When international customers first signed up for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, they brought a love-at-first sight attitude to the table. But now that actual purchase decisions have to be made, a far more sober attitude prevails as a result of program delays, increased costs and budget realities. Anxiety still exists in many quarters but, one-by-one, the U.S. and Lockheed Martin are persuading partners to take the next big financial step and make purchase decisions, with the total foreign commitments now topping 100 fighters.
Tom Winkelmann has been named VP and general manager of the Pacific Northwest operations of TECT Aerospace of Wichita, succeeding Robert Perry. Winkelmann was president of Smiths Tubular.
Finally, as Europe and China prepare to talk potential cooperation over the International Space Station in Paris this month, NASA's top official is tempering expectations absent approval from Congress and all five nations supporting the orbiting outpost. “We've got to discuss it through the inter-agency process and find out, okay, what is it that they want to do, if and when they come on board,” Administrator Charles Bolden says. He adds that while NASA is prohibited by U.S.
It is too early to tell if it just another case of engineering exuberance associated with hypersonics or something more substantive, but there is a palpable sense among French developers that high-speed missile and air vehicle concepts are ready for the development stage.
USAF Lt. Gen. Burton M. Field has been named deputy chief of staff for operations, plans and requirements at USAF Headquarters at the Pentagon. He has been commander, U.S. Forces Japan and commander of the 5th Air Force, Pacific Air Forces, Yokota AB, Japan. Brig. Gen. Carlton D. Everhart, 2nd, has been selected for promotion to major general and appointed vice commander of the 3rd Air Force, U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Ramstein AB, Germany.
Juha Jarvinen has been appointed managing director of Finnair Cargo and Finnair Cargo Terminal Operations, effective May 14, succeeding Antero J. Lahtinen, who will retire this year. Jarvinen is VP-international ground handling at SAS Scandinavian Airlines.
FedEx Express faced high no-fault-found rates and failure modes on its MD-10 versatile integrated avionics (VIA) unit. Removal rates were increasing. FedEx has full automated testing equipment sets and knowledgeable avionics test bench mechanics who can repair circuit cards down to the piece part, but Patrick Doyle, FedEx Express's senior manager of powerplant and avionics maintenance, knew they needed outside help to get to the root problem. He contacted OEMs Boeing and Honeywell, which undertook hundreds of hours of analysis.
It's no secret that Boeing's space systems unit is aggressively pricing bids in an effort to grow its commercial business segment as government spending flags. But even the most bullish observers were taken aback by an estimated $400 million deal just signed with Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) and Satellites Mexicanos (SatMex) to build the first all-electric commercial telecom spacecraft intended for launch to geostationary orbit.
Troy E. Meink, director of the Signals Intelligence Systems Acquisition Directorate, and Larry D. Bell, director-Space Systems Program Office, both at the National Reconnaissance Office, have been selected to receive the Joseph V. Charyk Award given by the Washington-based National Space Club, for leadership within the signals field.
It is always a good strategy to emphasize jobs and economic growth in an election year. That is what the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAW) are doing as they urge Congress to address a looming budget deadline that could bring $600 billion in defense cuts over the coming decade, plus deep reductions to NASA and the FAA for NextGen air traffic modernization.
Doug Nichols (see photo) has been promoted to chief operating officer from chief financial officer at Aerion Corp., Reno, Nev. He is a former senior executive of the Boeing Co.
Robert J. Stevens, the CEO of Lockheed Martin, went to Capitol Hill on March 14 with a message for lawmakers: You're making my life hell. At issue are automatic cuts to U.S. defense spending scheduled to take effect next January. If Congress and the Obama administration cannot reach a budget compromise by then, military budgets will be hit with a $53 billion cut in 2013 and another $450 billion in reductions during the next nine years.
Ron Nussle has joined Los Angeles-based ICON Aircraft as VP-operations. He was director of strategic supply chain management at Cessna Aircraft and spent 12 years at Honeywell Aerospace.
Russian state-owned aircraft maker Irkut is lobbying for the U.S. Export Import Bank (Ex-Im) to back the MS-21, Russia's new narrowbody aircraft in development. Irkut says the aircraft should qualify because Pratt & Whitney is supplying its geared-turbofan engines. There are also other U.S. companies that are suppliers to this program, Irkut adds, noting that there is precedent for Ex-Im support of Russian-made aircraft in that Ex-Im supported the Pratt-powered Ilyushin Il-96M.
Russia is expanding its inventory of S-300V4 surface-to-air missile systems. The defense ministry has signed a contract with Almaz-Antey to equip three battalions with the latest version of the S-300 for commissioning in the Southern Military District.
The National Aeronautic Association has awarded the 2011 Robert J. Collier Trophy for the year's “greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America” to the Boeing 787. With its selection, the company's newest widebody jet joins the 747 and 777 as Collier winners. The award is celebrating its centennial as the nation's most prestigious aeronautics honor.
At a time when years-long delays in aircraft development programs almost seem the norm, the timeline of the Robinson Helicopter Co.'s R66 offers a refreshing counterpoint. Frank Robinson, founder of the Torrance, Calif., company delayed developing a turbine-powered model until Rolls-Royce agreed to produce a derivative of its Model 250 engine.
Amy Svitak (Washington), Frank Morring, Jr. (Washington)
Jilted by NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) has decided to press ahead with its ExoMars program in partnership with the Russian space agency Roscosmos, which plans to contribute Proton launch vehicles and a new entry, descent and landing system to the ambitious two-pronged Mars mission in 2016 and 2018. Russia's arrival as the savior of ExoMars is not without cost, however, as ESA will now have to fund development of a rover for the 2018 mission that NASA had previously planned to share.
Beate Sauter (see photo) has been named director of European sales at Intense, North Brunswick, N.J. She was a key account manager for southern Europe at Edmund Optics.
USAF Lt. Gen. Clyde D. Moore, 2nd, has been nominated to become commander of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center of Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. He is the command's vice commander.
General Electric has delivered the 1,000th GE90-115B engine to Boeing as it continues to ramp up production in lock-step with the move to increase the assembly rate for the Boeing 777 family. The GE90-115B became the exclusive powerplant for the 777-200LR and -300ER in July 1999. Since the first 777-300ER entered service in 2004, more than 1,500 GE90-115Bs have been ordered for the extended-range family which also includes the 777 Freighter. GE logged orders and commitments for 400 GE90-115Bs in 2011, exceeding the previous record year of 2007, when 250 orders were taken.
Congressional researchers say lawmakers should prepare for Obama administration or Israeli requests for additional U.S. appropriations for joint U.S.-Israeli missile defense and an extension of U.S. loan guarantees to Israel beyond fiscal 2012, when they are set to expire, as well as new funding for joint U.S.-Israeli scientific research. Already the administration's fiscal 2013 request includes $3.1 billion in foreign military financing for Israel and $15 million for refugee resettlement.
Shelley Rubino (see photo) has been named VP-government affairs at Washington-based Airlines for America. She was a staff member in the office of Rep. John B. Larson (D-Conn.), chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.
Ten years ago, airlines just had to be in. If they were not part of one of the three global alliances, they were second class, or their home market was too small and uninteresting to be considered. Alliances gave them the access to markets they needed and, as importantly, to their future merger partners.
