Imagine U.S. and allied troops embarking on an intricate, large-scale combat operation, the success of which depends on the element of surprise and critical timing. Land, sea and air forces are involved. Now imagine some unique rules of engagement: Enemy aircraft are allowed to fly above these forces, transmitting images back to their command centers. Reconnaissance aircraft of noncombatant nations and companies also are allowed free passage, providing militarily useful information to any buyers.
Raytheon Co. will realize a long-standing goal later this month when it purchases E-Systems, Inc., one of the U.S. aerospace/defense industry's most elusive acquisition targets of the last two years. ``We've had E-Systems on our radar screen for a long time,'' Raytheon Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dennis J. Picard told AVIATION WEEK&SPACE TECHNOLOGY. ``The problem was they weren't for sale.'' That changed last week, when the two companies announced they had reached an agreement. The purchase price is $2.3 billion or $64 a share.
USAF GEN. JOHN M. LOH would like to buy 200-300 conventional air-launched cruise missiles and ``400 or so'' Have Nap standoff missiles to fill short-term needs as a result of the cancellation of the Tri-Service Standoff Attack Missile. But the head of Air Combat Command also sought congressional support for longer term efforts to find a replacement for TSSAM. Loh said the Pentagon has set and briefed to industry the operational requirements for a TSSAM replacement which would not be available until 2000-2002.
The European Space Agency has been forced to delay until late this year a formal commitment to participate in the international space station with the Columbus module and Ariane 5 resupply (AW&ST Apr. 3, p. 29). Although Germany last month was close to program approval, France, Italy and several smaller ESA member states are declining to move on about $2.3 billion in station related funding until their top officials get a look at the station's sticker price at a ministerial meeting in October.
Albert E. Smith has been appointed president of Lockheed Missiles&Space Co.'s Space Systems Div., Sunnyvale, Calif. He was SSD vice president/assistant general manager for commerical programs. He has been succeeded by David L. Klinger, who was vice president-military satellite communications programs. Myles Crandall will succeed Klinger. Mel Brashers was appointed executive vice president of the Lockheed Missiles and Space Systems Group, succeeding Minoru Sam Araki, who has been named president.
RUSSIAN ENGINE manufacturer Rybinsk Motors and CFM International (CFMI) signed a wide-ranging memorandum of understanding centered on the production in Russia of CFM56 turbofan engine parts. Rybinsk also will promote additional CFM56 applications in Russia and will obtain a share in CFM56s produced to equip Russian transports, a CFMI official said.
THE U.S. TRANSPORTATION DEPT. will hear airline complaints about fees at Los Angeles International Airport and two airports operated by the Puerto Rico Ports Authority. The cases will be heard by administrative law judges under new department rules published in February, based on a new law passed by Congress on Aug. 24 (AW&ST Mar. 13, p 32). The new law was in part a reaction to attempts by the City of Los Angeles to divert money from LAX. The judges will issue a decision by June 1, and the Transportation Dept. will review them by June 30.
The Russians are delivering to the U.S. Air Force a mobile, 15-million-watt generator that would allow their former foes to operate electricity-hungry, directed-energy weapons from hidden sites on remote battlefields or from space.
With a 19.6% growth rate last year, Seoul's Kimpo International Airport has become the world's fastest-growing airport, according to the Airports Council International. After Seoul, U.S. airports took the next five rankings on ACI's growth chart and six of the top 10 positions. Las Vegas' 19.2% growth was nearly as fast as Seoul's, and with 26.8 million passengers it handled nearly as many travelers as Korea's capital did. Seoul had 27.3 million.
Lockheed Martin is proposing to commercialize F-16 production operations at its Ft. Worth Co., which could reduce the cost of the aircraft by up to 15% and eventually be applied to F-22 production.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second section of the English translation of the French Commission of Investigation preliminary report of the June 30, 1994, crash of an Airbus A330 at Toulouse-Blagnac airport (AW&ST Apr. 3, p. 72). The aircraft, as part of Category 3 certification testing, was performing an engine-out go-around with autopilot engaged when lateral control was lost. The A330 was at too low an altitude at the time the crew regained recovery, and the aircraft impacted the ground, killing the test crew of three and four observers on board.
SWISSAIR WILL TERMINATE ITS COLLECTIVE working agreement with its pilots at the end of next March, unless a new pact is signed before that. The airline gave notice of the planned termination to Aeropers, the group representing the pilots, after almost a year of preliminary discussions on proposed changes to the agreement.
CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT REMAINS NIL for the Administration's air traffic control privatization initiative, but Rep. Jim Lightfoot (R.-Iowa) is hoping to breathe new life into reform. A member of the House Appropriations transportation subcommittee, Lightfoot has introduced a bill to restore the FAA's independence from the Transportation Dept.
Beech Super King Air 200 aircraft equipped with Litton maritime surveillance radars have been playing a major role in the fisheries dispute off Newfoundland by directing Canadian Coast Guard cutters to intercept Spanish trawlers. Canada is trying to prevent Spanish trawlers from fishing in the Grand Banks even though the area in dispute is beyond Canada's maritime boundary, which extends 200 mi. off the coast. Canada has closed the Atlantic fisheries due to devastation of several fish species.
Airlines' more profit-oriented approach to doing business has got to be heartening for investors. Virtually every major carrier has been restraining capacity, rationalizing route structures and rebuilding balance sheets. Collectively, all of these steps will lead to healthier, more competitive airlines unless fare wars get out of hand. In most cases, earnings improvements are bound to follow as well.
MEMRY CORP. of Brookfield, Conn., is preparing to fabricate full-scale ``smart material'' compensator rings that will increase turbine engine efficiency by up to 1%. The rings use a copper-aluminum-nickel shape-memory alloy to reduce operating clearances in an AlliedSignal/Lycoming T-55 engine from 0.017 in. to less than 0.005 in. when the turbine reaches operating temperature. The reduced engine casing-to-blade-tip clearance, employed on four early stages of the T-55 compressor, increases efficiency by 0.3%, according to L.
Douglas Aircraft Co. plans to make an undisclosed number of layoffs this year at its Long Beach production facilities as a result of two key commercial transport orders that have not materialized. The cutbacks result from a delay in launch of the MD-95 transport program and a possible order from Saudia for MD-11 aircraft, which has been expected but not received (AW&ST Mar. 27, p. 28).
The Defense Dept.'s science and technology budget may be holding steady, but that is not necessarily true of the nerves of Pentagon S&T officials. As pressure for procurement dollars intensifies and it becomes increasingly clear that the Republican-promised tax cut would prevent defense growth, the Defense Dept.'s top scientists are intensifying efforts to protect coffers that up until now have for the most part been labeled ``hands off.''
Joseph Kent Walker has been appointed vice president-North American sales for Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., Savannah, Ga. He was vice president-worldwide sales for Cessna Aircraft Co.
Space shuttle managers have laid out a detailed plan for paring $1 billion from their $3.15-billion budget through the end of the decade by relying on contractors to run day-to-day shuttle operations and cutting rules and workers not needed to support or audit those operations. The program's director of space shuttle operations, Brewster Shaw, briefed top NASA spaceflight officials Mar. 24 on the plan, which he said would ``allow us to absorb cuts and operate for less money in a well-thought-out and well-planned method.''
Pacific Northwest Laboratories is developing a family of transportable, walk-through and hand-held radar scanners capable of producing high-quality holographic images. The close-field, ultra-wideband (UWB) imaging technology holds promise in several diagnostic imaging applications, according to H. Dale Collins, technical leader, Acoustics and Electromagnetic Imaging Group. Potential uses include detecting radar reflective ``leaks'' in stealth aircraft and vehicles and augmenting airport security passenger screening.
Malaysia's government has identified the development of a basic aerospace industrial capability as a key element in its drive to position the nation as a leading player in the Asia-Pacific Rim region. The country's burgeoning economy provides a strong financial base that is stimulating growth in a variety of aerospace markets, including commercial air transport, business and personal flying, space-based communications and Earth resources satellite operations, and military system upgrades.
France's Hurel-Dubois recently completed the first target-type thrust reverser developed for the German-British BMW Rolls-Royce BR710 turbofan engine. Two 14,900-lb.-thrust BR710s will be installed on the Gulfstream G5 business jet, which is scheduled to make its first flight in the fourth quarter. Hurel-Dubois and Short Brothers jointly developed the G5's nacelle-thrust reverser package. Specified reverse thrust efficiency is 35%.
