A European mission intended to explore the origins of the Universe with unprecedented accuracy is nearing completion, preparing scientists for a peek into previously unknown regions.
Continued schedule problems are driving partners in the NH90 helicopter program to devise a new production plan. Nevertheless, more delays lie ahead. After more than two years of deadlines pushed back by development, production and certification issues in the NH90 transport and naval helo program, Germany in December finally accepted the first of the rotorcraft. But concerns remain in Germany, the Netherlands, France and other customer countries about late deliveries.
Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) is testing a Block 20 version of the Global Hawk UAV configured to carry an improved radar system. It will be capable of providing coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan with information on stationary vehicles, low-flying aircraft and cruise missiles.
Emirates took another step toward expanding its North American presence and increasing long-haul operations to the Middle East and India. The carrier announced plans to start three weekly nonstop Dubai-Houston services in December to coincide with delivery of new Boeing 777-200LRs. Emirates plans to initiate daily service between the two cities beginning Feb. 1, 2008.
Agam Sinha has become senior vice president of the Mitre Corp., McLean, Va., general manager of its Center for Advanced Aviation System Development and director of the FAA's Federally Funded Research and Development Center. He was a vice president.
SENSIS CORP COMPLETED FOUR ADDITIONAL Airport Surface Detection Equipment Model X (ASDE-X) systems for the FAA in 2006. ASDE-X uses surface movement radar and the reception of transponder signals at antennas on the airport surface to fix the position of aircraft for air traffic controllers. The system improves situational awareness, especially during low visibility. New systems were commissioned at Seattle-Tacoma, Lambert-St. Louis and Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International airports as well as at Bradley International in Windsor Locks, Conn.
I am a commercial airline captain. I am also Vermont's lieutenant governor, and I chair the Aerospace States Assn. With more than 20 years and thousands of hours of flying experience in both commercial and military aircraft, I know I speak for all pilots when I cite the great pride we take in operating our aircraft not just as safely as possible, but also as cleanly, and with the best fuel efficiency as possible.
Arianespace will boost annual production of the Ariane 5 ECA launch vehicle to seven from six beginning next year, reflecting an uptick in anticipated business. An agreement signed by CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall and Evert Dudok, president of Ariane prime contractor Astrium Space Transportation, on Feb. 15 includes provisions for an additional mission annually for the European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle or other special application.
BOEING DEMONSTRATED THE USE OF AN ELECTRO-optical/infrared targeting pod on a B-1. The Lockheed Martin Sniper XR pod was used to illustrate a B-1 crew's ability to positively identify moving and stationary targets in a variety of conditions. It was mounted on an external pylon below the cockpit. Images and data are displayed at all four crew positions. B-1s recently provided close air support via GBU-38s for international forces in Afghanistan who were under mortar and small arms fire.
European countries are sharpening their focus on communications satellite research and development as they vie with one another to support domestic suppliers and react to rising military and civil R&D expenditures in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Italy's Galileo Avionica is to provide 12 mission systems for Australian maritime surveillance aircraft/helicopters. The company's surveillance information management system will be fitted to 10 Bombardier DHC-8s along with two helicopters for use in Australia's Coastwatch program under the €20-million ($26-million) contract.
Your articles on the aerospace workforce provide more evidence that American CEOs have not given a second thought about creating a stable, competent American engineering workforce. The onetime CEO of Hewlett-Packard, Carleton S. Fiorina, once said no American has a birthright to a job. This, after she outsourced a majority of HP's engineering projects to China and India.
MARKET FOCUS Northrop Grumman wins applause by naming new CFO 10 NEWS BREAKS Israel in new Arrow ballistic missile defense weapon test 18 Safran expects to turn around troubled Defense Security division this year 19 U.S. Navy testing models of its F-35C version in wind tunnel 20 Telecom satellite operator Eutelsat again posts solid growth 20 USAF to test eight Stage 3 booster motors for Minuteman ICBMs 22 WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS
Airlines have long protested Toronto Pearson International Airport's high fees. Now Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA), which runs the airport, has joined airlines as well as business and community groups in seeking a fair rent deal from the landlord, the Canadian government. The group has launched a public awareness campaign, asking passengers to support the effort by ballot or online. The government, according to GTAA, made an election promise to address the rent issue.
USAF Brig. Gen. (ret.) Pete Hennessey has been promoted to vice president-business development for Columbus, Ohio-based Battelle's National Security Div. from head of the company's business with the Air Force.
Field Aviation Co. of Toronto will modify and deliver three de Havilland Dash 8-300s for use as maritime patrol/search and rescue aircraft for the Japan Coast Guard (JCG). Plans call for all three airplanes to be delivered by the end of 2008. Beginning in November, Field Aviation will perform the modifications that include a suite of surveillance sensors, search radar, a stabilized electro-optical, multi-spectral imaging payload; large conformal observation windows, air-drop capability and navigation and communications equipment.
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The Global Hawk has resumed flight operations at Beale AFB, Calif., after a standdown to training missions last year. The FAA was concerned about coordinating flights in dense California airspace. Procedures have now been set to continue ramping up training missions there, program officials say.
F-22s are on the move as part of a Pentagon effort to install the stealth fighter in the Pacific and imprint its capabilities on operations in what U.S. strategists see as an increasingly worrisome area.
Pentagon officials tell Congress that plans to train and equip national security forces in Afghanistan include providing a "small but capable air corps." This would increase the Afghan army's combat mobility, officials say.
Sweden is looking for a training service provider to prepare air and ground crew to use the NH90 transport helicopter. Before April, the government plans to issue its request for proposals within a six-month turnaround. The government notes that due to delays in getting the procurement going, a determinant will be the ability to quickly establish a program. Because Sweden is buying only 18 helos, it doesn't want to purchase its own full-flight simulator.
The British Defense Ministry is beginning to consider whether it may need additional C-130 airframes following the loss of a third aircraft in combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. One of the Royal Air Force's Lockheed Martin C-130J-30s was destroyed following an incident on landing at a "temporary" strip in southern Iraq on Feb. 12. Two personnel were injured. The cause of the initial damage has not been made public. The aircraft was destroyed to avoid a recovery attempt in a hostile environment.
Pilatus Aircraft has signed an agreement with the Swiss air force to deliver six PC-21s starting late this year. The Jet Pilot Training Systems PC-21 program is to commence operations in March 2008, allowing pilots to transition directly to the F/A-18.
Alan Stern, newly named as NASA's science chief to replace the retiring Mary Cleave, must try to fulfill a burgeoning agenda of worthy missions at a time when the agency's top leaders have put science on a downhold to pay for human spaceflight and exploration. Although scientists' complaints about the agency's priorities have found some traction on Capitol Hill that may translate into extra dollars for missions, the agency's science-spending priorities also are under attack.
