A compromise deal between the European Parliament and Council will harmonize air transport security arrangements throughout the European Union. It also spells out rules for the use of sky marshals, who can’t be armed unless special security situations apply. The new policy, which is embraced by airline and airport lobby groups, also means that transfer passengers from outside the EU may not have to pass through security a second time, if the standards at their departure point are deemed adequate.
Safran was able to surpass its 5% sales growth target for last year, booking a 5.9% increase in sales over 2006. But more important to its future, the aerospace company says it has fully hedged its 2008 dollar exposure. Safran had been criticized for not hedging aggressively enough. Sales growth was largely driven by aerospace propulsion, where orders in the CFM International joint venture with General Electric reached a record 2,704 CFM56s. Helicopter engine orders hit 1,065. Sales for the entire division were up 16.7% to €5.9 billion ($8.7 billion).
The first Tranche 2 Eurofighter Typhoon had its initial flight last week, from EADS Military Air Systems in Manching, Germany. The aircraft will be used for type acceptance trials for the first standard of the Tranche 2 aircraft, the so-called Block 8 configuration. Meanwhile a British Royal Air Force two-seat Typhoon suffered an unspecified “system failure” while at 40,000 ft. on Jan. 14. An emergency descent to 10,000 ft. was executed, during which the aircraft inadvertently went supersonic. The aircraft landed safely at RAF Coningsby.
As planning begins to remove U.S. forces from a key air base in Ecuador, the Pentagon is examining new arrangements with countries farther north, in Central America.
The U.S. Transportation Dept.’s proposal aimed at easing congestion by allowing airports greater flexibility in assessing landing fees is pitting some airlines against airports and opening an old wound over what the International Air Transport Assn. (IATA) calls an ineffective and inefficient tool: congestion pricing.
AW&ST: For several years, there was a feeling that your Defense Electronics business didn’t have critical mass. But so far not much has happened to change that. Why is that?
The F-35 Lightning II’s complex electronic warfare package is being designed for a broad spectrum of digital attack and surveillance missions and as the launch point for a new generation of small, powerful systems. It already offers some capabilities that are not available on the F-22. The Raptor, for example, has no other way, other than verbally, to send the detailed electronic surveillance data it collects to other types of aircraft or to ground-intelligence facilities.
David Copeland (see photo) has become vice president-sales and marketing for the Avidyne Corp. , Lincoln, Mass. He held the same position at the Mooney Airplane Co. Matt Cowan has been named Southeast U.S. sales manager. He was an accounts manager for Guaranty Bank Home Equity.
France is establishing a permanent base in the United Arab Emirates, to accommodate air, naval and land forces, and be used to support multilateral exercises with Qatar and Kuwait. France says the Abu Dhabi base will improve its ability to back peacekeeping and security activities in the region, particularly in light of a perceived growing Iranian threat. French officials refused to say whether Afghanistan operations would be supported from the base.
David A. Fulghum (Washington), Robert Wall (Paris)
China’s integrated air defenses—based on cheap, sometimes stolen digital technology—are now considered potentially more threatening to the U.S. than Russia’s. The wholesale use of commercial products has made Chinese networks flexible, easy to upgrade and tough to exploit.
British Airways is expanding its carbon offset initiatives, including simplifying how passengers can buy offsets for their flights. But the airline also is supporting research at Cambridge University to better understand the non-CO2 effects of aviation on the environment. BA hopes to have results by 2012. Additionally, the carrier is backing Brazilian efforts to halt deforestation.
USAF Maj. Gen. Dana T. Atkins has been appointed special assistant to the commander of Pacific Air Forces, Hickam AFB, Hawaii. He has been director of operations at headquarters of U.S. Pacific Command, Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii. Maj. Gen. Douglas L. Raaberg has been named deputy combined forces air component commander, U.S. Central Command/deputy commander, Air Force Forces/vice commander, 9th Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force, Air Combat Command (ACC), Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. He has been director of air and space operations at ACC Headquarters, Langley AFB, Va.
Engine uncertainties for the A400M military transport are far from over and will likely persist even once the powerplant finally takes to the air in April. The TP400 being built by a European engine consortium has been a major, though not the only, source of schedule delays for the A400M, which is already running six months late and is at risk of being fielded at least a year behind schedule. “We need to stabilize the program,” emphasizes Airbus CEO Tom Enders.
Clayton M. Jones, chairman/president/CEO of Rockwell Collins, has been elected this year’s chairman of the Arlington, Va.-based Aerospace Industries Assn. He succeeds William H. Swanson, chairman/CEO of the Raytheon Co. Robert J. Stevens, chairman/president/CEO of the Lockheed Martin Corp., was elected vice chairman. Marion C. Blakey was elected president/CEO and Ginette C. Colot secretary-treasurer. Members of the board of governors executive committee are: James F.
Cole Hedden (see photo) has been promoted to vice president/chief operating officer from vice president/head of the Business Innovation and Execution Group of L-3 Communications and Thales Co.’s ACSS of Phoenix.
The work done by space shuttle Discovery astronaut Scott Parazynski late last year and all of NASA plays second fiddle to a space program that destroys a satellite (AW&ST Jan. 7, p. 61)? Perhaps you turned the final selection over to the editor at Time magazine? He made the same empty argument about “not an honor.” What were you thinking?
New data from Japan’s Selene Moon probe validates two more of its instruments—the Lunar Radar Sounder (LRS) and the Laser Altimeter (LALT). Both will feed into the first comprehensive map of the Moon. The LRS captures and calculates 5-MHz. radio waves that bounce back after penetrating a few kilometers beneath the lunar surface. Japanese space agency JAXA says LRS data taken over the eastern Mare Imbrium between Nov. 20-21 supports the probable existence of alternating beds of lava, volcanic ash and ejecta blankets.
Development of the Mitsubishi Regional Jet will cost 150 billion yen ($1.4 billion), of which the government will finance about 30%. Mitsubishi will decide in March whether the project is feasible.
A News Breaks column item says French President Nicolas Sarkozy is studying how to reinforce France’s efforts in Afghanistan, either through training or other means (AW&ST Nov. 12, 2007, p. 26). I urge Sarkozy to do so by having France join the NATO countries that are actually fighting in Afghanistan, such as Canada and the U.K. Perhaps France could thus shame, if such a thing is possible, the non-fighting NATO allies into carrying more of the burden.
Astronauts Dan Tani and Peggy Whitson will venture out of the International Space Station Jan. 30 to replace a piece of hardware believed to be responsible for a triple circuit breaker trip that has crippled a key solar array mechanism. The Expedition 16 crewmates have already retrieved the spare bearing motor roll ring module—known as the “broom”—from unpressurized storage and, by happy coincidence, Tani has actually trained on replacing it (AW&ST Jan. 7, p. 27). Their 6.5-hr.
The U.S. Marines have demonstrated they can use Swift Engineering’s Killer Bee tactical UAVs as communications relays to link remote, separated ground units. The fourth-generation vehicles were configured in the field with relay payloads based on Enhanced Position Locating Reporting System, SecNet 11 and MeshNet that provided data, voice, video and command capabilities in rugged terrain. Two UAVs were deployed sequentially to provide over-the-horizon comms.
Adam Aircraft, a piston-twin and very light jet manufacturing startup company, announced it would immediately cut 300 of its 800 employees to reduce costs while it seeks to secure $75-150-million in long-term financing through Citibank. Cash flow is tight at Adam because of the slow production rates of its A500 piston twin and several delays in the A700 VLJ development program. Only eight A500 aircraft have been delivered to U.S. operators since FAA type approval was obtained in May 2005.
