I am outraged about a remark in Defense Technology Editor Bill Sweetman's editorial “The Slow Death of Boot-Centric Warfare.” He says: “Cuts in military manpower will result in growing ranks of people denied stars or lifetime retirement benefits for just (!) 20 years of service” (AW&ST Defense Technology Edition July 2, DT3).
With fewer dollars available for new programs, the Pentagon is at a pivot point for its multibillion air- and spaceborne intelligence collection portfolio.
A new, unclassified version of a congressionally mandated Pentagon report on Iran's military capabilities appears to put the theocratic country's missile, terrorism and nuclear efforts in starker terms than before. “Beyond steady growth in its missile and rocket inventories, Iran has boosted the lethality and effectiveness of existing systems by improving accuracy and developing new submunition payloads,” says the April report, which came to light last week.
“Is It Showtime?” (AW&ST July 2, p. 34), references Boeing's long-standing policy of not flying at air show demonstrations. An unnamed company official is quoted as saying, “We have never sold an airplane because a customer said he saw it fly at an air show.” Of course, given the demonstration ban, no customer has even had the opportunity to utter such a comment since 1984.
United Airlines rounded off a strong Farnborough show for Boeing by ordering 100 reengined 737-9 MAXs and 50 737-900ERs in a deal worth $14.7 billion at list prices (see chart). United President/CEO Jeff Smisek says the deal was signed after lengthy negotiations with Airbus and Boeing, as well as engine suppliers CFM and Pratt & Whitney. In 2010 United, which flies A319s and A320s and is not a customer for the 737 Next Generation family, merged with Continental, a major 737 NG operator with no Airbus aircraft.
City and state officials in Alabama are still celebrating Airbus's decision to build an A320 final assembly line in Mobile. By any measure, the planned $600 million industrial facility will be a big stimulus to the local economy. It also will add to the southeastern U.S.'s emergence as a major hub for aerospace manufacturing. What may not be apparent yet, however, is how much the supplier base across North America could share in that bonanza.
Virgin Galactic is developing a low-cost small-satellite launch system which builds on its space tourism venture. The LauncherOne system will deliver payloads up to 500 lb. to low Earth orbit and, with a target of under $10 million per launch, is aimed at dramatically cutting the cost of delivering constellations of small satellites. Based on a 30,000-lb.-class winged booster that will be carried aloft for air launch by the WhiteKnightTwo mothership, the launcher will be powered by a two-stage liquid rocket, now in initial development by Virgin Galactic.
Charlie Marinelli has been appointed senior VP-charter sales at Solairus Aviation, San Francisco. He was the founder and principal of an executive/business coaching company.
A five-year contract for H-60 helicopters signed by Sikorsky and the U.S. Army gives a Pentagon facing budget uncertainty some flexibility to adjust its procurement numbers over coming years. The $8.5 billion baseline contract covers 653 Black Hawk and Seahawk helicopters for delivery by December 2017, and includes 106 aircraft for foreign military sales (FMS) customers in addition to 354 UH/HH-60Ms for the Army and 193 MH-60R/Ss for the Navy.
Jeff Taberner is the new senior account manager for the U.S. market at Latitude Technologies, Victoria, B.C. He was director of sales for the Sky Connect brand at Honeywell Technologies.
Shock, disbelief, dismay, distrust. Stages of grief? No, these adjectives sum up the reaction to the news that Hawker Beechcraft has agreed to sell itself to a Chinese manufacturer for about $1.8 billion (see p. 40). It remains to be seen whether the property will actually change hands, although there is no reason at this point to doubt it will. Nonetheless, the announcement stunned aerospace professionals.
I'm a retired Marine (aviation ordnance) who was assigned to the Marine Aviation Detachment at NAS Patuxent River, Md. When I was transferred back to a Fleet Marine Force Sqdn. at MCAS New River, N.C., there was one computer in the unit, and it belonged to the analyst. I used my own laptop and a printer to update ordnance records and my section's logistics. When I retired, I left them my laptop.
Christian Olivier (see photo) has been named VP-operations at Esterline CMC Electronics, Montreal. He has held executive positions at Nortel Networks, STMicroelectronics and e2v Technologies.
As Earthbound researchers prove slow to realize the orbital capabilities available to them, top managers are beginning to worry that support for human spaceflight could wane
After a long flirtation with the concept of partnering to offer a foreign fast-jet trainer to the U.S. Air Force as a T-38C replacement, Boeing will forgo an off-the-shelf bid in favor of a new-build design, or opt not to compete at all. T-X competitors include the BAE Systems Hawk, Alenia Aermacchi M346 and the Korea Aerospace Industries/Lockheed Martin T-50. The Air Force plans to buy 350 aircraft as well as ground-based training systems, but a competition is unlikely to start before 2013. Saab is said to be considering a Gripen-based offering.
Now that the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has secured the tactical and strategic airlift that it wanted, its next procurement is of VIP air transportation.
Though only one year into its contract to develop and produce the KC-46A for the U.S. Air Force, Boeing could accommodate early international orders for the aerial refueler possibly as soon as 2018, says Dennis Muilenburg, president of the company's defense sector. Boeing is slated to deliver the first 18 aircraft in 2017. USAF plans to buy 15 aircraft a year at full-rate production; the total buy will be 179 tankers.
July 23-25—Practical Aeronautics Short Course: “Introduction to Jet Engines-A Practical Perspective.” Ohio Aerospace Institute, Cleveland. See www.practicalaero.com July 23-29—Experimental Aircraft Association's 2012 Airventure. Oshkosh, Wis. See www.airventure.org July 31-Aug. 9—Fatigue Concepts. Aircraft Structures for Safety Inspectors and Engineers. Larkspur Landing. Sacramento, Calif. See www.fatcon.com
Here is how Air Berlin can survive: Continue to cut costs, grow the long-haul network and everything will be fine eventually. But there are two problems for one of Europe's largest airlines: It does not have the necessary money to grow and, at the moment, there is not even an airport where the plan can be implemented.
The Airbus A350 is facing crucial milestones in the coming weeks, with final assembly of the first flight-test aircraft to start in September but wing assembly several weeks behind schedule. Airbus plans to confirm by the end of October the A350 schedule leading up to first flight. The wing is due to arrive that month for MSN1, the first flight-test aircraft.
