AeroVironment’s (AV) Puma AE hand-launched unmanned aircraft system has been selected by U.S. Special Operations Command for use by Navy SEALs, under a potential five-year contract valued at up to $200 million. The all-environment version of the electric-powered Puma carries a waterproof day/night imaging sensor package and can land near-vertically on land and water, says AV. The initial order is worth $6 million.
The malaise affecting the air transport business is also making an impact on cargo conversion activity, but Israel Aerospace Industries’ Bedek Aviation believes many of the bottlenecks are merely short-term constraints. The cargo conversion and maintenance unit is “fairly busy right now,” says Dany Kleiman, general manager of Bedek Aviation Group. However, he adds that “the outlook for next year is unclear in light of the current market situation. We have some orders, but we are seeking more.”
As the U.S. Navy prepares to replace its turboprop P-3s with jet-powered P-8s, the service is looking to conserve fuel and airframe life by avoiding the need to repeatedly descend from patrol altitude to deploy sonobuoys or identify ships. Several small-business research projects are developing air-launched UAVs to use on the P-3 and P-8. Major aerospace players are also seeking ways to deploy sensors and weapons from high altitude.
Phil Boyer, who since 1991 has been President of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Assn., last week announced plans to retire at the end of the year. Boyer’s successor will be Craig L. Fuller, who is executive vice president of APCO Worldwide, a public affairs and strategic communications company.
Israeli defense and aerospace contractor Elbit Systems is continuing its acquisition spree. The company has bought its second small Israeli defense high-tech firm, Haifa-based Electro Optic Research and Development, within a fortnight. The price for the purchase, from Technion Research & Development Foundation and Bynet Electronics, was not disclosed. The business works on seismic and acoustic sensors, but also does some work in image processing, including millimeter-wave image processing. The deal comes just a week after Elbit Systems bought Bar-Kal Systems.
Bombardier has given the strongest indication yet that it intends to use the proposed CSeries to take market share from Airbus and Boeing with the release of an updated specification sheet including a third variant of the larger C130 model. The specification sheet, effectively a sales pitch to airlines, dramatically changes Bombardier’s vision for the family of aircraft. Gone is a proposed long-haul version of the smaller 110-seat C110 and in its place is what Bombardier is designating a “hot and high” variant of the 130-seater, dubbed the C130XT.
Chances are good you haven’t read a lot about AeroVironment Inc. Though the Southern California company has delivered more than 10,000 small unmanned aircraft, it has been publicly traded for less than 18 months and its annual revenues are roughly 150 times smaller than sales at Northrop Grumman Corp., builder of the high-profile Global Hawk unmanned aircraft. When it comes to stock performance in 2008, however, few can match little AeroVironment. In the table at left, the company’s double-digit gains stand out in a sea of red arrows.
BAE Systems is ramping up production at its radiation-hardening foundry modernized with U.S. Defense Dept. funding while designing new and upgraded devices to support U.S. civil and military space efforts and other specialized applications.
Thales is starting to develop the next generation of its Eurocat X (export version) automated ATC system—used for en route, terminal area and airport tower operations—for the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore. The contract is valued at approximately $228 million. CAAS’s Lorads III will replace the current system provided by Thales in 1995. The company has already sold 260 of its Eurocat Xs to 55 nations, including China, Vietnam and Thailand.
Ian Shiu has been appointed director of corporate development, Ivan Chu director of service delivery, Quince Chong director of corporate affairs and Rupert Hogg cargo director, all for Cathay Pacific Airways . Shiu was general manager for revenue management, sales and distribution. Chu was general manager for the Southwest Pacific and succeeds Chong, who was an executive in the Corporate Communication and Inflight Services departments. Hogg was managing director of James Finlay Ltd., which like Cathay Pacific is a subsidiary of John Swire & Sons Ltd.
Prof. T. Nejat Veziroglu’s letter “Hydrogen, Future Airline Fuel?” (AW&ST June 23, p. 12) says how the use of hydrogen by the airline industry will address environmental concerns because there are “no CO2 emissions.” This is a fallacy. Having been in fuel cell R&D for 10 years, I’ve long chafed at this common misperception.
Martin O’Brien (see photo) has been promoted to president from vice president of the Ophir Corp. , Littleton, Colo. He succeeds Loren Nelson, who has been promoted to chairman/CEO.
Saab has teamed up with Rheinmetall Schweiz and Pilatus Aircraft as part of its bid to win Switzerland’s contract for an F-5 fighter replacement. The Gripen will go up against the Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Rafale.
Lockheed Martin has developed a common baseline configuration for the new HC/MC-130Js that will recapitalize the U.S. Air Force’s fleet of 115 special-mission Hercules. The company has received a $470-million contract to build the first six of at least 68 aircraft, with initial operational capability set for 2012. The aircraft will replace and augment both USAF Air Combat Command HC-130P/N tankers used to refuel combat search-and-rescue rotorcraft and Air Force Special Operations Command MC-130E/P tanker/transports.
NASA will fund two science proposals as the agency’s next Explorer Program Mission of Opportunity investigations. The first, proposed by Goddard Space Flight Center, will provide a U.S. soft X-ray spectrometer at a cost of $44 million for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s New exploration X-Ray Telescope (NeXT) that will study black holes and other extreme environments in the Universe. The other, by the University of Central Florida, will fly an atmospheric remote-sensing instrument package on a yet-to-be-determined future commercial satellite.
July 9-10—Shephard’s Group Unmanned Vehicles Europe Conference and Exhibition 2008. Novotel London West Hotel. Also, Oct. 12-13—Air Power Middle East. Armed Forces Officers’ Club, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Call +44 (162) 860-6979 or see www.shephard.co.uk/events July 14-20—Farnborough (England) air show. Call +44 (125) 253-2800, fax +44 (125) 237-6015 or see www.farnborough.com
Sam Gilliland, chairman/CEO of Sabre Holdings, Southlake, Tex., has been appointed to the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board , which consults to the U.S. Commerce secretary on policies and programs that affect the U.S. travel and tourism industry and provides a forum for solutions to industry problems.
Boeing has booked four 737 orders from Westjet Airlines and identified Biman Bangladesh Airlines as having ordered two previously listed as unidentified. Orders through June 24 include 341 for the 737 and 459 total aircraft.
Airbus has shipped parts for the new Airbus A320 final assembly line in Tianjin, China, in preparation for the start of assembly operations in August. The first airplane will not be ready for delivery to Aer Dragon until the second quarter of 2009. Airbus shipped the forward and rear fuselage sections, wings, empennage and engine pylons by sea from Hamburg. The Tianjin site will not meet all of China’s demand for Airbus narrow-body jets, with the balance to come from Airbus in Europe.
Frank Moore (see photo) has been appointed as Reston, Va.-based lead executive for the Aerial Common Sensor program for the Northrop Grumman Corp. He was vice president/general manager of the Missile Defense Div.
Germany’s Fraport Airports is managing daily operations at Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and King Abdulaziz International in Jeddah in an effort to improve customer service and sustain traffic growth. The contract is part of a six-year program aimed at improving the airports for an initial public offering scheduled for 2011. Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation had indicated it wanted to increase capacity at Jeddah to about 30 million passengers annually by 2012 and to 80 million by 2035.
Although both presidential candidates are busy painting themselves green and touting their environmental credentials, the airline and aerospace industries are leery about how that will play out for their sectors.
If the aerospace and defense (A&D) industry thinks it doesn’t know enough about Sen. Barack Obama yet, Sen. John McCain may be someone it knows all too well.
Boeing has begun assembly of the fourth 787 destined for the flight-test fleet. It will be the last airplane equipped with Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines. The aircraft’s wings, aft fuselage, empennage and nose assemblies are in Everett, Wash. The mid-fuselage is undergoing systems installation in South Carolina by partner Global Aeronautica (GA). GA will only complete about 50% of the systems work—the remainder will be done by Boeing in Everett. The fifth and sixth flight-test 787s will be powered by General Electric GEnx-1B engines.
