Aviation Week & Space Technology

Military helicopters have been rolling off manufacturers' assembly lines in increasing numbers in recent years. Build rates will continue to rise in 2012, but beyond that, market trends point to flat and even declining annual production levels over the next several years.

The new year brings new challenges to India's suffering airline industry with signs of worse things to come. Amid the increasing debt crisis, mounting jet fuel costs, soaring losses and an inability to raise fares in a cut-throat market, airlines in India face the daunting task of protecting their air operator permits and convincing regulators that they meet safety standards at the same time as they are cutting costs.

The 21st century has seen a massive surge in procurement of unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Twenty years ago, the anticipated value of this market per year did not exceed $400 million—and that figure included sales of target drones. Today the U.S. fleet has grown tenfold and the Pentagon is spending nearly $4 billion annually on unmanned systems of all types.

The U.S. unmanned aerial system fleet is tenfold what it was two decades ago, and the Pentagon is spending nearly $4 billion annually on UAS of all types. When the U.S. launched the 1991 war against Iraq, the anticipated value of the UAS market per year did not exceed $400 million, including sales of target drones. Barring major new financial crises in Europe and the U.S., unmanned platforms—along with electronic warfare and cyberoperations—are considered to be the technologies destined to survive the defense drawdown.

The heavy fighter engine market continues to be dominated by Pratt & Whitney and General Electric. The production of F100s and F110s remains active for F-15 and F-16 orders, primarily exports; after these fighters end production around 2016-17, the engine OEMs will shift production to modules to support the large world fleet.

Export sales will become increasing important as manufacturers try to sustain production levels built up over recent years. For the U.S., that means securing foreign military sales for Bell, Boeing and Sikorsky helicopters while European manufacturers market armed scout and support rotorcraft to the U.S.

Although space assets play a vital military role on the battlefield, militaries are being forced to balance increased demand for satellite capabilities with tightening budgets. The current drive of governments worldwide to rein in spending will have an effect on military satellite procurement during the next decade.

“It hasn't been splatted by the Internet” is how a friend once described an Ethiopian village she'd visited. Her short sentence reveals the nostalgia for a simpler life felt by many in the developed world who have never experienced it themselves, and a truth about the economic position of the so-called dark continent.

Engine MRO will outpace the total commercial aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul market growth this year, largely because engine events are more expensive and because more powerplants propelling the narrowbody fleet will need overhauls.

Production of military transports is forecast to rise sharply during the next decade, especially in the latter half due mostly to the introduction of the Airbus Military A400M and Embraer KC-390.

After booking record orders in 2011, ATR wants to increase revenues by 20% this year.

Engine upgrades are a key element of product-line revamps underway at helicopter manufacturers as they work to stimulate a recovery in a commercial market where new-centerline powerplants for rotorcraft are rare events.

The production of F100s and F110s remains active for F-15 and F-16 orders, primarily exports.

Jan. 31- Feb. 2—MRO Middle East 2012. Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Feb. 14-16— Defense Technology and Affordability Requirements. Arlington, Va. March 7—55th Annual Laureate Awards. Washington. March 13-14—Innovation Supply Chain Showcase. Orlando, Fla. April 3-5—MRO Americas 2012. Dallas. April 3-5—MRO Military Conference & Exhibition. Dallas. April 23-25—NextGen Ahead: Air Transportation Modernization. Washington. May 8-9—Civil Aviation Manufacturing. Charlotte, N.C.

An agreement by Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and New Zealand to become subscribers to the WGS broadband communications network has prompted the U.S. Air Force to exercise an option for Boeing to build a ninth spacecraft (see p. 33). With their $377 million contract, the five nations join Australia, which funded WGS-6 in 2008, as members of the Air Force Wideband team. WGS-9 is the third spacecraft in a follow-on contract series. Boeing was informed in December to proceed with WGS-8.

As the Army prepares for a spring flight demonstration of possible interim replacements for its OH-58D scout helicopter, financial pressure on the Pentagon may mean the service has to make do with the aging Kiowa for years to come, despite forthcoming obsolescence issues. Army aviation officials face a tough decision as they continue to struggle with how to replace the Kiowa warrior fleet following the 2008 collapse of the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) program, led by Bell, owing to cost growth.

Confronted by economic uncertainty and a vexing glut of good used aircraft, the market for new business jets remains largely stalled.

Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Co. only delivered one-third of the number of Superjet 100 aircraft it had planned for last year, yet the ones it did deliver to Armavia and Aeroflot are logging high daily utilization numbers. As it prepares to receive European type certification early this year, the company is increasing delivery volumes and expanding training facilities to ensure smooth operations for new customers.

From 2011 through 2020, general aviation aircraft manufacturers are expected to deliver 18,000 piston-engine models and 6,000 turboprops valued at $8 billion and $20.5 billion, respectively, which is encouraging considering the ongoing slump in output. However, the near- and mid-term outlook won't produce any cheers.

General Electric expects to raise the GE90 engine production rate to an unprecedented 225 per year by the end of 2014 on the back of record orders for the Boeing 777 taken last year. Overall, GE says the GE90 experienced its most successful year in 2011, accumulating commitments for 400 engines. GE plans to produce more than 180 GE90s in 2012, up from 170 in 2011 with further growth to 225 over the next two years.

Controllers guiding NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) are planning their next trajectory-correction maneuver on March 26, after a major burn Jan. 11 sent the big rover and its Atlas V upper stage on their separate ways. A 3-hr. series of thruster pulses set up the rover for an Aug. 6 powered descent into Gale Crater, while the upper stage was left to proceed away from the planet. The Nov. 26 launch was deliberately targeted away from Mars to prevent the upper stage from plummeting into the Martian environment with Earthly contaminants.

Boeing is considering a hybrid laminar flow control (HLFC) system for the -9 stretch of the 787. If adopted, it will be the first commercial use of this drag-reducing technique, which works by sucking in the air flowing over the skin to keep the smoother boundary layer attached to more of the chord. This delays the transition from laminar to turbulent flow, and cuts drag. Studies have shown potential for up to a 25% reduction in profile drag, and up to 20% lower block fuel consumption.

Russia's airlines carried 64 million passengers last year, or 2.5% more than in 2010, reports the country's air transport agency. The airlines' annual passenger turnover grew 13.2%. Foreign airlines carried another 40 million passengers in the Russian market. Freight traffic increased by 10.9% as domestic airlines carried 977,000 tons of freight and mail on international and domestic routes.

With a new $1.5 billion contract now in hand, the United Launch Alliance (ULA) is planning to build nine Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELV) to support U.S. national security launches in fiscal 2014. This buy is a bridge to a forthcoming strategy from the U.S. Air Force in the fiscal 2013 budget, which will be delivered to Congress Feb. 6. In it, USAF is expected to announce a multiyear buy strategy for EELV including eight in fiscal 2013. The new deal covers Defense Meteorological Satellite Program spacecraft Nos.

Boeing certified the 747-8 passenger aircraft without use of a 3,300-gal. tail fuel tank, a restriction that is only likely to affect the nine VIP Boeing Business Jet orders among 106 the company has received for the four-engine jet. The lockout of the tank in the horizontal stabilizer cuts 300-400 nm off the airplane's maximum range. It was ordered because of an FAA certification requirement that Boeing demonstrate that the airplane will not be affected by the loss of a fitting in its wing-to-engine strut joint.