Eyal Younian (see photo) has become CFO of Israel Aerospace Industries. He held the same position at Scope Metals Group and was a senior audit director at Ernst & Young Israel.
A $150 million contract from the U.S. Missile Defense Agency to Lockheed Martin for its Terminal High-Altitude Air Defense (Thaad) program will allow the company to double the production rate of its interceptors. The contract is the first of its kind for Thaad, bundling 96 missiles for the United Arab Emirates with 44 for the U.S. The production rate will increase to seven or eight interceptors monthly. The funding also allows for the addition of three more launchers for the first two Thaad batteries, which were delivered with an initial three launchers apiece.
While most of Washington's attention is focused on budget cuts, a new study is urging NASA to up its investment in space and solar physics. A National Research Council (NRC) committee says the space agency should expand and accelerate its Heliophysics Explorer Program—which studies the Earth's upper atmosphere—over the next 10 years. The NRC is calling for an infusion of $70 million per year to restore the option of a Mid-Size Explorer mission that would alternate with Small Explorer missions every 2-3 years.
The aeronautics and defense (A&D) business of Paris-based Air Liquide started in the 1980s as little more than a liquid-oxygen tank supplier for fighters and freighters. But over the past decade, the French industrial gas giant's A&D unit has profited from growth in the commercial airline market and has insinuated itself into some of the world's most high-profile defense programs, despite declining budgets in Europe and the U.S.
Triumph Aerostructures–Vought Aircraft Div. awarded a contract to GKN Aerospace for composite winglets and ailerons for the Bombardier Global 7000 and 8000 ultra-long-range business jets. GKN's Munich and Isle of Wight sites will design, build and supply the parts.
Hawker Beechcraft's first customer Hawker 400XPR upgrade has begun with a Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics system improvement. Though the first customer installation has started at its Atlanta facility, Hawker Beechcraft expects to see high demand for the upgrade program in South America, based on the popularity of the predecessor Beechcraft 400A and Hawker 400XP aircraft. With approximately 60 units, South America boasts the second largest number of 400-series jets outside of the U.S.
Though the plan was risky, Alitalia had hoped to stabilize the Italian air transport sector through a merger with Air One and the takeover of smaller carriers. While the Air One deal has been completed, the second goal has fallen flat. Europe's low-fare carriers will gladly take notice. In addition to Windjet, Blue Panorama—an early Boeing 787 customer—was a target. Earlier this month, talks with Windjet failed and the small, low-fare carrier stopped flying a few days later. Blue Panorama appears to be in financial difficulty as well.
I felt compelled to write about a recent article that made my day. William Garvey's “Delivery Flight” (AW&ST Aug. 13, p. 19) documents what the best things in life boil down to—the simple, real experiences of being in the moment, a little on the edge of your comfort zone and living it with no distractions.
Avisa Gulf has become the first stand-alone company in the Middle East and North Africa to receive a Continuing Airworthiness Management Organization approval from the United Arab Emirates. Avisa has been approved to manage airworthiness for the Airbus A318-100, A320-200, Boeing 737-700, and Embraer ERJ 135 and 145 and E-190.
This shadow self-portrait was one of the first images NASA's Curiosity rover returned from the surface of Mars after landing. Collected by Curiosity's left-front hazard-avoidance camera, it is the only image sent to date that shows the ultimate objective of the Mars Science Laboratory mission: the 5.5-km-high (3.4-mi.) Mount Sharp. Sedimentary rock there may hold chemical clues to the history of Mars and its habitability.
“Swarm Defense” asks how to fight off a swarm of small UAVs. The answer—“with another swarm”—seems to me to be a product of the typical big defense do-it-the-hard-way mentality. It would be far easier, more effective and less expensive to aim a microwave weapon at the enemy swarm to fry them. The swarm-versus-swarm concept is just another waste of tax dollars. Columbus, Ind.
One recent issue (AW&ST Aug. 6) contains facts, figures and projections—within several articles—that are intriguing in the whole. In “Electrifying Agreement” (p. 28) the authors state that the Israeli air force believes the F-35's “stealth protection will be good for 5-10 years.” In “Stealth and Guile” (p. 35) we learn that the Next Generation Jammer will allow current fighters to operate “in heavily defended airspace.” And then in “Swarm Defense” (p.
Second quarter aftermarket sales and MRO work was “sluggish at best,” with engine parts sales the weakest segment, says Imperial Capital, an investment bank and institutional research firm. However, it expects MRO sales for the second half of the year to increase by 3.5%. While this is an uptick, this percentage is less than anticipated. A bright point, according to its survey of MRO providers, could come from shop visits for second-generation narrowbody engines, which would drum up demand for engine parts, but not until late 2013.
Another setback hit hypersonics research on Aug. 14, when a control fin that had functioned correctly on two previous flights malfunctioned on the third flight of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory's (AFRL) Boeing X-51A Waverider, causing the scramjet demonstrator to lose control before its engine could be ignited. The expendable vehicle was lost.
Carlisle “Kirk” Kirkpatrick has been appointed CFO of the Astrotech Corp., Austin, Texas. He succeeds John Porter, who has left the company. Kirkpatrick was managing director of IncuHive and has been executive vice president/CFO of Authentium Inc.
After receiving approval from manufacturer Hamilton Sundstrand, Epcor can now service the manufacturer's APS 3200 systems on Airbus A320 aircraft. The MRO provider, a subsidiary of AFI KLM E&M, had added services for Honeywell's auxiliary power unit (APU) 131-9 systems, so it can service both types of APUs on A320s.
USAF Brig. Gen. Andrew M. Mueller has been nominated for promotion to major general. He is component commander for the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force Command, Geilenkirchen, Germany. Col. Jon A. Weeks has been nominated for promotion to brigadier general and appointment as mobilization assistant to the commander of the 23rd Air Force/director of operations for Air Force Special Operations Command, Hurlbert Field, Fla.
Boeing, which has put alternative fuels research at the front of many of its international partnerships, has opened the Boeing-Comac Technology Center in Beijing to work on alternative jet fuels with China's top aircraft manufacturer. The initial emphasis will be on refining waste cooking oil into a sustainable aviation biofuel. Comac—Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China—is the state-owned manufacturer of C919 and ARJ21 jets. Boeing says the Chinese university and research institutions with which Comac works are doing advanced work in a number of alternative fuel areas.
Web Editor Sean Meade asks Ares defense blog readers: “What do you make of the looming threat of sequestration in the U.S.—automatic budget cuts, half from defense—set to kick in at the end of the year if Congress doesn't intentionally cut from elsewhere?” Meade notes that “obviously, sequestration is a major political football, especially since we're gearing up for a nasty presidential election.” Many readers weighed in, including: Pappy saying:
Joseph Rivera (see photo) has been appointed director of international operations for the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., Savannah, Ga. He returns to Gulfstream from Bombardier, where he was head of the Tucson, Ariz., service center. Rivera had been senior operations manager of Gulfstream's Long Beach, Calif., service center.
Beware of abbreviations. The item “X-47B Begins Pax Tests” in The World section (AW&ST Aug. 6, p. 14) left me, tongue in cheek, with two key questions: how many passengers, and at what seat pitch! Seaford, England
Jay B. Shelat has been named senior vice president-cargo terminal services-North America for Dallas-based Worldwide Flight Services. He was vice president-cargo of Jet Airways and had been director of alliances and interline for American Airlines Cargo.
