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UPDATE 
Week ending February 15, 1998
+++ German aerospcae industry urges discussion on defence trends +++ Deutsche BA to decrease services +++ Russian ambassador urges An-70 co-operation +++ Lockheed Martin CEO urges increased transatlantic cooperation +++ Rheintalflug orders another Dash 8 +++ Rockwell Collins certifies multi-mode receiver +++ News in Brief +++

German aerospcae industry urges discussion on defence trends
BDLI stellt Positionspapier zur Sicherheit vor

The German aerospace industries association (BDLI) has urged military and political officials to develop new visions for the defence structures and technologies of the 21st century. Otherwise, they would be in danger of being so much behind the US war machine as to be no longer compatible operationally. In the view of the BDLI, aerospace combined with information technology will play a major role in future scenarios, ensuring for example quick strikes from long distances with minimum risks. The necessary continuous modernisation of the armed forces depends on adequate budgets of course, and here the specific problems is the currently very low percentage spent on investments (just 23 per cent, when 30 per cent are desirable). Besides a stabilization of the defence budget, the industry sees potential for cost custs by outsourcing non-essential work to civil contractors. Also, a full support of European industry consolidation is requested to fend off the very aggessive US companies.

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Deutsche BA to decrease services
Deutsche BA streicht Flüge

According to a report in German news magazine "Der Spiegel", British Airways subsidiary Deutsche BA has decreased services on its new Frankfurt-Munich route. Deutsche BA started flights from Munich into Lufthansa's main hub at the end of November, operating eight roundtrips per day. Three of them now have been cancelled although the airline had tried to attract passengers with extremely low fares.

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Russian ambassador urges An-70 co-operation
Ost-West-Zusammenarbeit bei An-70 vorgeschlagen

According to the Russian ambassador to German Sergei Krylov, Western countries, including Germany, should not miss a chance to join the project of the creation of a military cargo plane of the 21st century on a basis of the Russian-Ukrainian An-70 aircraft. "A possible cooperation of the Antonov design bureau with the European Airbus aviation consortium, a decision on which may be made in April 1998, will be an important step in the establishment of cooperation between the West and Russia in the exchange of high technologies," he noted.

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Lockheed Martin CEO urges increased transatlantic cooperation
Verstärkte Rüstungszusammenarbeit gefordert

Vance Coffman, chairman and chief executive officer of Lockheed Martin, urged U.S. and European allies to pool research and development and production efforts to provide military forces the technology they will need in the 21st century. Pointing to the limited defense expenditures projected over the next two decades, combined with the growing cost of state-of-the-art technology, Coffman said that it will be increasingly difficult for any single nation or company to find the investment funds in all the technology areas needed to field the sophisticated weapons of the next century.
The goal of Coffman's call for cooperation is based on the need to rationalize European defense industry in ways that do not lead to counterproductive competition between European and American industries. "If this perspective results in a 'Fortress Europe' competing against a 'Fortress America,' both our respective companies and our respective countries will be much the poorer. Such an outcome would be both bad business and bad policy," he warned. He outlined challenges on both sides of the Atlantic. "I do not believe that meeting the challenge is simply and exclusively a matter of European defense companies adjusting to the new reality of a consolidated American defense industry," he stated. "For American political leaders and for the American people, it will require an unprecedented willingness to be dependent on others," he explained. "Governments need to continue to encourage cooperation through commitments to joint programs and harmonized requirements," he elaborated. "In a similar vein, industry must work to define new patterns of mutually desirable cooperation and partnership. These might include transatlantic, project- specific joint ventures, cross-investments, and Sector-specific strategic alliances and partnerships," he concluded.

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Rheintalflug orders another Dash 8
Weitere Dash 8 für Rheintalflug

On February 10, Austrian-based regional airline Rheintalflug has placed a firm order with Bombardier Aerospace for one de Havilland Dash 8Q Series 300 aircraft and a conditional order for a second Series 300. The new Dash 8Q Series 300 aircraft will replace earlier Dash 8 models as well as increase the Rheintalflug fleet. The carrier is based in Bregenz and flies between Altenrhein, Switzerland and Vienna, Austria and between Friedrichshafen, Dusseldorf and Berlin in Germany. Rheintalflug in 1997 placed a firm order for one Dash 8Q Series 400 aircraft, which the airline will operate with 72 seats, and took an option on a second Series 400.

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Rockwell Collins certifies multi-mode receiver
Mehrzweckempfänger von Rockwell Collins zugelassen

According to Rockwell Collins, its Series 900 Multi-Mode Receiver (MMR) has become the first MMR to be certified on an air transport aircraft. Icelandair has taken delivery of the first Boeing 757-200 aircraft to be equipped with a Collins GLU-920 (ILS/GPS). Maersk Air of Denmark is taking first delivery on a similarly equipped Boeing 737-700, while British Airways is receiving an MMR-equipped Boeing 777 this month.
The Rockwell Collins MMR is a single integrated unit which enables instrument landing systems, microwave landing systems and Global Navigation Satellite System functions. Certification of the Rockwell Collins MMR for Boeing's 747 and 767 will be completed this spring. Certification for Airbus wide- and narrow-body (A340/320) aircraft is also nearing completion. Rockwell Collins is developing the required service bulletins to equip existing aircraft with the advanced landing systems.

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NEWS IN BRIEF / KURZMELDUNGEN

The Eurofighter flight test programme has now reached the 600 flight milestone, with 100 flights performed since last October alone.
+++
Lockheed Martin is launching a world demonstration tour in February for the new C-130J Hercules with planned visits to countries in Europe, Scandinavia, Middle East, Canada, South America, and along the Pacific Rim. The first leg of the tour began February 6, and will take the C-130J to countries such as Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, and countries in the Middle East. Over the next few months, the aircraft will visit various countries in South America, in Europe, in Canada, and in the Pacific Rim. During the tour, the aircraft is scheduled to appear at airshows in Santiago and Berlin.
+++
GKN Westland Helicopters has been awarded a turther 28 million pound contract by the UK Ministry of Defence for the enhancement of the defensive aids suite (DAS) to be fitted to the EH101 Merlin HC Mk.3 for the Royal Air Force. The Merlin will be the first helicopter to enter service with an integrated DAS and will posess the highest level of self protection of any UK military helicopter.
+++
The first prototype of the NH90 transport and naval helicopter has restarted its flight test at Cascina Costa in Italy, this time fitted with the General Electric/Alfa Romeo T700-T6E engines. They were fitted by Agusta and replace the RTM322s previously used. Italy has decided to use the T700, which is already on its EH101s, for commonality reasons. It is now necessarry to open up the flight envelope with this powerplant.
+++
Eurofighter export efforts in Norway will get a further boost soon when two Norwegian observers will be accomodated at the NETMA managment agency in Munich. Also it has been decided that classified data on the aircraft can routinely be distributed to the Norwegians. Dasa, which is leading EF2000 sales campaigns in NATO countries, believes that Denmark is also very closely watching the Norwegian moves. The F-16 is the sole remaining competiter in that country.
+++
There still seem to be problems with Boeings plan to take a 34 - 40 per cent stake in Czech aircraft maker Aero Vodochody. A memorandum of understanding was signed as long ago as May 1997, but the deal, which also includes airline CSA, is not yet concluded. Reports from Prague talk of Boeings demands for Government help in restructuring Aero Vodochodys big debts with the Konsolidacni Banka. Also, acceleration of payments for the 72 L-159 light fighters ordered by the Czech air force is demanded. It is expected that the Government will discuss the matter shortly.
+++
German engine manufacturer MTU has joined forces with Brunel International of the Netherlands to remarket its engineering capacities in times of low in-house demand. According to the company, it will be able to offer flexible and complete solution packages to mid-sized and large companies at very attractive rates. Potential customers targeted are in aerospace, cars, equipment and electronic sectors.
+++
Malaysian Airlines, the country's largest carrier, wants to delay delivery of several Boeing planes it has ordered for the next two years, the Seattle Times reported. A vice president of the airlines was quoted as saying that officials are discussing delivery dates with Boeing and talking with other airlines that might be interested in moving up deliveries. The delay was prompted by a Malaysian government decision to trim imports to stem the outflow of the weakened Malaysian currency.
++
Cebu Pacific Airlines, comprised entirely of DC-9 jets, has been grounded pending the result of an investigation into the cause of the crash of a flight on Feb. 2nd carrying 104 passengers and crew in a remote, mountainous area on the southern Philippines island of Mindanao. The order came from the country's Air Transportation Office.
+++
The European partners in the MEADS programme for the development of a new sufrace-to-air missile system have voiced fears that the US side will opt out after the current definition phase. This would be a severe blow for transatlantic cooperation, as there is currently no other common project that has nearly the potential and long term importance of MEADS.
+++
Dasa, British Aerospace and Aerospatiale are currently working on proposals of how the much-needed European aerospace industry consolidation can be accomplished. Sources close to the discussions stress that the company presidents are really commited to find a solution by the Government-imposed deadline of 31. March, but that it is unlikely that a definitive proposal will be made. Instead, several options will be outlined together with a list of preconditions to be instituted on the political level, like common export rules etc.
+++
On February 10, Orbital Sciences Corporation announced that its ground-launched Taurus rocket successfully deployed the U.S. Navy's GEOSAT Follow-On (GFO) satellite and two ORBCOMM communications satellites into a near-polar low-Earth orbit. The launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB), California, was the second mission for Orbital's Taurus vehicle, a four-stage derivative of the company's Pegasus space launcher. Lift-off of the Taurus rocket occurred at approximately 5:20 a.m. Pacific time.
+++
Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation has reported record sales and earnings for the fourth quarter and full year ending December 31, 1997. For the year ended December 31, 1997, Gulfstream reported revenues of $1.9 billion, up 79% from revenues of $1.06 billion in 1996. Net income for 1997 was a record $243.0 million, including a one-time, non-cash income tax benefit of $65 million from the release of Gulfstream's deferred tax valuation allowance, compared to net income of $47.0 million in 1996. The Company ended the year with a firm contract backlog of 88 aircraft, representing approximately $2.8 billion in future revenues. In 1997, the Company delivered 51 aircraft (22 Gulfstream IV-SPs and 29 Gulfstream Vs)
compared to 27 aircraft (24 GIV-SPs and 3 GVs) in 1996.
+++
A team of engineers from TRW, NASA and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) has successfully demonstrated that NASA's new Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF) can communicate accurately with its operations control center on Earth. In tests conducted February 2 and 3, the team established the first formal communications links between the satellite, now being integrated and tested by TRW in Redondo Beach, Calif., and NASA's newly constructed Operations Control Center (OCC) in Cambridge, Mass. TRW leads a team of contractors, including Eastman Kodak Company and Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., that is currently producing AXAF for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
+++
Israeli and Italian companies are jointly working to win Turkey's 3.5-billion-dollar helicopter gunship bid, local newspaper Daily News has reported. The Israeli Aircraft Industries (IAI) proposes to provide the A-129 helicopter with advanced avionics and electronic weapons integration systems while the Italian Augusta company is to produce the rest parts. This partnership is similar to that Israel had earlier with Russia to compete for the helicopter bid with the KA-50, said the defense officials who declined to be named.
+++
In the wake of the recent cable car disaster, Italy has doubled the minimum altitude at which an aircraft can fly over the national territory. The new regulations come into effect immediately. This meant raising the lowest possible altitude from 500 to 1,000 feet (151 to 303 meters) over the Po plain and Appennines, and from 500 to 2, 000 feet (151 to 606 meters) throughout the Italian alpine region. The lowest overflight altitudes for other countries remains at 1,500 feet (454 meters).
+++

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Previous updates are still available:
Die News der letzten Wochen ist nach wie vor abrufbar:

*February 8, 1998 *February 1, 1998

*January 25, 1998 *January 18, 1998 *January 11, 1998

*December 21, 1997 *December 14, 1997 *December 7, 1997

*November 30, 1997 *November 23, 1997 *November 16, 1997 *November 9, 1997 *November 2, 1997

*October 26, 1997 *October 19, 1997 *October 12, 1997 *October 5, 1997

*January to September 1997 *September to December 1996

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