FLUG REVUE update: Week ending July 18, 2004

UPDATE
Week ending 18 July 2004

+++ easyJet launches services at Dortmund +++ Single-seat Eurofighters progress +++ M-346 takes off +++ ESA considers the next step in assessing the risk from Near-Earth Objects +++ Aura satellite launched +++ News in brief +++

easyJet launches services at Dortmund
Neue easyJet-Dienste

easyJet opened the second German base in Dortmund on July 15, with the first aircraft departing to Palma earlier this morning. The web's favourite airline expects 390,000 passengers at the end of this year and over one million for 2005. The airline estimates that its activities will create up to 1000 new jobs within the region. 300 positions should be created indirectly in the area by the end of this year. 60 jobs at the airport have been created already. Three routes are being flown: Palma, Paris (CDG) and Rome Ciampino, and on 29 July Alicante and Nice will be added to these. On 1 September Budapest, London Luton, and a second daily service to Paris (CDG) will start. On the 31 October the airline will start to fly between Dortmund and Kraków. The demand for these easyJet flights is great, as nearly 83,000 bookings have been made before the first flight departed. This figure underlines the demand for low-cost flights in the area and that easyJet made the right choice of location. easyJet has 13 bases around Europe, with Dortmund being Germany's second largest base after Berlin Schönefeld. As of the 1 September three brand new Airbus 319 aircraft will be based here.
A total of six new routes, to start with Krakow and Warsaw, are being added to the easyJet network. This will bring to 17 the number of easyJet routes serving Eastern Europe, including seven from Budapest alone. In total, well over 2 million passengers will fly with easyJet to/from the region in the coming 12 months. The routes continue easyJet's major expansion into Central/ Eastern Europe. The travelling public in the region has already demonstrated the attractiveness of easyJet with strong bookings seen to date on the services to Budapest and the Slovenian capital Ljubljana as well as easyJet's long-standing services to Prague. Ray Webster, easyJet Chief Executive, said: "It was only two months ago that we started services to Budapest and Ljubljana. We are now ready to continue what we started and commence services on a much bigger scale. New services from Krakow and Warsaw show we're very serious about expanding in the region and those loyal travelers that have already got used to easyJet's low fares, great service and great punctuality will be delighted to know that this is just the beginning. There is more to come!"

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Single-seat Eurofighters progress
Eurofighter-Einsitzer machen Fortschritte

The first production-series single-seat Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft to carry out the first flight belongs to Alenia Aeronautica, a Finmeccanica company. The flight has taken place successfully at Alenia Caselle (Turin) plant. The aircraft, called IS001, has flown for 59 minutes piloted by Maurizio Cheli, Alenia Aeronautica's Chief Test Pilot for Combat Aircraft, implementing two “touch and go” manoeuvres. The fighter, Cheli said, “has already reconfirmed in this first flight the Typhoon's excellent performance, proving to be extremely easy to manoeuvre, exceptionally reliable and having a highly advanced avionic system. The deliveries of the single-seat aircraft units, manufactured by Alenia Aeronautica within the Eurofighter Consortium, to the Italian Air Force will start at the end of this year, once concluded the international procedures of “type acceptance”, which will receive the contribution of the IS001 unit's ground and flight activity.
Meanwhile first single-seater production Eurofighter destined for the German Luftwaffe left the final assembly hall of EADS Military Aircraft in Manching in early July. The aircraft, which has been designated GS 001 (German Single-Seater), is now undergoing those functional tests that for reasons of industrial safety could not be carried out in the final assembly hangar. These include the already completed fuel tests and the subsequent engine runs. There then follow extensive measuring campaigns on the EADS-own test facility to establish the electromagnetic compatibility of the GS 001 in the so-called “heavy fighter configuration”, in which the aircraft is equipped with short- and medium-range air-to-air guided missiles and external tanks.
Handover of the first single-seater aircraft to the Luftwaffe is planned for the end of this year, reports EADS, the German partner in the four-nation Eurofighter consortium. Currently, a further ten single-seaters and also a twin-seater are under construction on the Eurofighter final assembly line at Manching. In the meantime, the twentieth German production aircraft is in final assembly at EADS Military Aircraft, with eight twin-seaters already delivered to the Luftwaffe, who have successfully been using them since 2003 for training and in flight operations.
At the moment, a total of 22 twin-seater production aircraft are in operational use in the four Eurofighter partner countries. But in these countries too the single-seater era has begun. At EADS CASA in Spain, the instrumented production aircraft IPA 4, which had entered service on 26 February 2004, was transferred to the Spanish Air Force base Morón de la Frontera on 13 July 2004 for the purpose of investigations into operational mission use at high temperatures. In the coming winter this aircraft will be subjected to arctic operational conditions in Scandinavia before being tested in the extreme heat of the Arizonan desert next year.

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M-346 takes off
Erstflug für die Aermacchi M-346

The Aermacchi M-346 next-generation advanced/lift military trainer flew for the first time on 15 July. The aircraft took off from the Venegono airfield in Italy at 8,30 hours local time (7,30 GMT) and returned at 9,25 (8,25 GMT). The flight was controlled in real time by Aermacchi flight test team operating from the company telemetry facilities. The maiden flight pilot was Olinto Cecconello, Aermacchi Experimental Chief Test Pilot. The M-346 was chased by two Aermacchi's MB-339CD aircraft, piloted by Capt. Alessandro Sciaburri of the Italian Air Force Flight Test Centre and by Maurizio Cheli, Alenia Aeronautica's Chief Test Pilot for combat aircraft.
The pilot's comments on the flight characteristics were very positive: “The M-346 confirmed its high thrust to weight ratio, outstanding field performance with a take-off run of 400m and a landing distance of 520 m. The digital Flight Control System allowed smooth and precise manoeuvres”. This first flight sets a key milestone in the development effort performed by the M-346 Integrated Product Team led by Massimo Lucchesini, M-346 Programme Director, and marks the beginning of a comprehensive flying test campaign consisting in 700 flights based on three instrumented aircraft for full flight envelope assessment and for Type Certification.

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ESA considers the next step in assessing the risk from Near-Earth Objects
Asteroiden sollen bekämpft werden

On 9 July 2004, the Near-Earth Object Mission Advisory Panel recommended that ESA place a high priority on developing a mission to actually move an asteroid. The conclusion was based on the panel's consideration of six near-Earth object mission studies submitted to the Agency in February 2003. Of the six studies, three were space-based observatories for detecting NEOs and three were rendezvous missions. All addressed the growing realisation of the threat posed by Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) and proposed ways of detecting NEOs or discovering more about them from a close distance. A panel of six experts, known as the Near-Earth Object Mission Advisory Panel (NEOMAP) assessed the proposals. Alan Harris, German Aerospace Centre (DLR), Berlin, and Chairman of NEOMAP, says, “The task has been very difficult because the goalposts have changed. When the studies were commissioned, the discovery business was in no way as advanced as it is now. Today, a number of organisations are building large telescopes on Earth that promise to find a very large percentage of the NEO population at even smaller sizes than visible today.”
As a result, the panel decided that ESA should leave detection to ground-based telescopes for the time being, until the share of the remaining population not visible from the ground becomes better known. The need for a space-based observatory will then be re-assessed. The panel placed its highest priority on rendezvous missions, and in particular, the Don Quijote mission concept. “If you think about the chain of events between detecting a hazardous object and doing something about it, there is one area in which we have no experience at all and that is in directly interacting with an asteroid, trying to alter its orbit,” explains Harris. The Don Quijote mission concept will do this by using two spacecraft, Sancho and Hidalgo. Both are launched at the same time but Sancho takes a faster route. When it arrives at the target asteroid it will begin a seven-month campaign of observation and physical characterisation during which it will land penetrators and seismometers on the asteroid's surface to understand its internal structure. Sancho will then watch as Hidalgo arrives and smashes into the asteroid at very high speed. This will provide information about the behaviour of the internal structure of the asteroid during an impact event as well as excavating some of the interior for Sancho to observe. After the impact, Sancho and telescopes from Earth will monitor the asteroid to see how its orbit and rotation have been affected.

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Aura satellite launched
Erdforschungssatellit im Orbit

Aura, a mission dedicated to the health of the Earth's atmosphere, successfully launched July 15 at 6:01:59 a.m. EDT (3:01:59 a.m. PDT) from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket. Spacecraft separation occurred at 7:06 a.m. EDT (4:06 a.m. PDT), inserting Aura into a 438-mile (705-kilometer) orbit. NASA's latest Earth-observing satellite, Aura will help us understand and protect the air we breathe. Aura will help answer three key scientific questions: Is the Earth's protective ozone layer recovering? What are the processes controlling air quality? How is the Earth's climate changing? NASA expects early scientific data from Aura within 30-90 days. Aura also will help scientists understand how the composition of the atmosphere affects and responds to Earth's changing climate. The results from this mission will help scientists better understand the processes that connect local and global air quality. With the launch of Aura, the first series of NASA's Earth Observing System satellites is complete. The other satellites are Terra, which monitors land, and Aqua, which observes Earth's water cycle. Aura's four instruments are: the High Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder (HIRDLS); the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS); the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI); and the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES).

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NEWS IN BRIEF / KURZMELDUNGEN

On 13 July, negotiations between the European Union and the State of Israel reached final approval and agreement on the European satellite radio navigation program was signed by both parties. Welcoming the outcome of the negotiations, Vice-President Ms de Palacio said: “This is a very important step for the development of Galileo as an international program and its future use worldwide”. Since the Council invited the Commission to start formal negotiations with Israel on Galileo on 16 January 2004, intensive exchanges have been held between the parties. An agreed text was approved in record time at the round of talks held in Tel Aviv on 17 March and yesterday the final agreement was signed in Brussels by Vice-President Loyola de Palacio, representing the European Commission, Mr. Ehud Olmert, Vice-Prime Minister, representing Israel, and Mr. Bernard Bot, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands representing the Presidency of the European Union. This agreement provides for co-operative activities on satellite navigation and timing in a wide range of sectors, notably science and technology, industrial manufacturing, service and market development, as well as standardization, frequencies and certification. Israel is also invited to take part in the program financially through a stake holding in the Galileo Joint Undertaking, the body managing the program. The Galileo Joint Undertaking will immediately start discussions with Israel to that effect so that the activities can start as soon as possible.
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A U.S. Army unmanned aerial reconnaissance system supporting the war on terrorism recently achieved a significant operational milestone by reaching the 30,000 total flight-hours mark. The achievement by the service's fleet of Northrop Grumman-developed RQ-5 Hunter unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) reflects the expanding role that UAVs are playing in U.S. and allied combat operations. The first Hunter UAV flight occurred in 1990. The Alpha Company of the Army's V Corps' 1st Military Intelligence Battalion reached the 30,000 hour mark on June 23 at the end of an operational reconnaissance mission in Iraq. To date, the Hunter fleet has flown more than a third of its total hours – about 11,500 - in combat missions in the Balkans and Iraq.
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Thales has won two new contracts in Belgium to upgrade communication systems for NATO's AWACS fleet. The first contract, awarded by Boeing, is for the upgrade of the communications management and intercom systems for 16 AWACS aircraft, and for two mission simulation centres. This follows an initial engineering and managing development contract that included upgrading one of the aircraft. The second two-year contract for depot level maintenance, awarded by the NATO AEW&C Programme Management Agency (NAPMA), covers Thales' qualification and certification for workshop maintenance of communication equipment. This is the initial maintenance phase and the second phase will last over ten years. The two contracts are aimed at improving the performance of the communication systems on AWACS aircraft operated by NATO forces. The upgrade programme will deliver significantly better performance to operational users by digitising the audio subsystem and optimising the radio control unit to provide a more intuitive interface, higher bandwidth and other benefits.
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Munich Airport stayed on course as a reliable growth generator in the first half of 2004. During the first six months of the year, Munich Airport handled 12.6 million commercial passengers – a jump of 9 percent over the same period in 2003. The number of take-offs and landings increased 5 percent to more than 178,000 commercial aircraft movements. A particularly strong increase was posted in the intercontinental segment. The passenger volume on long-haul routes was 40 percent higher over the first two quarters as compared with the prior year period, and the month of June actually topped June 2003 by a 65 percent margin. "With these figures, we are well on the way to a further improvement in our competitive position among Europe's leading air traffic hubs," said Dr. Michael Kerkloh, CEO of Munich Airport, at a presentation of the new traffic figures at the Munich Press Club. The above-average traffic growth at Munich Airport clearly demonstrates that the start of operations of the new Terminal 2 last year has again boosted the airport's already strong appeal to air travelers. Kerkloh added, "In this context, we are very pleased to note that traffic volumes in the two terminals have posted exactly the same rate of increase." Terminal 2 handled approximately 16.4 million passengers in its first year of operations, while nearly 8.7 million passed through Terminal 1. Both terminal facilities had growth rates of 5 percent. With reference to the first half of 2004, the two terminals continued to grow at the same pace, each posting a 9 percent gain in passenger volume.
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Boeing and the Austrian Airlines Group recently finalized an order for one Boeing Next-Generation 737-800. The airplane, to be delivered next year, will be used by Austrian's Lauda Air. With this order, Austrian continues its fleet standardization plans. This is an existing order that has been accounted for in cumulative totals published by Boeing. Until today, however, the customer for the order was unidentified. The Vienna-based Lauda Air currently operates four 737-800s, all equipped with performance-enhancing Blended Winglets.
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Workers at Lockheed Martin's mile-long factory in Fort Worth have begun assembling the forward fuselage for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, a next-generation, supersonic stealth aircraft designed to replace current-generation fighters that are nearing the end of their service lives. Shortly after 8 a.m. on Monday, July 12, workers loaded an F-35 structural bulkhead into an assembly tool, marking the official start of forward-fuselage production for the aircraft. Assembly of the F-35's wings will begin at the plant in a few weeks. Lockheed Martin and its principal industrial partners Northrop Grumman and BAE SYSTEMS are employing an array of advanced and highly accurate manufacturing machines to help the F-35 achieve its goals of affordability, quality and assembly speed. Assembly of the center fuselage began in May at Northrop Grumman's facility in Palmdale, Calif. BAE SYSTEMS will begin assembling the aft-fuselage and tails later this year in Samlesbury, England. Those subassemblies will be shipped to Fort Worth, where they will be mated with the wings and forward fuselage for final assembly. The F-35's first flight is planned for 2006.
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The following is a statement from Administrator Sean O'Keefe regarding today's release of an interim report from the Committee on the Assessment of Options for Extending the Life of the Hubble Space Telescope from The National Academies in Washington. "I deeply appreciate the timely efforts of Committee Chair Louis Lanzerotti and the other distinguished members of the National Academies committee. Their thoughtful diligence in preparing this interim report will inform the ongoing discussion and help reach a definitive resolution in our efforts to extend Hubble's service life. We agree with the Committee's view that the Hubble Space Telescope is arguably the most important telescope in history. NASA is committed to exploring ways to safely extend the useful scientific life of Hubble. "The challenges of a robotic mission are under examination and we'll continue our exhaustive and aggressive efforts to assess innovative servicing options. In parallel with the Committee's ongoing research and deliberations, NASA will evaluate proposals we expect to receive shortly. Along the way, we'll keep options open to assure the best possible outcome.
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Space Imaging's high-resolution IKONOS satellite imagery is being used by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to survey the cultivation of illicit crops in Afghanistan, Laos, Myanmar and Bolivia. One of the most recent studies, the Afghanistan Opium Survey 2003, published in October 2003, is the first Afghanistan survey completed in conjunction with the new government in Kabul. The survey indicates that in 2003, Afghanistan again produced three-quarters of the world's illicit opium. The UNODC most recently used IKONOS imagery in its Bolivia Coca Cultivation Survey 2003 published in June 2004. Space Imaging's Regional Affiliate, Space Imaging Middle East, based in Dubai, collected the imagery for the UN's Afghanistan survey. IKONOS snapped 43 high-resolution pre-harvest and post-harvest color images during the 2003 survey timeframe. More than 89,000 hectares (220,000 acres) were imaged as IKONOS orbited from north to south at 17,000 mph over the Middle East. Space Imaging Southeast Asia based in Bangkok, collected approximately 70 high-resolution images for the UNODC's Myanmar survey to monitor opium poppy cultivation. The images were collected during a short time window between December 2003 and January 2004.
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Boeing is adding Thales and Labinal -- a Snecma group company -- to its 7E7 Dreamliner team. Thales will provide the all-new airplane's electrical power conversion system and Labinal will provide wiring. The two French companies are "great additions to the 7E7 team," said Mike Bair, Boeing's senior vice president of the 7E7. "The 7E7 is truly a global project. It's exciting to see so many brilliant people coming together for a common goal. We're making great progress together." Yves Galland, president of Boeing France, added the selections of Thales and Labinal "underlines the development of Boeing in France and our desire to develop partnerships with the best companies in the world."
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Wind River Systems announced that Eurocopter used Wind River Platform for Safety Critical as the device software foundation for the flight display system of two new helicopters -- the Super Puma EC 225 and the Cougar EC 725. Eurocopter, a subsidiary of EADS, the largest aerospace company in Europe and the second largest worldwide, also signed a global enterprise licensing agreement, which provides EADS' developers easy access to Wind River technology year after year. "Wind River worked closely with the Eurocopter team throughout the development and certification process, providing tremendous value in optimizing the safety, security and reliability of Eurocopter's new flight display systems," said Marc Achache, System architecture department manager at Eurocopter's design office. "Wind River's technology and expertise is quickly making them an international standard for safety-critical systems. By choosing Wind River for this project, we had the complete foundation required to build and certify these mission critical systems on time."
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Turbomeca has announced the certification of the Makila 2A by the EASA, with a take-off power of 2101 shp. The Makila 2A will be fitted on Eurocopter's EC 225 and EC 725. The first production engines conforming to the certified standard are due to be delivered before the end of July. Production has begun to prepare for the future delivery of 14 EC 725 to the French Air Force, throughout 2004-2005. In addition, the first VIP and Off-Shore civilian helicopters will be available before June 2005. The Makila 2A, the latest version to the Makila family, is 14 % more powerful than the current Makila 1A2. The turbo-shaft engine is fitted with a new generation compressor. What is more, its modular design makes it easy to service.
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Boeing is offering airlines more range on its longer-range 777 passenger airplanes, and enhanced performance overall, thanks to en gine efficiency improvements and design changes that reduce wind drag and the airplane's weight. The enhancements for the Boeing 777-300ER (Extended Range) will become available during 2005's fourth quarter. They'll be offered on new airplanes and for retrofit on airplanes already in service. With the improvements, the airplane's maximum range would increase by 175 nautical miles to 7 ,880 nautical miles (14,594 kilometers). Its center of gravity limits will also rise, providing greater cargo loading capability when the airplane operates at its highest gross weight.
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Honda Motor Co., Ltd., announced that it has established a new U.S. subsidiary, Honda Aero, Inc., to focus on the aviation engine business in the U.S., the world's largest aviation market. The new aviation engine business unit will be located at a yet-to-be- determined location in the U.S., with plans to become operational by the end of the year. In addition, Honda has established the Wako Nishi R&D Center in Japan, dedicated to the research and development of aviation engines. This new center will consolidate and strengthen the turbofan jet engine development currently done at the Wako Research Center, and the development of piston aircraft engines currently conducted at the Asaka R&D Center. In the meantime, the Wako Research Center will continue its research and development efforts for the HondaJet, an experimental prototype aircraft currently undergoing test flights in Greensboro, North Carolina, in the U.S. Honda's research efforts for small jet engines and jet aircraft began in 1986. Development of the Honda HF118 engine, which fits in the smallest category of the business jet engine class, began in 1999. Full-scale flight tests of the HF118 engine have been conducted aboard Honda's prototype HondaJet aircraft, since December 2003. The HF118 engine is designed for light business jets, a category with an estimated annual market of 150 to 200 units, and where further growth is expected in the future.
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Lord Corporation recently completed the qualification of anti-vibration actuators and a power amplifier for the Eurocopter EC225/EC725. Although the global architecture of the Active Vibration Control (AVC) System (AVCS) is patented by Eurocopter, Lord and Eurocopter jointly developed this application of the AVC technology. The system uses a computer to read vibration levels that are relayed by sensors positioned throughout the aircraft. The single processor then reacts in real-time to counteract the vibration by sending signals to actuators strategically located in the aircraft. For this application, Eurocopter concentrated on the algorithm and controller card, while Lord developed a highly efficient power amplifier and inertial actuators. The AVC System offers significant weight reduction and provides improved performance over traditional passive vibration absorbers.
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The international airline community welcomed the UK High Court decision to refer questions on the validity of European Community regulations on compensation for denied boarding, cancellation and delays to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Airlines accept the need to compensate in areas within our control; however this regulation seeks to make airlines responsible for delays beyond their control. The regulation was a product of regulators without vision and who do not understand the industry. It was irresponsible from day one. At last we have a voice of reason. A court of law has confirmed our view that the regulation was not reasonable and we are confident that the ECJ will revert quickly with a similar view, said Giovanni Bisignani, Director General and CEO of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). IATA filed suit with the UK High Court on 21 April 2004 on grounds that EU Regulation 261/2004 was flawed. EU Regulation 261/2004 sought to establish common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights. By making airlines responsible to compensate for situations beyond their control, such as inclement weather or air traffic control delays, the regulation was inconsistent with the Montreal Convention to which European Community members are party. IATAs views of the regulations inconsistencies were shared not only by other airline associations but also by the UK Department for Transport. A total of eight questions were referred to the ECJ with a request for expeditious treatment. Todays decision sends a clear message to the EC that the industry can no longer tolerate mis-regulation, said Bisignani.
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Australia's F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft will be equipped with state-of-the-art target designation systems, under a project worth more than $100 million that was approved by the Government. Defence Minister Robert Hill said the systems were a vital part of the Hornet's weapons suite. “The target designation systems will improve the detection, identification, precision targeting and damage assessment phases of F/A-18 strike and offensive air support operations,” Senator Hill said. The project will equip the Hornets with a proven, self-contained, current generation targeting and laser designation system – upgrading the current Nite Hawk Forward Looking Infra-red pod with state-of-the-art technology. Defence will assess three systems: the Advanced Targeting Forward Looking Infra-Red (ATFLIR) pod manufactured by Raytheon, the Pantera pod manufactured by Lockheed Martin, and the Litening AT pod manufactured by RAFAEL and Northrop Grumman.
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Loral Space & Communications announced that Telstar 18, launched June 28, 2004 aboard a Sea Launch Zenit-3SL rocket, has successfully reached its in-orbit testing position at 142 degrees East longitude. During the satellite's launch, the Zenit rocket's upper stage shut down 54 seconds early and released the satellite into a low orbit. After the launch, engineers at Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) raised the spacecraft to its correct orbit using a series of carefully planned satellite maneuvers and thruster burns. All systems on the satellite are performing nominally and in-orbit testing has begun. The satellite, which was able to use its significant station keeping fuel margin for the unplanned orbit raising activities, has enough on-board fuel remaining that will allow it to exceed its specified 13-year life.
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CAE and Qantas have signed a contract for a suite of Airbus A380 integrated training solutions, including a full-flight simulator and a CAE Simfinity training device. The training equipment package is valued at about C$25 million, at list prices, and delivery of the full-flight simulator is slated for summer 2006. The A380 is CAE's first full-flight simulator order this fiscal year and the first such device to be sold to an airline. The equipment order was first announced in May when CAE received a letter of preferred supplier nomination from Qantas.
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In the first half of this year, the Austrian Airlines Group carried a total of 4,417,130 passengers on scheduled and charter flights, a sharp increase of 14.8 % compared to the same period in 2003. While availability rose by 18.5 % on the company's scheduled services, revenue passenger kilometers increased at the disproportionately strong rate of 28.0 %. The passenger load factor for the first six months of 2004 was 71.2 % in the scheduled segment, 5.3 percentage points above the figure for the comparison period the previous year. The Chief Executive Officer of the Austrian Airlines Group, Vagn Soerensen, made the following comment on the highly encouraging half-year traffic statistics: „Over 4.4 million passengers carried in the first six months of the year is a new record. By pursuing a targeted expansion strategy both in Central and Eastern Europe and on our long-haul routes to Asia and Australia, coupled with a series of highly successful offensive marketing campaigns, we have succeeded in winning over significantly more passengers than last year and achieving double-digit rates of growth.“
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EADS has now specified the impact of the Airbus GIE merger into Airbus SAS, which was completed following an agreement among European tax authorities. This triggers accounting consequences and leads to a positive net impact on the company's EBIT of around 130 million euros in 2004. As a result of this accounting adjustment, the EBIT 2004 forecast of EADS has increased from 1.8 billion to 1.93 billion euros with no associated cash impact. On the occasion of the release of its first-quarter financial results on May 12, 2004, the company had announced that such an impact was to be expected. In 2002 a specific project was initiated at Airbus to merge Airbus GIE and Airbus SAS. This triggered complex consultations with fiscal authorities which had been successfully concluded with the official approval of the new setup by European tax authorities in April 2004. As a consequence, the Airbus GIE, a US-Dollar denominated entity, was merged in April 2004 within Airbus SAS, a Euro-denominated company, effective January 1st 2004.
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The team of Innovative Concepts and General Dynamics UK Limited, a business unit of General Dynamics, has been awarded a contract to supply Single Card Improved Data Modems (SCIDM) for the Spanish EF-18A/B aircraft. Innovative Concepts and General Dynamics UK were selected by the Spanish Air Force to deliver an integrated, low-risk, Improved Data Modem (IDM) solution. IDM Technology will give the EF-18 tactical air to ground digital communications for accomplishing critical Close Air Support (CAS) missions. With both the IDM and the Link 16 tactical data link capability provisioned as part of the current upgrade program, the EF-18 will be one of the most network-enabled platforms in NATO.
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