Israel’s missile house, Rafael Armament Development Authority, has changed its name to Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. It will operate as three divisions: missiles and network-centric warfare (including C4ISR), ordnance and protection and advanced defense technologies (space and propulsion).
Cessna Aircraft Co. officials say orders for the new Model 162 SkyCatcher light sport aircraft have exceeded 850 in a backlog worth more than $90 million. A two-seat airplane features a Garmin fully integrated avionics package and is powered by a Teledyne Continental 0-200D engine rated at 100 hp. First flight of a pre-production prototype is scheduled for the first half of 2008, followed by FAA certification and customer deliveries in 2009. Cessna plans to build as many as 700 SkyCatchers annually when full-rate production is achieved.
Eurocontrol and the European Joint Aviation Authorities will work together to improve aviation safety in Europe through the creation and distribution of joint training programs. The two organizations have signed a memorandum of cooperation that outlines six major areas where the initiatives will be focused.
Avro Vulcan B.2 XH558 made a 34-min. flight on Oct. 18 at Bruntingthorpe, Leicestershire, England, the goal of years of work by volunteers and contractors at The Vulcan Operating Co. XH558 is the first large restored military jet to achieve this milestone.
General Electric is assembling the first shipset of CF34-10A engines for flight tests on China Aviation Industry (AVIC 1) ARJ21-700 regional jet, following the successful start of ground tests on the first engine at its outdoor test site in Peebles, Ohio. The engine, which is about 80% in common with the -10E version already powering the Embraer 190/195 family, reached around 14,000 lb. thrust during its initial runs and eventually will be tested at, and slightly beyond, its maximum rating of 20,000 lb. thrust.
BAE Systems CEO Mike Turner is to leave the company in August 2008. Turner has worked for the company for more than four decades, and for the last 5.5 years has been CEO. His relationship with the U.K. Defense Ministry occasionally has been tense as a result of clashes over procurement programs and industrial strategy. There have also been disagreements with company Chairman Dick Olver.
John Selvaggio (see photos) has been appointed president of Comair . He succeeds Don Bornhorst, who has been appointed senior vice president of Delta Connection . Selvaggio was founder/president of Delta Air Lines’ Song and had been senior vice president-airport customer service for Delta.
The U.S. Navy has awarded Indra USA a $23-million contract to modernize Marine Corps AV-88 Harrier flight trainer simulators. The Spanish company’s U.S. arm will perform technology upgrades to incorporate industry innovations. A nearly complete rebuild will be undertaken to introduce night-flight and radar-night-flight training modes. Using an Indra USA-developed 3D viewer, instructors will be able to monitor the total tactical environment.
Senate passage of an appropriations bill that includes $17.5 billion for NASA doesn’t mean the agency will get the money. Congressional Democrats and the Republican White House are en route to a showdown over war funding that could send civil space and other domestic discretionary spending into another freeze, and NASA fears “devastating” consequences. Democratic leaders are lining up domestic spending measures as veto bait for President Bush, who has already said they are unacceptable because they bust his Fiscal 2008 budget by some $22 billion. The Dems want the money.
Excel-Jet Ltd. says it has initiated legal action against the FAA following the crash of the company’s Sport Jet prototype in 2006, killing both test pilots. The company alleges that air traffic control cleared the airplane for takeoff behind a large commercial jet “in violation of mandatory separation requirements.” The Sport Jet experienced a “violent uncommanded roll” after liftoff and crashed.
The International Air Transport Assn. is urging the U.S. Transportation Dept. to use standard global practices for managing congested airports, such as New York John F. Kennedy International, rather than resorting to congestion pricing schemes that it says have been rejected around the world. IATA publishes worldwide scheduling guidelines and is faciltating an annual meeting in Toronto next month where airline and airport officials from all over the world will discuss slot assignments for the coming year. This process works better than congestion pricing, IATA says.
A patchwork of agreements to share data and tasking rights for imaging intelligence between France, Italy and Germany is poised to go into effect with the commissioning of new X-band radar satellite networks.
New technologies to monitor the structural integrity of airframes and millimeter-wave digital receivers are just two of the latest Australian Defense Capability and Technology Demonstrator (CTD) projects. The Defense Science and Technology Office has added a total of eight programs in its annual call for research ideas. BAE Systems Australia will lead the aircraft health monitoring effort that, long term, should lead to replacement of traditional inspection methods and increase aircraft availability. The next call for ideas is due in April.
Carl Ehrlich expresses doubt about the benefit of one-stop versus non-stop flight, given the extra fuel involved in making an en-route landing. Fuel flow varies with aircraft gross weight. The large fuel load required for a non-stop flight results in a higher aircraft gross weight than the smaller fuel loads for each of two shorter flight legs. Higher gross weight means more climb and cruise fuel.
Victor Cassano (see photo) has become head of the Engineering Dept. of Stowe Machine , Windsor, Conn. He was an engineering manager at Beacon Industries and at MTU Aero Engines North America.
Boeing researchers say they have demonstrated that the company’s Avenger mounted laser system can disable improvised explosive devices and unexploded ordnance. During tests at Redstone Arsenal, the 1-kw. solid-state laser destroyed five types of explosives.
NASA sees its plan to give away about half of its rack space on the International Space Station as an incentive to investment in private space-transportation vehicles to supply the ISS. “I think absolutely it’s looked at as an upside, the expanded market for these providers,” says Alan Lindenmoyer, manager of the Commercial Crew and Cargo Program at Johnson Space Center, who oversees the agency’s Commercial Space Transportation System (COTS) program.
Martin Todd has been named public relations and communications manager of the Brussels-based AeroSpace and Defense Industries Assn. of Europe . He was with communications consultancy APCO Worldwide.
A United Launch Alliance Delta II sends the latest Global Positioning System satellite on the way to its slot in the GPS constellation Oct. 17 after a launch from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla. The GPS IIR-17M satellite is the fourth of eight in the series built for the Air Force by Lockheed Martin Navigation Systems. It boasts a more powerful antenna panel; two new military signals with upgraded encryption and anti-jamming capabilities, and another civil signal. Liftoff of the Delta II 7025-9.5 vehicle came at 8:23 a.m. EDT.
The space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to launch on its eighth International Space Station assembly mission this week, after top NASA spaceflight managers decided concerns about the health of its thermal protection system didn’t warrant a delay. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center is set for 11:38 a.m. EDT Oct. 23, kicking off the planned 14-day mission to deliver Harmony, the station’s second pressurized node.
The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is seeking applications for commercial use of its Kibo section of the International Space Station, due to be launched in three shuttle missions starting in February. In doing so, it is trying to overcome corporate reluctance to commit spending on projects that would be done in a facility that has been delayed repeatedly and still isn’t in orbit.
A hyperspectral sensor, stereo radar imager and Franco-Italian high-energy X-ray mission will be among the priorities of a new three-year space plan to be implemented by Italian space agency ASI.
The European division of Airports Council International (ACI Europe) reports that of 102 European airports, Moscow Domodedovo International is one of the fastest growing facilities among airports handling 10-25 million passengers annually. Domodedovo ranks first with 22.9% growth as of August compared with a year earlier, followed by Berlin (16.7%) and Athens (11.9%). ACI Europe says, overall, Domodedovo is ranked 16th within the European division with traffic of more than 2.2 million passengers in August.
The Korean Helicopter Program will use the EADS Missile Launch Detection System (Milds) as part of its self-protection suite. The initial sets of the missile warner will be provided by the Defense Electronics division, although the integration will be conducted from 2008 by Korea’s LIGNex1, which is developing the overall self-protection suite. The order is only the latest in a string of export sales for Milds.
