Serious doubts are being cast on Airbus Group’s delivery performance regarding the A400M. Last year Tom Enders the Chief Executive for the Airbus Group publicly apologized for the development and production delays in a surprisingly humble announcement. Fast forward to last week at the annual results briefing and it was more or so the same, Enders once again lamented about the development and production troubles affecting the A400M. Airbus Group had only 11 of the planned 23 Atlas airlifters to show for in the fiscal year of 2015 which is two shy of the minimum targeted for the end of the year. To the surprise of no one in the building, the delays were largely due to the test flight crash in May in which four company personnel were killed. That tragedy sparked a temporary fleet-wide grounding that was the culprit for flight testing and delivery schedule set-backs.
Just recently a rollout ceremony was held by Embraer to present their new E190-E2 narrow-body aircraft in front of a whole host of employees, friends, family and dignitaries assembled at their plant in Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil. Pratt & Whitney’s PW1900G-powered E2 has already logged over 14,000 hours of flight tests and Embraer has since scheduled the prototypes first flight to occur in early July or August of this year.
Airbus has entered into an agreement with Vietjet to extend flight training and maintenance services in Ho Chi Minh City for the airline. It is expected based upon the mutual agreement that the flight training center will feature a FFS Airbus A320 full-flight simulator to train the flight crew in anticipation of the Airbus A320 being introduced into service. The agreement also stipulates that Airbus’s training and course material is provided via the Maintenance training services by its dynamic trainers and techniques.
For consumers in Asia, Canada’s very own PW200 engine by Pratt & Whitney is the top selection and preferred turboshaft engine. Many of the top aircrafts such as the Finmeccanica AW109E Power and AW109 Grand, Kazan Ansat and the MD Explorer 900 series, Airbus’s H135, and the Bell 427/429 are powered by the PW200. Vice President of Marketing at Pratt & Whitney, Irene Makris believes that there is a reason the PS200 is the preferred engine of choice in regards to light-twin helicopters for the majority of the world. Makris unwavering is adamant that no other engine in the world can match the PW200 in terms of performance and reliability citing its low fuel consumption, the light-weight compact architectural design and the green-conscious and environmentally friendly low emission rates. With more than nine million hours logged, the PW200 has proven time over time that it is an incomparably dependable engine.
The first full GE9X engine is on track to debut its testing phase in the early half of 2016. The final assembly for the GE9X is the first step and will soon be ready to for its test run in Peebles, Ohio later this year. The GE9X Program began over five years ago and is the first engine to test FETT which will bring about a complete propulsion system. GE9X’s extensive tech maturation program will include both component and system-levels along with core demonstration testing to validate all the advance technologies and materials that are expected to comprise the GE9X. Bill Millhaem, the General Manager at GE Aviation of the GE90 and GE9X engine programs confirms that the project is ahead of schedule in regards to the assembly phase and will soon move to an extensive test phase which is only six months since the engine designs was finalized.
Andrea Rothman from Bloomberg has released an article February 7th, 2016 talking about how Airbus Group SE will not be using the Pratt & Whitney engines for its A321neo. The reason why Airbus Group has decided against the engine is because the A321neo suffered engineering glitches during its very first test flight ever. Because of this, Airbus Group SE has been looking into other options and found the CFM International turbine as a replacement. CFM international is considered Airbus Group SE’s rival.The CFM International turbine is for single-aisle jets.
United States forces are getting ready to deploy an unmanned aerial vehicle near South Korea due to North Korea’s continued nuclear tests.The drone, Gray Eagle, will be deployed near the Korean border and controlled remotely either from the United States or via satellite. If the UAV is somehow detected on North Korean radar, it can disappear by simply flying below a specific altitude.
Billed as a collaborative effort between researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and Sikorsky aircraft, the new UH-60 Black Hawk is a self-flying helicopter that will eventually be used during air-ground missions in hazardous environments. The UH-60 is able fly autonomously due to a series of advanced hardware and software applications known as the Sikorsky Matrix System.
Bloomberg released an article on January 29th, 2016 stating that ANA Holdings, or All Nippon Airways, is planning on buying three Airbus Group SE A380 superjumbos. These three Airbus Group SE A380 superjumbos will be used to assist the Japanese airline in broadening their international network as a whole.
The world’s largest long-haul based airline, Emirates, recently made plans to add 37 new aircrafts to its fleet in the fiscal year beginning in April. These aircrafts will come in handy as the airline company is looking to add new destination flights and expand on its operations in Asia. These aircrafts are scheduled to be delivered by the March 2017 and all 37 aircrafts will be made up of 21 Airbus A380 superjumbo aircrafts and 16 Boeing 777 aircrafts. At list price, Emirates estimates these total number of aircrafts to cost $14.5 billion.
A mere month after successfully landing its orbit-capable first stage booster rocket on land, Space X is already hard at work preparing for its next feat. No stranger to making waves in the aerospace industry, Space X’s next project involves landing a rocket on a drone ship. The general idea behind this project is the same as their previous one except that instead of touching down on land, the company will attempt to land their Falcon 9 rocket booster on top of a remotely controlled ship. The ship itself will resemble a small aircraft carrier platform, with almost the entire area of the ship dedicated to landing space.
Russian Helicopters is discussing the possible delivery of Mi-171, Mi-171E, Ka-32A11BC, and Ka-226T military helicopters to Iran.The company, which is part of State Corporation Rostec, met with the Iran Aviation Industries Organization and several businesses to discuss the matter. IAIO manages and controls the military aviation of Iran. Under its direction it overseas five organizations of the country: SAHA, HESA, PANHA, GHODS, and Shahid Basir Industry. Private companies such as Fanavaran Asemani, PARS Aviation Service, and Interavia were also involved in the discussions. With the growth of Iran’s economy in recent years, Russia has picked them as a prime destination for their solutions.
A car-sized vertical take-off aircraft known as the AirMule, recently completed its first full untethered test flight at Megiddo in Northern Israel. This versatile aircraft can drop supplies for troops and rescue wounded soldiers and is being developed by an Israeli company known as Urban Aeronautics Unit Tactical Robotics Ltd.
Lockheed Martin and Boeing joint venture United Launch Alliance received a $373 million contract from the US Air Force to deliver launch vehicle platforms for two National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) rockets. According to the Department of Defense, this is part of the NRO’s 2013 $11 billion sole-source block buy for ULA’s services. Under the contract, ULA is to provide one Delta IV Heavy rocket and one Atlas V rocket with a four-meter fairing and two solid strap-on motors.
In order to meet South Korea’s requirements for its next generation of Light Armed Helicopter (LAH) and Light Civil Helicopter (LCH), Airbus Helicopters has come together with Korea Aerospace in a collaboration to develop two 5-ton class rotorcraft. Airbus Helicopters, which is the LAH and LCH competition winner, will further its relationship with Korea Aerospace Industries as the two companies have worked together in the past on a joint program to develop Korea’s Surion twin-engine utility transport helicopter.
Airbus Defense and Space, a division of Airbus Group focused on defense and aerospace services and products, has recently sold off Fairchild Controls Corporation to Triumph Group, an international supplier of aerospace systems and components. Fairchild Controls Corporation is a leading supplier of proprietary auxiliary power generation systems, thermal management systems, as well as related aftermarket spares and repairs. They employ around 150 employees, with their key product offerings including electrically-driven vapor cycle systems as well as auxiliary power generation technology which offers supplementary hydraulic power for military platforms and commercial aircrafts. Fairchild also offers proprietary aftermarket overhaul services and spares repair to more than 3,500 systems.
Textron Systems Marine and Land Systems has recently been awarded a contract to provide in-depth training to the Afghan National Army for their four-wheeled Mobile Strike Force Vehicles (MSFVs). This interim contractor training support contract, which is valued at $17.4 million, was awarded by the United States Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command. Under this contract, the Textron Systems in-country team will be required to provide on-the-job mentorship and training, which should hopefully enable the Afghan National Army personnel to carry out extensive repair and maintenance actions in order to maintain its MSFV fleet over a one-year performance period. In addition to the on-the-job support, Textron’s team will also be training and mentoring the Afghan National Army on supply and inventory system activities, and will also be developing and delivering program instruction manuals.
At the 2015 Paris Air Show, UTC Aerospace and Japan Airlines have augmented their Comprehensive Accessory Repair and Exchange (C.A.R.E.) program agreement to include support for an additional batch of 10 Boeing 787s recently added to the airline’s operating fleet. Under the C.A.R.E. deal, UTC Aerospace Systems (a unit of United Technologies Corp.) delivers asset management and repair services for components and parts utilized by the airline for its fleet of Boeing jetliners.
Qatar Airways has ordered 10 Boeing 777-8X jetliners at the Paris Air Show, increasing the total orders for the 777X family to a number of 60. In addition, Qatar Airways will also be ordering four 777F freighters. The 14 total firm contracts are worth a total of $4.8 billion.
The United States Air Force has awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation a combined order of $111 million to the previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract to provide hardware and support for the Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasure (LAIRCM) System. The contract calls for Northrop Grumman to deliver extra transmitters, missile warning sensors, processors, lasers, control interface units and supporting equipment to the United States Air Force along with other worldwide customers. The company must also provide modernized control interface unit replacement in addition to the hardware. Delivery will continue through April 2017.
