Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) remains in the game to develop a commercial route to the International Space Station after a third try to get its Falcon 1 rocket into orbit ended in failure.
India will not apply its recently updated offset policy to its high-profile Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft bids from six European, Russian and U.S. suppliers. The contenders to make 126 new fighters to replace the Indian air force’s aging MiG-21s are the EADS Eurofighter, Saab JAS 39 Gripen, Mikoyan MiG-35, Boeing F/A-18E/F, Lockheed Martin F-16 and Dassault Rafale. The contract is expected to be worth $12 billion, with the winner committed to achieving a 50% offset in the value of the contract through investments in India.
The Russian airline sector is bracing for a shakeout despite continued high traffic volume. But there are clear signs of a slowdown, and strong passenger-growth figures may mask financial weakness. For now, the upswing remains impressive, with operators seeing a 21.8% volume increase in the first six months to 22.9 million passengers (last year saw an 18% hike over 2006 levels). But industry-wide traffic growth in June has already cooled, and the July trend was expected to be the same—although carriers have not yet reported those figures.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is planning for more complex testing of its $12.5 billion Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) development project next month while the Army is continuing to receive equipment for its first active battery.
Managing air traffic through 4D trajectories is a cornerstone of airspace system modernization, but exactly how the concept will be implemented is still being defined. 4DTs—based on the three spatial dimensions plus time—are part of both the FAA’s NextGen ATC upgrade effort and Europe’s Sesar (Single European Sky ATM Research) project. They allow pilots and controllers to negotiate a flight path that optimizes efficiency using precise timing and highly accurate position data.
Eutelsat’s Eurobird 3 spacecaft is not suffering from a solar panel failure, as indicated (AW&ST Aug. 4, p. 22). An article on EADS and the Airbus Military A400M misidentified the Europrop International TP400-D6 engine (AW&ST Aug. 4, p. 36). It’s an 11,000-shp. turboprop.
Aircraft sales and debtor-in-possession financing are raising cash for Frontier Airlines as it writes a reorganization plan under Chapter 11 bankruptcy. On Aug. 5, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approved a $75-million commitment from an unsecured creditor group including Republic Airways Holdings, Credit Suisse Securities and AQR Capital. The court overruled protests by the Frontier Airlines Pilots Assn.
Davud Kasparov has been named design engineer and Aaron Jo-Nes technical support manager for Raisbeck Engineering of Seattle. Anne Lockemy has been promoted to advertising and public relations manager from marketing assistant.
The Defense Dept.’s new national strategy aims to balance conventional war-fighting capabilities—which now dominate its force structure and planning—with irregular and asymmetric skills and weapons. “U.S.
Ground systems developed as part of the U.K.’s Astraea program to examine the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in non-segregated airspace are being tested throughout all this month. Pilots, navigators and air traffic controllers are taking part in trials using the ground station to fly a simulated UAV mission. Results of the tests will be used to help further development of ground control station software.
Canada is leasing helicopters and unmanned air vehicles to increase support for its troops in Afghanistan. Up to eight Mil Mi-8 chartered commercial helicopters will be available later this year under a renewable one-year contract worth C$36 million ($34.2 million). They will precede six used Boeing CH-47D Chinook helicopters that are to be purchased from the U.S. for $292 million and available by February 2009.
Amy Butler (Washington), John M. Doyle (Washington)
The Pentagon will take into account the extra capabilities—such as fuel offload—of its two tanker offerings, as well as 15 more years of life-cycle cost, as it proceeds with a fast-paced redo of the botched Boeing and Northrop Grumman/EADS tanker duel. The Defense Dept. issued the new draft request for proposals (RFP) for KC-X Aug. 6, kicking off another contest for up to $35 billion in work that the Pentagon hopes to award by year-end.
Raytheon will submit a proposal for a reduced-yield variant of the Paveway IV dual-mode weapon to the U.K. Defense Ministry in the next couple of months, likely shortly before the baseline version makes its operational debut.
Jerry Henry has become director of sales for Sandel Avionics , Vista, Calif. He succeeds the late Bill Wood. Henry was senior manager of customer support for Avidyne.
Tests by the Phoenix Mars lander are being reoriented toward verification that Martian soil contains totally unexpected salts like those consumed on Earth by extreme life forms. The salts, called perchlorates, have been discovered in back-to-back wet chemistry runs by the Phoenix Microscopy, Electrochemistry and Conductivity Analyzer (MECA) instrument. The team now hopes to obtain perchlorate data using the Thermal Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA) that has been tuned using commands from Earth to help it find perchlorates.
Northrop Grumman’s Integrated Systems Div. will supply engineering and technical services to support the two Global Hawk unmanned aircraft being flown by NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center. The aircraft provide long-distance, long-endurance high-altitude platforms for NASA instruments.
Tom Cornell has been appointed San Francisco-based vice president in the Facilities and Operations Div. of Landrum & Brown . He had a similar position with the Jacobs Consultancy.
Michael Mecham (San Francisco), David Hughes (Washington)
In a deal that covers most of its commercial, military and space manufacturing, Boeing says it will retire a number of legacy lifecycle management systems in favor of the Teamcenter suite of tools produced by Siemens PLM Software. “We are partnering with Siemens to enhance Boeing’s product data management capabilities,” says Boeing Vice President Nancy Bailey, president of its IT Product Systems.
The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) has awarded a $153-million contract to Boeing to demonstrate new concepts to make the GPS signal more jam-resistant. The High Integrity Global Positioning System demonstration is expected to run through 2010 and combine signals from the Iridium telecommunications system in low Earth orbit with signals from the GPS constellation in medium Earth orbit.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has his work cut out for him in trying to influence the Air Force to support the warfighter in an efficient and safe manner. USAF will not entertain better and more efficient business models. Inefficiency ensures job security and command time.
Azerbaijan Airlines, which ordered three 787s in February 2007 and was not ranked high in Boeing’s delivery schedule, has substituted one of them for a 767 to satisfy its interim requirements. The carrier has not previously operated 767s, which the 787 is to replace, but also ordered a second one. In addition, the airline added orders for two 737s. This marks the first displaced order on record since Boeing began experiencing 787 schedule delays last September. First deliveries aren’t expected until third quarter 2009.
The British Defense Ministry has picked BAE Systems Insyte to develop its next-generation of naval surveillance and targeting radar for several classes of ships. BAE’s Artisan radar will equip the Royal Navy’s two future aircraft carriers, as well as being fitted to the Type 23 frigates, landing and helicopter assault ships.
The final MH-60R of 11 needed to equip the U.S. Navy’s first operational MH-60R helicopter maritime strike squadron (HSM-71) departed Lockheed Martin Systems Integration facility in Owego, N.Y., late last month for San Diego. The Owego plant is the prime air weapon systems integrator for the MH-60R for the Navy, an anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare helicopter. The HSM-71 squadron is due to deploy with the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier strike group in 2009. This model of a Sikorsky aircraft will replace the Navy’s SH-60B and SH-60F Seahawks.
China’s civil aviation administration will severely punish airlines when their poor service causes passenger protests. Airline service standards have resulted in protests ranging from sit-ins to the storming of aircraft. The administration says it has repeatedly told carriers to make improvements, but to no avail. The policy may seem odd, since passengers are surely more likely to kick up a fuss if they know the airline will be penalized. But the Chinese government routinely holds enterprises responsible for actions that result in any disturbance of social stability.
The X Prize Foundation says 10 teams will compete in the 2008 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge, a two-level, $2-million competition requiring a vehicle to simulate trips between the Moon’s surface and lunar orbit. The teams competing are Texas-based Armadillo Aerospace; California-based teams BonNova, Unreasonable Rocket and Team Phoenicia; Colorado-based Paragon Labs, and Chicago-based TrueZer0.
