Stepping up production rates across five lines and finalizing the company's future twin-aisle strategy remain Boeing's immediate priorities, says incoming Boeing Commercial President Ray Conner. Other targets in the nearer term include securing a new agreement with the SPEEA engineering union. The key focus, supporting both the production build-ups and new developments, remains on the supply chain.
Pratt & Whitney will negotiate the next two production lots of F-35 engines in parallel to avoid the prolonged talks that dogged the previous batch. Negotiations with the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) will cover LRIP 5 and 6, and come as Pratt delivers F135 engines for LRIP 4. “We will start negotiations within days,” says Bennett Croswell, president for military engines. Lot 5 will cover 32 F135s for the conventional-takeoff-and-landing F-35 variants, and six short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing engines. Lot 6 will cover an additional 32 and seven, respectively.
In just a few years, the Boeing 737 MAX and Airbus A320NEO will be the new standard aircraft in the narrowbody market. While Boeing is still making crucial design decisions, Airbus has begun parts production for the new type.
The leadership style of the Missile Defense Agency's director is so contentious that a Pentagon inspector general (IG) investigation has substantiated allegations that it is inconsistent with standards expected of senior Army leaders. A leaked IG report on Army Lt. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly says multiple witnesses have testified how the three-star director “yelled and screamed at subordinates,” as well as “demeaned and belittled employees” to the point that several senior staff have departed.
Rafael, Israel's leading missile development center, continues to work quietly on an air-to-air derivative of the Stunner interceptor—to be designated Python 6, or the Future Advanced Air-to-Air Missile (FAAM). The Stunner is a surface-to-air weapon being developed in partnership with Raytheon for Israel's David's Sling air and missile defense system. The Python 6 has been chronicled for almost a decade.
The probability of a cyber-based crisis is mounting, according to the four-star head of U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency—and in an unusual twist for a commanding officer, Army Gen. Keith Alexander is practically begging lawmakers to get together on legislation that sets federal cybersecurity standards. Military officers are not known for calling on lawmakers to pass legislation. But the U.S. Code is light on laws addressing modern cyberrealities, and if the U.S.
Gunter Kuechler has been reappointed to the supervisory board of Lufthansa System AG. He is a member of the Gerhard Herzberg Gesellschaft and chairman of the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research.
Setting a standard for aircraft carbon dioxide emissions was never going to be easy. It requires the aviation community to agree on a single measure of fuel efficiency—a parameter at the core of competition between manufacturers.
Pedro L. “Pete” Rustan, who made a daring escape from Fidel Castro's Cuba as a young man and went on to design U.S. reconnaissance satellites, send a spacecraft to the Moon and develop technology used in the mission to kill Osama bin Laden, died of cancer on June 28 at home in Woodbridge, Va., near Washington. He was 65.
The crash of an Air France Airbus A330 on June 1, 2009, was a major shock. But with French accident investigation agency BEA's final report released, valuable lessons can be learned, provided that conflicts between the parties involved can be overcome.
A country that has never built a business jet, and until a few years ago had almost none of them in its skies, is on track to having two types of executive aircraft rolling off assembly lines within 18 months.
A new privately owned Georgian air carrier, FlyGeorgia, will soon begin offering commercial flights. Founded in 2011, the airline will operate a pair of Airbus A319s in its initial stage and operate regular flights from the Georgian capital of Tbilisi to destinations in Europe, the CIS, the Middle East and South Asia, including London; Rome; New Delhi; Dusseldorf, Germany; and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Fabio Sciacca (see photo) has joined New York-based FlightSafety International as director of sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He was international sales director for the Piaggio P180 Avanti and Avanti II aircraft.
Jeff Potter has been named president and CEO of Boyd Group International, Evergreen, Colo. He was chief operating officer of resorts operator Intrawest.
When it comes to saving money in the Defense Department, budget experts and secretaries of defense invariably explain that personnel costs are a Pentagon millstone that will continue to grow heavier. According to a new report, by 2039, these costs could outweigh all other military obligations—squeezing out investments in hardware and requiring reductions in the size of the force.
In response to customer requests for more late-night departures between Newark, N.J., and Copenhagen, Scandinavian Airlines will add three late-night weekly flights. Beginning April 1, 2013, the flights will run Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. They will leave Newark at 11:30 p.m., arriving in Copenhagen at 1:15 p.m. the next day, and depart from Copenhagen at 6:25 p.m., arriving in Newark at 8:50 p.m. the same day.
Avic Aircraft thinks it is time that turboprop airliners are widened—if only because passengers seem to be getting wider, too. The Chinese manufacturer plans a notable jump in airframe diameter for its proposed 76-seat MA700 regional aircraft, a competitor for the established, relatively svelte ATR 72 and Bombardier Q400. MA700 entry into service is now slated for 2017, having slipped repeatedly while Avic has been preparing the technical and probably political ground for project launch. It should be followed by a version seating more than 90 passengers.
USAF Lt. Col. (ret.) Price T. Bingham (Melbourne, Fla.)
The need for the U.S. Navy to dedicate some of its P-8s to the overland, joint-service wide-area surface surveillance (WASS) mission (AW&ST June 18, p. 39) is likely to grow significantly due to problems inherent in the U.S. Air Force culture. Since its creation as a separate service, USAF has focused almost exclusively on counter-air and strategic attack. USAF has never been enthusiastic about the unprecedented WASS capabilities provided by Joint Stars.
Count on the persistence of states in the U.S. South to pursue aerospace jobs, regardless of setbacks, and on the perseverance of manufacturers to oblige them.
As aerospace and defense suppliers head to this year's Farnborough air show, two of their biggest customers present a stark picture of an industry going in two directions. Boeing Commercial Airplanes is hoping to roll out big orders for its reengined 737 MAX narrowbody jet at the show, further proof of airlines' seemingly insatiable appetite for more efficient aircraft.
Bell Helicopter has added suppliers to its Bell 525 Relentless program, the world's first “super-medium” helicopter. The Textron company signed agreements with Goodrich for ice-protection systems, Israel Aerospace Industries for passenger seating, Mecaer Aviation Group for landing gear, Kuka for major structure-tooling and Pacifica Engineering for rotor- and drive-tooling. GKN Aerospace and Triumph Group will supply airframe-structure, complex machining and composites.
How large can “big fan” engines get? For almost 50 years since the genesis of the high-bypass-ratio turbofan, fan size has increased proportionately to thrust. But is that about to change?
