Airbus expects more A380 sales this year
Orders Airbus chief operating officer customers John Leahy expects to secure 20 more A380 orders by year-end, with deals predicted from two new A380 customers and additional orders from existing customers. Airbus currently holds orders for 159 A380s. In terms of potential follow-on orders from existing customers, Korean Air already has orders for five A380 passenger aircraft, but its cargo division has been evaluating the A380 freighter variant. Boeing, meanwhile, was the clear winner in the first-half sales battle, securing orders for around 450 aircraft, compared with around 150 for Airbus (further details next week).
Raytheon delivers F-15C’s AESA radar
Avionics Raytheon has delivered the first APG-63(V)3 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar to Boeing ahead of schedule, for installation in a US Air Force F-15C. Delivery followed completion of flight tests, begun in May, in a Boeing 727 testbed (Flight International, 23-29 May). Raytheon says the radar exceeded performance expectations in air-to-air modes. At least 10 more test flights in the F-15C are planned at Eglin AFB in Florida. Intended to upgrade USAF F-15Cs, the (V)3 is an enhanced version of APG-63(V)2 equipping F-15s in Alaska.
Alaskan UAV base proposed
Alliance An operating base in Alaska for unmanned aircraft systems is being proposed to improve environmental monitoring and pave the way for civil UAV use in continental US airspace. The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics has called on US Congress to provide an additional $90 million a year in funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to procure UAV services in Alaska for missions including measuring Arctic temperatures and ice movement and monitoring coastal and oceanic wildlife and currents.
Rockwell Collins teams with Sandia on SAR
Environment Rockwell Collins has formed a strategic alliance to manufacture and support a miniature synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) developed by Sandia National Laboratories. The broad-area imaging system is targeted at manned and unmanned platforms for environmental monitoring, Earth resource mapping and military applications. Albuquerque, New Mexico-based Sandia has teamed with Collins to transition to industry technology developed at the government-owned laboratory.
F-22 export ban could be lifted
Embargo The US House of Representatives has recommended lifting the ban on export sales of the Lockheed Martin F-22 stealth fighter, in an effort to extend production beyond 2011, when the last of the 183 aircraft now planned for the US Air Force is scheduled to be delivered. The Senate will also have to approve the repeal of the nine-year-old prohibition for it to take effect. Although Australia and the UK have been touted as potential customers, realistically only Japan – and Israel and Saudi Arabia with US assistance – could afford the aircraft.
UK MoD plans mergers
Strategy The UK Ministry of Defence is to merge the Defence Procurement Agency and the Defence Logistics Organisation as part of its response to the challenges set out by the Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) in December. The MoD’s report reviews current structures, organisations and processes “to maximise the MoD’s ability to deliver a key objective of the DIS – through-life capability management”, and recommends that “a single entity responsible for the procurement, maintenance and containment of military capability” is required. As part of the plan, the combined entity will be based in the Bath/Bristol area, saving around £200 million ($360 million) over 25 years.
Source: Flight International
