Emirates is pushing Boeing to make a quick decision on the next-generation 777. Emirates President Tim Clark says Boeing could “sell immediately 150-200” of them. Emirates alone has 174 777-300ERs in its fleet or on order and plans to retire the first of them in 2017. Clark says Boeing would make a mistake if it waited until the performance of the competing A350-1000 becomes clear.
The newly named MQ-4C Triton Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) unmanned aircraft system for the U.S. Navy was officially revealed at Northrop Grumman's Palmdale, Calif., facility on June 14. Meanwhile, The Navy says it has yet to confirm the cause of an accident June 10 that led to the loss of one of five BAMS demonstrator Global Hawk Block 10 aircraft near NAS Patuxent River, Md.
Etihad Airways has decided to take some of its A320s on order with winglets that Airbus is developing for the narrowbody. Deliveries of A320s equipped with “Sharklets” are to start this year, with Etihad due to receive its first in the third quarter of next year. Of the 20 A320s the carrier has ordered, 17 will be using the devices. Airbus has promised around 3.5% fuel burn improvement on long-range flights, although flight testing suggests the benefit may be slightly higher. The winglets will be standard on the A320NEO reengined aircraft due to come into service in 2015.
NASA 's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) is in orbit and sending back signals following its June 13 air-launch over the central Pacific Ocean on an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket dropped from the belly of an L-1011 Stargazer aircraft that took off from Kwajalein Atoll. NuSTAR separated 13 min. after the winged solid-fuel rocket ignited, and NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System picked up signals from the spacecraft a minute after that.
Nelson Krahenbuhl Salgado has been appointed president of Embraer subsidiary Visiona Tecnologia Espacial, Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil. He has been active in the airframer's strategic planning and financial sectors.
Airbus is already facing a huge bill to restore the A380 fleet to full life-cycle capabilities. But the cracks in wing rib feet are causing such huge operational disruptions that airlines want more than just repaired aircraft—compensation for lost revenues and profits is also sought.
Technicians at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center will soon begin integrating the first instrument received there for the James Webb Space Telescope. The Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), assembled by the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the U.K., will cover wavelengths of 5-28 microns from the Webb's planned perch at the Earth-Sun L2 Lagrangian point.
Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways is ruling out deferring aircraft deliveries even as it accelerates retirements of Boeing 747-400s in response to weak demand. Chief Executive John Slosar says that even if business is tough, an airline should always want to replace old aircraft. Cathay expects delivery of 24 Boeing 777-300ERs and 14-15 Airbus A330s during the coming three years. The company said in April that business conditions had continued to worsen.
DeEtte Gray has been named president of the Intelligence & Security sector at BAE Systems, Arlington, Va. She was VP for Lockheed Martin's Enterprise Information Technology Solutions business.
China is starting to globally market a new medium-range surface-to-air missile system called Sky Dragon. China North Industries Corp. claims an engagement range of 3-50 km (2-31 mi.), with a maximum engagement altitude of 20 km. The target set includes fighters, helicopters, unmanned aircraft and cruise missiles. A system comprises 3-6 launchers with four missiles each, an Ibis150 3D radar providing greater than 130-km detection range and a battle command system. The company says 12 missiles can be controlled at the same time.
Three decades after CFM International and Boeing revolutionized the single-aisle market by putting a high-bypass turbofan under the low-slung wing of the 737, the two partners are on track to evolve the combination to a whole new level.
Whether the U.S. Navy's first demonstration of a biofuel-powered fleet represents a one-off effort or the potential start of a new industry may now rest in the hands of the U.S. Senate. The Navy bought 450,000 gal. of fuel— made from algae or other crops—for about $27 per gallon to power its “Great Green Fleet” in the Rim of the Pacific exercises scheduled to start later this month. But if the defense authorization bill passed by the Senate Armed Services Committee stands, the biofuel-powered fleet will run aground next year.
Within days, Air Lease Corp. and Norwegian Air Shuttle finalized deals for 36 and 100 Airbus A320NEOs, respectively. Norwegian's deal propels the A320NEO orderbook to 1,425 units, around 1,000 more than rival Boeing has secured for its 737-8 MAX. Norwegian in January also ordered 22 737NGs. The airline has purchase rights for 50 additional A320NEOs and for 737 MAXs, too. An engine selection for the A320NEOs has not been announced; the MAX is only offered with the CFM Leap-1B. Norwegian expects to start taking delivery of its NEOs in 2016, with the MAXs to follow in 2017.
Boeing is closing in on the 10,000th order for 737s, an unprecedented achievement. The ubiquitous aircraft's success was hardly anticipated when a small Lufthansa order in 1968 overcame Boeing's reluctance to build a short-haul competitor to the DC-9. A year ago, the company seemed ready to say goodbye to the '37 and launch its successor. But Airbus's neatly timed response to airlines' fuel price anxiety was a reengined A320.
Virgin Galactic will attempt the first rocket-powered atmospheric flight tests of the SpaceShipTwo “toward the end of the year”now that the FAA has granted an experimental launch permit to vehicle developer Scaled Composites. The permit covers powered flight tests of the SS2 with an airborne launch from the WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft. Tests will take place from Scaled's Mojave, Calif, facility.
Maps are clearly a vital tool for any military commander, but the days when a two-dimensional, printed representation of an area will suffice have long since passed. Dynamic mapping of the battlespace is not new, but 21st century technologies are revolutionizing the collection, dissemination and analysis of tactical intelligence.
John Glenn is the kind of pilot who makes it home. The world held its breath on Feb. 20, 1962, as he reentered the atmosphere after circling the Earth three times. There was an indication that the heat shield on his Mercury capsule Friendship 7 wasn't attached properly, threatening a tragic end to the first U.S. orbital human spaceflight, but he got home safely.
The recent focus on regional airlines “Success and Survival” (AW&ST May 21, p. 34) overlooks an important point. None of these carriers are really regional. The few that once were have devolved into a mechanism for the larger carriers to operate their hubs and spokes with the least cost and investment, different regulations, and smaller and less-comfortable aircraft.
Do not be surprised if Defense Secretary Leon Panetta secures a $1.4 billion deal to sell India 22 Boeing-made Apache Longbow attack helicopters during his trip there this week, say Center for Strategic & International Studies analysts.
