Nextgen a SLOW TRANSFORMATION 2010 APUBLICATIONOFTHEAMERICANINSTITUTEOFAERONAUTICSANDASTRONAUTICS May
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AAcover510-X.qxd:AA Template 4/9/10 3:51 PM Page 1 5 AEROSPACE AMERICA May 2010 MAY 2010 NextGen A SLOW TRANSFORMATION SESAR faces nontechnical hurdles A conversation with Richard Brookes APUBLICATIONOFTHEAMERICANINSTITUTEOFAERONAUTICSANDASTRONAUTICS toc.MAY2010.qxd:AA Template 4/12/10 2:26 PM Page 1 May 2010 DEPARTMENTS EDITORIAL 3 As the tanker turns. INTERNATIONAL BEAT 4 Euro Hawk sparks UAS integration plans. Page 20 WASHINGTON WATCH 8 Feeling the pinch and fighting back. Page 16 CONVERSATIONS 12 With Andrew Brookes. THE VIEW FROM HERE 16 Space shuttle: An astronaut looks at its legacy. AIRCRAFT UPDATE 20 Trainer aircraft: Long-term hopes for growth. INDUSTRY INSIGHTS 22 Israeli UAVs find a competitive edge. Page 22 ENGINEERING NOTEBOOK 26 Measuring change in Earth’s wobble. OUT OF THE PAST 44 Page 38 CAREER OPPORTUNITIES 46 FEATURES NEXTGEN:A SLOW TRANSFORMATION 30 Implementing the Next-Generation Air Transportation System will depend on cooperation by all stakeholders—and, as always, on funding. by J.R.Wilson SESAR FACES NONTECHNICAL HURDLES 38 ToC: The main challenges facing the Single European Sky ATM Research program are not technological but institutional and policy-related. by Philip Butterworth-Hayes BULLETIN AIAA Meeting Schedule B2 AIAA Courses and Training Program B4 AIAA News B5 Meeting Program B13 Page 30 COVER New technologies and programs for the next generation of air transportation systems both in the U.S.and Europe are making progress,to greater and lesser degrees.To find out how they are faring,turn to pages 30-43. Aerospace America (ISSN 0740-722X) is published monthly by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. at 1801 Alexander Bell Drive, Reston, Va. 20191-4344 [703/264-7577]. Subscription rate is 50% of dues for AIAA members (and is not deductible therefrom). Nonmember subscription price: U.S. and Canada, $163, foreign, $200. Single copies $20 each. Postmaster: Send address changes and subscription orders to address above, attention AIAA Customer Service, 703/264-7500. Periodical postage paid at Herndon, VA, and at additional mailing offices. Copyright © 2010 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., all rights reserved. The name Aerospace America is registered by the AIAA in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. 40,000 copies of this issue printed. This is Volume 48, No. 5. may edit.qxd:AA Template 4/9/10 2:12 PM Page 1 ® is a publication of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Elaine J. Camhi Editor-in-Chief Patricia Jefferson Associate Editor As the tanker turns Greg Wilson Production Editor Jerry Grey, Editor-at-Large Christine Williams, Editor AIAA Bulletin In late 2001, the USAF proposes leasing 100 air-refueling tankers from Boe- ing to replace its aging fleet of KC-135 Stratotankers, which had begun ser- Correspondents vice in 1957. The replacements are to be based on the Boeing 767 and are to Robert F. Dorr, Washington Philip Butterworth-Hayes, Europe come in at a cost of about $20 billion or so on a sole-source contract. Michael Westlake, Hong Kong This proposal, however, is met with a hailstorm of criticism, led by Sen. John McCain, who believes the company is being given a sweetheart deal, and Contributing Writers that there are alternative plans that should be examined before any contracts Richard Aboulafia, James W. Canan, Marco Cáceres, Edward Flinn, Tom are let. This eventually leads to investigations, a CFO dismissal, a CEO forced Jones, Théo Pirard, David Rockwell, into retirement and, by November 2003, a jail term. Frank Sietzen, J.R. Wilson By early 2004, the leasing deal is effectively scrapped. After the dust settles, the Air Force introduces the KC-X replacement Fitzgerald Art & Design Art Direction and Design program, and on January 30, 2007, the Dept. of Defense posts a request for proposals. Craig Byl, Manufacturing and Distribution Boeing again proposes a 767 derivative, and a joint venture between Mark Lewis, President Northrop Grumman and EADS offers the Multi-Role Tanker Transport, based Robert S. Dickman, Publisher on the Airbus A330-200 and called the KC-45. Both competitors file before STEERING COMMITTEE the deadline; both promise that manufacture of the aircraft would take place in Michael B. Bragg, University of Illinois; the U.S. Philip Hattis, Draper Laboratory; Mark S. In February 2008, the Pentagon announces that the contract, now worth Maurice, AFOSR; Laura McGill, Raytheon; $35 billion to $40 billion, will be awarded to the Northrop Grumman/EADS Merri Sanchez, National Aeronautics and joint venture. Space Administration; Mary Snitch, Lock- But it doesn’t end there. heed Martin; David W. Thompson, Orbital Boeing immediately files a protest, which is upheld by the Government EDITORIAL BOARD Accountability Office. In July 2008, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates calls Ned Allen, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics; for an “expedited recompetition” and issues a new RFP. Boeing then asks for Jean-Michel Contant, EADS; Eugene more time, which it eventually receives, as the RFP is cancelled, leaving the Covert, Massachusetts Institute of Technol- issue to be handled by the next administration. ogy; L.S. “Skip” Fletcher, Texas A&M Uni- Those Stratotankers are now seven years older. versity; Michael Francis, United Technologies; Among the ideas floated in Congress is a split award, offering contracts to Christian Mari, Teuchos; Cam Martin, both companies, making some states, and their representatives—and the main- NASA Dryden; Don Richardson, Donrich Research; Douglas Yazell, Honeywell tenance and overhaul folks—happy. Gates turns this suggestion down. In September 2009, the Pentagon formally releases a new RFP. Boeing ADVERTISING offers two proposals, one again based on its 767 and another based on the National Display and Classified: 777. Northrop Grumman threatens to withdraw, believing the new RFP offers Robert Silverstein, 240.498.9674 advantages to Boeing and its smaller offering, and follows through on that [email protected] threat in March 2010. EADS announces that it will not compete on its own. West Coast Display: Greg Cruse, However, no one, except Boeing, is happy about awarding an uncom- 949.361.1870 / [email protected] peted contract. EADS then decides that it may look for a new partner, or per- Send materials to Craig Byl, AIAA, 1801 haps compete on its own. But the company requests additional time to decide, Alexander Bell Drive, Suite 500, Reston, VA and to prepare a new response to the RFP. 20191-4344. Changes of address should be Rumors pop up and are quickly debunked. The Russians are going to bid. sent to Customer Service at the same address, No they’re not. EADS is going to protest. No it’s not. by e-mail at [email protected], or by fax at In the end, the decision may come down to a choice between two fine air- 703/264-7606. craft, either of which could fill the Air Force’s needs. But political pressures, Send Letters to the Editor to Elaine Camhi at the same address or [email protected] both domestic and international, may make a difficult call even harder, over- shadowing an evaluation of the merits of the proposals. May 2010, Vol. 48, No. 5 And the Stratotankers keep getting older. Tune in tomorrow. Elaine Camhi Editor-in-Chief BEATlayout510.qxd:AA Template 4/14/10 2:03 PM Page 2 EuroHawksparksUAS integrationplans BY THE END OF 2010 THE GERMAN tronic intelligence radar and communica- defense ministry is due to take tions intelligence emitters is under devel- delivery of its first Euro Hawk opment by EADS Defence & Security, as unmanned air system. In Janu- are the ground stations that will receive ary 2007 the ministry awarded a and analyze the data from Euro Hawk. $559-million contract to Euro Hawk GmbH, a 50-50 joint ven- 2012 target for regulations ture between Northrop Grum- The various European regulatory bodies Eurohawk man and EADS, for the develop- are working toward development of cer- ment, test and support of the tification regulations for the key tech- Euro Hawk unmanned SIGINT (signals that will allow UAS platforms to share nologies by 2012 to integrate all shapes intelligence) surveillance and reconnais- airspace safely with civil aircraft: vehicle and sizes of UAS platforms within Eu- sance system. It will replace Germany’s airworthiness, remote command and rope’s airspace, with their implementa- aging fleet of Breguet Atlantic aircraft, in control systems, and ATM—especially tion from 2015. service since 1972. sense-and-avoid technologies. EUROCAE, the European Organiza- After the first demonstrator vehicle, But Euro Hawk is in many ways an tion for Civil Aviation Equipment, has four further Euro Hawk platforms, with atypical UAS. It operates above 50,000 been undertaking much of the work an operational capability, are scheduled ft—higher than the main traffic lanes— within Europe to develop the necessary for delivery between 2015 and 2016. and is large enough to accommodate standards for operating UAS vehicles in For Europe’s aviation safety regula- many of the sense-and-avoid systems civil airspace and proposing regulations tors and air traffic management (ATM) found on airliners. The platform is U.S. to the European Aviation Safety Agency, officials, the arrival of Euro Hawk within based, a derivative of the Northrop which will be ultimately responsible for Europe is a timely reminder that there is Grumman Block 20 Global Hawk, but a great deal of work still to be done to the on-board systems are European. The develop regulations on the three areas SIGINT mission system that detects elec- The MIDCAS consortium The MIDCAS consortium comprises 13 aero- space industries from five countries, with EUROCAE Working Group 73: Developing UAS draft standards and requirements Sweden’s Saab leading the project.