After a decade of lackluster testing and a major redesign, the Pentagon’s $15-billion Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) system finally seems to be hitting its stride. This is more than 20 years after the Pentagon embarked on a land-mobile, theater-wide ballistic missile defense system.
In the run-up to the planned launch of space shuttle Discovery late this month on STS-128, NASA is still analyzing the shedding of foam debris on the previous mission, with some engineers calling for the shuttle to be rolled back from the launch pad for more in-depth analysis. Endeavour mission STS-127 saw worrisome foam losses from the forward bipod area, an ice/frost ramp on the liquid oxygen tank and the intertank area.
In his letter, Richard P. Hora relates the tragic loss of an Air France Airbus A330 in June to the equally tragic American Airlines A300 accident in November 2001 (AW&ST July 6, p. 8). It’s possible there are similarities in the accidents, but the speculation by Hora: “it seems likely that turbulence stripped the (vertical) fin off both aircraft” and that a “bad design was allowed to continue” was irresponsible and inaccurate.
Capt. (ret.) Carmen D. Villani, Jr. (Chantilly, Va.)
The airline industry does have its problems but lack of regulation is not one of them, as suggested by two recent letters (AW&ST Aug. 3, p. 8). Just click on the “Regulations & Policies” tab on the FAA web site and then spend an inordinate amount of time sifting through regulations, advisories and technical orders.
David A. Fulghum (Washington), Douglas Barrie (London)
The U.S. Navy is spinning up its somewhat belated breakout into the world of UAVs with several formidable designs, including the stealthy, aircraft carrier-capable naval Unmanned Combat Air System and the long-endurance, Global Hawk-like Broad Area Maritime Surveillance aircraft.
Engineers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and Raytheon are co-developing a new material designed to transfer heat away from high-power electronic equipment such as next-generation radars. Made from a composite of diamond and copper, the material is one of a number of exotic materials in development under GTRI’s “Thermal Ground Plane” initiative that aims to remove heat up to 100 times more effectively than existing thermal-conducting technologies.
L-3 Communications’ Link Simulation & Training unit has developed a real-time network service designed to support virtual training or operations for any unmanned aircraft platform. Designated Blue Box HD, the system reinforces a UAV’s situational awareness during operations by augmenting its field-of-view (FOV) sensors with 360 deg. of high-fidelity virtual imagery.
Vitrociset, the Italian company heavily involved in air traffic management, is continuing to pursue its expansion strategy to broaden its business base. As part of that plan, it has acquired Enterprise Digital Architects, a company established in 2001 as an Ericsson spin-off, which provides information technology services. The company ran into financial problems, though, and filed for bankruptcy protection in 2007. Vitrociset, under Italian bankruptcy rules, was appointed to shepherd the business to financial health.
The last of the eight Global Positioning System Block IIR satellites—GPS-IIR21 (M)—is due for liftoff Aug. 17 from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla. Launch will be on board the last Delta II purchased by the U.S. Air Force. The eight satellites were upgraded from a series of 21 built by Lockheed Martin with navigation systems and payload from ITT. They are characterized by increased signal power to ground receivers, two new military signals to improve accuracy, enhanced encryption and anti-jamming capabilities, and a second open-access signal for civil users.
Bettina H. Chavanne (Webster Field, Md., and Washington)
The U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman are splitting hairs over a delay in the first flight of the Unmanned Combat Aircraft System. Capt. Marty Deppe, the Navy’s UCAS program manager, declares that the flight has been pushed to mid-to-late November or possibly December. But Scott Winship, Northrop Grumman’s vice president and program manager for UCAS, says, “It’s still on schedule as far as I’m concerned.”
Army Lt. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly began his first day as Missile Defense Agency director in November during what could be one of the Pentagon’s most seminal budget proposals in years. His predecessor, U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry (Trey) Obering, had the advantage of plentiful funding and the seemingly unwavering support of then-President George W. Bush. Now, however, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is setting a new standard; he’s canceling some mainstay programs while boosting those that support his concept of irregular warfare.
A jurisdictional scuffle between the Justice and Transportation Depts. over airline antitrust immunity (ATI) applications will get an airing on Capitol Hill in mid-September. Look for the House Judiciary subcommittee on competition to hold a hearing in which it will examine whether the Justice Dept. has a large enough role. While the Transportation Dept. has the lead on ATI approvals, the Justice Dept. typically weighs in. But in a recent ruling on an ATI application by Continental Airlines and Star Alliance carriers, the Transportation Dept.
The final British helicopter units were withdrawn from Iraq last week, with Merlins and Pumas returning to their home base at RAF Benson. The Pumas were deployed in 2003, followed by the Merlins two years later. A detachment of Merlins is now being prepared for deployment to Afghanistan later this year.
LTQ Engineering, the engine overhaul joint venture between Qantas Airways and Lufthansa Technik, has restructured the production area at its Melbourne, Australia, facility in the past year. This enabled the introduction of lean production principles and a pulse engine line, which expedites throughput and frees up capacity for additional customers in Southeast Asia. The joint venture was launched in July 2008 with a 10-year contract for Qantas’s engine overhauls, starting with CF6-80C2s and CFM56-3s.
Goodrich and Avic Aircraft will set up two joint venture companies, one for making landing gear and the other for parts of engine nacelles. The U.S. company sees the joint ventures as helping to pursue business in China—for example, on the Comac C919 now in development. Avic is looking forward to strengthening its export opportunities, as well as sales at home. Avic unit Xi’an Aircraft International signed the deal with Goodrich.
Changes in the Boeing 737 Next Generation airframe have prompted Spirit AeroSystems, acting on behalf of Boeing, to seek redesigns of the laminated glass windshields produced by PPG Industries’ Aerospace Unit in Huntsville, Ala. The windshields will be slightly smaller than on current models and include an inboard plastic antispall liner to prevent glass broken from a bird strike from entering the cockpit.
Israel-based Elbit reported $728.3 million in second-quarter revenue, representing 11.5% year-on-year growth. Net income grew 91.7% compared to the 2008 second quarter, reaching $59.7 million. Sales of unmanned aerial vehicles in Israel and other activities helped offset reductions in sales of land systems in the U.S. Elbit also saw a slowdown in quick-reaction orders from the Pentagon that had boosted margins.
Airbus has completed assembly of its second A350XWB fuselage demonstration barrel. The 18-meter (59-ft.-long), 6-meter-dia. test article was completed at the Hamburg, Germany, facility and is destined to serve a variety of functions, including determining how to produce and assemble the three-section element of the aircraft. The unit also will play a part in fatigue tests and be used to determine damage tolerance. It has a prominent role in the long-term A350 certification process, although the stand-in is not identical to the final configuration.
Lockheed Martin warns that fast-track plans to develop alternate commercial human-rated transport systems to the International Space Station could be costly in terms of time, money and even safety.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. is investigating a tarmac delay that kept nearly 50 passengers, including two infants, on a small jet for about 6 hr. overnight Aug. 7 after a Continental Express flight diverted to a Rochester, Minn., airport. The incident generated extensive media coverage and online discussion and again galvanized the airline passenger rights movement, which wants federal legislation that would force airlines to give passengers the option to get off the plane after 3 hr., with limited exceptions.
When the who’s who of missile defense mavens gathered for a gala in Washington last year, there was a palpable aura of triumph. Twenty-five years earlier, with much fanfare, President Ronald Reagan had announced the Strategic Defense Initiative. The political right embraced SDI as a heroic plan, akin to Apollo or the Manhattan Project, that could make nuclear warfare obsolete. The left ridiculed SDI as Star Wars and derided the endeavor as chimerical at best, wasteful and dangerous at worst.
A National Research Council panel is calling on NASA to reestablish an organization like the now-defunct NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) that would nurture “visionary, far-reaching” ideas with the potential to revolutionize how the space agency does business. The original NIAC was formed in 1998, and received $36.2 million in NASA funding until the agency terminated it in 2007. “The committee found the NIAC program to be effective in achieving its mission and accomplishing its stated goals,” the panel says in its report.
The first series production Yak-130 Mitten combat trainer for the Russian air force (left) will be on static display at the MAKS 2009 air show in Zhukovsky this week. Assembled at the Sokol plant in Nizhny Novgorod, it was flown for the first time in May and is the initial one of 12 Yak-130s ordered by the air force in 2005.
Air One may live on as a low-cost brand within the Alitalia Group. In early January, the plan was to shed the Air One brand name and absorb its operations, aircraft and personnel into the “new” Alitalia. But Alitalia Chairman Roberto Colaninno said last week that the company needs to think twice about the demise of Air One as “it’s too important a brand.” Alitalia is also considering setting up its own low-cost operation to face strong competition for domestic and international traffic.
