The Pentagon’s new Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) office is making progress on several time-sensitive projects designed to supply commanders with urgently needed services from spacecraft. Goodrich will manufacture “ORS 1,” a free-flying satellite to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) to leaders in U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military activities from the Arabian Gulf to Central Asia, including Iraq and Afghanistan. Pentagon officials cite security reasons for not discussing the satellite’s mission.
Boeing has refined its 20-year forecast to include more specifics about growth in China. Not surprisingly, the nation is regarded as the industry’s fastest-growth market, accounting for 41% of all sales in the Asia-Pacific region. Boeing expects China to need 3,710 new aircraft worth $390 billion by 2027, tripling the current fleet to 4,560 total airplanes. Single-aisle transports—Boeing 737s or Airbus A320s—will account for 70%, or 2,600, of these sales. Some 780 medium-size twin-engine aircraft, such as 787s or 777s or the Airbus A350, will be needed.
Pamela A. Drew (see photos) has become vice president-business development and USAF Lt. Gen. (ret.) Daniel P. Leaf vice president-strategic initiatives for the Northrop Grumman Corp. ’s Mission Systems Sector, Reston, Va. Drew was vice president/general manager of Boeing Integrated Defense Security Solutions, while Leaf was deputy commander of U.S. Pacific Command at Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii, and vice commander of Air Force Space Command at Peterson AFB, Colo.
The Italian air force has had to quickly shift search-and-rescue missions to AB212s after it grounded the fleet of HH-3Fs following the Oct. 23 fatal crash in France in which eight people died. The HH-3Fs are ordinarily used for regular and combat SAR roles. The shift isn’t easy, though, due to the limited number of AB212s available and the fact some are scheduled for deployment to Afghanistan.
The U.S. Air Force plans to build the Space Threat Assessment Testbed (STAT) that will create a realistic space environment in which to perform developmental and early operational testing of space hardware for the Defense Dept., National Reconnaissance Office and other agencies. The facility will be constructed at the Air Force’s Arnold Engineering Development Center at Arnold AFB, Tenn., and is scheduled to become operational in 2012-13, says Col. Art Huber, AEDC commander.
The Army’s demand for aircraft parts sparked a surprising rise in the nation’s durable goods orders in September, the Commerce Dept. says. Nationwide demand rose 0.8 % during the month to $208 billion after declining 5.5% in August. Orders for defense aircraft and parts totaled $5.7 billion during the month, up 10.1% from August. All of those orders for parts came from the Army, says Adriana Stoica, a Commerce Dept. aircraft analyst. The government agency does not disclose orders by program or company.
Lockheed Martin is preparing to go supersonic with the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter after completing engine relights and noise measurement tests at Edwards AFB, Calif.
S. (Vish) Viswanathan and J. Garner Moore have been named to the board of directors of Houston-based Materials Science Technology Inc. Viswanathan is Austin Finch professor of finance at Duke University, while Moore is retired vice president-chemicals of the Ethyl Corp.
The Sept. 26 report on the status of the FAA’s Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) program by the Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) represents a huge missed opportunity to get this program back on track (AW&ST Oct. 6, p. 62). What we need is a new ADS-B vision to replace the current World War II-vintage Mode C/S transponder technology with a state-of-the-art solution that can be deployed at a much lower cost.
Joseph P. Clayton has been appointed to the board of directors of the EchoStar Corp. , Englewood, Colo. He is former chairman of Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.
Boeing is rolling out its new F-15SG for the Republic of Singapore Air Force at its factory in St. Louis on Nov. 3. The new aircraft, based on the F-15K designed for South Korea, will include a Raytheon AESA radar. The first flight took place Sept. 16. Singapore has ordered 24 of the aircraft.
The future of Italy’s CosmoSkyMed Earth observation constellation is linked to ongoing planning for additional spacecraft aimed at maintaining Italian leadership in radar satellites. The third CosmoSkyMed military-civil Earth-observation radar satellite is entering a shakedown and commissioning phase, to be completed as early as December, after its successful injection into a Sun-synchronous, down-dusk, polar circular orbit at an altitude of 630 km. (391 mi.). It was launched here Oct. 24.
Beginning Dec. 4, Virgin Atlantic plans a second daily flight to Hong Kong from London Heathrow with an Airbus A340-600. From Oct. 28 to Dec. 3, Virgin will operate the new service three times a week. The airline’s chief executive, Steve Ridgway, says the popular route is the third busiest long-haul service out of Heathrow after New York John F. Kennedy International Airport and Dubai.
The first two of six revamped UH-3H Sea King helicopters delivered by the U.S. Navy to Argentina’s navy are now flying, and four more are expected by March. Argentina lost three Sea Kings during a fire in 2007 on board its icebreaker in the South Atlantic, sparking an urgent need for replacements. The U.S. Navy identified two recently retired Sea Kings in Pensacola, Fla., and four more at the Aerospace Maintenance Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz. The first two arrived in Argentina in August and have been flown.
Pentagon acquisition chief John Young is irked with the Air Force’s difficulties in providing a coherent Fiscal 2010 budget proposal to the Defense secretary. “There are too many games being played,” he says, citing the Air Force’s proposal that its sister services—the Army and Navy—should help pick up the tab for building USAF satellites. Air Force officers argue that missile warning, communications and navigation services are provided to all of the services and the cost should be equally shared.
Robert B. Gowens has become CEO of the Mooney Airplane Co. , Kerrville, Tex., upon the resignation of Dennis E. Ferguson. Stan (Skip) Feher has been appointed sales director in the Northwest U.S. and Jennifer Mitchell in California.
Donald Hazelwood (see photo) has become vice president-unmanned systems at the Systems Engineering Group of QinetiQ North America , Huntsville, Ala. He was project manager for the U.S. Army’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems.
The British Defense Ministry has awarded Marshall Aerospace a £97-million ($160-million) support contract for logistics support for the Royal Air Force’s Tristar tanker/transport aircraft until 2015. The Tristar is due to be withdrawn from service that year, and replaced by the Airbus A330-based Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft.
Airport leaders want infrastructure upgrades for their industry included in any economic stimulus bill Congress considers if it holds a post-election “lame duck” session. William DeCota, aviation director for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, asks the House Transportation Committee to consider including “at least $600 million” in a stimulus package and possibly as much as $1 billion. That could help create up to 35,000 airport-related jobs, he says.
The space shuttle Endeavour is cleared for launch to the International Space Station Nov. 14 at 7:55 p.m. EST following the STS-126 Flight Readiness Review (FRR) at the Kennedy Space Center Oct. 30. The mission’s astronaut crew, commanded by Navy Capt. Christopher J. Ferguson, also completed the flight’s countdown demonstration test with the Kennedy launch control team Oct. 29. The FRR was the first with former astronaut Bob Cabana as the center director. He succeeds William Parsons, who has retired from NASA to enter private industry.
Clarke Mouncher (see photo) has been named global program director for the Rolls-Royce 250 for Dallas-based BBA Aviation Engine Repair and Overhaul . He held a similar position at H+S Aviation.
Contrary to the “Let’s Make Everybody Happy” crowd (AW&ST Oct. 20, p. 8), splitting any tanker deal would be an expensive mistake. It would bring a bigger bill for the American taxpayer and for military over the life of the aircraft. As it is now, it looks like any tanker will be oversized based on the results of this year’s failed procurement effort. The U.S. Air Force allowed Northrop Grumman to go big, so they would stay in the competition. Now, after the selection mess, Boeing undoubtedly will offer a bigger plane the next time around.
Naverus, the leading supplier of Required Navigation Performance procedures and services worldwide, is holding a seminar on performance-based navigation in Seattle on Nov. 10-11. Presentations are to be made by Southwest Airlines, Air China, Boeing, Airbus and by Avtech of Stockholm, a strategic partner with Naverus in the rollout of performance-based navigation procedures in Australia and other nations. Naverus’s headquarters are in the Seattle area. The seminar primarily features airlines and aircraft manufacturers but a National Business Aviation Assn.
