Raytheon’s new office in Portsmouth, England, will “enable us to work more collaboratively with our [U.K.] customers,” says David Appel, Raytheon Technical Services Co. director of U.K. military training programs. Raytheon is competing for the Royal Navy Fleet Outsourced Activities Project, focusing on low-risk, cost-effective training techniques.
The U.S. Air Force’s deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, has led the charge in combining the service’s intelligence and surveillance capabilities. A new goal for warfighters is to seamlessly fold together conventional and cyber-operations with ISR. That effort will address all types of warfighting while rationalizing missions and budgets. He took time recently to discuss with Senior Military Editor David A.
Surging passenger demand is proving beyond doubt that the U.S. major airlines are firmly in recovery mode. But even as profits appear tantalizingly within reach, the industry faces constant reminders of how easily external forces could undermine its momentum.
Capt. (ret.) Jean-Claude Demirdjian (Los Angeles Calif.)
The NTSB recommendations in its study on glass-cockpit safety of more reading and more “training” are inadequate for the type of problem presented by these cockpits (AW&ST March 15, p. 43). Forty years of flying from 60 kt. to Mach 2, with “steam gauges” in Cessna 150s to Boeing 747s, and the final five years in a glass cockpit (MD-11) taught me: •You do not learn to fly a glass cockpit by reading a book. •You do not maintain the necessary skills by watching others do it.
While the acquisition of a majority shareholding in Antonov may have been on the agenda for the visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to Kiev, Ukraine, on April 21, the deal will not guarantee the future of the An-70 military airlifter. The moribund program will remain outside the scope of any teaming between Russia’s United Aircraft Corp. (UAC) and the Ukrainian aircraft manufacturer until the An-70 completes government trials in Ukraine. A draft intergovernmental agreement calling for Antonov to join UAC was drafted prior to the visit.
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory is delivering eye-popping early images from geosynchronous orbit following its Feb. 11 launch. This multi-wavelength extreme ultraviolet image was taken by SDO on March 30. The false colors correspond to different gas temperatures—red denotes a relatively cool 60,000 K, or 108,000 F., while blues and greens are greater than 1 million K, or 1.8 million F.
The Brazilian air force has formally taken delivery of its first Mi-35 attack helicopters. The government is buying 12 of the Russian helos under a $363.9-million contract. The Mi-35 won out over the AgustaWestland AW129. The defense ministry also indicates the F-X2 fighter competition—which is pitting the Boeing F/A-18, Dassault Rafale and Saab Gripen against each other—is to be decided before the end of May.
USAF Lt. Col. (ret.) David G. Simons, who soared in 1957 in a sealed gondola carried by a balloon to 19 mi. above Earth’s surface, paving the way for human spaceflight, has died. He was 87 and died April 5 of congestive heart failure at home in Covington, Ga.
The British Royal Air Force last week suspended Eurofighter Typhoon training flights shortly after resuming its normal flying program following the discovery of volcanic ash deposits on a few aircraft during post-flight inspection. The affected aircraft are undergoing engine checks. Flights by Typhoons that were on quick-reaction alert were not suspended.
US Airways has pulled out of merger talks with United Airlines after the negotiations failed to produce a firm commitment from the Chicago-based carrier. According to sources, including one involved in the talks, a deal was expected to be signed last week until United shifted its focus to a possible agreement with Houston-based Continental Airlines. Both United and its Star Alliance partner are conducting due diligence, which could produce a merger plan as early as this week.
NASA has awarded a contract to build a testbed for optically guided rendezvous and docking in Mars orbit—a key technique that will be required for a Mars sample return. Such a mission will have to gather a sample from the Martian surface, then launch it into Mars orbit, where it will dock autonomously with the spacecraft that will bring it back to Earth. The Mars Orbiting Sample Retrieval Rendezvous and Docking Testbed will be developed by Aurora Flight Sciences and Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Space Systems Laboratory.
Even as Russian airframers are betting heavily on Western engines to revive their fortunes, the nation’s engine manufacturers hope they can reboot their own activities through new commercial aircraft projects.
Northrop Grumman has won a place in NASA’s latest catalog of standard spacecraft for the hardware that formed the background for the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (Lcross). Based on the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA), the Eagle-S is one of three new space platforms Northrop Grumman is offering that build on past spacecraft, each optimized for specific launch vehicles and missions. Like Lcross, the Eagle-S platform is built to take advantage of excess lift capacity on an Atlas V or Delta IV EELV.
Seat supplier “production challenges” caused Boeing to deliver 13 fewer jets in the first quarter of 2010 than the same period a year earlier and led to a 13% decline in revenues in the company’s Commercial Airplanes unit, to $7.5 billion. Operating profit, however, increased 63%, to $679 million, as margins nearly doubled. The revelation of seat supplier problems helped to explain a variation in first-quarter deliveries that company officials had initially attributed to normal ups and downs.
David A. Fulghum (Washington), Douglas Barrie (London), Alon Ben-David (Tel Aviv)
Pentagon officials judge Iran’s Army Day parade to be part posturing and part concept demonstration. But they also contend that Tehran is making progress in its weapon programs that have armed the country with a force of 1,000 ballistic missiles with ranges of 90-1,200 mi.
NHIndustries delivered the first NH90NFH helicopter to the Royal Netherlands Navy during a ceremony April 21 at AugustaWestland’s Vergiate, Italy, site. The navy has a total of 20 on order; this event marks the first delivery of a naval NH90NFH variant to a customer. This type will be flown by the Dutch, French, Italian, Norwegian and Belgian navies—which, combined, ordered 111. The NH90NHF is primarily designed for autonomous anti-submarine, anti-surface-warfare missions, although a range of other roles is possible.
The Canadian Defense Department is poised to issue a new policy statement showing how the nation plans to expand its space presence to meet changing threats. The existing policy, formulated in 1998, reflects requirements associated with the 1990-91 Persian Gulf war. The new document, expected to be issued in 30-60 days, will reflect more recent developments, such as the need for reinforcing Canada’s sovereignty in an era of global warming that is facilitating activity in the high arctic, and protecting space assets against potential hostile threats.
May 3-5—Speednews Eighth Annual Aerospace and Defense Industry Suppliers Conference. Intercontinental Los Angeles at Century City. See www.speednews.com May 4-6—Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers Inc./Aerospace and Electronics Systems Society/Institute of Navigation’s Position Location and Navigation Symposium. Renaissance Esmeralda Hotel and Spa, Indian Wells, Calif. See www.ion.org
The NTSB has scheduled a three-day safety forum on professionalism in aviation at its Washington headquarters starting May 18. At the forum, the safety board intends to gather information on how pilots and air traffic controllers are screened, selected and trained, and examine ways to enhance professionalism and excellence in performance. To that end, the NTSB will question a panel that will include representatives from government, industry, labor groups, academia and professional associations.
China Eastern Airlines has signed a preliminary agreement to enter the SkyTeam alliance by the middle of 2011, giving it two of the three main carriers in China.
London aims to make directed-energy weapons a greater focus of near-term research and development, working on laser air defense systems and continuing development of radio-frequency weapons technology. Defense officials want directed-energy systems to be one of several core areas of development in the 2010-11 weapons research program. In terms of laser systems, this could include both land-based and naval air defense research.
The Discovery astronauts touched down at Kennedy Space Center early April 20, ending a weather-delayed, 15-day mission to the International Space Station that now has shuttle program managers reevaluating how they intend to conduct the three remaining missions before the shuttle’s retirement, and whether there may be time and resources for an additional flight.
The U.S. Air Force’s “fighter gap” is shrinking dramatically, but not because more aircraft are being acquired. The service hopes to buy 1,763 Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters in the coming years to replace 2,228 legacy fighters. The difference is because each new F-35 and the existing Lockheed Martin F-22s will be far more capable than their predecessors.
The Czech government is preparing a national space plan that should lead to the creation of a space steering committee and, ultimately, a space agency. The Czech Republic joined the European Space Agency and provides €7.5-8 million ($10-11 million) a year to the ESA budget, including €2-2.5 million for optional programs. Discretionary spending is expected to increase substantially in the next three-year plan, to be approved in 2011-12, Czech industry officials say.
