JOINT VENTURE: Messier-Bugatti and Tracer Repair and Overhaul have formed the joint venture Messier-Bugatti-Tracer, to provide wheel and brake repair and overhaul services to commercial air carriers in the Americas. The venture has repair stations in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Florida and is the third largest provider of wheel and brake services for commercial and military aircraft, Messier-Bugatti said Feb. 20.
The General Accounting Office (GAO) will write a "report card" assessing the impact of the recommendations made by the Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry, according to commission chairman Robert Walker. Former Rep. Walker (R-Pa.) had hoped the commission would be funded to write its own report card. However, despite support from some agencies, the idea didn't receive much cooperation from the Bush Administration, he said.
PRAGUE - Slovakia is poised to sign a maintenance contract with Russia that would dramatically cut operational costs for its fleet of MiG-29s, according to the head of the Slovak air force. Maj. Gen. Jozef Dunaj told the DAILY Feb. 19 that the contract to maintain the fighter aircraft, which is being undertaken as partial payment for Russian debts, is ready to be signed "very soon."
SIMULATORS: Cubic Defense Applications has introduced a new line of electronic warfare (EW) simulators that test an aircraft's ability to detect "virtually all" known radar threats, the company said Feb. 20. The High Density Simulation System (HIDESS) emulate the radar signals of surface-to-air, air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles, among others.
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - The task of certifying the weapons store configurations for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter already is drawing major interest even though the fighter is years away from conducting its first live-fire tests. The issue is complicated by the multiple certification standards used by the U.S. armed services and at least one foreign military, the United Kingdom. It is among several compatibility hurdles confronting a program that is tailored for a community of widely different customers.
NASA and its international partners are within days of deciding how they will support the International Space Station (ISS) while the space shuttle remains grounded, according to NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe. A Russian Progress resupply ship arrived at the station earlier this month, delivering a ton of food, fuel, clothing, and other materials to sustain the current Expedition Six crew - Commander Ken Bowersox, Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin, and Science Officer Don Pettit.
The Pentagon's chief weapons tester is raising concerns about the Air Force's Space-Based Infrared System-High (SBIRS-High), warning in a report that recently revised schedules provide little room for error.
CONNEXION: British Airways passengers were able to go online in the air when the Connexion by Boeing broadband system went live Feb. 20, Boeing said. The trial is taking place for three months on one British Airways 747-400 operating between New York's JFK and London's Heathrow airports.
OVERHAUL VENTURE: Lufthansa Technik AG and Rolls-Royce plan to form a joint venture specializing in the repair and overhaul of three types of Rolls-Royce Trent engines, the companies said Feb. 20. The venture will be named N3 Engine Overhaul Services and its location will be decided in 2004, depending on which European location offers the most competitive advantage, the companies said. The joint venture plans to begin operations in 2007, overhauling engines for Airbus A330, A340-500/600 and A380 aircraft for customers in Europe, the Americas and Africa.
The Missile Defense Agency has decided to revamp the High Altitude Airship (HAA) program following consultations with private industry, an MDA official said Feb. 19. "The latest on the HAA project is that the acquisition strategy is being revised," the official wrote in response to questions from The DAILY.
DIRECTORY: The McGraw-Hill Companies will release a print and electronic directory of governments, companies, people, products and services in the $138 billion homeland security market. The directory will be released in May at the second annual McGraw-Hill Homeland Security Summit & Exposition in Washington, D.C. May 14-16.
NEW DELHI - India has agreed to invest about $150 million in the development of the Arrow-2 anti-missile system, according to an official with the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The United States, which is developing the system with Israel, must approve the investment.
Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee have announced the following subcommittee assignments for the new 108th Congress: Airland: ranking Democrat Neil Abercrombie (Hawaii) (DAILY, Feb. 18) and Reps. Ike Skelton (Mo.), John Spratt (S.C.), Solomon Ortiz (Texas), Lane Evans (Ill.), Jim Turner (Texas), Adam Smith (Wash.), Mike McIntyre (N.C.), Robert Brady (Pa.), John Larson (Conn.), Steve Israel (N.Y.), Jim Cooper (Tenn.), Kendrick Meek (Fla.) and Rodney Alexander (La.).
Even as the U.S. Defense Department resolves a projected crisis in tactical aircraft production later this decade, a new fighter industry threat is emerging, this time across the Atlantic Ocean, according to an aerospace analyst.
GOODRICH, Charlotte, N.C. Ron Frederick has been appointed president of the company's Turbo Machinery Products division in Chandler, Ariz. INTEGRATED DEFENSE TECHNOLOGIES, Huntsville, Ala. Barth Pitchford has been appointed president of ZETA-IDT Inc., a subsidiary in Morgan Hill, Calif. NORTHROP GRUMMAN, Los Angeles Philip A. Odeen, the former chairman of TRW Inc., has been elected to the company's board of directors. PARKER HANNIFIN, Cleveland
House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.) and Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) have proposed legislation aimed at improving coordination among NASA, the National Science Foundation and other federal agencies that conduct nanotechnology research and development.
Ronald D. Sugar, the newly appointed chief executive officer of Northrop Grumman, also is expected to assume the role of board chairman eventually, a company spokesman said Feb. 19. The company's board of directors voted Feb. 19 to name Sugar, 54, who had been president and chief operating officer, to the CEO job effective April 1. Kent Kresa, the company's chairman and CEO for 13 years, retires from the CEO post at the company's mandatory retirement age of 65 in March, the company said in a written statement.
NEW DELHI - The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has decided to set up a second master control facility at Bhopal to help monitor the country's satellites. The Indian National Satellite System (INSAT) has five satellites, INSATs 2C, 2dt, 2-3E, 3B and 3C, making it one of the largest satellite systems in the Asia Pacific region.
NASA released the initial, level one requirements for its Orbital Space Plane (OSP) Feb. 18, specifying that the vehicle must be capable of carrying at least four passengers while being safer than the space shuttle and Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
LAUNCH: Arianespace successfully launched an Intelsat 907 communications satellite on Feb. 15, on the last flight of the Ariane 4 booster, the company said. The flight marked the 116th launch of the booster, which is being replaced by the Ariane 5, the company said. The Intelsat 907 will provide Ku-band spot beam coverage for Western Europe and West Africa and C-band capacity to the Americas, Europe and Africa, according to Intelsat.
