Many ironies are at play in the debate here over potential U.S. military strikes in Syria, chief among them Republican infighting and assertions of congressional prerogatives in warmaking, as well as an anti-Iraq War president leading the charge based on intelligence of weapons of mass destruction. But in a more subtle albeit significant twist, the greatest irony inside the Beltway may be the effect of Syrian strikes on national security budgets. There will be winners and losers, for sure, but don't place your bets too fast.
Switzerland's national security policy committee has voted in favor of purchasing 22 Saab JAS-39E Gripen fighter aircraft to replace the country's aging fleet of Northrop F-5 Tiger IIs. The upper house of the Swiss parliament approved the purchase earlier this year, but it halted the program over concerns about payments, as well as guarantees and safeguards in the contract with Sweden. The deal still requires parliamentary approval.
David Yu has been appointed Beijing-based executive director of business development-Asia for the International Bureau of Aviation. He will continue as managing director of Inception Aviation. Yu was Libra Group's chief China representative and vice president-Asia.
An article on page 40 of the July 29 edition misidentified a speaker at a congressional hearing. Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) is the U.S. House Armed Services Committee member who should have been quoted.
Greg Roberts has become vice president of U.K.-based Curtiss-Wright Controls Avionics and Electronics. He was managing director in the U.K. for the C4ISR and UAV businesses of Northrop Grumman, Defense and Security
Peter Hokanson (see photos) has been appointed CFO of Yankee Pacific Aerospace Inc., Rye, N.H. Its Largo, Fla.-based Jormac Aerospace subsidiary has named Jerry Koh vice president-flight sciences and Colt Mehler vice president-project engineering. Hokanson succeeds Ron Moore, who was consulting CFO.
A government-issued 10-day notice to LAN Argentina to vacate its 2,500-sq.-meter hangar at Aeroparque airport in Buenos Aires without any forewarning, has provoked aviation labor unions to threaten strikes on Aug. 30 if the notice is not withdrawn. An Argentinean judge blocked the eviction on Aug. 28, and the CEOs of LAN and LAN Argentina met with the government's vice minster of economy on Aug. 29, who told the executives that LAN Argentina was welcome to continue operating in the country.
Luiz Sandler has been appointed vice president-sales for South America for the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. He succeeds Bill Arrazola, who has retired. He was sales director for International Jet Traders, Gulfstream's sales representative for Brazil.
Bombardier has also signed an LOI to begin exploratory discussions with Irkut centered on potential collaboration customer support for Russia's 150-210-seat MS-21, which is scheduled to enter service in 2017.
Young people seem to be getting the message that engineering offers opportunity: 84,000 U.S. students graduated from universities in 2012 with engineering degrees. That is up 12% from 73,000 just six years ago, according to the National Academies. And despite the downturn in the economy and in federal spending, the aerospace and defense industry continues to provide at least some of that opportunity.
Mitsubishi Aircraft has again extended the development schedule for its MRJ regional jet, this time by about one-and-a-half years, with first delivery now due in the second quarter of 2017, nine years after the program was launched. The first flight, previously planned for the last quarter of this year, now is not expected until the second quarter of 2015.
Sept. 3-6—39th European Rotorcraft Forum. Moscow. See erf2013.org/ Sept. 5-8—China Helicopter Exposition. See www.helicopter-china-expo.com/ Sept. 9-12—Fifth Boeing/Northrop Grumman/Elysium Joint Global Product Data Interoperability Summit. Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort, Chandler, Ariz. See www.gpdisonline.com Sept. 10-12—AIAA Space 2013 Conference and Exposition. San Diego. See www.aiaa.org/SPACE2013
With the fog of war lifting from the combat-driven acquisition of UAS, unmanned systems are facing a new level of scrutiny inside the Beltway. The latest example is growing pressure from congressional auditors for Pentagon leaders to ensure the armed services' myriad UAS follow so-called open systems architectures, ultimately making them more affordable and less dependent on original manufacturers.
Denis Ilin (see photo) has been appointed executive president of Russia-based AirBridgeCargo Airlines. He was head of aviation business development for the Basic Element financial and industrial group and had been AirBridge's senior vice president-strategic marketing and sales.
Long-span wings generate less drag, but design rules limit their slenderness to avoid the potentially catastrophic aeroelastic instability known as flutter. Now, as part of the search for fuel efficiency and long endurance, flexible-wing control technology is being flight-tested to overcome those limits.
