Tim Lockerby has been named Great Lakes regional manager for Duncan Aviation, Lincoln, Neb. He was the national sales manager for aftermarket at Rosen Aviation. Honors And Elections
The perception that the U.S. enjoys military superiority over all possible adversaries has existed for decades, despite the fact that Russia enjoys a technological edge in many important weapon categories. These systems are also widely exported. Our future military dominance depends heavily on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The SU-35 can already outperform it in almost every realm and the T-50 should be much more formidable.
India has put on hold all defense contracts with Rolls-Royce following allegations that the company paid bribes to win lucrative contracts to supply Hawk advanced trainer jet engines to state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), a defense ministry official says. Not only is the decision a serious blow to the aircraft engine-maker, but it also threatens to delay upcoming Indian air force purchases and impact other existing programs.
Nav Canada is close to completing the nationwide rollout of a controller-pilot data link communications (CPDLC) system that is among the most advanced uses of this technology in any domestic airspace. After deploying CPDLC to six out of seven of its domestic flight information regions (FIR) under a phased introduction, Nav Canada is progressively broadening the message sets to cover a greater range of operational needs. At the same time, the company is seeing a steady increase in airline usage and CPDLC equipage rates as carriers recognize its benefits.
USAF Brig. Gen. Jay B. Silveria has been selected for promotion to major general and appointment as commander of the U.S. Air Warfare Command Center of Air Combat Command, Nellis AFB, Nev. He has been vice commander of the 14th Air Force of Air Force Space Command, Vandenberg AFB, Calif. Col. David A. Krumm has been selected for promotion to brigadier general and appointment as vice commander of the 5th Air Force, Pacific Air Forces, Yokota AB, Japan. He has been principal military assistant to the secretary of defense at the Pentagon.
Assad Kotaite, a Lebanese diplomat who served in key positions at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for more than three decades, died Feb. 27 of cancer in Montreal. He was 89.
Rachel Ehrenfeld's Viewpoint “Protect Airliners from SAM Threat” was insightful and accurate. I have worked for large aircraft defensive systems for more than 20 years and can readily see that Ehrenfeld has done her homework. Cursory dismissal or deflection of this issue is neither appropriate nor effective. Executive transport (Air Force One and other head-of-state aircraft) are equipped with defensive systems to counter the infrared surface-to-air missile threat, as are a good portion of our airlift aircraft and El Al Airlines.
Daniel G. Korte has been appointed president/CEO of LMI Aerospace Inc. of St. Louis to succeed the retiring Ronald S. Saks, who will remain non-executive chairman of the board. Korte was president of Defense Aerospace at Rolls-Royce and had been vice president/general manager of Global Strike Systems at Boeing.
William Deere has been named senior vice president for government and external affairs for the Alexandria, Va.-based National Air Transportation Association, effective March 31. He has been vice president-government affairs for the United States Telecom Association and was senior vice president-legislative affairs for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.
Elizabeth L. Schmid has become vice president for national security and acquisition policy for the Arlington, Va.-based Aerospace Industries Association. She was on the staff of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense and previously the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
The Singapore government has chosen the Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) to replace its aging Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers. Details of the decision emerged in a speech by Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen on March 6. Ng did not say when or how many aircraft would be delivered, but when Airbus tabled its offer last summer, the requirement was for six aircraft to replace four KC-135s. Two more Sikorsky S-70B Seahawk helicopters are also due to be purchased to support ship-borne operations.
When Star Alliance CEO Mark Schwab announced last December that Air India had been accepted as a future member of the group, some in the country thought this could signal the turning point that the beleaguered airline had been waiting for. However, the U.S. downgrade of India's aviation safety rating in January underscored just how bumpy the road to normalcy remains.
The caption with a graphic depicting satellites and debris in Earth orbit accompanying an article in the March 3 edition (page 22) on a new U.S. satellite system to monitor other spacecraft incorrectly described a dense ring of objects. The region described was low Earth orbit, not geosynchronous orbit.
Scheduling issues at Cape Canaveral, including launch of a classified U.S. government spacecraft known as Clio, may force NASA to delay its long-planned first flight of the Orion deep-space crew capsule from mid-September into October. “We'll probably move a little bit from the September time frame just because of the launch manifest, probably somewhere into October,” says William Gerstenmaier, associate NASA administrator for human exploration and operations.
Reader Ted Klapka's letter (AW&ST March 3, p. 8) regarding the recent Viewpoint “Protect Airlines From SAM Threats” (AW&ST Feb. 17, p. 58) is insular to the extreme. U.S. airlines (as well as those of other nations) fly all over the world, frequently in the skies of nations that harbor terrorists who would like nothing more than to stage an encore to 9-11. I will grant him that “no one gets out of this life alive,” but the vast majority of us would prefer it to be via natural causes.
Boeing's Maritime Surveillance Aircraft (MSA) demonstrator, a modified Bombardier Challenger 604 business jet, has been flown to Boeing's Yuma, Ariz., facility to prepare for initial certification flight tests following extensive conversion work by Toronto-based Field Aviation. The aircraft forms a prototype platform for development of the MSA, which is designed for nations seeking a lower cost surveillance and patrol capability without the full anti-submarine and surface vessel warfare capacity of the P-8.
The board of Finmeccanica has approved plans for a new organizational and operating model for its companies. Finmeccanica, which is saddled with high debts, is looking to divest its transportation units and make aerospace, defense and space its core focus. Companies affected by the changes are AgustaWestland, AleniaAermacchi, Selex ES, OTO Melara, WASS and SuperJet International. Other firms in the group, including DRS Technologies and FATA, will be managed separately.
Qantas's urgent need to slash costs to mitigate spiraling losses has sparked one of the largest shakeups in the airline's history. While Qantas is hoping it can cut its way back to profitability, potential political and structural changes could play key roles in assisting the carrier's turnarounds.
After being stuck in the pipeline for years, India's ambitious initiative to design and develop a regional transport aircraft program is showing some signs of life.
