Two government sensors that may fly in space under the new U.S. Air Force Hosted Payloads Solutions program (see page 27) are a French-built advanced data-collection system that will receive data from ocean buoys and electronic-tagged marine life, and a Franco-Canadian search-and-rescue satellite-aided tracking system. Both were developed for NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and both were left without rides to orbit when the joint civil/military National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (Npoess) was cancelled in 2010.
The commercial aircraft industry has largely stayed on the sidelines of the political tension between Russia and the West, but that may be changing. The latest round of sanctions imposed after the shoot-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 includes the suspension of Ex-Im Bank deals with Russia—a decision that could hurt Boeing’s commercial aircraft sales there.
Do guitars qualify as carry-on luggage? According to Congress, they should. But as is often the case in Washington, the law hasn’t quite caught up with the rules. Though a law was passed two years ago mandating that musical instruments can be safely stowed on commercial flights, the Transportation Department hasn’t yet completed the rules to implement the law. This disconnect might have gone unnoticed, if not for an incident involving the folk-rock band Deer Tick. U.S.
With about 3,000 built, and around 400 still in operation around the world, the L-39 Albatros jet trainer was a major success for Czech manufacturer Aero Vodochody.
Planetary scientists hope the seven instruments NASA has competitively selected for its planned Mars 2020 rover will find evidence that life has existed on the red planet and maybe that it still does.
The first two of four U.S. Air Force Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) satellites—developed under contract with Orbital Sciences Corp. in secret—are now operating in “near geosynchronous” orbit (GEO) as a “neighborhood watch.”
Boeing has completed the main wing spar of the 279th and final C-17, marking the start of assembly for the last military airlifter to be made at its Long Beach, California, facility. The aircraft, which will be completed with the shutdown of the line in 2015, is one of 10 still unsold. Boeing says it is confident of placing all 10 by the end of the year with unspecified customers in the Middle East and possibly elsewhere. Other potential takers include India, which received its sixth C-17 on July 28. The Indian air force has 10 C-17s on firm order.
Boeing will assemble the 787-10, the third and longest 787 derivative, exclusively at its Charleston, South Carolina, facility, making it the first of any Boeing commercial model to be completed away from the U.S. West Coast. The decision was widely expected, since the 110-ft. midbody section of the 787-10 will be 10 ft.
Tunisia wants to purchase a fleet of heavily armed Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, as the country modernizes its armed forces. The deal with the North African country could be worth $700 million, according to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which notified the U.S. Congress of the possible program July 23. Tunisia has requested 12 UH-60Ms along with a large quantity of AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, 2.75-in. Hydra unguided rockets and the integration work that could turn some of those unguided weapons into guided ones.
Italian prosecutors have ended their investigations into alleged corruption surrounding the sale of 12 AW101 VIP helicopters to the Indian air force in 2010. AgustaWestland has agreed with the tribunal in Busto Arsizio to pay what the company describes as a “negligible fine” to settle the case, but insists the fine is not an admission of any wrongdoing. Finmeccanica, AgustaWestland’s parent company, is keen to put the 18-month-old scandal behind it so it can continue with reorganization of the group, led by CEO Mauro Moretti.
Airbus Helicopters handed over the first example of its new EC145 T2 light twin-engine helicopter to German air ambulance operator DRF Luftrettung in Donauworth on July 31. The T2 features new engines, new avionics and a new Fenestron shrouded tailrotor, replacing the traditional two-blade anti-torque system on the EC145. Production of the standard EC145 will continue into next year, and Airbus will still produce kits for its plant in Mississippi so it can build the UH-72 Lakota for the U.S. Army.
One of the better-kept training secrets in the Air National Guard is becoming harder to ignore—the Mississippi ANG’s Combat Readiness Training Center (CRTC) in and around Gulfport.
