Aviation Week & Space Technology

Montreal and the surrounding province of Quebec are using a top-to-bottom approach of government and industry support to help their small and medium-size aerospace manufacturers be more competitive by innovating within the supply chain.

With the final F-22 rolling off Lockheed Martin's assembly line last week, the Marietta, Ga., facility is now focusing its efforts on making its C-130J and C-5M operations more efficient. The Raptor business is not dead, though. A massive program, once estimated to cost as much as $8 billion to modify the twin-engine stealthy fighters, is under way and delivering through the next several years.

“Congress doesn't kill programs, the Pentagon does.” The adage that defense contractors live by may hold true even in an atypical year. In 2011, more than 80 freshmen lawmakers came to Washington to scale back government spending and pledged not to care about their reelection prospects. Individual defense committees did zero out several programs and one committee handed down steep reductions to the Pentagon's largest weapons system, the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).

Japan's airline industry is set for a major transformation in 2012 with the debut of three low-cost carriers, as airline executives bet that there is enough demand to match the sudden emergence of a competitive LCC market. Japan is a late arrival on the low-cost scene compared to other mature airline markets. It has had only a few locally based carriers—most notably Skymark Airlines—offering low-cost service, but now both Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airways (ANA) are setting up joint-venture LCCs.

Riding a wave of record-breaking airliner orders that are continuing well into the tail end of 2011, engine makers are looking for a sustained period of solid production into 2013 and beyond. Although the boom year has been dominated by the surge in midsize engine orders tied to the newly launched Airbus A320NEO and Boeing 737 MAX families, a large proportion of the order value is still tied to the healthy demand for larger-thrust engines.

In theory, 2012 will be a critical year to define noise and emissions standards for the global aviation industry. In practice, the continued battle between Europe and countries in other regions over including airlines in the EU emissions trading system (ETS) threatens to overshadow any constructive dialog.

In choosing Mark Schwab to be its new CEO, the Star Alliance is counting on the industry veteran's experience and connections to help it through the crucial junctures it is facing. Schwab was appointed CEO of Star Alliance Services GmbH by the chief executive board at its meeting here last week. He retired last summer from United Airlines, where he ran the carrier's alliance department. Schwab replaces Jaan Albrecht, who becomes CEO of Austrian Airlines Jan. 1.

Star Alliance is quietly preparing to further strengthen its presence in Latin America. But this move may come at the cost of losing its most important member in the region.

Jan. 24-25—SMI Conferences' Joint Forces Simulation & Training. Grange City Hotel, London. Call +44 (207) 827-6000, fax +44 (207) 827 6001 or see www.jointforcestraining.com Jan. 28—American Heroes Air Show. Lee County Sports Complex, Fort Myers, Fla. See www.heroes-airshow.com/fortmyers/ Jan. 31-Feb. 2—Aerial Refueling Systems Advisory Group's Winter Planning Meeting. Hilton Palacio del Rio, San Antonio. Call +1 (937) 431-8106 or see www.arsaginc.com

Throughout the year, Aviation Week & Space Technology reports on developments across the aerospace and defense industry—the setbacks as well as the successes—using the editorial page to put issues into their larger contexts. We always try to call them as we see them, going so far as to bite the hand that feeds us when we think such commentary is deserved. We believe our readers expect nothing less. And so, to the winners and sinners of 2011, we offer cheers and jeers for the considerable achievements and for the significant embarrassments of the last 12 months.

The multinational F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program achieved a major milestone with the successful testing of two F-35Bs for the first time onboard a U.S. Marine Corps amphibious ship, 10 years to the month after Lockheed Martin won the development program, now estimated to be worth more than $50 billion. Despite the fact that the two aircraft exceeded expectations on the ship, much technical work remains; flight testing is only 18% complete. And, as the U.S.

Singapore Bureau Chief Leithen Francis interviews Malaysian Defense Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi at the LIMA Airshow in Langkawi, Malaysia, last week. Ahmad discussed what the government is expecting from foreign defense companies in terms of offsets in return for Malaysia buying new fighters, airborne early warning aircraft and antisubmarine-warfare helicopters (see p. 23). That Malaysia is embarking on major defense procurements attracted more exhibitors than the previous show.

Your editorial “Debate Defense Spending Honestly” (AW&ST Nov. 14, p. 66) makes some critical points—defense spending is not unaffordable or high by historical standards, and those who call for more cuts must explain which missions and capabilities should be sacrificed on the budget altar.

“Electronic Attack” (AW&ST Nov. 21, p. 29) discusses the use of high-power microwaves to disable the enemy. I must remind you that directed-energy weapons are not a new concept. Though disputed by some historians, many agree that the concept was used in combat as far back as 212 B.C., when a Greek general, Hippocrates, used mirrors to intensify and direct the Sun's rays, as proposed by Archimedes. During the siege of Syracuse, the general ordered that the rays be focused on the sails of the Roman fleet, which resulted in a conflagration.

In regard to “Workforce Woes” (AW&ST Nov. 14, p. 51), why is it necessary to boost the number of females in A&D? Of course, anyone interested in a specific career must have as equal an opportunity as his/her contemporaries. But, if it is true that females have a stronger nurturing quality than men, it explains why teaching and medical fields attract a high number of females.

There appears to be a discrepancy between a recent cover and its caption (AW&ST Nov. 28, p. 4). The aircraft identifications are inverted. The T-38 is on top; the RAF Hawk Mk 128 below. Hilton Head, S.C. The reader is correct—Ed.

The article “Are There Alternatives to the F-35 Program?” engenderedsome heated give-and-take: richardb writes:

Christoph Meyerrose will become the new managing director of Lufthansa Bombardier Aviation Services at Schoenefeld Airport in Berlin. He succeeds Andreas Kaden, who will head Lufthansa Technical Training in Hamburg, where Meyerrose had been managing director.

Bernard (Barry) McCullough has been appointed VP-business strategy for Washington-based Lockheed Martin's Mission Systems & Sensors. He joins the company after a 36-year career in the U.S. Navy, from which he retired as a vice admiral.