Defense companies that primarily provide services rather than products will be among the first to be hit by reductions in military spending, Moody's Investor Services warns in its latest commentary. Beyond the next fiscal year, a decline in troop deployments overseas will lead to lower services outlays, Moody's says. And as contracts roll over and the Defense Department's heightened focus on procurement cost control takes hold, margins are likely to shrink.
David M. Van Buren (see photo) has been named senior vice president-business strategy of New York-based L-3 Communications. He was the U.S. Air Force service acquisition executive. Craig Reed and John Heller have been appointed to the L-3 Services Group executive leadership team, Reed as senior vice president-strategic development and Heller as president of the C2S2 division. Reed was senior vice president-strategy and corporate development at DynCorp International, and Heller was president of Harris IT services.
Six months from a potential blunt cut to federal spending and government is continuing to warn, industry is starting to act, and lawmakers are looking for an escape hatch. If Congress does not approve $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction or reverse a law passed last year, the entire federal government will suffer an across-the-board budget cut of the same amount. And half of that will be targeted at the Pentagon.
Momentum is growing behind the desire for a step-change in rotary-wing performance. More speed is most often mentioned by customers and manufacturers, but range and payload limitations are also seen as holding back rotorcraft from wider use.
Before they move any earth, Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) officials are going to have to move a mountain of paper. The airport has launched the multi-year regulatory approval process needed for a major expansion, one of the most important aviation infrastructure projects in the Asia-Pacific region. Built on a 1,250-hectare (4.8-sq.-mi.)man-made island, HKIA was considered an engineering marvel when it was completed in 1998. Now efforts are underway to add another 650 hectares to the north side of the island to accommodate a third parallel runway.
As Tom Enders assumes the role of chief executive of EADS, he finds himself at the helm of an enterprise much changed from five years ago, when he and his predecessor, Louis Gallois, last shared responsibility for running the company. To his credit, Enders agreed to step down to lead Airbus and help simplify the corporate structure. The internecine warfare between French and German factions has eased. Even the A380 appears to be on a solid footing.
European attack-helicopter makers have not been blessed with large export deals in recent years, but manufacturers are hoping upgrades maturing now will attract new buyers. Key development milestones are approaching for both the Eurocopter Tiger and AgustaWestland T-129, the latest variant of the AW129 being developed for Turkey. Although Italy funded the AW129's original development, the major capability upgrades of the T-129 would not have been fielded solely for Rome.
The U.S. Army's Northrop Grumman Long-Endurance Multi-intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) hybrid airship could fly in June. Without giving a date for the flight, originally expected in mid-2011, Army Space & Missile Defense Command (SMDC) says “the team is assembling the airship, and integrating motors and electronics onto and into the vehicle. The first flight will occur when the airship has completed these integration activities.” Northrop Grumman, teamed with U.K.
Martin Sedlacky (see photo) has been appointed chief operations officer of Air Baltic, Riga, Latvia, and a member of the executive board. He was BCG project leader focusing on AirBaltic's Reshape program.
With billions being spent in pursuit of fuel savings, closer integration of engines and aircraft may hold the greatest untapped potential for improvement. But extracting synergies from the intermingling of propulsion and airframe design is demanding changes in the way the stove-piped aerospace industry operates.
Malaysia Airlines has become the eighth Airbus A380 operator, with delivery of the first of six of the aircraft the carrier has ordered. MAS will commence operations between Kuala Lumpur and London Heathrow on July 2. Malaysia will operate Rolls-Royce Trent 900-powered A380s in a 494-seat configuration. Initial operations will be limited to three times per week, growing to daily service in August when the second A380 is delivered. Thai Airways International is due to become the ninth A380 operator later this year.
The top priority of France's newly elected president, Francois Hollande, is to slash government debt. Although this is no surprise, such a primary goal requires sacrifices as well as new priorities in an environment such as the current very challenging one: The economy is weak, growth is minimal, and the aerospace and defense industry's production costs are too high to efficiently sustain competition.
One of the few promising airlines in Eastern Europe until its near-collapse last year, Air Baltic is slowly returning to financial stability and rebuilding its strategy—and now it faces new competition from Estonian Air.
Richard Fontaine has become president of the board of the Center for a New American Security, Washington. He is a senior adviser and senior fellow of the center.
Steve Gulvin (see photo) has been appointed regional vice president-sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Signature Flight Support Corp., Orlando, Fla. He was vice president-operations Europe. Andrea Hopkins has been named sales manager-continental Europe, after holding a series of management positions at London Luton, Southampton and Nice airports. Karl Bowles is the new sales manager-Middle East after working for a global international trip planning company. Julian Moller has been appointed sales manager-U.K.
The Italian air force will become the second international customer after the Royal Air Force to be able to arm and employ in hunter-killer missions its U.S.-provided Predator and Reaper UAVs. The White House is proposing the move to Congress, which has not rejected the request despite some members' concerns. Indeed, Italy had already ordered an unspecified quantity of Lockheed Martin Hellfire missiles last year, noting that the approval process would be concluded in due time. In turn, delivery of the missiles could start soon.
Aerospace researchers generally agree that step changes in efficiency for future commercial aircraft designs will only be achieved through unprecedented levels of integration between propulsion and airframe.
Japan's last attempt at developing a twin-engine transport helicopter flopped. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) built only seven MH2000s from 1998 to 2003.
Tracy Gandy has joined Dallas Airmotive as manager of its First Support operations. He was program manager at Consolidated Turbine Service in Mesa, Ariz.
Controllers are giving the twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (Grail) lunar orbiters a rest for most of the summer before beginning an extended mission that will send them skimming only 5 mi. above some of the Moon's highest surface features. Dubbed Ebb and Flow, the two spacecraft mapped the Moon's gravity in unprecedented detail since March 8, covering the surface from polar orbit three times before being switched off at an altitude of 37 mi.
