USAF Maj. Gen. (ret.) Douglas Raaberg (see photo) has become the Northrop Grumman Corp.'s chief executive for the United Arab Emirates. He was director of the battle management command and control campaign within Northrop Grumman's Aerospace Systems Sector.
The Mexican air force has a follow-on order for a second batch of six Beechcraft T-6C+ turboprop trainers to continue replacing its Pilatus PC-7s. An initial six aircraft ordered in January 2012 are to be delivered soon, pending export licenses. The T-6C+ has a glass cockpit and wing hardpoints for external stores and practice weapons.
Mark Tucker has been named senior vice president-Enterprise Operations and Engineering and Clyde Woltman executive director of advanced programs for the Defense Business Development Div. of Aerojet Rocketdyne, Sacramento, Calif. Tucker was vice president-special programs for the Aerospace Systems Sector, while Woltman was director of U.S. Navy and Marine Corps programs at Pratt & Whitney.
The last-minute Oct. 16 law to restart U.S. government spending and debt authority mentioned few programs specifically, but did aim to protect two weather satellites that are nearing key phases of development. Since Congress could only pass a stopgap measure, which continues funding at fiscal 2013 levels until Jan. 15, 2014, the law does not allow necessary approvals for changes to programs, or new ones to start.
Norwegian Air Shuttle is slowly lifting the veil on its global expansion plans, and the next steps are bold. Just months after beginning long-haul operations from its bases in Scandinavia to Bangkok and the U.S., the Oslo-based low-cost carrier (LCC) confirmed it will launch transatlantic services from London Gatwick Airport next summer. Norwegian was the first of the current generation of European LCCs to enter the long-haul market, and now will be the first to do so from a base outside its home market.
Skycatcher has caught a severe downburst with a dire outcome. Cessna's China-made light sport aircraft, which was launched by former CEO Jack Pelton to stimulate pilot starts, was never loved by Scott Ernest, his successor. And when asked about the future of the once-heralded two-seater, Ernest responded, “There is no future.” A follow-up question about the aircraft elicited the same response.
Raytheon has completed flight tests of a low-cost missile that was developed rapidly to shoot down mortars, rockets and unmanned aircraft, but has yet to find a home for the weapon.
The Juno spacecraft's recent Earth swing-by provided inspiration for a concept that transfers the speed accumulated over time by a gravity-assisted object to an awaiting manned vehicle, accelerating it to a similar velocity (AW&ST Oct. 14/21, p. 16). This would be achieved by employing the opposite of an electromagnetic rail gun: the electromagnetic rail target. As the high-velocity object approaches the target vehicle, it divides into electromagnetic “bullets” deployed as a linear chain.
Franklin Miller has been appointed chairman of the board of directors of the Draper Laboratory, Cambridge, Mass. He succeeds John Gordon. New members of the board are Joanne Maguire and Lena Goldberg. Michael Wallace, director of the nuclear energy policy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), has been named a member of the Draper's corporation. Miller is a principal at the Scowcroft Group and member of the U.S.
On the eve of the NBAA convention, Bombardier marked Learjet's 50th anniversary by presenting the first two Model 75s off the line to their new owners: a real estate businessman and a Canadian charter company. Both aircraft are replacing Lear 45s. The updated aircraft features a Garmin G5000 flight deck and Honeywell TFE-731-40B engines, and carries a price tag of $13.7 million.
Nextant Aerospace plans to remanufacture Beechcraft King Air C90s, replacing the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT-6 engines with GE H80 turboprops and the Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 with Garmin's G1000 integrated avionics panel. The refurbished aircraft will carry a Nextant warranty. The Cleveland company said it chose to rework the C90 because of its large installed base of more than 1,500 aircraft, and so it would serve as a low-cost entry-level turbine aircraft. The projected price for what Nextant calls the G90XT is $2.2 million, or about half that of a new model.
Martine Ohayon has become director communications and events for Montreal-based Airports Council International. She held a similar position at the International Air Transport Association and was director of communications at Canada Steamship Lines. Ohayon succeeds Cheryl Marcell, who is now deputy director for business development at Norman Y. Mineta San Jose (Calif.) International Airport.
Honeywell engineers and human-factors experts are investigating a range of new human-machine interface technologies including touchscreen displays, voice recognition systems and “assisted interaction,” a virtual co-pilot. Part government contract and part Honeywell internal research and development, the work is designed to lower workload and increase safety for pilots of next-generation transport and business aviation aircraft.
Aviation Partners Inc. (API) is offering to refit any Boeing Business Jets with its split scimitar winglet (see photo). The modification is already being adapted by airlines operating the Boeing 737, from which the BBJ is derived. The modification is said to improve fuel burn by 2.5-3% and thus increase range by 200 nm. Gary Dunn, API's vice president of sales and marketing, says he expects operators of “a very healthy percentage” of the roughly 130 delivered BBJs to adopt the signature modification.
Jim Meier has been named vice president-government business development for the Greenwich AeroGroup of Wichita. He was senior vice president-aviation services for the Sabreliner Corp.
One of the unintended consequences of the 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA) and its annual threat of sequestration—the automatic, widespread budget rescissions plaguing federal agencies since March—is the turnabout that will occur in the ratio of Defense Department procurement to research, development, testing and evaluation (RDT&E). According to analyst Todd Harrison of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments think tank here, since fiscal 1955, the ratio has averaged 2.1, meaning the Pentagon was spending more than $2 in procurement for every $1 of RDT&E.
The Center for New American Security (CNAS) recently released a report entitled “Game Changers: Disruptive Technology and U.S. Defense Strategy.” That study considered additive manufacturing (3-D printers), autonomous vehicles, directed energy, cyber capabilities, human performance modification and other emerging technologies that the center believes need to be factored into U.S. security policy and planning.
