Digest
NEWS
APPOINTMENTS CHANGES IN THE IAF With effect from May 1, Air Marshal G.S. Kochar moved from the post of Senior Air Staff Officer, Eastern Air Command to HQ Central Air Command in the same appointment. The latter post was vacated by Air Marshal S. Mukherji on his taking over as the Air Officer Personnel at Air HQ. Air Marshal Kochar’s post has been filled by Air Marshal A.S. Karnik. BOEING NAMES HEAD OF FLORIDA CHAPTER Boeing has named Kevin Hoshstrasser site director for its Florida Operations at Kennedy Space Centre. NEW MBDA HR GROUP DIRECTOR European missile systems group MBDA has appointed Craig Murray as its new Group Director Human Resources, succeeding Kim Reid. GULFSTREAM SHUFFLES TOP MANAGEMENT TEAM Gulfstream Aerospace, a subsidiary of General Dynamics, announced changes to its senior management team by appointing Larry Flynn Senior Vice President, Marketing and Sales. On assuming his new position on June 30, Flynn will turn over his product support responsibilities to Mark Burns, a 25-year Gulfstream veteran who has been Vice President, Customer Support, Gulfstream Product Support. NEW CHIEF FOR NORTHROP GRUMMAN NETWORK COMMUNICATIONS Northrop Grumman Corporation has appointed Roger Fujii Vice President and General Manager of Network Communications Division at its Mission Systems sector. PAUL-JEROME EVETTE APPOINTED CEO OF EADS TEST & SERVICES Paul-Jérôme Evette has been appointed CEO of EADS Test & Services within the Business Unit Defence Electronics of EADS Defence & Security. He will report to Bernd Wenzler, CEO Defence Electronics, and succeeds Jean Bultel.
QuickRoundUp
UNLOCKING MARS’ SECRETS After a journey of 10 months traversing more than 400 million miles, Phoenix arrived at the Red Planet to begin its study of water and possible conditions for life ASA’s Phoenix spacecraft landed at Martian arctic site in the northern polar region of Mars on May 25. Phoenix’ three Mars orbiters watched and relayed information from the spacecraft as it plunged into the Martian atmosphere at about 13,000 mph (21,000 kmph). Mission team members at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California comprising members from Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver; and the University of Arizona, Tucson cheered confirmation of the landing and the news that the Phoenix Mars Lander had survived its difficult final descent and touchdown on Mars. “For the first time in 32 years, and only the third time in history, a JPL team has carried out a soft landing on Mars,” said NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, who noted this was the first successful Mars landing without airbags since Viking 2 in 1976. For the next three months, the Phoenix spacecraft will be examining a site which has chances of having frozen water within reach of the lander’s robotic arm. The Phoenix Mission has two bold objectives which are to study the history of water in the Martian arctic and search for evidence of a habitable zone and assess the biological potential of the ice-soil boundary. Among the first critical deployment is the use of the 7.7-foot-long robotic arm on Phoenix during future weeks to get samples of soil and ice into laboratory instruments on the lander deck while a camera mounted on the arm monitors the action. The immediate goals of the Phoenix mission are to study the geologic history of water, and to search for evidence that Mars may have sustained life. Continued research will be done to determine whether dormant organisms could come back to life. As on Earth, the past history of water is found in the subsurface as liquid water changes the chemistry of the ground substance. The questions waiting to be answered according to Dr. Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson, who is the leader of the Phoenix mission are, “is there life on Mars, has there ever been life on Mars and if there is or was, how does it compare to life on Earth?” It remains to be seen what the data will actually show us but the scientists are assured that they will be provided with many exciting discoveries that they cannot even contemplate now.
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Eurojet Turbo pitches for its engine for Tejas A nine-member delegation from Eurojet Turbo, leading European military aero-engine consortium, recently concluded a three-day workshop for the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), on the feasibility of their engine being used to power the underpowered Tejas Light Combat Aircraft. The workshop comes in the wake of an air force communication to the Ministry of Defence that the Tejas, with its present engine—the General Electric manufactured GE F404 IN20—cannot meet air staff requirements. India plans 1 billion euro Mirage upgrade India is moving towards signing a big contract with France for the upgrade of
the 51 Mirage-2000 fighter jets in the IAF combat fleet, which comes after a $964 million (Rs 4,135.5 crore) deal was inked with Russia to upgrade 63 MiG-29s. The bone of contention between India and France for the Mirage-2000 upgrade, however, remains the huge cost of the deal which is in the region of 1 billion euros (Rs 6,607 crore) and, for which, the negotiations are going on. The upgraded Mirage-2000 jets will get new avionics and, of course, better armaments and weapon systems. DRDO developing hypersonic missile The Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is developing a hypersonic missile that could double up as a long-range
Airlines have completed an order for four 777-200ERs. The Israeli airline has also secured options for two additional 777s and holds conversion rights for the 777-300ER, a larger version of the 777 with increased payload and range capability. CANADIAN SPACE AGENCY • MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd, a provider of essential information solutions has announced it has received a contract from the Canadian Space Agency to continue providing support and enhancements of the Mobile Servicing System (MSS) through 2012. The MSS is a sophisticated information solution critical to the continued maintenance and servicing of the International Space Station. US DEFENSE SECURITY COOPERATION AGENCY • The Defense Security Cooperation Agency has notified the Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Korea of AIM-9X Sidewinder Missiles as well as associated equipment and services. The prime contractor will be Raytheon Electronic Systems Company of Tucson. For now, specific offset agreements are undetermined and will be defined in negotiations between the purchaser and contractor. • The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale for the Strategic Airlift Capability of two Boeing C-17 Globemaster III aircraft as well as associated equipment and services to an international consortium made up of allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization together with Sweden and Finland. The sale includes AN/ALE-47 Counter-Measures Dispensing System and AN/AAR-47 Missile Warning System apart from other systems and stores. US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE, CIVIL PROTECTION AND SPORT • Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) had invited Boeing, Dassault, EADS and Gripen International to submit an offer for the partial replacement of the Tiger fighter aircraft but Boeing has informed that it will not submit an offer for the F/A-18E/F within the evaluation. The DDPS regrets Boeing’s decision, but the company has assured it will continue its full support for the operation and modernisation of the C/D models.
Issue 5 • 2008
SP’S AVIATION
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