Dozens of women are filling senior management positions across aerospace and defense, changing the face of an industry not known for diversity. Another glass ceiling will shatter on Jan. 1, when Marillyn Hewson (right) becomes CEO of Lockheed Martin and Phebe Novakovic fills the top spot at General Dynamics.
NASA is polling industry for information on a common upper-stage compatible with various launch vehicles the agency plans to use for future planetary missions. With notional plans to fly a Mars mission at every 26-month launch window and “an additional science mission every three to five years beginning in the 2017 time frame,” the agency wants a “complete and independent” upper stage that can fly on existing launch vehicles, including the SpaceX Falcon 9 and the forthcoming Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Antares.
From the CSeries to the NextGen air traffic modernization and new Chinese weapons, 2013 is shaping up to be a busy year with a lot of milestones in aerospace and defense.
Switzerland's Pilatus Aircraft has opened a production, delivery and service base in state-backed Liangjiang New Area, Chongqing, China, and delivered the first two of more than 20 PC-6 single-engine Turbo-Porter utility aircraft ordered by Xinjiang General Aviation, Yunnan Ruifeng Group and Minsheng Financial Leasing. Pilatus says its agreement on the project, “with a total investment of some $400 million,” includes relocating the PC-6 production and PC-12 production lines for the Asia-Pacific region to Chongqing from the company's home of Stans, Switzerland.
When Europe's second-tier airlines started their slow slide into deficits and cutbacks 10 years ago, there was always hope that somebody would make an investment and rescue them. But several years into this deteriorating situation, there is no money left in Europe to spend on bailing out airlines.
The U.S. Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system, which has not had a successful intercept since 2008, is expected to return to flight in early 2013 after a two-year hiatus. And the U.S. will continue to roll out its Phased Adaptive Approach to protecting Europe, including construction of the first Aegis shore-launch site in Romania and further flights of the improved SM-3 Block 1B interceptor.
When the first Bombardier Global 5000 business jet equipped with Rockwell Collins's Pro Line Fusion avionics entered service in May 2012, it was a big day for proponents of head-up displays (HUD) in civil aircraft. The Global is the first aircraft to be certified with synthetic vision—a computer-generated three-dimensional view of the outside world—on the HUD. Now developers want to exploit the “always daylight” environment provided by synthetic vision to enable lower-visibility landings at a wider range of airports.
New developments cut the cost of composites and keep metals in contention. But it is the environment that continues to be a major driver of advances in civil aviation technology.
“There was a time when people at the airports admired us enviously. Today, they pity us.” The candid words by a senior pilot of the state-owned Air India describe the sad plight of the airline industry in India. The high cost of operating commercial aviation in India is squeezing the lifeblood out of the airline sector, which is rated as the ninth-largest civil aviation market in the world.
New developments cut the cost of composites and keep metals in contention. But it is the environment that continues to be a major driver of advances in civil aviation technology.
Germany plans a 2013 defense budget of about €33.3 billion ($43.5 billion), a €1.4-billion increase from 2012. Military pay raises will account for most of this increase. The 2013 budget includes funding for these raises, to make it more attractive to serve in the all-volunteer Bundeswehr. Personnel strength will be reduced to 196,200 soldiers in 2013, on the way to a planned maximum of 185,000. These cuts are expected to reduce the defense budget to €33 billion in 2014, and to €32.5 billion in 2015 and again in 2016.
Which defense and space technologies will make the headlines in 2013? Advances in propulsion that cut costs, or robotic breakthroughs that enable new missions?
Pratt & Whitney says it booked nearly 3,000 orders and options for its geared turbofan engine series in 2012. The engine is the sole powerplant for the Bombardier CSeries and Mitsubishi Regional Jet and is an option on the Airbus A320NEO and Irkut MC-21. At year-end, the engine had completed 12,400 cycles and 4,200 hr. of evaluation, including 460 flight-test hours.
Weeks after North Korea's successful rocket launch, South Korea may take steps to beef up its surveillance capabilities. On Dec. 21, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency formally notified Congress that South Korea has proposed buying four RQ-4 Block-30 Global Hawks for up to $1.2 billion. The sale of Northrop Grumman's high-altitude, long-endurance UAV would help South Korea assume the lead in intelligence gathering as the U.S. plans to dissolve the Combined Forces Command in 2015, notes the agency.
NATO has extended the Strategic Airlift Interim Solution (Salis) through to the end of 2014. The move sees the continued use of Antonov An-124s owned by Ukrainian and Russian cargo airlines, Antonov Design Bureau and Volga-Dnepr to carry heavy military equipment on behalf of partner nations involved in Salis. The program, first signed in January 2006, provides for two An-124s on full-time charter, two more on six days' notice and another two on nine days' readiness.
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The Pentagon continues to set the standard for research and development spending on missile defense, though purchases from allies are increasingly setting the production pace for regional defense systems. This trend is likely to continue in 2013, as Iran threatens Israel and other U.S. allies in the region.
