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AviationWeek.com/awst AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 5 December 9, 2013 Contents Volume 175 Number 42 AVIATION WEEK Winner 2013 & SPACE TECHNOLOGY Digital Extras Tap this icon in articles in the digital edition of AW&ST for exclusive features. If you have not signed up to receive your digital subscription, go to AviationWeek.com/awstcustomers DEPARTMENTS 10 Feedback 11 Who’s Where 12-13 The World 14 Up Front 15 Commander’s Intent 16 Inside Business Aviation 17 Airline Intel 18 In Orbit 19 Washington Outlook 51 Classiﬁed 52 Contact Us 53 Aerospace Calendar

THE WORLD The call to lasso an asteroid provides NASA planners with capabilities to find and deflect asteroids that may threaten Earth. Tethers Unlimited’s 12 Realities of FAA regulations on use ‘Wrangler’ concept system would employ a net capture device and a tether of UAVs may cut into Amazon’s 48 deployer/winch mechanism to catch and stabilize an asteroid. plan for nearby home deliveries SPACE 46 Market for launching smallsats 12 Appointment of new Bombardier 28 Panel of scientists: Draft NASA is projected to exceed 150 sales chief linked to ineffective strategic plan fails to tackle the spacecraft per year by 2020 strategy, sluggish orders for CSeries agency’s uncertain funding outlook 46 Recent launches of converted balli- 13 Aviation Week editor honored in three stic missiles reaffirm vehicles’ pre- categories at Australia and New 29 Blue Origin to begin unmanned Zealand Aviation Media Awards orbital flight tests of its biconic- ence in market for lofting smallsats shape human capsule in 2018 48 Asteroid lasso UNMANNED SYSTEMS provides asteroid 42 Upper-stage restart failure reveals mission planners with momen- 20 New large, classified unmanned air- details about how SpaceX’s path to tum for deep-space exploration craft shows major advance in join- certification differs from rival’s ing stealth, aerodynamic efficiency 50 Startup company envisions commercial high-altitude balloon ex- 22 Secret stealth UAS must be seen 43 United Launch Alliance to expand its perience for passengers, researchers in the context of previous ISR industrial base beyond the number programs, manned and unmanned of rocket orders from the Pentagon ASIAN TENSIONS 26 Aerospace manufacturers pressur- 44 Funding uncertainty seen as main 31 Suspicious of the outside world, ing governments to develop a pan- hurdle to development of NASA’s China will keep trying to assert its European approach to MALE UAV Space Launch System rocket rights with air defense zone ON THE COVER 31 China is using air defense 20 This week, Aviation Week publishes two editions. On the covers identification zone as part of its of both is a U.S. Air Force unmanned aircraft capable of penetrating strategy to tighten control over the most advanced air defenses (page 20). We collaborated with maritime approaches. artist Ronnie Olsthoorn (www.aviationart.aero) to create this conceptual illustration of the RQ-180 based on government and industry information, public documents and basic design principles. Both editions include reports on the wrangling over EU emissions 29 Human spaceflight firm trading (page 39), China’s claim to new airspace (page 31) and the Blue Origin to use orbital launch Blue Origin commercial space effort (page 29). Our MRO Edition vehicle partially powered by a includes a special section with additional coverage. clean-sheet cryogenic engine.

6 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/awst UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE, KNOXVILLE ● COLLEGE OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION CONGRATULATIONS

TO THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE Aerospace & Defense MBA Graduating Class of 2013

Jaquenette C. Belka James R. Cody Justin D. Hassen Jasen A. Miller Joel C. Walker Wright Patterson AFB The University Tinker AFB The Boeing Company The Pentagon Beavercreek, OH of Tennessee Oklahoma City, OK Seattle, WA Alexandria, VA Dana D. Burge Knoxville, TN Javier J. Hernandez Tiffany M. Morgan Willie D. White Tinker AFB Thomas J. Delash Ontic BBA Aviation Kirtland AFB Robins AFB Oklahoma City, OK Fairchild Controls/EADS Westlake Village, CA Albuquerque, NM Bonaire, GA Richard L. Burnett Woodsboro, MD Justin G. Hottle Brandon A. Price Eric R. Widdison Hill AFB Sharon M. Doré Tinker AFB Redstone Arsenal Hill AFB Farmington, UT Hill AFB Choctaw, OK Owens Cross Roads, AL Kaysville, UT Clinton, UT Ginger M. Keisling Shane C. Rice Gregory A. Wooley Amanda J. Gentry Tinker AFB Hill AFB Hill AFB Joint Strike Fighter Oklahoma City, OK Mt. Green, UT West Point, UT Program Scott A. Kensinger William H. Seeman Fredericksburg, MD Hill AFB Joint Base Andrews Lynne Orama Hamilton Clinton, UT Fairfax Station, VA Randolph AFB David G. Kosinski Ben A. Stuart Jr. Cibolo, TX The Boeing Company Robins AFB Mill Creek, WA Warner Robins, GA Scott L. McKee Redstone Arsenal Huntsville, AL

We know the business... of Aerospace & Defense http://ADMBA.utk.edu MATERIALS 32 China, denied access even to lower grades, is working to match Japan- 40 Boeing says lessons learned from made world’s strongest carbon fiber 22 787 and 747-8 production debacles are bearing fruit with 787-9/777X DEFENSE 41 AgustaWestland 34 White paper outlines Scotland’s networks the VIEWPOINT AW189 with the Internet for flight independent armed forces as well 54 To cut component prices, OEMs as membership in NATO and EU planning and HUMS support and systems providers must learn to manage supplier costs 35 Dearth of funds forces Spanish air ELECTRONIC WARFARE force to initiate tough choices for 15 helos, Typhoon and transports 38 Creation, maintenance of mission- 36 Esoteric provisions of U.S. Senate data files is core for Selex’s Elec- defense bill could matter most tronic Warfare Operational Support to contractors’ bottom lines

ROTORCRAFT AIR TRANSPORT 37 Team of Swiss engineers prepar- 39 In latest chapter of intense ETS ing to take on big helicopter disarray, European powers are OEMs with a radical design bickering on how to go forward On the Web A round-up of what you’re reading on AviationWeek.com Join the online conversation about the RQ-180, the secret stealth intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance unmanned aircraft revealed in this issue (page 20). It’s free to register for our community on AviationWeek.com, or talk to us on LinkedIn (ow.ly/rtn7O), Facebook (Facebook.com/AvWeek) and Twitter (Twitter.com/AviationWeek).

HISTORIC SCOOPS Aviation Week has a long and rich history of bringing exclusive news and insights to its readers. Take a look at a selection of stories we have covered, including View- points from some of the industry’s most iconic names, on our website (ow.ly/rtfCK).

SCORPION TAXI TESTS Watch video of Textron’s new Scorpion light-attack and reconnaissance aircraft undergoing taxi tests on our Ares blog (ow.ly/rtghX).

NAVWEEK In the latest in his NavWeek series, Michael Fabey takes a look at the challenges facing Vice Adm. Michelle Howard as she takes the helm of the Littoral Combat Ship Council of Admirals. Read his blog on Ares (ow.ly/rtmKr).

Amazon chief Jeff Bezos demonstrated at least one big, new application of UAVs last week—generating publicity (p. 12). Or is he serious in his announced plans to deploy an armada of small, eight-rotor aircraft able to deliver small packages? One tweet that went viral was a humorous response to Ama- zon’s audacious plan. Read more and comment on our Things With Wings blog (ow.ly/rteft).

8 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/awst The 2014 Aviation Week

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AviationWeek.com/mroawards Feedback Aviation Week & Space Technology welcomes the opinions of its readers on issues raised in the magazine. Address letters to the Executive DEFENDING THE A-10 is low correlation to in-house produc- Editor, Aviation Week & Space Technology, Reader Robert Owen puts forth that tion, scrap-and-rework rejections and 1200 G St., Suite 922, Washington, D.C. 20005. the world has changed as an argument fielded aircraft-reliability problems. Fax to (202) 383-2346 or send via e-mail to: for retiring the A-10 (AW&ST Nov. 25, Yes, in-house scrap and rework are [email protected] p. 8). Well the world may have changed, large cost drivers and need to be Letters should be shorter than 200 words, and you must give a genuine identification, address but the aircraft is still relevant. addressed. However, as each step and daytime telephone number. We will not A-10s can be fitted with directional forward is taken in the aircraft life print anonymous letters, but names will be infrared countermeasures to neutralize cycle, the cost of rework and reliability withheld. We reserve the right to edit letters. improved surface-to-air missile threats. increases exponentially. He mentions the “new breed” of aircraft During the system design-and- that can handle the close-air-support development phase of a major pro- the SR-71 is but one indicator for a (CAS) mission as a matter of routine gram, there is tremendous pressure on replacement being operational. while involved in other air tasks such internal budgets and schedules. This He mentions that having the SR-71 as maintaining air superiority. OK. But results in myriad issues, including: “out of the bag” prevents plausible de- show me an F-35 or similar aircraft •Hardware/software specifications niability when it comes to overflights that can loiter and maneuver in harm’s cut and pasted from previous designs of other countries’ airspace as one of way, protect the pilot with titanium without adequate analysis and testing. the reasons why any SR-71 replace- armor, with shielded exhausts, able to •Design changes being deferred/col- ment has been kept in shrouds. deliver ordnance from multiple pylons lected or being set as Class II when If so, what is the purpose of the and, if hit, land with wheels up—suf- they can and do affect form, fit or func- SR-72? Is it yet another smokescreen fering minimal damage —to be quickly being put in place to keep an opera- repaired to fight another day. tional aircraft away from prying eyes? The aircraft’s 30-mm gun also works Jacob R. Katz against road convoys, ships, strafing PROVIDENCE, R.I. runs on airfields and armored personnel carriers. And the cost per flight SR-72 COULD BE OBSOLETE hour (about $18,000) is a bargain we If Lockheed Martin can build the can ill-afford to discard. SR-72, it will be a technological mar- Outfit the A-10 with new wings and vel. However, with states dependent defensive systems so we never have to on computers for all defense func- look back after a conflict, wishing we tions, the U.S. would be better served had kept them while historians note the by spending the money on cyberwar- utter failure of gold-plated, short-legged fare, which can locate and disable or and vulnerable, unsuited types such as destroy military installations at the a modified F-15, F-16 or F-35s to effec- speed of light—quite a bit faster than tively accomplish the CAS mission. tion, allowing the program to avoid Mach 6. John Gourley configuration change and hardware Vincent Wroble MERRITT ISLAND, FLA. rework cost. DENVER, COLO. •Multiple rejections on the same QUALITY QUANDARY system/box/component with NFF dur- SR-71 CONTRIBUTORS I see from reading “Quality Ques- ing the flight-test program with little A recent letter (AW&ST Nov. 25, tions” (AW&ST Oct. 7. p. 30), about the investigation as to underlying causes. p. 8) misstated the developer and sup- Lockheed Martin F-35, that little has These are specific issues with avion- plier of the primary navigation system changed in the way major manufactur- ics using card racks. Poor documen- for the SR-71. It was Northrop’s Nor- ers’ programs are being managed. The tation of reasons for removals also tronics Div., not Honeywell. focus on reducing scrap and rework masks problems. To meet budgets, I was part of Northrop’s flight-test percentages misses many real underly- mid-level QAs and operations and en- engineering team at Edwards AFB ing problems. gineering management will minimize and Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, In the rush to field aircraft and these issues and kick the can down Calif., for the entire life of the SR meet testing and delivery schedules, the road. A “Quality Transformation program. The Nav was labeled “ANS” often problems are addressed by the Council” will indicate major action, for AstroNavigationSystem as it remove-and-replace mantra. Func- but, sadly, have the same results as employed a star-tracking telescope to tional anomalies are not dealt with congressional committees do in ad- contain gyro drift and limit naviga- head-on since the removed hardware dressing the true causes. tional errors to less than a mile. The is found to meet requirements when Jim Mull system also controlled the radar and retested to the same original ac- Lockheed Martin Quality Assurance (ret.) most of the cameras and supplied ceptance standards and returned to MARIETTA, GA. steering data to the autopilot for the service. This allows quality assurance entire mission route. (QA) and program management heads SR-72 SMOKESCREEN? I do not believe we will ever see to close rejections as “No Fault Found” Reader Kevin A. Capps (AW&ST anything as exciting as that Blackbird (NFF) and meet their objectives. Nov. 25, p. 8) brings up an excellent again. A three-year study of data on a point. The fact that the Air Force Bill Morrison major program showed clearly there refused funding to continue flying SOLANA BEACH, CALIF.

10 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/awst Who’s Where To submit information for the Who’s Where column, send Word or attached text files (no PDFs) and photos to: [email protected] For additional information on companies and individuals listed in this column, please refer to the ason W. Aiken has been appointed nior vice president and director Rafi Maor Aviation Week Intelligence Network senior vice president/CFO of Falls of the Defense Sector at SRA at AviationWeek.com/awin For JChurch, Va.-based General Dynam- International Inc. Van Rensse- information on ordering, telephone ics, effective Jan. 1. He will succeed lear was vice president-NASA U.S.: +1 (866) 857-0148 or L. Hugh Redd, 2nd, who plans to retire. business for the Government +1 (515) 237-3682 outside the U.S. Aiken holds those positions at subsid- Communications Systems Div. iary Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. of the Harris Corp. and direc- Scott Webster has been named tor of space programs within general manager for Business chairman/CEO/managing director of Raytheon’s Network Centric Catherine Gridley and General Aviation and Inte- MBDA Inc., Arlington, Va. He succeeds Systems. grated Systems at GE Aviation. Jerry Agee, who is retiring. Webster Chris van Gend has become Succeeding Taylor will be Joe has been a member of the board of Singapore-based manager of Brown, president of Hartzell directors and was a co-founder of the engineering for Asia for Allianz Propeller. He will continue as Orbital Sciences Corp. Global Corporate & Specialty. chairman of the Policy & Legal Rafi Maor (see photo) has become He was head of the Asia-Pacific Issues Committee. Elected to chairman of the board of Israel Aerospace hub for Catlin’s energy and con- the Executive Committee and Industries. He was chairman and previ- struction businesses. committee chairmen were: ously president/CEO of ECI Telecom. Laura Fowler (see photo) has R. Van Bruygom Environment Committee, Ed Vadim Ligay is one of three Russian been appointed managing direc- Dolanski, president/CEO of Helicopters executives who have been tor of recruiting and diversity for Aviall Inc.; Flight Operations promoted to deputy CEO. He has been the Alaska Air Group. She was se- Policy Committee, John Ucze- CEO of Kazan Helicopters. The oth- nior manager of human resources kaj, president/CEO of Aspen ers are: Vyacheslav Kozlov, who has at Moss Adams and had been vice Avionics; and Safety and Acci- been first deputy managing director for president-human resources with dent Investigation Committee, economics and finance at the Ulan-Ude Blackrock Alternative Advisors. Simon Caldecott, president/ Aviation Plant and will oversee Russian USAF Brig. Gen. Catherine A. John M. Gilligan CEO of Piper Aircraft. Re- Helicopters’ finance and economics Chilton is one of five of her rank maining on the Executive department; and Vladimir Kudashkin, to be nominated for promotion to Committee and as committee who was chief of staff at the parent Ros- major general. She is the mobi- chairman are: Airworthiness tec State Corp. and will be head of legal lization assistant to the military and Maintenance Policy Com- affairs and corporate governance. deputy in the Office of the As- mittee, Aaron Hilkemann, Catherine Gridley (see photo) has sistant Secretary of the Air Force president/CEO of Duncan Avi- been named vice president-business for Acquisition at the Pentagon. ation; Communications Com- development for Herndon, Va.-based The others are: Paul S. Dwan, mittee, Larry Flynn, president Technical Services sector of the mobilization assistant to the F. L. Van Rensselaer, Jr. of the Gulfstream Aerospace Northrop Grumman Corp. She was vice surgeon general of the Air Force; Corp.; Global Markets Com- president of DynCorp International’s Stayce D. Harris, mobilization mittee, Simon Pryce, group aviation business and had been presi- assistant to the commander of chief executive of BBA Avia- dent of customer services at General the 18th Air Force of Air Mobility tion; Security Issues Commit- Electric Co. Aviation Systems. Command, Scott AFB, Ill.; Wil- tee, Mark Van Tine, CEO of Eric Stober has become CFO of the liam B. Waldrop, Jr., director Jeppesen; and Technical Policy Astrotech Corp., Austin, Texas. He was of plans, programs and require- Committee, Phil Straub, vice vice president-corporate development. ments at Headquarters Air Force president and managing di- Laura Fowler Richard Van Bruygom (see photo) Reserve Command, Robins AFB, rector of aviation for Garmin has been appointed Dallas-based CEO Ga.; and Tommy J. Williams, International. of the Americas division of Worldwide mobilization assistant to the di- Roddy Boggus (see photo), Flight Services of Paris. rector of operations at Headquar- a senior vice president and Conrad Vandersluis has been pro- ters Air Combat Command, Joint aviation market leader at Par- moted to sales development director Base Langley-Eustis, Va. sons Brinckerhoff, has been from commercial and contracts man- named to the board of direc- ager for the London-based AJW Group. HONORS AND ELECTIONS tors of the International As- John M. Gilligan (see photos) has Steve Taylor, president of Roddy Boggus sociation of Airport Executives. been named president/chief operating Boeing Business Jets, has been elected He has been a senior executive with officer and Franklin L. Van Rensse- chairman of the Washington-based Gen- architectural and engineering firms ac- laer, Jr., senior vice president-civil and eral Aviation Manufacturers Association tive in the aviation market and was co- military aerospace of the Schafer Corp., (GAMA) for 2014. He was vice chairman owner of Hodges-Boggus Architects, Arlington, Va. Gilligan was president of the board and chairman of the Flight an aviation architectural firm serving of his own information technology and Operations Policy Committee and fol- airline operations, including American cyber consulting firm and had been se- lows Brad Mottier, vice president/ and Continental. c

AviationWeek.com/awst AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 11 The World SPACE Amazon’s UAV Plans Deliver More Hype Than Content By making its announcement on Cyber Monday, Dec. 2, the biggest online shopping day of Into the Fray the year in the U.S., electronic-commerce giant Amazon was certain to get exhaustive and Space Exploration Technologies enthusiastic news coverage of its plans to use unmanned aircraft to deliver packages di- (SpaceX) launched its first Falcon 9 v1.1 rectly to customers. mission to geosynchronous transfer While Amazon orbit Dec. 3, marking the Hawthorne, has conducted test Calif.-based startup’s entry into the com- fights using a small mercial launch market and positioning it quadcopter UAV to to unseat United Launch Alliance (ULA), deliver a package, the Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint the realities of the venture that launches most NASA, U.S. FAA’s regulatory Air Force and intelligence community requirements make missions. Liftoff occurred at 5:41 p.m. it unlikely the deliv- local time from SpaceX Launch Complex ery service, called 40 at Cape Canaveral. The two-stage, Amazon Prime Air, will become available in 2015 as the company suggests. liquid-fueled Falcon 9 sent the Orbital Domino’s Pizza conducted a similar door-to-door demonstration in the U.K. in June Sciences Corp. SES-8 satellite on its way AMAZON and companies with delivery-service plans ranging from burritos to buyers in California to to a supersynchronous transfer orbit at medicines to clinics in Africa are waiting for both technology and regulations to be ready. an inclination of 20.75 deg. for Luxem- But the FAA’s airworthiness rules for small unmanned aircraft systems (SUAS)—expected to bourg-based SES, the world’s second- be released for public comment early in 2014 after a lengthy gestation, and not expected to be largest commercial fleet operator by finalized until 2015—will initially limit operations to vehicles weighing less than 55 lb., flying in revenue. A little more than 1 min. into the flight, the Falcon 9 reached Max Q, the point at which mechanical stress on Dec. 2 launch on a Long March 3B. The observatories,” says Paul Hertz, head the vehicle peaks due to a combination rocket placed the spacecraft, with its of NASA’s Astrophysics Div. “We will of the rocket’s velocity and resistance lander/rover combo, into an initial lunar be setting up our discussions with ESA created by Earth’s atmosphere. The transfer orbit with an apogee of 380,000 about a potential role for NASA in these mission follows two launch attempts in km. (240,000 mi.), following liftoff from missions.” In November, ESA announced late November, including a Nov. 28 abort the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. its selection of the €1-billion ($1.37-bil- that occurred when oxygen was detected Controllers later adjusted the orbit to lion) large-class missions, which include in the ground side igniter fluid on the set up a Dec. 14 soft landing in the Bay of an advanced X-ray observatory slated rocket’s first stage, resulting in a slower- Rainbows (see page 18). That will be the to launch in 2028 that will study how than-expected ramp-up in thrust. An most difficult part of the mission, says ordinary matter assembles into galaxies attempt on Nov. 25 was scrubbed owing Wu Weiren, the program’s chief designer. and how black holes grow and influence to pressure fluctuations on the Falcon 9’s their surroundings. A second mission, first stage liquid oxygen tank. Accurate Supporting Role in 2034, would search for ripples in the orbital insertion of SES-8 is critical to NASA will seek an opportunity to fabric of space time created by celestial SpaceX, which is counting on three suc- participate in the European Space objects with strong gravity, such as pairs cessful Falcon 9 v1.1 missions—including Agency’s (ESA) next two large astro- of merging black holes. Preparations for two to be launched consecutively—that physics missions, including the launches development of the European campaigns are needed to obtain U.S. government of a new-generation X-ray telescope will start next year, including a call for certification for launching sensitive and a gravitational wave observatory. mission concepts that will be used in so- national security payloads. “Both a large X-ray observatory and a liciting proposals for the X-ray telescope. large gravitational wave observatory China to the Moon are prioritized recommendations of Kepler a Contender The Chang’e-3 spacecraft, which repre- the [2010 astrophysics] decadal survey, NASA gave the green light Dec. 4 to sents China’s first attempt at a robotic and so we are pursuing an opportunity continued work on a plan to extend lunar landing, is safely en route after a to contribute and partner on ESA’s its crippled Kepler Space Telescope mission. Known as K2, the plan is intended to help resume Kepler’s Bombardier Names New Sales Chief search for other worlds using an orbital Bombardier Aerospace has appointed Raymond Jones as senior vice president for sales, maneuver to compensate for the loss marketing and asset management for Bombardier Commercial Aircraft, effective immedi- of two of the spacecraft’s four gyro-like ately. He succeeds Chet Fuller, who will leave the company at the end of the year. Jones has reaction wheels. “This is not a deci- been vice president for worldwide strategic accounts for Bombardier Business Aircraft. sion to continue operating the Kepler Several weeks into the CSeries flight test program, Bombardier still has not managed to spacecraft or to conduct a two-wheel make major inroads into the market segment it is pursuing. The manufacturer lost several extended mission,” Paul Hertz, head of major campaigns against the Airbus A320neo including at Vueling, EasyJet and AirAsia. NASA’s Astrophysics Div., said Dec. 4. Industry sources say the company should have offered more discounts in the early phases of “It is merely an opportunity to write the program and that Bombardier’s sales strategy has not been aggressive enough. another proposal and compete against the Astrophysics Division’s other proj-

12 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/awst For more breaking news, go to AviationWeek.com

daylight only, staying below 400 ft. altitude 3 mission, has radioed controllers at well as ability to potentially fit confor- and within line of sight of the operator. Ames Research Center that its systems mal fuel tanks on top of the rear fuse- These restrictions would prevent Ama- are all “go.” The 1-kg (2.2-lb.) cubesat lage. All three of the manufacturers in zon from achieving its goal of delivering incorporates the innards of a Stock the Eurofighter consortium—Alenia packages to customers within a 10-mi. Nexus S smartphone with the Android Aermacchi, BAE and EADS Cassidian radius and 30 min. of ordering. Even that operating system in NASA’s second are building Tranche 3 aircraft. short range would take the UAS out of demonstration that off-the-shelf cell- visual range of the ground operator and phone technology can operate in orbit. AIR TRANSPORT require the vehicle to have a beyond-line- PhoneSat 2.4 features solar cells for of-sight data link and likely some form of power and reaction wheels for attitude China Airline Execs Arrested sensing system to help avoid collisions. control, both advances over the first China Southern Airlines employees While the FAA intends to extend the PhoneSat, which included a smart- have again been implicated in corrup- SUAS rule over time to allow, first, line- phone plugged into a cubesat, casing tion, with the airline confirming that of-sight operations at night and, later, and all, and used its camera to take four executives are under investigation. flights beyond line of sight, it could take photos (AW&ST Dec. 2, p. 18). But industry officials say around 10 several years to develop the required China Southern staff members have technology and certification standards. DEFENSE been arrested, including two executives Significant improvements in battery of the airline’s marketing management technology will also be required for small Northrop in Bomber Race committee. So far, the accused have package-carrying air vehicles to have Northrop Grumman will be a competi- not been found guilty by any court. If useful flight times between recharging. tor in the U.S. Air Force’s Long-Range they are, it will be the third time since Strike-Bomber program, CEO Wes 2006 that major corruption has been Bush said during a Credit Suisse inves- unearthed at China Southern. In 2006, ects for the limited funding available tor call on Dec. 5. Slightly more than a executives were found to have siphoned for astrophysics operating missions.” month ago, after Boeing and Lockheed company funds given to an outside in- In May, when the second wheel failed, Martin agreed to team on the project, stitution to manage, and in 2010 others the spacecraft lost the ability to point Northrop Grumman declined to say were discovered bribing officials of the precisely in the direction of Earth-sized whether it would bid (AW&ST Nov. 4, Civil Aviation Administration of China planets orbiting Sun-like stars in the so- p. 22). But now, Bush tells investors, to treat the carrier favorably in allocat- called habitable zone, where the surface “we’re here to compete, and that’s ing routes. In the latest case, employees temperature of a planet might be suit- about all I’ll say.” Most details of the are accused of defrauding the airline by able for liquid water. But in November, program remain classified, but indus- buying tickets at early-purchase prices NASA’s Ames Research Center and try sources tell AW&ST that Lockheed and then selling them at or near the full Kepler mission developer Ball Aero- Martin has been awarded a contract price close to the departure date, say space unveiled a plan that could allow for a flight demonstrator as part of the industry officials. The alleged crime the observatory to resume this primary the Air Force’s risk-reduction efforts. required the cooperation of employees mission by steering it in an orbital path However, Northrop Grumman’s role in and could involve tens of millions of that ensures even distribution of solar the RQ-180 unmanned stealth recon- yuan, says one official with knowledge pressure across the spacecraft and naissance aircraft (see page 20), as of the case ($1 = 6.1 yuan). using it to effect a capability similar to well as its B-2 upgrade activities, make that of a third reaction wheel. However, it a strong contender. . Cost-Cutting the concept must be further validated Qantas Airways has announced a new before the Kepler team submits a fund- Tranche 3 Typhoon Flight cost reduction goal of A$2 billion ($1.8 ing proposal to the division’s Senior BAE Systems flew the first Tranche 3 billion) over three years, including 1,000 Review in April. As part of NASA’s Eurofighter Typhoon on Dec. 2 at BAE job cuts in the next year. The move is process for allocating the division’s Systems’ facility at Warton, England. prompted by a new warning from the limited budget for operating missions in The Tranche 3s are set to be the most carrier that it will report a pre-tax loss its extended phase, the biannual review advanced versions of the Typhoon and of up to A$300 million for the six months will see the $600-million Kepler mission have the capability to provide more through Dec. 31. The airline says it is compete for funding against a slate of electrical power in readiness for instal- launching a review of its capital spend- ongoing astrophysics observatories. lation of the planned E-Scan radar as ing and may consider selling assets. The division is facing a House-proposed reduction of $74 million to its 2014 spending proposal, which includes $18.7 Aviation Week Editor Honored million for Kepler. Aviation Week Senior Air Transport Editor Adrian Schofield was honored at the 2013 Australia and New Zealand Aviation Media Awards, an event held by the National Avia- Phone Home tion Press Club in Sydney. Schofield, who works from Auckland, New Zealand, won the PhoneSat 2.4, one of the record 29 Rolls-Royce Trophy for Technical Story of the Year, for an article on automatic depen- nanosatellites launched last month on dent surveillance-broadcast (AW&ST Feb. 11, p. 46). He was also runner-up in the a Minotaur rocket from Wallops Island, News Story of the Year category and a finalist for Journalist of the Year. Va., as part of the U.S. Air Force ORS

AviationWeek.com/awst AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 13 Up Front By Byron Callan Contributing columnist Byron Callan is a director at Capital Alpha Partners.

COMMENTARY budget plans do not point to that. Pub- licly traded companies are going to continue to have to keep shareholders con- The R&D Gamble tent, and one tool for sustained or higher earnings is operating margins. While some businesses will aim to sustain R&D Pentagon wants to retain defense advantages while finding other sources of savings or better pricing, others may make further while expecting investments by industry cuts to R&D and hope their companies can remain competitive. hile there is plenty to debate about where U.S. defense For the Defense Department, however, simply pressing for higher R&D Wbudgets could settle in 2014-15, there is no debate about may not help to sustain a base of skilled the Pentagon’s desire to continue to compete with cutting- engineers and leading-edge technology. edge technology. It expects defense advantages to be sustained Closer attention needs to be given to where R&D dollars are actually being through investment in new weapons and support systems that spent and whether there are enough provide a generational lead over those fielded by adversaries. ways for truly innovative technology to come to the Those implementing this strategy attention of continue to rely heavily on private “Private enterprise can’t be expected those who enterprise to provide that advantage. would benefit But lately the Defense Department has to develop new products without some from it, partic- expressed some angst about investment ularly if it chal- by private enterprises, and industry hope of a return in the future.” lenges existing continues to fret about human capital programs of and its ability to attract, let alone retain, inconsistent, as it includes a mix of bid record. On the more-is-better issue, in its skilled individuals. Frank Kendall, the and proposal and R&D expenses. But fiscal 2012, Microsoft reported R&D of undersecretary of defense for acquisition in 2000, Boeing’s defense and space $9.8 billion or 13.3% of total sales. Apple logistics and technology, expressed con- divisions, L-3 Communications, Lock- reported R&D for its fiscal 2013 of $4.5 cern last August that contractors would heed Martin, Northrop Grumman and billion, or 2.6%. Arguably, just spending not sustain independent R&D funding. Raytheon reported company-funded more on R&D does not automatically At a Center for Strategic and Inter- R&D expense that was 3.9% of total lead to more competitive products. national Studies event on Nov. 7, Kendall sales. In 2012, that figure was 2.4%. The Defense Department will have said he was “particularly worried about From a resource perspective, there to find additional ways to nurture R&D accounts.” BAE Systems Inc. CEO are other missing pieces of data. The R&D. Kendall talked earlier in the year Linda Goodman voiced related concerns Defense Department does not disclose about funding prototype development, at a Nov. 19 Atlantic Council event: “Do independent R&D spending under- but that idea seems to have waned. we really believe we can maintain our taken by contractors even though it Private enterprise cannot be expected dominance in the air and sea given the reimburses them. to develop products without some flight of talent to more exciting and pre- Some publicly traded companies hope that these will earn a return. En- dictable industries that don’t use words report total customer and company- trenched interests are likely to protect like sequester and furlough?” funded R&D while others report only programs of record from disruptive Two data sources underscore lower company-funded research and devel- technologies. That’s not a new issue, defense research and investment but opment. Even the company-funded but the department needs to create do not tell the full picture. The first is R&D expense disclosed in annual acquisition paths and programs where the annual defense budget, specifically Securities and Exchange Commission new technologies are not blocked by research, development, test and evalu- filings is inconsistent. Some compa- gatekeepers threatened by their fur- ation (RDT&E). In constant fiscal 2014 nies report independent R&D expense ther development or by bureaucracies dollars, so-called “next force” RDT&E while others report this figure includ- that could smother R&D with compli- is down approximately 50% from a peak ing “bid and proposal” expense. ance and testing costs. in fiscal 2006 through the pre-sequester Finally, R&D is reported in total by Prospects for more funding seem lim- plan in fiscal 2018. The long-term R&D companies and not always broken out ited in fiscal 2014-16. Most public compa- that typically goes to universities and by business unit. For example, General nies probably do not have the courage to labs is down 25% in constant dollars Dynamics reports total R&D, which drop operating margin expectations as from peak levels in fiscal 2006. includes Gulfstream business jets. they invest in products for introduction The other source is data reported by It’s unlikely that aggregate defense- in 2017 and beyond. Defense and indus- large U.S. defense prime contractors related R&D spending will increase in try will have to work more creatively and for company-funded R&D. That data is fiscal 2014-16. Certainly the Pentagon effectively with limited resources.c

14 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/awst Commander’s Intent By Bill Sweetman Read Sweetman’s posts on

ALLEN our weblog ARES, updated daily: AviationWeek.com/ares JEFFREY JEFFREY [email protected] USAF MSGT. USAF MSGT.

precision that in the 1970s demanded a gun. The A-10 may have a valid niche role. Its existence alone preserves an Air Force CAS culture, a force that Making practices that difficult art most of the time. But there is no scenario that calls Bacon for 240 of them (the Air Force’s pre- sequester planned fleet, through 2030) Warthogs on the and the Pentagon’s cumbersome economics make small fleets expensive. chopping block A better solution might be to think of COMMENTARY unconventional ways to sustain a small force of A-10s at a reasonable cost. Anyone who has been following the nce again, the U.S. Chair Force wants to sacrifice the blood development of CAS ought to know Oof the heroic infantry in favor of Mitchellesque strategic- these things, as they ought to know bombing dreams and white-scarf fighter missions. It should be that the theoretically CAS-minded Marine Corps has mortgaged its future disbanded and its functions assigned to fighting services made in order to acquire supersonic stealth up of Real Men. fighters (with a two-burst gun pod option), the U.S. Army’s attack helicop- That view is not far beneath a de- the fast and costly AH-56A Cheyenne ters have been generously funded, and bate over close air support (CAS) that compound helicopter. Now, say the that the Joint Chiefs of Staff—chaired has smoldered over decades like a case boot-centric warfare believers, the by one aviator in the last 30 years— of inter-service malaria. The latest USAF wants to dump CAS completely. signed off on the F-35 as the A-10 attack of fevers and night sweats has That argument is off-target. In the replacement. (But it’s the Air Force’s been triggered by the revelation of Air last 10 years, the USAF and its allies fault somehow.) Force sequester-based budget plans have provided CAS using fighters, What is really happening is that that include retirement of the A-10 helicopters and gunships. The soldier some critics of the Air Force like the Warthog, which nobody ever calls by on the ground wants firepower and A-10 not for what it can do, but for its official name of Thunderbolt II. cares little where it comes from, so what it can’t—operate offensively The Air Force is in a fiscal trap that guided artillery and fiber-optic guided against air defenses—and because it is partly of its own making. Aging missiles have a role to play as well. forces the Air Force, despite its own combat fleets and an unmanned aerial Within this family, the A-10 is differ- selfish plans, to do its job and support system (UAS) force that can’t survive ent but not unique. What it brings to ground forces. against any form of air defense are two the party is better persistence than a But there’s that irritating real world, of its closing walls. The service cannot supersonic fighter, lower cost per hour where the ground forces can’t get find the will to escape from its com- and—its advocates argue that this is to the fight without airlift; can’t stay mitment to raise its F-35 Joint Strike crucial—flight characteristics that are there without air supremacy; don’t Fighter buy rate to 80 per year, but it better suited to operations beneath an know where their adversaries are also sees a stark need for aircraft with overcast. without air force-provided intelligence, longer range. You may argue that I’m missing surveillance and reconnaissance; and The way to make big savings, the something here. How do you know can’t talk to their headquarters or service argues, is to chop entire fleets, when your conversation with a Hog even know where they are without shut down their training and logis- pilot is half over? “That’s enough about spacecraft, which were not wafted into tics infrastructure, and stop paying me, let’s talk about my gun.” But the orbit by green-cammo’ed leprechauns, modernization bills. The KC-10 and B-1 A-10 gun, designed to decapitate T-62 strange as that may seem. bomber—alongside the A-10—are in tanks, is not ideal for CAS. The attack One sure way to get nowhere is to just the first wave, but older F-16s and profile calls for the pilot to turn into use the A-10 as a symbol of an offen- F-15C/Ds are next. a gun run at a considerable distance sive against independent airpower. In Unfortunately, the A-10 has been from the target, at an angle where a World War 1, debate over military avia- the big, ugly symbol of the CAS debate small difference ineleva tion means a tion pitted Army officers who thought since its conception in the 1960s. The big difference in where the bullets hit, that the airplane was a very large USAF only built it in the first place, and to finish firing before the aircraft horse against Navy leaders who saw it it is argued, to deflect the Army’s busts a height limit. Today’s CAS tech- as a small torpedo boat. Some people attempt to take over the mission with nology has many ways to deliver the don’t seem to have moved on. c

AviationWeek.com/awst AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 15 Inside Business Aviation By William Garvey Business & Commercial Aviation Editor-in-Chief William Garvey blogs at: AviationWeek.com [email protected]

COMMENTARY altimeter with an adjustable barometer setting. It can even activate Garmin’s new video camera. This mini-G1000 marvel retails for $449. Olympic Performance Meanwhile, Breitling’s Emergency (see photo) will soon be keeping its Aiming for a takeoff or landing every 2 min. owners out of harm’s way. The titanium case of the precision watch and chronograph contains a personal loca- ince Olympic ski runs rarely occur in palm-treed towns, Rus- tor beacon that Ssian President Vladimir Putin may soon be sweating the can transmit snow report for Sochi. an alternating emergency sig- But Rhonda Fullerton is nal on 121.5 mhz

fretting over her sum- CESSNA AIRCRAFT and 406 mhz mer Olympics conditions for up to 24 hr. Obtaining oper- now. As director of the ating approvals Citation Special Olym- from various pics Airlift, she must find international BREITLING agencies has delayed actual shipping big-hearted jet operators until early 2014 at least. The timepiece to supply 175 Citations to retails for $15,750. c carry athletes, coaches or WELCOME LAW sponsors to and from the Serving up a most unlikely exception games in the Princeton, in a town where “Nay!” prevails, the N.J., area, June 14-21. U.S. Congress and the Obama admin- Some of the 830 athletes and coaches istration have said “Yea!” to the Small Fortunately, she has done airlifted to the 2010 Special Olympics in Airplane Revitalization Act of 2013, it before. In fact, this will be Lincoln, Neb. benefitting manufacturers of general her fifth airlift (in all, Cessna aviation aircraft. has coordinated seven dating back to in our society and saying to them: ‘You The legislation essentially endorses 1985), and the veteran Cessnan can be are important. You deserve the best.’” the recommendations of an aviation very persuasive. In 1999, she corralled Contact Fullerton before March 1 to rulemaking committee to increase a fleet of 260 Citations to carry 2,000 volunteer: (888) 565-5438 or safety and reduce government and passengers to and from the games [email protected] c industry certification costs for light in Raleigh-Durham, N.C. For the last general aviation airplanes. Other coun- airlift, serving the 2010 games in STOCKING STUFFERS tries are expected to act similarly, since Lincoln, Neb., she got 161 Citations to It’s that time of year when ads for the recommendations had international participate. timepieces crowd newspapers, home input. Notably, the new law sets a defini- Overseeing the actual airlift de- mailboxes and every other game tive timeline for the FAA to complete a mands Olympic-level precision. This break on television. Since pilots are sweeping rewrite of Part 23 regulations year, on arrival and departure days a big watch wonks, I offer up two new as a way to ensure it isn’t bogged down Citation will land or take off from New models that could jingle any aviator’s in agency bureaucracy. Jersey’s Trenton-Mercer Airport every Christmas bells. Pete Bunce, president and CEO of 2 min. almost uninterrupted for a solid Garmin’s wrist-wearable wonder the General Aviation Manufacturers 10 hr., transporting 800 passengers called the D2 (as in “Direct To”) (see Association, says the new law “dem- across the U.S. photo) has a onstrates a bipartisan commitment to The jets and crews are provided gra- Wide Area safety, as well as a recognition that the tis, and the baggage handlers are all Augmentation FAA’s overly bureaucratic, outdated volunteers. Bob Gobrecht, president System receiver and prescriptive regulations must of Special Olympics North America, and its 1.2-in. change.” He calls it a “win for the says the airlift “provides a crucial cost- face displays a government as well as general aviation savings to our programs that cannot moving map as airframers and suppliers, but more be overstated.” well as GPS-da- importantly, for the general aviation But the effort represents even more. ta-driven flight pilots and passengers who will be Says Gobrecht, “You’re taking the instruments, able to benefit more rapidly from new most marginalized and invisible people including an safety-enhancing technologies.” c GARMIN INTERNATIONAL

16 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/awst Airline Intel By Sean Broderick Senior Managing Editor MRO Sean Broderick blogs at: AviationWeek.com/thingswithwings [email protected]

COMMENTARY the total of lowest-rated performances generally outnumbered the highest- rated by about 40%. No Easy Answers As aircraft and airspace management systems become more capable, pilots do less hand-flying and more Honing in on degradation of piloting skills system management. One result, in the WG’s words: “Concern has been his week’s National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) expressed that pilot skill degradation hearing on Asiana Airlines Flight 214 is more than a deep occurs because of the use of automat- T ed systems results in lack of practice dive into why a Boeing 777 crash-landed at a major U.S. hub on or over-confidence in those systems.” a near-perfect summer morning. It is the continuation of an es- This echoes a 1996 FAA Human calating discussion on—as the NTSB puts it so well in its press Factors report on pilot/flight-deck interface. Despite actions taken based on advisory on the hearing—“pilot awareness in highly automated that report and a steady improvement aircraft.” in key accident metrics, the issue is not getting better, and industry does not The probable cause of the July 6 occurred from 1994-2007, nearly 730 appear to be moving toward a consen- Asiana accident at San Francisco relevant Aviation Safety Reporting sus on how to solve this. International Airport (see photo) has System reports, and information from The WG, formed in 2006, com- not been determined. But, absent some 9,000 Line Operations Safety Audit prises representatives from operators, unexpected new revelations, enough is (LOSA) reports compiled by trained manufacturers, labor groups, govern- known about the accident sequence to observers sitting in cockpits during ment and academia. The group also draw several important conclusions. regular flights. interviewed major industry stakehold- The pilots either did not understand Among the notable takeaways ers—including airlines—to solicit direct some of the aircraft’s automation unearthed by the WG: More than 60% input. “Significant concerns” were modes, and/or were not paying close of the 26 accident reports reviewed voiced about the degradation of manual enough attention to crucial variables, identified a manual handling error as flying-skill development and retention. like altitude and airspeed, on final a factor. (The report’s data-collection What was not heard was agree- approach. Once they realized their di- phase ended before several relevant ment on why a pilot’s hand-flying skills lemma, they were not sure how to react. flight-path management-related ac- decay, what to do about it, or even Before they could fly their way out of cidents, including the high-profile consensus on what constitutes an ad- trouble, they crashed into a seawall. Colgan Air 3407 and Air France 447 equate set of manual piloting skills. Even if no flaws in the 777 are un- crashes, both in 2009, as well as the “Complexity in airspace operations earthed, dismissing the event as “pilot Asiana crash.) is increasing, and as the flexibility in- error” would miss the point: Asiana Also telling is a sample set of 2,200 creases . . . so does the complexity and 214’s flight crew was not adequately recent LOSA reports that looked at potential for unexpected events,” the prepared for what it encountered. Most big-picture flight crew automation- flight-path-management report notes. important, a growing mountain of data management ratings by category and “Pilots must be prepared for dealing suggest that such unpreparedness is phase of flight (pre-departure, takeoff/ with the unexpected, and the equip- closer to endemic than isolated to cer- climb and descent/approach/landing). ment design, training, procedures and tain regions or second-tier operators. While the number of flight phases with operations must enable them to do so.” A recently released report by a either outstanding or poor/marginal As the working group’s seven-year FAA-tasked working group (WG) listed ratings was small—meaning most effort underscores so well: It’s easier 18 recommendations on how to make crews rated somewhere in between— said than done. c better—and safer—use of flight-path management systems. The 267-page report broke little new ground, but added analytical depth to acknowledged weaknesses. One is that automation has made aircraft so reliable and predictable that pilots have trouble maintaining so-called hand-flying skills that are—or should be—central to every airman’s capabilities. The report’s data sources include 46 accidents and major incidents that

NTSB AviationWeek.com/awst AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 17 In Orbit By Frank Morring, Jr. Senior Editor Frank Morring, Jr., blogs at: AviationWeek.com/onspace [email protected]

COMMENTARY The California company isn’t the only organization to clarify how its relationship with China is characterized, but in Sino-sensitivity the case of NASA itself the trend was in the other direction—if only slightly. During the International Astronauti- NASA edges toward China—slightly cal Congress (IAC) in Beijing this fall, the newly renamed China Manned Space Agency publicized meetings with hina is on its way to the first controlled lunar landing in al- European, Russian and Canadian space Cmost four decades—a planned touchdown in the poetically leaders (AW&ST Nov. 25, p. 50). In response to coverage of those meetings named Bay of Rainbows (Sinus Iridium) to unleash a robotic in AW&ST, the U.S. agency stressed rover called Yutu (see illustration), an equally poetic reference to that Administrator Charles Bolden also the jade rabbit the goddess Chang’e took with her when she flew appeared publicly on a panel with other heads of space agencies, including Ma to the Moon. China’s Chang’e-3 mission made it out of low Earth Xingrui, who at the time ran the China orbit Dec. 1 into a translunar trajectory that sets up Yutu for a National Space Agency, which oversees landing on Dec. 14. some robotic space exploration. NASA revealed that Bolden also met Even if the mission does not work Bai Chunli, president of the Chinese out as planned—the Moon’s surface is Academy of Sciences, to discuss revival littered wreckage from failed robotic of “currently suspended” collaboration landings—attempting it underscores on space geodesy using GPS, very long China’s ambitions in space, which have baseline interferometry, and satellite drawn praise from other spacefaring laser-ranging to measure changes in nations. Russian federal space agency Earth’s shape, gravity and rotation. Roscosmos posted news of the “flaw- NASA stopped an 18-year collaboration less” launch on its English-language with the Shanghai Astronomical Ob-

Facebook page, and the European MOON EXPRESS servatory in 2010 “in compliance with Space Agency’s (ESA) website noted statutory restrictions.” that its ground-based space-tracking exchange involved, and Moon Express Also on the Bolden-Bai agenda was network is helping the Chinese, who itself has no direct interactions with the possibility of using the two nations’ normally rely on ocean-going tracking China at any technical level,” says CEO separate arrangements with the Inter- vessels for global coverage. Bob Richards. Moon Express pulled national Center for Integrated Moun- “Whether for human or robotic mis- that detail from Richards’ personal tain Development in the Himalayan sions, international cooperation like this blog and included it in a “clarification/ Region in Kathmandu, Nepal, to coordi- is necessary for the future exploration correction” to a press release about nate the use of “Earth-observation data of planets, moons and asteroids, ben- the company’s work on lunar-based products for glacier characterization.” efitting everyone,” says Thomas Reiter, telescopes for the International Lunar The previously undisclosed talks may the ESA astronaut leading the agency’s Observatory Association. That U.S.- mark another shift in U.S.-China space human-spaceflight organization. based private group has an exchange- relations. Bolden has visited China as In the U.S., however, reaction to the of-imagery arrangement with the an official guest of the Manned Space Chinese success has been muted, to say Chinese Academy of Sciences’ National Agency, a military organization that the least. Because powerful members of Astronomical Observatories, which has oversees China’s Shenzhou and Tian- Congress object to U.S. space coopera- an ultraviolet telescope on Yutu. gong human-spaceflight programs in tion with China on human rights and “Moon Express has collaborative low Earth orbit. But he has been blocked national security grounds, it is not agreements in place with NASA and from reciprocating by congressional particularly wise for American space- is well aware that NASA has been appropriations language drafted by Rep. exploration interests to congratulate expressly prohibited by Congress from Frank Wolf (R-Va.), chairman of the the Chinese too heartily. Take Moon collaborating with China in space mis- House subcommittee that funds NASA Express, for example. The Silicon sions, even on a scientific level,” the and a staunch foe of China’s government. Valley-based commercial lunar-lander company says. “Moon Express fire- Bolden notified Congress that he would startup walked a careful line when it walls prevent the inappropriate flow of attend the IAC and hold the bilateral used the Chinese launch to highlight its technical information, and there are no discussions with Bai, “in accordance own work so as not to anger the Capitol instances where any protected infor- with procedures established in [the ap- Hill potentates who control the flow of mation arising out of its relationship propriations language], and members of funding for U.S. spaceflight endeavors. with NASA is exposed to third parties, Congress, including Wolf . . . were made “There is absolutely no technical domestic or foreign.” aware,” NASA states. c

18 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/awst Washington Outlook Edited by Jen DiMascio Congressional Editor Jen DiMascio blogs at: AviationWeek.com/ares [email protected]

COMMENTARY commit to remaining an astronaut, or commit to pursuing a career as a commercial space pilot. Under current To Cut or To Keep regulations, spaceflight participants are not allowed to actually fly spacecraft because, when the term was Lawmakers, interest groups make defined, spaceflight participants were last-minute budget pitches seen as untrained passengers. But the FAA decided astronauts can take ith Congress nearing a deadline this week to forge a short- control of private spacecraft during launch and landing —when nominally a Wterm budget agreement, suggestions for what to protect and computer would be flying the vehicle— what to cut are coming from all corners. Republicans are trying to if emergencies arise. The designation protect three high-priced NASA programs from the budget ax and will matter someday. c free up more than a half-billion dollars for But the ideas in circulation are SNOOZE BUTTON the projects at the same time. And Rep. not just about how to preserve pro- Days after word circulated about the Mo Brooks (Ala.), a frequent critic of gov- grams, plenty of interest groups are FAA’s plans to institute sleep-apnea ernment spending, is leading the charge, also flooding Capitol Hill with reports testing for obese pilots and controllers, introducing legislation drawn from the about how to meet spending reduction House lawmakers scrambled to slow the stalled NASA reauthorization bill. His bill targets. That includes a proposal by the proposal. Last week, the House Trans- would exempt the International Space conservative-leaning National Taxpay- portation and Infrastructure Committee Station, heavy-lift Space Launch System ers Union and the U.S. Public Interest approved a bill that would require the (SLS) and Orion crew vehicle (see photo) Research Group, backed by Ralph FAA to conduct a formal rulemaking if from termination. The bill, which the Nader. Their report “Toward Common it mandates that pilots and controllers House Science Committee expects to Ground” is offering proposals for how undergo testing for obstructive sleep consider this week, also would free $507 the Pentagon can easily save $197.2 bil- apnea (OSA) and potentially seek treat- million in funds held to cover termination lion—namely by cutting the F-35 Joint ment. The rule is prompted by the idea liability costs under a contract interpreta- Strike Fighter and replacing it with that individuals with a body mass index tion by NASA’s Democratic management F-16 and F/A-18 aircraft, eliminating of 40 or more are at greater risk of being based on the 19th-centu- susceptible to OSA, and ry Anti-Deficiency Act NASA A bill by Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) would be more prone to that prohibits federal sleepiness. The sponsor, employees from spend- would exempt the International Rep. Frank LoBiondo ing more than Congress Space Station, heavy-lift Space (R-N.J.), who chairs the has authorized. The bill aviation subcommittee, prohibits withholding Launch System and Orion crew called the impending funds from the three vehicle from termination. policy “neither reasonable programs for termina- nor acceptable,” and adds tion liability, and de- that it is stirring “a lot of clares termination-liability provisions in boosters from the Evolved Expendable confusion, uncertainty and concern.” c existing contracts for the programs “void Launch Vehicle and replacing the V-22 and unenforceable” unless Congress spe- Osprey with MH-60 Seahawks and CH- TOP GUN cifically authorizes the funds at a later 53 Sea Stallions. c Christine Fox, the former director of time. The future for this legislation is Cost Assessment and Program Evalu- dicey—even in the Republican-controlled THUMBS UP FOR HANDS ON ation at the Defense Department, took House—although it is sure to attract sup- The FAA has decided NASA astro- over as acting deputy secretary Dec. port in the Senate from Richard Shelby nauts can be allowed to engage in 5. Fox has gained renown in a number (R-Ala.), the powerful ranking minority operational flight functions up to of roles. These include her leadership member of the Senate Appropriations and including piloting a commercial on the recent scrub of the Pentagon subcommittee that funds NASA. Mar- space vehicle for aborts, emergency budget called the Strategic Choices and shall Space Flight Center, in Brooks’s response, and monitoring and op- Management Review, as well as her role North Alabama congressional district, erating environmental controls and as president of the Center for Naval manages SLS development, and has sig- life-support systems during FAA- Analysis (CNA). But there is also an nificant roles in the ISS and Orion proj- licensed commercial space launches element of “star power” in her back- ects as well. If the measure passes, it and reentries. But astronauts beware: ground: Back in the 1980s, while work- would free at least $192 million for SLS, Training to become employable by ing at CNA, she was the inspiration for $226 million for Orion and $89 million for commercial providers may force a Kelly McGillis’s lead actress role in the the ISS, says Brooks’s office. take-it-or-leave-it proposition to either 1986 movie Top Gun. c

AviationWeek.com/awst AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 19 This concept created for AW&ST of the RQ-180 shows a cranked-kite design and high-aspect ratio wings. Return of the Penetrator Stealth takes over where speed left off with new, classiﬁed unmanned aircraft Amy Butler and Bill Sweetman Washington

large, classified unmanned aircraft developed by Northrop operations sustained by the Air Force. This arrangement has been used for RONNIE Grumman is now flying—and it demonstrates a major ad- the RQ-170, which is operated by the Avance in combining stealth and aerodynamic efficiency. Air Force’s 30th Reconnaissance FOR AW&ST CONCEPT OLSTHOORN Defense and intelligence officials say the secret unmanned aerial Sqdn., according to a fact sheet the Air Force released after one of the aircraft system (UAS), designed for intelligence, surveillance and recon- turned up in Iran. naissance (ISR) missions, is scheduled to enter production for the Northrop Grumman’s financial re- U.S. Air Force and could be operational by 2015. ports point to a possible award of a secret UAS contract in 2008, when Funded through the Air Force’s after 2014, despite congressional resis- the company disclosed a $2 billion in- classified budget, the program to build tance. The RQ-180 eclipses the smaller, crease in the backlog in its Integrated this new UAS, dubbed the RQ-180, was less stealthy and shorter-range RQ-170 Systems division. This is the operating awarded to Northrop Grumman after a Sentinel (see page 22). unit responsible for building the B-2 competition that included Boeing and If the previous patterns for secret bomber, Global Hawk and Fire Scout Lockheed Martin. The aircraft will con- ISR aircraft operations are followed, UAS and X-47B unmanned combat air duct the penetrating ISR mission that the new UAV will be jointly controlled system (UCAS) demonstrator. This has been left unaddressed, and under by the Air Force and the CIA, with the year, Northrop Grumman financial re- wide debate, since retirement of the program managed by the Air Force’s ports acknowledged that an unnamed Lockheed SR-71 in 1998. Rapid Capabilities Office and flight aircraft program entered low-rate

Neither the Air Force nor Northrop PHOTOS EARTH GOOGLE Grumman would speak about the clas- siﬁed airplane. When queried about the project, Air Force spokeswoman Jen- nifer Cassidy said, “The Air Force does not discuss this program.” The RQ-180 carries radio-frequency sensors such as active, electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and pas- sive electronic surveillance measures, according to one defense official. It could also be capable of electronic attack missions. This aircraft’s design is key for the shift of Air Force ISR assets away from “permissive” environments—such as Iraq and Afghanistan, where Northrop Grumman’s non-stealthy Global Hawk and General Atomics’ Reaper operate— and toward operations in “contested” or “denied” airspace. The new UAS under- pins the Air Force’s determination to retire a version of the RQ-4B Global Hawk

20 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/awst initial production, the Pentagon term Global Hawk, Davis said, “We did not Tap the icon in the digital for low-volume deliveries that begin do that without carefully looking at edition of AW&ST for a as testing nears completion and be- how we cover that [mission] with the detailed look at the development fore the program is approved for full U-2 and other classified platforms.” But of stealthy UAS, or go to production. when asked during the open congres- AviationWeek.com/stealthuas Beyond the financial disclosures, pub- sional hearing to explain, he said, “You’d licly available overhead imagery shows probably need to go into detail within new shelters and hangars sized for an another forum.” sessments recommends a force of five aircraft with a 130-ft.-plus wing span at In September, Lt. Gen. Robert Otto, 10-aircraft squadrons of high-altitude, Northrop’s Palmdale, Calif., plant and at the Air Force deputy chief of staff for stealthy, ISR unmanned penetrators. Area 51, the Air Force’s secure flight-test ISR, said the service’s “first priority” in But such a large fleet would be costly center at Groom Lake, Nev. (see photos intelligence, surveillance and reconnais- and could compete for funding with the below). The company also pushed for a sance is “to rebalance and optimize our Joint Strike Fighter, the Long-Range substantial expansion of its Palmdale integrated ISR capabilities. Strike Bomber and other high-priority production facilities in 2010, perhaps “The mix is not where it needs to be,” programs. to support work on the RQ-180 he said. “We are over-invested in per- In addition, if the U.S. procures more (AW&ST Nov. 22, 2010, p. 28). missive ISR and we have to transform than a few of the secret RQ-180 aircraft, The new aircraft’s exis- the force to fight and win in contested it will be harder to keep them under tence explains an incon- environments. We will seek a more wraps. Historically, the Air Force has sistency: Air Force offi- balanced fleet of both manned and resisted establishing operational units cials have frequently unmanned platforms that are able to at Area 51, its most secure known op- called for a new, penetrate denied airspace and provide erating base, because maintaining penetrating unprecedented levels of persistence.” compartmentalization there between ISR capa- The Air Force could not afford to buy multiple secret programs becomes dif- bility. Yet and maintain the target number of 65 ficult. For example, workers are usually there MQ-9 Reaper and MQ-1 Predator com- confined to their buildings when a clas- has bat air patrols beyond 2014, Otto added, sified program other than their own is possibly pointing to a shift in priorities performing tests outside. The disrup- to the new Northrop system. tion to work grows if one program is been no public evidence These public statements are a by- running at an operational tempo. that the service has been planning to product of an internal debate over the In April, Otto’s predecessor as depu- develop such an aircraft. number of the new secret UAS to be ty chief of staff for ISR, Lt. Gen. Larry At a House Armed Services Commit- acquired. While there is apparently James, acknowledged that the Air tee hearing in April, Lt. Gen. Charles agreement on the need for a small Force had learned lessons about the Davis, the Air Force’s top uniformed “silver-bullet” force for special military need to more widely disseminate infor- acquisition official, said the service and CIA missions, a larger fleet could mation on classified programs to en- has no requirement for more Global be an enabler for fighters and bombers sure operational commanders are fully Hawks beyond 2014 and wants to “use against a wide range of targets. A 2009 aware of their capabilities. Responding that money for much higher priorities.” report by the influential think tank the to a question from Aviation Week at a Defending the planned cuts to the Center for Strategic and Budgetary As- Stimson Center event in Washington, James said, “We have a whole host of programs covering all the different environments, and we ensure that as we develop new capabilities we are in con- versations with people at the right levels. We are much better today than we were 10-15 years ago, [when] you’d have this new super-secret thing and you’d turn up at the combatant commander’s door at the start of an operation. That’s not a good place to be.” The RQ-180 has its roots in Northrop Grumman’s Joint Unmanned Combat Air System (J-UCAS) project. The main reason for J-UCAS’s cancella- tion in late 2005 was the divergence in requirements. The Navy wanted a carrier-based aircraft, which led to the X-47B program. The Air Force sought In 2009-10, as the RQ-180 neared flight testing, shelters were built over a larger, longer-range “global strike ramps and engine test pits at Palmdale, Calif. (left). Completed between enabler” that would be much more ca- 2006 and 2009 and shielded from view behind an earthen berm, this han- pable than the RQ-170, which was then gar at Area 51, Nev. (above), is most likely the home of the new aircraft. being developed.

AviationWeek.com/awst AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 21 UNMANNED SYSTEMS

A fiscal 2007 Navy budget document lence and is not made any easier by pos- shield metal engine components from disclosed that the J-UCAS program sible spillage from overwing inlets. radar) are proportional to engine di- had been split in December 2005 into The pursuit of laminar flow and ef- ameter, because the duct curvature a Navy demonstration effort (which led ficiency likely drove the development radius must increase with its area to to the X-47B) and “an Air Force clas- of new structural and manufactur- avoid distortion. Also, higher-bypass sified program.” At the same time, ing technologies. Scaled Composites, engines, which are larger in diameter, Northrop openly discussed a range of which Northrop Grumman acquired in tend to be less tolerant of flow distor- longer-winged X-47C configurations, 2007, is a world leader in building large tion than low-bypass types. This is one the largest being a 172-ft.-span design composite airframes “outside-in” in fe- reason why most subsonic stealth air- with two engines derived from General male molds, resulting in a consistent craft, including the B-2, use adapted Electric’s CF34 and capable of carry- and fastener-free surface. fighter engines at a significant penalty ing a 10,000-lb. weapon load. Engine integration always presents to fuel economy. The RQ-180 is smaller than that con- challenges for stealthy designs. The The RQ-180 could use a medium- cept, and it is not clear whether it will length and volume of the serpentine bypass-ratio engine, similar to the conduct strike missions. It is similar inlet and exhaust systems (used to modified CF34 engine eyed for early in size and endurance to the Global Hawk, which weighs 32,250 lb. and can stay on station for 24 hr. 1,200 nm from its base. The much smaller RQ-170 is limited to 5-6 hr. of operation. A key feature of the RQ-180’s design Family Business is an improvement in all-aspect, broad- band radar cross-section reduction Secret stealth UAS must be viewed over Lockheed Martin’s F-117, F-22 and F-35. This is optimized to provide pro- in context of related programs tection from low- and high-frequency threat emitters from all directions. The Amy Butler and Bill Sweetman Washington design also merges stealth with superi- or aerodynamic efficiency for increased n December 2011, Iran proudly dis- RQ-170 had been a poorly kept secret. altitude, range and time on station. played on state television a stealthy The unmanned aerial system (UAS) The aircraft uses a version of IU.S. unmanned aircraft it claimed it was operating out of Afghanistan and Northrop’s stealthy “cranked-kite” de- had downed while conducting recon- flying over Pakistan and Iran for an un- sign, as does the X-47B, with a highly naissance overflights. The trophy was determined period before it was photo- swept centerbody and long, slender a Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel, an graphed at Kandahar AB, Afghanistan, outer wings. Northrop Grumman en- aircraft publicly acknowledged by the in 2008. Later, in 2011, it was involved gineers publicly claimed (before the U.S. Air Force two years earlier. in the raid in which Osama bin Laden launch of the classified program) that Even before, the existence of the was killed (AW&ST Dec. 12, 2011, p. 19). the cranked-kite is scalable and adapt- able, in contrast to the B-2’s shape, which has an unbroken leading edge. The RQ- 180’s centerbody length and volume can Heritage of Stealthy UAS be greater relative to the vehicle’s size. Computational fluid dynamics per- mit new stealth aircraft to achieve “sailplane-like” efficiency, industry of- The Compass Arrow and ficials say. The management of complex D-21 are canceled owing to three-dimensional airflow is the key to a ban on China overflights achieving laminar flow over much of the and the emergence of better wing and designing stealth-compatible U.S. AIR FORCE reconnaissance satellites. exhaust and inlet systems that are lighter and more efficient than those 1962 1968 1972 on the B-2. Aerodynamics and stealth are often at odds. The B-2’s “toothpick” leading edg- The Mach 3 D-21 UAS is developed The Teledyne Ryan AQM-91A Compass Arrow, es—sharp at the nose and wingtip and by Lockheed, initially to be launched designed for the CIA and U.S. Air Force to blunter in between—are the result of a at supersonic speed by modified overfly China’s nuclear sites, makes its first hard-fought trade-off between the team A-12. After a fatal accident, it is flight. Twenty-eight are built but no overflights trying to optimize aerodynamic perfor- modified with a rocket booster are attempted. mance and the group concerned with for B-52 launch. Four operational making it hard to detect. Maintaining a missions are attempted without high degree of laminar flow on a swept success. wing is an achievement in itself, because spanwise air flow tends to induce turbu- U.S. AIR FORCE

22 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/awst X-47-based concepts. Its engine prob- to reengineer components to extend Incorporating advances in stealth ably has more power than the Global the time they could be flown between and aerodynamics, the RQ-180 shows Hawk’s 7,600-lb.-thrust Rolls-Royce inspections was predicted to be bur- that low-observable technologies can AE3007H, to provide better altitude densome. The limiting factor on Global still adapt to counter new threats performance and electrical power for Hawk endurance beyond its onboard such as low-frequency radar. It is a payload growth. fuel capacity is oil life. stepping-stone to the development Operationally, the RQ-180’s range The Navy pursued probe-and- of the Air Force’s Long Range Strike could be extended by inflight refuel- drogue refueling under the X-47B pro- Bomber, while also complementing the ing, though it is unclear whether the gram, but it used a manned surrogate B-2 and other long-range strike assets. UAS takes advantage of this technol- aircraft for flight tests. The Air Force By contrast to its predecessors, the ogy. Before 2008, Northrop Grum- separately conducted tests in 2008 us- RQ-180 secures a foothold for stealth man repeatedly stated its belief that ing its boom-equipped tankers and a in future war plans, in which extremely the endurance of an X-47-based air- manned surrogate, but after 2008, no expensive “do everything” platforms craft could be pushed to 100 hr. with progress with boom refueling of un- are eclipsed by families of networked, refueling. Beyond that point, the need manned aircraft was reported publicly. cooperative systems. c

The Pentagon played down that director of operational requirements it was falling short in supporting ISR embarrassing loss of the UAS. One at the time, Maj. Gen. David Scott, requirements for the wars in Iraq and reason may now be clear. Defense and made that connection. Afghanistan. But behind the scenes, intelligence sources say the Senti- Emergence of the RQ-180 allowed defense planners and the intelligence nel was the result of a quick-reaction the Air Force to reduce requirements community were worried about a lack project designed for speciﬁc missions, for what was once called the Next- of information on some well-defended and not with an eye toward an endur- Generation Bomber (NGB), a program locations such as North Korea and ing presence in the ﬂeet. That position terminated in 2009 because of its high Iran. was reserved for a new, secret UAS— cost. The follow-on Long-Range Strike This was also in the wake of the Air Northrop Grumman’s stealthy RQ-180 Bomber (LRS-B) is a less-expensive Force and Navy’s divorce over the effort (see preceding article). option that will rely on interoperabil- to jointly develop a single stealthy UAS To fully understand this new UAS, ity with the RQ-180 and other systems capable of ISR collection and striking one must view it in the context of the in the family. from land or sea. The Joint Unmanned larger “family of systems” the Air In 2008, when Northrop is believed Combat Air Systems (J-UCAS) pro- Force envisions to include long-range to have won the contract to develop gram was terminated late in 2005. strike and intelligence, surveillance the stealthy penetrating UAS, the Air The Navy, in search of carrier-based and reconnaissance (ISR) platforms. Force was facing criticism from then- ISR, proceeded with the X-47B UCAS A 2010 presentation by the Air Force’s Defense Secretary Robert Gates that demonstration and now plans to buy a

The AARS is terminated in December due to high costs The USAF Scientific Advisory and collapse of the Soviet threat. Board’s New World Vistas Some NRO officials continue to project makes first public advocate for a less ambitious use of the term “unmanned version, known as Tier III. combat air vehicle” (UCAV).

1983 1992 19941995 1996

The Air Force, CIA and National The Tier III mission is split between DarkStar makes its first Reconnaissance Office start a competition a long-range, non-stealthy Tier II flight in March but crashes between Lockheed and Boeing, which Plus, which becomes Global Hawk, on its second flight in April. later teamed, to design a UAS code-named and the small stealthy Tier III Quartz, capable of loitering in Soviet Minus, a subscale AARS. The latter airspace for as long as 40 hr. It is becomes the RQ-3 DarkStar under later partly acknowledged under the a sole-source Defense Advanced U.S. AIR FORCE name Advanced Airborne Reconnaissance Research Projects Agency (Darpa) System (AARS). contract to Lockheed and Boeing.

AviationWeek.com/awst AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 23 UNMANNED SYSTEMS

A 2005 Northrop Grumman proposal for an unmanned ISR-strike prototype was a step on the way to the RQ-180.

without stealthy characteristics such as the Beechcraft King Air-based MC-12W Project Liberty and Blue Devil 1 intel platforms. “For a decade now we have built the most incredible permissive ISR capacity and capability that anybody has ever seen,” Air Combat Command’s chief, Gen. Michael Hostage, said in Sep- tember. “We are being forced to build a capacity [with the Reaper] I know I can’t sustain, and I know I don’t need based on the national strategy,” which calls for operating in heavily defended airspace, as well. He says Pentagon officials are sorting through what is needed to handle the more challenging threats. “We are talking about the NORTHROP GRUMMAN entire ISR construct—how much in follow-on called the Unmanned Carrier- where we’ve taken a really close look permissive, how much in contested Launched Airborne Surveillance and on the classified side to make sure the and how much in denied” is needed. Strike (Uclass) system. The Air Force investments are closely aligned. We Not since the Mach 3 SR-71 program directed its funding and technology to are not missing opportunities there to ended in 1998 has the Pentagon been a classified program, likely the RQ-180. take cuts on the unclassified side. . . . able to overfly targets in hostile air- Despite heavy pressure on defense There were some shifts, [but] nothing space to collect intelligence. The prolif- spending, the RQ-180 is moving for- overly major at this point.” eration of longer-range and integrated ward. Cuts to classified budgets are Because of war requirements in Iraq air-defense systems, coupled with its “relatively proportional” to those for and Afghanistan, where coalition air high operating cost, banished the Black- white-world programs, says acting Air forces could operate with little threat bird to museums. And in 1999, the Pen- Force Secretary Eric Fanning. “This is from the ground, the Air Force had tagon terminated the RQ-3 DarkStar the first time I’ve been in the Air Force poured funding into ISR collectors UAS, a potential successor under devel-

DARPA

LOCKHEED MARTIN

First flight of the Lockheed Martin P-175 The Pentagon terminates DarkStar Polecat demonstrator is conducted in due to budget cuts and concerns secret. Unveiled in July 2006, the UAS about the design’s stability. The X-45A makes its first flight. crashes later in the year.

1999 2002 2003 2005 2006

Darpa contracts with Boeing The Pentagon establishes The Quadrennial Defense Phantom Works for two stealthy USAF/Navy/Darpa Joint Review terminates J-UCAS. X-45A UCAV demonstrators. Unmanned Combat Air The Navy moves forward System (J-UCAS) program. with a simpler program aimed at a carrier-based Tap the references in red in the digital demonstration and the edition of AW&ST to access our exclusive Air Force pursues a new coverage of UAS developments. stealth UAS (AW&ST July 24, 2006, p. 64).

24 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/awst opment by Lockheed Martin and Boe- peering into enemy territory to gather is mired in a debate over how stealthy ing as a stealthy adjunct to Northrop images and signals. Though not able to to make its Uclass air vehicle when a Grumman’s RQ-4 Global Hawk, after it fly as high (50,000-60,000 ft. versus the high degree of stealth would push costs encountered flight-stability problems. U-2’s 70,000 ft.-plus), the Global Hawk higher. With the Air Force operating the These developments left unanswered could loiter for a day or longer and not RQ-180, the Navy would have the option a Pentagon Joint Requirements Over- expose pilots to the health hazards of to cut its costs on Uclass. sight Council mission-need statement prolonged missions at extreme altitudes, Perhaps indicative of the debate, for an aircraft capable of operating in a problem during long flights supporting the Navy has been coy on the require- defended airspace for long periods. operations over Afghanistan. ments and design specifications for Though satellites are capable of Despite deeming Global Hawk criti- Uclass. The Office of the Secretary peering behind borders, they lack the cal to national security in 2011, the Air of Defense and the Joint Staff are persistence and flexibility of aircraft. Force less than a year later proposed pushing for Uclass to operate only in Satellites are limited by slant ranges, terminating the Block 30 version, cit- “contested” airspace—the Pentagon’s a problem that aircraft can mitigate by ing the high operating cost it had once word for areas that are defended but altering their flight paths. Also, adver- defended. The Air Force also cited not with the most advanced weapons saries can predict when a spacecraft lackluster performance of the Block systems. But Navy officials are hop- will fly overhead and adjust their op- 30’s electro-optical and radar-sensor ing for a more survivable—though erations accordingly. suite, despite earlier assertions that more expensive—design capable of High-speed platforms continue to be these issues were manageable (AW&ST operating over the best-defended ar- evaluated, such as Lockheed Martin’s June 13, 2011, p. 35). eas or “denied” airspace, in Pentagon hypersonic SR-72 concept (AW&ST Now the more advanced, stealthy parlance. Furthermore, the Air Force Nov. 4, p. 18), but planners leery of RQ-180, capable of penetrating an plans to retain its MQ-1 Predator and acquisition foul-ups and higher-risk adversary’s airspace, has superseded MQ-9 Reaper UAS for operation in technology opted for stealth in order the Global Hawk. The Air Force is now uncontested or lightly contested air- to field a system as soon as 2015. standing behind the U-2, with some space. The so-called MQ-X, which was The expectation that the RQ-180 cockpit and sensor upgrades, as its to be a Reaper follow-on, disappeared will be fielded soon has helped to ce- workhorse stand-off intelligence col- from Air Force long-range planning in ment support for the Air Force’s abrupt lector, with the RQ-180 poised to take 2012, another sign its UAS planning change of heart on the Northrop Grum- on the penetrating mission. was refocusing around the RQ-180. man Global Hawk high-altitude, long- In a high-level roles-and-missions If the RQ-180 can prove itself op- endurance UAS—once the centerpiece trade, the Air Force assumed authority erationally, the Air Force will have ad- for the service’s ISR development plans. for developing a stealthier, longer-range, dressed its need for a high-altitude The Block 30 Global Hawk was eyed as land-based UAS capable of penetrating penetrator. The next big challenge in a replacement for the manned U-2 for the most defended airspace, guarded rebalancing the service’s ISR fleet will be stand-off ISR collection, in which air- by advanced surface-to-air missiles to define the future of the Predator and craft just loiter outside hostile airspace and jammers. Meanwhile, the Navy, Reaper and their potential successors. c

U.S. NAVY

The Air Force acknowledges existence of RQ-170 Sentinel, The Navy selects Northrop Grumman’s made by Lockheed Martin Skunk The X-47B makes its first flight. X-47B for its Unmanned Combat Works, after it is photographed Air System Demonstrator (UCAS-D) operating in Afghanistan An RQ-170 goes down in Iran; Iranian military program and orders two aircraft. (AW&ST Dec. 14, 2009, p. 27). leaders display the aircraft on television.

2007 2008 2009 2011 2013

Northrop Grumman Boeing unveils self-funded The first catapult takeoff reports a spike in improvements in the X-45C, and arrested landing of “restricted programs” dubbed the Phantom Ray the X-47B. See video at: contracts, potentially (AW&ST May 11, 2009, p. 37). ow.ly/mS64L connected to the RQ-180 (AW&ST The RQ-180 is in testing. Aug. 29, 2011, p. 46).

BOEING

AviationWeek.com/awst AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 25 UNMANNED SYSTEMS

The French air force’s ﬁrst Reaper crews are nearing completion of their training at Holloman, AFB, N.M.

important, acquire the expertise that will allow us to specify operational requirements,” for UAVs, he said. He did, however, laud a push by major Europe- an defense contractors in France, Ger- many and Italy that urges European governments to fund development of a pan-European drone. “It is €1 billion [$1.35 billion] for three nations, thus €333 million per nation over 10 years, or €30-odd million per year. If we are no longer capable of making this kind of effort as part of a research and development budget, we

ARMEE DE L’AIR might as well give up having this industrial capacity,” Mercier said of the June proposal by EADS, France’s Dassault Members Only Aviation and Italy’s Finmeccanica to quickly shore-up Europe’s MALE gap, Europe’s Reaper club grows with Dutch adding that “there is also the proposal of a European Reaper community that purchase of General Atomics UAV is very attractive and complementary [to the MALE proposal].” Tony Osborne London and Amy Svitak Paris Meanwhile, agreements between the U.K. and France under the 2010 Lan- uropean aerospace manufactur- The U.K. and Italy already operate caster House Treaties have London ers are turning up the pressure Reapers; France will follow this year and Paris drawing up staff require- Eon governments to develop a after taking delivery of its first two ments for an unmanned combat air pan-European approach to the conti- drones under a letter of agreement vehicle, a project for which France nent’s medium-altitude, long-endur- signed in August. is budgeting €700 million for 2014-19, ance (MALE) unmanned air vehicle The Reaper purchases in Europe French Defense Minister Jean-Yves requirements. so far have been driven by the re- Le Drian said in November. The two But their protests appear to be fall- quirements of individual countries, governments are also discussing coming on deaf ears as another European or urgent operational requirements, mon requirements for a MALE UAV, nation signs up to purchase the MQ-9 but Europe’s governments are work- though negotiations on development Reaper. ing toward an organic capability. In have been shelved in the near-term. The Netherlands announced plans November, several European states, Elsewhere in Europe, Germany has Nov. 21 to introduce four General including the Netherlands, agreed to expressed a need for an armed UAV, Atomics MQ-9 Reapers into full op- devise a set of common standards for and Spanish air force officials—despite erational service by 2017. developing MALE UAVs and to estab- facing deep financial challenges—have The decision sees the Netherlands lish a community of European drone said that procurement of a MALE UAV joining Italy, the U.K. and, more re- users that could support development is one of their highest priorities (see cently, France, as the latest member of remotely piloted vehicles that could page 35). of a rapidly growing Reaper-operating compete with U.S. and Israeli technol- In the Netherlands, military officials community in Europe. ogy in the 2020-25 timeframe. are keen to explore the potential ben- The Hague opted to purchase the During a two-day meeting with the efits of closer cooperation with neigh- MQ-9 after sending out a request for European Defense Agency (EDA) in boring Reaper operators. The Hague information for a MALE UAV to 19 Brussels Nov. 18-19, defense ministers already has stated it accepts that manufacturers. Royal Netherlands agreed the community would welcome there are few options for international Air Force procurement officers re- any EU member state that either has, cooperation at the initial stage of the ceived just nine responses, only three or intends to acquire, MALE drones. program, but that it is already looking of which were complete, according to Speaking to French lawmakers Nov. beyond, with Hennis-Plasschaert say- a letter sent to the Dutch Parliament 5, the French air force chief of staff, ing she is preparing to draw up letters by Defense Minister Jeanine Hennis- Gen. Denis Mercier, said he is in favor of intent with France and also with Plasschaert. of a European MALE development in Germany, which expressed a similar The General Atomics Reaper was the future, but does not see the possi- interest in coordinated capability. the only model that offers the “off-the- bility of drone production before 2022. The Netherlands plans to use the shelf capability” the Netherlands was “Between now and then we have to Reaper mainly for deployed operations demanding, she pointed out. fight the capacity gap and, even more but also to support civil authorities in

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Get your FREE exhibition hall pass now! www.aviationweek.com/events/mideast SPACE disaster relief and counter-narcotics operations. They want to discuss the possibilities of cooperation in areas in- Maven avoided “requirements creep” cluding joint certification, education, to stay on schedule and budget. training, deployment, maintenance and logistics, as well as the potential of using the aircraft outside of segre- gated airspace. France, which has taken delivery of its first pair of Reapers and plans to promptly deploy the aircraft to Africa to support operations there, is working closely with Italy as it develops the capability. Last week, the Italian air force had been expected to fly one of its MQ-9s across the Mediteranean to the French island of Corsica to support French ground troops taking part in Exercise Serpentex, but poor weather was reportedly hampering flight operations as Aviation Week went to press. The first three French UAV crews NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER were in training at Holloman AFB, N.M, and on arrival in Africa, the two platforms and two ground stations will Strategic Shortfall help to quickly shore up intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance gaps Scientists worry about NASA’s planning highlighted during the nation’s inter- vention against Islamist rebels in Mali under the no-frills budget environment earlier this year. Although the French air force will Frank Morring, Jr. Washington mainly use the aircraft on operations, the air arm has ambitions to employ it ASA’s draft science plan looks sociate Administrator John Grunsfeld, in French airspace, as the Italian air as if it “was written by a com- the Hubble-servicing astronaut who force does with its own Reapers and Nmittee without the benefit of a runs SMD, underscores the problems Predators. Once in Africa, French cohesive editing effort,” raising serious NASA faces in sustaining the space- Reapers will supplant the EADS Har- concerns about the long-term health of science program it built over 50-plus fang, but the aircraft will not be armed; the U.S. space-science effort. years. It was prepared by the Space the use of armed UAVs remains con- A panel of scientists from fields Studies Board panel that was chaired troversial in Europe. NASA spends $5 billion a year to ad- by the University of Michigan’s Dr. “The arming of a UAV is a very dress finds that the draft strategic plan James P. Bagian, who conducted bio- sensitive subject in France, which is fails to tackle the agency’s uncertain medical research as an astronaut- why the aircraft will only be used for funding outlook in a meaningful way. scientist on two shuttle missions. surveillance,” said Gen. Mercier, in an This means important exploration ca- The report urges greater atten- interview with Aviation Week at the pabilities could fall by the wayside and tion to “balance” among science mis- Dubai Airshow. “a generation of scientists” may be lost sions—by discipline and cost. It also “I am convinced we will see weap- in some disciplines, they say. warns against “false expectations” that onized UAVs in the future,” he added. “One of the most fundamental chal- substantial progress will be achieved In the meantime, the future of the lenges [facing the Science Mission Di- without significant resources U.K. Royal Air Force’s Reaper fleet rectorate (SMD)] is the uncertain and Two of the agency’s high-profile Mars remains undecided. The aircraft were apparently decreasing level of available missions highlight the NRC panel’s purchased—outside of the defense funding for space science in real terms, main points. There is a “general per- ministry’s core budget—to meet an because this has dramatic and real im- ception that NASA has not been the urgent operational requirement for pacts to plans and execution,” a Nation- most reliable partner in international the Afghan theater. Because of this al Research Council (NRC) panel, con- activities,” the panel states in appar- arrangement, they are officially due vened to review the draft science plan, ent reference to NASA’s bailing out of to exit service at the end of opera- concluded. “This fiscal reality makes it a long-standing cooperative effort with tions there. Nonetheless, the number more important than ever for SMD to the European Space Agency to cache of RAF Reapers is about to double, have a clearly articulated and consis- samples on the red planet’s surface for with the aircraft close to completing tently applied method for prioritizing eventual return to Earth. testing before their deployment to why and how its scarce fiscal resources That budget-driven decision was Afghanistan, expected by the end of will be apportioned.” followed by a drastic cut in NASA’s the year. c The panel’s report, requested by As- overall planetary sciences budget on

28 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/awst MRO Edition

Essential Insights To Optimize the Aircraft Life Cycle

PROPULSION

Page MRO4

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PROPULSION MRO4 New Methods Driving Engine Tech Upgrades Fuel savings and durability demands are behind en- Shades of Gray hanced powerplant repairs MRO8 Rolling On an you pinpoint one or While safety issues will The world’s best-selling jet is a winner for aftermarket Ctwo industry trends that be mainly black or suppliers emerged in 2013? One could argue that the debates about white, many MRO issues MRO8 OEMs’ increasing penetration are in shades of gray. of the aftermarket became more vociferous this year. But did they? While safety issues will be mainly black or white, many MRO issues have shifted to shades of gray. Consider ST Aerospace, which and stretched 787s, and Bombardier logged the most airframe mainte- CSeries enter service, MROs will need nance man-hours, 11.5 million, in to retool and develop capabilities to INVENTORY OPTIMIZATION Aviation Week’s latest Top 10 MRO support these nascent fleets. & LOGISTICS Survey (AW&ST MRO Edition June As Lim Serh Ghee, ST Aerospace’s MRO10 Risky Business 24, p. MRO4). While ST Aerospace chief operating officer, asked the au- Managing risk in the MRO President Chang Cheow Teck re- dience during our MRO Asia Con- supply chain cently told me in Singapore that he ference, will maintenance checks sees increasing OEM competitiveness become more equalized so MROs MRO12 Identifying Risks and consolidation in the aftermarket, will provide lighter checks—almost the independent MRO became the on-demand—at major airports where SAFETY & REGULATORY inaugural service provider for UTC customers fly but the MRO doesn’t MRO14 Seeking Consistency Aerospace Systems’ nacelles on the have a base facility? This is definitely MRO14 Out of the Haze Boeing 787. a shade of gray. This follows an announcement that Given today’s fleet mix, pundits MRO LINKS the Singapore-based aftermarket com- predict the parting out of decade- MRO16 Best of MRO Links 2013 pany will provide nose-to-tail support old aircraft and engines will most for the electrical and air management likely continue during this transi- system components on that aircraft. tion period, assuming capital re- MRO4 This is a good example of how inde- mains relatively easy to acquire. pendents are partnering with OEMs So young can still be old enough to to provide support for next-generation tear apart because the demand for aircraft and components. used, serviceable material remains But in parallel, Chang wants to in- high (AW&ST MRO Edition Nov. 11, vest in designated-engineering-rep- p. MRO3). Again, there are many nu- resentative approvals and in-circuit ances and gray areas in this piece of testing to work further up the avion- the dynamic market. ics aftermarket value chain. It’s not an Even as the lines between manufac- either-or scenario. turing and MRO blur, companies such However, he says ST Aerospace is as ST Aero are investing in additive “cautious about growing capacity” manufacturing and 3-D printing for because during the next five years the castings, to decrease the time it takes older aircraft fleet will drop off and the to develop molds for parts-manufac- newer-generation aircraft will require turer-approval interior parts. less maintenance. The nuances are plenty. c One exception is China, where the MRO will open ST Aerospace Guang- —Lee Ann Tegtmeier zhou Aero-Technologies & Engineer- Chief Editor MRO ing this month to support aircraft components and spares. The next issue of the MRO Edition But as the global fleet transitions, Keep up with Tegtmeier on MRO’s AviationWeek.com/mro will be dated Dec. 30/Jan. 6. and aircraft such as the Airbus blog: A320neo and A350, Boeing 737 MAX and on Twitter: @AvWeekMRO

AviationWeek.com/mro AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY MRO EDITION DECEMBER 9, 2013 MRO3 PROPULSION New Methods Driving Engine Tech Upgrades Fuel savings, durability demands are behind temperatures to improve thermal efficiency, reduce overall engine weight, enhanced powerplant repairs reduce fuel burn, maximize time on wing and improve maintenance costs,” Paul Seidenman and David J. Spanovich San Francisco says Richard Brown, London-based principal of international consulting echnology being developed today for engine repairs or new firm ICF SH&E. “To achieve these ob- production has a dual focus: lowering specific fuel consump- jectives, the OEMs and their suppliers tion and increasing durability. OEMs spend considerable are investing in advanced materials and T techniques including additive manu- sums toward those ends. facturing, organic matrix composites, ceramic matrix composites, powdered metal and titanium-aluminide.” At the same time, many of the high-tech repairs have focused on parts where the greatest savings can be made. “[They] tend to be on high-cost, high-value new parts such as HPT/LPT airfoils, LLPs, combustors and outer air seals,” Brown says. “Consequently, there are now very complex repairs available for engine blades and vanes and LLPs.” High-pressure turbine In fact, for the Pratt & blade tip undergoes Whitney PW4000, a new adaptive milling at MTU Stage 3 vane bolt hole Maintenance Hanover. repair for the 94/100-in. models was introduced this year. According to the OEM, it restores the holes to OEM-acceptable limits, increases service MTU life and extends time on- “We are investing about $40 million, ing an airline, so anything that can be wing. The repair uses a proprietary yearly in new repair development for done to lower specific fuel consump- process, which the company declined engines that are currently in service, tion definitely impacts the bottom line. to discuss. and we see that same level of invest- Any significant change in fuel cost sav- In that regard, Brown adds that the ment continuing for the foreseeable ings is always engine-driven.” MROs have targeted engine models future,” says Bill Moeller, director of Alibrandi cites the in-development with high-volume shop visits—and aftermarket sales for Pratt & Whitney. CFM Leap. The OEM’s approach is to parts—that offer the greatest savings “Over the past decade, we have spent increase the engine’s thermal efficiency potential. Those engines include the in excess of $300 million on repair by increasing the compression ratios, General Electric CF6-80, PW4000, technology that will reduce fuel burn resulting in higher exhaust gas temper- CFM56 and International Aero En- and extend material life.” atures. “That requires new materials in gines V2500 families. The largest William J. Alibrandi, aero gas tur- the form of ceramic matrix composites, independent MROs have invested bine analyst for Forecast International, which are installed in the hot section heavily in high-tech designated engi- a defense and aerospace consulting in the last stage of the high-pressure neering representative (DER) repairs and production forecasting firm in compressor. They provide increased that involve specialized coatings and Newtown, Conn., explains, “For at heat resistance and save fuel,” he says. state-of-the-art brazing and welding. least the past six years, fuel has be- “The engine OEMs are focusing on At Munich-headquartered MTU, come the largest single cost of operat- new technologies that increase engine many of the new technology insertions

MRO4 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY MRO EDITION DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/mro are based on new welding, coating and development will concentrate heavily on and Hanover in Germany, Vancouver, brazing methods, according to Bernd engine repair cost reduction by improv- and Zhuhai, China—for 2013. Some ad- Kriegl, MTU Aero Engine’s technical ing and increasing automation used in ditional growth is expected for 2014, program manager for civil MRO. During the processes. “R&D will also be done notes Kriegl, although no official esti- 2012, the company spent €160 million to reduce the impact of doing repairs on mates are available now. (now $216 million) on research and de- component base material,” Kriegl notes. “Advanced blades, with higher cor- velopment, of which 10% was for engine “And with today’s component designs, rosion resistance, can be applied to component repair processes. While no you also have to implement more ad- older engines and can replace or sub- estimates have been released, Kreigl vanced welding or brazing processes. stitute new brazing technologies for says the company’s R&D investment, That’s presenting new challenges.” older brazing processes,” he says. “In and the percentage devoted to engine For example, he points out that fact, we have developed a special high- component repair, should be about the more new-generation engines incor- temperature brazing process for hot- same for 2013. A large number of the porate integrated blades and discs— section components.” company’s high-tech repairs are offered often referred to as “blisks,” or an To prepare for the first GEnx shop under the MTU Plus trademark. integrated blade and rotor (IBR). visits, GE Aviation is expending con- “Some of the key developments siderable effort on repairs. have focused on the blades and vanes The GEnx-2B engine went in the low- and high-pressure com- into service in 2011 on the pressor sections, including erosion- Boeing 747-8 and the -1B, en- protection coatings for the airfoils tered service on the Boeing in those parts of the engine,” Kriegl 787 last year. Those engines, says. “The objective is to maintain a he says, will start making high performance level for the com- their initial shop visits in pressors, and increase the life of the 2015, with turbine blade re- blades under harsh, abrasive operat- coating and repair, as well as ing conditions such as desert environ- static and rotating seals ser- ments of the Middle East.” vicing. In tandem, GE, which The coatings, Kriegl explains, have spends $45-50 million annually on developing unique re- A high-pressure turbine blade pairs—more than 1,300 this laser tip weld restores material year (compared with 600 at the tip. The welded material four years ago)—is focusing is then reworked into a smooth heavily on compressor blisk blade shape. Combined, the two repairs, says Bill Dwyer, chief processes restore tip clearance. marketing officer for GE Avia- tion’s service business. led to fuel savings and lower emis- “There is a lot of incentive sions, coupled with greater on-wing to develop advanced repairs time, since entering field trials in on compressor blisks, which 2010. “Their performance throughout are located on the forward the field trials was very favorable, and end of the high-pressure com- we are now making them available for pressor,” Dwyer notes. “The customer engine repairs,” he says. technology to repair an entire Two years ago, notes Kriegl, MTU blisk unit is based on a more also introduced a new tip protection advanced welding process in- coating for the high-pressure turbine GE AVIATION troduced by GE over the past airfoils, which also increases fuel sav- The blades, Kriegl explains, do not year specifically for that purpose. This, ings. “The tip protects the airfoils from detach from the disk. “When dealing in fact, was developed in anticipation hot-gas corrosion and degradation by with blisks or IBRs, there is a much of the first shop visits of the GEnx en- enabling the blade to maintain the more complex process of repair. MTU gine family.” Blisks are located in the proper amount of clearance. This is a is developing proprietary processes GEnx compressor Stages 1, 2 and 5. very unique process using induction- and welding technologies to do this The incorporation of blisks has pro- brazing, which has resulted in im- kind of work.” liferated in turbine engine design due proved fuel burn, greater component The advanced repairs that Kriegl to the aerodynamic and weight-saving durability, lower emissions and less describes have been designed in- benefits they provide, says Dwyer. frequent repairs.” house, and are applicable to turbine But GE also is applying its new, im- It also has cut scrap rates, Kriegl engines now in service. MTU Aero proved welding technologies to older adds. “Without the coatings, the scrap Engines—under OEM licenses—spe- engines, with the introduction during rate of the airfoils was about 20%, but cializes in a broad range of Pratt & the past 18 months of a 3C airfoil res- with the coatings, it’s zero. When the Whitney and GE products, as well as toration process specifically for the blades or airfoils are overhauled, it’s the V2500, which is estimated to ac- CFM56-5B and -7B. simply a matter of recoating them. count for one-third of the 1,000 pro- “It was a more sophisticated repair They do not need to be scrapped.” jected engine shop visits to the global that was designed for application to Going forward, he says, research and MTU network of four shops—Berlin the complex airfoil shape of the high-

AviationWeek.com/mro AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY MRO EDITION DECEMBER 9, 2013 MRO5 PROPULSION

Technician inspects a low- at very high temperatures. “Pow- pressure turbine case for a dered-metal technology has excel- PW4000 94/100-in. engine lent resistance to ‘creep’, the term at Pratt & Whitney’s repair which describes the deformation, facility in Springdale, Ark. or loss of shape—and ultimately failure—of the metal part at high pressure compressor blades, and temperatures,” he says. the complex design geometry of Another key area being targeted the high-pressure compressors in to reduce maintenance costs in- those engines. The benefit is that volves what Dwyer calls “lean burn more parts can be repaired and combustion.” fewer need to be scrapped,” Dw- “Lean burn combustion results yer explains. when temperature is uniform He further reports that GE throughout the hot section—spe- has introduced advanced wear- cifically in the combustor—rather resistant coatings for the high- than having hot spots, which will pressure compressor blades on lead to peak stresses, cracks and the CFM56-5B and -7B, providing wear,” he explains. “Much of the a longer on-wing time, and scrap- turbine maintenance is driven by rate reduction. “The technology & WHITNEY PRATT the peak temperature versus the uses a proprietary material com- average temperature to which the position, which has very robust part is subjected. If your combus- wear resistance,” Dwyer says. tor burns uniformly, it will last “While it is available to all opera- longer on wing. The GEnx uses tors of these engines, it is being spe- The use of powdered-metal appli- this, as will the Leap, and it’s proving cifically marketed to airlines operating cations to hot-section rotating seals to have a very big maintenance cost in very harsh environments, such as and other rotating parts is another benefit.” the Middle East and China.” The com- recently introduced repair technology GE Aviation had 4,000 shop visits pany is studying the application of the at GE. As Dwyer explains, it gives the globally in 2013, and that is expected coatings to other engines. component the capability to operate to increase in the low single-digit percentage range in the coming year, says Dwyer. The worldwide GE maintenance network totals 92 facilities, of which five are GE-owned and 19 are joint ventures. The GE-owned facilities handled about one-third of those shop visits. Of the 92, half work on the CFM family. “At GE, our protocol is to develop repair processes on one engine, and apply them to others, where possible. The technology that is developed to repair a new engine will find its way to current- generation engines for upgrades during the overhaul process,” he says. ICF SH&E’s Brown agrees that as the OEMs develop new engines and manufacturing techniques, this protocol may benefit the repair programs they can develop for existing engines, and save on maintenance costs. “Ultimately, the technology will reduce the number of parts in the engine, so there are potentially less parts to repair. But, it does raise some concern for non-OEM, independent MROs,” Brown adds. “As the latest technology is incorporated will these parts be repairable, or will they be so technologically complex and costly that only the OEM could repair them, or new parts have to be purchased from the OEM?” c

MRO6 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY MRO EDITION DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/mro Full repair capability for the GE90 Growth MTU – Maintaining your power

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Tap the icon in the digital edition of AW&ST for Boeing 737 MRO data from the Aviation Week Intelligence Network 2014 Rolling On Commercial MRO Forecast, or go to AviationWeek.com/737mro The world’s best-selling jet is a os where asset useful life is less than 25 years,” the ratings agency wrote in an October aircraft finance overview. “The winner for aftermarket suppliers technological obsolescence risk to narrowbodies, combined with increased competition coming from new entrants . . . Sean Broderick Washington could force earlier aircraft retirements than have been ob- served historically.” ftermarket providers looking for a solid program for Market forces are already playing a role in the parking of potential future sales could do a lot worse than the NGs before their notional time. The Aviation Week Intelligence ABoeing 737. With nearly 5,700 in service, it is the world Network (AWIN) Fleets database shows 37 737NGs retired as fleet’s most common model. A backlog of 3,400 orders and of Nov. 1, at an average age of about 12 years. All but three were the monthly production rate increasing to 42 from 38 per smaller -600s and -700s, which are proving valuable as spare- month next year and to 47 in 2017 means the fleet will not part and engine suppliers for their bigger family members. be shrinking soon. Air Salvage International (ASI) has parted out eight NGs in Yet while the 737 aftermarket will surely benefit from in- the past two years. The earliest jobs, which came when fewer creased flow of new tin, it remains to be seen whether the rise aircraft had been parted out, yielded about 2,000 useful parts in repairs and spares will be in lock-step with fleet growth. per aircraft, says Commercial Director Bradley Gregory. But Two factors could suppress 737 MRO spending during as warehouses filled and some low-demand, low-wear parts the next decade or so. One is the evolution of surplus parts became readily available, that figure declined. The latest jobs availability, which—predictably—is greater for the 737 than yielded about 750 parts that ASI expects to resell, he notes. for smaller fleets as suppliers move to meet demand. When The 737’s near-ubiquity means it presents lucrative op- Intertrade grew its surplus business into airframe parts in portunities for aftermarket providers with engineering 1994, it did so on the back of a 737-300 part-out. Earlier this prowess. Winglet specialist Aviation Partners Boeing is year, the company expanded again, adding engine parts start- arguably the best-known example, having equipped 5,000 ing with spares for CFM56-7s that power the 737NG family. Boeing aircraft (most of them 737s) with winglets. Ireland’s Canaccord Genuity pegs surplus parts—or used service- Eirtech Aviation is another case. The MRO provider’s kit able material (USM)—as a $3 billion per year market. More for satisfying a global mandate for new 737NG cabin pres- significantly for new-parts suppliers, USM trade shaves about surization warning lights shaves 50% off the time and cost 1% off overall aftermarket parts growth, Canaccord calculates. of Boeing’s offering, Eirtech executives estimate. “We believe this is a structural shift in the commercial after- The overall 737 fleet also means the aircraft family has a market, and the rate at which aircraft are parted out will con- massive share of the scheduled MRO market. AWIN’s 2014 tinue to accelerate,” says Ken Herbert, a Canaccord analyst. Commercial MRO Forecast estimates the 2014 market at $9.5 Factor in the impending beginning of 737 MAX production billion, increasing to $12.3 billion a year in five years and $15.5 and Boeing’s overall ramp-up, and the USM trend takes on billion in a decade. The MAX, which is not projected to fly pay- added significance. ing customers for another four years, will make its presence “We believe that airlines are already slowing 737 mainte- felt quickly, generating nearly $2.1 billion in annual aftermarket nance spending as rates have increased, and the useful life of spending in 10 years. the aircraft model continues to get shorter,” Herbert wrote One wild card to watch is the level of spares commonal- in an October research note released just after Boeing an- ity between the NGs and MAX. Boeing is just beginning the nounced the 2017 production rate jump. “This announcement deep dive into the MAX’s design phase, when details such as will accelerate this process, especially if Boeing is able to specific part numbers will be hashed out. While some tech- maintain the higher 737 rate for more than just a few years.” nology upgrades will render NG parts obsolete, Boeing says Canaccord is not alone. it will strive to maximize commonality. Fitch Ratings is hardly down on 737s; it expects the family to “We do expect a significant portion of Next-Generation “retain generally strong demand profiles” into the 2020s. How- 737 spares investment to carry over to the MAX,” a Boeing ever, the prospects of newer-generation narrowbodies has Fitch spokeswoman notes. keeping a close eye on current-generation retirement trends. Just how much it does will help shape a big chunk of the USM “Fitch has placed increased focus on evaluating scenari- market from 2017 on, and could alter NG useful life trends. c The growth of surplus components could suppress 737NG new-parts sales.

UNITED AIRLINES MRO8 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY MRO EDITION DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/mro INNOVATION DOESN’T STOP WITH THE ENGINE.

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Tap the icon in the digital edition of AW&ST for a case study in the Risky Business importance of tracking metrics to supply-chain risk management, Managing risk in the MRO supply chain or go to AviationWeek.com/mrrisk Robert Trebilock Keene, N.H.

here is more to parts manage- to fill your order and a competitor’s to understand the systemic risks in ment than having the right part order at the same time—and it may their supply chains,” says Chris Spaf- Tat the right place at the right favor your competitor over you. En- ford, a partner in the consulting firm time. The best MROs have contingency vironmental events—such as Hurri- Oliver Wyman. “They have looked at plans for Murphy’s Law. cane Sandy, eruption of a volcano in inventory management from a cost Most materials managers focus on Iceland or tsunamis in Southeast Asia perspective. Very few people have done how many parts they will need, what and Japan—can bring a supply chain it with a risk lens.” they will cost and where they will be to its knees. “When you think about supply chain deployed when they create inventory. The best fleet operators and MRO risk management, you’re really talking For Ralf Noether, technical director organizations have a Plan B for Mur- about a risk to your supply,” says Chris for European Air Transport in Leipzig, phy’s Law. FedEx Express, for instance, Sawchuk, principal for global pro- Germany, there is another dimension keeps a few used aircraft at its disposal curement advisory with The Hackett to parts availability for its older Boeing so that it does not have to worry about Group, a Miami-based research and 757s and 767s and Airbus A300-600s. not being able to find a specific part consulting firm. Some rotable parts are no longer manu- While there are factured. “With older aircraft, there are a number of factors some rotables that aren’t available for that put a supply sale and are too expensive to rebuild,” chain at risk, de- he says. That puts his fleet at risk of be- pending on the industry, they are all In the MRO supply chain, risk man- threats to revenue. agement focuses on ensuring that In the MRO supply parts flow when things go wrong. chain, revenue is put at risk when an ing grounded because the right part is aircraft is grounded not available when it is needed. because it inter- European Air Transport has taken rupts supplies. several steps to manage that risk. It Several trends has bought available spares on the are driving the in- market, established a reliability con- terest in risk man- trol board that includes members of AFI/KLM agement. First, the engineering and logistics teams when it is needed. The cargo carrier OEMs today are playing a more domi- to measure the reliability of parts and builds contingency plans for large- nant role in the aftermarket, and so meets with suppliers every 4-6 months scale events such as a hailstorm that airlines and repair organizations are to see if there are repair and scrap might damage aircraft at a hub loca- increasingly single-sourced on parts units that may be torn down and mined tion, and it disperses parts at locations and services. “To truly de-risk your sup- to keep other parts operable. around the world where it can reach ply chain, you have to have alternative These steps are part of a supply- them quickly rather than storing them sources of supply,” Spafford says. “That chain risk-management program. That in one location. requires greater competition than we is a different approach to parts manage- “Contingency planning is a given,” have in the aftermarket today.” ment from a conventional inventory says George Silverman, vice president Second, MRO organizations typically management plan, which is typically of material management for FedEx Ex- have poor visibility into their demand focused on the four “R”s of inventory: press. “We’ve been moving shipments because some repairs are intermittent having the right part at the right time around the world for 40 years, and and variable. Meanwhile, many criti- at the right place and at the right price. we’ve learned that it’s essential to plan cal parts and components have long The four “rights” assume that noth- for worst-case scenarios.” lead times and are expensive—maining goes wrong in an MRO provider’s taining an inventory ties up resources supply chain. As we all know from MANAGING RISK that could be put to work in other Murphy’s Law, however, things hap- While organizations such as FedEx, ways; not having them can leave your pen that may be out of a supplier’s European Air Transport and AFI fleet grounded. “When your demand control. For example, a supplier may KLM E&M (see page MRO12) have is intermittent, it’s hard to plan,” says not be able to obtain the raw materials risk-management initiatives in place, Sawchuk. “You have to strike a balance it needs to produce an order or may that is not the case for the industry as between how many of those large, ex- be unable to access credit to keep its a whole. “These issues have been out pensive items you’re going to stock operations going while they fill your there for years, but most commercial against the risk of not having them.” order. It may not have the capacity airlines and MROs are just beginning Third, many of today’s supply chains

MRO10 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY MRO EDITION DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/mro KEEPING YOU FLYING IS OUR BUSINESS. Wheels Up to Wheels Down Maintenance - Engine Controls - Flight Controls - Aircraft Electronics - Cabin Systems and Modifications

www.baesystems.com/commercialsupport INVENTORY OPTIMIZATION & LOGISTICS are both long and lean, meaning parts of alternative sources of supply. Spaf- clustered in one region, he adds, which are manufactured or stocked thou- ford urges clients to pursue several could put it at peril from natural disas- sands of miles from where they may strategies to expand their sources of ter. Auto manufacturers learned that be needed. “The thing that can be eas- supply. For instance, a maintenance lesson following the 2011 earthquake ily and affordably shipped on an ocean organization may establish partner- and tsunami in Japan. freighter is exponentially more ex- ships with surplus or teardown pro- •Bring the risk in-house. If there is pensive as airfreight,” says Sawchuk. viders, similar to the approach taken only one source of supply, an OEM or “There are also import and export by European Air Transport. He also MRO may consider investing in or buy- regulatory-compliance factors that believes carriers and MROs should ing that supplier to insure their viabil- can slow down the movement of parts selectively support manufacturers of ity. “I’ve seen organizations vertically at critical times.” approved parts. “I’m not suggesting integrate a critical supplier into their As the industry looks more deeply turbine blades or engines,” he says. business to reduce their risk,” says at risk management, there are a num- “But there are parts where this is a Sawchuk. “We have also seen instanc- ber of ways to address the issue. “You sound strategy.” es where a company has invested in a can’t eliminate risk,” says Sawchuk. Finally, large carriers with lever- competitor to insure a second source “So you have to prioritize what it is age can form joint buying consortia as of supply.” you want to protect and where to fo- new aircraft types are introduced and Companies taking such steps will cus your energy.” require dual sources of supply when have more smoothly running opera- possible. tions and experience less down time. BEST PRACTICES •Do not put all of your eggs in one The key is understanding the risk that For many organizations, the starting basket. Just as FedEx is deploying its is most important to your organiza- point for a risk-management initiative inventory around the globe, OEMs, tion. “A lot of folks start in the middle is a cost-versus-risk trade-off assess- airlines and MROs should urge manu- without understanding what their ment. Risk cannot be eliminated, but facturers with more than one plant to supply chain is all about,” says Saw- it can be mitigated. One common ap- manufacture in at least two locations. chuk. “That’s why I urge them to go proach, says Sawchuk, is to determine “That way, you mitigate the risk of los- back to the beginning and understand how much revenue is at risk as a result ing supply when a plant goes down,” what is it they are trying to protect. of the part or action being assessed. says Sawchuk. Many organizations for- You want to build capabilities that For example, if a part goes into get that parts production tends to be align with your business.” c some but not all aircraft, a percentage of revenue is at risk if that part is not available. “Over time, they may determine that 20% of revenue is at high risk, 30% is at medium risk and IDENTIFYING KEY RISKS 50% is at low risk,” Sawchuk says. “They will then look at strategies to shift the 20% of revenue at high risk hen Northern European and North Atlantic air traffic came to halt in 2010 to a medium risk.” Wfollowing the eruption of the Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajokull, Air France In- There are a variety of steps airlines dustries KLM Engineering and Maintenance (AFI KLM E&M) continued to serve its and MROs can take to mitigate those customers by shipping parts and components from its operations in Miami and Kuala risks, according to Spafford and Saw- Lumpur. This is one example of the risk-management initiative supporting its supply chuk. Some of these are: chain operations, say Benjamin Moreau and Harmen Lanser, members of the compo- •Hedge positions on commodities. Many airlines hedge their fuel costs to nent services team. protect themselves from unexpected While there are number of things that can go wrong, AFI KLM E&M has identified price spikes. Few, however, take a posi- five key risks to its supply chain: tion in commodities such as titanium •Blocked transportation channels. or other alloys that can have a huge im- •Unplanned disruptions to information-technology systems. pact on the price of components, such •World-wide shortages of materials and components. as turbine blades and brakes. Suppliers that are unable to deliver as promised. “When you consider that an airline • might buy $30 million worth of brakes •Unreliable, unpredictable customer returns of unserviceable parts and components. and $100 million worth of turbine Failing to deal with these can lead to a high variation in the removal profile of parts and blades, hedging might be a wise thing components, poor performance of some OEMs in providing piece-parts under reasonable to do,” Spafford says. He also urges or- lead times, components aging faster than expected, and lead-time and quality issues ganizations to include escalation caps such as problems with customs clearance or defective and possibly dangerous parts. on the prices of important commodi- According to Moreau and Lanser, each risk requires a specific management plan. For ties in their contracts. “Create an index instance, AFI KLM E&M has installed twin IT systems and fallback procedures if a sys- of the 18 most important commodities to the parts you are purchasing and tem goes down. It has also developed alternative transportation channels, spread ware- put an escalation cap of 2.5 percent a houses over the globe and developed a collaborative network with alternative suppliers year in the contract,” Spafford says. for critical parts. When one source is failing, AFI KLM E&M has global inventory and •Selectively support the development sourcing solutions that can provide available parts and a transportation solution. c

MRO12 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY MRO EDITION DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/mro $*OREDO6XSSRUW DQG7UDLQLQJ1HWZRUN

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Washington While the issue sounds like mere dif- “According to FAA representatives ferences of opinion or interpretation, at both the regional and district office Consistency it has stark business ramifications, levels, these cessations in certifications Sought as many certificate holders know all were due in part to ongoing budget is- too well. In one case, a change at FAA sues and sequestration, coupled with An FAA rulemaking advisory commit- moved a repair station’s oversight from the need to maintain safety oversight of tee’s recommendations on improving one region to another. Even though the existing operators,” Guzzetti explained. the consistency of rules interpretations repair station was not changing any- The budgetary factors merely add is starting bear fruit in a much-needed thing, officials in the new region de- to systemic challenges, including FAA’s area: the guidance behind regulations. cided to reexamine a key manual. The long-standing first-come, first-served Dorenda Baker, FAA’s director of new region’s inspectors found scores of sequencing plan. “As a result, many ap- Aircraft Certification Services, says issues and ordered the manual—which plicants may be significantly delayed if the agency is tackling the committee’s had been accepted as-is by the previous more complex certifications are ahead most pressing recommendations: con- region’s inspectors—reworked. The in- of them,” Guzzetti says. ducting a review of existing guidance cident cost the repair station hundreds FAA issued new proposed sequenc- to eliminate duplicative, conflicting or of thousands of dollars. ing guidance earlier this year and ex- irrelevant guidance; and ensuring the FAA has indicated that consolidat- pects to have the new process in place rest is available in an electronic data- ing guidance could be problematic due sometime in 2014. base. to resource challenges, presumably re- —Sean Broderick “This process will address a signifi- ferring to sequestration-related cuts. cant concern on the part of industry in- “While the FAA is pleased with the volving ad hoc usage of guidance docu- ARC’s recommendations, implementa- Europe ments issued to address a specific and tion of these proposals will have to be narrow set of circumstances,” Baker balanced with other important FAA Out of the Haze told the House aviation subcommittee activities, including other existing A U.K. Aviation Accidents Investiga- at an Oct. 30 hearing. rulemaking initiatives, agency priori- tion Branch (AAIB) call to have Boeing The agency plans to have the review ties, current projects, and its overall 777 interior lighting crashworthiness done “by the end of the year.” Guidance safety agenda,” the agency wrote in its improved has been rejected by the U.S. that still applies and isn’t available November 2012 report to Congress up- FAA, but Boeing addressed the matter digitally will be “integrated into one of dating its progress. “The scope of the well before an accident brought the is- our existing electronic systems,” Baker effort raises concern due to potential sue to light, AAIB’s latest annual safety says, seemingly tabling—for now, at costs and resource constraints.” report reveals. least—revamping the online interface. AAIB’s recommendation to its U.S. The guidance review is part of a counterpart stemmed from the probe of broader effort to develop consistent Log Jam the January 2008 crash of a British Air- regulatory interpretations. Long a A recent report from the U.S. Trans- ways 777 at London Heathrow Airport. thorn in industry’s side, the issue portation Department’s Inspector Investigators learned that some passen- gained visibility when Congress, via General sheds some light on the im- gers reported a “fog” in the cabin soon FAA Modernization and Reform Act pact of sequestration on FAA’s certifi- after the plane crash-landed short of its of 2012, required FAA to figure out why cation efforts and related delays. intended runway, and determined that regulations are not consistently inter- Top FAA executives have said a hir- the haze was mercury vapor released preted, and come up with remedies. ing freeze put in place late last year has when some of the plane’s indirect light- FAA formed a rulemaking advisory forced the agency’ s Aviation Safety ing system bulbs broke in the crash. committee (ARC), which returned (AVS) branch to allocate more of its The 777’s indirect lighting uses tu- six recommendations in a November limited resources to immediate safety bular florescent bulbs. AAIB says the 2012 report. The primary ones: link issues. The loser has been certifica- bulbs contain mercury vapor that “may all guidance, including advisory cir- tion projects that are either resource- present a hazard when broken.” Broken culars, handbooks, Office of the Chief intensive or simply new. glass from the bulbs also presented a Counsel opinions and other legal inter- Speaking to lawmakers during the possible hazard to passengers. pretations, to specific regulations; and Oct. 30 hearing, DOT Assistant In- AAIB’s findings led it to recommend make the entire library available in a spector General for Aviation Audits Jeff that FAA order Boeing to modify the “master” electronic database. Guzzetti said FAA’s certification back- 777’s indirect lighting design. FAA de- “When a regulation is unclear, its log for new operator certificates topped termined that the risk of broken bulbs application varies from one inspec- 1,000, including 415 for repair stations impeding an evacuation “would be ex- tor to another and compliance differs and 358 for Part 135 carriers. Guzzetti tremely low,” AAIB says in its report. among certificate holders,” the com- says regularly shifting priorities has led FAA noted that despite no evidence mittee explained in its final report. to several major back-ups, including a of an unsafe condition, Boeing upgrad- “Over time, better analytical tools, June 2013 requirement that “all certified the lighting systems a decade ago, new technologies and best practices cations, new and in progress,” required starting with line no. 454. The British change compliance techniques, cre- sign-off at the FAA headquarters level Airways 777 was line No. 342. ating further ambiguity.” to receive resources. —Sean Broderick

MRO14 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY MRO EDITION DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/mro Engineering Castings Machining Coatings Repairs

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Long live your engine. For more information visit chromalloy.com MRO LINKS Best of MRO Links 2013 he following companies’ products and cess more information about the following, go to services in MRO Links garnered the AviationWeek.com/mrolinks and enter the T most interest from the industry. To ac- link number.

reversers, nacelles and flight controls, as well as offering a spares pool 1. Commercial Aerospace Solutions for lease, exchange and sale. Company: AAR www.worthingtonav.com Corp. Link 604 Services: AAR provides heavy 6. A320 Landing Gear Harness Repair maintenance Company: Harco checks, Services: For more than 60 years, Harco has been servicing both OEM modifications, and aftermarket repair-overhaul and replacement offerings—including component replacement hardware for the entire aircraft. repair, landing www.harcolabs.com gear overhaul and engineering services to support airline and government fleets. Link 605 www.aarcorp.com 7. “We Buy Engine Parts” Link 600 Company: Quest Alloys & Metals 2. Powerful, Precision Bolting Services: Quest integrates the supply chain between MROs and metal shops, facilitating the sourcing, identification and sorting of cast parts. Company: Advanced Torque Products www.questmetal.com Services: This veteran-owned company supplies high-precision Link 606 mechanical torque wrenches and multipliers that are lightweight, all mechanical and digitally controlled. 8. FAA-Certified 145 Repair Station www.advancedtorque.com Link 601 Company: Kalitta Maintenance Services: A complex of hangars, engine shops, test cell and back-shop 3. The Interior Specialists facilities allows Kalitta to perform heavy checks and major repairs. It also offers component repair and on-site support. Company: Airworthy Aerospace www.kalittaair.com Services: Airworthy specializes in the manufacture, repair and overhaul Link 607 of passenger and crew seats, thermal form plastics, sidewalls, carpets and more. 9. RB211-535 & Trent 800 Repairs www.airworthy.aero Link 602 Company: Texas Aero Engine Services (Taesl) Services: Taesl offers customer-oriented repair, overhaul and test solu- 4. Engine Overhaul & Replacement tions for the RB211 and Trent 800 engines in a state-of-the-art facility. www.taesl.com Company: Timken Aerospace Link 608 Services: Timken offers new replacement parts, helicopter drive-train component overhauls, bearing repair and engine overhaul. 10. Airbus Hardware, Consumables & Spares www.timken.com/mro Company: A.J. Levin Co. Link 603 Services: A.J. Levin is a specialty distributor of Airbus European- standard hardware and consumable material, including 25,000 lines in 5. V2500-A5 Thrust Reversers stock and AOG, consignment and kitting. Company: Worthington MRO Center www.ajlevin.com Services: This MRO in Tulsa, Okla., repairs and overhauls thrust Link 609

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MRO16 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY MRO EDITION DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/mro MRO LINKS SPOTLIGHTS MRO Events Featured Companies, Products & Services Events that will Change your MRO Business Forever! The MRO event series is the largest series dedicated to the aviation maintenance industry, addressing key issues of business and technology strategies in the maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) market. Bringing in not only key airline personnel but the “buyers” as well, these events focus on process improvements and information technology. Be a part of the MRO community, network with your peers, explore our unmatched exhibition halls, and achieve results!

All new event focusing on South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean! January 21-22, 2014 February 5-6, 2014 April 8-10, 2014 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Dubai, UAE Phoenix AZ

Locate reliable manufacturers, suppliers, and service providers at Aviation Week’s MRO Event Series! Visit www.aviationweek.com/events for more information including complete exhibitor listings and MRO Links participants. To advertise in MRO Links, contact Beth Eddy at 561-862-0005, or [email protected].

AIRPORT EQUIPMENT & SERVICES AVIONICS

THE PF FISHPOLE HOIST- CRT/LCD Display,TCAS, Mode “S” The industry standard and NAV/COMM Sales & Service

The PF Fishpole Hoist is an air carrier An authorized FAA/EASA certiﬁed standard for single attach point, repair station specializing new equipment handling hoists. Permitting generation and legacy avionics. EFIS precise installation and removal of Systems, both CRT and LCD Primary aircraft components, typical applications Flight / MFD displays, TCAS, Mode include installation and removal of S, including Bendix/King, Honeywell, A.P.U’s., ﬂap actuators and hundreds of Collins, Thales, and many more. other applications.

PF Fishpole Hoists, Inc. Millennium International www.pfﬁshpolehoists.com Link 813 www.avionics411.com Link 514

AVIONICS CHEMICALS

Ontic Extended Life Solutions Specialty Chemicals for the Aerospace Industry Ontic supports OEMs by taking complete responsibility Ellsworth Adhesives is a distributor for their non-core & legacy of Henkel EA934NA, ideal for the products, under license or Aerospace Industry; used in potting, acquisition, allowing the OEM structural bonding/repair, high to focus on their current temperature assembly and shim and future programs. Ontic applications. Ellsworth Adhesives is an supports Goodrich, Hamilton ISO 9001:2008 EN/AS9120:2002 Sundstrand, Honeywell, GE Aviation, Eaton, distributor of specialty chemicals for the Curtiss-Wright, Moog and many others. Aerospace Industry.

Ontic Ellsworth Adhesives www.ontic.com Link 812 www.ellsworth.com/markets/aerospace-military/ Link 807

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AviationWeek.com/mro AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY MRO EDITION DECEMBER 9, 2013 MRO17 MRO LINKS SPOTLIGHTS

CHEMICALS COATINGS

Aviation Chemicals & Consumables Erosion and Corrosion Resistant Coatings

NetMRO-Haas Group OEM certiﬁed BlackGold® sets a International is the world’s new standard in erosion and corrosion leading aerospace protection for gas turbine compres- chemical distributor & sor parts. Built on the success of the supply chain management award winning ER-7TM coating which company. We proudly has operated successfully for 20 years support global airlines, and saved customers over $100M per OEM’s, MRO’s, & de- year in MRO, part replacement and fense departments with adhesives, sealants, coatings, fuel costs. lubricants, tape, composite materials, & chemicals.

NetMRO Haas MDS Coating www.netmro.com Link 358 www.mdscoating.com Link 355

COMPONENT REPAIR COMPONENT REPAIR

THE MECHANICS OF FLIGHT Your Nacelle Program Specialists AeroWorx provides pneumatic, hydraulic, electromechanical and Exchange & overhaul support fuel-system repair and overhaul for complete thrust reverser services for over 50 aircraft types. systems, including actuation. We provide parts and service for Accessory capability includes commercial fleets, regional & charter hydraulic, pneumatic, power fleets, business, private and military gen, electro-mech, and electronics. Limited airframe aircraft. capability includes cockpit windows. Certifications include FAA, EASA, CAAC, ANAC and more.

AeroWorx GA Telesis www.aero-worx.com Link 526 www.gatelesis.com Link 111

COMPONENT REPAIR COMPONENT REPAIR

Overhaul and Repair Specialized Repairs for Serious Components

L&S is a leader in the repair and Med-Craft, a leader in overhaul of rigid tubes, manifolds, Aerospace Component ducts, and flexible hose assemblies repairs, now offers used in the aerospace industry. We DER repairs for Airbus hold FAA, EASA, and CAAC repair A319/320/321 and Boeing station certifications. As a Part 145 737NG/767/777 vacuum Repair source, we have the total blowers and toilet systems. after-market solution for flexible and We also provide repair rigid assemblies. solutions for Hydraulic, Pneumatics, & Electronic components with unsurpassed reliability in our ultramodern facility.

Lewis & Saunders Med-Craft, Inc. www.lewisandsaunders.com Link 297 www.med-craft.com Link 809

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MRO18 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY MRO EDITION DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/mro ADVERTISING SECTION

COMPONENT REPAIR COMPONENT REPAIR

Welded Bellows Products Repairs and Spares Aircraft Structural Repair Specialist

Senior Aerospace Metal T-Aerospace is a women owned/ Bellows FAA/EASA certiﬁed operated company comprised repair station offers a full of a professional staff. We range of repairs primarily are driven by our mission of focused on edge welded positively impacting our industry. metal bellows assemblies. The staff strives to be the best These include potable at what we do; which is to keep water system compressors, your aircraft safely in the air with bellows seals and oil pressure quality repairs you can depend on. sensors.

Senior Aerospace Metal Bellows T-Aerospace LLC www.metalbellows.com Link 815 www.taerospace.com Link 733

COMPOSITES CONSULTING SERVICES

BASF Aerospace Materials Dynamic Component Repair, PMA and Overhaul Solutions

Aerospace materials from BASF For over 27 years, Able include a broad portfolio of products Aerospace Services has been and technologies that can provide an industry-leading provider of unique solutions across a wide range safe and cost-saving, quality of applications — cabin interiors, dynamic component repair, structural materials, seating PMA and overhaul solutions components, fuel and lubricant to aircraft operators. Able solutions, coatings & specialty is FAA/EASA-approved, pigments, as well as ﬂame retardants registered to ISO 9001-2000 and meets & ﬁre protection. Boeing’s AS-9100 quality standards.

BASF Able Aerospace Services www.aerospace.basf.com Link 316 www.ableengineering.com Link 008

ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

Eaton’s New PICB Panel: A320 Landing Gear Harness Repair Lighter, Smaller, Cooler Servicing both OEM & Aftermarket Eaton’s new plug-in circuit breaker with repair, overhaul & replace- panel represents a breakthrough in ment. Capabilities include repair or aircraft circuit protection. Designed replacement hardware for the entire to replace bulky conventional aircraft, from engine and airframe panels, Eaton’s customizable to APU, landing gear, ECS and all design offers significant weight and subsystems. Specializing in Harness space savings, flexible configurations, Assemblies & Temperature Sensors. enhanced thermal efficiency and higher reliability.

Eaton’s Aerospace Group Harco www.eaton.com/aerospace_picb Link 094 www.harcolabs.com Link 121

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AviationWeek.com/mro AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY MRO EDITION DECEMBER 9, 2013 MRO19 MRO LINKS SPOTLIGHTS

ENGINES ENGINES

Bonus Aerospace, your new PW4000 resource Tradewinds Engine Services, LLC

Bonus Aerospace offers Tradewinds Engine Services full PW4000 MRO sells commercial jet engine services in addition to parts and is engaged in existing JT8D capabilities. engine leasing and trading. Bonus Tech is still your We have 25K+ parts primar- preferred option for ily consisting of CFM56- engines tear down. Check 5/7, CF6-80, V2500 and our competitive pricing PW4000 engine types. We and the tremendous are ISO 9001:2008 compli- opportunities offered by the combination of a ﬂexible ant, and maintain certiﬁcation from the Aviation MRO and the tear down market Leader. Suppliers Association.

Bonus Aerospace, Inc. Quality Engine Parts www.bonusaerospace.com Link 803 www.tesllc.aero Link 327

GSE GSE

Ground Support Maintenance Equipment Innovators in American made Mobility Systems DAE manufactures engine transport stands, aircraft For over 90 years Darnell-Rose has maintenance docking been the innovator in engineering and systems, access stands, manufacturing of high quality casters, and Boeing tooling. DAE wheels, rubber bumpers, industrial engineering provides truck couplers, and conveyor systems. concept and design services. DAE is a customer Our products are used worldwide sensitive company providing a quality product, by customers spanning the aviation, competitive pricing and renowned customer service. automotive, and general material handling industries.

DAE Industries Darnell-Rose www.DAEIND.com Link 805 www.casters.com Link 806

INFLATABLES INTERIORS

Aviation Inﬂatables, Where Experience Meets Innovation Aircraft Carpet Fabrication

Aviation Inflatables is a As master fabricators, Ser-Mat uses FAA/EASA Repair Station, state-of-the-art, automated cutting Parts Distributor, & PMA machines & software that have been Manufacturer that specializes specifically designed & developed for in emergency evacuation cutting carpet – allowing us to identify equipment. Our competitive and nest parts in the most efficient way advantage allows us to greatly possible, minimizing costly waste. reduce cost & turnaround times, as well as offer customized exchange & maintenance programs.

Aviation Inﬂatables, Inc. Ser-Mat International, LLC www.av-inﬂatables.com Link 249 www.sermat.aero Link 731

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MRO20 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY MRO EDITION DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/mro ADVERTISING SECTION

LANDING GEAR, WHEELS, BRAKES LANDING GEAR, WHEELS, BRAKES

Landing Gear Overhaul/ Specialty Copper Alloys For Repair/ Exchange The Aerospace Industry

Landing Gear Technologies, National Bronze & Metals, Inc. is the LLC is an independent Leading USA Manufacturer & Master landing gear overhaul and Distributor specializing in Brass, repair organization with a Bronze, and Copper Alloys. We have reputation for unmatched brought together a range of Bronze service. In addition to this & Copper Alloys for the Aerospace LGT boasts an extensive landing gear asset base, making Industry. Our inventory includes AMS it possible for us to support your ﬂeet. 4880, AMS 4640, AMS 4881, AMS 4590 and many more.

Landing Gear Technologies, LLC National Bronze & Metals www.landinggeartech.com Link 415 www.nbmmetals.com Link 158

MATERIALS MRO SERVICES

Accredited Material Testing “We are Quality” for Metal & Composites Elite Aerospace is recognized Accutek is an ISO and Nadcap around the world as a leader accredited mechanical testing laboratory, in the repair and overhaul of specializing in static, fatigue, and commercial & regional aircraft fracture mechanics for aluminum and equipment. We are dedicated other metals, as well as static/dynamic to providing comprehensive tension, compression, and shear support for customer testing for composite materials. High/ requirements, paying close low temperature conditions are also attention to workmanship, available. turn-time, quality and overall customer satisfaction.

Accutek Testing Laboratory Elite Aerospace www.accutektesting.com Link 802 www.eliteaerospace.com Link 096

MRO SERVICES MRO SERVICES

Supplier and Repair Station ABOVE & BEYOND Of Choice Our facilities in Kelowna, BC, and Allflight Washington (FAA # PK3R654Y) Hamilton, ON, are recognized and Allflight Florida (FAA # 8A9R791B) industry-wide for their quality, skills are strategically located to service your and on-time delivery. Services include repair needs. With a core product line Heavy Maintenance Checks; Structural focused on Flight surface control, Inspection, Repair & Modifications; interior products, and windshields, we Avionic Modifications; Engineering; carry over 1.68 million line items of Painting; Parts Manufacturing; NDT; inventory for exchange, loan, sales and Overhaul of Landing Gear & Engines. lease requirements.

Infinity Air, Inc. / Allflight Corp Kelowna Flightcraft Ltd www.infinityair.com Link 547 www.flightcraft.ca Link 817

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AviationWeek.com/mro AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY MRO EDITION DECEMBER 9, 2013 MRO21 MRO LINKS SPOTLIGHTS

MRO SERVICES MRO SERVICES

Envision #1 Source for HSTA and THSA Repairs

Envision is a leading modular FAA Repair Station with 50+ years experience software solution for MROs, providing top-quality repair & overhaul services CAMOs and Operators around for all Boeing Commercial HSTAs, Flap Ball the globe. Highly conﬁgurable Screws, Transmissions, & other Chapter 27 with proven integrations to ﬂight controls. At MRO, we are introducing the likes of SAP, Envision is a repair & overhaul services for Airbus THSAs true multi-site, multi-company on A318/A319/A320 & A321 aircraft. business solution. With in-house development, training and installations, let us help.

Rusada Software Skytronics, Inc. www.rusada.com/mro-aviation-software/ Link 814 www.skytronicsinc.com Link 425

MRO SERVICES MRO SERVICES

Turbine Engine Electronic Turning Tools Ballscrews for all types of Airline linear applications including OE and Aftermarket Sweeney tools have been an turbine industry Umbra Cuscinetti is an standard for 50 years to OEM providor of linear turn engines accurately motion ballscrews and rotary during bore scope actuators. Umbra is the inspections. They are leading OEM supplier to all the speciﬁed choice of airfame manufactures for Flap many OEMs, airlines and MRO’s. The 189DTT and Stabilizer ballscrews. is dependable, accurate & economical. It comes Umbra maintains repair complete with all engine programs preloaded and stations that are FAA, EASA and CAA approved in North the strongest torque available in the market. America and Central Europe. Sweeney a Hydratight Brand Umbra Cuscinetti, Division of Umbra Group www.hydratight.com Link 816 www.Umbragroup.it Link 738

MRO SERVICES MRO SERVICES

Western Aero Repair, A Single Source MRO Supplier Repairs, Sales, and Exchanges

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MRO22 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY MRO EDITION DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/mro ADVERTISING SECTION

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MRO24 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY MRO EDITION DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/mro SPACE the grounds that the discipline would benefit from the nuclear-powered Cu- riosity rover for many years. This not only hampers international cooperation (AW&ST Nov. 25, p. 46), the start-and- stop approach also upsets the careful division of resources needed among different types of science, with potentially harmful results, the panel found. The NRC report cites loss of an entire generation of scientists and technical ability in the affected disciplines, along with erosion of national capabili- Blue Origin put its new BE-3 ties and leadership. It spotlights aero- engine through a suborbital sequence BLUE ORIGIN capture as an at-risk capability. at its Texas facility last month. That technique, which dips a vehicle approaching from Earth into a planet’s atmosphere to slow it enough to go into orbit, could be useful at Mars in the future. Yet the panel found NASA’s draft science plan did not link the proposed True Blue Mars 2020 mission—essentially a replay of the Curiosity-rover exploration using Blue Origin lifts the veil on its plans to fly as much hardware from that program as possible—to the decadal priorities suborbital, orbital human missions set by a survey of planetary scientists. At the same time, the Mars Atmo- Frank Morring, Jr. Washington and Guy Norris Los Angeles sphere and Volatile Evolution (Maven) mission (see illustration), launched lue Origin, the commercial space about the BE-3 Dec. 3 in a rare and Nov. 18, may hold a key to solving some company bankrolled by Amazon. unusually informative question-and- of the problems the NRC found NASA Bcom founder Jeff Bezos, plans to answer session with Rob Meyerson, has not addressed. That mission was begin unmanned orbital flight tests of president and program manager. organized and managed by Principal its biconic-shape human capsule in The 110,000-lb.-thrust rocket engine Investigator (PI) Bruce Jakosky of 2018. Ultimately, the company will use completed a mission-duty cycle test the University of Colorado. The NRC an orbital launch vehicle powered at at Blue Origin’s isolated West Texas panel faulted the draft science plan least in part by a clean-sheet cryogenic facility, simulating operations during for slighting the approach in mission engine it now has demonstrated can a manned suborbital flight of its New planning across NASA’s four space- support suborbital human spaceflight. Shepard composite capsule. science disciplines—astronomy and Initial flights of the seven-seat orbit- In the test, the engine ran for 145 astrophysics, planetary science, helio- al human vehicle—so far known only sec. at full throttle, then shut down physics and Earth Science. as “Space Vehicle”—are scheduled to for 4.5 min. to simulate the coasting “[S]mall-/medium-size PI-led mis- go on the Atlas V, which has also been phase that will take New Shepard out sions [have the potential] to provide a the choice of other companies vying of the atmosphere. This was followed steady stream of new science results at for a NASA contract to transport by a restart and throttle-down to the a time when the possibilities for imple- crews to the International Space Sta- 25,000-lb.-thrust level it will need to menting new large missions is severely tion. By then, Blue Origin also plans bring the reusable booster back to limited,” the panel states. to have “astronaut passengers” flying Earth for a tail-down landing while the So far Maven is on track to stay within suborbital missions in its New Shepard capsule parachutes home. its $671 million budget cap, an achieve- capsule as it builds toward a commer- “We have been focused on the sub- ment Jakosky attributes to his willing- cial operation that will provide subor- orbital mission as the starting point to ness to avoid “requirements creep” by bital and orbital human spaceflight to serve as practice for later development adding instruments and engineering a variety of private and government of our orbital launch system. That way, capabilities beyond what is needed for customers, including the Defense Ad- we intend to prove out underlying its focused mission to study the interac- vanced Research Projects Agency and technologies while building out a very tion of the Martian atmosphere and the other military organizations. small and innovative company capable Sun (AW&ST Aug. 26, p. 40). Longer term, though, Blue Origin of repeated successes,” Meyerson says. A NASA spokesman says the agency expects to use a launcher of its own de- Work building up to the full-cycle requested and respects NRC’s opin- sign for orbital human missions, with BE-3 test in November was conduct- ions and “will review their findings and at least the upper stage powered by a ed over nine months and included 160 recommendations over the next sev- variant of its BE-3 liquid-oxygen/liq- starts and 9,100 sec. of engine opera- eral weeks and revise the plan where uid-hydrogen rocket engine. The char- tion. “That equates to a test every two appropriate” before releasing the final acteristically secretive Kent, Wash.- days, and sometimes actually three or version in February. c based startup unveiled new details four tests per day,” says Meyerson.

AviationWeek.com/awst AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 29 SPACE

The work forms part of an unfund- give the higher performance and effi- over Texas. A vehicle powered by that ed extension of Blue Origin’s Com- ciency you need for that. But we are engine reached 45,000 ft. and Mach mercial Crew Development Round 2 also looking at other things we can do 1.2 before it was destroyed by range (CCDev-2) contract with NASA, and in terms of expendables and lower-cost safety officers when signs of flight in- builds on tests of the BE-3 thrust manufacturing,” he adds. stability were noted (AW&ST Sept. 12, chamber conducted under an earlier Still to be determined is the power- 2011, p. 39). funded phase of CCDev-2 at the space plant for the reusable first stage of the So far, the company has tested the agency’s Stennis Space Center in Mis- orbital vehicle. Meyerson says it could Space Vehicle’s biconic shape at Lock- sissippi in 2012. Those tests “allowed be a cluster of BE-3s, or something heed Martin’s high-speed wind tunnel us to accelerate the program by about entirely different. erformanceP drove facility in Dallas to validate computa- one year,” he adds. the decision to use hydrogen fuel in tional fluid dynamics models of its per- Since then, the company has worked formance. Meyerson notes that while with NASA under an unfunded Space there is nothing particularly unusual Act agreement that allows it to draw about the manufacturing techniques on the agency’s expertise and test fa- that go into the BE-3, computer mod- cilities. The next major milestones in- Blue Origin plans eling also played an important role in clude a review of the subscale propul- the engine’s development. sion tank assembly later this month, a fly-back vertical “One of the key things is the design and a full space vehicle subsystem landing first stage process we went through using com- interim design review in March 2014. for orbital missions. putational methods and our in-house Blue Origin is scheduled to present analytical techniques to come to a its final CCDev-2 briefing to NASA in turbopump design that worked, essen- May 2014. tially, out of the box,” he says. “I think The BE-3 was assembled at the that is unique.” Kent facility, largely from parts manu- Since its founding in 2000 with a factured there. The design is based on staff of 10, Meyerson says, Blue Ori- the combustion “tap-off” engine cycle, gin has grown to about 300 engineers sometimes known as the “topping cy- and other specialists, and ultimately cle” or chamber-bleed cycle, in which may hire another 100. Its website lists the combustion gases from around the openings in guidance, navigation and walls of the main chamber are bled-off, control, structural engineering, me- partially cooled and used to power the chanical systems design, fluid systems engine’s turbopumps. design, and avionics, among many oth- Blue Origin says the cycle, which er positions. produces a relatively high specific im- Meyerson declined to discuss pric- pulse, is simpler than options such as ing or specific schedules during his pre-burning staged-combustion, and teleconference with reporters, but is well suited to human spaceflight be- made clear Blue Origin has ambitious cause of its single combustion cham- commercial plans and is in it for the ber and “graceful” shutdown mode. long haul. The company is awaiting Despite the challenges of the cycle— a Government Accountability Office including potentially complex start-up BLUE ORIGIN decision in a dispute with competitor systems and high-temperature tur- SpaceX over use of Launch Complex bine-drive gases—Meyerson explains, the BE-3, he says, but the company’s 39A at Kennedy Space Center and has “It is different because it only uses the engineers have not ruled out a differ- a number of irons in the fire with po- one combustor, so it has a tendency to ent approach on the orbital first stage. tential government customers. shut down rather than feed the com- “We selected the BE-3 as our first “Over the next several years you are bustion process.” Although Rocketyne orbital launch vehicle engine because going to see us flying our New Shepard developed the experimental J-2S tap- it provides us with options to go with suborbital system in a development off variant of the Saturn V upper-stage an all-hydrogen architecture if we phase, and then starting to fly astro- J-2 engine in the 1960s, Meyerson says choose to,” he says. “We have ideas. naut passengers over the next several the BE-3 is the first engine of its type Some things are in development for years,” says Meyerson. developed to fly. other engines that we’re developing, “In parallel we’ll be developing our The company also is focusing on but we’re not ready to discuss those orbital space vehicle, with first flights development of modifications to adapt today. Those would provide other op- targeted for the 2018 timeframe. That the baseline engine to the expendable tions and other architectures.” will be developmental flights of our upper-stage BE-3U version. “We dem- Overall, Blue Origin has received orbital launch vehicle. [Now] we’re onstrated very high efficiencies on the $25.7 million from NASA for CCDev-1 developing this engine for our New core injector and that allows us to put and -2 work, of which only a small Shepard system and our orbital sys- on different nozzles, including a short portion went into the BE-3 engine, tem, but we think it has applicability to design for deep throttling for landing, according to Meyerson. The com- both government and other commer- and a large-expansion-ratio nozzle pany also developed a peroxide/kero- cial launch systems as well,” Meyerson design for the upper stage, which will sene BE-2 engine for early flight tests concludes. c

30 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/awst ASIAN TENSIONS

is the destabilizing aspect of the move, Building a Buffer says Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. Suspicious of the outside world, China will keep It is also reminiscent of the attempt at enlarging the meaning of the EEZ. trying to assert its rights over nearby waters Both steps are part of a strategy that Sydney University’s John Lee calls Bradley Perrett Beijing China’s salami-slicing—with each move, China seeks to take another slice of ast Asia and the U.S. had bet- will—China compel other countries to authority over nearby waters. Other ter get used to this sort of thing. fully recognize them? examples are progressive attempts at EChina’s heavy-handed declaration Airline compliance can be enforced enforcing the economic rights of the of an unusually demanding air defense administratively simply by withdraw- EEZ claim in the South China Sea. identification zone (ADIZ) is only one in ing landing rights, although there is no The East China Sea ADIZ “is a stra- a series of moves in which the country sign of that happening. If Beijing were tegically clever move because it has will gradually try to exert control over to not let Japanese airlines go to China, forced other countries to accept Chi- its maritime approaches. Worryingly, it Tokyo would surely respond likewise. na’s authority and gives a pretext to may also be an early example of China’s There then would be no direct air ser- escalate” in a future crisis, says Med- Communist Party contriving to raise in- vices between the world’s second- and calf. Crews of foreign airliners passing ternational tension as a means of rally- third-largest economies. through the zone but not on their way ing popular support at home. Attempts at enforcing the rules on to China are, in effect, doffing their caps at Beijing as they report flight plans and maintain the required radio contact. In the U.S. on Dec. 3, Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.), chairman of the House Armed Services seapower and pro- jection forces subcommittee, wrote to National Security Adviser Susan Rice asking the administration to reassess the FAA’s recommendation that U.S. airlines follow China’s new rules. “By advising U.S. airlines to comply with J-11s have been among the Chinese China’s ADIZ, the administration is le- fighters scrambled to identify foreign gitimizing Beijing’s attempt to subvert aircraft in the country’s new ADIZ. international airspace at the same time it is also, rightfully, condemning such a U.S. AIR FORCE move,” Forbes wrote. Just about everything encourages military flights would surely be danger- From the outside, China’s actions China to be more assertive in neighbor- ous. Chinese vessels sometimes collide look simply aggressive, especially when ing waters, from its mistrustful, some- with U.S. naval ships in China’s exclu- its forces take such action as illuminat- times hostile view of the outside world sive economic zone (EEZ), trying to en- ing Japanese warships with fire-control to its domestic politics, rising strength force a claimed right to exclude foreign radars. But from China’s point of view, and growing nationalism—and, not military activity. But threatening behav- controlling nearby waters creates a de- least, Japan’s refusal to face up to its ior in the air can have tragic results, as fensive buffer, says Li Mingjiang, a spe- atrocious pre-1945 behavior. shown in 2001 when a Chinese fighter cialist on Chinese foreign policy at Nan- Commercial air services are running pilot died after apparently flying too yang Technical University in Singapore. normally through the ADIZ, which cov- close to, and colliding with, a U.S. Navy The purported EEZ rights are key: If ers much of the East China Sea, includ- EP-3 Orion intelligence aircraft. China can get other countries to accept ing islands and a reef disputed by Chi- Most media attention given to Chi- its ownership of the many disputed is- na, Japan and South Korea. There is no na’s Nov. 23 declaration of the ADIZ lets, rocks and shoals stretching from disruption even of flights by Japanese has focused on ham-fisted Chinese di- near South Korea to near Indonesia, airlines, which are refusing to supply plomacy: ADIZs are common enough, and if it can enforce a rule that foreign the Chinese authorities with the de- but China made its declaration without warships and warplanes may enter the manded flight plans for the zone, while consultation while in a tense confron- resulting enormous EEZ only with its other countries’ commercial carriers tation with Japan over waters that the permission, then it will feel a lot safer. cooperate. U.S., Japanese and South zone covered. (The zone also covers a The buffer is not yet built, so the salami- Korean military flights, however, have reef disputed by China and South Ko- slicing will continue until it is, or until ignored Beijing’s demands. rea, which now plans to extend its own China is somehow persuaded to stop. “From now it is a question of enforce- ADIZ.) But in one respect the Chinese But why should China feel that it ment,” says Rory Medcalf, a specialist ADIZ is more proprietorial than is usual needs such a colossal security buffer? on Asian maritime security at the Lowy for such a zone: It demands flight plans After all, other countries do not feel a Institute, a think tank in Sydney. Hav- for all aircraft entering it, regardless of need to keep foreign forces at a distance ing now asserted its rights, how—or whether they are flying to China. That of hundreds of kilometers. The answer

AviationWeek.com/awst AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 31 ASIAN TENSIONS is that China still has the “us-and-them” what the British military historian Max preserve the independence of Taiwan mentality familiar in the West before Hastings has called Japan’s “collective (effectively, the biggest disputed is- World War I. “China perceives itself and rejection of historical fact,” the millions land), and back Japan and Southeast is probably perceived by the West as an of deaths it caused in 1937-45, mostly Asian countries against Chinese ter- outsider in the international system,” in China. It would be as if Russia were ritorial bullying. says Li. The country has few real friends expected to live with a Germany unre- Domestic politics may be playing a except Pakistan and North Korea, the pentant for its wartime atrocities and part in the current dispute—or they latter also part of its strategic buffer. Or- remembering little about them. may next time. China’s foreign policy dinary Chinese speak quite easily of the Li points out that China sees its buf- is tough not just because authoritar- possibility of war, especially with Japan. fer being resisted, and its security un- ian rulers like it that way. The Chinese Many of them are also confused by dermined, every time the U.S. works to people, pumped up on partly manufac- the willingness of the West to tolerate bring down the North Korean regime, tured nationalism, generally want their

MATERIALS of the strongest carbon fiber is also used in civil aircraft. The Chinese in- Tensile Strength dustry is presumably looking to the proposed C929 widebody aircraft that China, making strong carbon fiber, plans Comac wants to build as a follow-on to the C919. And beyond that, it likely has more capacity and even higher-quality product ambitions to supply the global market, as evidenced by Jiangsu Hangke’s Bradley Perrett Beijing willingness to discuss the properties of its materials at an open conference. he world’s strongest carbon fiber The new carbon-fiber plant of Jiang- Jiangsu Hangke appears to be associ- is Toray Industries’ T100G, says su Hangke Composite Materials Tech- ated with the government’s Chinese Tthe Japanese manufacturer. Now nology has a capacity of 50 metric tons Academy of Sciences. China, denied access even to lower of T800 carbon fiber a year, plus 100 Comac has chosen only foreign car- grades from foreign suppliers, is work- tons of T700, the company says. A plant bon fiber for the C919. But the Chinese ing on matching it. with a capacity of 1,000 tons of T800 a industry has not missed out on large China makes a limited volume of year is coming online, with capacity for sales in that program, because the air- T800—a lower-grade but still very 50 tons a year of M55J carbon fiber. The craft will use carbon fiber only in its tail strong fiber that it cannot buy from country will also work on the T1000 and and secondary structures. Until this Western countries and Japan—and M60J, which is another higher grade, year, the C919 was supposed to have plans are afoot to build a plant with 20 Jiangsu Hangke says, giving no dates. a composite center wingbox, but the times the current capacity. These ad- The “T” numbers approximately manufacturer switched to aluminum. vances could improve the performance indicate the strength of the fibers, The reasons for the switch were of Chinese military aircraft and, eventu- which are impregnated with resin partly economic but mostly technical, ally, bring China into the global market and then baked to create carbon-fiber- Comac says. “Mainly, it was related to for aerospace materials, in which it has reinforced plastic—composite. Toray the level of difficulty of certain tech- so far had negligible presence. describes its T1000G as “the world’s nologies and, in the end, the problems The Chinese T800 grade will cost highest-tensile-strength carbon fiber,” were in two areas,” says a company only 1,600 yuan ($262) per kilogram, with a rating of 6,370 megapascals official. “One was thermal conduction; compared with the 4,200 -yuan-per- (9,239 psi). Jiangsu Hangke says its some places [in the structure] were kilogram cost of the established and T800 has a tensile strength of 5,709 hot, and the composite material, which much inferior local product, T300, the megapascals, while Toray rates its we chose initially, could not cope with plant operator told the China Aeronau- T800S fiber at 5,880 megapascals. The that.” The other problem was dealing tical Materials and Manufacturing advantages to China in using its T800 with electricity in the structure, wheth- Equipment Summit, organized by Gal- in military aircraft are obvious from er static or from lightning. leon, in Beijing last week. It is unclear the relatively modest 3,530-megapas- “We have not stopped researching whether it is referring to output from cal strength of Toray’s T300, which has composite center wings,” says the of- its present facilities or the larger plant. been made for about three decades. ficial, referring to the C929. “We will National aeronautics group Avic has The U.S. and its allies do not export continue this effort.” meanwhile described its development T800 carbon fiber to China, in order to Avic has made engineering samples work on composite aircraft structures prevent its use in military aircraft there. of 12-meter (40-ft.) wing panels, says in preparation for the proposed Comac In May, a Chinese man pleaded guilty an official of that group’s First Aircraft C929 widebody airliner. Technical chal- in a U.S. court to trying to take Toray Institute, a design bureau. One piece, lenges forced the abandonment of plans T800 from the U.S. to China. apparently an upper panel, was cured to build a composite center wingbox for China is surely considering more at only 120C (248F) under “vacuum its C919 narrowbody, Comac said at the than military applications for its im- pressure,” reducing costs, says an summit. proved carbon fibers, however. Some official. Another piece, apparently a

32 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/awst country to throw its weight around even easier to share grievances over every- their domestic program in China.” more. Any sign of weakness in foreign thing from pollution to corruption and, This heightens the danger. First, affairs attracts widespread criticism. coming soon, likely disruptive economic there is a clear temptation to create a For years it has been commonly said reforms planned by the new adminis- crisis, and that temptation will rise if that the party relies on fast economic tration of President Xi Jinping. and when the party’s position weakens. growth and nationalism to stay in pow- “It is quite difficult for the Chinese Second, if China takes a step too far in er. That has raised concern about what government even to appear to be setting up its buffer, it may be unable to the rulers may do to heighten national- weak,” says Li. “And the new leader- step back. c ism when the economy slows—which ship understands the usefulness of us- it is doing now. At the same time, the ing external crises to unite the domes- With Michael Bruno and Michael Fabey in party is under pressure from a populace tic population to position themselves Washington and Adrian Schoﬁeld in Wel- that, thanks to the Internet, ﬁnds it ever politically to push for reforms and lington, New Zealand.

a leading researcher in the ﬁeld. More than 4,000 articles have been made for

JIANGSU HANGRE JIANGSU 360 types of parts. “China began work on ceramic matrix composites in the 1990s, several decades after other countries,” the Chinese researcher tells Avia- tion Week. “We are still behind North America and Europe, and in some areas we have been unable to catch up. In [development of] materials, we have been catching up faster. “But we are far behind in applying and using the technology,” she says. Chinese production of T800 grade carbon fiber is so far only modest. “Without thorough testing and verifi- cation, we cannot believe the charac- lower panel, was formed with integral will be composite. There does not seem teristics” determined in the laboratory. stringers that were cured separately to be a plan to build a composite fuse- “In some areas, we have surpassed before attachment. lage for the C929, development of which [foreign researchers], but in applica- The conference also saw photos of a has not been launched. tions we are backward.” International composite aileron made with vacuum- China’s state companies are not yet experience shows that the cooperation assisted resin injection and a rudder supplying aerospace aluminum to the of industry, universities and research component made using resin-transfer global market, although they make the institutes is key to success, she adds. molding. Process improvements have material for Chinese military aircraft A CMC manufacturing technology reduced the designing time for large and civil aircraft whose certification is national engineering center was ap- parts to 2-3 months, from 6-8. not recognized by developed countries. proved this year as a base for promot- Shanghai-based Comac says its larg- That, too, is about to change, however. ing the industry. Two projects, one est autoclave has dimensions of 21 X 5.5 Airbus is working to qualify metal applicable to aero-engines and one for meters (70 X 18 ft.) but in Beijing, Avic from the government’s Southwest Alu- brakes, have been given the go-ahead. has one of 30 X 7 meters. Mitsubishi minum. The material will be conven- Among the work discussed at the con- Heavy Industries makes Boeing 787 tional aerospace-grade aluminum, not ference, a CMC afterburner inner cone outer wings in 40-meter autoclaves. the more recent advanced aluminums was tested for 24 hr. A problem in the Composite manufacturing is prob- or aluminum-lithium, says Antoine connection structure was found but ably profitable to the Chinese state Gaugler, Airbus’s purchasing manager fixed. This effort appears to have been firms, because civil aircraft are not for Asia. Aleris, a U.S. company, has judged a success, since the researcher their only market, says an industry of- set up a plant to make conventional says it “laid a foundation” for engine ficial. Chinese military orders are con- aerospace aluminum in eastern China development. tracted at cost plus an agreed profit, at Zhenjiang (AW&ST May 27, p. 37). The Northwestern Polytechnical explaining why the suppliers can make China is also working on ceramic University at Xian has tested engine money. There is little manufacturing of matrix composite (CMC) but lacks nozzle parts between ambient temper- composites for Chinese civil aircraft: practical applications of such material, ature and 820C. In one test, the nozzle Comac’s first one, the ARJ21 regional which remains stable at temperatures of a Klimov RD-33 engine was tested jet, has only 1.5% composite content. that defeat even the best metals used at pressures of 0.28 megapascals, a Jiangsu Hangke expects the C929 to in aircraft engines. Apart from work speed of Mach 1.5, and 1,047C. This reach 25% composite content. Another on parts for turbine engines, Chinese test proved the that higher operational official makes a similar prediction for engineers have been applying CMC to temperature was possible, along with the widebody and adds that its wing ramjets and telemetry systems, says a saving in cooling air. c

AviationWeek.com/awst AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 33 DEFENSE

ron as well as a helicopter squadron. Saltire Desires Increasing the ﬂeet of Typhoons to 16 would “enable Scotland to contribute to alliance operations overseas,” officials Some U.K. Euroﬁghters could end up sporting the Saltire if Scots say “yes” to independence next year.

state. Flight training would be conducted “through joint arrangements with allies,” the document says, and a Scottish air arm of 2,000 regular personnel and 300 reserves would be formed.

TONY OSBORNE/AW&ST Scotland would aim to remain part of NATO’s integrated air command- and-control system, initially through agreement with allies to maintain the current arrangements until it establishes its own personnel and facility, within five years of independence. Could an independent Scotland realistically A Scottish government would also focus its attention on rebuilding mari- muster its own defense capabilities? time capability, including the rapid reestablishment of an airborne mari- Tony Osborne London time patrol. “A detailed specification of requirements will be developed as ondon has held the responsibility the 2010 Strategic Defense and Secu- a priority, and final numbers of aircraft for the defense of the British Isles rity Review. The future of the capabil- required will depend on this,” the white Lsince the Act of Union in 1707, but ity is unclear. paper states. “However, the numbers if Scots opt for independence on Sept. Despite concerns that a Scottish maintained by comparable nations 18, 2014, that will come to an end, and government would call for the Trident suggests a potential fleet of four.” Scotland will assume responsibility for missiles to be removed from Scotland Independent cyberwarfare and its own defense. starting in 2016—which could force counterterrorism capabilities would The Scottish National Party (SNP) the U.K. to unilaterally disarm, as have to be developed, as well. has published a white paper that out- there is no alternative place to house Officials say they are comfortable lines Scotland’s independent armed the submarines—the SNP says the re- and confident in engaging with NATO, forces as well as its membership in moval of the missiles should take place despite the country’s stance toward nu- NATO and the European Union. Some within “the first term of the Scottish clear weapons and its push to remove critics describe the document as little Parliament following independence.” U.K. weapons from its soil in a short more than a wish list, though, includ- That would give the U.K. until 2021 to period of time. Scottish officials would ing many ambitions that likely could consider its options and prepare infra- notify NATO of their intent to join the not be achieved between the vote and structure for the deterrent arsenal. alliance in 2014, pointing out that they the planned independence date of The SNP believes it could fund the may well hold a strong hand because March 24, 2016. country’s defense and security for the lack of an agreement would “leave a Key to the SNP’s plan to provide an £2.5 billion ($4 billion) a year, with gap in existing NATO security arrange- independent Scottish defense force forces building up to 15,000 regular ments in northwest Europe.” is its opposition to the basing of the and 5,000 reserve personnel over the However, joining the European U.K.’s Trident submarine-launched decade following independence. Union may be more complicated. ballistic missiles at Faslane, HMNB The document states that an in- Spanish Prime Minster Mariano Ra- Clyde. The SNP says the U.K.’s com- dependent Scotland should inherit a joy said late last month that there is mitment to the nuclear deterrent has share of the U.K.’s defense assets to no “automatic welcome” for “regions left other aspects of the country’s de- help it to establish a defense force. A declaring independence.” European fense weakened. 2007 U.K. Defense Ministry report es- Commission officials say a member- “Scotland is a maritime nation, and timated the total value of those assets state region gaining independence yet the U.K. has no maritime patrol air- and investments at £93 billion, ac- would be seen as a new state, outside craft and no major surface ships are cording to the white paper. Based on the EU, an issue that would have a ma- based in Scotland,” the white paper population, the SNP says Scotland’s jor impact on the SNP’s plans. states. “There is greater risk to safety share would be about £7.8 billion and Scottish media reports suggest that and security in Scotland’s airspace would include at least 12 Eurofighter many Scots are dubious about seced- and waters as a result.” Scotland was Typhoons for air defense and quick- ing from the U.K., and recent opin- home to the Nimrod maritime patrol reaction alert, six C-130J Hercules to ion polls suggest that the campaign aircraft until they were eliminated by form a tactical air transport squad- against independence has the lead. c

34 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/awst outlook, the air force would be pre- Painful Contractions paring for delivery of its first NH In- dustries NH90 utility helicopters and Dearth of funds forces Spanish air force to the first of 27 Airbus Military A400M airlifters. But officials are now strug- initiate some tough operational choices gling to afford the new capabilities; the air force is seeking to cut its NH90 Tony Osborne Seville, Spain order to 22 from 45, and reduce the number of A400Ms it plans to operate hile green shoots of economic an automatic corresponding effect on to just 14. At the same time, the air recovery are beginning to the number of flight hours they are re- force wants to buy three new Airbus Wemerge in Spain, deep cuts quired to fly. One-third of the pilots are A330 multi-role tanker transports in public spending have had a dramatic being kept fully operational and com- (MRTT) to replace two types—Boeing effect on the country’s armed forces. bat-ready by flying the full complement KC-707 tankers, which are becoming For the air arm, which was poised of required hours. However, another increasingly challenging to maintain to undergo a major modernization, the third are flying a reduced number of and support, and a pair of Airbus cuts could not have arrived at a worse hours—just enough to keep them cur- A310s used to transport the Spanish time. The service was preparing to in- rent, but not combat-effective. royal family. troduce new helicopters and transport Officers are quick to point out that in Air force officials had hoped that the aircraft while continuing to integrate the event the current-status-only pilots A330s could be purchased by adjust- the Eurofighter Typhoon. are needed for a major operation, they ing the air arm’s order for the A400M, but Airbus Military is sticking to the contract. Purchase of the MRTT is considered a top priority by air force The Dassault Mirage F1 fleet was one officials here, along with the purchase of three types retired from Spanish air of a medium-altitude long-endurance force inventory in 2013. (MALE) unmanned air vehicle (UAV), but there is no funding for either program. Commanders are hoping that the MRTT purchase could be off the back of a large MRTT order expected from the European Defense Agency (EDA). The EDA hopes to have an agreement signed at the end of 2014 allowing for the possible procurement of tankers in conjunction with Occar, the Eu- ropean armament cooperation agency, for initial operations in 2020 and a full-operational capability in 2021. But this would mean Spain likely would not have the aircraft until sometime in the 2020s, and commanders do not believe it would be economical to retain the TONY OSBORNE/AW&ST KC-707 for that long. Spanish air force budgets are one- can be restored to a combat-readiness The air force has retired three air- third lower than they were in 2008, level in a matter of weeks through in- craft types from the inventory this and are due to dip slightly more in tensive flying. The remaining one-third year, including the search-and-rescue 2014. Commanders say they are hope- of the airmen are being assigned to fleet of CASA C212 Aviocar and Fokker ful the situation will improve in 2016. trainers such as the CASA 101 Avio- F-27, as well as the Dassault Mirage F1 “We were faced with a choice of los- jet, or are being put on exchange tours. fighter, 16 of which are scheduled to ing readiness or losing a capability,” Each year, all pilots will be rotated join the Argentine air force. Officers said one senior Spanish air force of- through this process, so capabilities are confident there will be no retire- ficer, speaking on the sidelines of the are not lost in the short-term. ments from the inventory during 2014. Military Airlift, Rapid Reaction and Commanders admit this is not a Requirements are being drawn up Tanker Operations conference in Se- long-term solution because skills and for a future combat air system which ville, on Dec. 3. “We recognized that if capabilities cannot be maintained in- will replace Boeing F/A-18A/B Hornets we chose to lose a capability, we would definitely using these methods, nor is with a new multi-mission aircraft envi- probably never regain it. We have to it good for morale. sioned to carry roll-on/roll-off payloads choose lower readiness, but we have The air arm is also facing a poten- for missions such as maritime patrol lowered the number of pilots at the tially costly barrier in terms of mod- and electronic warfare. These projects, same time.” ernization. If the country were not however, are probably very far in the Reducing the number of pilots has saddled with such a poor economic future. c

AviationWeek.com/awst AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 35 DEFENSE Cents of the Senate If it passes, the U.S. Senate’s defense bill could matter most to contractors’ bottom lines

Michael Bruno Washington U.S. AIR FORCE U.S. AIR ith the U.S. Senate expected U.S. bombers such as the B-1B are auditors there surveyed only 7% of the this week to pick up its stalled important to South Dakota and Pentagon’s 2012 contract obligations. Wversion of the defense autho- its politicians, hence Sen. John In the Senate, Joe Manchin, 3rd (D-W. rization bill for fiscal 2014, most head- Thune’s amendment to keep Va.) is proposing an amendment to cap lines out of the Capitol will be about them a Pentagon budget priority. covered costs at the vice president’s sala- debate over sexual assault in the mili- ry of $230,700, plus inflation. Separately, tary, the Guantanamo Bay prison, the stipulates $763,029 plus inflation with Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) wants addi- Iranian nuclear deal, budget cuts or exemptions for designated science, tional language to bar any individual or the possibility that no annual law will technology, engineering and math- contractor with a “seriously delinquent be enacted for the first time in 52 years. ematics (STEM) as well as medical tax debt” from continuing or taking a But what could matter most for the and manufacturing fields. But it would position that is within the Pentagon or defense and space sector are a few es- apply only to the five most highly com- funded by it, such as consultants. oteric provisions that could hit federal pensated employees of a contractor Trade representatives remain deep- contractors in their pocketbooks, liter- doing Pentagon business of at least ly opposed to lowering caps, arguing ally. Senators may adopt language that $500 million in the prior fiscal year—a that contractors need higher reim- seriously pressures contractor salaries, reversion to the more limited applica- bursement levels to attract and retain and no matter what is passed or when, a bility that existed before the final 2013 the “best and brightest” workers to an new era of restraint has dawned. defense law expanded application to all industry that serves national interests. Both the House-passed version of the Defense Department contractors. Of course, companies—particularly annual bill, which sets policy for the Pen- Just last week, the covered level for those with public shareholders—also tagon and other national security agen- all defense and civil contractors in- fear smaller profit margins if they cies, and the Senate Armed Services creased to $952,308, based on current must cover more of the salaries they Committee (SASC) version already in- law that was altered in industry’s favor pay. The law has never stipulated how clude language on reforming industry’s during the post-9/11 national security much contractors can pay, just how personal compensation—namely, the spending explosion. Yet because there much taxpayers reimburse. amount the government should reim- are still different applicability require- The defense and space industry will burse or subsidize as part of allowable ments among defense and civil agen- also be closely monitoring any autho- expenses in future cost-based contracts. cies, including NASA and non-Pentagon rization bill mandates that affect de- In its summer markup of the bill, the military such as the Coast Guard, “the fense and space programs. More than Democrat-led SASC set a reimburs- cap may apply to different groups of 500 potential amendments have been able salary cap of $487,000 that would contractor employees, employed by the introduced in the Senate, most express- adjust for inflation but expand exemp- same contractor, if that contractor has ing a “sense of the Senate,” such as one tions beyond scientists and engineers to contracts with both defense and civilian by John Thune (R-S.D.) that seeks to include medical professionals, cyberse- agencies,” the White House states. ensure that upgrading legacy B-1B, B-2 curity experts and “other workers with In June, the White House proposed and B-52 bombers remains a high prior- unique areas of expertise.” It also called lowering the cap to the president’s sal- ity. His state’s Ellsworth AFB is home to for congressional auditors at the Gov- ary of $400,000 and broadening the two of three combat squadrons operat- ernment Accountability Office (GAO) to cap’s application across companies, ing the B-1B. boost oversight of and recommendations with exceptions for STEM fields. In a Yet historic gridlock and acrimony in about the “reasonableness” of defense response to a GAO report, the Office Congress draw into doubt whether the industry pension plans, specifically the of Management and Budget said the Senate can pass its own bill this year, value of benefits earned by participants. findings back up its call for reform let alone amendments to it. Long-time The Republican-controlled House and stressed that the administration’s analyst Byron Callan of Capital Alpha bill, passed over the summer, makes proposal would save far more than the Partners says, “D.C. is looking even less a more modest but similar change. It $180 million cited by GAO’s findings, as functional [now].” c

36 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/awst ROTORCRAFT

testing shortly. Once complete, the engineers plan to begin A Swiss ground testing the first prototype as early as January with a first flight later in the month. Work has also begun on the assembly of the second prototype. A third is planned to build Statement the hours for certification flying as well as testing of optional equipment. A team of Swiss engineers is “We know we face a challenge,” Senes said. “This will be the first aircraft in this category that EASA has certified preparing to take on big helicopter that is not produced by one of the big OEMs.” The FAA told Marenco it will be able to start the certification process for OEMs with a radical design the Skye SH09 in March. Key tenets of the project have been to ensure the aircraft Tony Osborne London delivers a multi-mission capability with good visibility for the crew and strong performance even in hot-and-high con- hen Marenco Swisshelicopter unveiled the mock-up ditions. The company also has studied how to improve the of its radical-looking, single-engined light helicop- residual value of the aircraft, a consideration which Senes Wter at Heli-Expo in 2011, critics were quick to pass believes has been overlooked by other manufacturers in judgment. the light-single market. He points to new models of aircraft They questioned the business model and the ability to keep acquisition through leasing companies such as Milestone, costs low while building the aircraft in a country considered Waypoint and LCI, where the residual value is a key factor in to be the most expensive in Europe. the decision process. Design features reflecting this include a But now, almost three years later, the company is ready cargo hook dampener that reduces the loads on the airframe to answer its detractors. On Nov. 28, the company unveiled structure. the first prototype Skye SH09 helicopter at the company’s Each aircraft will be fitted with a usage monitoring system facility in Mollis, southeast of Zurich. Marenco will soon an- (UMS), and the company is working on creating a support nounce that its order book has swollen to 48 aircraft, a backlog large enough to push production into its third year. The company believes several of these customers could top-up their orders once they have seen how the aircraft performs. Marenco and its investors say they have Good visibility from the cockpit has been a key tenet in design of the Skye SH09. spent just €50 million ($68 million) on the aircraft’s development so far, a drop in the ocean compared to development programs by Eurocopter or AgustaWestland. The company is highly confident it will quickly find a niche, taking a lesson from the MARENCO SWISS HELICOPTER/MATHIEU DOUHAIRE Anglo-Italian manufacturer’s AW139 and AW169 products. network. It has already established Australia-based Heliflite “AgustaWestland has learned that you do not need to Pacific as its dealer for the Oceania region and is actively preserve old product lines,” says Mathias Senes, chief com- looking for other partners. It also is studying power-by-the- mercial officer at Marenco Swisshelicopter and a former Eu- hour concepts for MRO, recognizing that services and sup- rocopter sales executive. “Their AW169 will sell well because port are now a critical part of the income for any helicopter it’s a new model in a market competing with an old design OEM. but is also biting on the product in the level above as well. Development has been supported by many small and me- This is how we see the Skye SH09, for us. The competition dium-sized local companies, and Marenco says that once the was designed in the 1970s, and the industry is ready for a Honeywell HTS900 turbine is taken out, 80% of the aircraft newcomer.” is Swiss. Senes sees the aircraft competing against Eurocopter’s “We have found the local suppliers to be more agile and AS350 Ecureuil, the Bell 407 and in the future, AgustaWest- reactive to small or unique orders for our requirements,” land’s new 2.5-metric-ton helicopter developed in partnership says Senes. “In Switzerland we can still compete on costs. with Russian Helicopters and potentially “biting” into the The salaries are higher than France, but we are taxed less light-twin market as well. so it balances out. And as a small company, we have a more Despite having suffered from supply setbacks during late flexible working environment.” 2012 and 2013, the company is now focusing its attention on Marenco has an ambitious schedule to keep with the aim the next major milestones. Marenco just finished work on a of achieving certification for the Skye SH09 in 2015, building whirl tower at a RUAG-owned facility at Ennetmoos, near the 10 that year, doubling output in 2016, and building between Pilatus factory at Stans and will begin dynamic component 80 and 100 helicopters a year by 2020. c

AviationWeek.com/awst AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 37 ELECTRONIC WARFARE

center sees a constant throughput of students from client Branching Out militaries looking to build their EW capabilities. Many of the EWOS staff have come from frontline EW jobs in the Royal Selex curates mission-data files at Air Force—so the company sees the experience and expertise available on site as a key selling point. electronic warfare support center “EWOS is not something you can buy [that] gets delivered in a box and you can have it [operational] inside three months Angus Batey Lincoln, England or even three years,” says Davies, a former RAF EW officer. “The U.K. has spent 40 years developing its EWOS capability or suppliers of defense equipment, selling a platform or so that it is second-to-none. You have to educate and train the a subsystem is just the beginning. The importance of workforce, and to help that you need to collect data, informa- Fwhat would be called “after-sales service” in the com- tion and intelligence. It’s a long-term commitment.” mercial market has increased as the global economic climate The facility is close to both RAF Waddington, where the has worsened, but in certain sectors it has never really been majority of the U.K.’s Istar (intelligence, surveillance, tar- about just selling a product. This is particularly true of elec- get acquisition and reconnaissance) aircraft fleet is based, tronic warfare (EW) systems. and RAF Coningsby, the main operating base for the Ty- “Imagine you buy a kettle,” explains Wynne Davies, one of phoon, which is equipped with the Praetorian defensive aid three heads of strategic electronic warfare campaigns at Selex system for which Selex is lead integrator. A new contract ES’s facility here. “The kettle works—you plug it in, the light cements this relationship, deepening links between Selex, comes on and the element heats up. But it’s only when you EWOS and the lead contractor for the Typhoon platform, put water in that it gets to be useful. It’s the same with EW BAE Systems. equipment.” The center also supports the Royal Saudi Arabian Air The “water” that EW systems require to function is mis- Force’s Typhoon EW programming and training, as well as sion data. For a receiver to be able to recognize and locate customers including Kuwait’s Apache crews—Selex produces the Hidas (Helicopter Integrated Defensive Aid System) flown on the platform. “They are aiming to have sovereign control of their EW systems, indigenously based in those nations,” Davies says. “But in the meantime, while they come up the learning curve, we’re able to support them from here.” With two new EW systems recently brought to market— Selex is the lead integrator for the Typhoon’s Praetorian defensive aid system, and a new contract deepens the connections between the company’s electronic warfare operational support center and BAE, the Typhoon prime contractor.

Sage, which detects radio-frequency emitters at distance, and Seer, a radar-warning receiver—EWOS is becoming ever more important to Selex’s EW business. Basic packages for Sage and Seer will include an entry-level mission-data file, but classification means that most of the operationally useful data will have to be collected by the customer. SELEX ES For training and testing purposes, the EWOS building has an emitter, or for a jammer or countermeasures dispenser multiple air-gapped networks, enabling different countries’ to be able to effectively tackle a threat, the system needs to classified data to be kept entirely separate. have access to reliable information. This takes the form of a “If a nation wishes to give us classified data, we are able to mission-data file, and at Selex’s Electronic Warfare Opera- use it and build it into their mission-data files,” Davies says. tional Support (EWOS) center, the creation and maintenance “Where we know specifics from the Internet and unclassified of mission-data files is core business. sources, we can put that in the entry-level mission-data file.” “Imagine the mission-data file as a reference book against Both Sage and Seer are small, making them suitable for which the environment as seen by the system is compared,” integration into light aircraft or unmanned systems. The sys- says Davies. “We have a set of antenna to detect the electro- tems therefore seem likely to attract interest from nations magnetic environment; we digitize it just behind the detec- with limited experience in EW and for whom an element of tor head; put it into the signal-processing unit, where a bit of support and training is vital. magic occurs; and it comes out as a lookup table of emitter “Part of the package, when we’re looking to sell Seer and track listings.” Sage, is EW training,” says Simon Cooper, another strategic This data-file curation is the primary mission of the EWOS EW campaigns head. center. The building houses an electromagnetically shielded “What we’re not doing is pushing a lot of equipment out test range in which hardware and software can be run against into theater and then stepping back. In all cases, there will be simulated emitters to verify the capability to correctly iden- students, or trainers, or perhaps operators from the countries tify and locate the sources and project effects against them. we’re selling the equipment to, coming through this site, train- The other prong of the EWOS concept is training, and the ing for weeks or months.” c

38 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/awst AIR TRANSPORT

in October, emissions from flights to/from countries outside From Dream the EEA are subject to the ETS, but solely for emissions attributable to the portion of the flight that is within EEA airspace. The regional European airspace system would last to Drama until a global MBM becomes applicable to international aviation emissions by 2020, as planned by ICAO. Europe remains divided on how Peter Liese, a member of the EP’s environmental committee (ENVI) who is steering the proposal through parliament, to proceed with the ETS supports the EC’s proposal and says he will not recommend the EP “limit any compromise to a prolongation of the stop Cathy Buyck Brussels the clock.” The inclusion of all flights taking off and landing in Europe for the part that they operate in European airspace hen the European Commission set out its first pro- “is indispensable. This is a matter of fairness against Euro- posals to bring aviation into the existing European pean airlines and their competitive situation,” Liese notes in WUnion’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) for an explanatory statement to his proposals to be considered stationary sectors in September 2005, airlines warned it by other members of the EP (MEPs). would be difficult and contentious, and advised against the The German MEP will propose an amendment to limit the noble ambitions. Almost a decade later, airlines can safely airspace approach until 2016 and to reintroduce the full ETS say: “We told you so.” (which regulated emissions of the entire length of flights to, In the latest chapter of intense disarray, European powers from or between EEA airports) from 2017. He deems this are internally bickering on how to go forward. Three of the “reasonable” because there is no guarantee a legally binding EU’s largest member states, France, Great Britain and Ger- pact for global aviation will be adopted in ICAO in 2016. If one many, have objections to the EC’s proposed new legislation to is reached, the EU should be ready to modify the legislation adopt a European regional-airspace-based ETS for aviation. accordingly. Some members of the European Parliament (EP), conversely, believe the EC’s proposal does not go far enough and should be strengthened. The EP and the Council of the EU, which represents the member states, need to approve the proposed legislation. Europe is increasingly divided on its own decision to include aviation in its ETS. Germany is one of the dissenters.

France, Germany and Great Britain (known as the Big Three in this context) assert that the geographic scope of the “stop the clock,” which is in place for one year and limits the ETS obligations to flights between airports in the European Economic Area (EAA), should be maintained until 2016. In a joint working paper, the three countries say they have “a number of concerns with the air- LUFTHANSA space approach which include the political acceptability and Liese intends also to include an amendment lowering the practical implementation of an airspace-ETS.” They suggest level of free emissions that airlines receive, to 60% from 85% reviewing the scope following the next International Civil now. He argues this is justified because the airspace approach Aviation Organization (ICAO) Assembly in 2016, taking into reduces the emissions covered by the ETS to 40% compared account the progress of the global market-based mechanism with the original scheme and, he says, this will “limit the (MBM) for CO2 emissions of international aviation. damage [of aviation] for the environment.” Several other EU states, such as Finland, the Netherlands, Liese further warns he will not start discussions with the Spain and Italy are said to be supportive of the Big Three’s council on the European airspace legislative proposal unless position. all member states implement the “very limited” stop-the- The Big Three’s decision to rebuff the EC’s EAA airspace clock legislation. Chinese and Indian carriers are refusing to proposal is not driven by pressure from Airbus or their flag comply and have not surrendered allowances for their 2012 carriers, one source claims. The driving reason is concern that flights inside Europe. It is the responsibility of the member the proposed EU ETS modification—which would be the third states to enact the legislation, but member states overseeing in three years—would damage Europe’s credibility. They also the Indian and Chinese airlines are hesitant to take legal ac- fear that introducing an ETS for European airspace, which tion or to repeal the traffic rights of the recalcitrant airlines. legally does not exist, would be counterproductive to efforts of The vote in the ENVI committee is set for Jan. 30 and the the international community to achieve an efficient and com- final full vote is scheduled for April. The goal is to get the new prehensive global system that would be operational from 2020. EU ETS legislation, in whatever form, in the official EU jour- Under the European Commission’s legislative proposal, nal before the legislative term of the EP ends and the original which was published days after the ICAO general assembly full scope ETS for international aviation reactivates. c

AviationWeek.com/awst AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 39 AIR TRANSPORT

and St. Louis. Boeing’s design center in Refining Design Moscow is also scheduled to be involved in the 777X work. Separately, Boeing is Boeing: Lessons learned from 787 and 747-8 also expected to give responsibility for the 777X engine nacelles to its recently are bearing fruit with 787-9/777X established design engineering center in Charleston. The site is also assuming Guy Norris Seattle and Dubai the same role for the 737 MAX nacelles. Jim Peterson, director of engineer- s expected, Boeing launched Development’s vice president and ing and propulsion for Boeing Com- the long-range 777X family in general manager, Scott Fancher. “We mercial Airplanes, provides more Agrand style at the recent Dubai loaded the aircraft into production on detail about the decision to bring the Airshow. But behind the scenes, the schedule, two years from when we set development of the new MAX nacelle company says engineering work to the date, and the aircraft weighs less. in-house to benefit from the 787 experi- ready the new derivative for launch That says something about the disci- ence. “It is easier for us to get aligned has gone better than ever, proving pline of the process. The engineering with engine makers, but with nacelle that the Airplane Development orga- was released [to production] on aver- makers it became more difficult to nization created in last year’s radical age a couple of weeks ahead of sched- understand what kind of technology shake-up, is working. ule. The 787-9 got us back to the roots was useful to the airframe and what Formed as a result of the painful of reliable development and, frankly, we could gain of value,” he says. “Also, delays and missteps encountered on the same playbook was deployed out when you take a technology jump of the initial phases of the 787 and 747-8 on the MAX.” the sort we made with the 787 and its programs, Airplane Development is The 787-9 also paves the way for laminar flow nacelle, it makes sense to designed to bridge the gap between many of the features of the new pro- spin it off and apply it to a new prod- concept design and production, and is cess, acting as a bellwether for the uct. We developed all the aerodynam- dedicated to bringing aircraft through 777X and 787-10 programs. “We’re ics and manufacturing techniques on development and certification. The balancing how we redistribute devel- the 787 and proved it will work.” initiative, which was announced late in opment activities,” says Fancher who The idea of involving engineering 2012 by Boeing Commercial Airplanes adds “. . . it is another example of going resources from around the country President Ray Conner, was unveiled as back to how we did things in the past. beyond the traditional realm of Boeing part of company-wide efforts to inject With the 787-8 the majority of the de- Commercial Airplanes (BCA) makes more discipline into its processes as it tailed design was done by partners, but obvious sense to Fancher. “Roughly ramps up to historically high production when we went to the -9 we went back half of the engineers at Boeing are in levels and simultaneously tackles five to what we did historically. It is a rebal- BCA. The other half are in Defense and new development programs. Led by the ancing rather than a drastic change.” Space and Research and Development. 787-9 and 737 MAX, these also include The two-step process of creating It would be silly not to tap half of the the 777X, 787-10X and KC-46A tanker. the design centers and the allocation resources of the Boeing Company,” he The company says the poster child of 777X and MAX engineering work is says. “We want to make sure we tap for the reorganization is the 787-9, the another example cited by Fancher. In the talents and resources we really initial stretch derivative of the 787-8 late October, Boeing announced that need. Half of the people solving the now undergoing initial flight testing. detailed design on the 777X will be 787 side-of-body issue [a late struc- “The entire development of the 787-9 carried out by its engineering teams tural test discovery which delayed first was under this new structure and the at sites in Charleston, S.C., Huntsville, flight by around six months] were not results are pretty clear,” says Airplane Ala., Long Beach, Calif., Philadelphia from BCA.” c

Boeing calls the smooth development of the 787-9—the third version entered the test program on Nov. 19—a testament to the recent reorganization within the company.

BOEING 40 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/awst ROTORCRAFT

amber or red require the attention of engineers. The HUMS Looking to gathers results from around 40 sensors across the aircraft. “Heliwise uses the same graphics as we use in all the technical publications, which will aid familiarity,” said Davide Mar- the Cloud tini, helicopters support systems manager at AgustaWestland. The data collected by operators can be shared with Agus- AgustaWestland networks the taWestland, which will be able to monitor the health of key components throughout the life of the aircraft. As more data AW189 with the Internet for flight are collected, the operators will be able to make use of web- based Advanced Anomaly Detection (AAD) to provide ad- planning and HUMS support vance warning of potential issues. Some 65 AW139s in use around the world are already using GE’s AAD system, and by Tony Osborne Cascina Costa, Italy sharing the data from the AW139 fleet, AgustaWestland has been able to extend the time between overhaul (TBO) for the gustaWestland is accessing the Internet and the cloud main gearbox from 5,000 hr. to 6,000, while the intermediate to support the latest addition to its product line. and tail rotor gearbox intervals have been extended from A Internet-based tools for flight planning and manipu- 5,000 to 7,500 hr. Work is continuing on developing wireless lation of health and usage monitoring systems (HUMS) data transfer of HUMS data, to be downloaded while the rotors will be launched when the new AW189 intermediate-heavy are running. The AW189 also will be the first helicopter certi- helicopter begins operations early next year. fied to use RFID tags on components, allowing engineers to The company is awaiting final certification of the aircraft locate key parts on the aircraft faster. before first deliveries to the Bristow Group, an offshore oil and gas operator, can begin. As part of the type’s introduction, AgustaWestland is launching Internet-based services called SkyFlight and Heliwise, which aim to streamline the aircraft’s performance and enhance functionality from remote locations. The AW189 appears set to become the first medium-heavy helicopter to begin operations.

SkyFlight is an online flight planning system designed to allow operators to configure the aircraft while on the ground. Ground operations personnel or the pilots will be able to load the various flight parameters into the plan AGUSTAWESTLAND including weight and navigation waypoints, taking note of the Meanwhile, AgustaWestland believes it is setting a new weather and Notams, as well as comparing potential land- standard for the ability to run the AW189’s gearbox dry, ing sites with satellite images from Google Maps. The online without oil, for 50 min., 20 min. longer than the current service then turns the combined flight profile produced into standard mandated by many offshore oil and gas companies a transferrable file, which can be uploaded either by Wi-Fi and regulators. Engineers say this has been possible due or USB stick and translated by the aircraft’s avionics system to the design of the AW189’s gearbox, which has a cone- into the flight profile for the crew to follow. shaped case and oil-injection system designed to retain oil Heliwise is an extension of software produced for use on as long as possible and to contain leaks, so the gearbox is the AW139, but by moving the process onto the Internet unlikely to lose all of its lubrication at the same time. The cloud, HUMS data does not have to be collected at the home company has tested the transmission’s ability to operate base after each flight. Currently, operators can perform data without any oil for one hour, including in some different and downloads after each sortie or at the end of a day’s flying. strenuous flight regimes, and claims it could have operated Now, with Heliwise, operators can—if necessary—carry out running dry for a longer period. Assembly and flight-testing their data downloads even at remote locations and confirm of the first batch of offshore-configured AW189 produc- whether the aircraft is fit for operations. tion aircraft is well underway at AgustaWestland’s plant The AW189 is expected to generate around 20 Mb of data in Vergiate, Italy. First deliveries are planned by year-end. during a three-hour mission, although AgustaWestland is Meanwhile, a range of maintenance and flight-training de- working to compress that data to make it easier to upload vices is already being made available to customers to speed to the system. Once uploaded, the data from the aircraft are up operational readiness once the aircraft are delivered to examined and then displayed in a graphical interface with service. Bristow engineers have started their instruction a traffic light system pointing to different components on a at AgustaWestland’s training facility at Sesto Calende, and diagram of the aircraft. Components displaying a green light the first pilots are expected to begin simulator training in are healthy and functioning normally, while those displaying the coming weeks. c

AviationWeek.com/awst AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 41 SPACE

to be done with the launch data results as well as our review of the technical data,” says Lt. Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski, Space Seeking a and Missile Systems Center commander. “Getting into a GEO transfer orbit is a capability for which they will need to be certified. I just cannot say that because this was not done on Balance the first launch means it does not count, because that was not necessarily what we had agreed they would demonstrate on SpaceX mishap raises questions the first launch.” Pawlikowski did not cite the specific criteria for success of each of the three missions required for certifica- about commercial model tion. In the agreement signed last year by SpaceX and the Air Force, the company outlined the first Falcon 9 v1.1 missions Amy Butler Washington as those eligible for certification; USAF listed specific success metrics. “We are very carefully looking at their processes o call launch market upstart Space Explo- because with only three launches—or frankly, if you have 10 ration Technologies (SpaceX) a change Tagent would not be an overstatement. Last September, The company is bursting onto the scene with the stated goal an upper-stage of CEO Elon Musk to break the monopoly for U.S. national restart attempt security launches now held by the United Launch Alliance’s failed due to frozen (ULA) Atlas V and Delta IV rockets. Air Force officials say igniter lines during they are already seeing ULA take measures to become more the Falcon 9 v1.1’s efficient and reduce cost (see page 43). And SpaceX is infusing first launch. the market with new manufacturing and design techniques. But an oversight by SpaceX that resulted in an embarrassing upper-stage restart failure in September is revealing details about how different the company’s closely held path to U.S. Air Force certification could be from that of its rival. And it is raising the question of just how much change could be too much for the Air Force, a notoriously conservative launch customer that is trying to embrace SpaceX’s new commercial development and deployment model despite decades of institutional bias against it. The upper stage failed to restart during the Falcon 9 v1.1’s Sept. 29 maiden launch due to igniter fluid lines that froze in the cold vacuum of space. Though not critical to deliver a Ca- nadian payload into its orbit—SpaceX declared the mission a success—the restart was added to the mission as a risk- reduction exercise. Perhaps the failure was a serendipitous event, as the design flaw revealed a shortcoming that was not found in pre-flight ground testing and, if allowed onto the second launch, would likely have caused a mission failure. On the ground “ambient air kept the lines warm,” during testing, says Emily Shanklin, a spokeswoman for the company. “We’ve added insulation and made sure cold oxygen can’t impinge on the lines” in future missions. An upper-stage restart was properly executed during the Dec. 3 second fight of the Falcon 9 v1.1. The new Merlin ID vacuum engine burned twice in order to place the SES-8 payload into its geosyncronous transfer orbit. A similar launch to GEO for Thaicom is slated to follow soon. The restart will be critical for delivering national security payloads to GEO, as well. All of the 14 launches considered for competition in the next five years call for at least two restarts of the upper stage, says Air Force Program Executive Officer for Launch, Scott Correll. Shanklin insists that the Sept. 29 mission will be the first of three—two of which must be consecutive successes—required for the company to gain certification. Air Force officials, however, say they are still assessing data from the mission and have not committed to using it for certification. “Before they can be certified completely, we have to be comfortable that they can meet the requirements. This has

SPACEX 42 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/awst launches—you cannot cover with absolute assurance every Pawlikowski, however, notes that while precedent is pow- scenario. So every opportunity we have—as far as these three erful on these matters owing to a long history of successful launches and the data they present—gives us the opportunity launches, she is open to new ideas. to observe and evaluate. For example, with this one—how do “It is fun, but it is also kind of frightening from an engi- they handle anomalies?” neer’s perspective,” Pawlikowski says. “It is a very different The restart failure is giving the service a front-row seat approach. That is part of the challenge for my team. Just to observe SpaceX’s anomaly-resolution process. But it also because it is different does not mean it is wrong. In fact, there raises the question of whether the design flaw could—and per- are some things that SpaceX—because they have not been en- haps should—have been identified on the ground. When space cumbered with 40 years of production of rockets—has been systems are put through thermal vacuum testing, operators able to do more agilely.” expose them to an environment that as closely as possible mir- As an example, she points to the company’s use of additive rors the one found in space. Shanklin did not say whether the manufacturing. It was able to introduce this novel fabrica- company executed a thermal vacuum test for the upper-stage tion approach into the launch business unencumbered by system or whether that could have revealed the problem prior long-established standards at ULA and other rocket mak- to launch. She did not respond to the question by press time. ers. “Since SpaceX started without having [four decades] But the shortcoming reveals the kind of issue that could of infrastructure of all of those fixtures and . . . doing that arise as the Air Force and SpaceX set a precedent for the gov- kind of welding, they [could more easily] adopt some additive ernment to reap the benefits—but not take on the risk—of the manufacturing where ULA and their subcontractors will take commercial development model. Michael Gass, CEO of ULA, a more measured approach because they have [a] tried-and- and typically an outspoken skeptic of SpaceX’s ambitions, was true way of doing it,” Pawlikowski says. uncharacteristically understanding about his rival’s mistake But an open mind and an uncompromising standard of mis- on the igniter lines. The issue is “if you can do the thermovac sion assurance will ultimately have to be blended to reduce testing and operate cryogenics at the same time. [With] many launch costs. “We are asking for greater detail and insight of these systems, you can’t do both simultaneously” in testing, than a commercial customer would ask from a vendor,” Paw- Gass says. “It should have been checked, [but] there are lots of likowski says of SpaceX’s certification process. “We are more things you can’t test on the ground.” involved in the decision cycle. . . . If we are going to get the There is no equivalent example for the Air Force in terms savings that everybody talks about [it will be] based on being of development processes that establish a precedent for the able to use this commercial model.” right level of testing. The Atlas program did not conduct a The Pentagon is not likely to change its policy on self-in- vacuum test of the RL-10 engine, but that system already had suring payloads that are being launched, however; if a costly decades of flight experience, says Col. Bob Hodgkiss, director national security payload is damaged in transit, the govern- of launch systems for the Air Force. “We were able to evaluate ment pays for a replacement at a premium. By contrast, com- those decades of data and how the engine had been adapted mercial launch customers have insurance underwriters that into the Atlas V application and convince ourselves that our indemnify a payload in the event it is lost to a booster mishap. requirements were satisfied.” This fact is likely to compromise just how much of the com- By contrast, Boeing did conduct a thermal vacuum test of mercial model the Pentagon can adopt because it will always the RL-10B engine as it was being developed. Data from that have paramount interest in protecting the payload and ensur- test was used to support certification of the Delta IV’s use of ing capability gets to orbit on time to support military needs the RL-10B2, Hodgkiss says. around the globe. c Risky Business ULA has more skin in the EELV cost game as company underwrites some production Amy Butler Washington

n an unprecedented move, the Unit- least efficient and most costly method ed Launch Alliance (ULA) is plan- of purchasing hardware and services. Ining to resource its industrial base The Defense Department typically at a level beyond the number of rocket spends about $2 billion annually on orders placed by the Pentagon. the Evolved Expendable Launch Ve- As the monopoly supplier and oper- hicle (EELV) program. ator of the Atlas V and Delta IV boost- Since its inception more than a de- ers to the Pentagon and intelligence cade ago, the focus for the EELV pro- community, ULA has typically built rockets based on the number of mis- Atlas V wet dress rehearsals have sions manifested. And the Pentagon been eliminated on the East Coast, has ordered them one at a time—the contributing to reduced launch costs.

BEN COOPER/AW&ST AviationWeek.com/awst AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 43 SPACE gram has first been on mission assur- cores from ULA. As part of the terms, pany’s CEO. This unusually aggres- ance, or not losing a payload owing to a ULA is providing pricing for up to 50 sive strategy reflects a move by the booster problem. The program began cores. The final 14 of that order, howev- company to attack cost in the face of in the wake of several launch disasters er, are set aside for possible competition not only budget pressure but in order in the 1990s that resulted in billions of if a new entrant to the market—most to maintain a foothold in the rapidly dollars wasted on hardware. likely Space Exploration Technologies changing launch market. Company of- Bloated costs of the EELV program, (SpaceX)—is certified to vie for defense ficials did not outline specific pricing, coupled with heavy pressure on the de- and intelligence missions. If SpaceX is citing concerns over competition. fense budget as the war in Afghanistan unable to compete when one of those SpaceX could be certified to compete winds down, are forcing the service missions is manifested, it would auto- with ULA as early as 2015 in prepara- to demand lower pricing on launches matically be sourced by ULA. tion for the fiscal 2016 budget delivery without compromising mission assur- ULA, however, has directed its mas- to Congress, says Scott Correll, the Air ance. sive supplier base to size operations Force’s program executive officer for Negotiations are nearly final for the assuming all 50 cores will be pur- launch. SpaceX is the first company Air Force’s first ever “block buy” of 36 chased, says Michael Gass, the com- to apply for certification to go head-

NASA and its booster prime contrac- Heavy Lift tor, ATK, have changed the production process in an effort to lower recurring Funding uncertainty seen as main hurdle costs. However, after these altera- tions, unacceptable voids appeared in to SLS rocket development the first two propellant castings for a ground-qualification, requiring rework Frank Morring, Jr. Washington and delays. While reluctant to blame the process changes for the problem he big government rocket Con- expand the set of SLS missions beyond until a search for the root cause is com- gress has insisted be built for the two on the books—an unmanned deep-space human exploration is trip to DRO in 2017 and another with T Structures System: on track for a 2017 first flight. So far, a crewed Orion capsule in 2021. • Aluminum primary structure there are no serious technical issues “As people see that it is more and • Composites are an opportunity • Sized to support payloads up to in sight and it is garnering growing more real and progress is being made, 35 metric tons during launch interest from other potential users, the notion that this is a paper rocket according to the NASA managers re- is being quickly dispelled,” says Dan sponsible for developing the heavy-lift Dumbacher, deputy associate admin- vehicle known as the Space Launch istrator for exploration systems devel- System (SLS). opment at NASA headquarters. The U.S. space agency and its inter- The SLS program already is bend- national partners are basing plans for ing metal at NASA’s Michoud Assem- sending humans beyond low Earth orbit bly Facility in New Orleans, where on the SLS under a schedule that will the big rocket and the Orion capsule’s be set more by the funding available for pressure vessel will be built using development work than by developing the friction-stir welding process for hardware. The first flight-version 70- lighter weight, greater strength and ton core stage is due at Stennis Space lower cost. Pathfinder propellant tank Reaction Control System: • Bipropellant Center in Mississippi for ground testing sections are being built, and the tool- • 8 X 25-lb. lateral thrusters for attitude control in 2016, and NASA will pace subsequent ing required to stack and weld them • 4 X 900-lb. axial thrusters for propellant development of the advanced boosters into full-length tanks is en route from settling, course correction and disposal and upper stage needed to reach the Sweden. Two to four pathfinders will final 130-ton capability on how those be built in order to perfect manufac- elements would be used. turing processes before the first flight A mission to capture a small near- article is built, says Dumbacher. Earth asteroid and nudge it into the “The major cost comes in rework distant retrograde orbit (DRO) around to flight hardware, so the investment plete, Dumbacher says there is plenty the Moon would require a more power- you make up front that avoids the re- of time to find and fix the problem be- ful restartable upper stage for in-space work on flight hardware is money well fore the first flight late in 2017. propulsion, while other missions could spent,” he says. Another issue that must be resolved be accomplished with the initial upper For added thrust off the launch pad, before the first flight involves the head stage and the advanced strap-on boost- the first two SLS vehicles will use five- pressure at the pump inlets on the four ers now under competitive study. The segment solid-fuel strap-on boosters surplus RS-25 Space Shuttle Main SLS program is canvassing potential derived from the four-segment ver- Engines baselined to power early SLS government and commercial users to sions built for the space shuttle fleet. versions. Propellant temperature also

44 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/awst to-head with ULA, and is undergoing a frequently used EELV—has racked up And, as an example of the surged op- rigorous process to validate the capa- its launch record, the Air Force has erations tempo, the company recently bilities of its Falcon 9 v1.1 booster (see relaxed costly requirements owing to executed four missions in 60 days—all page 42). an increased confidence in its effec- successful insertions—a first for the In contrast to its upstart rival, ULA tiveness. Wet dress rehearsals for At- program, Correll says. has a record of 64 EELV launches that las V have been eliminated on the East Correll, who is retiring on Dec. 16, have placed payloads within 3 sigma of Coast, reducing by roughly a week the intends to wrap up negotiations for the their intended insertion points, Correll processing time needed for most satel- block buy before then. says. And since taking office in 2010, lites, says Lt. Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski, If SpaceX is certified and manages Correll says, his team has managed to commander of the Air Force Space and to win some of the 14 launches up for eliminate or avoid $2.9 billion of cost, Missile Systems Center. competition, ULA will be forced to find thanks to a series of efficiencies and While pushing for reduced pricing, a commercial buyer for the launch- cost-reduction measures already im- ULA’s operational tempo dramatically ers—a rarity given global competition plemented before the block buy is set. increased. Production has increased in the market—or assume the financial For example, as Atlas V—the most from eight per year to 12, in lockstep. risk of building them ahead of need. c

is a problem. It turns out that the SLS five months ahead of schedule. Prelimi- celerate development of the DUUS configuration delivers higher pressures nary design review was completed in because his Inspiration Mars manned and colder temperatures than was the July, and 70% of the detailed design planetary flyby mission needs it case on the shuttle, so engineers must drawings—as measured by the mass (AW&ST Nov. 25, p. 13). But its median find ways to accommodate the engine of the hardware they represent—were 40-ton capability to trans-lunar injec- start sequence to the new conditions. complete. Although “the hard part is tion could also help with other mis- The engines also will use the new coming,” when the tankage sections sions beyond the DRO trajectory that controller developed for the J-2X up- are stacked and welded together, he EM I and II would follow. per-stage engine, which turns out to says, “we’re on track for core stage “It really has to do with the capabil- be the only part of the J-2X that will critical design review late spring into ity we’re required to put in, the desti- summer next year.” nation,” says Crumbly of the decision DUUS Overview (Notional) Work is just beginning on the upper to develop the boosters or the upper stages planned for future missions be- stage first. “The asteroid-redirect mis- Power System: Stage Characteristics: yond the first. That mission—Explora- sion would be better served if we had • Solar array* • LH diameter: 8.4 meters tion Mission I (EM I), with an instru- more in-space transportation capabil- with secondary batteries 2 *array stowed • LOX diameter: 5.0 meters mented Orion on top—probably will ity, which would lean you toward an • Length: 19 meters • 7-day stage life use an interim cryo propulsion stage upper stage first.” (ICPS), which is basically the cryo- Ultimately, says Dumbacher, the genic second stage from the Delta IV. what-next choice will be “a budget- Avionics System: However, because the second Explora- driven trade.” The core stage, too, is • Multiday, in-space avionics tion Mission (EM II in 2021) will carry at the mercy of the funding available, a heavier Orion to accommodate the and in the current budget environment crew, the SLS program at Marshall the SLS program is “basically work- Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., ing on a daily basis” (AW&ST Nov. 25, is considering stretching the liquid hy- p. 46). The program’s current funding drogen tank by 18 in. for more perfor- stems from a continuing resolution mance, according to Chris Crumbly, based on its enacted funding for fiscal manager of the advanced development 2013—$1.4 billion, including launch office in the SLS program. infrastructure—that expires Jan. 15. “Because we’re doing two test If that level falls under a new continu- Main Propulsion System: flights, we may go ahead and config- ing resolution, or additional funding • LOX/LH 2 ure the first ICPS to be similar to the sequestration to trim the budget, the • 2-4 engines second,” he says. “That is still under development schedule will change. • 100,000-120,000-lb. total thrust class • 462-465 sec I sp study.” “If the appropriations beyond Janu- Source: NASA Also under study is a 120,000-lb.- ary are at the same levels we are at, thrust “dual-use upper stage” (DUUS) then we’ll proceed to making progress fly in the early SLS variants. While it that Dumbacher says will have enough toward December 2017 if we can, rec- was the pacing item for the terminated capability to give the program a choice ognizing we’ll just have to play through Ares I crew launch vehicle, the J-2X of developing it or the advanced and sort all this out,” Dumbacher says. delivers more power than is needed for booster first. Although unfunded and “I don’t think I have ever seen a pro- any of the SLS variants except the 130- fairly notional in concept (see illustra- gram where any of us have had to man- ton variant planned for human mis- tion), it would use four RL-10 engines age in this environment, where I get sions to Mars (AW&ST Oct. 7, p. 28). or perhaps two of Japan’s proposed funding on a quarterly basis. Even in In a Nov. 18 interview, Dumbacher 60,000-lb.-thrust MB-60s. fiscal ’13 we didn’t have an approved said work on the SLS core stage was Dennis Tito has asked NASA to ac- operating plan until August.” c

AviationWeek.com/awst AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 45 SPACE

The specially adapted Gulfstream III will release the GOLauncher 2 vehicle during a 30-deg. zoom climb from a starting altitude of 35,000 ft. and speed of Mach 0.8.

reusable systems have been developed, there is no consensus on how to develop such systems. Many agree one answer is developing smaller, purpose-designed ﬂexible launchers, rather than relying on the current means of sharing a ride to orbit with larger payloads. However, GO for Launch among the many higher-profile projects aimed at this goal—ranging from Bolstered by NASA CubeSat deal, start-up Virgin Galactic’s LauncherOne to the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Proj- aims to change paradigm on cost to orbit ect Agency’s (Darpa) Experimental Spaceplane (XS-1)—one company has Guy Norris Los Angeles already quietly secured its place as a low-cost pioneer by winning a NASA or years, space industry pundits satellites—including microsats, nano- CubeSat launch contract. have been forecasting a coming sats and CubeSats—is projected to ex- Generation Orbit (GO) Launch Ser- Fboom in the small-satellite market. ceed 150 spacecraft per year by 2020. vices won a $2.1 million contract in The key question now is not so much the But, while there is broad agreement September to launch a group of three GO LAUNCH SERVICES LAUNCH GO size of the business opportunity, but how that launch costs will not come down 3U (3 X 10 X 10-cm) (1.2 X 4 X 4-in.) best to unlock its full potential. sufficiently to support such a viable CubeSats to a 230-nm (425-km) orbit The market for the launch of small small-sat market until fully or partially under NASA’s Enabling eXploration

both Dnepr and Rockot have raised Size Matters prices in recent years. Rockot charg- es about €30 million ($41 million) per Light-class launchers are vying for launch, depending on the mission. That is an increase of more than 10% ever-smaller satellite payloads since ESA signed an April 2010 agreement for the Swarm satellites valued Amy Svitak Beijing and Darmstadt, Germany at €27 million, including development, construction and testing of a unique ecent launches of two convert- German-Russian Rockot, launched three-satellite dispenser led by Briz- ed Soviet-era ballistic missiles the European Space Agency’s (ESA) KM prime contractor Khrunichev. Rhave reaffirmed the vehicles’ Swarm mission, a trio of identical re- “We have seen a small increase in presence in the market for lofting small search satellites, to an orbit of roughly prices due to financial developments in satellites, a sector once reserved for 500 km (300 mi.) altitude to study the Russia, but there are no drastic chang- research and technology demonstra- Earth’s magnetic field. es,” says Eurockot CEO York Viertel. tions that is seeing increased demand Two botched Russian government With three missions in backlog and for commercial applications, including launches on the Rockot vehicle—in enough existing SS-19 hardware to optical and radar imagery and commu- February 2011 and January 2013, both continue launching through at least nications. of which involved the rocket’s Russian 2018, Eurockot Chief Technical Officer A Russian-Ukrainian Dnepr sent 24 Briz-KM upper stage—contributed to Markus Poetsch says customers with small-satellite payloads to orbit from repeated delays of the Swarm mission. smaller satellites in the 100-150-kg (220- Russia’s Yasny launch site Nov. 21. Oper- But for Eurockot Launch Services, the 330-lb.) class also have the option to fly ated by ISC Kosmotras and the Russian Astrium-Khrunichev joint venture that their spacecraft as secondary payloads defense ministry, the mission was the markets commercial Rockot missions, on a Rockot for €5-6 million each. second since the August return to flight the Swarm launch shows the company For Vega, which orbited its debut of the repurposed SS-18 missile that is able to satisfy its most important mission in February 2012, European lofted South Korea’s Kompsat-5 Earth- customer. It also positions Eurockot launch services provider Arianespace observation satellite following resolu- to bid against Italy’s new Vega vehicle is targeting a cost of less than $30 mil- tion of a financial dispute between the to orbit Europe’s Sentinel Earth-obser- lion per launch, and it has won two com- Russian and Ukrainian governments. vation satellites. mercial customers although the rock- On Nov. 22, Dnepr’s chief rival, the Despite their respective hiatuses, et’s five-flight qualification program is

46 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/awst and Technology (NEXT) program. The could get one commercially. So we good progress” on the low-cost liquid craft will be launched on the company’s picked up a jet that’s widely available, rocket, Olds says. Flight tests marking GOLauncher 2 vehicle, a two-stage de- the Gulfstream III.” GO subsequently the start of the buildup to a suborbital livery system carried to launch altitude agreed a deal with flight-test specialist risk-reduction flight could begin as ear- beneath a specially adapted Gulfstream Calspan, which operates a Gulfstream ly as the end of 2014. “The first thing III business jet. III modified with a centerline hard point you’ll see is a flight-test article, a mass Emerging initially from studies suitable for launching rocket payloads. simulator, which we will fly around un- linked to earlier Darpa reusable launch- GO’s initial launch suite consists of der the Gulfstream III to get experience ers such as Rascal (Responsive Access, two vehicles: the GOLauncher 1, a liq- of handling, the zoom maneuver that Small Cargo, Affordable Launch), an uid-rocket-powered suborbital design; will be used for launch, as well as entry early-2000s program aimed at plac- and its larger stablemate, the 100-lb.- and access into the range,” Olds says. ing 300-lb. payloads into orbit for less payload-class, two-stage, liquid- and Pending completion of these captive- than $750,000, GO began to focus more solid-powered orbital GOLauncher 2. carry tests, GO aims for the first live- recently on commercial market oppor- Development is taking place with sev- fire test by 2015. “Then, by the end of tunities, says co-founder and CEO John eral partners in addition to Calspan, 2016, we hope to put a solid motor on Olds. Its target is delivery of payloads including SpaceWorks Enterprises, it and make it available for NEXT, [set in the 100-lb. range also being looked at propulsion specialists Ventions, Tyvak for late that year]. We are also getting under Darpa’s Airborne Launch Assist Nano-Satellite Systems and Mv2space. commercial enquiries, and we hope Space Access (Alasa) program. The GO also works closely with the Air to fly 12 or more times per year,” says earliest questions were about the air Force Research Laboratory and the Olds. “Relatively speaking, we believe launch platform. Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute. we’re going to have the lowest-coat “The Scaled Composites White- Initial operations will be based out of flight in the commercial market at well Knight is a good configuration, but Cecil Field Spaceport in Jacksonville, under $4 million a flight,” he adds. there’s only one of those. So we ran Fla., the first spaceport commercially As business grows, GO also hopes various fighter-jet options, and at one licensed by the FAA. to expand operations to other loca- time there was, with Japan, interest in Although details of the first-stage tions around the U.S. “We’ve been using maybe a Sukhoi Su-27, [McDon- solid motor for the GOLauncher 2 have approached by other launch sites in nell] F-4 or [Boeing] F-15,” says Olds. yet to be finalized, Ventions is “working Texas, Alaska, Colorado, California “But these are expensive, even if you on ground demonstrations and making and Hawaii,” he says. c

not complete. In May, Vietnam vancing incremental improve- launched the VNREDSat 1a ments to the new solid-fueled Earth-observation satellite as launcher with commercial cus- a secondary payload to ESA’s tomers in mind. Proba-V environmental satel- “We are taking a two-step lite on Vega’s second mission. development plan to launch Next year, Vega plans to launch a low-cost, high-performance the DZZ-HR optical-imaging Epsilon,” says Yasuhiro Mori- spacecraft for Kazakhstan. ta, Epsilon program manager Arianespace says the ad- at JAXA. “We are aiming at dressable market for Vega the commercial market after in 2014-18 is 8-10 missions a the establishment of the next- year with a payload-carrying generation Epsilon, and I hope capacity of 100-1,500 kg, to be to be very competitive.” launched to low Earth orbit Morita says the prototype (LEO) and sun-synchronous Epsilon rocket, the E-X, is able orbit (SSO), either in a dedicat- to loft 1,200 kg to LEO for about ed-mission or multiple-payload ¥3.8 billion ($38 million), though conﬁguration. the inaugural mission from Ja- Meanwhile, the Japan Aero- pan’s Uchinoura Space Center space Exploration Agency’s cost closer to $53 million, a ﬁg- (JAXA) new Epsilon light- ure he says includes the rocket’s launcher debuted in September. intensive test regime. The rocket is designed to launch By 2017, however, JAXA plans payloads up to 1,200 kg to LEO to launch an interim variant of and 450 kg to SSO. JAXA is ad- Epsilon, the E-1 Dash, which will incorporate enhancements, ESA’s three-satellite Swarm including lighter avionics, to de- mission was one of the most liver payloads of 1,800 kg to LEO complex for Rockot in terms or 750 kg to SSO for less than of payload separation. $30 million per launch. c

EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY AviationWeek.com/awst AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 47 SPACE How To Catch an Asteroid Industry and experts brainstorm ideas for corralling a near-Earth object

Mark Carreau Houston

utside experts are responding to The proposed initiative, which has NASA’s call to lasso an asteroid, no set cost or strong congressional Oproviding the agency’s Asteroid backing yet, would start with the Retrieval Mission (ARM) planners with launch of a robotic spacecraft devel- new momentum for the two-phase oped to capture a target asteroid, then strategy to resume U.S. human deep- move it into a retrograde orbit around space exploration while demonstrating the Moon. Two astronauts aboard the capabilities to find and deflect asteroids Orion crew exploration vehicle would that pose an impact threat to Earth. rendezvous and dock with the capture NASA’s 2014 budget plans include craft. $105 million to ramp up a notional One challenge for the mission will scheme for the 2018 launch of a robot- be avoiding the “ride ’em cowboy” mo- ic spacecraft that would corral a yet- ments that could break up a fragile tar- and the tumbling that are really the to-be-selected asteroid in the 5-10-me- get or damage the capture spacecraft. key issues.” ter (16.5-33-ft.), 500-metric-ton range. “Basically, the spin state of the target The composition of a relatively small Once captured, the asteroid would dominates the capture process,” says asteroid that is solid and fine-grained be maneuvered into a distant, stable, Brian Wilcox of NASA’s Jet Propulsion like a dirt clod, or a rubble pile collec- retrograde orbit around the Moon. Laboratory and lead for that phase of tion of larger fragments, ranks close Astronauts launched on the first pi- the agency’s ARM reference mission. behind as a mission concern. Like the loted test flight of the Orion/Space “If the target was not spinning, most spin rate, composition may be difficult Launch System crew exploration ve- people would agree the process is not to characterize until NASA’s robotic hicle/heavy-lift rocket combination that challenging a task. It’s the spin capture craft pulls alongside. Any- would rendezvous with the thing less than a solid body, asteroid over a three-week turning or tumbling at 1 rpm mission, perhaps as early as or more, becomes a major 2021. challenge, Wilcox says. NASA recently concluded NASA’s reference mission an Asteroid Initiative Idea would rendezvous and then Synthesis workshop at the extend an inflatable struc- agency’s Lunar Planetary ture around the asteroid. Institute focused on 96 sub- Wedge-shaped internal air missions from small busi- bags would fill to control nesses, traditional aerospace and stop any spin and tum- companies, NASA’s interna- ble before the spacecraft tional partners and other treks back to the Moon. government agencies in The workshop featured response to a June request TETHERS UNLIMITED INC. plenty of advice on—and a for proposals. The agency is range of alternatives to— seeking ideas for develop- the bag-and-cinch strategy ing an asteroid-deflection that is the agency’s current capability as well as a road baseline. They range from map for future human deep- planting and extending long space exploration that would tethers from the surface of stretch to Mars by the mid-2030s. The Tethers Unlimited’s “Wrangler” an uncontrolled asteroid to embrac- workshop drew 138 participants for 79 concept (Weightless Rendezvous ing the space rock with long inflatable presentations across a half-dozen key and Net Grapple to Limit Excess booms or big robotic fingers. More ARM fronts: asteroid observation, Rotation) system would employ than one-third of the proposals se- capture mechanisms, redirection and two technologies, a deployable net lected for discussion dealt with ARM’s deflection, astronaut crew systems, capture device and a tether de- robotic-capture phase. strategic partnering, and greater pub- ployer/winch mechanism, to catch Two outlined proposals would equip lic engagement. and stabilize the asteroid. the capture craft with devices to plant

48 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/awst will attempt to increase the total by guiding crowd-sourcing challenges and extending the online availability of NASA-funded sky survey data. NASA will develop and manage the competitions as well as assess the value of the most promising algorithm submissions. The initial competition, based on the Asteroid Zoo platform from Planetary Resources and Zooniverse, is planned for early 2014. Technologies drawn from the two ventures would set the stage for a human Mars mission in the mid-2030s while expanding asteroid awareness using “citizen science” and developing deflection capabilities. NASA’s concept would send a Solar Electric “This partnership uses NASA re- Propulsion Asteroid Retrieval Vehicle to sources in innovative ways,” says Lindley find the designated asteroid and bag it in an Johnson, NASA’s NEO program execu- inflatable capture device. tive. After its 2009 founding, Planetary NASA Resources carried out a successful a reeled tether up to 5 km (3 mi.) long partnership under the space agency’s Kickstarter campaign, raising more on the asteroid’s surface. Once on the Asteroid Grand Challenge (AGC) ini- than $1.5 million from 18,000 con- surface, the tether could be extended tiative to accelerate the search for tributors to finance Arkyd, a space to slowly damp out the rotations. near-Earth objects (NEO) that pose telescope project. The private ob- One presentation, by Harold Gerrish a collision threat by using govern- servatory will search for near-Earth of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Cen- ment sky surveys and crowd-sourced asteroids rich in water, precious met- ter, shares a heritage with space shut- als and other potential resources that tle tethered-satellite missions flown could fuel a space economy. The com- in 1992 and 1996. Tethers Unlimited, pany’s investors include Google’s CEO, of Bothell, Wash., proposed the use of Larry Page, and executive chairman, free-flying CubeSats to deploy nets Eric Schmidt and tethers for capture and control All data developed and used by the after the primary spacecraft rendez- AGC will be open-source and publicly vous with the asteroid target. available. Northrop Grumman offered another “While improving the algorithms strategy in which a capture craft is to detect NEOs helps gain more data, equipped with sensors, guidance and additional surveys, telescopes and propulsion to characterize and match capability put to the search will also the motion of the target before deploy- assist in completing the task of coming two clamshell-like AstroMesh cap- piling a comprehensive open-source ture panels. After enclosing the aster- catalog,” says Chris Lewicki, president

oid, internal webbing would secure it TETHERS UNLIMITED INC. and chief engineer of Bellevue, Wash., for the lunar leg of the mission. based Planetary Resources. Canada’s MDA Corp. drew on the Plans for an industry day in March company’s experience with the space 2014 that would follow the White shuttle’s robot arm to propose a House release of the 2015 federal bud- 3-5-fingered capture mechanism. The get proposal, seem far out for many of robotic fingers could be enhanced with the workshop participants, who had inflatables to clamp and secure the To demonstrate the ability to catch already waited more than six weeks ARM mission target, whether it is a an asteroid, Tethers Unlimited longer than expected for the workshop solid object or a collection of asteroid would deploy and stabilize the up- due to the government shutdown. “We fragments, says company representa- per stage of the launch rocket. do need to think about having engage- tive Paul Fulford. ment before March,” says Michele In addition to asteroid taming, com- algorithms. The known asteroids in Gates, chair of the workshop and a panies are building new business rela- the Solar System number 620,000, senior technical advisor to NASA’s tionships to compete for the mission. which is estimated to be less than 1% Human Exploration and Operations Planetary Resources Inc., the startup of the total. Directorate. “We will definitely take asteroid mining company, and NASA Under a non-reimbursable Space the feedback and consider what we have formed the first public/private Act Agreement, Planetary Resources can do sooner.” c

AviationWeek.com/awst AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 49 SPACE

ogy officer. “Luxury branding space- High Flying flight is really what we are doing.” World View was awaiting confir- Company plans to offer luxury mation from the FAA’s Office of Com- mercial Space Transportation that balloon ride to near-space its balloon operations will fall under the agency’s Chapter 509 jurisdiction Mark Carreau Houston on grounds the crew compartment, life-support systems and other hard- tartup World View Enterprises would loiter for 2 to 6 hr. at peak alti- ware will be developed and operated Inc. envisions a commercial tude to afford views of the Earth, the as though they were in space, explain Shigh-altitude balloon experience arc of the horizon and the blackness of Poynter and MacCallum, who outlined for luxury-minded passengers and sci- space for the adventure-minded pas- World View’s business strategy. entific researchers that will strive to senger or access to the stratosphere Tucson-based Paragon Space Devel- deliver many of the prolonged experi- for scientists investigating high-alti- opment Corp., the developers of space- ences of spaceflight without the con- tude medical issues or meteoritics, flight life-support and thermal-control finement, cost, risks or health limita- among other fields of inquiry. systems, is serving as World View’s tions associated with rocket launches. A typical flight would descend with- flight systems prime contractor and The Tucson, Ariz.-based company in 20-40 min. with the aid of a large, technical partner. Poynter and Mac- Callum were among Paragon’s founders in 1993 before spinning off the balloon venture. While World View has looked at Space- port America as a base of operations, that decision is not yet final. “There are a whole World View Enterprises is host of places we looking to begin commercial are looking at right flights by the end of 2016. now. The way this will probably work is we will end up with several launch sites,” Poynter says. “Our entire operation has been designed to be incredibly flexible. We will not need to have huge external facilities on the ground. We can pick up everything and move to where we WORLD VIEW ENTERPRISES need to be.” is looking toward late 2016 to inaugu- navigable para wing, affording a few Fifty flights would be the maximum rate commercial flights, potentially seconds of weightlessness for passen- during the first year of operations, she from Spaceport America in New gers, according to a mission profile still says. Then the plans include expand- Mexico. Virgin Galactic expects to in development. ing beyond the U.S. Component testing begin launching its suborbital passen- The ticket price is $75,000. is already under way. Subscale test- ger missions there aboard the White- “We want to give people that ex- ing will continue through the second KnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo as perience of seeing the Earth from quarter of 2014, much of it in parallel early as next year. space for hours at a time and being with systems engineering evaluations World View’s helium balloon would able to contemplate the curvature of to validate the flight profile. The pri- float to 30 km (98,425 ft./18.6 mi.) over the Earth and all that comes with that mary focus will be on the transitions a span of 90 min. to 2 hr. on a typical experience,” says Jane Poynter, World from under balloon to under para-wing flight, hoisting a comfortably appoint- View CEO. “By all accounts, it is just flight regimes, Tabor says. ed eight-passenger gondola suspended magical. We believe it can be a really Assembly of the first full-scale sys- below, which will be outfitted with a transformative.” tems should be under way in mid-2014, bar, food service and electronic con- “Think of this as super first class, followed by full-scale component test- nectivity. The gondola, pressurized to a high-end luxury experience,” adds ing and construction of the first com- one atmosphere throughout the flight, Taber MacCallum, the chief technol- mercial flight balloon in 2015. c

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AviationWeek.com/awst AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 53 Viewpoint Know Supplier Costs, Or Else BY RAMAN RAM, JOSEPH MARTIN, JONO ANDERSON and ERICH FISCHER

or the last 15 years, airframers and major sub- ers capture excess profits while having low supplier system providers have been on the wrong end power, threatening to switch is the most promising F of what seems like a zero-sum game with their tactic. The threat should be triggered by a supplier’s suppliers. Prices have gone up, and suppliers’ negotiat- unwillingness to lower prices to a reasonable level. ing power—along with profits—has risen as well. The Only credible threats are relevant. OEMs and system trend has been more pronounced in some areas of the providers believe switching is costly for customized supply chain, but on the whole, the upstream players parts. The costs can be high in some cases, but can be have captured a declining portion of industry profits. overcome in most. However, this approach is possible This is not destiny. OEMs and systems providers only if the buyer has excellent capabilities to assess have the power to recapture some of the value they switching costs and economic alternatives. have conceded. To do this, however, they need to Collaborate with suppliers: When components become good at estimating what the sourced parts come from a supplier whose profit and power are should cost. Should-cost estimation capability has lower than the systems provider’s, joint cost reduc- atrophied in many OEMs as procurement staffs have tion is optimal. Joint cost reduction is based on the focused more on transactional activities. They are un- reality that there are policies, activities and practices able to identify inefficient suppliers that pass along on both the customer and supplier sides that intro- high cost structure and opportunistic ones looking to duce inefficiencies into the supply chain, driving up exploit the absence of economic transparency. product cost. However, to pursue this, the OEM or

system provider needs to know the “ideal cost” of the part and the contribution of the supplier’s expense

Some of the tactics structure to the product cost. Pursue longer-term strategies: The most challeng- to recapture value are ing situation for OEMs involves suppliers of large and “ “ highly complex subsystems. These markets tend to be straightforward but have to highly concentrated, with suppliers having substantial intellectual property along with product and process be approached in a highly expertise. OEMs have limited options in the short-term to alter the balance of power. In the longer-term, they systematic way. can pursue several approaches, for example: structure incentives with suppliers; shift designs to eliminate the This is exacerbated by market factors. Some sup- need for the assembly; integrate the function of the as- ply markets are genuinely constrained, often the con- sembly into a larger subsystem that they design and sequence of deft moves by market leaders. In other manufacture, or signal their intent to invest in new sup- cases, OEMs have made tactical decisions to cede pliers or to pursue vertical integration. intellectual property to select suppliers or resorted The imbalance in value capture between aerospace to single sources in an effort to reduce supply chain OEMs and their suppliers did not develop overnight, complexity or benefit from some scale. and the situation will not be reversed overnight. Some The issue centers on custom parts, which account tactics to be used to re-capture value are reasonably for a large share of direct material spending and where straightforward but have to be approached in a high- pricing is not transparent. To address this, OEMs and ly systematic way. This is a journey rather than the systems providers should start by segmenting their flicking of a switch—with capabilities to be built or supply bases by relative economic performance and strengthened in the areas of supplier and spend seg- by supplier power ratio. The former provides a com- mentation, should-cost estimation and switching-cost parison of the economic profit captured by suppliers analysis. With the right discipline, this is a journey that in a given market with that of their customers. Sup- can lead to higher profitability and an improved com- plier power ratio can highlight the concentration of petitive position. Suppliers that understand this and suppliers to customers in a given market. act accordingly will be advantaged relative to peers. c When viewed along these two dimensions, OEMs and system providers can use three generic strate- Ram and Fisher are a principal and a vice president, re- gies depending on the products being sourced and spectively, with Booz & Co. in Washington. Martin and the associated supply market structure: Anderson are a partner and a principal, respectively, Threaten to defect: In markets where suppli- with the consultancy in Los Angeles.

54 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/DECEMBER 9, 2013 AviationWeek.com/awst Aviation Week’s Fleet and MRO Forecasts

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