Nearly 10 years have passed since Raytheon lost a contract to Boeing for the U.S. Air Force's next generation of satcom terminals. Known as FAB-T (Family of Advanced Beyond-line-of-sight Terminals), the program, estimated at $4.7 billion, will facilitate communications between military aircraft and the Pentagon's new Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite constellation.
When it comes to UAVs over America, lawmakers have a new boogeyman: hackers. At a congressional hearing July 19, a University of Texas professor described how he and his students hijacked an $80,000 Adaptive Flight Hornet Mini at the behest of the Homeland Security Department (DHS) during a demonstration last month at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The Hornet Mini is just the kind of small rotorcraft a local police force might use.
Finally, some Democrats and Republicans are finding one defense issue they can unite behind: trying to outlaw U.S. purchases of military equipment from Russia's Rosoboronexport. In a long-standing relationship, the U.S. is paying the Russian arms exporter to provide Mi-17 helicopters to the Afghan army. But with Rosoboronexport also shipping attack helicopters, sniper rifles, mortars and possibly tactical fighter jets to Syria, these lawmakers want to boycott the Russian weapons exporter—or, at least, boycott future work. Rep.
With a new service contract covering 15 additional 737NGs, Norwegian Air Shuttle has become Boeing's largest landing gear exchange customer. Under the program, Boeing offers customers fully overhauled and certified landing gear shipsets as alternatives to buying new landing gear. Norwegian has already undergone three landing gear exchanges with Boeing, and the next is scheduled for October 2013. Norwegian has ordered 100 737 MAX airplanes and 22 737-800 aircraft.
While the harsh U.S. budget-cutting enforcement known as sequestration would not take effect until Jan. 2, “jobs are already being lost under the BCA (Budget Control Act),” says Pratt & Whitney President David Hess. “We're effectively feeling the impact today,” he said last week at a House Aeronautics Caucus luncheon. For his company and the defense industry, that means holding off on hiring and investing decisions. At some companies, it means hoarding cash and for others, deciding to invest research money on commercial instead of defense projects.
Limited landing slots and traffic rights at a number of Asia's capital-city airports will see some airlines switching to widebodies on select short-haul routes, a trend that has caught the attention of aircraft lessors, particularly those that have Airbus A330s (see photo).
Southwest Airlines Cargo announced that it will introduce a new tracking service that will allow customers to better monitor their shipments. With Cargo Companion, wireless tracking devices will monitor the location, shock, light, temperature, pressure and humidity of cargo in transit. Email alerts will inform customers when a shipment crosses a checkpoint, when it arrives at its destination, what delays it faces and any temperature issues.
Mark Smith (see photos) has been promoted to group president from senior VP of Aerostaff Services, Line Maintenance and Engineering Solutions at STS Aviation Group, Jensen Beach, Fla. He succeeds Philip Anson, Jr., who was elevated to CEO of the Aviation Group. Former CEO Bob Greene is now executive chairman, and Tom Covella was promoted to group president of Component Solutions from executive VP and general manager.
Bolstered by increased sales of Cessna Citation business jets and Bell commercial helicopters, Textron reported second-quarter revenues of $3 billion, up 10.7% over the same period in 2011. Operating profit from manufacturing businesses was up $59 million to $288 million.
US Airways CEO Doug Parker, speaking at the National Press Club in Washington to tout the benefits of a merger with American Airlines, focused on the combined airlines' strengths, particularly on the U.S. East Coast. Parker says the merged airline would continue to serve mainly European destinations from its Charlotte, N.C., Philadelphia and New York-JFK hubs and Latin America from Miami. But the new carrier essentially would cede Asia to United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, relying instead on Oneworld partner Japan Airlines for Asia service.
Colleen Hartman has been appointed deputy director for science, operations and program performance at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. She has been the assistant associate administrator in the Science Mission directorate at NASA headquarters in Washington.
Terry A. Ruhl has been appointed president of Denver-based CH2M Hill's Transportation Business Group. He has been senior VP and director of consulting and international operations for the group's aviation, highway and bridge, ports and maritime, and transit and rail consulting practices.
PATS Aircraft Systems has delivered the fourth of 10 Boeing 737-900ER aircraft with PATS' Auxiliary Fuel System to Turkish Airlines. With a two-tank aft configuration, the modifications adds 962 gal. of fuel capability, extending the potential range of the aircraft to more than 3,200 nm and allowing Turkish to expand its routes into Africa. PATS will deliver the remaining six aircraft during the next nine months.
GE Aviation has upgraded its repair warranty programs for CF6-80C, CF6-80E and CFM International CFM56 engine parts. Under the extended programs, warranty hours for CF-6 engine parts tripled to 6,000 from 2,000 hr. and doubled to 4,000 from 2,000 hr. for CFM56s.
The U.S. Navy intends to substantially increase the percentage of simulation training for its personnel, especially in aviation. For the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, the Navy plans to increase simulated training to 32% of overall instruction by 2020 compared to the current 18%, according to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). For the Boeing EA-18G Growler, the Navy plans to increase that percentage to 34% from the current 20% in the coming eight years, the GAO says.
Air Tahiti Nui has selected SR Technics of the Mubadala Aerospace MRO network to complete three cabin modifications on Airbus A340-300s along with C-checks. The technical aircraft services company will replace the current three-class cabin configuration with two business and economy classes, and install an inflight entertainment system. All work will be completed at SR Technics' Centers for Excellence in Zurich and Dublin, with planned completion dates beginning in May 2013.
