To counter the mounting number of cyberattacks, a group of senators led by Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) are working on legislation urging the Pentagon to train members of the National Guard to respond to cyberthreats. The bill would establish Cyber Guard units in every state that could be activated by governors or the Defense Secretary and would draw on the private-sector information technology expertise of members of the National Guard. The bill is aimed at offsetting a shortage of cyberexperts across the government.
Open architecture is frequently a misnomer in avionics development, as proprietary elements often sneak in during design and prevent software from being truly reusable and portable between platforms.
So far, the SpaceX Dragon is the only commercial spacecraft flying to the International Space Station (ISS), but there will be more. A lot is riding on building a “New Space” economy off Earth: large fortunes, U.S. civil and military access to low Earth orbit, and the hopes of visionaries who want to see humankind expand into our Solar System. Articles on the path ahead begin on page 56. A member of the ISS Expedition 34 crew took this photo March 3 as his crewmates used the station's robotic arm to berth the SpaceX cargo carrier. NASA Johnson Space Center photo.
Capt. Scott Davies Delta Air Lines (Allentown, Pa. )
Most readers will likely agree that all of the optimization measures being undertaken by all of the commercial air transportation players in the North Atlantic are as welcome as they are overdue.
Success in the U.S. Army's growing catalog of work in linking unmanned and manned aviation assets could lead it to reduce reliance on helicopters, potentially impacting the planned buys of Boeing Apache AH-64Es and future Armed Aerial Scouts (AAS).
European Space Agency researchers evaluating a hypersonic concept demonstrator called Hexafly (high-speed experimental fly vehicles) are studying the potential of flight-testing two different scaled versions of the same Mach 8 vehicle. Hexafly aims to fast-track development of new hypersonic concepts by flight-testing a notional vehicle shape packed with advanced propulsion, structures and systems technologies (AW&ST Nov. 26, 2012. p. 46).
The reaction to Adam Jones's decision to not pursue a career as a pilot (AW&ST Feb. 11, p. 58) has predictably drawn many comments regarding the commitment and devotion necessary to remain in the profession. Many have stated that one's sincerity and passion should be the main criteria that allow them to enter and remain.
Shareholders backed sweeping changes at EADS during an extraordinary general meeting held in Amsterdam March 27, electing a new board of directors and bringing the European giant's governance more in line with that at other aerospace and defense companies by dissolving its Franco-German ownership pact.
After more than decade planning it, seven years trying to achieve it and one failed attempt to do it, U.K. government officials have finally sealed a deal to harmonize the country's multiple search and rescue (SAR) helicopter operations under one agency.
XCOR Aerospace plans to conduct a full-scale, extended-duration hot-fire evaluation of its piston-pump-powered rocket engine as it moves closer to flight tests of the two-seat suborbital Lynx vehicle at Mojave, Calif. In readiness, XCOR is installing a flight-sized liquid oxygen tank in the Lynx fuselage. The propulsion system was mounted to the flight-weight airframe and recently tested for 67 sec., marking the first firing of a full piston-pump-powered rocket engine.
Steve Jones (see photo) has become managing director of Aviation Services, a new unit of the Cambridge, England-based Marshall Aerospace and Defense Group that brings together the management of Cambridge Airport, Business Aviation and the JETability business. He was manager of the company's maintenance, repair and overhaul and charter companies.
The price of EU Allowances (EUAs) under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) dipped in March but rallied sharply later in the month on signs that support is growing for measures proposed by the European Commission to curb supply. Representatives from EU national governments are making progress toward agreement to support the EC's proposal to “backload” 900 million EUAs, the Irish presidency of the EU said March 22.
Jay Heublein (see photo) has been promoted to executive VP-global sales and marketing from VP at Cleveland-based Nextant Aerospace. Peter Walker has been named VP-Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific and Richard “Butch” Lang U.S. regional sales director. Walker and Lang held executive sales positions at the former Hawker Beechcraft.
Hannu Juurakko has been appointed to lead the civil air traffic management business area at Vienna-based Frequentis, succeeding Frank Molitor, who will take a sabbatical for several months. Juurakko has held senior management positions at Nokia, Alcatel and Cassidian.
Capt. Jim K. Walton American Airlines (Grapevine, Texas )
A letter in a recent Feedback (AW&ST March 18, p. 8) concerned airfares and the airline mergers. I have only one question: Why do Congress and air travelers expect the airlines to not turn a profit?
Jennifer Ogle (see photo) has become director of human resources for Airbus Americas' Mobile, Ala., assembly facility. She was human resources director at Taylor-Wharton Cryogenics.
Increased labor costs and high charges for ferrying aircraft to foreign countries for maintenance may eventually provide a good opportunity for North American MROs in the long run.
Ashlee Kishimoto (see photo) has been promoted to senior director-investor relations from director of Securities and Exchange Commission reporting and Sarbanes-Oxley Act compliance at Hawaiian Airlines.
