Despite a slew of scandals and defense acquisition issues in India, Mark Kronenberg, vice president of international business development for Boeing Defense, Space and Security (BDS), remains upbeat about business opportunities in the South Asian nation. Kronenberg sat for an exclusive interview in New Delhi with Aviation Week's Jay Menon before the Farnborough International Airshow and discussed why he thinks Boeing is entering banner times in India. AW&ST: What are the opportunities that Boeing is eyeing in India?
Amy Butler (Farnborough), Andy Nativi (Farnborough)
Alenia Aermacchi and Alliant Techsystems (ATK) are planning to begin testing the first MC-27J multimission airlifter—outfitted with a 30-mm cannon for the gunship role—this fall. The test campaign comes as the manufacturer works to carve out more market share for the tactical airlifter in the wake of a U.S. Air Force decision earlier this year to walk away from it and shelve brand new hardware due to budget pressures.
The Pentagon has accepted delivery of the first Lockheed Martin F-35s from the third low-rate initial production lot (LRIP 3). The three conventional-takeoff-and-landing and one short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing aircraft delivered to the Eglin AFB, Fla., training base were scheduled for handover by year-end.
The acting White House budget director and the Pentagon's No. 2 official will testify to Congress on Aug. 1 on how the executive branch will interpret budget cuts set to take effect next year. Their appearance comes as a group of seven mostly conservative senators is asking 15 major defense contractors to publicize the effects of potential steep reductions to the military's budget—and their payrolls—under last year's Budget Control Act and its so-called sequestration cut starting in January.
Paul D. Lang (see photo), director of Rolling Meadows, Ill.-based Northrop Grumman's Common Infrared Countermeasures (Circm) program, has received the 2012 Goodell-Pollock Memorial Award. The award, presented by the Military Sensing Symposium IRCM Committee, is given in recognition of outstanding service to the field.
The industry spotlight is on Japan Airlines (JAL) as it prepares for a lucrative stock market relisting on the back of an impressive return to profitability. Meanwhile, however, local rival All Nippon Airways (ANA) has also been achieving standout financial results.
Airbus and Boeing face a similar problem—but it's a nice one to have. Demand for their best-selling jets, the A320 and 737 families, respectively, is so high that they are steadfastly increasing production rates.
Rod Casto has joined Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Fla., as associate VP-research and innovation. He held the same title at the University of South Florida and also was executive director of the USF Research Foundation.
More than a year ago the British government stood up a dedicated space organization to be more like the 19-nation European Space Agency. Today, ESA is returning the compliment, emulating Britain's focus on collaborating with the private sector to leverage government investment in the commercial space industry.
On the Ares Defense blog, Senior Editor Graham Warwick covers Swedish Air Force Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Micael Byden's assessment of his service's experience buying its two newest helicopters. Of the NH90 (above), Byden says he wasn't that pleased: “It should have been operational in 2007, but it started to operate in 2011.” On the UH-60M he described the 100 weeks that will elapse from contract signature to first delivery as “remarkable.” The Black Hawks will be delivered beginning in April 2013.
The commentary “End in Sight?” (AW&ST July 9, p. 36) does a disservice to retired military when it states that when retirees reach age 65 they qualify for Tricare for Life and pay no fees. In fact, at age 65 military retirees are required to sign up for Medicare and pay the part B premium to qualify for Tricare for Life (after having been promised free medical care for life for putting their lives on the line for more than 20 years of active service). Great Falls, Va.
Fast, flexible, super-sensual and ultra exclusive, they were coveted by moguls, monarchs and movie stars. They moved Carly Simon to sing, served as Goldfinger's bling, helped the Rat Pack to swing, and in so doing became icons of their age. They were the first business jets and there had never been anything like them. No vehicle had ever provided such a combination of speed, privacy and comfort.
Rolls-Royce has unveiled a further upgrade for the Trent 1000 engine on the Boeing 787 that builds on technology developed for the Airbus A350 as well as advanced research programs. The Trent 1000 TEN (Thrust Efficiency New Technology) is targeted for introduction in the first half of 2016 and will save a further 3% fuel burn over the Package B standard now entering service. The engine will be available to power all versions of the 787, including the yet-to-be-defined -10X double stretch, for which Rolls recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Boeing.
The recent final report on the crash of Air France Flight 447 (AW&ST July 9, p. 54) brings to light the apparent lack of adequate back-up instrumentation when measurement of some key parameter, airspeed in this case, fails. Although GPS measurements are primarily used for navigation, the data available within these systems should theoretically make it possible to calculate true airspeed, rate of climb/descent, and the 3-D vector direction of travel in space when the data is integrated over brief periods.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP) has established the metric that will be used to measure emissions for the first global aviation carbon-dioxide standard. Developed by the International Coordinating Council of Aerospace Industries Associations, along with ICAO member states, intergovernmental agencies and non-governmental organizations, the metric will be based on fuel used per unit distance at three different cruise conditions.
I am outraged about a remark in Defense Technology Editor Bill Sweetman's editorial “The Slow Death of Boot-Centric Warfare.” He says: “Cuts in military manpower will result in growing ranks of people denied stars or lifetime retirement benefits for just (!) 20 years of service” (AW&ST Defense Technology Edition July 2, DT3).
With fewer dollars available for new programs, the Pentagon is at a pivot point for its multibillion air- and spaceborne intelligence collection portfolio.
A new, unclassified version of a congressionally mandated Pentagon report on Iran's military capabilities appears to put the theocratic country's missile, terrorism and nuclear efforts in starker terms than before. “Beyond steady growth in its missile and rocket inventories, Iran has boosted the lethality and effectiveness of existing systems by improving accuracy and developing new submunition payloads,” says the April report, which came to light last week.
“Is It Showtime?” (AW&ST July 2, p. 34), references Boeing's long-standing policy of not flying at air show demonstrations. An unnamed company official is quoted as saying, “We have never sold an airplane because a customer said he saw it fly at an air show.” Of course, given the demonstration ban, no customer has even had the opportunity to utter such a comment since 1984.
United Airlines rounded off a strong Farnborough show for Boeing by ordering 100 reengined 737-9 MAXs and 50 737-900ERs in a deal worth $14.7 billion at list prices (see chart). United President/CEO Jeff Smisek says the deal was signed after lengthy negotiations with Airbus and Boeing, as well as engine suppliers CFM and Pratt & Whitney. In 2010 United, which flies A319s and A320s and is not a customer for the 737 Next Generation family, merged with Continental, a major 737 NG operator with no Airbus aircraft.
City and state officials in Alabama are still celebrating Airbus's decision to build an A320 final assembly line in Mobile. By any measure, the planned $600 million industrial facility will be a big stimulus to the local economy. It also will add to the southeastern U.S.'s emergence as a major hub for aerospace manufacturing. What may not be apparent yet, however, is how much the supplier base across North America could share in that bonanza.
