As a retired scientist, I see stagnant wages as the reason for the declining interest in science and engineering as a profession. It is a powerful demotivator to observe corporate officers earning 100-1,000 times their workers' pay, just as it rankles to see the doyens of finance, sales and marketing garner the praise and rewards while the inventors and developers are left with scraps.
Riyadh-based Arab Satellite Communi- cations Corp. will use its fourth-generation satcom system, built by EADS Astrium using a payload from Alcatel Alenia Space, to meet surging demand for video, broadband and voice services in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. Arabast is one of a growing number of national or regional operators that are helping to change the shape of the satcom industry (see special report beginning on p. 48). Astra 4B (Badr-4) was launched by an International Launch Services Proton M booster last November.
The growing shortage of science and engineering graduates is not only a problem in aerospace, but throughout the U.S. Aerospace, energy and manufacturing are all competing for the same resources. Now add banking and financial institutions who recruit engineers because they are seeking analytical minds. Starting salaries of engineers are gaining the attention of youth, but it's our job to communicate the importance of studying science and math. A simple solution might be to offer federal tax credits upon graduation.
India is aiming to revamp a slew of its air-launched weapon types with requirements for air-to-air and air-to-surface weapons in the pipeline. The military is considering purchasing an improved air-to-air missile for its Jaguar strike aircraft, acquiring a medium-range anti-tank missile for several helicopter types, identifying a replacement for the Sea Eagle anti-ship missile and procuring a helicopter-launched anti-ship missile.
Thales revenues were basically flat last year at €10.3 billion, with the land and joint systems unit and aerospace delivering 10% and 6% growth, respectively, while the naval unit suffered a 10% revenue drop. The order book at the end of last year stood at €20.7 billion, a high for the company. Also, the company reported it has signed contracts with the Brazilian air force to modernize 26 ATC radars. The total value is around €60 million.
A diesel-fueled, compact internal combustion engine that yields unprecedented power and the promise of huge efficiency gain is being prepared for firing of its second iteration this spring at the University of Tennessee.
Even as defense budget-cutters prowl for new targets, the F-22's first air expeditionary force deployment hit a rough patch when the 12 stealth fighters had to turn back on their way from Hawaii to Okinawa because of a navigation computer problem. The software fix was considered minor and easy to do, say Lockheed Martin officials. However, because of the aircraft's system integration, the glitch "affected almost everything to some degree," position and orientation in particular, says an official with insight into the program.
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) thinks having 2,000 government employees--not airline contract workers--check passenger boarding documents would close a "vulnerability gap" at airport security zones. TSA Administrator Kip Hawley wants to hire and train 1,329 more screening officers and reassign nearly 700 already working at the agency to entrances of airport sterile areas. But lawmakers are stunned by the price tag: $60 million. TSA officials note they are 2,000 positions below the 45,000-screener cap Congress has authorized.
USAF Gen. (ret.) Howell M. Estes, 3rd, has been appointed to the board of directors of DigitalGlobe, Longmont, Colo. He heads his own consulting firm and is vice chairman of the board of trustees at The Aerospace Corp.
Michael A. Taverna, Andy Nativi and Robert Wall (Paris)
Much of this year's activity for MBDA will focus on exports, but company officials indicate 2008 is shaping up to be a critical year in the evolution of the European missile maker.
Workers at the U.S. Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Center are scheduled to test eight Stage 3 booster motors for Minuteman ICBMs this year in AEDC's large Rocket Motor Test Facility. The tests are intended to acquire reliable data and evaluate the reliability of the booster motors, says Col. Robert Shofner, commander of the 526th Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Wing at Hill AFB, Utah.
USAF Cols. David H. Cyr and Douglas J. Robb have been nominated for promotion to brigadier general. Cyr is director of the Air Force Chaplain Service Institute, Air University, Air Education and Training Command, Maxwell AFB, Ala. Robb is command surgeon, U.S. Central Command, MacDill AFB, Fla.
Northwest Airlines plans to carry out an aggressive operating plan with a renewed fleet of Boeing 787, Airbus A330, Embraer 175 and Bombardier CRJ900 aircraft. Information was contained in a disclosure statement and amended reorganization plan filed last week with U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Northwest will complete delivery of 32 A330 aircraft within a year. Later this year, Northwest is scheduling delivery of the first of 72 regional aircraft, equally divided between Embraer 175s and CRJ900s.
Air France-KLM is going to scale back its cargo fleet and hopes to unveil soon a new round of cost-cutting initiatives to assure continued financial strength. The Franco-Dutch airline group reported strong third-quarter results, but signaled it wants to take action to turn around the struggling cargo segment, whose results were hurt by overcapacity. Nine-month cargo operating income declined 41.3% compared to 2005, while overall group operating income was up 31%.
Joseph T. Lombardo has been appointed executive vice president of General Dynamics' Aerospace Group and president of subsidiary Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., effective Apr. 9. He will succeed Bryan T. Moss, who will become president emeritus. Lombardo has been Savannah, Ga.-based Gulfstream's chief operating officer.
Communications managers at NASA are preparing for the day when humans return to the Moon, taking early steps to provide the first explorers a redundant satellite-communications link with each other and their controllers on Earth. Initial lunar-communications planning by NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate (SOMD) envisions a pair of small satellites in highly elliptical polar orbits, with separate antennas for lunar and lunar-Earth radio links.
Sikorsky Aircraft Co. has opened its Heavy Lift Development Center, which will house program and engineering personnel responsible for developing the USMC CH-53K. First flight is tentatively scheduled for November 2011. About 500 people are expected to work in the Stratford, Conn., building to de- sign, develop, test and manufacture major systems and subsystems.
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Midwest Airlines has rejected AirTran Airways' acquisition overtures, for the second time. In late January, Midwest declined AirTran's initial offer. When the federal waiting period for AirTran's proposed buyout expired Feb. 15 without challenge from the Justice Dept., AirTran CEO Joe Leonard was quick to invite Midwest to the negotiating table. Midwest CEO Timothy Hoeksema turned this down, calling AirTran's offer "inadequate."
Russia has ambitions to spend $188.5 billion in renewing its weapons inventory from 2007-15, according to the defense ministry. A substantial element of the equipment program is to refresh the country's nuclear capability--with all three elements of the triad receiving financial support. A further 50 Topol-M (SS-27) mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles are to be fielded by 2015, along with additional silo-based systems. The submarine capability is to be bolstered by the addition of eight 955/955A-class subs.
DFW Airport handled 281,486 metric tons of international cargo in 2006--a 12.9% increase over 2005. In addition, the airport added seven weekly flights to Asia, two international freight carriers, a new international cargo destination and it opened a nearly 400,000-sq.-ft. cargo facility capable of accommodating two Airbus A380s or three Boeing 747s. A total of 756,598 metric tons of cargo (domestic and international) were handled last year, and DFW has received international recognition as "the best cargo airport," according to CEO Jeff Fegan.
Boeing won a $113.7-million USAF contract increase to the C-17 Globemaster III Sustainment Partnership that will add on the 2007 Global Reach Improvement Program retrofits. The package includes secure communications, weather radar replacement, stabilizer struts redesign, formation flight systems, high-frequency data links and defensive systems.
After lagging most of its defense industry peers last year, Northrop Grumman Corp.'s stock is showing new signs of life. Shares are up 11% so far in 2007, closing at $74.96 on Feb. 15. That's not far off the stock's 13% return for all of 2006, which was far behind Lockheed Martin Corp. (up 45%), Raytheon Co. (30%) and General Dynamics Corp. (30%).
Ad Astra Rocket Co. expects to begin operating a 200-kw. "flight-like" engine prototype in ground test by the end of the year. Ad Astra is a Houston-based company that grew out of research into Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (Vasimr) technology conducted at Johnson Space Center by seven-time shuttle astronaut Franklin Chang-Diaz. The company has opened a facility in Costa Rica, where Chang-Diaz was born, for life-cycle testing that started at lower power levels in December 2006. Next up is a test series with a 100-kw. unit already in early checkout.
The upcoming CH-47F Chinook upgrade program has--according to the Netherlands Defense Ministry--spawned interest in the Honeywell Avionics Control and Management System glass cockpit (ACMS Block 6) from Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan. Honeywell developed the glass cockpit with support from the Royal Netherlands Air Force. According to Boeing, the contract for six CH-47F (NL) helicopters for the Netherlands, the first to use the ACMS Block 6 suite, was signed on Feb. 15, marking the first international sale of the F-model Chinook.
