In “Aftershocks” (AW&ST Nov. 28, p. 22) you say that the failure of the U.S. Congress to enact true budget reform has placed the F-35 at risk. But, canceling it would not necessarily be a bad thing. We have already reached the point of diminishing returns for human crewed tactical aircraft. Remotely piloted vehicles are widely operated. Semi-autonomous vehicles already exist and fully autonomous tactical aircraft cannot be far off.
A recent cover (AW&ST Nov. 28) displays the graceful curves of the T-38 in contrast to the BAE Hawk. So why replace a design which—50 years after its debut—continues to be a paradigm of performance and ease of maintenance? And why replace it with a foreign design? The T-38 is fully amortized and integrated into our system. Instead, we should be studying methods of integrating new systems and materials into its basic design, something the Israelis have done with the F-5.
“Closing the Case” (AW&ST Nov. 21, p. 20) suggests that power beamed to Earth from orbit will be viable for remote and emergency energy in 10-30 years. The most valuable application for space solar power (SSP), however, is in space itself. Electric-plasma propulsion technologies have been developed that offer high specific impulse but are burdened by the heavy solar or nuclear plants needed for motive power.
Guy Norris's “Japan Poised For F-X Announcement” generated several lively exchanges, including: Bismarck's opener: Japan is under military occupation of the U.S., otherwise the Rafale would tarnish the Super Hornet and would bury all the rest combined. Sferrin notes: It didn't take long for the excuses to start. alexandre responds:
The David Fulghum/Bill Sweetman “Downed UAV Technology Outdated” article continues to elicit a host of responses, including: MilWatch says: Even if the sensors were not the newest (and there's just speculation about this), info about structure, coatings and elements of the electronics can be learned from the wreckage. China will probably be paying a visit . . . like they did with the special-mission helicopter in Pakistan. MJ agrees:
Holger Beck has become head of the marketing, sales and product management division at Lufthansa Technical Training in Hamburg, as part of his function as chief commercial officer. Karsten Schmidt will be promoted to COO from managing director of Lufthansa Systems Aeronautics.
Drew McEwen (see photos) has been named head of global sales and business development and Lisa Giessert head of sales administration and customer support at Piper Aircraft, Vero Beach, Fla. Before joining Piper in 2010, McEwen was a sales executive with Hawker Beechcraft Corp. Giessert is a 20-year Piper veteran who has held multiple management roles.
Anna Gawthorpe is the new safety and quality manager at Execujet's new fixed-base operation in Cambridge, England. She was airfield operations and safety unit manager at London City Airport.
Brian Sheridan (see photo) has been appointed VP and general manager of BAE Systems' SpecTal business, based in Arlington, Va. He was VP and deputy general manager for the Intelligence and Security sector.
Greg Mays has joined Alaska Airlines as managing director of airframe, engine and component maintenance, repair and overhaul. He was managing director of global cargo operations at Delta Air Lines.
Aubry Mayse (see photo) has been promoted to director of planning and distribution for product support materials from senior manager at Gulfstream Aerospace, Savannah, Ga.
Bernd Heinrich has taken over the operating management of RUAG Aviation's Geneva-based business aviation unit and Tobias Laps has become the head of the global sales team. Both share more than three decades of experience in international aviation.
Daniel Allen will become president of U.S. operations at CACI International, Arlington, Va., Jan. 1. He will succeed William Fairl, who will become chief development officer. Allen has been chief operating officer.
Gilles Garczynski (see photo) has been appointed executive VP-human resources at Messier-Bugatti-Dowty, Velizy-Villacoublay, France. He succeeds Stephane Legrand, who transferred to another position.
Chris Ferguson, retired U.S. Navy captain and a former NASA astronaut, has joined Boeing's Houston-based Space Exploration Div. as director of commercial crew interface.
Andrew Ladouceur (see photo) has been promoted to VP-charter sales and client services from manager of the air charter group at Meridian Air Charter, Teterboro, N.J.
Suzanne Rubin has been named president of the American Airlines AAdvantage program, succeeding Maya Leibman, who has become chief information officer and senior VP-information technology.
Shinichiro Ito, president and CEO of the ANA Group, has been named Person of the Year 2011 by Tokyo-based Orient Aviation magazine. He was selected for demonstrating “the highest level in leadership, imagination, outstanding business ability and appetite for revolutionary change.”
Robert Burke of Northrop Grumman has been elected to the board of directors of Washington-based Women in Aerospace. Other new board members are: Tammy Cameron of Boeing, Susan Chodakewitz of Tetra Tech, Giovanna M. Cinelli of law firm Jones Day, Stephanie Fraser of Metron Aviation, Christina Frederick-Recascino of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Susan Saadat of Thrane & Thrane, Barbara Slayton of Lockheed Martin Corp., Rebecca Spyke Keiser of NASA and Judy Smith of ITT Exelis.
Russia's national satellite navigation system, Glonass, finally has once again reached its full operational capability to provide global coverage. The Glonass operational fleet now includes 24 satellites with eight on each of the three orbital planes. The last, 24th Glonass-M spacecraft entered into service on Dec. 8. It is from the last batch of the three satellites orbited on Nov. 4 aboard a Proton-M launch vehicle. Three more satellites (two this year and another early in 2012) will become operational.
The launch of a Japanese radar satellite on Dec. 12 is to be followed by a second in 2012-13, as the country builds up its space-based reconnaissance capability. It joins three optical reconnaissance spacecraft and helps replace two units that failed in orbit. Japanese media credit radar satellites with resolutions of 1-3 meters (3-10 ft.), although the performance depends in part on the frequency of the radar. The same, rather wide, range of resolutions has been quoted for earlier Japanese radar satellites.
U.S. Air Force officials plan to turn the new Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) jam-proof communications satellite over for operational use in early 2012 after a protracted journey into orbit and subsequent testing period. The Lockheed Martin satellite, worth more than $1 billion and launched Aug. 14, 2010, experienced an onboard liquid apogee engine failure, forcing operators to employ other thrusters for a 14-month journey 22,000 mi. into geosynchronous orbit. To date, they have demonstrated use of the new, higher data rate capability provided by AEHF.
It is hard to tell if USAF Gen. (ret.)Michael Hayden, former director of both the National Security Agency and CIA, was being coy, ironic or very straightforward when he suggested the “Stuxnet” attack on Iran's nuclear industry was “incredibly precise” and targeted enough to have been carried out by “responsible nations.” That addresses, to a degree, the notion that the U.S. and Israel in some way colluded to slow down Tehran's nuclear program. Hayden made the comment at the Black Hat Abu Dhabi conference for cyberoperations specialists.
