FLUG REVUE update: Week ending August 20, 2000

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UPDATE

Week ending August 20, 2000

+++ Concorde grounded +++ Ariane resumes launches +++ Boeing buys Jeppesen +++ MEADS gets bridge funding +++ News in brief +++

Concorde grounded
Flugverbot für die Concorde

After Air France, British Airways has grounded its entire fleet of seven Concorde airplanes on 15 August. The grounding followed notification by British and French aviation authorities that the Concorde is to be banned from flying until it is proved to be safe again. The grounding came less than a month after a French Concorde bound for New York crashed near Paris, killing 113 people, including four on the ground.
British Airways Chief Executive Rod Eddington said he hoped the grounding would not mean an end to the only faster-than-sound commercial flights. "We hope Concorde can be put back in the air," he told Sky News television. Eddington said Concorde flew more than 50,000 flights for BA since it entered service in 1976 and had a terrific record. "Based on everything I know, it is a safe aircraft to fly. But ... at the end of the day, we rest on the information provided to us by the accident investigators and regulators," he said.
Regarding the grounding, French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot told Europe 1 radio "this is not the death of the Concorde nor the death of supersonic flight." "Both sides (UK and France) share the same determination to work together to find a solution to put Concorde safely back into service," a spokesman for Britain's Department of Environment, Trade and the Regions said, reading a statement from the Anglo-French meeting.
On 18 August, the French Transport Ministry announced that the French and British governments have decided to set up a joint committee to work on getting Concorde back into service. "The two parties shared the same determination to find a solution which will allow Concorde to return to service in safe conditions," Friday's statement said. "To this end, the two parties have decided to set up a group which will meet regularly and alternately in London and Paris," it added.

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Ariane resumes launches
Wieder Starts mit der Ariane

Arianespace successfully orbited the Egyptian Nilesat 102 and Brazilian Brasilsat B4 satellites on August 17, marking the start of a busy second half of 2000 for the Ariane 4 and Ariane 5 launch vehicles. Nilesat 102 was launched as part of a turnkey contract awarded to Astrium, while Brasilsat B4 will be operated by Embratel of Brazil. The launch gives Arianespace a spotless record of five out of five successful flights since the beginning of this year. It also was the 55th consecutive successful launch of an Ariane 4. Flight 131 confirms Arianespace's proactive contribution to the development of telecommunications services in South America and the Middle East. All five of Brazil's telecommunications satellites and the two satellites for Egypt in service today were boosted into orbit by Arianespace.
The next mission, Flight 132, is scheduled for September 6, when an Ariane 44P will launch the Eutelsat W1 telecommunications satellite for Europe's Eutelsat organization. An Ariane 5 flight will follow, carrying a payload of two communications satellites: Astra 2B for the Société Européenne des Satellites, and GE 7 for the U.S. operator GE Americom. This mission, designated Flight 130, is set for September 14. A third mission is also planned for the end of September using an Ariane 4.

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Boeing buys Jeppesen
Jeppesen von Boeing aufgekauft

Continuing the expansion of its services business, Boeing has announced that it has agreed to acquire Jeppesen Sanderson, Inc., the world's leading provider of flight information services, from Tribune Company for $1.5 billion in cash. Jeppesen provides a full range of print and electronic flight information services, including navigation data, computerized flight planning, aviation software products, aviation weather services, maintenance information, and pilot training systems and supplies. Jeppesen counts among its customer base the majority of airlines around the world and all U.S. airlines. It also serves the large general aviation and business aviation markets.
Jeppesen generated $235 million in revenues in 1999 and realized operating margins of more than 25 percent. Since 1997, the company has experienced annual growth of more than 10 percent. This transaction is immediately accretive on a cash earnings basis, and slightly dilutive on a book earnings basis. Boeing intends to operate Jeppesen as a wholly owned subsidiary and to keep the current management team in place. The agreement is subject to regulatory approval.
Boeing chief Condit said that Boeing is focused on providing additional services to its aviation customers. He cited a recently announced agreement to purchase Continental Graphics Corporation, which provides parts-related technical information to airlines, as well as the purchase last year of The Preston Group, an Australian provider of management software. "What we are doing, with Continental Graphics in the maintenance ara, the Preston Group in air traffic management, and now with Jeppesen in flight operations, is acquiring intellectual capital and technology that will help propel us into this 'new frontier' in services," Condit emphasized. "We can leverage these companies' individual strengths with our own resources, and together offer our customers creative solutions that add real value."

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MEADS gets bridge funding
Weitere Gelder für Arbeiten an MEADS

Joint venture MEADS International on 14 August received a $10 million contract extension from the US Army to continue work on the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) leading to a larger risk reduction contract at the end of the year. MEADS International is a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and EuroMEADS, which consists of the anglo-Italian Alenia Marconi Systems and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. MEADS International was selected last year by NATO to execute a three- year, $250 million risk reduction effort. But, there was a six-month transition until that risk reduction contract would be signed. Lockheed Martin officials said more time is needed to wrap up the transition work and that resulted in the award of this additional extension contract. The contract, an extension of the transition effort contract signed Nov. 15, enables the team to focus on activities in preparation for the three-year risk reduction effort, MEADS International said in a statement. MEADS is planned as a mobile theater missile defense system to replace Raytheon Patriot and Hawk systems, notes today's edition of Defense Daily. It will include a Patriot PAC-3 missile, lightweight launcher and 360-degree fire control radar.

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NEWS IN BRIEF / KURZMELDUNGEN

Boeing has selected Martin-Baker to produce the ejection seat design for the operational Boeing Joint Strike Fighter. JSF One Team member Martin-Baker currently provides the ejection seats for the Boeing JSF X-32A and X-32B concept demonstrator aircraft. "We chose the Martin-Baker seat for our production JSF because it's the lowest risk, best-value design for our JSF customer," said Frank Statkus, Boeing vice president and JSF general manager. "Martin-Baker's Mk-16 design will increase the safety and survivability of future JSF pilots."
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Bombardier Aerospace has announced it has been selected as the preferred tenderer to supply three Intercontinental Challenger 604 business jet aircraft to the Australian Government. Qantas Defence Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Qantas Airways Limited, will act as the prime contractor, providing full support for the aircraft including service, maintenance and crew staffing. Bombardier will deliver the Challenger 604 aircraft to Qantas in 2002. They will be deployed by the Royal Australian Air Force to transport senior government officials across Australia and the Asia-Pacific region, and will be based in Canberra, Australia's capital city.
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Boeing has released the findings today of its investigation into the May 1999 failure of a Delta III rocket. The failure, which left a communications satellite in a lower-than-expected orbit, was attributed to a breach in the combustion chamber of the rocket's second-stage engine. The report follows up on the interim report released in August 1999 when Boeing transitioned its efforts from an investigation into the cause to return-to-flight activities. The company declared the Delta III rocket mission ready at the completion of its return-to-flight effort in April 2000.
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United Airlines has once again turned to Airbus to grow its single-aisle fleet. The Chicago-based airline has placed a firm order for six A319 and six A320 aircraft, exercising options from its 1998 purchase agreement. This deal comes on top of two other firm orders placed in 2000, including one placed in January for nine A320 Family aircraft and 10 A320 Family aircraft ordered in May. Deliveries of all 31 aircraft ordered this year are slated for 2002. Including the order announced today, United had ordered a total of 164 A320 Family aircraft, and currently operates a fleet of more than 90 A319s and A320s, the third largest fleet of Airbus aircraft worldwide, andthe number one operator of Airbus aircraft in North America.
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BAE SYSTEMS and Boeing announced the U.S. Navy has accepted an F/A-18E/F Super Hornet part task trainer. The training device was delivered by BAE SYSTEMS Flight Simulation and Training ahead of schedule to the Naval Air Station (NAS) in Lemoore, Ca. This F/A-18E/F non-motion trainer will give Navy pilots a sophisticated tool for learning the weapons procedures, advanced radar, and other avionics on the Navy's newest fighter plane. Students will be able to fly missions, select targets, fire weapons, and practice a variety of capabilities of the Super Hornet aircraft. "This part task trainer gives the Navy a cost-effective training device that is more capable than any other F/A-18 part task trainer currently in use," said John Pitts, president, BAE SYSTEMS Flight Simulation and Training. "Not only is the Navy getting a cost-effective trainer, but they're getting it slightly ahead of schedule and they're getting it with capabilities that exceed their expectations. Our intense focus on delivering on our commitments is again evidenced by the early delivery of this training device."
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A Lockheed Martin-built Titan IV B rocket successfully launched a classified payload for the U.S. Air Force and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) onAugust 17 at 4:45 p.m. PDT. The NRO is the U.S. government agency responsible for reconnaissance satellites. The launch was from Space Launch Complex Four East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA. This was the second Titan IV launched successfully this year and the 30th Titan IV launch overall. Ten Titan IVs have been launched from Vandenberg, 20 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL. Titan IV, the nation's largest, most powerful expendable launch vehicle, is built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company-Astronautics Operations in Denver, CO. The Titan IV B is capable of boosting payloads weighing 38,800 pounds into low-Earth polar orbit, 47,800 pounds into low-Earth equatorial orbit, or more than 12,700 pounds into geosynchronous orbit. This was the second Titan IV B launch this year. The earlier launch was May 8, from Cape Canaveral. Another Titan IV B is scheduled to launch a Milstar military communications satellite from Cape Canaveral this fall.
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A Luke fighter squadron and a former German flying squadron pledged to maintain their common heritage recently during an F-16 Fighting Falcon basic pilot's course graduation. L. Gen. Peter Vogler, German Air Force Command commander, and Gen. John Jumper, Air Combat Command commander, signed the Decree of Honor cementing the relationship between the 63rd Fighter Squadron and the Luftwaffe's Cactus Starfighter Squadron during Class 00-IBG graduation. Luke trained German fighter pilots from 1964 to 1984, starting with the F-84F Thunderstreak and ending with the F-104 Starfighter. The Cactus Starfighter Squadron was formed in 1957, after Germany joined NATO and needed to rebuild its air force. Each Luftwaffe pilot trained at Luke two years, and more than 1,800 Luftwaffe pilots received their training at Luke on the F-104 aone.
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CDU and FDP parties in Hesse have supported the expansion of Frankfurt airport with a new runway. They recommend the so called north-west solution, with the runway on the north side of the A3 autobahn and south of Kelsterbach.
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Canada has announced that it will go ahead with the procurement of 28 new naval helicopters for about 1,9 billion US-Dollars. They will replace old Sea Kings that get increasingly unreliable. A competition is to be held, with bids from AgustaWestland, Bell, Sikorsky and Eurocopter to be expected. First deliveries should be in 2005.
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Rolls-Royce Deutschland chief executive Klaus Nittinger will leave the company before year end, it was announced in a terse statement. Reasons for the departure were not mentioned, leading to speculation that Nittinger is unhappy with closer supervision from the UK parent company since it bought out original partner BMW.
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