Army Gen. David Petraeus says the Iraqis are getting a bit of a bad rap in the criticism that they are letting the U.S. shoulder all the costs of security needs. So far this year, the Iraqi government has purchased over $2 billion in military equipment and services of U.S. origin under the Foreign Military Sales program. The U.S. commander in Iraq tells Congress Iraq’s security ministries “are steadily improving their ability to execute their budgets,” with $8 billion to be spent this year and $11 billion planned for next year.
The U.S. Air Force’s Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) has tested a General Electric F101 engine burning a 50/50 blend of synthetic and petroleum-based fuels in the center’s J-1 altitude chamber. The experiments are the first to check performance and operability across a wide envelope of altitude and Mach numbers, according to AEDC. The synthetic fuel is derived from natural gas or coal using the Fischer-Tropsch process. A B-1B Lancer flew at supersonic speed on Mar.
Capt. Terry McVenes (Executive Air Safety Chairman)
Your editorial “Don’t Let Courts Trump Safety” hit the mark when you pointed out that the judge’s decision to release the ASAP reports from Comair Flight 5191 endangers the entire program. The incentive for flight crews and other employees to submit ASAP reports is largely based on trust that the information will not be used in enforcement, disciplinary or legal proceedings.
Astronomers are analyzing a brilliant gamma-ray burst that took place an estimated 7.5 billion years ago, yet was so bright it could have been seen with the naked eye. “This burst was a whopper,” says Neil Gehrels of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, principal investigator on the Swift satellite that first spotted it. “It blows away every gamma-ray burst we’ve seen so far.” The Burst Alert Telescope on Swift detected the blast in the constellation Bootes at 2:12 a.m. EDT Mar.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is likely to approve the proposed $5-billion merger of satellite-radio providers XM Radio and Sirius within the next few weeks, following the Mar. 25 Justice Dept. approval of the deal. “Battles over merger conditions will likely take at least a few weeks to play out,” says Stanford Group Analyst Paul Gallant. Bear Stearns’ vice president of equity research, John Vreeland, notes that both XM and Sirius believe the FCC decision will follow closely behind the Justice Dept.
A low-cost subsidiary based abroad is likely to be All Nippon Airways’ solution to the problem of meeting a foreign budget-airline invasion of its high-cost homeland. The Japanese carrier’s long-running plans for a budget offshoot are becoming firmer. The company now says it could have such a subsidiary operating in the coming financial year, beginning on Apr. 1.
The European Vega rocket development program has scored a major milestone following the successful qualification firing of its second stage Zefiro 23 solid rocket motor at the Salto di Quirra test range. The 26-ton, 7.5-meter-long (24.6-ft.) unit was tested by Avio, which owns 30% of prime contractor ELV. The final development target is set for June, when the third stage Zefiro 9 is to carry out its final test firing.
NATO will adopt a new cyber-defense policy that will be presented to the 26 alliance nations during the summit in Bucharest this week. Protection and defense will be major buzzwords in the document, but the policy shies away from including the option of pre-emptive, first-strike cyber-attacks—despite moves toward developing network-invasion capabilities in the U.S. armed forces. The new policy was spurred by a sustained cyber-attack last year on NATO member Estonia, which Estonia alleged was orchestrated by Russia.
Larry Groves has been appointed corporate vice president-Washington operations for the Telephonics Corp. , Farmingdale, N.Y. A former defense consultant, he was vice president/general manager of air defense systems for the Sensis Corp.
Apr. 15-16—AVIATION WEEK Interiors, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Apr. 15-17—MRO Conference and Exhibition, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Sept. 23-25—MRO Europe, Madrid. Oct. 14-16—MRO Asia, Singapore. PARTNERSHIPS Apr. 7-10—U.S. Space Foundation, Colorado Springs. May 27-June 1—ILA Berlin air show. June 16-18—Aircraft Interiors-Middle East, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. July 14-20—Farnborough (England) air show. Nov. 4-9—Zhuhai (China) air show.
FAA oversight of airline maintenance—not the airlines’ maintenance practices—is under increasing scrutiny, prompting one industry group to push a thorough review of the FAA itself. The Business Travel Coalition is seeking signatories to a letter on its web site, BusinessTravelCoalition.com, that it will send Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), who is planning more hearings on the subject. The group will ask him to direct the National Academy of Sciences’ Transportation Research Board to review the FAA thoroughly.
JetBlue Airways founder and Chairman David Neeleman says he has raised $150 million to finance a new low-cost, low-fare airline based in Sao Paulo—the city in which he was born to American parents—and announced that the company has placed a firm order for 36 118-seat Embraer 195 jets. Neeleman hopes to begin service on the new carrier in early 2009, pending government approval, and serve most major markets in Brazil with as many as 76 new Embraer aircraft by 2013.
The British Defense Ministry and an EADS-led consortium last week signed a deal four years in the making for 14 Airbus A330-200 tanker aircraft for the Royal Air Force. The £13-billion Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) private finance initiative contract covers a 27-year period. The aircraft will replace VC10s and Tristars. The first A330-200 is due to enter service in 2011. The tanker fleet will continue to be based at RAF Brize Norton, which will see considerable privately funded development as part of the FSTA program.
Elbit Systems will supply hand-launched unmanned aircraft to the French special operations forces. The sale of Skylark 1 UAVs was hotly contested and marks a breakthrough for Elbit as its first UAV contract with the French government. Rival Israel Aerospace Industries already has been working with the French to provide the SIDM tactical UAV system.
A European plan to ensure the longevity of the Jason altimetry satellite system could endanger future cooperation with the U.S., program officials fear.
Cessna Aircraft Co. has delivered a Citation Mustang jet to the University of North Dakota’s John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences. The Mustang is the first to be delivered to a flight school and will be used to train undergraduate and contract students.
Airlines should see lower fuel burn and extended service life on their Airbus A320-family aircraft under a range of upgrades now being devised. Several enhancements are on the drawing board, including the addition of winglets, but an electronic flight bag (EFB) is one of the first likely to be incorporated. Airbus is in the final stages of naming a supplier for the Class 2 system, which would undergo flight trials in the next 12 months and be ready for customer deliveries late next year, says Alain Flourens, head of the A320-family program.
U.K. regulatory body Ofcom has confirmed plans to allow British-registered aircraft to offer inflight cell phone service. Licenses will be awarded as an addition to existing wireless telegraphy permits already used for navigation and air-to-ground radio, subject to airworthiness certification of airborne equipment.
United Parcel Service has completed a management team aimed at leveraging the carrier’s traditional role as an airfreight integrator with broader offerings as a global airfreight forwarder. Through acquisitions and its reorganization, UPS now offers freight forwarding services on its own aircraft and ships and aircraft of alternate carriers.
XCOR Aerospace is facing key technical challenges particularly in propulsion and flight control as it seeks to develop the Lynx, a two-seat, suborbital space tourism vehicle aimed at making up to four flights per day.
In response to Frank Sligar’s letter “How Intelligence Can Go Awry” (AW&ST Feb. 25, p. 10), the NASA Aviation Safety Program did recognize the potential benefits of providing some of the “feel” that pilots experienced prior to the advent of fully powered, irreversible mechanical and “fly-by-wire” electrical primary flight control systems.
The U.S. Air Force gets its funding to purchase aircraft from the taxes paid by people who are earning paychecks. It seems counterproductive to ask U.S. working people (who are losing jobs) to pay for something that will be the most beneficial to the French. Maybe France should subsidize the purchase as well as the construction of the KC-45A.
Malaysian long-haul budget carrier AirAsia X has ordered 10 Airbus A330-300s that it had had under option, adding those to 15 it already has on order. They will be fitted with 392 seats, like AirAsia’s other A330-300s. Former Air Canada Chief Executive Robert Milton has bought a stake in the company.
