When the U.S. Air Force canceled a little-known airship program, veterans of aerospace development saw it as just another case of a service desperately seeking budget savings. But officials of the small contractor and some observers see something more disturbing—a prejudice against new ways of collecting intelligence and a pre-emptive strike to protect conventional programs.
To reduce its debts and take a step toward strategically repositioning itself, Finmeccanica will sell its 14% stake in Avio to the Italian Strategic Fund.
David Helfgott has been named president and CEO of Inmarsat Government, Herndon, Va. He was president of Inmarsat Inc. and senior vice president-business development and strategy for the parent company, Inmarsat plc.
During the past year, two large powered-lift models have been tested in the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex (NFAC) at NASA Ames Research Center in California, evaluating the low-speed benefits of blowing air over high-lift flaps for short takeoff and landing (STOL).
Ali Hassan Sulaiman has been promoted to acting chief officer from deputy chief officer of flight operations for Oman Air, succeeding Patrick Rotsaert, who has retired.
Mahfood Al Harthy has become general manager for Oman at Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways. He has held senior sales positions in the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions. Luisa Pastrello is the new general manager for Australia and New Zealand. She was a senior manager with the Qantas Group.
The newly discovered Flame computer virus—designed for spying and not for destruction—is quickly replacing 2010's Stuxnet as the offensive cyberweapon of greatest notoriety. But U.S. veterans of digital combat say it has been effective and gone undetected for two years or more because its targets in the Middle East were well chosen and the type of exploitation was tailored for a foe without top-of-the-line defenses in the realm of cyber.
Gary Sauer has been named vice president-business development for SRC, Syracuse, N.Y. He was general manager for the Defense Systems group at Applied Research Associates.
Any military conflict between Beijing and Washington would be decided by space and cyber supremacy. And if that fight is confined to a short period, perhaps a few weeks, during which China has a technical advantage, it could be the victor, say that nation's defense analysts and scholars.
Aircraft all look the same these days because the traditional tube-and-wing shape works well, both technically and operationally. To convince manufacturers to change direction would take a compelling demonstration of the benefits of a different approach.
Senior Editor Amy Butler posts on our Ares Defense Technology blog: “Finally—First F-35B Flight Out Of Eglin” in which she notes that this is just one of several steps needed to officially stand-up pilot training at the AFB. RunningBear enthuses: Fantastic. Congratulations to the program and their “Eglin Dozen.” Eric Palmer notes:
The U.S. Air Force stopped work at startup contractor MAV6 on the Blue Devil II intelligence-collection airship contract because of performance issues. Blue Devil II was originally envisioned to carry 2,500 lb. of intelligence payloads, including imagery and signals-intelligence collectors. But the cost of the system has grown substantially and the company has been unable to demonstrate a first flight due to problems designing the tail fin. In March, the Air Force removed intelligence payload-integration from the contract.
I had a visceral reaction to “Power Poll,” a recent Washington Outlook item that seems to endorse the views attributed to “Americans” regarding a proposed 25% cut in defense spending (AW&ST May 14, p. 23).
Los Angeles Bureau Chief Guy Norris posts more about Boeing's small launch vehicle concepts on the Leading Edge blog. AvWeek recommends: Viewing more concepts, cutaways and close-ups, as well as a diagram of a typical mission profile.
Christopher Kubasik, Lockheed Martin's incoming CEO, plans to maintain the heading set by his predecessor, Robert Stevens, when he takes the helm of the Pentagon's largest contractor next year in the face of major cuts to the defense budget.
The results of Aviation Week's 2012 Top-Performing Companies (TPC) study are providing fresh evidence that downturns in U.S. and European defense spending are starting to hit contractors (p. 44). BAE Systems, Finmeccanica, General Dynamics, L-3 Communications, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon all saw their TPC scores decline from last year. And the strong gains in operational efficiency made by defense primes during the past decade are showing tentative signs of weakening.
Fernando Val and Julio Rodriguez (see photos) have been promoted to chief operating officer and director-network planning, revenue management and distribution, respectively, for the Barcelona, Spain-based airline Vueling. Val was director of quality and inflight safety and Rodriguez director of revenue.
The core structure for the fourth Space-Based Infrared System (Sbirs) satellite has been delivered to Lockheed Martin's Mississippi Space & Technology Center. Engineers there will now integrate the propulsion system onto the structure before shipping it to Sunnyvale, Calif., for mission systems integration.
