar with a 32-target capability. The radar's antenna is installed in a radome located under the fuselage's central section.
Support for an ``open skies'' bilateral air services agreement between the U.S. and Japan came last week from Philippe Bruggisser, president and CEO of the SAirGroup, parent company of Swissair. Why, you ask? ``If the U.S.
William S. Cohen became U.S. Defense secretary earlier this year. He spoke about the importance of defense acquisition reform and his commitment to making it happen, at the Pentagon last week. Excerpts follow:
THE KENNEDY SPACE CENTER'S advanced space life support program is initiating a research project in which 18 volunteers will take showers and wash laundry with special soaps such as that planned for use on the international space station. The exercise will generate large quantities of specialized waste water that will then be used to grow wheat and potato plants. The objective of the 12-week test is to see how plants in a semi-closed life support system in space will respond to a steady diet of the specialized ``gray'' water from bathing and clothes washing in space.
By the chairman's admission, poor aircraft acquisition decisions and a flawed operating plan sent costs soaring in 1996 at Trans World Airlines. The consequences, including a $284.8-million net loss for the year, were reported last week.
Test ranges within the continental U.S.--critical for the development of new missiles, aircraft and weaponry--are in trouble. The encroachment of air lanes and shipping routes, urban sprawl and environmental restrictions are limiting the type of aerospace technology that can be tested and the flight profiles that can be used at many ranges--such key sites as the Air Force's Edwards AFB, Calif., Eglin AFB, Fla., and Nellis AFB, Nev.; the Army's White Sands Missile Range, N.M., and its Green River extension; and the Navy's Point Mugu test range, Calif.
PRESIDENT CLINTON NOMINATED George J. Tenet as director of central intelligence after his previous nominee, former National Security Adviser Anthony Lake, withdrew in the midst of a bitter Senate confirmation battle. The 44-year-old Tenet has served as deputy DCI since 1995 and acting DCI since last December.
German-based Deutsche BA has ordered seven Boeing 737-300s, valued at $287 million. First delivery of the new jets, which will be configured to seat 136 passengers each, is scheduled for August. Deutsche BA is 49% owned by British Airways. The new aircraft will replace a fleet of Fokker 100s and join a fleet of nine 737s flying primarily German domestic routes.
AEROSPATIALE AND South Africa's Denel group concluded a far-reaching industrial partnership agreement on Mar. 17. It is expected to lead to business links involving a variety of programs in the aircraft and missile market segments, as well as other areas to be selected on a case-by-case basis, an Aerospatiale official said.
William F. Compton has been appointed executive vice president-operations of Trans World Airlines. Compton, an MD-80 pilot and former chairman of the Air Line Pilots Assn. TWA Master Executive Council, will remain on the board of directors, but in a management position.
Turkey is planning to purchase four airborne early warning and control aircraft in a program valued at nearly $800 million. Boeing's E-3 AWACS, the Northrop Grumman E-2C Hawkeye, an airborne early warning version of Lockheed Martin's C-130J and Israel Aircraft Industries' Phalcon are candidates. Bids are to open in July with selection scheduled for early 1998. Turkey is home to a NATO AWACS base at Konya, but that aircraft's $500-million price tag is a major obstacle.
Raytheon E-Systems will produce three Long Range Lineup Systems (LRLS) for the U.S. Navy's Naval Air Warfare Center, Lakehurst, N.J., under a $4.5-million engineering and development contract. The laser-based technology is expected to significantly improve the safety and reliability of difficult shipboard landings by enhancing visual cues available to the pilot. At-sea demonstrations, including a six-month deployment in the Western Pacific and Persian Gulf, confirmed the effectiveness of the eyesafe, highly visible laser beam system, Raytheon E-Systems said.
