The F-35 recently was designated as the lead platform for airborne electronic attack, says U.S. Marine Corps Brig. Gen. David Heinz, deputy executive officer for the Joint Strike Fighter program. Soon after, the director of program assessment and evaluation, Brad Berkson, suggested the Navy act as the executive agent for a next-generation jammer analyses of alternatives. The idea is that a joint effort also will serve the Air Force and Special Operations Command.
Jim Moravecek has been named president of the Engine Alliance , East Hartford, Conn., the joint venture of General Electric and Pratt & Whitney. He succeeds Bruce Hughes, who will return to GE Aviation. Moravecek has been director of the alliance’s GP7200 program for Pratt & Whitney.
The demand for sustainable aviation is here to stay. Today, the green challenge is everywhere, from wishful thinking to innovative projects. There is no longer any doubt that an environmentally friendly airline industry will become a way of life. However, impatience is rampant as the public, in general, doesn’t yet understand that it takes up to a decade to develop, test, manufacture and put into service all-new aircraft and engines. Moreover, no significant technology breakthrough is in sight, making engineering teams’ assignment even more complex.
An international team of researchers has discovered a new mineral in a sample of comet dust collected in the stratosphere by NASA’s high-flying ER-2 aircraft. Dubbed Brownleeite—after Donald E. Brownlee, a professor of astronomy at the University of Washington in Seattle, who pioneered the study of interplanetary dust particles (IDPs)—the material is a manganese silicide. Researchers using a transmission electron microscope at NASA Johnson Space Center spotted the mineral in a 2003 IDP sample that originated in the comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup.
While overshadowed by the latest replacement tanker development, the fall-out from Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne’s dismissal continues to reverberate around the Pentagon. Apparently there was another point of contention between Wynne—a supporter of continued limited production of the Lockheed Martin F-22—and Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Wynne favored deploying the Raptor in the Middle East.
The Bush administration and the House of Representatives are headed for a clash over the Fiscal 2009 NASA authorization bill. It adds three space shuttle flights that the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) hasn’t cleared, including one that isn’t on the baseline flight manifest. The House voted 409-15 to authorize $20.21 billion for NASA—$2.6 billion above Bush’s request—including $1 billion to accelerate the development of the Orion and Ares shuttle follow-on vehicles.
Robert Wall (Paris), Amy Butler (Washington), Michael Mecham (San Francisco)
The repercussions in Europe to a new U.S. Air Force refueler competition could be huge and cascade well beyond defense industrial ties. Access to the European defense market for U.S. companies could be one of the first areas where the GAO decision will leave its mark. One senior U.S. industry official developing business opportunities in Europe says there’s concern that European countries will react by excluding U.S. products for consideration in competitions on their home turf.
I read with interest Virgil H. Soule’s letter “Bring Back Tilt Wing Concept” (AW&ST May 26, p. 12), in which he says the tilt wing had advantages over the tiltrotor concept regarding wing and rotor disc-loading. However, beyond the wing/disc-loading performance discussion, the NASA data gathered in the 1960s by the Chance-Vought/LTV XC-142A experimental prototype identified an obvious fundamental physics limitation of any tiltwing concept, regardless of any new technology, computer-modeling or materials developed since the 1960s.
In an unusual move for a U.K. development program, the Fire Shadow loitering munition will be pressed into users’ hands for trials during its development process to validate the weapon’s concept and gain user feedback before production starts.
Boeing is rethinking its twin-wide-body strategy, weighing whether to move forward with a 787-10 or even to fill that market segment with a member of an entirely new aircraft family.
Bob Fornaro, who has been president/CEO of AirTran Airways , also will be chairman. He succeeds Joe Leonard, who has retired. Arne G. Haak has been promoted to senior vice president-finance/treasurer/chief financial officer from vice president-finance/treasurer. Geoffrey T. Crowley has been named to the board of directors. He is president of Northshore Leasing, Appleton, Wis., and was a founder of Air Wisconsin Airlines.
A move by France to rejoin the NATO military command and reorient strategic policy could come undone if the country does not obtain the stronger European security ties it seeks in return.
If Boeing is celebrating its successful protest of the Air Force’s refueling tanker decision, the menu includes a large helping of humble pie. Boeing raised eyebrows at the Pentagon and all around town with its unprecedented media blitz, complaining about the initial award to its competitor. But in an e-mail circulated to employees, senior officials at Boeing’s defense sector say “this is a time for humility.” The message calls for employees to proceed with “professional decorum in all manner of communications,” from official talks to casual discussions with friends.
Air Berlin will reduce overall capacity 10% and long-haul capacity 30% by parking 14 short- and medium-haul aircraft and reassigning some long-haul aircraft, starting this winter season. Three Airbus A330-300s deployed on long-range routes are being moved to medium-haul operations. New routes to Beijing and Shanghai will be closed and may not be reopened soon. Hot-weather vacation destinations will see frequencies increase.
The British Defense Ministry hopes to extend available airspace for unmanned aerial vehicle trials and training at its Salisbury Plain exercise area. A public consultation process began last week. The Thales Watchkeeper system now in development will likely be the first to use the expanded range space.
Israel Aerospace Industries is expanding its unmanned-aircraft activities, beginning work to turn helicopters into drones and offer them for a variety of intelligence gathering roles.
The White House’s hard line is nothing compared with a proposal from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. The veteran Republican wants a large portion of NASA’s budget redirected to incentives and huge tax-free prizes to spur private-sector innovation. What remained would be converted into a research organization similar to the National Science Foundation, he told the National Space Foundation’s Space Business Forum in New York last week.
David A. Fulghum (Washington), Graham Warwick (Washington)
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will “redefine the concept of multirole strike” aircraft, says Lockheed Martin, but it won’t say exactly what that means. However, some capabilities can be spotted in purposely vague descriptions and the basic concept of low-observable electronic attack (LO EA). The principle is that jamming and other EA equipment becomes more effective as it gets closer to a target.
The U.S. space program leads the world. It has produced more firsts, delivered more discoveries and still possesses more capability than any of its competitors. Yet NASA does not enjoy the strong public support it once did. Why is this so? In part, because NASA’s current efforts are too disconnected from everyday life and U.S. society. It’s no wonder that few Americans can say when they last heard the space program developed something which demonstrably touched their life.
Air New Zealand is grappling with a dilemma faced by many other smaller international airlines: How do you defend your markets when the global heavyweights are doing battle in your backyard? Finding an answer hasn’t been easy, but Air NZ believes it has hit on the right formula to thrive in a tough industry environment. This has required a top-to-bottom shake-up of a formerly complacent national carrier, with a second wave of change on the horizon in the form of a major fleet upgrade.
Northrop Grumman is giving the Shepherding Spacecraft for NASA’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (Lcross) its final checkout, after completing thermal vacuum testing of the fast-track hardware some two months early. Based on the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Secondary Payload Adapter, known as an ESPA ring, Lcross will be ready to fly to the Moon as a piggyback payload on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) just 25 months after the contract award.
European aerospace and defense companies may be scouring the U.S. market for acquisitions and driving up prices, but Elbit President and CEO Joseph Ackerman says he’s not worried about finding opportunities. He argues that while others are looking for specific technologies, he’s seeking a company that has an established rapport with the Pentagon along with some viable ongoing programs. Elbit will bring to the table the technology to build on that relationship and expand the business.
EADS says it is proceeding with the sale of its 10% stake in Russian aircraft maker Irkut, even as it waits for the doors to be opened to take a stake in the country’s aerospace holding company Oak. EADS is looking to take a 10% stake in that entity, but the valuation remains to be completed and terms need to be ironed out.
Extra charges for checked baggage and higher airline fares apparently are not as bothersome to travelers as airline employees who are not knowledgeable, courteous and helpful at every stage of the travel process. According to a survey by J.D. Power and Associates, Alaska Airlines and Continental are tied for first place in passenger satisfaction, followed by Delta Air Lines, Air Canada, American Airlines and US Airways, with Northwest and United airlines tied for last place.
Phoenix Mars Lander computer and engineering teams at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Lockheed Martin detected a potentially serious flash memory situation developing on the vehicle last week, and acted to prevent a worsening of the event.
