Gone are the days when Brazil's munitions makers were content with building bullets and projectiles. And as the arms industry's technical expertise grows, more complex precision-weapon projects are under way. The first wave of such initiatives is due to come to fruition in the next two years, with industry poised to then tackle the thornier challenges of developing and building sophisticated cruise missiles, air defenses or long-range air-to-air missiles.
Kenneth E. Gazzola, President (McLean, Va. ), FlightLogix (McLean, Va. )
Business Editor Madhu Unnikrishnan's incisive column “What Shortage of Engineers?” (AW&ST April 9, p. 10) hits home. The volume is there, but the focus has shifted. Salaries are a major criteria, which reflects sector focus. The constant coverage about short- and long-term needs and opportunities in many areas of energy with its related salary advantages, as indicated in the column, make that sector a very attractive career choice.
The hangars are flooded with seawater. Under the water, hundreds of tons of muck washed in by the tsunami cover the floor. All the equipment kept at ground level—which, at aircraft maintenance, is just about all of it—is ruined, some of it swept away. The customers' aircraft are floating about in the hangars and, with one remarkable exception, all wrecked. The buildings have just been thrown about by one of the most powerful earthquakes in recent history. The runway is submerged and, for all anyone knows, may have been smashed up by the earthquake. There is no power.
The Volga-Dnepr Group has long been known primarily for its Antonov An-124-based outsize cargo charter business. But its scheduled operations are growing fast and strategic partnerships are serving to make the Russian logistics group a more serious international competitor.
Amy Svitak (Paris), Robert Wall (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates)
The space industry usually takes a crawl, walk, run approach when pursuing new challenges. But flush with cash and hungry to propel itself to the forefront of the global aerospace market, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has no time for baby steps. The UAE is one of a number of Middle Eastern countries that is gradually building a portfolio of space initiatives in response to growing instability in the region, a perceived threat from Iran and a desire to spur local industry.
In Washington, when the administration proposes, Congress disposes. That was certainly the case last week with NASA's $830 million budget request for development of a commercial crew vehicle to provide rides to the International Space Station. Senate appropriators cut the request by about $300 million and provided more funding for NASA's Orion crew exploration vehicle and heavy-lift Space Launch Vehicle (SLS).
While the airline world watches the seemingly unstoppable rise of the three big Persian Gulf carriers—Etihad Airways, Emirates and Qatar Airways—smaller airlines in the region are hurting like those elsewhere.
Whether it was a long good-bye, a thank-you or just an auld lang syne, the interpretation did not matter much as most people around downtown Washington on April 17 just called it awe-inspiring. The sight of the Discovery orbiter piggybacking on its NASA Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) and flying a loop around the National Mall stopped traffic, drew cheers and applause, and ignited spontaneous discussions about outer space from the sidewalks to social media sites.
“We want to rebuild the general aviation manufacturing industry in Brazil.” Novaer Craft CEO Graciliano Campos confidently announces this bold ambition and, given the large existing global supplier list, it sounds fanciful. But Embraer' success suggests it would be a mistake to write off another startup in this sector. Brazil still has many makers of experimental and light aircraft, but production of certified, piston- and turbine-powered single- and twin-engine aircraft ceased in the 1980s.
An article in the April 16 issue (p. 44) incorrectly stated NASA's plans for launching cargo to the International Space Station. The agency plans to use commercial rockets for the missions.
Corporate raider Paul Bilzerian may have ended up in prison after his takeover and break-up of diversified manufacturer Singer in the late 1980s, but he set in motion a chain of events that shaped and reshaped the flight-simulation market—and which may only now reaching their conclusion. Always technology-driven and highly competitive, the simulation industry has been wracked by waves of consolidation that have seen the some players change hands several times.
Kazuo Inamori had no previous airline experience when he took the helm of struggling Japan Airlines in 2010. But the carrier's dramatic turnaround proves once again that good business practices can cross industry boundaries. Inamori, one of Japan's most successful and well-known entrepreneurs, was asked by the Japanese government to step in to help with JAL's restructuring. As Inamori (pictured) tells Aviation Week, his management techniques have worked just as well in the airline world as in other sectors.
Northrop Grumman employees Sharon Meadows and Roy Foreman (see photos) have received top awards at the National Society of Black Engineers Conference in Pittsburgh. Meadows, who is the lead systems engineer for the engineering military satellite communications program in Manhattan Beach, Calif., received the Outstanding Woman in Technology award. Foreman, an electrical engineering manager at the company's Information Systems sector in Madison, Ala., received the Distinguished Engineer of the Year award.
On the basis of the Concorde “trial,” which was covered in “Flight Safety Angst” (AW&ST April 2, p. 22), can we expect the Airbus A330-200 fleet to be blamed for the Air France Flight 447 accident? Surely there is a common factor somewhere. Corsham, England
LightSquared, a company that sought to build an advanced 4G telecommunications network, is considering bankruptcy, and several lawmakers are wondering why the Obama administration paid for testing of its system and gave it a waiver to operate in the first place. The tests on LightSquared's network resulted in the determination that it could interfere with GPS receivers.
As military procurements go, the U.S. Air Force's competition to supply 20 turboprop light-attack/advanced training aircraft to the Afghan air force is hardly on the cutting edge of technology. Yet a battle for the modest contract has become a political hot potato between the U.S. and one of the world's rising economic powers, Brazil. Last week, it served as a backdrop to Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's visit to the White House.
If ever there were a story without heroes, it is the saga of LightSquared, the New York company that wants to build a network using satellites and terrestrial transmitters to offer wholesale 4G-LTE wireless broadband services in the U.S.
A recent “Up Front” column noted the demise of NASA's human spaceflight program (AW&ST April 2, p. 15). Visit the Kennedy Space Center to see the truth of this. The Apollo center showcases the glory days of NASA's history, from the failed rocket launches of the early days of Project Mercury to the amazing success of the Apollo missions. But in the “Explorers Wanted” segment, a NASA employee enthusiastically speaks in extremely vague terms about the agency's exciting partnership with private industry for the next generation of rockets for manned spaceflight.
When the business climate turns cold, companies can contract or invest. With the Pentagon staring at a potential $1 trillion budget reduction during the coming decade, defense company officials are beginning to pursue both options, sometimes simultaneously. Sean O'Keefe, chairman and CEO of EADS North America, says that in this climate the prudent course is to avoid making investments that could amount to nothing as lawmakers wrestle with what level of funding to provide to the military.
In a generally difficult economic climate, France's aerospace and defense equipment industry is coming off an excellent year in 2011, with a healthy backlog and a particularly strong performance in global export markets. The growth more than compensates for declining French defense equipment budgets, having helped mitigate the negative impact of Europe's financial crisis on the country's economy, and augurs well for· both prime contractors and suppliers in 2012.·
