Analysts are in agreement that Northrop Grumman will remain a stable investment, but not about the upside potential as the product of last year's merger downsizes and its revenues fall during the next few years.
LONDON GATWICK AIRPORT will open 50 additional check-in desks in an extension of the busy South Terminal in time for this summer's peak travel period. The 4,000-sq.-meter (43,000-sq. ft.) extension of the check-in concourse is part of a 100-million pound ($160-million) program of improvements for the airport's two terminals. More than 17 million pounds ($27 million) have been spent on a new, redesigned departure lounge for the 37-year-old South Terminal.
Michael J. Ball has been named director of air traffic management systems for the Rockwell International Communication Systems Div., Richardson, Tex. He was acting director of the Traffic Flow Management Integrated Product Team for the FAA.
Lockheed delivered its 86% scale vertical takeoff model for the Joint Advanced Strike Technology program to NASA's Ames Research Center on May 1, and plans to start hover-testing it in June. The model is powered by a unique Pratt&Whitney F100-PW-220+ engine that provides both conventional thrust as well as shaft power to drive a lift fan (AW&ST Mar. 6, p. 48). After the outdoor tests using a rigid frame, the model is to be installed in Ames' 80 X 120-ft. wind tunnel this fall for study of powered transition at speeds up to about 200 kt.
McDonnell Douglas has conducted low-speed wind tunnel tests of the planned MD-95 transport using a 9% scale model in St. Louis. The tests evaluated the configuration of the BR715 engines, which BMW Rolls-Royce is developing.
John K. Bulman has been appointed vice president-sales and G. Kenneth Herb director of marketing technology of GaSonics International, San Jose, Calif. Bulman was vice president-sales of GenRad, and Herb was a plasma technologist at AT&T Bell Laboratories.
AMR Combs and Bombardier are joining forces to offer fractional ownership in business jets in a venture scheduled to begin operations later this month. Business JetSolutions will sell shares in Learjet 31As and 60s and Canadair Challengers, which are made by Bombardier units. The program, called FlexJets, will constitute the first serious competition to Executive Jet International's NetJets, which pioneered the concept of providing a fleet of shared ownership business jets.
A five-month FAA study of the design of the Boeing 737 flight control systemhas failed to reveal any design flaws that could be the probable cause for accidents near Pittsburgh and Colorado Springs.
ISRAEL AIRCRAFT INDUSTRIES' HERON UAV, now undergoing testing, recently completed a 51-hr., 21-min. flight. The 1,210-lb. long-endurance UAV carried 1,320 lb. of payload and fuel for a total takeoff weight of 2,530 lb. Designed for reconnaissance, surveillance, data relay and electronic warfare missions, the Heron has a wing span of 54.4 ft. and a flight ceiling of 35,000 ft.
EUROPEAN ATTEMPTS TO MOVE to a continental-scale market will not solve the problem that defense companies face from shrinking budgets, according to Robin Beard, NATO assistant secretary general for defense support. He says such a market is still too small and criticized those who favor a fortress Europe--or for that matter a fortress America--approach to weapons development. Robert Bauerlein, the U.S. Air Force's deputy undersecretary for international affairs, warns that such extremes could have ``drastic consequences'' for the domestic defense industry and the Pentagon.
QANTAS AIRWAYS HAS PLACED orders for a Boeing 747-400, three 737- 400s and two 767-300ERs, and says it will convert two 747-200 Combis to pure passenger use. The order is valued at ``more than $300 million'' and is the airline's first since mid-1992. First delivery of the 737s will be in December with the other deliveries through November, 1996. The 767s are to arrive next March and June. Qantas took an option on another 737-400 and two 767- 300ERs.
Fuselage sections for the first 767 freighter for United Parcel Service are joined at Boeing's wide-body factory in Everett, Wash. UPS has 30 of the specially configured freighters on order and another 30 on option.
THE U.S. HAS SUCCESSFULLY demonstrated a surface acoustic wave chemical agent detection system on a Pioneer unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Six test flights were conducted late last month during which the system detected, identified and quantified simulated chemical agents in real time and down-linked the data to a ground station. The tests simulated atmospheric detonations of chemical agents delivered by Scud-type missiles. It marked the first test of a measurements and signatures intelligence sensor on board a UAV.
In early 1990, Hughes Communications, Inc., was part of a team of heavy-hitters that announced plans to establish a pioneer direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service. Known as Sky Cable, the $1-billion venture included media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., NBC and Cablevision Systems Corp. But within a year Sky Cable was dead, a victim of a recession-racked economy and jittery financial markets that would not finance the project.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board plans to begin special flight tests this summer to determine if wake vortices contributed to the crash of a USAir 737-300 near Pittsburgh last September.
William C. Craig has been appointed director of business development for Titan Linkabit, San Diego, Calif. He was head of the Satellite Communications Software Support Activity Div. at the Naval Command, Control and Ocean Surveillance Center, also in San Diego.
John McKeon has been named Central Region account manager for SPOT Image Corp., based in Dallas. He was a research geologist with the Atlantic Richfield Corp.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS in Russian radars and a survey of Chinese radars will be reported at the International Radar Conference to be held May 8-11 in Alexandria, Va. Russian scientists also are scheduled to report on their work in ultra-wideband radar. The conference is sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
MALAYSIA AIRLINES IS CLOSING OUT ITS 747-200 FLEET from passenger service, sending its last two aircraft to Boeing's Wichita Div. for conversion to full freighters. Malaysia will still depend on 12 747-400s for passenger services, but adding freighters will help it tap Asia's growing cargo market. Boeing predicts that Asia's share of world air freight will increase from 42% today to 50% by 2013. The new freighters will have a cargo door, strengthened floor beams and panels, a power cargo handling system, and take 10-ft.-high cargo containers.
LACK OF FEDERAL FUNDING and significant cultural differences are fundamental obstacles to the success of joint technology development programs undertaken by the U.S. government and industry. Such programs, however, can yield rewards for those who persevere, according to an Economic Strategy Institute study conducted for the U.S. Air Force. Government and industry officials see the current dearth of funding as an indication that U.S. leadership is not committed to technology transfer, despite public lip service.
The French-made Stardec line of cutting tools for screw machining is designed to minimize the need for costly and delicate sharpening operations. The tools have dual tip inserts attached to a specially indented tool holder by a tapered screw. The holding screw's eccentricity allows for quick replacement with a precision of 0.02 mm. The disposable inserts are available in a cemented carbide or with a highly resistant titanium-nitrate or titanium-carbon-nitrate coating. The tools are available for machining screws with up to a 20 mm. dia.
A 3.67-meter optical telescope will be located at the U.S. Air Force's Mt. Haleakala observatory in Maui, Hawaii, when a new facility is completed in October, 1996. Construction began in late April. Built by Contraves USA, the telescope will be operated by the service's Phillips Laboratory for tracking satellites and space debris, sensor technology development, advanced optical and infrared astronomy, and atmospheric science studies. The University of Hawaii will participate in joint projects with the Air Force.
CANADIAN MARCONI'S CMA-900 is believed to be the first GPS sensor unit to be certified by the FAA for primary-means oceanic/remote operations. The approval was granted for an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-200 and allows using GPS as a sole long-range navigation sensor for IFR operations outside of ground-based navaid coverage. CMA-900 FMS/GPS includes a 12-channel GPS sensor, a flight management unit and a control/display unit. Among the requirements for the en route mode were the ability to acquire and track satellites at 5 deg.
JOHN DEUTCH WILL WASTE NO TIME making sweeping changes if the Senate confirms him as director of the Central Intelligence Agency. The Deputy Secretary of Defense says it is time for a ``new generation of leaders and managers `` at the embattled agency. Testifying before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee last week, Deutch promised immediate changes in the way intelligence-gathering satellites are acquired and the imagery from them is managed.
