France appears ready to pull out all the stops to convince A400M partners that they should agree to renegotiate price and delivery terms and specifications for the airlifter, rather than stop the troubled program.
Bharat Electronics and Dynamatic Technologies has been selected by Northrop Grumman as component manufacturers for the APG-68(V)9 radar. Initial deliveries from the Indian manufacturers are expected to begin during the second quarter of this year. Bharat Electronics also has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Boeing to jointly develop an analysis and experimentation center in modeling and simulation
The Russian air force is struggling to return its MiG-29 fighters to operational status and still has not identified a fix to the problem that caused the fleet to be grounded last year. Although the service has resumed MiG-29 Fulcrum flights, around 70% of the fleet remains on the ground as the aircraft undergo close inspection and possibly require maintenance.
A Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. Dhruv helicopter has for the first time been flown with production standard Turbomeca Ardiden 1H1 turboshaft engines. The flight was made last month at HAL’s helicopter division site in Bangalore. The engine will be certified in India using the name Shakti. The defense ministry has 159 Dhruvs on order. (Additional coverage of Aero India begins on p. 23.)
Southwest Airlines last week began revenue passenger trials of Row 44 broadband service. The carrier plans to equip three more of its Boeing 737s by early March and continue the trials for “several months.” Southwest (NYSE ticker symbol: LUV) did not provide a specific end date for the testing. Passengers may access the Internet free using personal wi-fi-enabled devices, including laptops and iPhones. Cellular technology will not work with the service. The trials were authorized by the FCC under temporary license.
Commercial customers and the U.S. National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) can start using imagery from the Geo-Eye-1 satellite launched last September, following an extended calibration phase for the high-resolution color data. The Dulles, Va.-based company started selling imagery Feb. 5 with ground resolution as fine as 0.5 meters, in black-and-white and color (blue, green, red and near-infrared). It also started submitting imagery to the NGA under the company’s NextView contract (AW&ST Sept. 15, 2008, p. 36).
With Iran steadily closing in on a nuclear capability and the climate in the Middle East tenser then ever, France is determined to join the select club of nations that can detect a ballistic missile launch.
India’s Aeronautical Development Establishment is planning to fly a prototype of its Rustom medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle as early as 2012-13. A mock-up of the UAV was on display at Aero India 2009. India looks likely to continue its close relationship with Israel in the UAV area on Rustom, according to industry sources attending the event. Roles for Rustom cover intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance as well as signals intelligence.
Simulator manufacturer CAE, which emerged in the black in the quarter ending Dec. 31, says its role in the civil marketplace this year will be challenging due to decreased aircraft deliveries. Its outlook for its role in the defense market remains positive, says President and CEO Robert E. Brown. In the quarter, Montreal-based CAE reported a 23% increase in revenue to C$424.6 million ($339.7 million) and a 33% increase in revenues from continuing operations to C$53.3 million, compared with same period last year.
While BAE Systems only had a mock-up of its Mantis unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) at Aero India, final assembly of the demonstrator airframe is well underway at BAE’s Warton site in England. The Indian defense ministry is interested in acquiring a medium-altitude long-endurance UAV, and BAE could emerge as one of several contenders for a program award.
EADS is a leading contender to be prime supplier for a multibillion-dollar border control system for the Saudi national guard. Originally known as Miksa and now renamed the Saudi Border Guard Development Program, the system will feature radars, cameras, control facilities and ancillary equipment. First phase of the contract would be worth up to €1.5 billion ($1.95 billion) but could increase to more than €10 billion over the life of the program.
Honeywell plans to cut hardware iterations by 50% for the navigation, guidance and subsystems it is developing for Lockheed Martin as part of NASA’s Orion crew launch system, intended to transport astronauts to the International Space Station as well as on future expeditions to the Moon and possibly Mars. Virtual development of the electronics system could cut 12 months out of the development cycle.
Anticipation of a future shortage of aviation mechanics is spurring the State of Delaware to take action. Officials at Delaware Technical and Community College (DTCC) anticipate opening an FAA-approved airframe mechanic school late in April, following certification next month. DTCC’s Aviation Maintenance Education Center will offer an airframe license and an associate degree in aviation maintenance, and plans call for adding a powerplant curriculum in 2010. It was developed in cooperation with the FAA, Labor Dept., State of Delaware and Sussex County, Del.
Douglas Barrie (Bangalore), Neelam Mathews (Bangalore)
Even as India moves toward a second-quarter launch of candidate fighter flight trials, participants are girding for what could be a long haul and a test of stamina for the $10-billion prize. Among the six bidders, some believe a downselect may yet occur—even if only de facto—if the decision process is slowed significantly and costs mount. The 126-aircraft acquisition, however, is at the heart of a broad modernization program for the Indian air force, and it is a key element of efforts to rationalize the disparate fighter fleet.
Assistant U.S. Air Force Secretary for Acquisition Sue Payton provided an interesting set of statements in citing success of the C-5M Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program (RERP) under her watch, but cited the lack of skilled oversight that is costing the government (AW&ST Jan. 19, p. 22). “I’d break the engines off of that C-5 RERP and have them be [government-furnished equipment] to Lockheed Martin. I could save them millions of taxpayer dollars, . . .
Mar. 3-4Technology Training Corp.’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Conference. San Diego Sheraton Hotel & Marina. Also, Mar. 26-27—Maritime Security & Domain Awareness Conference. Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites, Alexandria, Va. Call +1 (310) 563-1210, fax +1 (310) 563-1220 or see www.ttcus.com Mar. 4-6—University of Westminster Aviation’s Seminar: “Marketing & Market Research for Air Transport: Practical Techniques and Strategies.” London. Call +44 (207) 911-5000 ext. 3344, fax +44 (207) 911-5057 or see www.westminster.ac.uk/transport
Graham Warwick (Washington), Bettina H. Chavanne (Washington)
Hovering above Boeing’s Mesa, Ariz., facility, the Little Bird is playing a key role in developing the latest Block III version of the AH-64D Apache. The light helicopter is acting as a surrogate for the U.S. Army’s MQ-1C Warrior as Boeing tests the capability to control the unmanned aircraft from the Apache cockpit.
Bird Air Services, a subsidiary of New Delhi-based Bird Group, has signed a marketing agreement with Pacific Propeller International (PPI), a repair and overhaul services provider for several regional airline and military aircraft types to facilitate MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) services for propeller engines for aircraft in India. A recent report by Ernst and Young on the Indian aviation sector says the country’s airlines spending on MRO will increase to $1.2 billion in 2017 from $440 million in 2007, an annual growth rate of 11.8%.
Rolls-Royce and Honeywell are waiting for a decision on a request for proposals from the Indian defense ministry for re-engining of its Jaguar aircraft. Honeywell is proposing the F125IN, while Rolls-Royce is offering the Adour 821, an improved variant of the engine that already powers the aircraft. Weight and payload growth for the Jaguar fleet has left the aircraft underpowered, particularly for hot-and-high takeoffs, says one senior Indian air force officer.
John Young, the Pentagon’s increasingly unpopular acquisition chief, is becoming a big liability for Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Critics say the recruitment machinery is churning to find a replacement before even more enmity is created between the Pentagon’s top military and civilian managers. With debate over the Quadrennial Defense Review beginning this month, the Obama administration needs to move quickly. That said, there haven’t been any “new names introduced in the past two weeks,” says a longtime acquisition official with insight into the process.
Controllers are checking out a pair of telecom spacecraft following a Russian-government Proton M launch for the Russian Satellite Communications Co. (RSCC). Liftoff from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan came at 7:03 p.m. EST Feb. 10. Russian contractors built both spacecraft using Thales Alenia payloads. Reshetnev ISS, which has long worked with Thales Alenia for RSCC, built the 2.6-metric-ton AM44, which carries 16 Ku-, 10 C- and one L-band transponder and will be located at 11 deg. W. Long.
Alaska Airlines has asked the U.S. Transportation Dept. to investigate the ownership status of Virgin America to determine whether it still meets—or will continue to meet—the legal requirement that U.S.-based airlines be owned and controlled by U.S. citizens. Alaska, citing recent media reports and Virgin America financial data, raised questions about the airline’s sources of new cash in 2008 and the possibility that its U.S. investors soon will cash out.
China Eastern will add capacity at Xi’an to support development of the western Chinese city’s airport as a regional hub. The move is part of an agreement with airport operator China West Airport Group.
Lease rates are falling, aircraft cancellations are mounting, and airlines are considering further capacity cuts. The prospects for Airbus and Boeing to end the year without white tails—aircraft coming off the production line with no customer —look increasingly bleak. In January, Airbus and Boeing saw cancellations outpace orders.
