FLUG REVUE update: Week ending November 2, 2003

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UPDATE
Week ending 2 November 2003

+++ Astronauts return from ISS +++ Global Hawk flies from Nordholz +++ EU council approves Galileo deal with China +++ IRIS-T production starts up +++ ISS is now manned for three years +++ Rockot launch succeeds +++ News in brief +++

Astronauts return from ISS
ESA-Astronaut von Cervantes-Mission zurück

ESA astronaut Pedro Duque from Spain landed in the command module of the Soyuz TMA-2 spacecraft near the town of Arkalyk in Kazakhstan at 08:40 local time, 03:40 Central European Time (CET), thus concluding the successful 10-day Cervantes mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The mission proceeded flawlessly with the completion of the experiment programme, the changeover of ISS Expedition crews and the exchange of the Space Station's Soyuz TMA lifeboat. The Soyuz TMA-2 spacecraft undocked from the ISS at 00:17 (CET) with Duque as Flight Engineer, Yuri Malenchenko (Rosaviakosmos) as Commander and Edward Lu (NASA) as 2nd Flight Engineer.
During his 8-day stay on the ISS, Pedro Duque carried out an extensive programme of scientific, technological and educational experiments as part of the Cervantes mission, a majority of which were sponsored by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology. “The experiment programme has been a complete success”, said ESA Mission Manager, Aldo Petrivelli, “and results have been obtained for all 22 experiments. These included two physical science experiments, which utilized the European-built Microgravity Science Glovebox on the ISS, four biological experiments, four human physiology experiments and a number of educational experiments and technology demonstrations.” During the Cervantes mission Pedro Duque had numerous contacts with the media from Spain and Germany. He talked via amateur radio with primary schoolchildren, winners of the Habla ISS competition, who had the chance to ask him questions. He also spoke live from the ISS to José María Aznar.
In addition to the experiment programme, the Cervantes mission served to relieve the ISS Expedition 7 crew. Yuri Malenchenko and Edward Lu had been stationed on the ISS since 28 April 2003. They have now been replaced by the ISS Expedition 8 crew, Michael Foale (NASA) and Alexander Kaleri (Rosaviakosmos), who arrived with Pedro Duque at the ISS in the Soyuz TMA-3 spacecraft on 20 October and are scheduled to return next April with ESA astronaut André Kuipers, from the Netherlands. The Soyuz TMA spacecraft are being used as crew changeover vehicles due to the grounding of the Shuttle fleet following the Columbia accident in February. The emergency return vehicle or lifeboat at the ISS has also been replaced. Soyuz TMA-2, which brought Malenchenko and Lu to the ISS, had been acting as their lifeboat during their stay. It has been succeeded in this role by Soyuz TMA-3, for the next six months. Duque was Flight Engineer on both the Soyuz TMA-2 and TMA-3 spacecraft, taking an active role in piloting. This was Duque's second spaceflight, as he was a Mission Specialist on the Space Shuttle Discovery, STS-95 mission

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Global Hawk flies from Nordholz
ELINT-Tests mit Global Hawk in Deutschland

EADS and the Northrop Grumman Corporation have successfully conducted a series of demonstration flights of a U.S. Air Force RQ-4A Global Hawk high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with a Demo-Configuration of EADS' newly developed Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) sensor. Supported by their two governments, the flights, conducted in late October from the German Navy's Nordholz Air Base near Cuxhaven, were the first HALE UAV flights to take place in German airspace.
The Global Hawk UAV made several flights over the North Sea, each lasting several hours. Supported by the EADS ELINT sensor and associated exploitation ground segment, Global Hawk was able to detect and identify electromagnetic signals from a variety of sources, including air defense radars. Preliminary evaluations indicated that the EADS ground station successfully processed in near-real time the sensor data transmitted by two data links and identified the detected emitters accurately. The ground station also controlled the on-board sensor system according to the Euro Hawk system requirements. The aircraft maneuvers automatically on pre-programmed flight paths, at any time controllable from the mission control center on the ground, and is known to be extremely reliable. In August, it was the first unmanned air vehicle to receive a national Certificate of Authorization (COA) from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to fly as a reconnaissance system in US airspace.
During the demonstration phase, numerous high-ranking international representatives of armed forces, government ministries and industry were convinced of the system's effectiveness and the ability of the system to provide an Airborne-Wide Area Surveillance capability, in support of the German MoD requirements. “With the Euro Hawk demonstration, we show once more that industry is ready to accept risks and to invest financial resources in order to offer military customers tailor-made system solutions within the framework of the German Forces' new procurement process. At the same time, we are also proud that EADS and Northrop Grumman team up in the Euro Hawk project thus being pace-setters in realizing industrial transatlantic partnership. We are confident that we have taken a step forward for the procurement of the future German signal intelligence system”, reaffirmed Tom Enders, Member of the EADS Executive Committee and CEO of the EADS Defence & Security Systems division. Moreover, together with other reconnaissance systems, Euro Hawk ill be the core element of a networked information system, he stated.

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EU council approves Galileo deal with China
Galileo GPS: China dabei

The EU Council adopted the decision proposed by the European Commission to authorize the EU Presidency to sign a Co-operation Agreement between the European community and the People's Republic of China on Galileo, the Civil Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) developed by the EU. The official signature took place during the EU-China summit on 30th October 2003. “This is a very important step ahead which shows the high level of confidence created by GALILEO throughout the world. The partnership with China is a good news and paves the way for future other bilateral and regional agreements which are of mutual benefit” said Loyola de Palacio, European Commission vice-president in charge of Transport and Energy. “The EU-China agreement will do more than secure a promising future for Galileo and European business interests: it opens the way for China's participation in the Galileo Joint Undertaking and a substantial financial stake-holding of some 200 million euros,” she explained.
Since the beginning of formal negotiations with China, on 28 March 2003, two rounds of talks were held and both sides finalized on 18 September 2003 a draft agreement which paves the way for China's active participation in the program. The formal approval of the decision by the Council was required in order to authorize the EU presidency to sign it at the forthcoming EU-China Summit on 30 October 2003. This agreement provides for co-operative activities on satellite navigation in a wide range of sectors, notably science and technology, industrial manufacturing, service and market development, as well as standardization, frequency and certification. It also opens the way for China to take a substantial financial part (around 200 million euros) in the program through a stake holding in the GALILEO Joint Undertaking, the body established to manage the program.

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IRIS-T production starts up
Verträge für IRIS-T unterzeichnet

Spain, as the last of six program consortium nations has signed on October 27th the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the series production preparation/pilot lot production and series production of about 4,000 IRIS-T short-range air-to-air missiles. With 700 missiles on order Spain will become the second largest participant in the IRIS-T production program. Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway and Sweden have signed the Production MoU already before the summer vacation. Spain was able to sign the MoU only after her Parliament's summer reset. The German Parliament released the production preparation/pilot lot production and series production of 1250 IRIS-T missiles for the German Air Force already on 30 January 2003.
Shortly after the MoU signature the German Federal Office for Defence Procurement and Technology and IRIS-T Prime Contractor BGT have signed the contract for series preparation and pilot lot production. The series production contract worth about one billion Euros will be signed in early 2005. IRIS-T industrial development was successfully finished on budget in December 2002 with a series of successful test firings. During June/July and October 2003 five performance demonstration firings were successfully carried out under most difficult engagement conditions. These firings demonstrated again the excellent performance of IRIS-T to acquire, track and hit flare emitting, manoeuvring targets under difficult engagement conditions.

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ISS is now manned for three years
Drei Jahre Crews auf der ISS

The International Space Station surpassed another milestone Sunday: the third anniversary of the permanent human habitation of the orbital outpost. The Expedition 1 crew arrived at the Station on Nov. 2, 2000. Since then, seven more crews have called it home, including its current residents, Expedition 8 Commander Michael Foale and Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri. The third year of humans living aboard the station has been marked by the perseverance of the orbiting laboratory and international partnership through the tragedy of the Columbia accident.
"Every endeavour that continuously pushes the boundaries of human achievment can have times of both great triumph and great tragedy. The space agencies and nations around the world that are our partners in the Station understand that and they have experienced it," ISS Program Manager Bill Gerstenmaier said. "The perseverance of crewed operations aboard the Station this year has brought the partnership closer together, and it will strengthen the Station through both the improvements in safety that we plan and the lessons we learn together."
At the Kennedy Space Center, Fla., 168,000 pounds of additional Station components are being prepared for launch when the Space Shuttle returns to flight. Those components will triple the number of science facilities aboard the orbiting laboratory, increase the total power available for research by over 80 percent and triple the surface area of the Station's solar arrays. Among components at KSC is the second Station laboratory, the Japanese Experiment Module named Kibo
International Space Station Expedition 8 Commander and NASA ISS Science Officer Michael Foale and Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri wound up their first full workweek in space Friday. Science activities, Station maintenance, exercise and more familiarization with their new home were their focus. Kaleri spent much of the day setting up, working with and then stowing the Russian PILOT experiment, which looks at psychological and physiological changes in crew performance during long-duration spaceflight. The subject uses two hand controllers to make inputs for the experiment. Foale did inspections of the emergency lighting power supply in the U.S. laboratory Destiny and the Unity Node modules of the Station.

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Rockot launch succeeds
Start von Rokot erfolgreich

The Institute for Unmanned Space Experiment Free Flyer (USEF) of Tokyo, Japan and Eurockot Launch Services GmbH of Bremen, Germany, on 30 October announced the successful launch of the SERVIS-1 satellite at 13:43 UTC from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Northern Russia using a ROCKOT launch vehicle. After postponement of 1 day because of weather conditions (high winds) the spacecraft was injected into a sun-synchronous orbit of 1000 km altitude. This mission follows on from the successful launch of the previous mission MOM per-formed on 30 June 2003. SERVIS-1, the acronym for the first "Space Environment Reliability Verification Integrated System" mission, will be employed to develop technologies for the utilization of commercial off-the-shelf components in space conditions. USEF has the responsibility to promote the SERVIS project including the devel-opment of satellite system under the auspices of Japan`s New Energy and Indus-trial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) and the Ministry of Econ-omy, Trade and Industry (METI). The contract with USEF was concluded with the support of Tokyo-based Mitsui Bussan Aerospace, the representative of Eurockot in Asia.
In 2004 Eurockot will provide two launches: ESA's CryoSat satellite into a near polar orbit and the earth observation satellite KOMPSAT-2 of the Korea Aero-space Research Institute (KARI) of Taejon, Republic of Korea, which will be de-ployed into SSO. Eurockot has also submitted several proposals for launch ser-vices in Germany, Europe and Asia, which are to be decided in autumn 2003: The European Space Agency is currently conducting a launch competition for its Earth Explorer Missions comprising four satellites to be launched between 2004 and 2008.

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NEWS IN BRIEF / KURZMELDUNGEN

Star Alliance welcomed LOT Polish Airlines as its 15th member, further extending its worldwide network, particularly into Eastern Europe. LOT Polish Airlines' network covers 46 cities in Europe and beyond, in addition to 12 destinations in Poland. In 2002 the airline carried 3.3 million passengers, a 5 percent increase on the previous year. It was also recently voted the best airline in Eastern Europe. Star Alliance CEO Jaan Albrecht said the admission of LOT Polish Airlines is concrete evidence of Star Alliance's leadership position. The Star Alliance network spans 680 airports in 127 countries. Its fleet of over 2000 aircraft makes almost 11,000 daily departures. This year Star Alliance airlines were expected to carry well over 300 million passengers.
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Lufthansa is extending its long-standing cooperation with Aeroflot after signing new accords on aircraft maintenance and pilot training. Aeroflot is to utilize Lufthansa services for maintenance and overhaul of its Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft as well as for training pilots for its A320s, reaffirming its confidence in Lufthansa quality and flying skills. Over the next ten years, Lufthansa Technik has contracted to support the Russian airline with its total components service. The Total Component Support TCS contract encompasses eighteen Airbus A319 and A320 jets. This service from the Lufthansa MRO subsidiary constitutes an optimum solution guaranteeing a reliable supply of aircraft components for Aeroflot, since the entire supply chain including all maintenance and logistics is in the hands of a single supplier. Lufthansa Technik has worked out a customised portfolio of all relevant components for Aeroflot aircraft. Aeroflot is one of Lufthansa Technik's major customers in the growing Russian and CIS market. From the Russian airline's fleet of about 100 aircraft, Lufthansa Technik provides maintenance support for the western-built Airbus A310s, Boeing 737s and Boeing 777s. Its services range from overhaul of components, engines and airframes to the supply of materials, engineering services and technical training as well as personnel support and servicing at all stations, worldwide.
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The press featured reports about an investigation by SWX, the Swiss Stock Exchange, into SWISS and the progress of negotiations about an operating credit. SWISS would like to provide the following information in response to these reports: It is correct that SWX Swiss Stock Exchange is currently looking into whether there may have been a possible violation of Art. 72 of the Listing Rules (ad hoc publicity) in connection with an interview with CEO André Dosé on 14 October this year. The translated version of a press release presented a very optimistic interpretation of this interview in relation to the status of negotiations about an operating credit. Negotiations about an operating credit with Swiss and international banks continue. As usual, complex discussions of this nature always take time. SWISS is very confident that talks with the banks and possible other financing partners can be brought to a successful conclusion. SWISS will provide further information once contracts are signed. Rumours about pulling out of a contract with Embraer in favour of purchasing Airbus A 318s are untrue. SWISS is, however, talking to aircraft manufacturer Embraer about deferring delivery of the Embraer 170s
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General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. announced that on October 17, the first pre-production version of the Predator B flew from the company's flight operations facility in California. Predator B is being manufactured for quick transit, long endurance flights in support of intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and weapons delivery missions. The pre-production Predator B incorporates a wider fuselage to house additional fuel, enabling it to fly for over 30 hours while carrying over 3,000 lbs of external and 800 lbs of internal payloads for a total gross take-off weight of 10,000 lbs. Predator B, capable of operations above 50,000 ft, incorporates a Honeywell turbo-prop engine, larger sensor package and increased wingspan over that of the MQ-1 Predator. As an extension of this program, the company has also invested in the development of Predator B's sister aircraft, the ALTAIR and Predator B-Extended Range. These aircraft incorporate common avionics and mechanical systems with an increased wingspan for flights above 50,000, and in the case of Predator B-ER, for an increased endurance to 49 hours. All Predator B series aircraft will have triple redundant avionics and dual mechanical control systems to meet requirements for flight in National Air Space.
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Hartzell Propeller has announced that Röder Präzission GmbH has become the compnay´s newest Recommended Repair Facility. Röder is located on the Egelsbach Airport near Frankfurt, Germany, and joins Hoffman Propeller GmbH in Rosenheim as the only other Hartzell approved facility in Germany.
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Patria inaugurates officially new facilities for NH90 final assembly today in Jämsä, Finland. The former facilities have now been added to with a new building of 2 800 m² of additional area. Patria has already started the final assembly in the new facilities in September 2003 and will deliver 50 NH90 helicopters during 2005-2011. The first NH90 assembled in Finland will be delivered to the Finnish Defence Forces in 2005. The first helicopters in connection with the joint Nordic helicopter purchase will be assembled and delivered by Eurocopter and Agusta. The Nordic countries ordered 52 NH90 helicopters with an option for 17, from NHIndustries, owned by Agusta, Eurocopter and Fokker. Patria signed contracts on helicopter and engine assembly with Eurocopter and Rolls-Royce Turbomeca in October 2001. The value of these contracts is more than EUR 40 million. Employment effect of the NH90 final assembly at Patria is approximately 750 man-years. Eurocopter S.A.S. has subcontracted the final assembly to Patria having also technical personnel working at Patria.
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Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide reported increases in all traffic categories for the third quarter. Well over 22.4 million passengers used the airports of the Fraport Group from July to September 2003, some 3.4 percent more than in the same period last year. Air cargo and airmail tonnage handled totaled just under 491,900 metric tons (up 1.6 percent). Aircraft movements rose by 0.5 percent to 201,600 take-offs and landings. The Fraport Group comprises six airports: Frankfurt Main (Germany), Antalya (Turkey), Frankfurt-Hahn (Germany), Hanover (Germany), Lima (Peru) and Saarbrücken (Germany). With well over 14 million, passenger figures at Frankfurt Airport (FRA) reached the previous year's level. Airfreight and airmail activity at FRA fell 2 percent short of the 2002 third-quarter results, with a volume of 402,300 metric tons handled. Aircraft movements declined by 1.4 percent to about 120,000 take-offs and landings. Fraport AG's home base and most important location Frankfurt Airport continued to be affected by lackluster business travel activity resulting from the slowing economy. The number of package tour travelers also fell short of the 2002 level. Traffic on East European and intercontinental routes (e.g., to an from the U.S.A. and India) gave impetus for growth. Cargo business was depressed by the strong euro and its curbing effect of higher export prices on the German export industry.
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Embraer announced that on October 16 it started the process of ferrying to Europe the first EMB 145 AEW&C aircraft belonging to the Hellenic Air Force, for the installation of specific mission equipment that will allow the Hellenic Air Force to perform operations of its own, as well as NATO-related missions. The process was started right after a local ceremony attended by Lt. Gen. Panagiotis Papanikolaou, Chief Hellenic Air Force General Staff. This aircraft is part of the four EMB 145 AEW&C (Airborne Early Warning and Control) aircraft ordered by the Government of Greece in 1999 to Ericsson, Thales and Embraer. Other than the mission aircraft covered by this agreement, between 1999 and 2001 Embraer has already delivered to the Government of Greece one ERJ 135 and one Legacy aircraft for authorities transportation.
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Arianespace announced that it has secured a first quarter 2004 launch slot with Sea Launch for the DIRECTV 7S satellite. Arianespace was able to provide DIRECTV with total mission assurance for the DIRECTV 7S launch through a cooperative agreement with Boeing Launch Services and Sea Launch Company, LLC, under the newly formed launch services alliance. Announced in July 2003, the launch services alliance utilizes launch systems from three leading service providers -- Arianespace, Boeing Launch Services and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries -- to provide customers with on-time launches and total mission assurance. Delays in the satellite manufacturing process created a scheduling conflict with a dedicated scientific mission on the Arianespace launch manifest. The DIRECTV 7S satellite is a high priority launch for DIRECTV as the spot-beam spacecraft is slated to serve 60 local television markets across the United States. The creation of the launch services alliance allowed Arianespace to negotiate a seamless transfer of the satellite to Sea Launch, and for DIRECTV to secure a guaranteed launch slot for this important mission.
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Orbital Sciences Corporation announced that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has ordered four space launch vehicles, including two Pegasus and two Taurus rockets, for U.S. government scientific satellite missions scheduled to be launched over a two-year period beginning in 2006. The orders were placed under the Small Expendable Launch Vehicles Services (SELVS) contract that was awarded to Orbital by NASA's Kennedy Space Center in 1998. The two new Pegasus vehicles will be used to launch the satellites designated for NASA's Space Technology-8 (ST-8) and Small Explorer-10 (SMEX-10) missions. The two Taurus missions are scheduled to launch NASA satellites that Orbital is currently developing and manufacturing at its Dulles, VA facility. The first of the two new Taurus rockets will launch the GLORY satellite for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The second Taurus rocket will launch the Orbiting Carbon Observer satellite for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
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CAE is entering an ever-growing Russian air transport industry, having signed an eight-year agreement with Aeroflot-Russian Airlines for A320 training. By year's end, Aeroflot will take delivery of a CAE-built Airbus A320 full-flight simulator, equipped with the CAE Tropos visual system, in support of its growing Airbus fleet. The agreement also provides an option for a CAE Simfinity-based integrated procedures trainer. Late last year, the airline signed up for 18 new Airbus A319/320s. CAE will install the A320 full-flight simulator in Aeroflot's Moscow training center, where the airline will be the primary user of the equipment. Excess capacity will be marketed to third-party customers and the simulator will be part of the growing Airbus-CAE training cooperation network. Based on list prices for training and expected usage, the simulator is expected to generate about C$2.6 million (US$2 million) per year in revenue over eight years.
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There will be less competition and innovation in the U.S. military aircraft industry and some highly skilled specialists will leave the industry over the next 10 years unless the nation begins additional aircraft development programs, according to a RAND Corporation study. In 1960 there were 11 U.S. contractors able to design and build military aircraft that met the nation's needs. The number dropped to eight in 1990. Today, as a result of mergers and other developments, only three companies—Lockheed-Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman—are capable of developing and producing major military aircraft systems. The number of military aircraft contractors could shrink further because the nation has only one major aircraft project in development and no others planned, according to an analysis by RAND's National Defense Research Institute.
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In its annual update to “The Market for Radar Systems” report, Forecast International predicts that based on programs now in existence, the worldwide radar systems market for the next 10 years should be worth $18.366 million overall. The market is dominated by radar manufacturing giants: Raytheon, Northrop Grumman and Thales, with BAE Systems and Ericsson filling out the group. The top five companies should capture roughly $11.260 billion, or 61.31 percent of the total 10-year market. The industry continues to exhibit a very concentrated, two-tier character. The top five companies have established such a commanding position that major changes in the overall shape of the industry are not likely, while teaming arrangements on various programs can be expected. Thales and Raytheon, for example, have agreed to a multi-national partnership, an air defense company known as Thales-Raytheon Systems. This transoceanic teaming will bolster the standing of the parent companies in the market.
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NAVAIR's Maritime Surveillance Aircraft Program Office (PMA 290) released a request for proposal for the Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft on Oct. 28. Release of the RFP is a major stride toward the eventual development and acquisition of the Navy's P-3 Orion replacement, the MMA. The document provides competitors for the MMA system the specific and detailed information they need to submit proposals for the work. “This RFP release is built upon years of work by the MMA team,” remarked Captain Steve Eastburg, PMA 290 program manager. “It will help to ensure we solicit industry proposals which contain the most effective war fighting solutions for the fleet.” An RFP provides guidance on everything from contracting procedures to specifications for the MMA system. On Sept. 30, Eastburg signed the Performance Based Specification, a major element of the RFP guidance. The most critical component for the design and development of the aircraft, the PBS took about two years to complete.
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A significant milestone was achieved on October 25 2003 when the first production Super Lynx 300 helicopter for Oman undertook a successful maiden flight from AgustaWestland's Yeovil airfield in the UK. Captained by Senior Test Pilot Mike Adam-Swales, with Principal Flight Test Engineer George Anderson on board, the aircraft flew a standard initial test schedule comprising aircraft system checks and aircraft/engine handling. These included forward flight to 120 knots and low speed manoeuvres. Speaking after the flight, Mike Adam-Swales said: “This maiden flight of the Royal Omani Air Force's Super Lynx 300, powered by LHTEC CTS800 engines, was completed successfully. All systems behaved as expected and the flight was smooth and trouble free. The aircraft has great potential for service in Oman.”
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Lockheed Martin recently successfully conducted another test firing of its Line-of-Sight Antitank Weapon System (LOSAT) at White Sands Missile Range, NM. During the test, a Kinetic Energy Missile (KEM) was fired at ambient temperature from the LOSAT fire unit. The KEM successfully destroyed a stationary armored personnel carrier at 720 meters. Preliminary data indicate all test objectives were achieved. This was the fifth test firing in a series of 18 Developmental Tests that are under the control of the U.S. Army Test & Evaluation community. On September 11, the LOSAT system was successful against a moving target in nighttime conditions. In August, LOSAT obliterated a moving tank at short range, and in late July the weapon system destroyed a reinforced urban structure, proving that it can be effective against a variety of targets.
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GE Aircraft Engines (GEAE) has formally completed all qualification testing of its higher-thrust F110 fighter engine, the F110-GE-132, for the Lockheed Martin Block 60 F-16E/F aircraft. The U.S. Air Force (USAF) concurred with GEAE's recommendation that the F110-GE-132 engine has concluded all engine qualification activities, clearing the way for the engine to enter operational service on the Block 60 F-16 aircraft. Flight tests of the Block 60 F-16 aircraft are scheduled for late 2003. The F110-GE-132 engine successfully completed the first phase of flight testing powering a modified Block 50 F-16 aircraft in April. The F110-GE-132 engine was launched in 2000 with its selection by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for 80 Block 60 F-16E/F aircraft. The engine is derived from the highly successful F110-GE-100 and F110-GE-129 engines, which power 70 percent of the F-16C/Ds worldwide. The F110-GE-132 produces up to 32,500 pounds (144 kN) of thrust, which is the highest thrust of any engine powering F-16s. The F110-GE-132 utilizes GEAE's extensive technology base, including: a long-chord blisk fan derived from the F118 engine (B-2 bomber); a radial afterburner derived from the F414 engine (F/A-18E/F fighter) and enhanced for the F136 engine (Joint Strike Fighter); and a composite outer duct based on the duct of the F404 (F-117 Stealth fighter) and F414 engines.
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Lockheed Martin received notification from the U.S. Navy that the MH-60S helicopter, containing the Lockheed Martin Common Cockpit, is “operationally effective and operationally suitable.” This announcement follows a series of tests conducted by the U.S. Navy Air Test and Evaluation Squadron One (VX1) at Patuxent River during the summer. “This is a noteworthy event,” said Jeff Bantle, vice president and general manager of Multi-Mission Solutions. “The MH-60S aircraft is the first platform to field the MH-60 Common Cockpit. This glass cockpit provides advanced avionic enhancements that increase safety and pilot versatility, while minimizing ownership costs and training requirements.”
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Malaysia signed an agreement for the purchase of 11 Agusta A109 light reconnaissance helicopters worth RM286 million for the army's air wing. The letter of award (LOA) was signed by the Defence Ministry represented by its secretary-general, Datuk Subahan Jasmon, and the manufacturer, Agusta SpA Italy, represented by is vice-president of research and marketing, Bruno Spanoli. Defence Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who witnessed the signing, said the army had been waiting for a long time to buy the aircraft for use by its air wing.
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Messier-Dowty announced that it has been chosen to provide the integrated landing gear system for the Russian Regional Jet (RRJ) program. The company valued the contract at approximately $400 million, based on a projected market for 600 aircraft, and plans to include Russian suppliers. Messier-Dowty will be responsible for managing the design and production of the entire integrated RRJ landing gear system less the braking system, for which the airframer plans to retain control. Typically, an integrated landing gear system includes subsystems for landing gear control and indication, emergency extension, steering control and brake control, plus electrical harnesses, door mechanisms, actuators, uplocks, wheels, brakes and tires. Messier-Dowty's system approach has been applied to a number of aircraft including the Bombardier Global Express, Global 5000 and Challenger 300; Dassault Falcon 7X; and Raytheon Hawker Horizon.
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The market for unmanned air vehicles that perform reconnaissance and surveillance missions is expected to be worth $10.6 billion over the next 10 years, according to Forecast International's “The Market for UAV Reconnaissance Systems.” U.S. military actions around the world have helped spark interest in unmanned air vehicles. U.S.-operated unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) have seen action in Afghanistan, the Philippines, Yemen and most recently in Iraq. “Each military operation has helped to push interest in UAVs up another notch,” said Larry Dickerson, Unmanned Systems Analyst for Forecast International. “While interest may not stay at this level, it will remain higher than it was before these operations were launched,” he said. U.S. companies, including Northrop Grumman which makes the Global Hawk and Predator manufacturer General Atomics, will be the leading providers of unmanned air vehicles, controlling more than 50 percent of this market's total value. These and other American companies can attribute their dominance to the Pentagon's growing demand for UAVs. Indeed, Forecast International expects the Pentagon to award U.S. companies about $5.4 billion worth of UAV-related contracts in the coming 10 years.
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Fokker Services, part of Stork Aerospace, and KLM Engineering & Maintenance intend to work together closely on the technical maintenance of Fokker aircraft. The partnership will focus initially on further extending and optimizing the maintenance of the KLM Cityhopper Fokker fleet. At a later stage the two companies intend jointly to strengthen their presence on the maintenance market for regional aircraft. The combined expertise of both KLM and Stork in this field is expected to create a strong basis for the development of these activities. Fokker Services and KLM both currently provide maintenance services to KLM Cityhopper. For this purpose the Fokker Services maintenance facility at Schiphol has recently been moved to the same hangar in which KLM carries out minor maintenance work for the Cityhopper fleet.
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BAE Systems is leading a combined industry and academic team in the development of the next generation of air speed sensors. The Laser Air Speed Sensor Instrument (LASSI) program is being undertaken by BAE Systems Advanced Technology Centre (ATC) in collaboration with Advanced Optical Technology Ltd., Spectrum Technologies and the Department of Physics at Hull University. The program, sponsored by the UK Department of Trade & industry (DTI), will see the development of an air speed sensor using an ultra-violet laser designed to increase accuracy of airspeed measurement over a much wider range of speeds than traditional methods. The current method for measuring air speed uses the pitot tube – a cylindrical tube attached to the aircraft that points into the airflow. A device attached to the base of the tube measures the forward air pressure and the air pressure at right angles to the direction of motion or static air pressure. The difference in pressures is used to calculate the velocity of the aircraft. Whilst accurate at high speeds, the ability of the pitot tube to resolve the differences in forward and static pressure at low speeds is very limited. This makes the measurement of airspeed at low velocities extremely difficult and is a serious problem for helicopters, particularly during low speed maneuvers close to the ground. Additionally, on fixed-wing aircraft, the pitot tube increases the drag on an aircraft and hence fuel consumption.
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Australian Defence Minister Robert Hill has approved the introduction into service of the Hawk Lead-In Fighter jets at RAAF Base Williamtown and Salt Ash Air Weapons Range. Senator Hill's decision follows an exhaustive environmental impact assessment process, supervised by the Minister for the Environment, Dr David Kemp. The decision to accept the Hawk into service comes with a raft of measures to ensure the impact of the new jet on the local community is minimized.
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ICO Global Communications (Holdings) Limited has given Globalstar permission to reopen discussions with other companies in order to pursue an alternative transaction to acquire Globalstar. Globalstar has already initiated discussions with a number of potential investors. ICO believes that a condition to closing its Investment Agreement with Globalstar likely will not be satisfied, and therefore there is a possibility that the ICO transaction might not close. Globalstar itself is not in breach of any of the terms of the Agreement.
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Boeing delivered to KLM Royal Dutch Airlines the first of 10 new Boeing 777-200ER jetliners. The Netherlands-based carrier will use the high-technology 777s to replace its retiring Boeing 747-300 fleet. The remaining 777s will be delivered over the next two years. The KLM 777s wi�np]��`ǉ�u�}�A�J�~� p�(O��+�Z��L�0J��)�3d��>d��,�S��,��n*��g�B�0��J�h�K5��u��L��(��~�G�z#��v|'�L��~�@Z��SC�9s��e�-�!��/��! S��PF�@��|��<��`��@��r��n�ǅ�u��|��HD�xDz)�!�z�`~܂�6��1�Zk�+N�m��zo��w�H�tgy�tGq��P`��l�Y᭟��Z�H��Jk��yJx4�,��J��!?�L��pp�'/* +++
NASA is exploring the potential use of uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAV) that look like large radio controlled airplanes to conduct scientific studies of the Earth. Long endurance UAVs have the potential to fill the gap between satellites and surface networks in the integrated global observing system. That gap is filled by the use of traditional aircraft and limited by the endurance of the onboard pilot. UAVs give researchers a persistent but deployable observing presence, capable of focusing on Earth phenomena that require in-depth, in-situ measurements. UAV data are used in conjunction with the larger global datasets obtained from satellites. NASA has entered into a three-year cooperative agreement with Aerosonde North America, Inc., Denver. Through the agreement, NASA is seeking to determine the feasibility of conducting Earth science research using small, long endurance UAVs. The Aerosonde remotely controlled aircraft offers scientists the opportunity to conduct long duration missions by flying continuously for more than 30 hours.
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The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) reported that in the first nine months of 2003, deliveries of general aviation airplanes totalled 1,602 units, a 9.3% drop from the same period last year, with industry billings dropping 24.4% to $6.43b. Despite the overall downward trend in industry deliveries, shipments of piston-engine airplanes in the first nine months of this year were up 0.2% over the same period last year, from 1,099 units to 1,101 units. Meanwhile, shipments of turboprop airplanes declined 4.1% from 170 units to 163 units. Business jet shipments decreased from 498 units in the first three quarters of last year to 338 units this year.
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Boeing reported net income for the third quarter of 2003 of $256 million, or $0.32 per share, on revenues of $12.2 billion. This compares with net earnings of $372 million, or $0.46 per share, on revenues of $12.7 billion for the third quarter of 2002. On Oct. 16, 2003, the company announced it will complete production of the 757 jetliner during 2004 after delivering more than 1000 units over 20 years. The company recognized a charge related to this decision that reduced third quarter operating earnings $184 million, or $0.14 per share.
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The U. S. Federal Aviation Administration has approved new Boeing flight deck technology that will lower pilot workload and reduce flight delays by giving pilots better access to critical information. The FAA action allows Boeing to install the Class 3 version of the Jeppesen Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) on the Boeing 777. This is the first time a fully integrated Class 3 EFB has been approved for commercial service. In addition, the European Joint Airworthiness Authorities (JAA) have agreed to accept the FAA authorization as certification for the nations under its purview.
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