Insitu is planning to launch the first U.S. commercial unmanned aircraft system (UAS) operation following receipt of FAA type certification for its ScanEagle UAS on July 19. No details are available yet, but the operation is expected to be in the Arctic. Restricted-category type certifications for the 44-lb., gasoline-powered ScanEagle and the 13.4-lb., battery-powered AeroVironment Puma AE are the first to be issued by the FAA under Part 21.25 of the federal aviation regulations.
The Royal Navy is investing heavily in a multi-mission capability for its future fleet of shipborne helicopters, but the service is paying the price in terms of shrinking fleets and greater demands on support services and training.
There were more than 2,000 exhibitors at last month's Paris air show, and my guess is that at least one-third were involved in metal forming or cutting. And all of these companies depend on “subtractive” manufacturing techniques such as turning, milling and cutting to produce their aerospace parts. It was clear that many senior executives are acutely aware of and talking about the emergence of “additive” manufacturing (AM)—sometimes known as “3-D printing”—as the next major change-and-disruptive technology in aerospace manufacturing.
Prospects for abundant and inexpensive natural gas have aircraft manufacturers reassessing the options for future fuels, particularly for the military where both energy security and affordability could trump any desire to reduce emissions by moving away from fossil fuels.
ITEP Turboshaft A new 3,000-shp engine would reduce specific fuel consumption by 25% while increasing power by 50% in helicopters now powered by General Electric T700 turboshafts. A high priority for the U.S. Army, the Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP) is planned to get underway this year, with the powerplant expected to be available by 2019. Competing demonstrator engines are already running: General Electric's GE3000 and the Honeywell/Pratt & Whitney HPW3000.
Sequestration-forced budget cuts are driving a drastic decline in U.S. military training capability, and the impact could lead to an unsettling concept known as tiered readiness. According to Gen.
Of the many ways general aviation pilots use to measure and improve their performance, few are as instantly gratifying as the sight of a “bowling pin” on a cross-country flight. VOR (very-high frequency omnidirectional radio range) stations generally look like bowling pins, and crossing directly over one means that the pilot's navigation skills, at least for keeping the needle on the VOR instrument display in the vertical direction, are up to snuff.
France secured its two biggest export agreements in recent memory with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in July, including an €800 million ($1.05 billion) sale of two high-resolution spy satellites built by EADS-Astrium and Thales Alenia Space. The satellites are small enough to launch on a European Vega rocket and are said to be similar to France's twin Pleiades spacecraft, putting the UAE in an elite club of nations cable of taking high-resolution images of sub-meter-sized objects from space.
Avic is broadening its general aviation portfolio with the acquisition of Thielert, a bankrupt German maker of diesel engines for aircraft—including a U.S. Army version of the General Atomics Predator.
FAIR WARNING: U.S. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wants Congress and the White House to backload sequestration cuts under the 10-year time frame of the 2011 Budget Control Act and to give the Defense Department more flexibility to meet any overall reduction. Otherwise, the law’s annual, automatic recisions make for a process that is too steep, too fast — and it will mean culling military missions, particularly as the combined military gets smaller to meet budgets.
FRANKFURT — EADS is preparing a major structural overhaul that will lead to realigned divisions and a new name: Airbus. According to several industry sources, the changes may be confirmed at next week’s board of directors meeting scheduled for July 30. EADS did not comment officially.
EADS is preparing a major structural overhaul that will lead to realigned divisions and a new name: Airbus. According to several industry sources, the changes may be confirmed at a board of directors meeting scheduled for July 30. The European aerospace group, which will not comment, is going to merge its defense and space divisions—Cassidian and Astrium—into a new entity. The new unit is also going to include Airbus Military, according to some sources.
In the final analysis, it will be up to federal lawmakers to decide whether the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) acquisition plan is worth the risks cited by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) in its newly released report on the program.
Click here to view the pdf Indian Naval Acquisition Plans Fiscal 2013-2018 Indian Naval Acquisition Plans Fiscal 2013-2018 Platform Name Size of Existing Inventory (2013) FY13 Units FY14 Units
The navy-to-navy relationship between the U.S. and India is “solid and growing,” says Adm. Jonathan Greenert, the U.S. chief of naval operations. Speaking July 19 at a media briefing, Greenert cited the expansion of the Malabar exercise in Indian waters.
The U.S. Navy agrees with some of the recent recommendations made by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) regarding the much-maligned Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program, but the service essentially intends to continue following the program’s current acquisition and development course. The GAO started to investigate the LCS program following congressional outrage last year in the wake of Aviation Week reports about problems aboard LCS-1, the USS Freedom, and related programmatic problems.
The U.S. missile defense system that has failed to intercept a ballistic missile target since 2008 needs more regular testing, says U.S. Air Force Gen. Bob Kehler, who oversees the Pentagon’s Strategic Command.
