Farnborough Airshow News 7-19-10 by Aviation International News

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INSIDE... • Full power ahead for Superjet

Show wakes up to Dreamliner by Ian Goold The eagerly anticipated arrival of the 787 Dreamliner here at Farnborough yesterday is a major boost to the troubled program’s credibility. If seeing is believing, this first opportunity for much of the global air transport industry to examine the 787

should bolster belief that the twinjet is just months away from entering commercial service– even though this key milestone is set to slip for a seventh time from late this year into 2011. The Dreamliner touched down here just a bit before 9 a.m.

yesterday after orbiting for a few minutes away from Farnborough in order to arrive in time for the moment to be captured by the assembled media cameras. Boeing assistant chief pilot Capt. Mike Bryan landed the aircraft with the use of

Boeing’s long-awaited new 787 airliner is making its international debut here this week.

MARK WAGNER

European certification of the Powerjet SaM146 turbofan last month has eased the way for service entry of the Superjet 100 with Aeroflot and Armavia before the end of the year. EASA certification for the aircraft is expected by mid-2011, which will permit first deliveries to Western operators. Page 36

Vol. 42 No. 17

• Dreamliner awakens to service reality Getting the 787 certified is only half of Boeing’s effort to get the new widebody ready to enter service with launch customer All Nippon Airways. No detail is left unaddressed by the airframer’s Service-ready team. Page 56

• Next-gen cockpits could be single pilot While busy developing the flight decks for fixed-wing airliners and helicopters, Thales Aerospace is working on the visualization of what the cockpits of the next-generation aircraft might look like in 20 years’ time. The biggest potential breakthrough could be single-pilot operations for commercial aircraft. Page 69

Continued on page 86

Fresh doubts over A400M as Europe tightens its belt by Chris Pocock Talks to amend the Airbus A400M development and production contract will drag on into the autumn as the moratorium on funding imposed by the European partner nations continues. The troubled military airlifter is making its UK debut here at the Farnborough show against a backdrop of renewed speculation that the UK commitment to purchase could yet fall victim to the UK Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR), which is part of the new British government’s determination to drive down public spending by an average of 25 percent. “It’s a battle…not an easy negotiation…[the nations] aren’t keen to fund it,” EADS chief

executive officer Louis Gallois admitted last Saturday in response to a question from AIN. But the outline agreement to rescue the program that was signed last March is still valid, The A400M is in a three-way squeeze to join the UK’s airlift fleet.

DAVID MCINTOSH

Developed to meet the UK’s surveillance needs, the BAE Systems Mantis UAV technology demonstrator has become the focus of wider interest from elsewhere in Europe. It is seen as a potential platform for the requirements of France and Italy, with interest also expected from Germany and Spain. Page 37

MARK WAGNER

• Praying Mantis waits for Europe to bite

reverse thrust after an 8 hour 37 minute overnight flight from Seattle. Comprising the 787 crew were technical test pilot Capt. Ted Grady and production test pilot Capt. John Frischkorn. The aircraft had been withdrawn from flight-test work last Wednesday for two days of preparation for its inaugural airshow presentation. The overnight flight was conducted at FL350 and proved very valuable in testing the 787’s navigation, radio, satellite and datalink systems. In addition to the value of displaying the new aircraft to actual and prospective customers on the ground here at Farnborough, 787 program chief test pilot Capt. Mike Carriker emphasized that the 787’s flying visit is an intrinsic part of the flight-test program. For example, as a navigational exercise the aircraft has flown into many new areas of polar and North Atlantic airspace. Throughout the flight from Seattle (using the simple call sign “Boeing 787,” much to the delight of duty air-traffic controllers and other North Atlantic airspace traffic), flight-test engineers were taking “megabytes”

he added. The German defense minister last week confirmed that his country was negotiating to reduce its order of A400Ms by seven, to 51, but according to Gallois, “None of the nations wants out of the project.” However, a senior Royal Air Force (RAF) commander who is closely involved with the SDSR told AIN last week that the service “ultimately planned to operate only two types of

airlifter in the future.” By so doing, the service would reap substantial savings in training and support costs, he added. This mirrors the evolving policy with respect to the RAF’s fast jets and helicopters, with only two types in each category to be retained. The RAF currently operates 25 Lockheed Martin C-130Js delivered since 1998 and six C-17s delivered since Continued on page 86

It’s making more than just headlines. The Airbus A380 has made its name as the world’s largest, greenest passenger aircraft. But the big news is that the A380 is also making big profits for operators. Whether it’s being used to reduce the number of flights and create real cost savings while keeping similar capacity. Or to offer more capacity with fewer take-off slots at a lower cost per seat than any other large aircraft. Either way, passengers simply love it, and operators love the commercial advantages it brings. The A380’s benefits are in hard cash, not just headlines. Airbus

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Farnborough

Pratt Canada lauches new regional turboprop

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by Julian Moxon be a demand for fuel-efficient turboprops in the high-utilization class working 400- to 500-nautical-mile sectors,” Saabas said. “It is the best engine for the job and there are many players out there.” The current Bombardier Dash 8-400 and ATR 42/72 continue to be developed and new designs are in the cards for emerging markets in China and India, he said. The first engine in the PW100 series–the 1,787-shp PW120–entered service in 1984, powering the ATR 42. Today’s PW150A powering the Bombardier Q400 produces 5,071 shp. Versions of the engine power aircraft in service with 365 operators in 124 countries; more than 6,000 have been produced and have accumulated more than 100 million flying hours. The powerplant resulting from the demonstrator engine will be allied to new propeller technology under development by Pratt & Whitney Canada’s fellow company in the United Technologies group, Hamilton Sundstrand. Saabas said the

new engine will not be aimed at increasing the cruising speed of regional turboprops, typically 360 knots. “In this sector, our customers are more interested in fuel economy,” he said. “We will leverage our more than 200 million hours of turboprop experience to develop the most advanced engine for this important market segment.” Details of the turbo-mechanical features of the new engine are not being released. Saabas said only that the “best technology available” would be used to reduce weight and increase pressure ratio and, hence, core efficiency. The PW118-127 models featured two-spool, two-stage centrifugal high-pres-

sure compressors, the more powerful PW150 moving to a three-stage axial design. Both had single-stage low and highpressure turbines. The new engine will benefit, said Saabas, from the same three-dimensional airflow visualization technology used for development of the PW1000G and other new turbofans. The emphasis will also be on reducing ownership costs through increased component lifetime and longer maintenance intervals. Saabas pointed out, however, that it would be “difficult” to improve on the reliability of the PW100, currently claimed to be 99.97 percent.

CHRIS POCOCK

Pratt & Whitney Canada has launched an all-new turboprop engine for regional aircraft to replace the 1,800- to 5,000-shp PW100 series. It expects to run the core demonstrator in the second half of next year. P&WC president John Saabas said the new engine will be “at least” 10 percent more fuel efficient than the PW100 series, which he claims is “still the most economical turboprop in its class.” There is, however, a demand for a “double-digit” fuel burn improvement, which can be met, he said, by using technology developed for the company’s latest small turbofans, in particular the new PW1000G geared turbofan powering the Mitsubishi MRJ and Bombardier C Series regional jets. The company said it has completed the advanced study phase and is ready to launch the demonstrator program. It has “still to decide” on a date for service entry, however, and remains vague as to the likely applications. “What we do know is that there will always

Airshow News

LAST-MINUTE ARRIVAL: GRIPEN NG MAKES TRADE SHOW DEBUT The Saab Gripen NG demonstrator arrives at Farnborough today on the second leg of its international public debut, having spent the weekend at the Royal International Air Tattoo at Fairford (seen in this photo). The Swedish government, which owns the aircraft, granted permission for its trip to the UK only on Thursday. The aircraft has been outside Sweden already, however, having been evaluated by the Indian Air Force in May, as will be detailed in tomorrow’s edition of Farnborough Airshow News. Powered by a General Electric F414G engine, the advanced technology demonstrator has flown more than 175 times since its first flight in May 2008.

BAE ROLLS OUT STEALTHY UCAV Amid tight security, the Taranis Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (shown above) was unveiled at BAE Systems Warton airfield last Monday. Uncleared visitors were not allowed to approach the aircraft, but the stealth-driven configuration seemed unchanged from artists’ impressions previously released. The Taranis concept demonstrator is due to fly next year from an undisclosed overseas airbase. The UK Ministry of Defence has provided an extra £18 million (making the total so far £142.5 million) to the project “to accommodate an additional program of work with a wider scope.” BAE Systems, RollsRoyce, QinetiQ and GE Aviation have provided a further £40 million. BAE Systems group managing director Nigel Whitehead said the project is keeping the skills of full aircraft design capability alive in the UK. Tradeoffs had been made to meet the limited budget, and “every feature of the project has represented a huge technical challenge,” he said. Gerald Howarth, UK Minister for International Security Strategy, said the project “reflects the best of our nation’s advanced design and technology skills. But he would not commit to further funding beyond the demonstrator stage, and left open the possibility of European collaboration in full-scale development of a UCAV. AIN will report on Taranis in further detail in a subsequent edition here in Farnborough. –C.P.

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Lockheed Martin rebuts F-35 critics on cost, progress by Chris Pocock After a bad start to 2010, U.S. officials are at Farnborough to persuade their eight international partners that the original ambitions for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter are still intact. Escalating cost estimates and flight-test delays have cast a shadow over the airplane billed by Lockheed Martin as the only exportable fifth-generation fighter. Unlike previous shows, there will be no stage-managed public parade here of the U.S. and international customers, all professing confidence, enthusiasm and unity. But in low-key media and private briefings this week, the F-35 message is that the goals of all-aspect stealth and superior avionics integration in a mass-production, multi-role combat aircraft can still be achieved. The tone for these discussions was set in Washington last month, when Lockheed Martin chairman and CEO Bob Stevens declared, “There is no more affordable alternative capable of performing the mission.” He maintained that if Lockheed Martin can secure the production volume, the acquisition cost of the F-35 will be equivalent to a similarly equipped F-16 Block 60 or F-18 fighter. That would be around $60 million in current dollars. Unfortunately, the official Pentagon estimates currently suggest that the average production unit cost (APUC) will approach twice as much–about $112 million. Early production aircraft are costing more than that (at least $125 million each),

as will the F-35B version with its STOVL (short takeoff and vertical landing) capability. What’s more, these APUC estimates do not include amortization of the F-35’s development bill, which is now expected to be a cool $53 billion. Moreover, they assume, like Stevens himself, that most or all of the planned 2,443 aircraft for the U.S. and 730 for the eight international partners will actually be produced. The Pentagon set up an F-35 Task Force and turned to three internal review organizations after top officials lost confidence in the data coming from their own F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO). U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates fired the Marine Corps major general heading the JPO, David Heinz, last February. According to Dr. Ashton Carter, Undersecretary of Defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, a combination of unforeseen engineering changes and other factors went unacknowledged and virtually unmanaged for two years. “We should have better situational awareness and better early warning about the status of our programs,” he said recently. Production Line Problems

When asked by the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee what had gone wrong with program, Carter explained that there had been problems on the production line with multiple items having to be changed after various elements of the aircraft didn’t

The F-35 features an unprecedented degree of sensor fusion delivered to the pilot via a one-piece plasma touch-screen display that spans the cockpit, and a helmet-mounted display–there is no fixed head-up display (HUD). The Block 1 software is shown here. It provides fusion of the aircraft’s onboard sensors. Later blocks will add offboard sensors via datalink. The image of rugged terrain in the left portal is generated by the F-35’s unique distributed aperture system, which provides a 360-degree view of the F-35’s surroundings in both azimuth and elevation. The clarity of the medium-wave infrared (MWIR) sensor that forms part of the electro-optical targeting system (EOTS) is shown in the other large portal: a view of a building and car park at more than 10-nm range.

6aaFarnborough Airshow News • July 19, 2010 • www.ainonline.com

fit together correctly. “Labor and overhead rates went up. Commodity prices increased, especially titanium. The short takeoff/vertical landing version cost more to develop because of weight growth. There was a degradation of airframe commonality. There was major cost growth at the subcontractors,” Carter said. Lockheed Martin officials take issue with the Pentagon’s APUC estimates, which come from the cost analysis and program evaluation (CAPE) office. “The CAPE model uses production costs derived from the F-18 and F-22 programs and extrapolates them out to 2037 using only a 50-percent confidence level,” Steve O’Bryan, vice president for F-35 business development, told AIN. “That model takes no account of our plans for lean production, nor our much lower supplier costs. For instance, we can buy an F-35 radar for half the cost of an F-22 radar. We can make the same order of savings on the electronic warfare system and other avionics, including the singlepiece plasma screen in the cockpit.” Moreover, he added, the APUC figure includes military construction necessary to support the F-35 and a portion of the support costs. The F-35 comes complete with radar, avionics, defensive systems and so forth, as well as weapons pylons, he noted. “While the U.S. government uses the high independent estimates for program budgeting purposes, it holds the contractor to an entirely different standard in contracting for the actual aircraft,” another Lockheed Martin spokesman told AIN. Negotiations for LRIP Lot 4 (low rate of initial production) have been under way in the weeks leading up to this week’s Farnborough show. The government’s offer was 40 percent lower than its own CAPE estimate for this lot, while Lockheed Martin’s opening bid was 20 percent lower than the same estimate. “We’ll settle somewhere in the middle of that range,” the spokesman added. In his remarks last month, Stevens added that this LRIP Lot 4 contract will be agreed on fixed-price incentive terms for all three versions of the airplane. “That’s two years ahead of the original plan to go to fixed prices,” he noted. All previous F-35 contracts have been cost-reimbursable. The other big problem has been the slow pace of flight testing caused by late delivery of the 13 system development and

Two development F-35As (AF-1 and AF-2) fly in formation over Edwards Air Force Base during endurance test flights last May.

demonstration (SDD) aircraft. This has only increased concerns that there is too much concurrency between development and production in the F-35 schedule. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) of the U.S. Congress has consistently criticized the F-35 program on this point, earning the scorn of the F-35 JPO and the contractors, notably Lockheed Martin. The Pentagon has adjusted the development program by adding another aircraft for the SDD and $400 million more funding for the SDD in the current fiscal year. It is also moving three LRIP aircraft that were previously allocated to operational test and evaluation (OT&E) into the SDD. Lockheed Martin also was told to boost the resources allocated to software development. The Pentagon believes these actions will reduce the delay in completing the SDD to 13 months, from the 30 months that was forecast by its task force. It has withheld $614 million in payments to Lockheed Martin so that “the contractors will share in the process of getting back on track,” said Carter. “All milestones are now defined and award fees will be tied to them,” he told the Senate Armed Services Committee. Fear of Concurrency

But the fear of concurrency remains, particularly since there has been no apparent relaxation in the target date of 2012 for initial operating capability (IOC) of the F-35B with the U.S. Marine Corps. The planned IOCs for the U.S. Air Force F-35A and U.S. Navy F-35C are both in 2016, using Block 3 software. Each service defines IOC differently, but it is clear that the early production F-35s will be delivered with the limited functionality of the Block 1 software (and with only the internally carried weapons qualified). Lockheed Martin says it will deliver the two LRIP Lot 1 aircraft to Eglin Air Force Base in the fourth quarter this year, on schedule, so the Marine Corps can begin flight training of instructor pilots. They are already “flying” the full-motion simulator there. The extent of the concurrency can be Continued on page 8

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Lockheed Martin rebuts F-35 critics on cost, progress Continued from page 6

gleaned from the JPO’s latest table of planned procurement quantities, dated last November. From this it can be seen that over 500 aircraft will already be on order, before the SDD is finally signed off in 2014. And yet the full-rate production decision (“Milestone C”) now is not due until April 2016. Of course, this buy plan is subject to alteration, particularly by the international partners. Canada and Denmark are formally evaluating alternatives to the F-35. The UK has already moved to the right 17 of the aircraft it planned to procure by 2014. It is likely to cut the planned total buy after the current UK Strategic Defence Review. The Dutch may not buy their second aircraft in LRIP Lot 4, after all. According to the GAO, only 10 percent of the flight test sorties that were planned last year actually took off. Lockheed Martin says flight test activity is accelerating

rapidly. By the end of June, about one-third of the 394 test flights scheduled for this year had occurred. The first F-35C flew in early June, a year behind the schedule set in 2007. The first two F-35As are now at Edwards Air Force Base. There are four F-35Bs at NAS Patuxent River, including the first aircraft with a full mission system. Meanwhile, the very first F-35 that was built for the SDD–AA-1–has already been retired. It was unrepresentative of the final design after changes were made in 2005. After a short test career at Edwards, AA-1 is now on the China Lake weapons range, where it will be “attacked” by live fire to test survivability aspects of the F-35, especially the fuel tanks. “The next two years will be critical,”

Carter declared. He noted that there are some significant test milestones during this period, including sea trials of the F-35B STOVL version, the completion of static tests and the release of Block 2 software. Carter did not mention the low-observability flight tests, due to start at the end of this year. Radar cross-section testing of the fullscale pole model is already well advanced. Lockheed Martin officials told AIN that static tests of the F-35A and F-35B versions have already been completed, to 150 percent of the structural requirement. The F-35A article survived without a single failure, and is good for 13.5g. The F-35B had just one failure–an auxiliary inlet door hinge, which has already been fixed. Drop tests have already been done on the F-35C to simulate heavy carrier landings. “By doing the static

F-35 BF-1 undertakes the type’s first vertical landing on March 18. BAE Systems leads the STOVL test effort due to its unrivaled expertise in the arena.

BAE Systems Gears Up for JSF As a Level-1 partner in the Joint Strike Fighter program, BAE Systems has major responsibilities. While the company’s U.S. arm provides electronic warfare, low-observability and vehicle management expertise, BAE Systems’ UK operation is a major component manufacturer, centered on the site at Samlesbury in northern England. The company has ploughed around £200 million into the site, and a new flexible manufacturing system is scheduled to go “live” in August or September with up to 16 machines that can produce titanium parts with great versatility. No machine is specific to any one part, so the necessary components can be produced with great savings in time and price. BAE Systems is responsible for the construction of the JSF’s aft fuselage, vertical and horizontal tails, wingtips and nozzle bay doors. It is also involved in the fuel system, crew escape/life support and prognostics health subsystems. Shipsets of fuselage, tails and doors are assembled in an expandable facility, phase one of which is complete and producing shipsets for current low-rate production. Orders currently stand at 19 SDD aircraft (12 of which are fliers) and 31 LRIP (low rate of production) aircraft in the first three lots. Long-lead contracts have also been signed for the 32 aircraft in LRIP Lot 4. Samlesbury’s current output is one shipset every 15 days, although the phaseone facility can produce one every nine days. As the production rate ramps up, phase two will come on line, raising output to one every three days. The third and final facility extension brings Samlesbury up to the required full rate production of one shipset every working day. BAE Systems is currently engaged in planning the details of the ramp-up, including the installation of a pulse assembly line and a demonstration of one-a-day produc–David Donald tion capacity.

F-35B Sets STOVL Milestones Testing of the F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing version is in full swing at the Naval Air Warfare Center at Patuxent River, Maryland. Leading the STOVL flight-test effort is Graham Tomlinson of BAE Systems, who undertook the first flight of the STOVL variant on June 11, 2008, and brings a wealth of experience in vertical flight operations to the team. Four F-35Bs are currently at Patuxent River, supported by VX-23’s fleet of F/A-18 Hornet chase aircraft, and by the end of the year the fifth and final test vehicle will have been delivered to the test team (which will also have three F-35C carrier variants). The first F-35B arrived last November, and by early January began testing of the conversion from wingborne to jetborne flight, following rigorous testing over a hover pit. “We built down in small steps,” said Tomlinson, “starting with increasingly slower landings before progressing to vertical landings and short takeoffs.” The first fully vertical landing was made on March 18. When asked how the F-35B compared to the Harrier in terms of ease of takeoff/landing, Tomlinson replied: “It’s chalk and cheese–and so it should be! This is a single-button operation with no special controls–much easier than the Harrier. For short takeoffs you just power up; the system

8aaFarnborough Airshow News • July 19, 2010 • www.ainonline.com

takes care of everything else. On the ski-jump, for instance, the system detects the change in deck angle and doesn’t apply any rotation as it would on a flat deck.” The recent arrival of F-35 BF-4 is a milestone, as this is the first aircraft equipped with a mission system, including the APG-81 AESA radar. The first three F-35Bs are aerodynamic/ aircraft systems testbeds, with BF-1 bearing the brunt of STOVL trials, and BF-2 handling speed/ load testing. It was this aircraft that achieved Mach 1.07 last June. Testing has revealed a few minor problems. Some work was necessary to “tweak” the tail controls for optimum effect in the disturbed air caused by raising the forward lift fan door. Generally the team is ahead of schedule, and completed 155 flights against a planned 107 last year. Trials with a ski-jump are expected to begin by the end of next year, the ramp having been built in the UK for installation at Patuxent River. This will be a crucial step for the F-35Bs destined for the Royal Navy. Perhaps more challenging from a testing standpoint will be the trials of short takeoffs from the flat-deck “Wasp” class LHDs from which the F-35B will operate in U.S. –David Donald Marine Corps service.

tests early, we’ve proved that few if any retrofits are required–unlike the F-22 or F18 development programs,” noted O’Bryan. There are 5.9 million lines of software code in the Block 0.5 release that is now flying on BF-4, the first mission systems test bird. This compares to two million in an operational F-22 aircraft. The GAO report voiced concern about software development. As required by the restructuring plan, Lockheed Martin is adding a second mission systems test line (Stymsys) at a cost to the company of $100 million. AIN asked, “Will the company find enough additional software engineers to man it?” “The F-35 code is written in Continued on page 13

GAO Report Still Critical and Worried about Concurrency, Sustainability and Software Here are three extracts from the latest report of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) of the U.S. Congress about the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, released last March: • Manufacturing JSF test aircraft continues to take more time, money and effort than budgeted. By December 2009, only four of 13 (flight) test aircraft had been delivered and labor hours to build the aircraft had increased more than 50 percent above earlier estimates. Late deliveries hamper the development flight test program and affect work on production aircraft, even as plans to proceed to significantly ramp-up annual procurement rates. Some improvement is noted, but continuing manufacturing inefficiencies, parts problems and engineering technical challenges indicate that design and production processes may lack the maturity needed to efficiently produce aircraft at planned rates. The (Pentagon’s) independent manufacturing review team (IMRT) determined that the planned production ramp rate was unachievable absent significant improvements. Although restructuring actions should help, there is still a substantial overlap of development, test and production activities while DOD continues to invest in large quantities of production aircraft before variant designs are proven and performance verified. • The program office currently estimates total life-cycle costs for operating, sustaining and maintaining JSF fleets at $764 billion, substantially higher than earlier estimates. The cost per flying hour of the CTOL is projected to be higher than the F-16. NAVAIR officials recently projected total life-cycle costs even higher, at more than $1 trillion. Service officials are concerned whether future budgets will be able to afford the higher costs expected. Escalating life-cycle costs represent major future funding requirements that could significantly how many aircraft we and our allies can afford to buy. • Software is developed, integrated and released in five increments. The first increment, needed to enable basic aircraft flying characteristics, is the only one completed. All other software increments are behind schedule. Mission system software, in particular, is behind schedule, poses significant integration challenges, and its progress is difficult to assess.

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R-R pulling out stops to mature Trent XWB by Charles Alcock Four years after the surprise launch of the Airbus A350XWB airliner, engine maker RollsRoyce is still faced with two pleasant surprises from what might have seemed an ill-timed program given the impending global recession. First, it remains the sole powerplant provider for the new widebody airliner. Second, two years into an air transport downturn of historic proportions, its main challenge is ensuring that its Trent XWB engine enters service three years from now with sufficient engineering security to meet the expectations of more than 30 prospective operators who hold firm orders for more than 1,000 of the new turbofans. Rolls-Royce achieved the first ground test run of the new Trent engine just over a month ago, on June 17. In doing so it met the commitments made to Airbus and to A350XWB launch customers at a time when keeping aerospace programs on time appears to have gone out of fashion. The challenge now for the UK engine maker is that in the remaining 36 months or so of the Trent XWB development program it ensures that the new turbofan enters service meeting the exacting performance standards that airlines now have come to expect from day one. The push for overnight in-service maturity has been under way for some time in the Rolls-Royce

engineering department at Derby and it is about to be stepped up a gear or two as ground-testing paves the way for a first flying test bed sortie in the middle of next year, followed by a first A350 takeoff in the middle of 2012. The -900 version of the A350XWB is due to enter service powered by the Trent XWB-84 engine in mid-2013, followed about 12 months later by the -800 (Trent XWB-75) and by the -1000 (Trent XWB-93) toward the end of 2015. For the A350-800, RollsRoyce is also developing -79 and -79B versions of the powerplant to take into account some operators’ needs for greater hot and high performance and more range with higher takeoff weights. Maturity an Issue

“Maturity is a big issue and to meet this challenge we have invested a lot more [in engineering development work] at a much earlier stage,” said Trent XWB program director Chris Cholerton. This extra investment by the UK engine maker has resulted in it committing about 700,000 more design hours on the XWB engines than it has done for previous Trent programs, as well as the addition of about seven times the computing capacity and the fact that it will have seven engines ready for testing by early next year. Previous programs have had access to only between one and five test engines. Three of the seven engines will

Partners Share the Trent XWB Development Load The Trent XWB engine program has the highest proportion of participation by risk and revenue sharing partners (RRSPs) of any member of the Trent family. Last year, Rolls-Royce concluded agreements with all 12 RRSPs, which account for about 40 percent of the value of the XWB powerplant. There are six first-time Trent RRSPs on the XWB engine. Parker Aerospace is making the oil pump and engine build-up (EBU) hydraulics. ATK is providing the composite rear fan case, with this being the first time that composite has been used for this section of a Rolls-Royce engine. The other new Trent partners are as follows: Forgital (fan case forgings), Eaton (EBU flexes and ducting), Hispano-Suiza (accessory gear box, step-aside gear box, radial drives and oil tank) and Sumitomo Precision Products (heat management system). The six Trent XWB RRSPs that have contributed to previous Trent programs are: Hamilton Sundstrand (air starter), Esterline (sensors), ITP (LPT module), Volvo Aero (inter-case), Kawasaki Heavy Industries (IP compressor and front bearing housing), and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (combustor, LPT blades and IPT1 disc). In addition to the 12 RRSPs, the Trent XWB engine will be made by no fewer than 88 different suppliers and 16 separate Rolls-Royce facilities. The engine maker concluded its RRSP agreements last year and had already been working with Volvo to study options for lightweight fabrication. There are still production contracts to be awarded that will account for about a –C.A. third of the value of the engine.

be dedicated to maturity testing, with the other four dedicated to certification work. “In the past, we have tended to do certification first and then maturity work later,” explained Cholerton. “This meant that there was less time to react to issues before entry into service.” Part of the extra investment to fast-track the Trent XWB on the road to maturity is the new 58 test bed that Rolls-Royce has built in Derby, and where the first of the complete engines is now being run on a daily basis. The XWB turbofan is RollsRoyce’s biggest engine to date and its 118-inch diameter fan (through which the fuselage of a Concorde would fit) cuts an imposing figure on the test bed. There are no fewer than 18,000 core parts in the engine. Last year, the manufacturer also sought to reduce engineering risks with the program by conducting intensive rig testing of all the key Trent XWB components before the first complete engines were assembled. The second and third engines are now close to completion, number four has just entered the build stage and number five is in the final stages of being kitted out with its parts. Rolls-Royce will also be using the new Glacier facility in Manitoba, Canada, to perform icing tests in natural conditions, as well as the existing outdoor test facility at Stennis, Mississippi. The engine maker has another mechanical test facility near Berlin, Germany, and an experimental logistics center in Derby. The Trent XWB development program will also include about 175 hours on a flying test bed. 10,700 Features Assessed

Some 400 engine parts have been assessed for in-service reliability risks identified from previous Trent engines and some 1,200 mitigation plans are being developed to deal with any problems that emerge. The Rolls-Royce engineering team also has made extensive use of advanced three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics and aero thermal analysis. Looking ahead to the manufacturing phase, Rolls-Royce has assessed more than 10,700 features of the XWB engine and none of these is cleared for production until it has been fully tested to avoid unforeseen glitches. It also has conducted around 130 assessments of the engine’s maintainability to anticipate possible headaches at this stage. “Zero in-flight shutdowns almost needs to be a given these days,” said Trent XWB chief engineer Chris Young. The main focus

12aaFarnborough Airshow News • July 19, 2010 • www.ainonline.com

The new Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engine began ground tests last month in the new 58 test bed at the engine maker’s Derby facility as it prepares for initial service entry in mid-2013 on the Airbus A350XWB-900.

for his team is to meet or even exceed customers’ expectations in terms of cost of ownership through factors such as eliminating as many possible causes for even 15-minute departure delays in service. Since 2005, RollsRoyce’s “project zero” campaign to boost reliability of its large airliner engines has resulted in a 10to 12-percent reduction in service disruption levels each year. The Trent XWB is the first engine that Rolls-Royce has developed for Airbus featuring a fan case mount system, although it has taken this approach for various Boeing programs. The new turbofan also features an optimized bearing load management system for better fuel burn, advanced aerodynamic compressors, a single skin combustion casing, a modulating air system, a two-stage intermediate-pressure turbine (IPT) and a short, light low-pressure turbine (LPT). “We are on target to meet our SFC [specific fuel consumption] specification, noise and emission levels are on track, and so is weight,” concluded Cholerton. Rolls-Royce is also confident that it is on target to achieve its ambitious engine maturity projections and in-service attributes for the newest member of the prolific Trent family. The projected SFC for the Trent XWB should be 9.5 percent better than that of the Trent 500, which entered service in

According to Trent XWB program director Chris Cholerton, Rolls-Royce’s main challenge with the new turbofan is ensuring that it achieves in-service maturity almost from day one.

2002, delivering, potentially, a $250 per engine saving for each flight hour (depending on fuel prices). Mindful that XWB production rates will double output rates for the Trent engine family over the next five years, Rolls-Royce is also investing in production capacity, including a new singlecrystal turbine blade facility and advanced disc making facility at Derby. The fact that production rates for the Trent XWB are set to reach almost one per day was a big driver for the second assembly facility that the company is building in Singapore.

Lockheed Martin rebuts F-35 critics on cost, progress Continued from page 8

C++, so the learning curve is less,” replied O’Bryan. But, he conceded, there are concerns about the software being sufficiently mature to meet the IOC for the U.S. Marines in 2012. The Block 1 software that must be qualified for that IOC is now flying on the CATbird, a Boeing 737 that Lockheed Martin has modified to flighttest the entire F-35 avionics suite. In Lockheed Martin’s favor, the acting head of the JPO, U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Clyde Moore, said the Pentagon “did not uncover any technology or manufacturing show-stoppers in its review and did not de-scope the performance requirements during the restructure process.” In theory, therefore, the program is still on track to deliver an aircraft, which, according to Lockheed Martin, will feature advanced stealth, integrated sensor fusion, net-enabled operations and advanced sustainment. The F-35 powerplant is another source of controversy. A blade redesign, higher costs for labor and materials, and supply chain

problems with the Pratt & Whitney F135 have doubled the cost of its development to about $7.3 billion, according to the GAO. The conventional F135s being delivered for LRIP Lot 3 are costing $17.7 million each. The STOVL versions with the lift fan are costing almost double–$33.4 million each. The U.S. Congress has sponsored development of the alternative F136 engine by General Electric and Rolls-Royce to the tune of $2.9 billion. The Pentagon believes it would cost another $1.6 billion to complete development of the F136, tool up for production and support a second engine in

service. Secretary Gates has advised President Obama to veto the 2011 defense authorization bill if it includes any more money for the F136. Although Lockheed Martin has taken most of the heat in recent months, it should be noted that in addition to Pratt & Whitney, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems are major subcontractors for the airframe. The British company’s role was underpinned by a contribution of $3 billion to the SDD. In addition, just over 100 other overseas companies in the eight partner countries are providing parts or services to the F-35

program. Lockheed Martin lists 23 significant pieces of hardware on the SDD aircraft that are supplied by non-U.S. companies. The international aerospace industry therefore has a substantial stake in the success of the F-35 program. But, at the end of the day, it will be the U.S. government that decides whether the F-35 program is too big to fail. “We’re determined to beat the government’s cost estimate,” said Lockheed Martin chief Bob Stevens last month. “Nevertheless, what is the cost to our country, of not having the F-35?” he asked, rhetorically.

Israel Leads New International Prospects The U.S. government is close to releasing a letter of offer and acceptance (LoA) for the F-35 to Israel, according to Steve O’Bryan, vice president for F-35 business development. Israel has been receiving classified briefings on the F-35 for some years, thanks to its status as a level 3 partner. Singapore has the same status and is now starting its evaluation, O’Bryan added. The F-35 program is expecting requests for proposals from Japan and Korea later this year. The Indian Navy has requested information on the F-35B and C versions. Belgium, Finland, Greece and Spain have also received classified briefings. But will any of the eight existing international partners defect from the program in the wake of this year’s troubling news? Canada and Denmark are formally evaluating alternatives, O’Bryan conceded (they are both considering the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet instead). But Australia has already appropriated more than $3 billion for the F-35 and will definitely buy its first aircraft in LRIP Lot 6, he said. Norway reconfirmed its choice last year, after a controversial evaluation against the Saab Gripen. Italy is continuing with negotiations to establish a final

assembly and checkout (FACO) line in-country. The likely cost will be $2 billion. Meanwhile, the Netherlands (one) and the UK (two) have already bought aircraft in LRIP Lot 3, so that they can participate in the U.S. operational test and evaluation phase. According to O’Bryan, this saves them time and provides access to U.S. test ranges. “The current international partners will stay with the program,” predicted Lockheed Martin chief Bob Stevens. “And we could have as many as 25 countries, all interoperable, as we build U.S. security through our partners’ capabilities,” added the Lockheed Martin chief. “Each one of the international partners will pay less than $60 million, including the UK for its F-35Bs,” O’Bryan declared. “And we’ll hit that price point by the late LRIP lots.” Regarding the alternative F-35 engine, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics chief operating officer Dan Crowley told AIN that both Turkey and the UK have expressed interest in the F136. Other international partners less so, he added. The Pentagon says that neither the U.S. Navy nor the international partners –C.P. are keen to have a second option to the F135.

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www.ainonline.com • July 19, 2010 • Farnborough Airshow Newsaa13

LM’s flying intel lab helps to define defense needs by Charles Alcock & David Donald Most Farnborough exhibitors are here showing the fruits of years of laboratory work, but Lockheed Martin has brought the laboratory itself. The U.S. defense group has its Airborne Multi-intelligence Laboratory on static display–a specially reconfigured Gulfstream III business jet that can demonstrate its systems integration prowess, while also serving as a vital tool to help clients to define and develop complex requirements in areas such as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). In its configuration here this week, the aircraft is fitted with communications and electronic surveillance equipment, plus electro-optical infrared. These systems are linked to Lockheed Martin’s Swift Lab, situated near Farnborough, which is serving as the ground station for demonstrations. “We see the AML as a platform that customers can use to develop a concept or operations,” explained John Beck, Lockheed Martin’s vice president for strategic business development. “It’s also useful for early operator training because the customer doesn’t have to wait until the first article is delivered.”

Lockheed Martin is displaying its Airborne Multiintelligence Laboratory aboard a specially reconfigured Gulfstream III business jet on static display here.

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The simulations that can be run through the lab, in combination with the ground station, can help military planners to identify the gaps or “pain points” in their war-fighting infrastructure. For example, Finland’s air force recently used the AML to make an early assessment of proposed missions for its planned new signal intelligence (Sigint) system, taking the opportunity to do risk mitigation. Lockheed Martin has since been awarded the Sigint contract by the Finns. “The main difference in doing this type of work with the AML is the flexibility,” Beck told AIN. “The architecture [of the AML] and its physical structure mean that we can integrate any type of sensors and couple them with active radar, connecting via narrow- and broadband communications to a user, rapidly moving or adding various components. We didn’t build the AML in response to specific systems designs; we allow ourselves to plug and play different systems.” Equipment and configurations of both hardware and software can be changed in a matter of a few hours, rather than days. This is particularly helpful when the AML

is to be taken for assessment by a prospective client state that might be restricted in terms of U.S. defense export rules with regard to what technology it has access to. Today’s battlespace is dominated by an increasing number of sensors as the military strives for more time-sensitive data, higher quality information and quicker dissemination of actionable intelligence. Fusing the data from various sensors is seen as a key driver to future development in the world of intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR). Just as important is the need to evaluate processing techniques, and the means by which fused intelligence is distributed to the end-users. Real-world Scenarios

While modern systems offer significant enhancements in the field of intelligence, development can take time. Lockheed Martin has spotted the need for platforms that can take so-called multi-intelligence capabilities into real-world exercises and scenarios, so that performance can be evaluated and operating concepts developed in a fraction of the time taken by traditional methods. Building on a fixed-site multi-intel laboratory, the company has also produced a transit case system and an instrumented Humvee vehicle. The new airborne lab is seen as the natural extension to this process. Conversion of the Gulfstream III to AML configuration involved stripping out the cabin to fit four operator consoles and two seats for observers. The aircraft received its certification from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration last August. Under the forward belly of the AML is a strongback attachment to which a radar sensor can be attached, housed in a detachable dielectric fairing. The flying laboratory is also fitted with signals intelligence-gathering equipment and an electro-optical/ infrared turret. A full suite of communications is installed, including tactical datalink and satellite communications. Onboard computer capability supports a variety of commercial operating systems. The AML permits analysis and processing to be performed both on the aircraft and by ground stations. It also allows researchers to study the optimum ways in which disparate information from various sensor types can be correlated into single, actionable “nuggets” of useful knowledge. Taking systems into exercises and live scenarios allows technicians to evaluate how these systems perform in the real world. The flying laboratory has already taken part in a number of trials, including the U.S. Army’s C4ISR On-the-Move exercise at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Also featured on the AML aircraft here (Outdoor Exhibit 8) is L3 connectivity equipment. Lockheed Martin has just signed a joint pursuit agreement with L-3 Communications West on possible new communications systems development.

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Rafael’s recon sensors are a hit by David Donald Systems house Rafael produces a wide portfolio of sophisticated products, but here at the Farnborough airshow it is expecting significant interest in its reconnaissance sensors. At the top of the line is the RecceLite system, a derivative of the proven Litening targeting pod. RecceLite uses the same pod and infrastructure as the Litening, but is optimized for a variety of reconnaissance tasks from low, medium and high altitudes. RecceLite is a self-contained podded system that collects infrared and visual/near IR imagery simultaneously, and offers horizon-

to-horizon coverage. An integral datalink provides real-time transmission to ground stations, and there is an optional extendedrange link and streaming video capability. The system is in widespread use, including seeing service with four European nations (Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Spain) and is in regular use over Afghanistan. Developed from RecceLite is the Recce-U, which is currently undergoing evaluation. This is essentially the same system, but tailored to slower aircraft and UAVs. Consequently, it is packaged in a much shorter pod as the

cooling requirements are significantly reduced compared with fast-jet carriage. Ground exploitation of reconnaissance imagery is provided by Rafael’s new ImiLite system, which can integrate data from a range of surveillance and intelligence sources into a variety of imagery intelligence products

and reports. ImiLite is not just tailored to work with sensor sources, such as RecceLite, but can work with any inputs, including those from syntheticaperture radars and electronic intelligence systems. Rafael continues to develop its

reconnaissance and targeting capabilities, seeking to ultimately bring the two together into a single system that maintains the high performance parameters of the current discrete systems, without imposing additional weight and cost burdens.

Rafale’s Litening targeting pod is widely used by forces around the world, including Britain’s Royal Air Force and U.S. Air Force. The Indian air force has adopted the pod to provide precision targeting for its Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters.

Dynamic delivers versatile King Airs

DAVID MciNTOSH

by Stephen Pope

Dynamic Aviation is displaying a King Air outfitted as an ISR platform at the Farnborough airshow. Note the high-power surveillance camera on its lower aft fuselage.

The world’s largest private King Air operator is exhibiting at the Farnborough Airshow for the first time in a bid to broaden the appeal of its fleet of 150 special-mission twin turboprops, available for hire for everything from covert spy operations to aerial mosquito spraying. Dynamic Aviation (Hall 2 Stand A24) has 500 employees at its headquarters about 100 miles west of Washington, D.C., where the company operates a sprawling King Air heavy maintenance and modification center on a privately

A380 LEAVES OTHERS IN THE DUST

MARK WAGNER

With its wide wingspan and powerful engines, the Airbus A380 creates a cloud of flying dirt on takeoff here at Farnborough Airport. Airbus has just delivered its tenth A380 in 2010 and says it is on track to top 20 deliveries by year-end.

18aaFarnborough Airshow News • July 19, 2010 • www.ainonline.com

owned airstrip in Bridgewater, Virginia. Its biggest customer is the U.S. Department of Defense, which relies on Dynamic Aviation’s King Air 90s and 200s in support of airborne ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) operations around the world. The company’s goal this week is to entice other government, military and paramilitary organizations to take advantage of its highly customizable aircraft fleet. “What sets us apart is our speed of delivery and ability to modify our airplanes for a

vast number of missions,” said Dynamic Aviation president and CEO Michael Stoltzfus. While outfitting aircraft for the U.S. military missions is the biggest piece of the business, the company is also active in providing aircraft for firefighting, aerial spraying and airborne data acquisition. One of Dynamic Aviation’s most recent missions involved spraying dispersant chemicals in the Gulf of Mexico to break up oil spewing from BP’s ruptured undersea well. The company dispatched a King Air 90 to the area days after the disaster, flying up to four dispersant missions per day, as well as supporting dispersantdropping C-130s by relaying the locations of oil slicks. Another important mission for the company has been the dropping of millions of sterile male insects, which are intended to compete with wild males for the affections of female insects, thereby reducing the populations of subsequent generations. Dynamic Aviation has flown more than 250,000 hours in support of sterile insect programs in 11 countries on three continents. “We can do just about any mission that’s possible, anywhere in the world,” Stoltzfus said. Here on the Farnborough Airshow static display line, Dynamic Aviation is showing a King Air 90 outfitted as an ISR platform featuring a high-power surveillance camera and painted in flat gray. The company is one of the world’s largest purchasers of pre-owned King Airs and also maintains one of the largest pools of King Air spare parts.

Falcon 900LX is certified Dassault has just received U.S. and European certification for the Falcon 900LX large-cabin business jet, a leggier version of the 900EX. Thanks to its blended winglets, developed by Aviation Partners Inc., the Falcon 900LX features a 4,750-nm range. New city pairs for the trijet now include New York to Moscow and Mumbai to London. The flight-test program began in October last year, involving two aircraft that flew a total 215 hours. Flight testing will continue for more advanced operations, such as Cat III lowvisibility approaches, which are planned to be approved in 2011. The new aircraft burns 35- to 40 percent less fuel on a given distance than other aircraft in its class, Dassault claims. At maximum takeoff weight, it climbs to FL390 in 20 minutes. Three 5,000-pound-thrust Honeywell TFE731-60 engines power the Falcon 900LX. During the development process, Dassault had to review some of its objectives. The range increase is slightly less than hoped–4,750 nm at long-range cruise speed with six passengers. Dassault previously advertised 4,800 nm at long-range cruise speed with eight passengers. The passenger load difference “better reflects equipment weight

realities,” a Dassault official said in May. The manufacturer is still satisfied with having a range 250 nm better than that of the 900EX. Early Falcon 900LXs will be delivered with today’s EASy flight deck. Dassault had hoped to provide EASy II as standard equipment from the beginning of the production run. The 900LX will eventually be available with EASy II some time next year, as the EASy II development program certification has been delayed. Meanwhile, Dassault expects to receive approval soon for the Falcon 2000LX to operate from London City Airport. Last spring, the aircraft’s autobrake system was certified, cutting the landing distance by an approximate 150 feet. The Falcon 2000LX had been earlier certified for steep approaches–up to 5.5 degrees. The final series of flight tests for the approval took place at London City in May. The autobrake system is easy for the pilot to operate. During the approach, the crew activates it with an additional button close to the landing gear controls. Braking starts as soon as the main landing gear touches down–one to one-and-a-half seconds sooner than the usual procedure. Such systems have long been used on airliners.

Cost reduction top priority for aerospace executives Pressure to reduce costs is the top priority facing aerospace executives, according to a new survey by global management consultancy Accenture. As a result, companies will be forced to increase the use of external engineering services over the next three years, it finds. The survey, carried out with 31 senior executives in “leading aerospace and defense companies worldwide” revealed that 61 percent were already buying in engineering services to improve management of production costs. Supplier consolidation was the second major challenge, followed by increased competition from new players in the industry. “Until now, companies have tended to buy services locally. Going forward, they will buy more often from global locations as doing the work costs less and

improves efficiency,” said Accenture aerospace and defense managing director Damien Lasou. Another finding was that pricing was critical, ranking among the top three criteria for decisionmaking. However, companies wishing to outsource face three main difficulties: confidentiality, impact on quality and flexibility to fluctuations in demand. Accenture, with net revenues of $21 billion in 2009, currently has aerospace and defense contracts with BAE Systems (supply chain management), Avio (high-performance supply chain), Thales (knowledge management) and Finmeccanica (better information for high performance).

DAVID MCINTOSH

by Thierry Dubois

F-22 UPS THE FLYING DISPLAY ANTE During a practice run of its Farnborough airshow flying routine, this F-22 Raptor leaves a picture-perfect vapor trail in its wake. The highly-maneuverable fighter built by Lockheed Martin is sure to be the star of the daily flying display, performing impressive vertical climbs, the Cobra maneuver and other precision aerial moves. The F-22 made its public flying display debut two years ago at Farnborough International 2008.

Oil spills, pirate hunts fill Q300’s work day by Gunter Endres Mapping oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico and hunting for pirates off the coast of Somalia are among the many tasks performed by Bombardier Dash 8 Q300 twin turboprops modified for the maritime surveillance role by Canada’s Field Aviation (Hall 4 Stand C20). Last week, the Icelandic Coast Guard Q300 arrived at Houma, Louisiana, to fly vital missions that will map the oil spill and enhance containment and recovery in the Gulf of Mexico. The aircraft is equipped with an ELTA maritime search radar with a 360-degree field-of-view, two Swedish Space Corp. sidelooking airborne radars (SLARs), and an L-3/Wescam electrooptical pod integrated with an L-3/IS mission management system. It is capable of providing a complete picture, so oil booms and recovery vessels can be positioned for optimum effect against the drifting oil mass. The Icelandic aircraft has

joined the U.S. Coast Guard, BP and other organizations in their combined attempt to clean up the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history. The aircraft is expected to stay in the Gulf area for the next 30 days. Q300 Returns from Operation Atlanta

Earlier this month, one of the Swedish Coast Guard’s Q300s returned to its base after completing a four-month intensive hunt for suspected pirates off the coast of Somalia. The aircraft, one of three modified by Field Aviation and delivered to Sweden, had participated in Operation Atlanta, which is the European Union’s organized effort to detect, document and report suspicious pirate activities, prevent pirate attacks on commercial shipping in the Gulf of Aden and the east coast of Somalia, and perform fisheries surveillance. According to the Swedish

Coast Guard, the Q300 covered vast areas of the Indian Ocean and detected 32 suspicious pirate mother-ships and 56 smaller attack craft, which resulted in several groups being intercepted and arrested. During the 110-day operation, the aircraft flew 89 missions for a total airborne time of 566 hours. Field Aviation’s continued enhancements to the Dash 8 aircraft were demonstrated by its most recent supplemental type certificate for its WAAS/SBAS LPV (wide area augmentation system/satellite-based augmentation system/lateral precision vertical guidance). This provides a low-cost upgrade to existing flight management systems and permits the aircraft to perform optimally during “coupled” LPV approaches at lowest published minimums, without limiting the existing crosswind limits of the Dash 8. The built-in growth potential |may include full precision approach capabilities. Further enhancements will be achieved with the company’s soon to be released EFI-890R HD flat-panel display, which is the centerpiece of Field’s flight-deck modernization program for the Dash 100/200/300 series.

The Icelandic Coast Guard Dash 8 Q300 maritime surveillance aircraft is assisting in the clean up of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Swedish Coast Guard Q300 maritime surveillance aircraft are equipped with long-range tanks for more than eight hours endurance, which proved particularly useful during a recent search for Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean.

www.ainonline.com • July 19, 2010 • Farnborough Airshow Newsaa19

The AW149, known in UK military service as the Lynx Wildcat, will reach operational standard in 2014. Its missions will include reconnaissance, command and control, troop transport and anti-surface warfare.

Leap-X engine leaps forward as single-aisle plans slip

MARK WAGNER

by Julian Moxon

AgustaWestland brings helicopter trio to F’boro by Thierry Dubois Helicopter manufacturer AgustaWestland is here at the Farnborough airshow with three new aircraft: the civil GrandNew and the military AW159 Lynx Wildcat and AW149. All made their first flights during the last 12 months, although flight testing for the development of the Grand derivative is believed to have started two years ago. Also on display are the AW139 medium twin, the AW109LUH military light twin, the Swidnik SW-4 light single, the AW101 medium three-engine rotorcraft and the Apache AH Mk.1. The GrandNew is the first light twin to enter service with a synthetic-vision system in the cockpit, AgustaWestland claims. It also features a four-axis autopilot and a new avionics suite. It has received European certification and AgustaWestland said it expects U.S. approval “soon.” The company also said it has received more than 50 orders for the GrandNew. The AW159, which in UK military service will be known as the Lynx Wildcat, is the first new British helicopter to be shown in over 20 years, the manufacturer said. It will replace the Lynx. The UK Ministry of Defence has ordered 62 aircraft–34 for the army and 28 for the navy–for delivery by 2017. The prototype flew in November last year. GKN delivered the first production airframe to AgustaWestland’s factory in Yeovil this month and expects to hand over the first aircraft next year. Full operational status is planned for 2014 in the army and 2015 in the navy. Missions will include reconnaissance, command and control, troop transport and anti-surface warfare. The manufacturer pledges a high degree of commonality between the two versions, enabling easy role switching. The AW159’s mtow is about 12,800 pounds. The AW149, a multi-role helicopter derived from the civil AW139, is being displayed in the form of a full-scale mockup.

It is an eight-metric-ton (18,000 pound) class aircraft for troop transport (seating up to 18), fire support and combat search and rescue, among other missions. It has been developed to meet an Italian air force requirement. It is also a candidate for the Turkish utility helicopter program. The first AW149 prototype also flew in November. It is representative of the final configuration as far as airframe and avionics are concerned. A second prototype, due to fly this year, will also have the final engines–General Electric CT7-2E1s in lieu of Pratt & Whitney PT6C-67C turboshafts–and transmission. Production deliveries are scheduled to start in 2014.

Canada commits to a JSF future with deal for 65 by David Donald Canada has selected the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter as its next combat aircraft, Peter MacKay, the country’s defense minister, announced last Friday. The $9 billion commitment covers 65 JSFs. The first is due for delivery in 2016 to begin replacement of the CF-18 Hornet fleet. The commitment does not include ongoing training and support, which is estimated at a further $7 billion. A firm order is thought to be some time away, and it is possible that it may not survive Canada’s next election, which is set for October 2012 but may come earlier. Despite Canada being a partner in the JSF industrial program, other fighter manufacturers have identified it as a potential sales opportunity, but the announcement has dashed any such hopes, at least for now. The JSF decision

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CFM International comes to the Farnborough airshow with the first application for its new Leap-X engine under its belt and ready to offer more advanced versions to Boeing and Airbus for either new or re-engined versions of their respective single-aisle aircraft. Which way will the airframers go is one of the big questions being asked at the show. “We’re ready and waiting to offer our engine,” CFM executive vice president Olivier Savin told AIN. “CFM is having talks with both with regard to both re-engining and a new aircraft. Leap-X is a committed product, so what Boeing and Airbus do is up to them. Our program is going forward.” CFM revealed it will almost certainly build a final assembly line for the Leap X1C in China following Comac’s decision to power its C919 single-aisle airliner with the engine. “We anticipate this will be the case” said CFM executive vice-president Chaker Chahrour. He insisted, however, that the decision was not a sweetener for the engine sale. “It had absolutely nothing to do with it,” he said. “It is our own initiative to optimize the assembly process.” The constraints of the existing Boeing and Airbus airframes mean the Leap-X offered for re-engining would be significantly different to the versions developed for an all-new aircraft. “Re-engined aircraft would be available a lot earlier, so we would expect the technology level to be somewhat lower,” said Chahrour. Fan diameter, at around 71 inches, would, for example, be less than the optihas drawn criticism from some quarters in Canada, who argue that other types could have been procured at less cost. However, MacKay said that the JSF had been chosen because it is the only aircraft to meet Canada’s needs and because of the industrial participation angle. “The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is the best aircraft we can provide our men and women in uniform to face and defeat the challenges of the 21st century,” MacKay said. “This multi-role stealth fighter will help the Canadian Forces defend the sov-

mum for re-engined aircraft than for new. The all-composite Leap-X fan provides a 10:1 bypass ratio at its maximum foreseen diameter of 76 inches, double that of the current CFM56. Coupled with further advances in core technology and with benefits of being integrated with a new airframe, it would yield a 15-percent improvement in fuel burn over the existing engine (see “Leap-X tests hitting their mark,” page 28). CFM has achieved “outstanding” results in tests of its latest development of the CFM56, the -7BE, which will become available to Boeing from mid-2011. From then on, said Chahrour, all new Boeing 737 engines will be built to this standard. As for an Airbus version of the engine, “We’re still in discussions. We hope for something this year,” he said. With continuing strong orders for both aircraft it is thought highly likely that a deal with Airbus will be reached sooner rather than later, possibly here at the Farnborough airshow. CFM continues to reap the rewards of the pre-recession boom in narrowbody aircraft orders and expects a return to air traffic growth in 2010, which it predicts will remain stable for at least three years. “There is a strong perspective for increasing demand,” said Savin. “In the last five months we’ve seen the first signs of a return to service of parked aircraft.” CFM believes there will be a sustained requirement for around 800 aircraft a year for the next 20 years. Most of the growth will come from emerging markets in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. ereignty of Canadian airspace, remain a strong and reliable partner in the defense of North America and provide Canada with an effective and modern capability for international operations.” Canada has been an active member of the JSF team since 1997, when it invested $10 million in the concept definition phase. In 2002 it became a partner with a $150 million contribution to the system design and development phase, allowing Canadian contractors access to the industrial program.

Canada on Friday announced a commitment for 65 Joint Strike Fighters. Deliveries would begin in 2016.

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Airbus takes long-term look at future single-aisle designs by Ian Goold New competitors in the single-aisle airliner market have driven Airbus to look beyond current technologies to identify the required characteristics for an A320series replacement to enter service in 15 or more years. According to John Leahy, Airbus chief operating officer for customers, successful airliner programs have a 40-year life, so the European manufacturer’s need is for “future technology for future aircraft” that will accommodate advances in all areas. And it isn’t just Boeing that Airbus needs to worry about. Strategy and futureprograms senior vice president Ian Dawkins, speaking before he left the OEM to head OnAir, the Airbus/SITA cabin communications joint venture, said the established Airbus/Boeing single-aisle duopoly will end with the mainline-market entry of designs such as Canada’s Bombardier C Series, as well as of projects from China’s Commercial Air Corp. (Comac) and United Aircraft in Russia. However, he claimed that the Bombardier C Series, Comac C919 and United Aircraft MS-21 designs planned for introduction in the next decade provide “no step change” in technology. At a press briefing in May, Airbus programs and customer-support executive vice

comfortably exceeding 6,500, the Airbus single-aisle backlog is well over 2,200 aircraft–more than five years’ production. So, what is the Airbus philosophy as it considers future single-aisle requirements? “A new aircraft today would probably be metal–we do not know enough about allcomposite structures. Why would you go [with a new aircraft] now if you could launch an all-new composite design in 2025?” asked Leahy, rhetorically. “Engine manufacturers believe the best future powerplant will “probably be an open-rotor fan, but they have not fully figured it out yet,” said Leahy. He believes it

unfolding 15- to 20-year drama as Airbus and Boeing consider the “real next generation” of single-aisle jetliners. This strategy involves continued improvement of current models and a product-development study dubbed A320 New Engine Option (NEO) ahead of whatever design emerges from the A30X program. A320 customers already have the choice among CFM International’s CM56 family, the International Aero Engines V2500 and the Pratt & Whitney PW6000 (only for the A318) engines. Introduction of a fourth powerplant to the catalog, if Airbus decides to go down that runway, would confirm what it perceives as industry uncertainty. Engine manufacturers have said that the best foreseeable technology is not yet available, while airlines are saying they cannot wait while fuel prices continue to rise; they want an interim improvement. Leahy hopes to provide information

Production To Increase

A new cabin interior and more efficient, upturned “sharklet” wingtips are among a series of upgrades and changes in a continuing Airbus A320 development program that could see introduction of a fourth engine option later this year.

president Tom Williams acknowledged Bombardier as “a threat,” and recognized that there “will be a Chinese single-aisle [market entrant].” However, Leahy said he sees Bombardier as “the only credible” challenger. “There is no need for Sukhoi and the others because the A320 series and [Boeing] 737 are established in the marketplace,” he insisted. Twenty-two years after its entry into service, the A320 is barely into middle age by Leahy’s reckoning, which gives Airbus plenty of thinking time before it must set the principal characteristics of a follow-on design. More than 4,250 of the A320-series models have been delivered to over 220 customers and are flying with about 250 operators. With orders

launch orders,” he said, insisting that the variant must be a genuine option. His preference is to see “Rolls-Royce and P&W resolve their differences” and agree on a program to offer a powerplant under the aegis of their IAE joint venture. Shankland said there is “some improvement in the offing” for the IAE V2500, but added, “I don’t know if we will adopt it.” Williams confirmed that Airbus has been heavily involved in talks about the NEO variant with P&W and CFM International, as well as with nacelle suppliers. Part of the product development study involves analyzing the potential value of fuel savings compared with today’s A320. Leahy’s estimates suggest that over 800-nm average sectors, with fuel prices increasing 1.9 percent a year and with a 15-year discount rate of 10 percent, there could be a $5 million to $9 million potential value benefit per aircraft for fuel prices ranging from $84 to $150 a barrel.

will take until the middle or the end of the next decade to achieve full consensus on next-generation powerplant technology. For its part, through a program dubbed A30X, Airbus is working to understand what the main characteristics and requirements for a new-generation narrowbody would be. “The requirements will drive technology and [our] decisions,” said Dawkins. He cited potential technologies such as biofuels, fuel cells, innovative structures and smart wings, as well as new cockpits and air traffic management systems. The ‘Real’ Next Generation

The European airframer has established what it calls a new single-aisle strategy in a move that might be the first act in an

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about a potential A320NEO variant, possibly available in 2015 or soon after, here at the Farnborough airshow ahead of a prospective launch decision by year’s end. Such a new model could be introduced three or four years after the planned 2012 service entry of A320 upturned wingtips dubbed “sharklets,” which are said to improve aircraft performance with up to a 3.5-percent reduction in fuel-burn/seat on longer sectors. This compares with the one-percent improvement provided by the original A320 wingtip fence, said marketing vice president Andrew Shankland. Leahy said the sharklets will provide up to 100 nm more range, about 1,100 pounds more payload, or up to 6,615 pounds more takeoff weight. In its A320NEO deliberation, which is “not yet a done deal,” Williams said, Airbus wants to ensure that the P&W PW1000G geared turbofan (GTF) offers a sufficient improvement in performance. The questions he has been asking include, “Will the GTF impact airlines’ maintenance costs, especially those of operators requiring quick turnarounds [such as low-cost carriers]? What will be the effect of contaminated oil in the gearbox, for example?” In turn, Leahy wants to be sure there’s a real market for an A320NEO. “We shouldn’t do it if [going ahead] depends on [winning]

Williams declared he is “pretty confident” that Airbus will increase A320 production to 36 per month in December. “Customers are looking for early delivery,” he said, although he concedes that the recent recession had seen orders cancelled as “600 aircraft moved away.” Nevertheless, A320s have held market value “very well,” demonstrated by aircraft “quickly returning to service after coming off lease,” he added. Recent A320 developments include passenger-to-freight (P2F) conversion, introduction of a fuel-tank inerting system (FTIS) and a second service goal (airframelife) extension. Acknowledging that the P2F-conversion market has been delayed as airlines have struggled to fill under-floor belly capacity, Williams said he expects demand to become “very strong” by 201213. “There are a lot of old Boeing 727 freighters to be replaced and there will be a lot of A320s available,” he said. Tests have begun of a mockup of the P2F conversion, which is being developed by EADS-EFW with Russian partner Irkut. The concept phase has been concluded and design is “progressing well,” Shankland said. He added that A320Fs will have a new reinforced floor, a 121- by 86-inch sideloading main-deck cargo door and a barrier wall between the cargo compartment and courier accommodation behind the cockpit. The company expects to deliver 11 A320s with the new FTIS this year. Airbus has agreed to an in-service date with customers and the first system has been embodied on a new production aircraft. Finally, fatigue tests associated with the latest A320 extended-service goal have proceeded ahead of schedule, according to Airbus. “Between 138,000 flight cycles and 170,000 flight hours have been achieved,” reported Williams. Airbus hopes to extend A320 scheduled maintenance to an ultimate 90,000 flight cycles and 180,000 flight hours. Other A320 changes have included weight reductions, redesign of 40 computers and systems, as well as cabin improvements such as new overhead bins, sidewall, ceiling, toilet and galley, and up to eight additional seats.

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Scaleable Carabas can see under ground by David Donald Developed originally by Ericsson Microwave Systems (now part of Saab Electronic Defence Systems’ business area), the Carabas foliage penetration (FOPEN) radar has been around for some time, but it has been improved significantly so it can see under the ground, and has been miniaturized so it can be carried by unmanned air vehicles (UAVs). Carabas (coherent all radio band sensing) began trials in the early 1990s and was initially developed as a low-band (20 to 90 MHz) VHF synthetic-aperture radar that could see manmade objects, such as vehicles, through foliage and manmade camouflage. In its original guise the radar’s antennas were mounted in two inflatable fairings, each around 18 feet long, that projected aft from a Rockwell Sabreliner test bed aircraft. Trials with the system, and subsequent developments, showed significant promise and it has been proposed as a strategic system for use with large UAVs or business jet platforms.

area of almost 105 sq mi to be surveyed every hour. The highband mode can be used from 490- to 9,840-foot standoff and

These images illustrate the foliage penetration capabilities of Carabas, showing an optical image of a track through a heavily forested area (left), and the Carabas image of the same area (right) with two hidden vehicles clearly displayed.

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Now the system has undergone two significant developments. First, the radar has been scaled down, so a useful tactical Carabas capability could be provided by a small helicopter or lightplane, or a small UAV such as Saab’s vertical takeoff Skeldar. The system has been decreased to around 33 to 44 pounds in weight, and has a power consumption of around 100 Watts. Second, Saab has developed a ground penetration mode using high-band VHF and a changed polarization. The depth at which it can spot solid objects under the surface depends on radar depression angle and the nature of the ground. In wet soil areas a depression angle of 10 degrees gives a penetration depth of just over 11 feet, while an angle of 17 degrees into dry soil gives penetration of almost 20 feet. At 10-degree angle, Carabas can see to a depth of 85 feet into sand. The highband mode also gives improved foliage penetration capability against targets such as humans. Both modes can be accommodated in the same radar system, allowing areas to be searched for hidden targets either beneath trees or beneath the surface. The low-band VHF mode can be used at a standoff range of up to 3.7 miles and an altitude of almost 6,600 feet, in turn allowing an

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previously gathered data of the same area. Saab has so far tested the new radar only from a mast, but is planning a series of flight tests in the fall, using a Schweizer 300 helicopter as platform. The company suggests that it could be in production with the system by the end of 2011, for service-entry in early 2012.

Raytheon and Gentex offer low-cost helmet sight After making its international debut in May at SOFEX in Jordan, the Scorpion helmet-mounted sight is being shown by Raytheon and Gentex for the first time at a

major airshow here at Farnborough. The Scorpion is a monoclebased system developed by the Visionix division of helmet manufacturer Gentex, with systems

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from 100- to 2,300-foot altitude. The hourly area coverage ranges from one to 17 sq mi. Scaleable Carabas can provide a single-pass look at an area, but its capabilities are enhanced when used in conjunction with change detection algorithms. Newly hidden vehicles, or recently buried IEDs, can be detected rapidly by comparing the latest radar imagery with

The Scorpion, a monocle sight that fits on a standard helmet and can be worn with NVGs, provides full target cueing service.

integration by Raytheon. The Scorpion is intended for use in both fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft. Integration is easy, with no avionics bay intrusion. It requires a single small interface control unit to link it to the aircraft’s central system, and just one small magnetic sensor mounted in the cockpit to track the pilot’s head. By using a monocle system the Scorpion achieves several major advantages over the full-visor concept. First, it is much cheaper to produce. Second, it fits onto a standard Gentex helmet, without further cost. And, while full-visor systems require one high-cost helmet for every pilot in a unit, the Scorpion is quickly interchangeable between helmets, meaning that fewer have to be acquired to provide a unit with full capability. Other advantages are that the small size of the unit imposes no noticeable extra weight burden on the pilot’s head, an important factor on long or arduous missions. It has a low power requirement, and can be worn underneath standard night-vision goggles. It is very quick and easy to boresight the system with the aircraft’s sensors. The Scorpion offers full day/ night operation and a high-resolution display with a field of view of 26-deg by 20-deg. It can be used to show a variety of imagery, from standard head-up display and ground data to infrared sensor video, DTED digital terrain data and JTIDS-type tactical displays. Advanced processing provides a fast refresh rate, in turn providing seamless imagery as the head moves, with no time lag. Alternatively, the display can be set to remain forward-facing while the pilot moves his or her head. Being fully integrated with the aircraft’s avionics, the Scorpion provides fast and easy cueing, designation and hand-off of targets in air-to-air and air-to-ground roles. The interface control unit also includes 16 GB memory storage for post-flight debrief and battle damage assessment purposes. The Scorpion has been supplied to the U.S. Air Force, and it is being pitched to the U.S. Air National Guard to be installed on the A-10 and F-16 fleets. It has also drawn interest in the export market. –D.D.

www.ainonline.com • July 19, 2010 • Farnborough Airshow Newsaa27

Leap-X tests hitting their mark by Gregory Polek CFM International has comCFM expects the third demonpleted the second phase of testing strator to start running roughly a of the Leap-X core demonstrator year after the start of eCore 2’s known as eCore 1. This means testing. Looking much like eCore that all three major elements of 2, with its 10-stage compressor the first core–the turbine, the and two-stage HP turbine, eCore combustor and the compressor– 3 will undergo what Klapproth have undergone evaluation. The described as minor tweaks or results, according to Leap pro- tune-ups. “We’ll find some areas gram director Ron Klapproth, in eCore 2 that we can improve have matched or exceeded all the upon,” he said. “We’ll make those company’s early projections, leav- changes and test them, and then ing the program on schedule for we’ll head into the product certificertification in late 2014. cation cycle.” “We’re very pleased with the Test Results Promising results,” said Klapproth, who explained that the company first CFM has also run a 71-inch, tests each of the components full-scale demonstrator of the separately to evaluate different engine’s fan on the front of a design concepts and choose the CFM56-5C core. Consisting of configuration to use in the core. blades made of 3-D woven com“When we get to the point of posites, the fan will weigh running the core we have a some 1,000 pounds less pretty good idea of how we than a similarly sized fan think [it] should perform. The made with metallic blades. fact that we’re getting back The weight savings have results that are very much in allowed CFM to increase line with what we expected the size of the fan, says that whole process is thereby allowing it to working well.” turn slower and douRon Klapproth, CFM’s In some cases, said Leap ble the bypass ratio program director Klapproth, the results now produced in a have proved better than originally CFM56 to 10:1 on the Leap-X. expected. Overall, he added, “We’ve run additional com“we’re right where we expected ponent level rig testing on bird to be.” By the end of the second strikes and actually did a bladephase of testing, the core accu- out test,” said Klapproth. “The mulated more than 150 test results are actually looking bethours. On some days it ran for as ter than our calculations had long as 10 hours. first predicted. Our more recent Nonetheless, the test program calculations are coming in more remains in its early stages, as in line with the test results. I CFM prepares to build the sec- would say today that the test ond of three core demonstrators. results matched the analytical Engineers have removed the predictions very well, which is first test vehicle from its test remarkable.” cell and have taken it apart to Perhaps the most imposing inspect the condition of the challenge associated with the hardware. Hardware for the sec- composite technology used in the ond core–eCore 2–has begun to fan has centered on the “downarrive, as the company prepares scaling” of the blades used in the for the instrumentation cycle. “These cores have tremendous amount of instrumentation on them,” said Klapproth. “A lot of times it turns out that instrumentation cycle is the longest part of the build cycle.” The second core demonstrator will include a full 10-stage compressor and two-stage highpressure turbine, while eCore 1 contained an eight-stage compressor and a single-stage high-pressure turbine. “ECore 1 is the CFM-type architecture; eCore 2 is the Leap-X architecture,” said Klapproth, “so we CFM’s eCore 1, the Leap-X’s core take all the learnings from eCore demonstrator, contains an eight-stage 1 and design the hardware for compressor and a single-stage high-pressure turbine. eCore 2.”

massive GE90. At 71 inches, the blades used in the Leap-X demonstrator must absorb the same bird-strike forces over a smaller area, hence the reason CFM elected to pursue the solid 3-D woven design. Chinese Application

Chosen by China’s Comac to power the new C919 narrowbody airliner, the Leap-X1C would start running by early 2013. Plans call for the certification program to use eight engines running a total of 18,000 cycles. Klapproth attributed the decision to run the relatively high number of cycles (a typical engine runs 15,000 cycles) to the expected operating profile of the Leap-X. “Leap-X being a high-cycle motor, we want to run more cycles in the factory than we typically would,” he said. Comac, of course, would like to see its C919 perform as reliably as a 737 or A320 in a high-frequency operating environment, requiring an engine that will absorb just as much punishment as the CFM56 while delivering double-digit fuel burn improvements. Airbus and Boeing, too, in their search for a narrowbody engine replacement will place a premium on reliability as well as fuel economy. Although CFM targets an eventual 16-percent fuel burn advantage over the CFM56 for an all-new airplane, it won’t achieve that level of improvement with a re-engining of an existing airframe, said Klapproth, who rather promised a double-digit benefit. In fact, the company targets between 10 and 15 percent for even the C919 because the LeapX, in essence, involves a series of incremental improvements as time advances. By 2014, the engines for the C919 won’t, for example, employ ceramic matrix composites in the low-pressure turbine blades and certain high-pressure turbine components CFM plans for later iterations. That technology will have to wait until CFM can guarantee that the material can withstand the kind of high-cycle, fast-turn environment common to CFM56-powered airplanes. The company estimates it will need some three years to develop the technology to its satisfaction. When it does, the ceramic matrix material will help lower the weight of the low-pressure turbine by taking advantage of its

28aaFarnborough Airshow News • July 19, 2010 • www.ainonline.com

The 3-D woven composite fan blade on the Leap-X weighs some 1,000 pounds less than a similarly sized metal-bladed fan.

lower density versus superalloys. In the high-pressure turbine, CFM expects the ceramic components to aid temperature capacity, thereby attenuating cooling requirements and adding to cycle efficiency. Of the 16-percent fuel burn improvement CFM eventually expects to achieve, about 7 percent would come from the performance of the core, another 7 percent would come by virtue of its higher bypass ratio and the final 2 percent would come from what Klapproth called integrated systems. “That encompasses a lot of things,” he said. “The biggest one is what we call integrated propulsion system, which is where we truly integrate the design of the engine and the nacelle from day one.”

The resin transfer molding process employed on the Leap-X’s fan blade wraps the woven carbon fibers into a resin designed for crack resistance.

EMS, Eclipse deliver full VoIP service EMS Aviation, a division of EMS Technologies (Hall 4 Stand C10c), recently completed installation of an advanced voiceover-Internet-protocol (VoIP) service in a Middle East head-ofstate Airbus A320. EMS teamed with Paris-based Eclipse, an Inmarsat service provider and avionics dealer, to implement the secure, end-to-end package, which the company claims is the first of its kind on an A320. The VoIP service employs EMS Aviation’s eNfusion avionics suite to access and manage SwiftBroadband sessions. This feature allows the system to offer passengers multiple, simultaneous VoIP telephony calls, which can reduce costs, and as a managed end-toend service, it also offers “the highest possible level of telephony security,” the company said. “Eclipse developed this application of VoIP in 2009,” said

Eclipse CEO Marc Pinault. “Our hardware and backbone software coupled with EMS Aviation’s CCU-200 networking device and HSD-440 high-speed data transceiver make the system unique.” The system leverages both EMS Aviation and Eclipse technology in the ground infrastructure on Vizada’s ground earth station network backbone located in France. When a voice call is placed, the system automatically increases the streaming rate associated with the call, allowing more voice calls to be place simultaneously. The head-of-state executive A320 is equipped with an eNfusion AMT-3800 high-gain antenna; HSD-440 high-speed data terminal, simultaneously supporting Inmarsat Classic Aero and SwiftBroadband services; a next-generation CCU200 communications convergence unit; and a CNX200 Network accelerator.

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Embraer wants to have the KC-390 flying in 2013 and to deliver the first units to Brazil’s air force in 2015.

Embraer looks to KC-390 to bolster its defense portfolio by Jeff Apter Embraer expects its revenues from the defense sector to grow by almost a third this year, reaching approximately $650 million compared with $500 million in 2009. Its military backlog going into 2010 stood at $3.2 billion and could increase if Indonesia’s defense minister signs off on a deal for eight EMB 314 Super Tucano trainer/light attack aircraft. But the Brazilian manufacturer’s next big defense move is the planned KC-390 military transport aircraft. This program has reached a critical junction as Embraer tries to confirm workshare agreements with prospective industrial partners and secure launch orders from countries where these companies are based. Embraer wants to get the industrial partnership network in place no later than this time next year. It wants to have the first KC-390 flying in 2013 and the first units delivered to Brazil’s air force in 2015. Risk-mitigation Studies

The twinjet is now in its preliminary design phase with Embraer engineers working on risk mitigation. Brazil has committed to buy “a number in the upper 20s,” according to executive vice president for defense Orlando Neto. They would replace the air force’s Lockheed Martin C-130 fleet and Neto indicated that the order could swell “into the lower 30s” to meet additional needs, such as air-to-air refueling. But clearly, Embraer is going to need export orders to make the program commercially viable, which is why the pressure is on to tie up the four or five planned industrial partnerships. Embraer is looking to structure the KC-390 workshare around aspects of the program such as the tail, landing gear, engine and avionics suite. Neto would not comment on who the prospective partners are, but it is understood that companies from South Africa and Sweden have expressed an interest. Government-level talks have also been held with Portugal. Here the likely conduit for the partnership would be maintenance, repair and overhaul specialist Ogma, in which Embraer holds a 65-percent stake.

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Portugal’s motive for buying the KC-390 would also be to replace its C-130 (fourengine) turboprop, since it withdrew from the rival A400M program in 2002. Meanwhile, the Super Tucano program has a backlog of around 91 orders, having delivered 87 of 99 ordered by the Brazilian air force. Other customers include Colombia, Chile, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic. Counterinsurgency Ops

Embraer has also been hoping to win what could be a breakthrough order from the U.S. for a light-attack version of the Super Tucano that could be used for counterinsurgency operations. In August 2009, the U.S. Central Command made an urgent request to buy four Super Tucanos equipped with 250-pound laser-guided bombs, as well as intelligence and surveillance equipment. Funds were provisionally reallocated from the U.S. Navy budget and the acquisition was personally backed by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. But the deal has still to be confirmed after apparently being stalled in Congress by Republican politicians from Kansas, where the rival Hawker Beechcraft AT-6B is being developed, but is not yet ready for active service in this specific role. Also part of Embraer’s defense portfolio are airborne early warning and control platforms based on the ERJ 145 regional jetliner. India is due to take delivery of the first of three of these aircraft next year, with mission systems provided by the Centre for Airborne Studies of the Indian government’s Defence Research & Development Organization. The payload will include primary and secondary radar, satellite communications, communications and electronic intelligence systems, plus countermeasures. Embraer also has orders for 17 intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms based on civil aircraft from the air forces of Brazil, Greece and Mexico. It has also supplied a number of Legacy, Phenom, ERJ 135 and EMB 190 aircraft fitted out as VIP transports for heads-ofstate and senior government officials.

Poles Prep S-70i for Black Hawk Export Market

Sikorsky X2 to begin final flight-test phase by R. Randall Padfield Sikorsky Aircraft announced the X2 project just over five years ago at the 2005 Paris Air Show. Now the one and only example of what the helicopter maker calls a “technology demonstrator” is poised to break the record as the world’s fastest rotorcraft as it works its way toward a target speed of 250 knots and further proof of concept. A modified Westland Lynx holds the current speed record for a helicopter–just over 216 knots–which it set on Aug. 11, 1986. But this was, of course, a singular event. The current in-production AgustaWestland Lynx 300 has a maximum cruise speed of 132 knots. Sikorsky aims to prove that the experimental X2 design will be able maintain sustainable cruise speeds well in excess of 200 knots. The X2 reached its highest speed to date–181 knots–on May 25, completing the third of four phases in its flight-test program. Steve Weiner, Sikorsky director of engineering services, told AIN that phase four will “show how fast the X2 really can go.” The X2 has logged just over 11 hours on 12 flights.

the start of the fourth and final stage of its testing. Depending on how a test flight is going, the pilots increase the airspeed in increments of about 20 to 30 knots. “The rotors are designed to avoid blade-stall throughout the envelope,” Weiner explained. “With the coaxial main rotors, we avoid using the retreating blades for lift. The limiting factors for forward speed are power and drag and so far measured drag in flight test is matching our predictions. We have not yet reached max power. The airplane may go even faster than 250.” At speeds higher than about 200 knots, the rotational speed of the main rotors must be reduced to avoid the blade tips reaching supersonic speed. When asked when the X2 would reach 250 knots, Weiner gave a broad estimate of “sometime this year.” Indeed, the program has progressed deliberately from the start. When Sikorsky president Jeff Pino announced the X2 program at Paris in 2005, he predicted the X2 would fly by the end of 2006. At the HeliExpo show in February 2008, where

The Sikorsky Aircraft X2 “technology demonstrator” reached 181 knots on a test flight in West Palm Beach, Florida, on May 25. Officials at the U.S. helicopter manufacturer expect the experimental rotorcraft to reach 250 knots later this year.

After each test flight, engineers spend a few weeks analyzing the extensive data collected during the flight, looking for anomalies in the operation and performance of the aircraft. Changes are then made to improve the fidelity of the software driving the X2 simulator, which is used for both engineering research and pilot training. “Kevin Brendenbeck, our X2 chief test pilot, basically flies the next envelope-expansion flight in the simulator before we test it in the aircraft,” Weiner said. “It gives the pilots a very good idea about what to look for on the flight.” The changes to the simulator model after each flight are getting smaller and so far there have been no technical show stoppers, he said. Sikorsky Aircraft, a subsidiary of United Technologies, expects to fly the X2 again this month, signifying

Sikorsky exhibited the X2 publicly for the first time, Pino said, “The aircraft will fly when it’s ready. Safety comes first.” The demonstrator eventually made its first flight on Aug. 27, 2008. Sikorsky has designated neither a fixed number of flights nor hours for the test program. While the 250-knot milestone engenders understandable excitement, the more long-lasting benefits of the test program are in the continual collection of data for potential production concepts. The end of phase four will also mark the end of the X2’s flight-test program, but Weiner said the aircraft may also be used for other research, including investigating aspects of eventual production aircraft. Applications for the X2 design include search and rescue, special operations, armed scout, targeting and virtually any other mission

where the capabilities of high speed, maneuverability, quick acceleration and deceleration and low-noise levels are valued. “We’ve been talking to various potential customers about a lot of potential applications,” Weiner said. The coaxial main rotor, which eliminates the power-robbing tail rotor on a conventional helicopter, actually provides the X2 design better hover efficiency than a conventional helicopter of equal weight, he said, particularly in hot and high conditions. “It’s basically a helicopter that goes fast,” he added. It is much too early to speculate on the price of yet-to-be-determined production derivatives of the X2, but Weiner said, “The price of the aircraft as a whole may not be much different from a helicopter of comparable size.” For one thing, he said, the X2’s rigid rotor blades provide a potential cost advantage over flexible blades and an articulated rotor system, though he declined to explain why. Fly-by-Wire

The major features of the X2 include fly-by-wire flight controls; twin counter-rotating, coaxial main rotors (each with four rigid blades); a fairing over the rotor hub to reduce drag (not yet tested in flight); active vibration control; and a rear sixblade pusher propeller (or propulsor or auxiliary prop–it’s called a lot of things, said Weiner) that now runs continually in the X2. A single LHTEC T-800 turboshaft engine powers the aircraft (this engine also powered the Boeing/Sikorsky RAH66 Comanche, which the U.S. Army canceled in 2004). The X2’s main rotor system, engine and propulsor are integrated. Weiner said production derivatives will have a clutch to allow disengagement of the pusher propeller. Indeed, the propulsor was not connected during the X2’s first flight in August 2008, when it hovered and reached speeds no greater than 20 knots. It took another year before the X2 flew with the propulsor engaged. In developing X2 technology demonstrator, Sikorsky built on several decades of company research, specifically the XH-59A Advancing Blade Concept demonstrator, which showed high speed was possible with a coaxial helicopter and auxiliary propulsion; the Cypher unmanned aerial vehicle, which expanded company knowledge of the flight control laws in fly-by-wire aircraft with coaxial rotors; and the Comanche, which developed company expertise in composite rotors and advanced transmission design. In 2008, Pino predicted that the X2 will be a “game-changer” in the rotorcraft sector. If Sikorsky achieves its expected breakthrough speed record with the technology demonstrator this prediction may well start to stack up.

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The Sikorsky S-70i military helicopter–a new export variant of the UH-60M Black Hawk–made its first flight on July 1. Assembled in Poland by PZL Mielec, the first S-70i (S/N 0001) has the distinction of being the first Black Hawk assembled in Europe and the first helicopter produced by the Polish manufacturer, a long-time builder of fixedwing aircraft. The aircraft made its first flight on July 1, after arriving at Sikorsky’s Development Flight Center at West Palm Beach on May 4. Final assembly was completed in Poland on March 15. United Technologies is the parent company of both Sikorsky and PZL Mielec, which UTC purchased in 2007. The S-70i and the standard UH-60M Black Hawk are virtually identical aircraft, with the chief differences related to items that are not exportable from the U.S.–mainly some avionics and radios–according to Debra Zampano, S-70i program manager, international programs. This results in the empty weight of the baseline S-70i being about

The first S-70i–a new export variant of the UH-60M Black Hawk– made its first flight on July 1.

1,000 pounds lighter than the basic UH-60M. With a lower empty weight and same max gross weight (22,000 pounds) as the UH-60M, the S-70i is expected to have somewhat better performance than the UH-60M with comparable payloads. This will be verified in flight test. Both models are powered by twin T700-GE701D turboshaft engines rated at 3,988 shp (combined) for takeoff. The 30-second, oneengine-inoperative (OEI) rating is 1,940 shp. Interestingly, Sikorsky had originally decided that the baseline S-70i would have the UH-60L’s composite-titanium main rotor blades and the C-version electronic engine control. These would have given the S-70i a lower max cruise speed and less range, as well as lower hover, OEI and all-engines-operating (AEO) ceilings than the UH-60M, which has wide-chord, composite main rotor blades and the Dversion engine control. These latter two features were to be optional upgrades on the S-70i. However, customers have been asking for performance comparable to the UH-60M, and Sikorsky is considering making these items standard. In fact, S/N 0001 does have the widechord main rotor blades and D-version engine controls. The UH-60’s performance numbers include: max cruise speed, 151 knots; max range (no reserve); 276 nm; hover in ground effect, 10,520 feet; hover out of ground effect; 6,010 feet; OEI service ceiling, 6,500 feet; and AEO service ceiling, 15,180 feet. Because the UH-60M and S-70i are so similar, only one aircraft is being used for the qualification flights. Zampano said about 100 flighttest hours will be flown to meet the requirements of Sikorsky’s internal Quality Assurance Board. The second S-70i, which is the first production aircraft and is now under assembly at PZL Mielec, will begin production flight testing later this year in Poland. The Polish aircraft manufacturer, which leverages Sikorsky’s global supply chain, is already gearing up to a planned production rate of about 20 S-70is in 2012. While only two will be completed for delivery in 2010, three units will be “in the production flow” by the end of this year, Zampano said. Next year, 11 are expected to be completed. Production space has been already dedicated at PZL Mielec and the second wave of employee training has begun to support the increase in production rate. The company employs about 1,500 people. Primary customer interest for the S-70i is coming from counties in the Middle East and Latin America. “We are currently in negotiations with several launch customers,” Zampano said. According to Matt Rogers, product marketing manager-Sikorsky military systems, international customers are seeking low-cost solutions and “the kind of performance that the Black Hawk can deliver.” Missions include tactical combat operations, search and rescue, medical evacuation and disaster relief. The price of a baseline-configured S-70i is less than $13 million (at 2011 values), he said. Competing designs include the Mil Mi-17 and Eurocopter EC532 helicopters and under-development AgustaWestland AW149. –R.R.P.

BAE Systems offers a smarter way to train by David Donald BAE Systems is in the process of developing a new architecture that could greatly enhance the effectiveness of tactical training missions, while reducing the need to provide supporting assets to build complex operational scenarios. Known as the Operational Aircrew Training (OAT) program, the new system seamlessly combines live, virtual and constructive elements into a single training scenario that can be repeatable and can involve multiple players both in the air and on the ground. The vision is to provide a full beyond line-of-sight, multi-player capability across various air and ground platforms, and to provide an “out of cockpit” visualization of virtual and constructive entities. “We started with the fact that aircrew must fly,” said Dave Bowman, BAE’s chief engineer for the OAT program, “but we can reduce the dependency on support assets, and we can reduce the need for training deployments.” OAT is aimed primarily at the upper end of the training spectrum, providing complex scenarios in which frontline

crews can train with numerous assets, but without the need to necessarily provide those assets for real. BAE Systems is part way through an internally funded development program for OAT that has already resulted in two real demonstrations. In 2005 a two-versus-two, air-to-air engagement was staged in which a live (real operator in a real environment) platform was integrated with two virtual (real operators in simulated environment) aircraft and a constructive (simulated operator in a simulated environment) entity. In 2008 a close air support-type scenario was staged, using an augmented live asset (Tornado GR.Mk 4 with simulated targeting pod), a forward air controller in a virtual environment and four constructive entities (vehicle targets created entirely within the system). The Tornado crew engaged the “targets” with assistance from the forward air controller as if they were real, seeing exactly what they would expect to see on their screens in a fully live exercise. In terms of a “product,” Bowman said

UK must boost R&D spend to remain competitive by Bernard Fitzsimons The government needs to support billion) represented a slowing rate of research and development if the UK aero- decline, and Godden pointed to a “very space and defense industry is to continue good” 27-percent rise in system and airwhat has proved to be a recession-defying frame sales to £14 billion, which helped success story, maintains Ian Godden, offset a 20-percent decrease in sales to chairman of national aerospace, defense the U.S., primarily in defense. The latter and security trade organization ADS. The figure reflected a decline following a comments, made at a July 13 press con- series of exceptionally good years and represented “the end of a ference in London, were an decade of boom,” he said, appeal for further funding while exports to European from a new British governUnion countries and the rest ment that is aiming to achieve of the world grew 10 percent spending overall cuts averagand 20 percent, respectively. ing 25 percent. The industry has performed Results of the annual surremarkably well during the vey that ADS (Hall 1 Stand recession, he said. “I think 15) has taken over from we’re in the middle of a trough predecessor organization the in 2010,” Godden explained, Society of British Aerospace predicting a boom in 2011-13 Companies show 2009 revGraham Chisnall, ahead of a new peak in 2014. enues for the sector up 5.4 ADS managing director But what he termed a black percent to £22.2 billion commercial aerospace spot among the good news ($33.3 billion), with defense and operations was the 7.4-percent decline in accounting for 52 percent of R&D spending to £1.74 billion the total and exports amounting to 70 percent. Overall, defense sales ($2.61 billion) as both industry and grew 10.7 percent to £11.6 billion ($17.4 government reduced expenditure, mainly billion), with domestic sales up 5.4 per- in the defense field. Productivity increases averaging 6.2 cent and the weakness of sterling helping percent per employee meant the workforce defense exports increase by 15.1 percent. Orders, predictably, were down, but the in the sector held steady at just over 10.4-percent fall to £32.2 billion ($48.3 100,000. Although the government is hoping

OAT is an architecture that can generate multi-player training scenarios involving live (gray), virtual (orange) and constructive (white) entities, in turn providing a powerful training tool for advanced tactical situations without the expense of providing all the “players.”

OAT comprises hardware that can be packaged into a pod that can be carried aboard on aircraft, or even integrated into the aircraft itself, plus ground-based systems. The “player” elements are geo-referenced and time-synchronized so that there is no latency, and no positional discrepancies. Following these demonstrations, BAE

Systems is refining OAT for a full “pipeline” demonstration involving air and ground assets that will display the power of the system to key stakeholders. A company test crew flew the 2008 Tornado demonstration, but service crews have already tried the system in a ground-based rig, with positive feedback.

growth will lead to many new jobs in the sector, Godden said, that sort of productivity improvement will make significant increases in employment unlikely. However, in a country where the average age is 54, he said it is encouraging to record a 6-percent rise in the number of young people studying industry-related subjects. The number of students taking specialized aerospace engineering degrees has risen by an annual average of nearly 7 percent since 2000, reaching 9,230 last year. The previous government’s attempts to rebalance the economy toward manufacturing and technology had helped, he said, “but it’s up to industry to capitalize on these young people. I’m not counting this as a victory, just a useful start.” The real worry, Godden said, is that “the R&D trend is a lead indicator of a declining future.” Research spending tends to be driven by specific projects, so there can be one-year deviations, “but while it’s encouraging to see the industry attracting more young people, it is discouraging to see R&D declining. We can’t sustain both trends.” In terms of programs, the UK content by value of a Rolls-Royce Trent-engined Airbus A350 or A380 is just over 50 percent, while a Trent-powered Boeing 787 will have a UK content of 25 percent. The Bombardier C Series is also important for the UK industry’s future. The effects of the global recession on commercial sales have been less negative than feared, as airlines continue to find finance for new deliveries. But investment in the next five years will be crucial as the industry works to be ready for the anticipated upgrades of the Airbus and Boeing

single-aisle families, said Graham Chisnall, ADS managing director commercial aerospace and operations. There is already a worrying trend for large wing work–a field where the UK is “by far the world leader,” according to Godden–to leave the country. The composite covers for the A350’s wings, for example, will be made in Spain and Germany. “In metal days that work would have been done in the UK,” Chisnall said. “It is critical to invest in R&D to win that work back with the next program.” Part of the reason for a decline in the UK’s share of Airbus airframe work from a historical 20 percent to 10- to 12 percent on the A350 is the result of under-investment 10 or 12 years ago, Godden said. “That was reversed, but our message to the new government is that this is country-to-country competition, not a free market, despite everybody pretending or wanting it to be one,” he said. The UK won the C Series wing work despite a U.S. bid with more government money behind it, he added, but future wins will need government support as well as competitive companies. The same consideration applies to the Taranis unmanned combat air vehicle prototype that BAE Systems unveiled last week. “One thing is certain,” said Chisnall, “if you don’t invest you won’t get anything back. It’s an essential precursor to staying in the game.”

www.ainonline.com • July 19, 2010 • Farnborough Airshow Newsaa33

The Phantom Eye is a 150-foot-wingspan UAV capable of loitering for four days. Its liquidhydrogen engines are now ready for everyday use, according to the Boeing Phantom Works.

What’s in ‘The Works’? A160 Hummingbird

-Further development of this unmanned helicopter has now transitioned to Boeing Unmanned Air Systems.

Future Transport Helicopter -A successor to the Chinook, with a larger fuselage.

Boeing Phantom Works pushes new Eye-in-the-Sky program by Chris Pocock How cool is this? A high-altitude spyplane that can stay airborne for four days, driven by a liquid hydrogen power system, was unveiled last Monday at the Boeing Phantom Works in St. Louis, Missouri. Darryl Davis, the president of this advanced technology development shop, is here at the Farnborough show to describe rapid progress with the Phantom Eye program. A scale model is in the Boeing Pavilion here this week. Davis will likely also report here the first engine runs and taxi trials of the Phantom Ray, an unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) technology demonstrator that Boeing has salvaged from the Pentagon’s J-UCAS (joint unmanned combat air system) program. The Phantom Eye is designed to fly at 65,000 feet on the power of two 2.3-liter truck engines, modified to run on LH2 fuel. The dumpy-looking fuselage design is driven by the need to accommodate two eight-foot diameter tanks in line, each holding 1,000 pounds of liquid hydrogen. Between these two storage tanks is placed a large accumulator tank into which the LH2 flows in a

gaseous state after boil-off. From there it is fed to the two turbocharged engines, mounted on a high wing with a 150-foot span. They drive eight-foot diameter, four-bladed propellers. Payloads of up to 450 pounds can be carried in the Phantom Eye’s nose and on external mountings. The empty weight is 7,500 pounds. Multi-mission Platform

“This air vehicle could be a platform for a variety of missions, ranging from military intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance [ISR] through communications relay to border patrol,” said Davis. “For a small country, it could be an alternative to expensive satellites.” He explained that the version that is scheduled to fly early next year is only a 60-percent scale demonstrator. The ultimate goal of the Phantom Works is to produce a UAV that can fly a 2,000-pound payload for up to seven days or a 1,000-pound payload for 10 days. “We aim to beat the Condor!” he added. Enthusiasts for highaltitude long-endurance (HALE) vehicles will remember the Condor,

a 200-foot wingspan all-composite UAV that Boeing designed in the 1980s. It claimed a world record 67,028-foot altitude for a piston-engine-powered machine in February 1989, and stayed airborne for 58 hours 11 minutes the following November. Davis is tapping some of that old expertise with the Phantom Eye. And he has an experienced partner: Aurora Flight Sciences has built the wing, which like the composite structure for the fuselage is cured at room temperature without recourse to an autoclave. Like the Condor, the Phantom Eye will take off from a dolly and land on a skid to save the weight of an undercarriage. HALE aficionados may recall that the U-2 spyplane was designed with a similar arrangement–until Kelly Johnson of the Lockheed Skunk Works was persuaded otherwise by the U.S. Air Force. The very name of the Phantom Works suggests an outfit that embraces similar blue-sky aeronautical thinking. Indeed, the Boeing division is engaged in a wide variety of leading-edge projects (see box above right). Davis and his colleagues are presumably also hard at work in the classified domain. Partly Classified

Boeing’s UCAV–the Phantom Ray–was unveiled last May and is advancing through engine runs and taxi tests toward a first flight late this year.

The Phantom Ray seems to occupy a space in the defense sector that is partly a classified “black” program and partly unclassified. Davis confirmed to AIN last month that this lowobservable UCAV design is the same X-45C vehicle that Boeing nearly completed for the J-UCAS

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Continued on next page

Integrator

-A development of the Scan Eagle, which has been proposed for the U.S. Army ST-UAS competition.

JFTL

-Studies for the Joint Forces Theater Lift project, a jet-powered airlifter whose wing could be replaced by one carrying large tiltrotors.

Long Range Strike

-Various designs for the emerging U.S. Department of Defense requirement for a transonic air vehicle capable of delivering a payload of up to 40,000 pounds with a combat radius of 2,500 miles.

NGAD

-Stands for Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter, also known as FA-XX. A possible U.S. Navy program for a stealthy, tailless, carrier-launched fighter that might be manned, unmanned or optionally manned.

SECC

-Stands for Scan Eagle Compressed Carriage, a flipwing UAV that could be launched from the ground, from submarines or from carried by aircraft such as the P-8 or F-15.

Skyhook

-A very large airship for proving lighter-than-air mobility concepts.

Solar Eagle

-A 400-foot flying wing powered by solar-electrics that can stay aloft for up to five years. Boeing’s entry for DARPA’s Vulture program.

S-100 Camcopter

-Another autonomous vertical-lift system, this one is for ISR and has transitioned to Boeing Global Services and Support Systems, which has won a contract from U.S. Special Operations Command.

UCLASS

-An Unmanned Carrier-Launched Surveillance System. Think of it as a Predator-type system for the U.S. Navy.

X-48B

-Blended wing body research vehicle, now flying at Edwards Air Force Base.

X-51

-The hypersonic waverider that serves as a demonstrator for Scramjet engine development. It made a successful first flight on May 1, launched from a B-52 bomber.

Note: The above programs provide support to Boeing Military Aircraft. The Phantom Works also supports the company’s Network and Space Systems, and Global Services and Support divisions, with a variety of programs. It also does advanced modeling and simulation, through laboratories in Australia and the UK, as well as in the U.S., and strategic development and experimentation for the Pentagon and U.S. intelligence agencies.

Liquid Hydrogen as a Propulsion Fuel It is just over 50 years since a NASA scientist, John L. Sloop, published his seminal work with the title, Liquid Hydrogen as a Propulsion Fuel. Writing at the dawn of the space age, Sloop’s book mostly covered the history and prospects of LH2 as a rocket fuel. But he also described a top-secret program called Suntan, in which the Lockheed Skunk Works together with Pratt & Whitney tried to develop a supersonic, hydrogen-powered jet successor to the high-flying U-2 spyplane. After two years, even the redoubtable Kelly Johnson and his team had to give up. Elsewhere, aeronautical engineers in Germany and Russia have periodically been funded to explore the feasibility of liquid hydrogen. The work has foundered mostly because of volume problems: for equal combustion energy, LH2 requires more than four times the tank capacity of kerosene (although it weighs 70 percent less). Technical issues have included how to develop efficient evaporators, pumps and engine controls. Then there are the logistics problems of storing and transporting LH2. Against all that, liquid hydrogen is three times more efficient than jet fuel. Now the hunt for alternatives to fossil fuels has been renewed. And according to Phantom Works boss Darryl Davis, Boeing has developed “a breakthrough liquid-hydrogen propulsion system.” The process of raising the fuel to near-room temperature has been re-thought. “We don’t require a compressor or fuel pump,” explained Bill Norby, manager of the team that is integrating the engines to the Phantom Eye. “We use the tanks, a set of cryogenic valves, a couple of heat exchangers, and relief valves,” he added. Norby also noted that because all the fuel is stored in the two big fuselage tanks, the wing design was much simpler. The two 150-hp, four-cylinder engines have already been tested at 65,000 –C.P. feet in an altitude chamber for nearly 100 hours.

UK flight training ascends to reality as aircraft arrive by Charles Alcock The first courses to be provided under the UK’s new military flying training systems (MFTS) are to begin in less than a year when Royal Navy observers start training next May. Later that year, advanced jet training with new BAE Systems Hawks is to begin, and air crew destined for that training are already preparing on the first of six flight training devices installed at the Royal Air Force’s Valley base. Prime MFTS contractor Ascent Flight Services has been busy implementing the complex 25-year program in the two years since it sealed a training partner service contract in June 2008. Ascent is a joint venture between Lockheed Martin’s Simulation, Training and Support division and the UK’s VT Group. “We have done the training needs analysis and the training system design,” explained Ascent managing director Sir Barry Thornton. “We are well on the way to developing the costs for the various programs that are not yet committed.” MFTS will entail training for 23 air crew disciplines covering 33 different courses. No fewer than 6,500 student lessons are to be provided at six different locations through 2041. “MFTS will deliver improved value for money with about £1 billion saved over the life of the program,” claimed Sir

Phantom Works pushes new Eye-in-the-Sky program Continued from preceding page

program, which was mysteriously cancelled in early 2006. Funding from the U.S. Navy subsequently allowed Northrop Grumman to proceed with its J-UCAS contender–the carrier-capable X-47B. Since then, Lockheed Martin has emerged as a black-world provider of at least one stealthy UAV to the U.S. Air Force, in the shape of the RQ-170, also known as the Desert Prowler. The RQ170 is yet to be fully revealed, but was deployed in secret to Afghanistan last year. Meanwhile, Boeing–the company that pioneered the development of UCAVs for the U.S. Air Force in the original X-45A program–was seemingly left out in the cold. Davis said that the Phantom Ray is being completed and test-flown entirely with Boeing’s own money. “At some point, the [U.S. military] services are going to require it,” he added. The Phantom Ray was unveiled last May and is due to fly next December. It is 36 feet long with a wingspan of 50 feet, and is powered by a General Electric F404-GE-102D engine. A full-scale model of this UCAV is on display here at Farnborough. It has a strike radius of 1,200 nm with a payload of 4,500 pounds, such as two internally carried JDAM bombs. According to Davis, the Phantom Ray

Barry, who was formerly the head of the Royal Air Force’s training command. “It is the only way we will get the training system modernized.” Four Hawker Beechcraft King Air 350 twin turboprops have been bought for the Royal Navy observer training. They are being modified by FR Aviation and Cobham, with the first aircraft due to be completed this month. Both the aircraft and the ground-training units are being provided with the Xwave Solutions tactical mission trainer. Students will undergo initial flight and navigation training at the MFTS common ground school before moving to the Culdrose base to work on the King Airs, which are to replace aging British Aerospace Jetstreams. The UK Ministry of Defence has handled the purchase of the new Hawks for the advanced jet training. Ascent is providing the ground-based training environment package, which includes developing courseware and lessons, building the new school and accommodation at RAF Valley. CAE is building the two full-mission simulators for this facility, the first of which is to be delivered in January 2011. Under the groundbreaking MFTS program, Ascent has overall responsibility for delivering the training, managing courses on a day-to-day basis using a mix of civilian and military training. Most ground training instructors are civilian (although generally with a military background), and as the training moves closer to frontline service, the ratio of military trainers increases. Ascent gets input from current frontline pilots to shape the training content.

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could serve as a testbed for demonstrating autonomous aerial boom-and-receptacle refueling. Potential missions could include ISR, suppression of enemy air defenses and electronic attack. The Phantom Works is developing an “open-mission management system” that could work with either the Phantom Eye or the Phantom Ray, or both. Boeing first started this work as a part of J-UCAS, where it was known as the common operating system. It has an open, service-oriented architecture; uses a high-order language; has nonproprietary interfaces; and is NATO STANAG-compliant, according to Davis. This Boeing system is PC- and Linuxbased, and is designed so that a single operator can control multiple, different types of UAVs. It has already been tested by flying three Scan Eagles. “We believe that the DOD [U.S. Department of Defense] will one day have a competition for UAV control stations,” Davis said. Despite recent cutbacks in U.S. government budgets for science and technology research, the Phantom Works is apparently still advancing along multiple paths. “Within Boeing, we’re not throttling back on research. It’s the future,” declared Davis.

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The second Superjet prototype underwent extensive water tests through a 230-foot-long pool built on the runway at Sukhoi’s Zhukovsky flight test center.

Superjet has full power as SaM146 is certified by Gregory Polek Powerjet received European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification for the SaM146 turbofan on June 23. Jean-Paul Ebanga, chairman and CEO of the joint venture between France’s Snecma and Russia’s NPO Saturn, reported that the company expects to build 12 production engines this year in Rybinsk, Russia, allowing Sukhoi Civil Aircraft to honor its commitment to deliver the first production Superjet 100s to Aeroflot and Armavia by year-end. EASA certification of the SaM146 engine marks a monumental achievement for a program that had struggled to supply the Superjet program with enough prototype engines to keep pace with Sukhoi’s test schedule. Although Sukhoi had managed to fly four prototypes by February, it did so with only six engines, using the first two on both the first and fourth airplanes. By late February Saturn delivered the seventh prototype engine and shipped the eighth and final prototype in May. Since then Sukhoi has fitted the fourth prototype with the new test engines. Ebanga reported that Saturn has made great strides since the problems it encountered early on in the program. “Yes, at the end of 2008, the beginning of 2009, the situation was difficult,” he acknowledged. “They [Saturn] addressed the issue in the appropriate way and today I think we are in the safe zone again.” Sukhoi, as well, has expressed satisfaction with the recent progress at Saturn, applauding it for its “around the clock” efforts to accelerate final assembly after the Russian government intervened with monetary support and Safran dispatched a special team of engineers from France to Rybinsk to help settle its technical difficulties. Saturn now operates as part of OPK Oboronprom, the statecontrolled beneficiary of a 6.521 billion ruble ($212 million) capital injection prescribed under an executive order signed by Prime Minister Vladmir Putin. Saturn carries responsibility for the engine’s low-pressure section, final assembly and ground tests, while Snecma supplies the engine core, control systems and power transmission, and oversees overall aircraft-engine integration and flight tests. By the end of its certification

program, the SaM146 had logged 7,000 hours of testing, according to Powerjet, including 3,500 flight hours, without any major incidents. The company performed the last medium-size bird ingestion test on May 26, marking the end of certification testing. It completed fan bladeout tests on May 6 and, earlier in the year, the engine passed its block test, demonstrating performance under extreme operating conditions. Meanwhile, as Powerjet worked to prepare the first production engine for power-on, Sukhoi has stayed busy with its own testing activities. In early June the second Superjet prototype (S/N 95003) successfully finished its testing aimed at evaluation of engine protection against runway water. Conducted at Sukhoi’s Zhukovsky flight test center, the test involved 27 runs at various

Powerjet maintenance technicians attend to the SaM146 turbofan that powers Sukhoi’s Superjet.

speeds through a special 230foot-long pool built on the runway and filled with water up to a depth of 1.57 inches. Russian certification authorities on hand paid special attention to low-speed modes, takeoff mode and maximum thrust reverser, said Sukhoi.

Goodrich’s AIS studies Terprom for trainers by David Donald Atlantic Inertial Systems (AIS), part of Goodrich Corp., is the provider of the Terprom terrain-referenced navigation system that is installed in many combat aircraft, such as the F-16 and Typhoon, and increasingly in military transports such as the C-17 and C-130. Now the UK company is eyeing a move into the basic

trainer world, based on what it sees as a growing need for more realistic training at an earlier stage in the flying training syllabus. Terprom provides a wellproven capability in many frontline platforms, using radalt data compared against an onboard digital terrain elevation database to provide accurate low-level navi-

Terprom can generate terrain-following steering cues in the head-up display for low-level flight, and provide warning of obstacles or potential controlled-flight-into-terrain hazards.

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gation with no dependence on GPS, terrain-following and obstacle/terrain avoidance warning in all weathers. In Britain’s Royal Air Force, the system is installed on the Hawk advanced trainer as well as all frontline aircraft fast-jets. In today’s fiscal climate, the world’s air forces are taking a close look at their training budgets with the aim of providing the best possible training at the lowest possible cost. One of the key aims is to download the “top end” of the system as much as possible by migrating training from frontline aircraft to advanced trainers, and then from those trainers further down the chain to basic trainers. RAF pilots, and those of many other air arms, will use Terprom as a matter of course throughout their flying careers. They are currently introduced to it at the Hawk stage, by which time flying hours dedicated to instruction in its employment are already expensive. Introducing pupils to the system at the basic training stage is seen not only as being highly beneficial to their training, but also saving money in terms of lower flying costs. Furthermore, the system’s considerable safety benefits can be enjoyed at a time in a pilot’s career when they are perhaps of greatest value. As a consequence of this line of thought, AIS is studying the development of a Terprom system for aircraft in the class of the Tucano, T-6 and PC-21. The chal-

lenges are keeping the costs down so it becomes economically viable, and integrating Terprom with the aircraft’s systems, which, by definition, are not as sophisticated or as capable as those of frontline aircraft. Internally funded proof-of-concept work is ongoing, although the Plymouth-based company is confident of having a platform-ready solution in around a year if there is interest. In the meantime, mainstream Terprom development and implementation continues. AIS is currently supplying Terprom for the newly launched C-130 AMP Hercules modernization and also is upgrading the Terprom ground proximity warning system for the Typhoon with air-to-surface targeting information. The system uses its terrain database and ranging functionality to provide accurate position, elevation and range data of selected ground targets to the aircraft’s attack computer, improving weapons delivery accuracy. This upgrade is expected to be part of the Typhoon’s Future Batch Enhancement program. In the rotary-wing world, Terprom continues to be one of the building blocks for possible lowlevel, low-visibility navigation and landing systems, and AIS maintains a close eye on active sensor developments and how they could be integrated with Terprom to make helicopter operations much safer. The company is also examining possible land applications.

INNOVATION IN ALL DOMAINS

LAND The Mantis taxies at Woomera, in Australia, during the initial Spiral 1 flight-test campaign. The MX-20 turret under the nose is the main sensor, with cameras in the central turret serving the ICE II autonomous target identification and location system.

Mantis prays, and waits for Europe to bite by David Donald Although developed to help answer the UK’s surveillance requirements, the BAE Systems Mantis unmanned air vehicle technology demonstrator has become the focus of wider interest from elsewhere in Europe. The UAV is seen now as a potential platform to answer the time-critical requirements of France and Italy, as well as the UK itself, and will inevitably draw interest from other nations such as Germany and Spain. All these nations have requirements for deep and persistent intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) capability, which is required sooner rather than later. The Mantis faces a number of challengers in this field: the General Atomics Predator B/Reaper, already operated by the UK and Italy, and selected by Germany for an interim capability; the Israel Aerospace Industries Heron TP that is being touted by a Dassault/Indra/Thales/IAI consortium to fill the French and Spanish requirements; and the EADS Talarion. The latter offers a highly capable all-European solution, but is not expected to be ready for service until 2018 at the earliest. That is seen as too late for France, in particular, which requires a medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) UAV in service around 2015. Such a timescale fits well with the UK schedule, although that may be altered by the new British government’s forthcoming strategic defense and security review, which is widely expected to result in a significant cut in defense spending. Currently the UK’s Scavenger program envisions a deep persistent ISTAR asset being selected in 2012 and entering service in 2015-18. The Scavenger is part of the UK MoD’s wider Solomon ISTAR program (formerly Dabinett), which also

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encompasses other intelligence-gathering disciplines such as satellites. A few weeks ago the UK and French defense ministries launched a feasibility study for an Anglo-French high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) UAV solution, with the Mantis as a possible platform. Dassault would lead the French side in a partnership with BAE Systems. Italy is also studying the Mantis, with Finmeccanica as the most likely industry partner. The feasibility report is due to be published in the third quarter. In the meantime, the Mantis demonstrator is back at Warton after its successful Spiral 1 flight test campaign at Woomera in Australia. This began with a first flight on October 21 last year, and involved five mission-representative flights. They included the ability of the system to cue the operator to pre-set targets, area surveillance and night operations. A quick turnaround was also performed, returning the Mantis to the air in around 30 minutes. As well as the L-3 Wescam MX-20 EO/IR primary sensor, the Mantis was fitted with BAE Systems’ imagery collection and exploitation (ICE) II system. The system incorporates automatic target recognition algorithms that identify targets and automatically cross-cue the main sensors for more detailed imagery. With the Mantis back at Warton, BAE Systems is rebuilding the demonstrator as a systems development testbed. Spiral 1 tests are considered complete, bringing to an end the advanced concept and technology demonstrator phase, which was funded jointly by industry and the UK Ministry of Defence, as part of the government’s Operational Unmanned Aerial System program. Spiral 2 has yet to be defined but will concentrate primarily on expanded ISTAR capability, and is likely to include a Selex Galileo SAR/GMTI radar. The nature of the next Spiral development is likely to be dependent on the outcome of the current feasibility studies.

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Tiny drones perform in indoor arena by Charles Alcock As part of a concerted drive to increase the number of unmanned aircraft displays at the Farnborough show, organizers have installed a special netted area in Hall Three where exhibitors are flying small unmanned aerial systems (UAS). As it works with aviation authorities on longterm plans to fly larger unmanned aircraft at future shows, Farnborough International has imposed a maximum limit of 20 kg (44 pounds) for aircraft being demonstrated here. Among the UASs on show this week are Yellowplane’s autonomous flying wing, which features an AttoPilot autopilot and can fly for up to two hours at speeds of up to 46 knots. The UK firm is also exhibiting its larger–nearly five-foot wingspan–Boomerang UAS in the outside flying displays. Also on display is the Falcon 8 Octocopter, an unmanned mini-helicopter with eight rotors that is operated by UK company Flying Scotscam. The aircraft’s

Yellowplane’s autonomous flying wing is one of several small unmanned aerial systems performing indoor flight displays within a new netted display area in Hall 3 here at the Farnborough International show.

eight separate motors are controlled by computer and, when used with a GPS and inertial measurement unit, it can hold its position in winds of up to 20 mph because the remote operator can essentially lock it into a fixed position and then concentrate on the mission. The Falcon 8 is equipped with a gyrostabilized, high-definition camera that can

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capture video and still images for tasks such as inspecting building exteriors and bridges. These images can be relayed to a screen on the ground to give the client a quick impression of any issues that might require closer inspection. Also part of the light UAS line-up here at Farnborough 2010 is the Rotomotion family of fully autonomous helicopters

from ASM Europe. According to managing director Pietro Amati, the company has relocated to the UK from the U.S. for several reasons, including the restrictions that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration continues to impose on unmanned flight applications. ASM also is looking to get into the European market and has entered into a joint venture with the UK’s Roke Manor Research to develop new UAS flight control software and an automatic landing system to allow aircraft to land on moving structures (such as ships). ASM’s SR20, SR100 and SR300 aircraft are suited to missions of up to three hours’ duration. The company is now developing “full-sized” unmanned helicopters that will be able to fly for up to eight hours and that could be armed with a small machine gun, as well as a variety of cameras and sensors. Finally, the new Varos UAS is also being displayed here at Farnborough in the indoor display netted area. According to its UK manufacturer, Fibreflight, the lightweight aircraft with a ducted propulsion system can safely be used in environments that would not be suitable for conventional fixed-wing or rotary UAS.

INNOVATION IN ALL DOMAINS

SEA Rockwell Collins supplies the majority of the flight deck content in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

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Airliner and bizjet orders spell rosy outlook at Collins by Stephen Pope An improving outlook for the airline industry and the projected continued turnaround in business aviation are converging at the perfect moment for Rockwell Collins, which has won more new avionics business in the last 24 months than any other cockpit equipment manufacturer. Aircraft order backlogs are growing at Boeing and Airbus thanks to a surge of sales in emerging markets like Asia, South America and the Middle East. U.S. airlines, meanwhile, have been reporting close to double-digit profit margins through the first part of this year, confirming projections that the industry has reached a turning point after experiencing a sharp drop during the global financial crisis. Rockwell Collins supplies the majority of the flight deck content in the Boeing 787. Once 787 production begins in earnest next year, Rockwell Collins will be a major beneficiary, said Kent Statler, executive vice president and chief operating officer for the company’s commercial systems division. “As the largest content provider on the 787, we’re working with Boeing daily to make sure this certification program progresses to a successful conclusion” at the end of the year, Statler said. Regional Jet Flight Decks

Rockwell Collins has also been tapped to supply major components in the Bombardier C Series, Mitsubishi MRJ and Comac ARJ21 regional jets, all currently under development at their respective manufacturers and now predicted to perform well in a market that had been characterized by uncertainty at this time last year. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa avionics maker has also landed the majority of contracts to supply the avionics in new business jets, securing deals with Bombardier for an entirely new cockpit in the Global Express XRS and 5000, and with Gulfstream for

the avionics system in the G250, an updated version of the super-midsize G200 built by Israel Aerospace Industries in Tel Aviv. Collins avionics have also been selected for the Learjet 85 and Embraer Legacy 450 and 500. The centerpiece of each of these new cockpits will be the Pro Line Fusion avionics system, a follow-on to the Pro Line 21 flight deck introduced in the mid-1990s. Pro Line 21 has found homes in a wide array of business airplanes from the Beech King Air line to Bombardier’s Challenger 605. Pro Line Fusion takes the concept of avionics integration several steps further by incorporating advanced cockpit management functions with large LCD flat-panel displays. The new cockpit will also feature advanced-vision technology that will merge infrared camera views with computergenerated synthetic views. The technique is intended to make every flight equivalent to a sunny day no matter what the weather outside is doing. The latest business aviation industry forecasts predict the market will start to stabilize this year and enter a period of sustained growth starting in 2013. That’s good news for Rockwell Collins since all of the new platforms for which Pro Line Fusion has been selected will be entering the market around that time. “We feel very confident about the timing of these programs,” Statler said. Rockwell Collins also stands to benefit from the introduction of new technologies to support the FAA’s ambitious NextGen effort, an overhaul of the U.S. air traffic control system that is projected to cost some $40 billion over the next two decades. Besides benefiting from the sale of new NextGen-compatible avionics, Rockwell Collins is also a member of an FAA-funded research team led by ITT.

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Aero Sekur is developing a re-entry module that could be used to return scientific samples to earth or serve as a kind of space lifeboat to rescue astronauts under the Spacecrew Emergency Module concept.

reset in ten minutes rather than taking a ten-week turnaround to have the whole system dismantled and sent away for overhaul.” Among the company’s current new programs is an external life raft that it is developing for Eurocopter’s EC 175 helicopter. It is also doing similar work on two new military helicopter programs. Aero Sekur also makes fuel tanks, in many cases for helicopters for which they have to meet high standards of crash-resistance. For example, for military helicopters they have to be able to survive a fall of 65 feet (set to be increased to 75 feet); for civil aircraft the requirement is 50 feet. For defense applications the tanks also have to have ballistic protection, for which Aero Sekur has devised materials that will re-seal the structure when it is hit by incoming fire. The company has also been developing a new re-entry module to support space missions. Its Spacecrew Emergency Module can act as a space lifeboat to rescue crew, but also could allow scientific samples to be safely

returned to earth. The unit combines Aero Sekur’s parachute technology with a consumable, inflatable heat shield that allows the capsule to slow down as it crosses the upper layers of the atmosphere. As the module descends through the lower atmosphere, a parachute and deceleration system further reduces its landing speed. In the growing field of agrospace, Aero Sekur has developed very lightweight inflatable greenhouses that can be used to grow vegetables on other planets. In preparation for their eventual use on the surface of Mars, the company has tested the greenhouses by growing tomatoes at its facility at Aprilia in Italy. Aero Sekur also has an office here in Farnborough, and is back at the airshow after making its first appearance at the 2008 event. On its stand this week, it is hosting a group of young engineers from various countries as part of its commitment to encouraging young people to pursue careers in aerospace engineering.

Leadership program raises workrate and bottom line

program resulted in a 50-percent reduction in the budget for new product development and a 30-percent improvement in the achievement of “customer milestones” in the program. In another case, production output was boosted by a third, with the order backlog reduced by over 80 percent and on-time deliveries increased from 60 to 80 percent. At another company, a loss-making product line was returned to profitability and line stoppages were decreased by 25 percent, yielding savings of $4 million. In other instances, Structured Leadership has been used to reinvigorate sales forces to the extent that sales closure rates improved by a factor of two and the number of leads in the sales pipeline increased fivefold. JARA worked with another company’s human resources department to tackle a high turnover rate of staff and generated $200,000 in savings by eliminating avoidable recruitment. So what is the structure in Structured Leadership? According to

Aero Sekur’s smart technology tackles space and earth projects by Charles Alcock Involvement in the European Space Agency’s Intermediate Experimental Vehicle program to devise re-entry technology for lowearth orbit programs has given Aero Sekur an opportunity to take its expertise in the use of lightweight, flexible structures literally into the realms of rocket science. The company was selected for the work in November 2009 and is due to complete the project by the end of this year. But Aero Sekur (Hall 4 Stand B8) has had 40 years of experience in developing more down-toearth, but nonetheless vital, aero-

This evacuation slide is among a variety that Aero Sekur designs and manufactures and for which it provides maintenance, repair and overhaul.

space products, including flotation devices, aircraft evacuation slides and parachutes. The Anglo-Italian company is an unashamedly engineering-led enterprise that has built a specialization from combining materials in multi-layer, high-performance structures. They also feature advanced gassing systems that can inflate them in less than a second and control systems to ensure they immediately adjust to surrounding atmospheres as inhospitable as the surface of Mars. “We work in areas where it is not just smart technology that is needed, but where users are very reliant the systems, so they have to operate at very high levels of reliability, even after being packed away unused for several years,” explained CEO Mark Butler. Products such as aircraft floats have complex requirements including the need to retain gas, be structurally strong and be able to take high stress. Sometimes these needs can be met by combining materials like polyurethane and nylon, but in other cases Aero Sekur has to decouple materials and include a fine barrier to retain gas, which then is supported by a stronger fabric. With its flotation systems, the company has been working to reduce the weight of the structures and use non-pyrotechnic solutions

Aero Sekur’s expertise in flotation devices for helicopters is being applied to the development of a new life raft for Eurocopter’s EC 175 helicopter.

for inflation. “The main advantage of this approach is in terms of reliability and maintainability,” explained Butler. “This means fewer overhauls and with a simpler valve [for inflation] the equipment can be overhauled by any aircraft engineer because the valve can be

by Charles Alcock Let’s face it: the aerospace and of UK-based consultancy JARA, defense industries do not have his trademarked Structured Leadgood track records when it comes ership programs are different in to keeping new product develop- that they make a lasting impact on ments on-time and on-budget. companies and their people. Rashid is a Master Engineer And, like many other industries, they suffer from the habitual prob- with management experience in lems of inefficiencies throughout both the aerospace and automotive sectors. Before forming the sales, production and JARA in 2003, he worked customer-support chains. as a Master Engineer conThrow in the added sultant to the Society of pressures of squeezed British Aerospace Compaincome levels and rising nies and his fellow costs and you have the consultants have similar makings of a major manJamil Rashid, JARA backgrounds. agement headache. According to JARA, Does that mean it’s managing director time to turn to the management there is nothing theoretical about gurus? Many remain skeptical the results that Structured Leaderabout the sort of self-help pro- ship has achieved at international grams delivered by management aerospace and defense firms of all school mavens, but according to shapes and sizes. In one instance, Jamil Rashid, managing director the changes engendered by the

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Rashid, there are four core characteristics and, by practicing the following principles and techniques in all aspects of their work and at all levels of their company, managers can become structured leaders. First comes the vision stage of the program in which managers “align” their teams so they stay focused on the company strategy. “Align means getting people to do things that implement strategy and stopping them from doing things that don’t,” Rashid told AIN. “We help leaders to create a framework of rules. We help them to create a framework and we help them to stick to it.” A Master of Control

Next comes the “structured involvement” phase, which is effectively hands-on therapy for managerial control freaks. “Leaders find it hard to give people control because they feel they are losing control when they do–not because they don’t want their people to have control, but because they are frightened those people will mess it up and the managers will not achieve what they wanted,” explained Rashid. “So, instead, they try to control everything. But we show them how to stay in control without needing to be involved in everything and every decision.” JARA’s belief is that if people have more control they put more effort into their work. In practice, this aspect of Structured Leadership involves getting teams of employees to define strategic objectives and to create solutions to problems that stand in the way of achieving those objectives. The third element is measurement, whereby JARA helps companies to make the connection between what they do and what they achieve (or don’t achieve). “We are trying to get people to look at their own opportunities for improvement through an inward-looking measurement system,” Rashid explained. “Our enemy isn’t our customers, it’s us. We examine why we don’t meet goals. We focus on what we can

Does JARA Practice What It Preaches? At this week’s Farnborough International, JARA’s consultants aim to give the industry a practical demonstration of what Structured Leadership can achieve even in the frantic atmosphere of a major airshow. The company’s exhibit area (Hall 3 Stand B10) has been fitted out as a replica of the Royal Air Force’s famous Fighter Command operations room from which the Battle of Britain was fought and won 70 years ago. But instead of marking the positions of Spitfire and Messerschmitt fighters, the replica map table charts the success (or otherwise) of JARA’s team in achieving their goal of making contact with key sales prospects. The JARA “squadrons” are being deployed in different sectors of the show site each day and reporting their progress by text message to the “fighter command.” They also are reporting back to the stand three times each day to review progress and tactics. JARA is also supporting the Battle of Britain Wings Appeal, a charity that supports current and former RAF personnel. –C.A.

do. As a manager and a leader it is easy to blame things on the outside world.” JARA believes it helps company managers to create an environment in which it is easier for their staff to identify and be honest about problems, which ultimately makes the workplace less stressful. Finally, there is planning in which managers are helped both to develop and to adhere to highly visible, consistent and detailed plans for each project at all levels of an organization. “A lot of good strategies go nowhere because individuals lack focus on how they will achieve a goal, what they must do to reach it,” added Rashid. “People get distracted by day-to-day issues that steer them off course. We help them to constantly and easily test if the day-to-day opportunities they see are going to add value to the end goal or steer them off course.” Rashid maintains that Structured Leadership is fundamentally different from other management techniques and best practice programs. “It operates at a very different level. We do some training but it has to be through on-the-job mentoring because people tend not to learn well otherwise,” he explained. “People need to see that something actually helps with their jobs. We can build good new habits. We have a system to help the individuals create a system rather than us simply handing one over. The problem lies in companies picking up a system and applying it without understanding why such a system was put into place in another company.”

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Effective Meetings

One practical example of how Structured Leadership can change a company on a day-to-day basis is that it includes effective planning of meetings. The goal of effective planning is to ensure that “action items” generated by meetings are actually necessary, which in Rashid’s view is far from the norm in many firms where staff leave meetings assigned with pointless tasks that sap energy and purpose from what should be the goal of executing a clear strategy. Today’s tough economic climate has prompted many companies to reassess how they do things and how to become more efficient. But assuming the good times will be back someday, is there a danger that these new approaches will not be lasting lessons that lead to embedded changes? “What will happen if those companies do not use Structured Leadership principles is that when things get better those good habits will disappear and companies may fall back into old habits,” Rashid concluded. Considering some of the high-profile aerospace program delays in recent history, some might say they can be attributed in good measure to companies making unrealistic commitments and literally setting themselves up for failure. But for Rashid, a more significant factor is generally poor planning at the start of a program and an inadequate managerial review process. “The understanding of why things have slipped may not be there,” he reflected. “It could be that they are not reviewing often enough, leaving it too long to understand what has gone wrong.”

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CMC military cockpits are on the cutting edge by Charles Alcock With defense budgets around the world, but particularly here in Europe, feeling the fiscal squeeze, you might well imagine that this is not a good time to be marketing upgrades for military aircraft. Not so, according to Greg Yeldon, president and CEO of Esterline CMC, which is seeing mounting interest in way it is bring cuttingedge capability to military trainer and transport aircraft. On display here at the Farnborough airshow in front of the Hawker Beechcraft chalet (J3) is a prime example of this trend. CMC has provided Cockpit 4000 avionics suite for the AT-6 light attack aircraft, as well as for the T6B single turboprop trainer from which this is derived This fall, the AT-6 will begin the next stage of its evaluation exercise by the U.S. military, which is expected to order up to 100 aircraft to enter service in 2013 under the light attack and armed reconnaissance (LAAR) program. The requirement is for a flexible, cost-effective alternative to using fighter jets such as the F-16 for counterinsurgency operations in campaigns such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

In the LAAR contest, the AT-6 is potentially up against rivals such as Embraer’s A-29 Super Tucano, a new version of Boeing’s OV-10 Bronco, Air Tractor’s AT-802U and Alenia’s Aermacchi M-346. According to CMC, in exercises conducted earlier this year the AT-6 was the only candidate aircraft that was able to be on station 100 percent of the required time and also exceeded all mission expectations. The aircraft included a full intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance package and burned less fuel in all the exercises than would have been needed an F-16 for a single sortie. “The aircraft [T-6B/AT-6] is living proof of the capability that our integrated cockpit brings in terms of additional functionality,” explained Jean-Michel Comptois, CMC’s vice president marketing and sales, and government and public affairs. “It can handle inputs from multiple sensors and display different information for the pilot on separate pages of the MFD [multifunction display] and the capability can be modified through software changes.”

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CMC’s C-130 integration laboratory in Montreal is developing the Cockpit 9000 digital glass cockpit that is modernizing the ubiquitous military transport and enabling it to be certified for operations under civil rules.

Meanwhile, CMC is working on providing the Cockpit 4000 system for a second batch of BAE Systems’ Hawk Mk66 that Finland’s Patria is upgrading for the country’s air force. The contract calls for 26 of the advanced trainer jets to be delivered. Patria and CMC are looking to extend their alliance to bid for Poland’s new trainer aircraft requirement. Their bid would see an upgraded version of the Hawk offered to replace the aging Orlik basic trainer. CMC also is providing Pilatus Aircraft with its head-up display and a new flight management system (FMS) for the PC-21 turbotrainers that the Swiss airframer is supplying to the air force of the United Arab Emirates. The Canadian

avionics group also is supporting Korean Aerospace Industries in the development of its new KT-1C turboprop trainer. According to Comptois, CMC is set to share in the expected emergence of virtual training systems pioneered by firms such as CAE and Elbit, with the mission computer of its Cockpit 4000 system acting as a hub for that technology. The idea is to replicate the cockpit performance of an F-16-class fighter in an aircraft that is far less costly to operate in the training environment. “This takes simulation airborne,” he explained. “You could take two T6s and through a card in the mission computer and a data link between the aircraft could set them up 60 miles apart and turn them

against each other through a down-control intercept.” In the simulated combat the pilot performs all functions through handson throttle and stick, selecting radar and locking on weapons. Another key area in which CMC has been extending its capabilities is modernizing the cockpits of C-130 military transport aircraft. Just ahead of this week’s Farnborough show, the company delivered several aircraft to customers, including the UAE, having completed the work in just 14 months. The CMA-9000 upgrades allow the C-130s to be certified on the same basis as commercial airliners, which is important since the troop carriers now need to be operated under civil rules. “We have brought speed to these modifications and our closest competitor would take twice as long,” claimed Yeldon. “We don’t carry a huge bureau-

CMC has a long-standing alliance with Sikorsky to update the cockpits of Black Hawk helicopters for the U.S. Army. This version shows its flight management system installed on the UH-60M model.

cracy and have a proven solution with a network of partners and suppliers, so we own the glue for the solution.” In the military rotorcraft sector, CMC is in negotiations with Sikorsky over the “multi-year eight” bid to supply the FMS for the U.S. Army’s UH-60M Black Hawks that would extend production through 2017 and cover between 1,200 and 1,600 units. CMC has a long-standing partnership with Sikorsky on the helicopter program and the current “multi-year seven” contract expires in 2012. CMC (Hall 4 Stand C17) also has set its sights on emerging civil aircraft cockpit requirements, for which it can offer various FMS solutions as well as electronic flight bags and enhanced-vision systems. The company is providing the FMS for Russia’s new Superjet 100 airliner and is bidding to provide EFBs for China’s Comac C919 narrowbody and Bombardier’s C Series (for which it also is offering EVS). The next step for CMC in the civil sector would be a more integrated avionics suite, but the requirements for future airliners, such as those envisioned by Boeing and Airbus, are not yet fully defined. “We are looking at cockpit evolution and we want solutions that are just in time [for future airliner programs],” said cockpit and systems integration vice president Patrick Champagne. “For now the focus is on retrofit solutions before we are ready to supply more complete systems. We are being careful to walk before we run.”

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WheelTug self-contained unit could streamline ground ops The days of airliner crews having to oped with Ward Leonard, the WheelTug wait for pushbacks by tugs and towbars system also uses a joystick, switches and could be numbered if WheelTug succeeds indicators developed by Luxell, wire harin getting into production by the end of nesses from Cooperative Industries Aero2012 its system for allowing aircraft to space and the inverter installed in the move on and off stands autonomously. The avionics bay from ICE, with which Wheelcompany expects to be able to complete tri- Tug is exhibiting here at the Farnborough als using Boeing 737s later this year, show (Hall 2 Stand C3). Gibraltar-based having already demonstrated the system on WheelTug will hold the supplemental type certificate for the system. a larger 767. The equipment weighs about The WheelTug system uses 300 pounds, but will not add two Chorus electric motors to the overall takeoff weight positioned in the nosewheel to of the aircraft, which can move the aircraft, employing carry at least that much less power from the auxiliary fuel because the engines are power unit. The movement of not needed to power taxiing the aircraft can be controlled and pushbacks. WheelTug has by the pilots, and also can be estimated that using the system operated by ground personnel could save operating costs of using a remote control device. WheelTug could potentially approximately $30,000 each According to WheelTug reduce aircraft operating month per aircraft. chief operating officer Isaiah costs by approximately Airlines will be able to Cox, the system offers air- $30,000 each month. purchase or lease the equiplines significant savings in terms of fuel burn, faster turnarounds at ment, but WheelTug has yet to announce airports and avoiding costly damage prices for these options. The company is caused by airport tugs colliding with air- now trying to line up further airport and craft. It is also more environmentally airline partners for the remaining stages friendly in that it reduces fuel burn and of development work. It is also looking noise from the main engines of aircraft for about $5- to $10 million in additional capital, but has indicated that it could, in moving around at airports. In addition to the Chorus motor devel- fact, pay for remaining costs itself. –C.A.

www.ainonline.com • July 19, 2010 • Farnborough Airshow Newsaa43

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The first production Nimrod MRA.4 leaves the runway at Woodford on its first flight last year.

Nimrod flies in the face of latest budget doubts by Chris Pocock After all the years of troubled development, the sign at the entrance to BAE Systems’ Woodford factory sets a defiant tone. The Nimrod MRA.4 is “the world’s best maritime patrol aircraft,” it proclaims. Four months ago, however, Britain’s Royal Air Force accepted the first one with little fanfare, and BAE has never brought the MRA.4 to the static display at Farnborough. Meanwhile, UK budget cuts threaten the new Nimrod’s potential as a multi-role attack and surveillance platform. Unfortunately, the MRA.4 cannot escape a past that is littered with technical and commercial misjudgments, and cost escalations. It is entering service seven years late and £834 million ($1.25 billion) over budget. Now that the UK Min-

istry of Defence has decided to buy only nine of them instead of the 21 originally envisaged, they are costing the British taxpayer just over £400 million ($600 million) each. The Nimrod MRA.4 is produced by adding new wings and horizontal tails, plus four modern Rolls-Royce BR710 turbofans, to stripped and refurbished Nimrod MR.2 fuselages, tails and elevators. The rebuild process takes 18 months, followed by another 12 months to re-equip the fuselages. BAE has guaranteed the MRA.4 airframes for 18 years of service. [The first four Nimrod fuselages were stripped by FRA Aviation at Bournemouth under subcontract, then flown to Woodford by An-124 heavy airlifters. BAE assumed that responsibility after the

MRA.4 contract was renegotiated in 2002.–Ed.] The cockpit design owes much to the Airbus A320 airliner, with avionics from Honeywell, Thales and Smiths (now GE Aviation Systems) adapted for the military mission. The main maritime tactical command and sensor subsystem (TCSS) was designed by Boeing, the Searchwater radar comes from Thales and the electronic warfare system comes from Israel’s Elta. A Very Different Beast

“Under the skin, it’s a very different beast from the old Nimrod,” noted Bill Ovel, BAE’s chief test pilot for large aircraft. Earlier in his flying career, Ovel logged several hundred hours on P-3 Orions. “The Nimrod MRA.4 is much, much better,” he claimed. Ovel cited the British aircraft’s lower crew workload and greater comfort, as well as its superior unrefueled range and endurance, a “highly capable autopilot,” integrated electro-optical and electronic support measures systems,

and greater weapons-carrying capability. On this last point, the MRA.4 has four 10-shot rotary launchers for sonobuoys, and the largest weapons bay of any maritime patrol aircraft–much bigger than that of Boeing’s new P-8 Poseidon, for instance. Over the past six years, Ovel has headed a flight-test program that has logged some 1,500 hours. Adding to the MRA.4’s development woes, early test flights revealed that the aircraft could not meet today’s more demanding stall warning and stall requirements. Compared with the Nimrod MR.2, the wing of the new Nimrod is 12 feet longer, and much thicker, to accommodate the higher bypass-ratio engines. According to Ovel, the earlier

MR.2 already had “interesting” stall characteristics, and BAE warned the MoD before the first flight of the MRA.4 that a stability augmentation system (SAS) might be required if the aircraft was to be certified to European civil JAR25 standards. And so it proved. The MoD had to provide another £50 million ($72 million) for an SAS and a stall identification device (SID). “We devised an elegant and effective solution to the problem that is effective across the flight envelope, including in icing conditions,” said Ovel. “The SAS was added to the longitudinal control system, so the aircraft has very precise pointability. The same actuator and processor cover the SID,” he added. Key User Requirements

According to last December’s report by the UK National Audit Office (NAO), seven of the nine “key user requirements” (KURs) for the Nimrod MRA.4 are still “at risk.” These include the search and detection of surface and underwater targets, submarine attack and “maritime presence,” that is, persistence. A KUR to “operate in a hostile environment” will not be met, according to the NAO. The NAO does note that the Continued on page 52

A Long and Troubled Chronology 1992

Original request for information for a Replacement Maritime Patrol Aircraft (RMPA) to take over from RAF Nimrod MR.2 fleet.

1994

BAE Systems, Dassault, Lockheed Martin and Loral invited to bid.

1996

Evaluation of bids; selection of BAE Nimrod 2000 (later redesignated MRA.4) fixed-price design, development and production contract for 21 aircraft signed.

1999

Contract renegotiated after technical problems first emerged, especially concerning the wing design, which was subcontracted by BAE to Airbus at its Bristol facility. The engine mounts had to be changed. There were also “check stress” problems with the new fuselage pressure floor.

2002

Requirement reduced from 21 to 18 aircraft.

2003

Original contract abandoned. New contract for design and development only, including three trials aircraft, negotiated on a target cost incentive fee (TCIF) basis, plus options for 15 more production aircraft.

2004

Requirement further reduced from 18 to 12 aircraft. First flight of trials aircraft PA1 in August.

2006

Production contract for nine aircraft signed, also on a TCIF basis.

2008

Requirement cut again, from 12 to nine aircraft. Nimrod MR.2 fleet temporarily grounded for safety modifications.

2009

First flight of production aircraft PA4 in September. Budget cut forces RAF to slow the Nimrod MRA.4 operational buildup.

2010

RAF accepted first production MRA.4 aircraft in March. Nimrod MR.2 fleet withdrawn from service on March 31, leaving the UK with no longrange airborne anti-ship and antisubmarine capability, and reduced long-range search-and-rescue coverage.

2012

Last of nine production aircraft due for delivery in March. Closure of BAE Systems Woodford factory. RAF due to achieve initial operating capability.

Crash of a Nimrod MR.2 in Afghanistan revealed serious aging aircraft issues.

The main cabin of the Nimrod MRA.4, looking forward. Three workstations for the two tactical coordinators and the information manager face starboard. Ahead of them sit the radar operator to port and the electronic warfare operator to starboard. These five workstations are on a “common tactical rail” so their functions can be interchanged for flexibility or redundancy.

48aaFarnborough Airshow News • July 19, 2010 • www.ainonline.com

www.eurofighter.com

nothing comes close

Newest Nimrod strives to succeed Continued from page 48

KURs were not defined until mid2006. A BAE spokesman told AIN that some of the KURs were not envisaged when the MRA.4 contract was renegotiated in 2002. According to BAE, there is a “high probability” of meeting four of the KURs, including both that relate to antisubmarine capability. Regarding persistence, the aircraft’s endurance is already 14 hours, with an in-flight refueling system fitted but not yet being used. The aircraft’s defensive systems–radar warning system, chaff/ flare dispensers, towed radar decoy, missile approach warner– have all been flight tested and qualified, the UK group said. An electronic warfare rig has been delivered, but the RAF has not yet installed it. Requirements change over time, the company added, also noting that the deadline for achieving the KURs will likely be deferred, following an MoD

decision last December to slow down the introduction to service of the MRA.4 for budgetary reasons. A Joint Trials Team (JTT) that includes RAF aircrew was formed as long ago as the year 2000 at BAE’s Warton facility, where the three MRA.4 trials aircraft (PA1, PA2 and PA3) have been based. There is also an “iron bird” structural test rig and a weapons systems integration rig at Warton. The customer has therefore been fully informed of progress–and problems. “We’ve demonstrated significant maturity–more than other aircraft entering service,” Ovel claimed. PA1 was the main aerodynamic trials aircraft; PA2 had most of the mission systems and PA3 was fully equipped. PA1 and PA2 were retired into flyable storage four months ago. PA3 last flew in 2008 and is now destined to be modified as the last of the nine production aircraft. MoD Budget Problems

Negotiations between BAE and the MoD to convert PA1 and

The End of the Line for Woodford The Nimrod MRA.4 is almost certainly the last all-British military aircraft. And, in March 2012, when the final production example flies away from Woodford, BAE Systems will be closing the site near Manchester where two of the UK’s most famous warplanes were built: the Avro Lancaster bomber in World War II and the Avro Vulcan nuclear bomber, an icon of the Cold War. The quarter-mile long main factory building also produced the original Hawker-Siddeley Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft in the late 1960s, as well as its predecessor, the Avro Shackleton, which was derived from the Lancaster. Woodford also manufactured the UK’s line of regional aircraft: the 748 and ATP twin turboprops and the 146 and RJ four-engine jets. BAE’s closure announcement last September was a foregone conclusion. “Despite strenuous efforts to achieve further Nimrod production work, there has been none forthcoming,” the company said. The BAE workforce at Woodford is already down to 600, plus another 400 subcontractors. The MRA.4 design and development team moved to Warton some years ago. BAE has offered some workers alternative employment elsewhere, mostly in its growing UK military aircraft support business. Others will take early retirement or redundancy. Meanwhile, BAE is operating an incentive scheme that provides extra pay if the remaining Nimrods are delivered on time. A company spokesman told AIN that this scheme is unique to the site, and designed to maintain standards of quality –C.P. and efficiency, as well as morale.

PA2 to the production standard have foundered. “For a relatively small investment, you could have two more airplanes and additional capabilities,” noted Paul Grady, BAE’s chief engineer on the MRA.4. Grady noted that the aircraft comes equipped with deep installation wiring so that future capability can be added. However, the MoD’s budget crisis has seemingly nixed a series of potential upgrades that BAE

The Nimrod MRA.4 comes together at Woodford. This famous factory is due to close after the ninth and last aircraft emerges in early 2012.

has identified. These include software upgrades to the radar and electronic support measures, and making use of the four underwing hardpoints to carry reconnaissance pods or even MBDA Storm Shadow cruise missiles. Meanwhile, unlike its predecessor Nimrod MR.2, the MRA.4 is not able to launch Harpoon antiship missiles. The hardpoints are designed to the latest MIL1765 standard, and the MoD would have to buy suitably upgraded Harpoons. “It was the initial intent to carry an anti-ship weapon on the MRA.4 but a new-generation successor has not yet been chosen,” the MoD told AIN. As things stand, the MRA.4 will drop only Stingray torpedoes, light series stores and search-andrescue equipment. It seems that the MoD is fearful of “throwing good money after bad,” as the saying goes. After all, it has already wasted huge sums of public money in paying BAE for MRA.4 equipment that now is surplus to requirements, such as 21 Searchwater radars and 15 tactical mission systems. Thales has been trying to market the surplus radars for export on the MoD’s behalf. Boeing rig-tested each of the tactical systems before they were put into storage. Incidentally, BAE Systems has taken over the design authority and support responsibility for the TCSS from Boeing. “It was an amicable split. We are now developing new software in our own facilities at Warton and Yeovil,” Grady revealed. Training Plans on Track

Despite wind tunnel tests, some aerodynamic problems emerged during flight tests, further delaying the Nimrod’s program.

52aaFarnborough Airshow News • July 19, 2010 • www.ainonline.com

Training provision for the MRA.4 is well in hand. BAE is training the first four instructor pilots on PA4 at Warton. Thales has installed two full-motion cockpit simulators, two part-task trainers and two rear crew training systems at RAF Kinloss, the Nimrod operating base. The MRA.4 crew comprises two pilots, a radar operator, an electronic warfare operator, an

information (that is, communications) manager, two tactical coordinators (“Tacco 1 and 2”), two acoustics operators and a sonobuoy launcher-cum-spare crewmember. Tacco 2 also operates the aircraft’s electro-optical surveillance and detection system (EOSDS)–Northrop Grumman’s Night Hunter II system, housed in a retractable turret. BAE admitted that this technology has now been bettered by third-generation EO/IR systems, such as the L-3 Wescam Mx-15 that was retrofitted to the Nimrod MR.2. However, the centerline turret position and full integration of EOSDS into the MRA.4 mission systems brings certain advantages, the company added. But logistics support of the new Nimrod in service has yet to be finalized. “We’ve worked up a number of support solutions over the past few years and each time the amount of money available has been reduced by the customer,” said a BAE spokesman. The company is therefore still in negotiation with the MoD for the first phase of the proposed Nimrod Incremental Partnered Support (NIPS) contract. The contact provides for progress in four phases until such time as the manufacturer commits to a full availability service. Until the first NIPS contract is signed, the first production MRA.4s cannot be moved to Kinloss. BAE’s Grady joined the MRA.4 program in 1998, two years after it started. He became the chief engineer in 2003. In hindsight, he admitted, “We made overoptimistic assumptions and there was too much concurrency between development and production, especially since we had committed to a fixed-price contract.” Therein lie some timehonored lessons that should not be lost on industry insiders who are visiting Farnborough this week.

Rolls advances three new engines

NEWS CLIPS

by Bernard Fitzsimons

Microtecnica To Maintain Tornado Sweep Actuators

Engine maker Rolls-Royce is preparing the technology needed for new two-shaft and three-shaft turbofan engines in the second half of this decade and an openrotor design in the early 2020s. “Our long-term strategy is to invest in technology and protect our options,” said Mark King, Rolls-Royce president of civil aerospace. “Two years ago we decided to make sure we were capable of whatever the manufacturers want.” Since then the business jet market has endured a period of turmoil as a result of what King terms “image issues,” the 150seat airliner market has been engulfed in debate over whether to re-engine existing models, and Boeing and Airbus have put future widebody plans on hold while they address current programs. So Rolls-Royce has concentrated on staying “match fit, ready to bring technology to market quickly whatever the type of engine required,” King said in a pre-Farnborough airshow briefing last week. Rolls-Royce doubled its order book over the last four years, from $30 billion in 2006 to $70.5 billion in 2009. “Match Fitness”

The company’s existing programs–the Trent 1000 for the Boeing 787, Trent XWB for the Airbus A350 and BR725 for the Gulfstream 650–help it maintain its “match fitness,” King said. The Trent 1000, for example, is “the epitome of a highly integrated system. [Within an intense twoyear period,] all 18,000 parts have been reviewed and improved since the previous Trent model, there is new technology in every component and all are optimized for each other.” Integration of engine and aircraft is also important, he said. The Trent 700, purpose-designed for the Airbus A330 and competing with two rivals, has a 54-percent overall market share, but its share of orders since 2006 is 75 percent. “That is because it is the only engine optimized for the aircraft,” he commented. The Trent XWB, meanwhile, started testing June 10, as planned four years ago. “It is 16 percent more fuel-efficient than the baseline Trent 700,” King said. Compared with previous Trents the compressor will have twice the compression ratio with fewer airfoils and 40 percent fewer aero-

Under the Panavia tri-national repair process, Italian specialist Microtecnica (Hall 4 Stand D11) will provide wing sweep actuator repair and overhaul services to BAE Systems for the UK Royal Air Force Tornado fleet. Tornado wing sweep actuators are required to undergo a full maintenance and component check after every 1,200 hours of flying time. BAE System has the responsibility to provide guaranteed availability of the Tornado aircraft for the RAF. Microtecnica has also announced a strategic alliance with Korean aerospace manufacturer Hanwha Corp. for collaboration on Korean aerospace programs as preferred partner for the design, development and manufacture of new equipment and systems.

SR Technics Beefs Up Parts Repair

The first Rolls-Royce Trent XWB for the Airbus A350 began tests in June.

dynamic parts, which he called “an amazing leap forward.” The BR725-powered G650, meanwhile, has already broken speed records, the engine is performing flawlessly and it should be in service in a year or so. New Platform Every Year

A new Rolls-Royce-powered commercial or general aviation aircraft or variant has entered service every year since 2000, and that pattern is set to continue through 2015 with the 787-8 and -9, G650 and A350-900, -800 and -1000, plus the Robinson R66 helicopter. Beyond that, King said, “the commercial world wants a highly optimized new aircraft,” rather than a reengined product. Rolls-Royce itself is “more and more convinced that we will see a new aircraft, as that’s what the market wants.” Accordingly, it has focused its technology programs on two new families: the

Rolls-Royce is confident that its open-rotor design will be quieter than any existing engine, including the IAE V2500 and CFM56.

two-shaft Advance2, to be ready for service entry in 2016-17, and the three-shaft Advance3. The Advance2 is aimed at providing a 15- to 20-percent reduction in fuel burn for a new 150-seat aircraft. Based on the E3E core that has been running in Germany for two years, it would also be adaptable to large and mid-size corporate aircraft and

regional airliners using smaller fans. The Advance3, targeting a 2017 to 2018 service entry and with thrust ranging from 30,000 pounds all the way up to 100,000 pounds, could be used for either narrowbody or widebody aircraft. Looking further ahead, the open-rotor program is the “only real game-changer,” King said. Seen as entering service in 2022 to 2025, it represents the only technology that could deliver 10 percent better fuel economy than an advanced turbofan, “and we believe it will be quieter than any engine flying today–not as quiet as an advanced turbofan could be in the same timescale, but still quieter than current engines.” A lot of integration will be needed before it enters service, “but we’ve looked for sources of noise that would say this isn’t a goer and we haven’t found any.” To put the fuel efficiency figures in context, he said reducing the airlines’ current fuel burn by 15 percent would mean a reduction of 10 billion gallons, saving $22 billion and 60 million tons of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of taking all the cars off the UK’s roads. Whether the Advance2 project would be realized through RollsRoyce’s International Aero Engines (IAE) partnership with geared turbofan proponent Pratt & Whitney remains to be decided. King said, “We still like IAE. It is still an attractive route to market, but we will have to see how it develops.” Either way, he is adamant that it should be married to a new aircraft. “Another concern with re-engining is whether it creates delay in new aircraft programs,” King explained. “All the research says it needs to be a new aircraft and we don’t want to delay it, so we’re firming up the technology to be ready to address what the market really wants.”

SR Technics (Hall 4 Stand D9) is investing in repair services for engine parts to further develop its offer to third-party customers. The maintenance, repair and overhaul service provider will expand its facilities in Zurich, Switzerland, and Cork, Ireland, for them to become “centers of excellence” in this field. Some repair capabilities will be transferred to new engine types. The Swiss-based firm is working with its Mubadala group sister company Sanad to offer leasing solutions for line-replaceable units, for example. This will allow customers to reduce their spares inventories. Thanks to SR Technics’ investment, they will also benefit from shorter repair cycles, the company claims. Both CFM International and Pratt & Whitney have authorized SR Technics for engine repairs.

TopOwl Gets Better, and Sees Action TopOwl is a helmet-mounted sight and display (HMSD) system developed by Thales for helicopter applications. It is now operational on five helicopter types: AH-1Z, UH-1Y, Rooivalk, NH90 and Tiger. With French army Tigers recently deployed to Afghanistan, the TopOwl system has been used in operation for the first time, providing Tiger crew in theater with high-level night vision and targeting performance. That performance has been enhanced recently to reach LevelTopOwl has been designed 5 night-vision capability, with a balanced center of equivalent to a cloudy, moonless gravity, eliminating many night with no peripheral light of the discomfort issues associated with traditional sources. Another capability is to night vision goggles. transition instantly between infrared and image intensification imagery with a simple click. This greatly aids pilots when landing at night or in brownout conditions. TopOwl has also been refined with a new internal arrangement and new materials, making it even more comfortable to wear.

Safran Fails To Lure Zodiac Toward Merger Zodiac Aerospace has rejected Safran’s offer to bring the activities of the two French equipment manufacturers together and eventually merge the companies. Two weeks ago, on July 6, Jean-Paul Herteman, president of Safran’s management board, sent an offer to Didier Domange, chairman of Zodiac’s supervisory board (Hall 1 Stand A15). The board met on July 9 and unanimously decided not to pursue the project. In a statement last week, Safran said it remains convinced of “the obvious logic” of the proposed move “from an industrial and strategic perspective.” It cited the “inevitable trend toward consolidation of first-tier aerospace equipment firms.” According to French financial newspaper Les Echos, Safran (Hall 4 Stand B12) sees potential synergies between the two companies–in electric systems, for example. Meanwhile, Zodiac says synergies would be limited to just a small percent of revenue. There is also disagreement on the relevance of reaching a “critical mass” to better respond to calls for tenders.

www.ainonline.com • July 19, 2010 • Farnborough Airshow Newsaa53

DAVID MCINTOSH

Superjet International expects to deliver the first of its SaM146-powered Superjet 100s to Aeroflot and Armavia before year-end.

Superjet 100 sees deliveries by year-end by Paulo Valpolini Superjet International insists that it will meet its commitment to deliver the first of its Superjet 100s to Aeroflot and Armavia before year-end despite another short projected delay in completing Russian certification in October, as opposed to September. A breakthrough for the delayed program came less than a month ago on June 23 when the airliner’s SaM146 engine achieved certification by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The powerplant (see related article on page 36) is now set to complete the Russian approval process before the end of this month. One of the four development Superjets built so far is making an appearance here at the Farnborough airshow. At the end of this week, the aircraft will be heading to Italy to undergo noise, precision landing and intensity radiation

tests at Alenia Aeronautica’s Caselle factory near Turin. Superjet International is a joint venture between Alenia and Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Co. (SCAC). The four prototypes have logged more than 1,750 flight hours. EASA certification for the aircraft is expected by mid-2011, which will trigger the first deliveries to Western operators. In fact, Aeroflot also has insisted that the Superjet be certified to European standards, since it is used to operating Airbus aircraft–as is Armavia–and both carriers have made it clear that they are expecting Western standards of after-sales support for the twinjet. This is where Venice-based Superjet International comes in. The company has signed an agreement with Lufthansa Logistic for its main spares warehouse to be run out of Frankfurt, Ger-

many. Plans are already in place to establish spares inventory in the Far East and also in the U.S.–possibly in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where Lufthansa Logistic already has a facility. Another spares storehouse will be located in Moscow to support the Aeroflot fleet. “We are offering different types of support scheme, which goes from the acquisition of spares and autonomous maintenance to full repair schemes, some of them including up to the APU and landing gear,” explained Superjet International CEO Alessandro Franzoni. Similar schemes are being proposed also by Powerjet for the SaM146 engine. For maintenance, repair and overhaul operations, Superjet International has already been certified to work on the A320 family. Franzoni explained that it made this move to get approved for another, potentially rival, airliner because it didn’t want to be making a cold start to getting MRO certification for the Superjet. Also, there are significant similarities in terms of powerplant and avionics between the new Russian narrow-

body and the ubiquitous A320. So Superjet International already holds EASA 145 and 147 maintenance approvals and their Russian equivalents. The Aeroflot contract includes line maintenance covering the Superjet for the first six months in service, as most of the airline’s own mechanics will be busy supporting its existing A320 fleet. In this period, Superjet technicians will also train their Aeroflot counterparts. This activity in the field will allow the aircraft manufacturer to get first-hand operational feedback that will be made available to all the other customers. The 24/7 after-sales operation will be carried out from Venice, and customers will be able to order and track spares availability online. The Superjet spares system is interfaced with that of Lufthansa Logistic, which allows the manufacturer to verify online parts availability and repair status. Two Training Centers

Two Superjet training centers are being established, one in Moscow and the other in Venice.

BIOFUEL DA42 CUTS SHOWS CARBON FOOTPRINT With just minor modifications, this Diamond DA42 is tuned to run on pure biofuel made from algae, redefining the term “carbon neutral.” The aircraft is on static display this week at Farnborough.

The Moroccan government’s military transport wing has taken delivery of the first of four C-27J Spartans that it ordered from Alenia Aeronautica in October 2008. The aircraft, which arrived at Kenitra air base on July 7, is equipped with the self-protection suite but does not feature an in-flight refuelling probe. Morocco has become the first non-NATO operator of the Spartan, which is already in use with six air forces–those of Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Romania and the U.S. A seventh country, Slovakia, also has selected the C-27J.

DAVID MCINTOSH

MOROCCO JOINS THE C-27J CLUB

54aaFarnborough Airshow News • July 19, 2010 • www.ainonline.com

Each following identical systems in term of syllabus, procedures and training equipment. An emergency evacuation trainer is undergoing acceptance in the UK and will be installed in Venice in late July. A Level 2 flight training device will be installed in Moscow before yearend, while the full flight simulator will follow in mid2011, at which time the Venice center will get these two simulators. The Venice training center is initially being installed in a rented hangar; however, Superjet International plans to build a new structure at the Venezia Tessera Airport, which will also be the company’s new headquarters. From late 2011 the company plans also to acquire control of part of the former Alenia Aeronavali facility, where maintenance operations will be carried out. The training center in Moscow is being created at the Zhukovsky air base, where operations are due to start this fall–three months before the first aircraft deliveries. Superjet is qualifying numerous MRO companies to carry out maintenance on the aircraft, without operators having to fly long distances. The planned network is already fairly well defined, but not announced, in Europe and is being improved in North America and the Far East. “We currently have 122 firm orders for the Superjet 100,” Franzoni said, adding that this does not include 30 aircraft ordered by Hungarian flagcarrier Malev, for which the contract was delayed due to airline restructuring. Now Superjet is focusing its marketing efforts in Latin America and Africa. In the former region, some good results are expected in the second half of this year. The African market is more fragmented, but Superjet is identifying emerging clusters of demand in all four corners of the continent. “We offer an aircraft smaller than the A319, which can provide similar levels of comfort and amenities, and with considerable space for hand luggage,” Franzoni stressed, stating that the Russian aircraft’s luggage volume is greater than that in the A319/320 and the seats are wider than those of the A320. Superjet claims that its aircraft’s operating costs will be at least 10 percent lower than those of its rivals. It also projects that the twinjet will have a more competitive break-even rate on at least some routes.

T-50 completes early flight and bench tests by David Donald Sukhoi has completed its preliminary flight and bench trials program for the T-50 PAK-FA fighter. Three airframes were built for the initial campaign, comprising one static aircraft (T-50-0), one flying prototype (T-50-1) and an avionics testbed (T-50-2). A display flight by T-50-1 on June 17 in front of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin marked the 16th time the aircraft had flown. Russia has a stated requirement for up to 420 PAK-FA aircraft, which may become the Su-50 in service. This number would equip 10 air regiments, each with 36 frontline aircraft and six reserves. However, it is likely that this total will not be reached. India, meanwhile, has a requirement for 250 of what it calls the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA).

India has yet to join the T-50 program, but it has stated that it intends to do so and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) will likely be given development work in the navigation, mission computer and other systems. FGFA is envisioned as a two-seater, but reports suggest that India could acquire single-seat T-50s pending development of the full FGFA configuration. The T-50-1 was completed in the KnAAPO works at Dzemgi airfield near Komsomolsk-na-Amur. The first taxi tests were performed last December and highspeed tests were conducted in late January

Su-35 Is Sukhoi’s Main Short-term Export Hope While development of the T-50 PAK-FA gathers pace, the Su-35 remains Sukhoi’s export priority for the next five to seven years. The aircraft is designed to plug the gap between the existing Su-30 and future fifth-generation fighters. According to Sukhoi, the Su-35 already incorporates some fifthgeneration technology, thereby having an edge over other fourth-generation combat platforms. The Su-35 is powered by NPO-Saturn 117S engines that have had their thrust increased by 16 percent with a new fan, and high- and low-pressure turbines. They also feature Fadec controls and a thrust vector control nozzle. They promise twice the service life of the Sukhoi fighter’s earlier AL-31F engines, and the Su-35 airframe boasts an extended service life of up to 6,000 flight hours, which should give it an operational life spanning 30 years. Innovation in the Su-35 avionics suite is built around a cockpit management system with a pair of 15-inch color, multifunction displays, a multifunction console with an integrated display processor, a 20- by 30-degree head-up display and a control panel. At the heart of the fighter’s fire control system is the new Irbis-E phased array radar with improved target acquisition range. The Su-35 has completed its flight trials and during the second half of this year the first series production aircraft is due to leave the Sukhoi factory in Komsomolsk as part of a five-year contract –D.D. from Russia’s defense ministry. Initial export deliveries are due to begin in 2012.

The Su-35, powered by NPO-Saturn 117S engines with 16-percent increased thrust, remains Sukhoi’s export priority for the next five to seven years. The aircraft is designed to plug the gap between the existing Su-30 and future fifth-generation fighters.

Resplendent in a three-tone splinter camouflage and wearing Bort number 51, the T-50-1 lifts from Zhukovsky in a recent test flight.

in preparation for the first flight. The maiden 47-minute sortie was flown on January 29 with Sergey Bogdan at the controls. The aircraft flew again in early February to compete initial basic airworthiness and systems tests before being disassembled for transport to Moscow. On April 8 an Antonov An-124 Ruslan carried it to the Gromov Flight Research Institute at Zhukovsky, together with flight support equipment. The aircraft flew again from its new home on April 29. Further T-50s will be constructed to support the flight test program, which Putin announced would encompass more than 2,000 flights. Initial production is scheduled to begin at KnAAPO in 2015, with limited service-entry to take place that year as well. T-50 Technology

Sukhoi’s T-50 embodies a high degree of new technology and is intended to provide a “fifth-generation” capability in an aircraft that is considerably cheaper to produce than the Lockheed Martin F-22, its closest rival. Low observability in the forward hemisphere is a key driver in the T-50 design, which, in planform at least, resembles that of the F-22. The forward areas feature faceting (smooth, polished surfaces) and the design incorporates advanced radar-absorbent materials and coatings. The intake trunks are of serpentine shape, but whether they completely shield the engine compressor face and whether they incorporate some form of radar blocker has been the subject of considerable debate. The engines themselves are the NPO Saturn 117, derived from the 117S intended for the Su-35BM. The first of these engines flew in the left-hand bay of the T-10M-10 (an Su-35 testbed) on January 21 this year, shortly before the T-50’s first flight. The engines incorporate 16-degree all-axis thrust vectoring, which combined with the relaxed stability and fly-by-wire controls confers outstanding maneuverability on the T-50. It is widely accepted that the T-50 will not match the Lockheed Martin F-22 fighter in terms of all-aspect stealthiness, but it is expected to be more agile. NPO Saturn and MMPP Salyut are working together on a definitive engine for the T-50, in the 16- to 16.5-metric-ton thrust class (that is, up to 36,375 pounds thrust). An innovative feature of the T-50 is its SH121 radar complex from NIIP Tikhomirov. This comprises the N050 main array in the nose, with more than 1,500 transmit/receive modules, plus two sidefacing X-band arrays in the lower forward fuselage sides. Conformal L-band arrays are mounted in the leading-edge root extensions. T-50-1 does not have radar

fitted, but it does have a dummy infrared search-and-track turret installed. In service this is expected to be a development of the OLS-35 developed for the Su-35BM. In terms of avionics, the T-50 represents a major advance for a Russian fighter and it has been designed to take full advantage of datalink and sensor-fusion technology. In the cockpit the pilot has two very large multifunction displays mounted side-byside, with an upfront controller for a wide-angle head-up display. Control is by a center stick that incorporates advanced HOTAS controls. The pilot will have a helmet-mounted sighting system, perhaps based on the ZSh-10. In its air-to-air role, the T-50 will have a wide range of weapons available, from internal 30-mm cannon to 400-km missiles. The aircraft’s huge internal bays can accommodate up to eight of the current Vympel R-77 active-radar missiles, but there are several developments under way to provide the PAK-FA with even more capable weapons. Vympel is working on the Izdeliye 180/K-77M, a derivative of the R-77 with a double-pulse engine, new seeker and traditional tailfins in place of the R-77’s “chip-slicer” lattice fins. The Izdeliye 180PB/K-77ME is an air-breathing ramjet version similar in concept to the Meteor, but it appears that the solid-propellant version–roughly equivalent to the AIM-120D AMRAAM–offers greater potential in a shorter time. The PAK-FA is also expected to carry a class of weapon unique to Russia– a very long range air-to-air missile (VLRAAM), with a range of around 400 kilometers. Two designs are in development for the T-50 application: Vympel’s Izdeliye 810 and Novator’s Izdeliye 172/K-100. The T-50 will also carry short-range weapons. A range of air-to-ground weapons is also intended for the T-50, including a new generation of anti-radiation missiles such as the Kh-36 and Kh-58Ush, and a variety of laser- and EO-guided bombs and missiles. Many of them can be carried internally, but the T-50 also has four underwing hardpoints for the attachment of external pylons for operations when stealth is not an overriding factor. The “tunnel” between the engine trunks also provides the space to carry extremely large weapons, such as long-range antiship missiles.

Air France selects CMC satcom antennas Esterline CMC Electronics (Hall 4 Stand C17a) announced that Air France has selected its multi-channel SwiftBroadbandcompliant, satellite communications highgain antenna to equip its future Boeing 777-300 fleet. The new-generation CMA2102SB antenna supports Inmarsat Safety Services, Aero-H+, Swift64 and SwiftBroadband satellite communications. The CMA-2102SB antenna has received Inmarsat multi-channel SwiftBroadband approval and Transport Canada Appliance type approval, the only top-mount Arinc 741 antenna to received such approval.

www.ainonline.com • July 19, 2010 • Farnborough Airshow Newsaa55

Service-ready team prepares Dreamliner by Matt Thurber

In-house Training

Maintenance training on the 787 began with Boeing and supplier field service representatives as well as Boeing service engineers and technical support personnel. “We were trying the training ourselves,” said Fleming. “Figuring how effective that training was, how effective the devices were and also giving our maintenance trainers the opportunity to practice and to interface with students.” Boeing and the 787 suppliers also trained each other’s service engineers and field service representatives, he said, “to make our people more knowledgeable about the detailed systems.” ANA maintenance training began in March and counted for credit with Japan’s regulators (JCAB). More than 50 ANA

out a fuselage barrel is not included because it’s unlikely to be necessary. For certification of the composite structure, Boeing had to address barely visible impact damage, which is damage that would not be apparent during a visual inspection or preflight walk around. “We had to show that the structure was good in the event that someone missed that,” Fleming said. “[When repairing composites] you have to check the stress that’s going into the area, just as you do

mechanics had passed their JCAB examinations as of late June. Maintenance training has also begun at Japan Air Lines. There are different courses, depending on the trainee’s job, whether inspector, mechanic or composites repair technician. The base maintenance course takes about four weeks and covers 787 systems in depth. Skills required for the 787 are similar to those for the 777, and both airplanes share the same type of composite materials, although the 787 uses far more, with most of the airframe structure made of composites.

to be an ultrasound technician.” Boeing’s service-ready team had finished validating nearly all of the 6,400 maintenance tasks in the 787 maintenance manual as of late June. The remaining 56 were pending information from 787 flight testing, for example, flight control rigging limits. The 787 will generate about 20,000 maintenance messages, a normal number for that size airplane, and the service-ready team has been troubleshooting and validating those messages as they develop during flight testing,

Smooth Transition To Composites

The transition to composites structure should be no different than the move from analog mechanical systems to electronics-based systems. “There will be a similar transition from working on metal to composites,” Fleming explained. “If you talk to somebody familiar with composites, they’re not concerned, other than the fact that their work statement is going to grow because there are more composites on the airplane.” Fleming appreciates the flexibility offered by composites structure. The repair protocol for small damage on the 787 is either a bolted repair using a titanium patch or a bonded composites repair, either a layup over the damage or a scarf repair, which replaces the damaged section. The 787 structural repair manual is already completed and has guidelines for damage limits. If the damage is not covered by the manual, the customer has to call Boeing to determine the proper fix. “It depends on the size of the damage, the extent of the damage and how quickly you want to get out of town,” Fleming said. For small damage, Boeing has developed a four-inch composite repair that can be done in an hour. For significant repairs like those for a tail strike, nosegear collapse or ground vehicle damage around a cargo door, he explained, both a metal and composite airplane will be grounded for a while. “You’re going to have to remove the damaged structure and replace it,” he said. On a 787, this will likely involve a bolted repair, but instead of a patch, the damaged area will be cut out and replaced. The focus for the repair manual, in any case, is on high-threat areas where damage might be expected to occur, but swapping

MATT THURBER

As certification of the 787 Dreamliner approaches at the end of this year and launch customer All Nippon Airways (ANA) prepares to take delivery of its first airplane, Boeing’s service ready team is putting the final touches on preparation for entry into service. Mike Fleming, Boeing director of 787 services and support, is busy strengthening each segment of what he described as a three-legged stool in which the airplane is ready, support is ready and the customer is ready. And these elements certainly ought to be ready because twoand-a-half years of delays in the 787 program have provided more time for the service-ready team to prepare aspects such as training, equipment and inventory. The team’s first 787 customer is Boeing’s own flight test operation. “From a support perspective, since the start of flight test we’ve had people learning the airplane inside out,” Fleming said. The curriculums for all the 787 training courses are complete, including computer-based training. In May, Boeing completed its pilot qualification and simulator qualification plans, and regulatory agencies and airlines helped review those plans. The regulators have also been attending the training and using the computer-based training and flight training devices and simulators. More than 130 Boeing flight test and instructor pilots had trained on the 787, both in Seattle and at Boeing’s training center in Singapore. These pilots are earning provisional type ratings, which will be finalized once the 787 is certified.

pare for ground operations with all the ground service equipment (GSE) needed for daily operations and maintenance. Over the life of the 787, about 325 tools are needed, and 179 have been validated so far. Only 115 tools will be required at entry into service, and of those 115, 107 have been validated. Some of the tools won’t be needed until later in the 787’s life, such as the landing gear overhaul tools for the 12-year overhaul interval. One key support tool is a maintenance laptop computer. Boeing’s specification calls for a hardened unit, and Panasonic’s Toughbook meets those requirements. The laptop is used by mechanics to interface with the

Boeing’s service-ready team is putting the final touches on entry-into-service launch customer All Nippon Airways’ 787 Dreamliner, whose certification approaches at the end of this year.

with metal,” said Fleming. “You can do bolted repairs on minor damage and large damage. I can do bonded [repairs] on large damage if I wanted to, but it’s going to be more complex and time consuming. The requirement is that you show that the repair from a strength capability meets the certification basis and the requirements of the airplane life. You have to show it good for both static strength and fatigue.” Ramp Damage Checker

To help mechanics find composites damage, Boeing is specifying a ramp damage checker that uses ultrasound to check the extent of suspected damage. “It’s a go/no-go device for a mechanic to use who is not an NDI [nondestructive inspection] expert,” Fleming said. “You scan across the area and a red light gives an indication, then you call an NDI expert to do the inspection. New tools make the airline more efficient. Every mechanic doesn’t have

56aaFarnborough Airshow News • July 19, 2010 • www.ainonline.com

as well as using desktop simulators. It would be impossible for all 20,000 messages to occur during flight test. The structural repair manual standards section, fault isolation manuals, wiring diagrams and illustrated parts definition have been released and are ready for submission with the certification documents. Test pilots are using the airplane flight manual, and flight test mechanics, field service representatives and service engineers are using the maintenance and fault isolation manuals and wiring diagrams to maintain the flight test 787s. The documentation has to include a process for updating as change occurs during flight test, but the closer the 787 gets to certification, the more mature its configuration and the fewer changes are necessary. All changes must be visible across the entire supply chain. The service-ready team also has to help 787 customers pre-

787, to download maintenance data and upload software upgrades, either wirelessly or hardwired. The final leg of the serviceready stool is parts. Boeing has been working with suppliers to make sure that inventory is ready to flow and also populating customers’ warehouses with 787 parts in preparation for entry into service. Until the 787 is certified, however, those parts have to remain segregated. “You have to show that those parts are kept quarantined from the regular airline supply,” Fleming said, “and once we certify the airplane, they can get released.” Maintenance costs are designed to be lower for the 787 because it uses fewer line replaceable units, with fewer hydraulic and pneumatic components due to the many electrically driven systems.

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GE Engines ramps up production of GEnx by Gregory Polek GE Aircraft Engines plans to back into the low-pressure turbuild 100 GEnx engines this bine.” He also mentioned “a few year and double that number turbine issues that you have on next year, as the company accel- any new turbine until you get erates production to meet a the cooling flows exactly right…But that’s all behind us.” demand for 700 units from now Originally certified in through 2013. Now flying March 2008, the engine engines on the Boeing has continued to evolve as 747-8 and the 787 DreamGE supported the program liner, GE–as of June over the past two-plus 1–had built 28 GEnx-2Bs years. “We didn’t go for the Boeing 747-8 home and take a nap and some 20 for the for two years,” said GEnx-1Bs for the 787. Brisken. “We’ve been By the time the Tom Brisken, working it continufinal assembly line GEnx program manager ally so we really in Durham, North Carolina, reaches peak effi- think we’re on the second generciency, its maximum capacity ation of the engine. We’re going could possibly produce more to certify all those features; we than 300 engines a year by 2015, were able to take out some according to GEnx program weight; we were able to put in better performance; we were manager Tom Brisken. Of course, exactly how many able to improve the durabilengines GE delivers and when will ity…all those things are in this depend largely on Boeing’s suc- vintage of engine–the second cess in reaching a production rate generation, if you will–and of seven, then ten 787s a month we’re very optimistic that we’re once it opens its second assembly going to have a smooth entry line in North Charleston, South into service.” Carolina. Just as in the case of the Second-generation Engine two-year delay in the 787’s first flight, GE can only watch and Speaking with AIN just before wait. In the meantime, it continues the first GEnx-powered 787 took to work on weight-saving efforts to the air on June 16, Brisken and a project to incorporate into appeared to relish the prospect of the design a new low-pressure tur- supporting Boeing on FAR 25 bine early next year. certification and pursuing the Brisken explained that, in an company’s goal to “make sure effort to cut weight, the comwe’re never an issue in delaying a pany removed too many airfoils flight.” He didn’t, however, during its design of the original wholeheartedly embrace the low-pressure turbine, thereby notion that the delay benefited compromising performance. “It GE because it gave the company was a stretch for us,” Brisken extra time to develop what told AIN. “We had done some Brisken termed a second generacomponent testing that led us tion of engine. “There’s good and down a path, but obviously there’s bad,” he said. “The bad Mother Nature didn’t like what part of it is we’re spending a heck she was being given so we had of a lot more money than we ever to put a little bit more weight envisioned that we’d have to

GE has built some 20 GEnx-1Bs for the Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner thus far; plans call for accelerating monthly production as demand increases.

spend on this program. But it’s always better to fix the problems in the factory before you go into service and learn from what you’re seeing on the hardware and quickly adapting to that.” Expected to burn 7 percent less fuel and produce 30 percent less nitrous oxide (NOx) than the GE90, the GEnx is largely the product of better computational analysis tools that allowed engineers to remove airfoils from each stage of the engine. For example, the fan on the GEnx uses 18 composite blades, compared with 22 on the GE90. Unfortunately, removing too many airfoils resulted in separated flow in the low-pressure turbine, requiring the aforementioned fix. Still, even with a more conservative approach, GE managed to make the low-pressure turbine 10 percent more airfoil efficient than that on the GE90. “But we took out about 30 percent,” said Brisken. “So we made a huge change in the low turbine, and we’re going back now to something that’s a little more conservative. It costs us some weight, but the SFC [specific fuel consumption] benefit far outweighs the weight increase.” As of early June, 12 GEnx2Bs had flown 375 hours during 243 flights on the three 747-8 prototypes. By the time of this

The June 16 first flight of the fifth Boeing 787 Dreamliner marked the first time a pair of GE Aircraft Engines’ GEnx-1B turbofans powered an airplane to altitude on their own.

58aaFarnborough Airshow News • July 19, 2010 • www.ainonline.com

week’s Farnborough airshow, the engines appeared likely to have flown more than 500 hours, based on their rate of testing of two to three times a day. Smaller than the engines used on the 787, the GEnx-2B features a 105-inch fan, compared with 111 inches on the -1B. Meanwhile, the low-pressure turbine contains only six stages, versus seven; and the -2B uses a three-stage booster rather than the four-stage unit in the 1B. While the all-electric architecture on the 787 requires four 250-kilowatt starter generators– two per engine, weighing 250 pounds each–on the -1B, the 7478 uses a traditional bleed-air system, pulling 10 percent of the compressor air for use by the airconditioning and anti-icing system. The engines do share a common core; the rotating turbomachinery components on the high-pressure compressor and high-pressure turbine carry identical part numbers. “The only thing

that’s different is obviously where you attach the compressor to extract the air; we call it the configurations hardware on the outside of the engine–that has to change because one is electric and one is pneumatic,” said Brisken. Asked whether the engines on the 747-8 have performed as advertised, Brisken deferred to the airframe maker. “That’s probably best asked of Boeing. Otherwise I’ll get myself in big trouble,” he said. “I will say that you always find something on a flight test program, but to our knowledge there’s nothing that I would say is a show-stopper at all...overall, our view is they’re cranking out hours. If they had any major problems they wouldn’t be able to do that.” Brisken noted that the company will decide on whether or not it would have to change the low-pressure turbine on the -2B by the end of this year. So far GE has sold 868 engines for the 787 program, which equates to 62 percent of the market, said Brisken. Royal Air Maroc will take the first GEnxpowered Dreamliner. Of course, with 108 Boeing 747-8s sold, GE has collected orders for four times that many -2Bs, or 432. “We value that we’ll have an engine that will be the most economical engine from a number of characteristics, and the ones that count are fuel burn and a lower deterioration level,” said Brisken. “It’s just indicative of the design we have that allows that. The GE90 architecture that has only two spools [and] each spool is simply supported on a set of bearings and frames, so that keeps the engine very round through its Continued on page 60

Doubts Raised Over 787 Standard Engine Interface It seems Boeing hasn’t convinced everyone of the value of its standard engine interface feature on the 787 Dreamliner, allegedly allowing quick and cost-effective changeability between the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000s and GE GEnx-1B turbofans chosen to power the airplane. Talking to AIN, GE Aircraft Engines’ GEnx program manager, Tom Brisken, expressed some serious reservations about the feature. “Anything’s possible, but everything below the wing is different,” said Brisken. “I’m not going to disagree with Boeing, but I’ll state it as a question: Is it really practical? Because when you talk about a pylon, a strut, a nacelle, a thrust reverser inlet and all the configuration hardware in there, that’s a lot of hardware and lots of millions of dollars. If you want to switch, you better bring your wallet.” Boeing promoted the feature as a means to allow an operator or buyer of a second-hand 787 to fit the airplane with either manufacturer’s engines at any point in time. Such capability could conceivably help maintain residual values because lessors, for example, could offer any used 787–GE or Rolls-Royce-powered–to operators who want either engine type. Asked if he thought anyone would make use of the so-called standard interface, Brisken didn’t mince words. “I don’t think it will ever happen,” he said. –G.P.

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GE ramps up to 100 GEnx engines this year Continued from page 58

operating conditions. So we think we’re going to have a fuel burn advantage over the competition, and deteriorate at a slower level, which actually increases your level of fuel burn advantage as time goes on. And we also think we’ll have a longer time on wing and we have fewer emissions.”

Featuring a twin-annular pre-swirl combustor, the design allows for a leaner fuel mixture, lower temperatures at less variation and, by extension, lower NOx emissions. With fewer temperature gradients within the combustor, the turbine will experience fewer gradients as well, making it more durable, and use less cooling air, “and we think that’s really going to drive home the lower maintenance costs of our product and longer time on wing.”

GE Keeps Up Work on Smaller New Engines GE Aircraft Engines has not forsaken the market for smaller turbofans. At least one of two other programs under development–the TechX–could enter service as early as 2015 on a large-cabin business jet, depending on the timing of a launch customer signing, while a program called NG34–a technology development effort involving the immensely successful CF34–would ready GE’s bid to power the next generation of regional jets. Expected to cover the next generation large cabin business jets in the 10,000- to 20,000pound-thrust range, the TechX engine draws on the latest technologies from existing engine programs, such as the low-emission TAPS (twin annular premixed swirl) combustor from the GEnx and the latest Fadec technology from the F136 engine for the JSF. Some of the features of the TechX engine include: • GE’s new eCore, which features a high-pressure-ratio compressor in the 20:1 class range, advanced materials, unique cooling technologies, next generation TAPS combustor for efficient, cleaner fuel combustion and lowest NOx, third-generation 3-D aerodynamic design airfoils and a two-stage high-pressure turbine. • Advanced clearance control in the turbine in which the Fadec controls the air to maximize efficiencies. • A so-called Slimline nacelle to minimize drag and improve component accessibility, with the Fadec in the nacelle for a cooler environment and easier access for maintenance Claimed benefits of the TechX include 20percent lower fuel consumption, 40-percent lower emissions, a stall-free design, no throttle restrictions and a similar core to those used in the proven CFM56 and CF34 turbofans. Meanwhile, GE’s aspirations for a successor to today’s CF34 appear just as lofty. Again, NG34 technology centers on a low-emission core, called eCore, expected to offer 15- to 20percent better specific fuel consumption than today’s CF34 engines. CFM will use the same core on the Leap-X, while GE borrows the technology for the TechX as well. The first eCore completed Phase 1 testing earlier this year and

the company has begun Phase 2 testing. The tests center on the turbine and combustor. Unlike in the GEnx, the fan would consist of solid titanium rather than composite. GE has determined that the extra thickness needed for a small composite fan capable of passing bird ingestion tests would increase the weight to the point of negating any benefit of using nonmetallic material. Like the GEnx and TechX, however, the new CF34 would use TAPS combustor technology, allowing pressure ratios to exceed 20:1. The TAPS combustor also results in 50- to 60-percent lower NOx emissions compared with CAEP 6 limits, and 10- to 15- EPNdb margin to Stage 4 limits. As designers raise the pressure ratio and temperature in the core, they also need to improve the efficiency of the turbine. Turbine blades would use what GE calls the latest design advances to improve aerodynamics. Rig testing on the new design is to happen within the next two years. As in the case of the current engines, GE would most likely supply the entire propulsion system for the next-generation CF34 engines. A nacelle integration team now works with the NG34 development teams as GE considers the use of composites as well methods to better integrate the engine and nacelle. The new CF34 engine would occupy a thrust class between 14,000 and 18,000 pounds–a range similar to that of today’s CF34-8 and –G.P. CF34-10 engines.

NG34 Technology Program Goals • 10-15 percent lower operating cost • Maintain reliability benchmark for high cycle operations • Simple, robust designs • Fuel burn: 15 to 20 percent lower SFC • Emissions: 50 to 60 percent margin to CAEP/6 • Noise: -15 EPNdb margin to Stage 4 • Timing…2015+

NG34 Technology Development 2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

Core design & test Combustor design & test Fan design & test Turbine aero Nacelle Engine development & test Engine flight test

Positioning for new applications...2015 and beyond

60aaFarnborough Airshow News • July 19, 2010 • www.ainonline.com

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ITT takes leading role in devising next-gen ATM by Charles Alcock been our breakthrough as a systems integrator because we saw ADS-B mainly as a network problem in that solving the surveillance problem for FAA is not just an air traffic control issue.” In attacking the task from a different angle, ITT knew enough to know that it didn’t know everything. This realization led to what Wilson characterized as “very creative partnering” and a “broad array of talent” that includes radio provider Thales, Rockwell Collins, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, United Airlines, Embraer, Bombardier and Air New Zealand, along with communications infrastructure from domestic telephone company AT&T. The next step in infrastructure integration for NextGen is the data communications program, for which contract bidding is due to start before year-end, ahead of an award being made in 2011. The integration will involve modernizing communications

ITT’s primary ADS-B Network Operations Center is located in Herndon, Virginia. It operates a backup center in Middletown, New Jersey.

between the air and the ground with existing voice traffic between pilots and controllers being augmented by sophisticated data links. “NextGen is really taking shape now and real money is being spent,” said Wilson. “It is a very complicated enterprise and building the infrastructure alone is a necessary but not complete step. SE2020 is due to accelerate the adoption of the technology. There is a need to align the airlines

and the air traffic controllers, and some of the benefits will be here before 2020.” For ITT (Hall 3 Stand A8), NextGen could be a stepping-stone to other similar systems integration challenges around the globe in India, China, Southeast Asia, Africa and South America. It is certainly a chance for the U.S. group to underline the fact that it is now much more than a manufacturer of high-performance, standalone black boxes.

Industry heads to address environment, ethics by Paul Lowe Although last December’s world environmental meeting in Copenhagen ended with more of whimper than a bang, the head of the U.S. Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) predicts that aviation’s environmental impact will be a hot topic here when the CEOs of American and European manufacturers hold their annual dialog. Marion Blakey, president and CEO of AIA, said that since the sessions in Denmark, there have been a series of meetings and working groups gathered under the auspices of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). “We hope to agree on the emissions reductions that we’re committed to hitting and the technological and operational paths to get there,” she said. “This is something that we worked very hard on and there is a pretty aggressive target–we’re talking about reductions in the range of one and a half percent a year in terms of carbon emissions over the next 10 years,” she explained. After 2020, the goal is becoming carbon neutral. While she conceded that reaching that target will be very hard to do, Blakey said the industry is making great strides in propulsion technology, light airframes and advances in fuel technology, which will contribute very substantially to a much smaller footprint for aviation. She added that will be important “as we go into the next meeting next year in Mexico City.” “We’ve been very active and I think there is a general consensus that we’re going to have to make solid commitments that will be recognized by the broader environmental community,” Blakey said. In the weeks running up this year’s the Farnborough airshow, the former FAA

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Administrator described the overall climate she acknowledged that the U.S. Departin the U.S. aerospace industry as one of ment of Defense has made “significant shifts and cuts in specific programs,” but cautious optimism. “Certainly, we, as a manufacturing sec- the overall budget has stayed in a positive tor, have found that our overall sales and range and the defense manufacturing prospects have held up very well during sector has remained healthy during what the recession that has buffeted most of the has been a very tough recession for everyrest of both the manufacturing and services body else. Blakey also said there will be a meet[sectors],” Blakey told AIN. Overall sales ing here on the Global Principles for last year came to $215 billion, on Business Ethics pact signed of which $95 billion was exports by Europe’s AeroSpace and that made the aerospace industry Defence Industries Association the leading contributor to the posand the AIA last October, which itive side of the U.S. balance of focused on zero tolerance of trade. “And I think it’s fair to say corruption, management of conthat in the category of cautiously sultants, management of conflicts optimistic, we see the trends conof interest and respect for confitinuing to be favorable for dential information. aerospace,” she added. “We are doing a follow-up Referring to what some are Marion Blakey, AIA terming a moderate recovery for the president and CEO meeting here for manufacturers airline industry in 2010, Blakey noted that from both sides of the Atlantic, working on ICAO is estimating 3-percent growth in the advancement of how we can promote passenger traffic this year. “We’re not and make fully effective the kind of princisuggesting a rocket-like uptick,” she said, ples that we think are very important for us “but it does show greater health for the as worldwide industrial leaders to be comairline industry. And that is obviously impor- mitted to,” said Blakey. She explained that tant from the standpoint of our overall it covers items like the use of advisors, prospects on the commercial side and; it also how they should be hired and trained in is a good indicator of an economic climate foreign countries, anti-bribery laws, how you comply in full in both the letter and that is favorable.” At the same time, she said, business air- spirit of those laws, avoiding incentives craft have had a “pretty good” increase in that give an improper advantage to one aircraft use in the first quarter of the year, bidder or another in competitions, and how as well holding as a successful show at the proprietary information is protected. European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition in Geneva in early May. “We see those things as being encouraging though it may take a bit longer for the bizjet market to recover.” On the defense side of the equation, PAUL LOWE

You could be forgiven for thinking that the best part of a generation has been expended in talking up the promised benefits of the U.S. NextGen air traffic management system. But, like its counterpart Single European Sky program over here, NextGen is now becoming a reality and the ITT group is a big part of this reality. In May, along with Boeing and General Dynamics, it shared in a $4.4 billion contract from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to start making the NextGen infrastructure come alive. ITT’s share of the Systems Engineering 2020 program will be worth $1.4 billion over the next 10 years. “SE2020 is not so much a building program as a systems engineering effort,” explained Mike Wilson, president of ITT Information Systems. “We are going to help the government to tackle some of the technical puzzles and to validate the new technologies and procedures.” A key factor in FAA’s selection of ITT has been its role over the past three years as prime contractor in the ADS-B program (automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast). This network of what will eventually be 800 radio stations will be a key component in the communications, navigation and surveillance (CNS) architecture that will form the spine of NextGen. ITT has installed 168 radio stations across the U.S. A greenfield ADS-B and 123 are already ground station site in active in FAA’s operaBoca Raton, Florida tional network. The ADS-B network, which includes installations on oil platforms that have brought radar surveillance to the Gulf of Mexico for the first time, is due to be fully up and running by 2013. ITT and its partners now face a massive systems integration task that will see them connect these radio stations via a telecommunications network built on fiber optics, copper wire and satellite links. Network software will relay data from aircraft and rebroadcast data from the ground to these aircraft, along with weather and flight information. The aircraft will use these inputs to validate their positions and vector information and all of this will be consolidated and out put on air traffic controllers’ displays. Wilson told AIN that ITT’s reputation from the ADS-B project is what won it FAA’s trust for SE2020. But in some respects the company’s meteoric rise in the air traffic management hierarchy is surprising, given that until very recently it was on the fringes of this field. “We were a bit of an upstart when we won the ADS-B contract, beating Raytheon and Lockheed Martin,” he declared. “It has

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L-3 rises in the ranks of defense technology by Charles Alcock L-3 Communications is here at the Farnborough airshow highlighting some of the technology with which it has been able to assert itself as a leader in systems developed to greater capability to existing military aircraft. The U.S. group has long prided itself on having the versatility to contribute to a wide variety of platforms and, according to its chairman, president and CEO Michael Strianese, this has served it well in difficult market conditions. Along with many other aerospace and defense companies, in 2009 L-3 saw a steep dip in business when its sales declined by between 20 and 25 percent. So far this year it has turned that around to achieve growth of around 3 or 4 percent and Strianese told AIN that this single-digit increase is sign of a sustainable, albeit slow, recovery. “We have no reservations about the mix of business we have and we performed well in a challenging market,” he said. In fact, financial analysts Moody’s actually upgraded L-3’s stock to investment grade during the turbulent year that was 2009, and

has since upgraded it again. Rising geopolitical threats have prompted a fresh wave of interest from countries such as the UK, Canada, Australia and India in the sort of capability upgrades that L-3’s niche technologies, such as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) sensors can deliver to existing platforms. In recent years L-3 has been able to bolster its reputation as a prime systems contractor, a level of responsibility that now accounts for about 70 percent of its business, including the contribution it is making to the RC-135-based replacement for the UK Royal Air Force’s Nimrod signals intelligence aircraft. “More and more platforms are now being expected to perform for longer periods, but they need updating with new equipment to replace obsolete features or meet new threats,” commented Strianese. The contract for the UK version of the Rivet Joint program was signed only in March and the L-3 team has begun its systems integration task on this complex ISR platform. In a program now

dubbed Air Seeker, it is working with UK partners including Farnborough-based Qinetiq. Here this week, L-3 (Hall 4 Stand F14) is demonstrating a new addition to its Wescam family of electro-optical, infrared sensors. The new sensor is designed for a variety of ISR tasks with a highdefinition imaging gimble. It can be connected to the hand-held Video Scout and Rover receivers to give ground-based personnel greater situational awareness. The latest Wescam sensors feature a camera, range-finder and target designator. According to L-3, they can operate at a “robust” standoff range, and deliver a high degree of stabilization and a superior view, operating from various rotary or fixed-wing aircraft. “They also have a high degree of interoperability and can be integrated into other systems,” explained Strianese. “The ISR mission is becoming more and more important to international customers and there is a trend toward changing out sensors.” Developing UAV

Meanwhile, L-3 is continuing to make progress with the development of its Mobius unmanned air vehicle. Strianese explained that getting into the UAV sector has been a long-term strategic goal but L-3 opted against achieving this through an acquisition because it

L-3 Communications showed a lot of financial resilience during recent difficult market conditions, according to its chairman, president and CEO Michael Strianese (inset), and it has maintained its focus technology that can extend the capability of established military platforms. L-3’s Video Scout receiver combines with the company’s family of airborne picture, including video, of current battlefield conditions.

felt the prices being paid for established UAV players had become inflated. “So rather than spend $1 billion, we put about $20 million into our own research and development and this lead to Mobius and the Viking 400 program, which we believe represent disruptive technology at least in terms of the sensor packages these carry,” he stated.

Sargent seeks synergy by reorganizing units by David A. Lombardo Sargent Aerospace & Defense is investing in extensive new facilities and reorganizing itself to be ready for what it anticipates will be an upturn in the aerospace market during the second half of 2011. The 90-year-old U.S. company has initiated a strategic realignment plan resulting in the integration of its four main manufacturing operations for OEMs and others for aftermarket support services. According to Sargent president Scott Still, the reorganized company will be more efficient and better equipped to implement its plans to grow both market presence and develop new areas of business activity. He also wants the company to be better able to support its growing international customer base. Historically, Sargent (Hall 2 Stand A7) has consisted of five main units: • The Controls unit is the sole source of the quieting hydraulic valve technology used in submarines and also manufactures hydraulic valves and actuators for Boeing and Airbus; • The Sonic unit makes high-strength fasteners for commercial and military aircraft; • The Kahr Bearing product line supplies self-lubricating liner wear surface bearings used for rotors on military helicopters; • The Airtomic group manufactures alignment joints and pneumatic sealing devices,

along with another facility for engine machining in Montreal; and • Sargent Aftermarket Services is a Part 145 MRO servicing over 20,000 components found on most commercial aircraft. “All five units worked independent of one another, so we’ve decided to bring them all together under the Sargent Aerospace & Defense brand, directly reporting to the management team at our Tucson [Arizona] headquarters,” Still told AIN. “By coordinating all our resources we can provide better value throughout all our engineered solutions. We will keep the legacy names as product brands, reduce unnecessary resource duplication and share talent among the units–all of which will help us gain more work on civil and military platforms.” Increasing Capacity

As part of its restructuring, the company is expanding facilities at its headquarters near Tucson, where some 250 of its workforce of some 750 to 800 are currently employed. It has bought a four-acre lot on which plans to build a 70,000-sq-ft facility to be completed in March 2011. The increased manufacturing capacity is required to support the growth of key programs, such as the Boeing 787 and Airbus

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A350 airliners, and Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The additions will include product qualification and engineering laboratories, as well as new highvelocity oxy-fuel spray technology. Over the next 18 months, Sargent also intends to implement this environmentally friendly alternative to chrome plating at its facility in Torrance, California. Expansion plans also include an investment of $3.5 million in an MRP manufacturing resource planning system that will tie all the company’s operations together so they can better communicate. “This will allow us to focus on providing value to our customers rather than worrying about different accounting systems, supply chains and so on. We can rechannel those resources into new product development and marketing,” he said. “We’re looking at each of our product lines to add value,” added Rich McManus, vice president and general manager of Sargent’s OEM group. “All our customers want reduced supplier bases. Most of what we do is engineering these solutions on critical platforms.” One product development that Sargent is contemplating would be a new Kahr bearing liner for fixed- and rotary-wing

“We are just as clear on where we want to go, and current events in the market have confirmed this for us,” Strianese told AIN. “We slowed down our mergers and acquisitions activity at the right time and have no problems with finances, while making some adjustments in terms of what we are willing to invest in.”

applications. This has been prompted primarily by the need to provide a more durable bearing liner for military helicopters having to operate in the harsh environmental conditions encountered in Iraq and Afghanistan. Having one an initial production contract from an airframer or tier-one supplier, Sargent has often then been asked to design and source other related components. The expansion of the Tucson facility will boost its engineering and production capacity. MRO Business

As part of efforts to boost its aftermarket presence, Sargent also is investing in its MRO facilities in Miami, Florida, and Franklin, Indiana. These are now certified by the aviation authorities of the U.S., Europe and China to repair thousands of components. They also provide parts and components inventory, as well as offering asset management solutions. In May, Sargent signed a $1 million deal with MRO provider Texas Aero Engine Services (TAESL). Under the terms of the contract, which is already under way, Sargent is conducting component overhaul of tubes, ducts and manifolds used on the Rolls-Royce RB211-535 engine. There are more than 60 applicable part numbers among these turbofan components, and this potentially will generate more than 1,000 repairs per year at the Franklin facility from its first contract with TAESL.

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C Series moves into detailed design phase by Gregory Polek Bombardier is about to freeze the design of its C Series airliner, marking the end of the project’s joint definition phase and the official start of the detailed design phase. In fact, according to Bombardier Commercial Airplanes president Gary Scott, many of the work packages have already entered detailed design, including parts of the structure, the wing and some of the systems. “At this point we basically have confirmed that the airplane will deliver as advertised,” Scott told AIN. Since February, Bombardier has seen more than satisfactory results from its aluminum-lithium fuselage test barrel, delivered from China’s Shenyang Aircraft last summer. The barrel has now endured more than 60,000 test cycles–the equivalent number of cycles expected in a lifetime of service–with “very few issues, just a few minor cracks [in] angles and brackets,” said Scott. As a result, the company has begun to explore ways to remove some weight from the fuselage, he added. Shenyang, which has taken responsibility for the entire fuselage, doors and the composite wing box, has built the foundation of its new plant for the C Series fuselage production and expects to finish construction by the end of the year. By the start of next year, the company expects to start putting together subassemblies. Bombardier has also passed through limit-load testing on a preproduction demonstrator wing. Those tests, too, have progressed exceptionally well, said Scott, raising another opportunity

for weight reduction. “The point is we don’t need to do that to meet our weight commitments,” said Scott. “It just gives us the opportunity.” Resin Transfer Infusion

Built at Bombardier’s Belfast facility in Northern Ireland, the wing will consist mainly of composite material created using a resin transfer infusion process, in which, unlike conventional layup methods, Bombardier uses a dry fiber placed inside a mold into which resin gets injected. Scott said Bombardier stands as the only company that uses the method for parts as large as those in an aircraft wing. Composites account for some 46 percent of the C Series’ structure, while so-called advanced materials, including the aluminum-lithium used for the fuselage, account for some 70 percent of the airplane. Arguably, one of the most advanced aspects of the airplane comes in the form of its Pratt & Whitney PW1524G engines, formerly known as the Geared Turbofan. P&W promises that the combination of the gear system and all-new core will deliver double-digit improvements in fuel efficiency and emissions and a 50-percent reduction in noise compared with the latest existing designs. The engines for both airplanes will pack a maximum thrust of 23,300 pounds and a basic thrust of 18,900 pounds. Now in the midst of building the first full PW1524G, Pratt & Whitney expects to start testing the engine in August, said Scott.

Bombardier has completed limit-load testing on a preproduction demonstrator wing in Belfast. The final wing will consist mainly of composites, which could yield a reduction in weight.

“All that [component] testing is coming along well,” said Scott. “Again, [the engine maker] is meeting or beating all of the requirements we’ve placed on it and, of course, we’ve worked closely with [it].”

complete integrated aircraft systems test area (CIASTA)–a testing and proving facility that will house a “virtual” C Series test aircraft designed to assess systems for reliability and functionality a full year before the first prototype flies. Scott said Bombardier has begun to put in place the fixtures to accept the test equipment and expects to see the first test parts arrive in Mirabel in October. In the meantime, the company has begun to modify one of the existing CRJ high-bay areas at Mirabel to assemble the first C Series test vehicles in time for first flight in 2012, said Scott. Plans call for the Mirabel complex to expand in five more phases. Next comes a new preflight and flight operations facility, followed by new administrative offices, final assembly halls, supplier satellite facilities, a paint facility and customer delivery center. New construction will also

To Fly in 2012

Bombardier expects to fly the 110- to 125-seat CS100 in 2012 and intends to use five test vehicles to certify the smaller of the two variants, and deliver the first airplane by the end of 2013. Plans call for development of the 120to 145-seat CS300, which will use two test vehicles, to lag by roughly a year. Scott said the two airplanes will feature more than 90-percent parts commonality. Along with other suppliers, Pratt & Whitney has agreed to co-locate a final assembly line for the C Series engines in Mirabel, Canada, where Bombardier completed construction in March on what it calls the

house a flight test center hangar. While the brick-and-mortar aspects of the C Series project move ahead on schedule, the marketing side has also contributed to a sense of progress this year. By mid-June, Bombardier had collected firm orders for 90 C Series jets, including one for 40 CS300s from Republic Airways of the U.S. Signed in late February, the deal includes options for another 40 airplanes and calls for first deliveries in the second quarter of 2015. The program’s launch order from Lufthansa comprises 30 CS100s, while a firm commitment from Lease Corporation International Group (LCI) accounts for 17 CS300s and three CS100s. Although plans call for certification of the smaller airplane first, Lufthansa’s Swiss International Airlines subsidiary doesn’t plan to take delivery of its first CS100 until some time in 2014. In fact, Continued on page 68

CIASTA

Complete Integrated System Test Area Construction started in September 2009

Phase 5 Paint Facility

Phase 6 Customer Delivery Center

Phase 4 BFTC Hangar Phase 1 Pre Flight/ Flight Ops

Phase 2 Admin

8% 46%

21%

24%

70%

■ EXISTING BUILDINGS ■ NEW CSERIES BUILDINGS: 79,897m 2 | 860,000 sq. ft.2

Phase 3-C Final Assembly Line (Installations)

Advanced Composites Advanced Lithium Standard Materials

Phase 3-B Supplier Satellites

Phase 3-A Final Assembly Line (Joining)

Bombardier completed construction in March on its complete integrated aircraft systems test area (CIASTA), top center, in Mirabel, Canada. The testing and proving facility is to house a virtual C Series test aircraft that will be used to assess systems for reliability and functionality.

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Plans call for the C Series’ fuselage to be composed of composites (46 percent) and advanced materials, including the aluminum-lithium (70 percent).

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C Series moves into design phase Continued from page 66

according to Scott, Swiss most likely won’t fly the airplane in revenue service before another airline takes delivery in late 2013. “[Lufthansa] very much liked, as we did, the idea of being the launch customer because it can help the development of the aircraft, and it is. It’s intimately involved,” said Scott. “There are other customers who aren’t necessarily launch-caliber customers who definitely would like earlier deliveries, so we’re saving those aircraft for them. There are several bidding for that position.” Lufthansa plans to replace its Avro RJs with the CS100 and to fly the airplanes out of London City Airport, said Scott, making them the largest airplanes to fly the 5.5-deg steep approach at the noise-sensitive, short-runway downtown airport. Republic Airways plans to make use of the hot-andhigh attributes of its CS300s to fly from Denver to the East Coast of the U.S. during the summer. “[The C Series is coming] five years from now, although we wish it was coming tomorrow,” remarked Republic CEO Bryan Bedford during May’s Regional Airline Association Convention in Milwaukee. Deliveries will align with lease expirations on the Frontier Airlines subsidiary’s Airbus A319s. Although the C Series won the Republic order in direct competition with the Airbus A319, Boeing CEO Jim McNerney essentially discounted the Bombardier C Series as a serious threat to Boeing’s narrowbodies, referring to the Canadian upstart as one of a class of “regional jets that are getting a little bigger.” Nevertheless, the CS300 would occupy a capacity

Eaton picks Satair for UK service, support Satair (Hall 1 Stand C12) has become the exclusive distributor for Eaton Aerospace Group’s fuel systems division (FDS) in the UK. Denmark-based Satair has also agreed to provide aircraft-on-ground (AOG) and warranty return administration and support. Eaton and Satair have established a phased implementation plan designed to assure continuity of service and support during the transition. “This strategic alignment with Satair is part of Eaton’s ongoing commitment to continuously improve service for our airline customers and to strengthen our growing presence as a Tier 1 supplier,” said Eaton Aerospace Group president Bradley Morton. “Satair has been a valued channel partner for more than 20 years and has been a key contributor to our improved service-level commitments and supply chain efficiency.” Eaton’s aerospace customers have already been using Satair’s e-commerce system to order products manufactured by

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Gary Scott, Bombardier Commercial Airplanes president, says the CS100 will deliver as advertised.

category now filled by the 737-700 and A319. “That’s not necessarily a market segment we want to be in,” said McNerney, referring to the sector that the C Series would occupy. “[McNerney] is really confirming what we said all along,” said Scott. “This is a segment that’s largely underserved by Boeing and Airbus today, only through downsized versions of their larger sixabreast airplanes. Five abreast is really the best cross section for this segment. The smaller Boeing and Airbus products have been the best option to date, but now airlines are truly going to have an optimized solution to produce game-changing results for them…I think he’s just confirming where Boeing is focusing, which is above 150 seats.” Scott said that that he has seen “pretty balanced” interest in the CS100 and CS300 from around the world, and confirmed that Bombardier continues to talk with Qatar Airways about a likely order. “It recently said it intends to buy the C Series,” said Scott. “Its CEO, Akbar Al Baker, made that comment, so those discussions continue.” the electrical sensing and controls division, conveyance systems division and hydraulic systems division. The addition of the fuel systems division to this network will build on what Eaton calls the “one-stop shop” experience for customers. Satair sells parts for production and provides aircraft maintenance. It serves as a link between the manufacturers of aircraft parts and the businesses that depend on them. It maintains sales and warehousing locations in Europe, North America, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and China. It employs just under 500 people and posted annual revenue of $410 million in FY2008/2009. Eaton’s aerospace business supplies hydraulic, electrohydraulic pump and generator products and integrated systems; nosewheel steering systems; integrated control systems; cockpit controls; power and load management systems; and pressure sensors and fluid debris monitoring products. A diversified power management company, Eaton Corp. registered sales of $11.9 billion last year.

Thales visualization of a future single crew-capable flight deck, a project that it calls “Cockpit 3.0” and includes “intelligent interfaces.”

Next-gen cockpits will be single pilot, posits Thales by Bernard Fitzsimons Thales Aerospace is busy developing the flight decks for the Sukhoi Superjet 100, ATR 600 series, Sikorsky S-76D and Airbus A350 at its Toulouse facility. At the same time, the company is working to visualize what the cockpit of a next-generation widebody might look like 20 years from now. The biggest potential breakthrough from this could be single pilot operations for commercial aircraft. So what current consumer technologies might find their way onto the flight decks of the future? In a press presentation just

ahead of the Farnborough airshow, Dennis Bonnet, head of safety and human engineering in Thales’ cockpit center of competence, pointed to examples including the Philips Research Intelligent Shopwindow concept, jewelry that changes color to reflect the wearer’s mood and the driver monitoring system available on Lexus automobiles. This is what Thales categorizes as “cockpit 3.0” in a classification that ranks the Concorde, with its electromechanical instruments and a processor and display for each sensor, as cockpit 1.0, and glass

cockpits with information merged into displays as version 2.0. The irony is that where the pilot using cockpit 1.0 had a limited number of tools but could master them completely and understand the cause of problems, the more capable cockpit 2.0 in some ways makes it harder for pilots, leaving them little to do when things are going well, but proving complicated to handle when something goes wrong. “It requires too much training,” Bonnet said. “The cockpits are designed by very clever engineers but managed by pilots from diverse backgrounds. There is too much opportunity for human error and too many complex functions that are not used.” Cockpit 3.0, accordingly, needs to be crew-centric, “using the benefits of the crew’s strengths and helping them manage their weaknesses.” Along with intelligent interfaces, such as the Philips Intelligent Shopwindow, Bonnet pointed to helpful tools, such as the Vodaphone Android, which uses GPS to show an image of the real world behind the screen and automobile engine stop/ start buttons. Other advances include more extensive networking along with interactive languages. “Until 2000 we had only keyboards,” Bonnet said. Since then advances such as touch screens, multi-touch systems and 3-D interfaces have redefined interactivity to the extent that “if you give iPhone owner an old phone, he will think the screen is broken.” So cockpit 3.0 is likely to feature intelligent interfaces that deduce what the pilot wants to do and help him do it, and would probably monitor crew safety. “An eye tracker, for example,” said Bonnet, “would see what the pilot is looking at and know it’s not the right tool for the problem,

iDeck Simulator Lessens Risks During Airbus A350 Flight Deck Development Thales uses its iDeck simulation environment for validation and de-risking in the early stages of development. Configured here to resemble the A350 flight deck, it is used to help Airbus pilots and engineers evaluate cockpit concepts. The value of Thales equipment for the A350 is 10 times what it was on the A380 and includes the two biggest packages after engines: the cockpit control and display system (CDS), including six 13- by 8.5-inch LED backlit displays; two keyboard and cursor control devices (KCCUs) and optional dual head-up displays (HUDs), and the cabin electronics and infotainment (IFE and connectivity) system; navigation equipment and flight controls, including the first selection of Thales’ air data and inertial reference unit (ADIRU).

The iDeck is helping pilots and engineers evaluate the Airbus A350 cockpit.

The displays are 65 percent bigger than those in the A380 but 28 percent lighter, and the display computers also generate the imagery for the HUDs and onboard airport navigation system (OANS). The navigation system will support required navigation performance (RNP) 0.1 anywhere in the world. Sebastien Perrignon, A350 deputy program manager, said the company has adopted a new way of working with suppliers, selecting them earlier, specifying more comprehensive and integrated packages and working more closely with them. “We are operating as an extended enterprise, using the same methods and tools to avoid the sort of problems we had in the past,” he said. The enhanced integrated modular avionics architecture uses 29 common remote data concentrators (CRDCs) spread around the aircraft. Located as close as possible to the various sensors, they collate and distribute sensor information, saving the miles of wire that would be required for traditional discrete connections. “The challenge is to trade off between the number of boxes, which have to manage many interfaces, and different versions of the box,” Perrignon said. “We worked with the airframer to find the best compromise.” The ideal would be 29 of the same box, but there are actually two types, itself a big challenge, especially when many are installed in environmentally harsh areas. The CRDCs communicate via the same Rockwell Collins AFDX (avionics full-duplex switched Ethernet) switches used on the A380 with 21 central processing and input/output (CPIOM) modules. There are only two types of CPIOM compared with seven on the A380, but they handle approximately 30 percent more functions. More integrated boards mean each CPIOM has only two boards instead of four, but they provide twice the processing power for an 8-percent weight reduction per shipset. Thales itself produces the AFDX –B.J.F. switches for the Superjet.

directing him to the right tool or even removing the wrong one from view.” Interfaces would also be intuitive, providing a synthetic view or combined vision system to help the pilot safely navigate and manage the mission. And they would provide user-centric system management for pilots who are not engineers. “A lot of what is displayed is engineering stuff,” Bonnet said. “Pilots don’t care about it and it costs a lot to maintain their skill.” Losing the main galley at the beginning of flight, for instance, can be a serious issue. “You could have a display to suggest how to reallocate power in order to keep the galley,” he said. There will be new interactive languages for touch screens and localized or 3-D sound. And there will be dematerialization, with several small screens replaced by one big one plus a head-up display. The upshot, in short, will be a cockpit that is safer, simpler, easier to train and smaller.

MiG-29K sales might tip scales for Fulcrum by David Donald Recent orders for the Mikoyan MiG-29K may pave the way for further successes for the sea-going version of the “Fulcrum,” according to RSK MiG. A first batch of MiG-29Ks and KUB trainers for the Indian navy was followed by a second order this March for 29 aircraft. Meanwhile, the Russian navy has decided to buy 26 MiG29K/KUBs to replace its Sukhoi Su-33s. RSK MiG highlights the type’s low cost, about $40 million, compared to its Western rivals as its key selling point, while offering similar levels of capability. In India, the adoption of the MiG-29K by the navy may influence the air force in the selection of its land-based medium multirole combat aircraft (MMRCA) fighter, for which the related MiG-35 is one of six competitors. The navy may also look for more aircraft should it extend its short-takeoff-but-arrested-recovery (STOBAR) aircraft carrier fleet beyond the current two vessels. In the early 1990s, the initial MiG-29K version lost out to the Sukhoi Su-33 to provide the Russian navy with a carrierborne fighter. But as the service looks to a new generation of STOBAR vessels, the MiG-29K has come back into favor, following successful trials aboard the current carrier Admiral Kuznetsov last fall. Russian navy chief Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky said the service will acquire three to six new carriers, the design of which should be finalized by the end of this year. This is very good news for MiG, which expects to provide the fighter force for all of them. There is also significant interest among countries in Southeast Asia for the acquisition of affordable carrier capability, especially in the light of China’s carrier program. The low cost of the MiG-29K places it in a good position, should such ambitions crystallize into firm requirements.

www.ainonline.com • July 19, 2010 • Farnborough Airshow Newsaa69

NEWS CLIPS

Northrop rattles its SABR

Malaysia Airlines Selects Thales Satcom

by David Donald

Malaysia Airlines will equip its incoming fleet of Boeing 737s with the Thales TopFlight satellite communication system. The airline placed a firm order in 2008 for 35 Boeing 737-800s, with an option for an additional 20 in a deal worth $4.2 billion at list prices. Boeing is due to deliver the first of those airplanes in October. The Thales satcom systems will be used for cockpit and cabin communications over Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband network, capable of providing datalink connections at speeds up to 432 kbps. Thales’ TopFlight satcom system is available as an option in the Boeing 737 and 777 passenger and freighter versions. It can be configured for standalone cockpit or integrated cockpit and cabin connectivity.

IAI To Rewire U.S. Air Force Eagles The Lahav division of Israel Aerospace Industries has joined forces with Fort Worth, Texas-based InterConnect Wiring to win a contract worth more than $50 million from the Defense Supply Center Richmond. IAI Lahav will act as subcontractor to InterConnect in a five-year program that provides packages for the F-15 electrical power distribution system rewire program. Deliveries are to begin early next year.

Farnborough Aerospace Group Launches Web Site Farnborough Aerospace Consortium (FAC) has launched a new Web site (www.ukadcap.org.uk) aimed at providing global access to a list of UK aerospace and defense companies. The site provides a free search function to help people to identify the many capabilities to be found among FAC member companies. With an initial database of around 800 firms, the Aerospace and Defence Capabilities database (ADCAP) enables companies to promote their services internationally, free of charge. Ultimately, ADCAP hopes to include other UK industry trade organizations so the service can be offered to the entire UK aerospace and defense supply chain. Nonprofit FAC was established in 1998 and provides advice to around 300 members and other partners, mainly located in the southeast of England. Members include BAE Systems, Thales, Cobham and Qinetiq. The group also has representation in the Middle East, India and China.

Bombardier Completes Learjet 85 Validation Unit Bombardier Aerospace has announced the successful completion of the first all-composite manufacturing validation unit (MVU) for the pressure fuselage section of the new Learjet 85 mid-size business jet. Launched in October 2007, the Learjet 85 will be the first Bombardier jet and first business jet designed for type certification under the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration FAR Part 25 to use composite materials for all external primary structures. The MVU, which will be used to validate the design concepts, manufacturing processes and quality, was built in Montreal but will soon be transferred to its permanent home at the new Learjet 85 facility at Queretero, Mexico, where a second MVU will be built.

Following a successful series of trials in a U.S. Air Force F-16 that began late last year, Northrop Grumman’s SABR (scalable agile beam radar) has been refined to the point where the company says it is ready for production. Since receiving limited export clearance in February, Northrop Grumman has been actively marketing the radar upgrade to a number of F16 users, and it hopes the U.S. Air Force will move ahead with an F16 radar upgrade. There currently is no formal U.S. requirement, but that could change very soon, possibly in the next month. SABR leverages Northrop Grumman’s position as a supplier of active electronically scanned antenna radars for the F-16 Block 60, F-22 and F-35, and also draws on the company’s experience as the incumbent mechanically scanned radar provider for the F-16. By changing two elements– the antenna and the combined receiver/exciter/processor unit– SABR upgrades the current F-16 radar to provide, at a considerably reduced cost, all the benefits that active electronically scanned array (AESA) provides. The F-16 SABR demonstration was conducted at Edwards AFB at the request of the U.S. Air Force. Despite there being no program of record, as yet, there is a significant interest in updating the U.S. F-16 fleet with AESA radar. The test campaign encompassed 17 flights during which nearly 500 synthetic aperture radar images were produced as

part of a thorough and highly successful demonstration of SABR’s capabilities. Following the trials, the system was returned to the laboratory for refinements, particularly to the pilot/vehicle interface, in the light of recommendations from the test pilots who conducted the trials. The radar has subsequently flown some 20 more times in Northrop Grumman’s Sabreliner testbed. Key to the potential success of the SABR is to keep costs down. To that end much of the software is derived from that of the APG-80 radar in the F-16 Block 60. Additional code comes from the F-22/35 radar programs, in turn providing a useful bridge to the JSF for nations that may operate the aircraft alongside F-16s. Not only can SABR and the F-35’s APG-81 share common repair facilities, but

SABR-equipped F-16s would be highly compatible with F-35s in operations, sharing several unique modes. Other important factors in keeping costs down are the ease of retrofit, maturity of the radar mode suite and the short development schedule. Northrop Grumman asserts that in today’s fiscally challenged environment there is little appetite for long-term development programs. The radar is considered production-ready, and the company has demonstrated that two technicians can retrofit SABR in less than two days. SABR can be installed in any F-16, but is aimed primarily at the later blocks, which have much longer lives remaining. Older aircraft could benefit, however, by a cascading of newer mechanically scanned radars from aircraft undergoing AESA refit.

SABR fits into the F-16 without any additional airframe intrusions, and uses the same power and cooling interfaces.

THE F-16 STILL ENDURES, EVEN AFTER ALL THESE YEARS Despite the new crop of generation five fighters, the Northrop Grumman F-16 is still the most popular fighter in the world. And the aircraft’s reasonable acquisition cost and numerous in-the-works upgrade programs will help to ensure that the model remains so for many years to come.

Eurocopter last week signed an agreement with sister company Airbus for the development and production of all Airbus A350 XWB doors. The deal, valued at approximately $1.88 billion over the life of the program, includes all passenger and cargo door systems of the twin-aisle aircraft. Inking the contract were Airbus’ Klaus Richter, executive vice president for procurement, and Eurocopter Deutschland CEO Wolfgang Schoder. Eurocopter’s center of excellence for airplane door systems in Donauwörth, Germany, has already started shifting from metal to composite materials. Once series production starts, it will secure up to 500 jobs in Donauwörth and the surrounding region. Eurocopter has subcontracted some work to partners in South Korea. Delivery of the first test door is planned for late this year.

70aaFarnborough Airshow News • July 19, 2010 • www.ainonline.com

MARK WAGNER

Eurocopter To Make Airbus A350 XWB Doors

Team Avic-GE wins big with avionics for C919

through a generator that shares oil with the gearbox, or ultimately as a fully integrated generator. The idea is simply to take weight out [of the design].” GE’s engineers also are stepby Charles Alcock ping up efforts in primary power China’s Comac has chosen the decided that the risk of developing distribution. They are working on joint venture between GE Avia- an open-architecture system would the use of silicon carbide in tion Systems and Avic Systems be too great, which meant it switching devices and compoto provide the avionics core pro- did not select GE to provide the nents to reduce thermal loss and make switching faster. The end cessing system, display system gearbox generator. GE has also formed a joint result should be a smaller distriand on-board maintenance system for its new C919 airliner. venture with nacelle specialist bution box delivering two or The Avic-GE team also will Nexcelle to develop a new inte- three times as much power as a support Comac’s integrating the grated propulsion package, which larger unit. In air traffic management, open-architecture avionics suite Cormac also has selected for the C919. The integrated system covers GE has big plans for RNP for the narrowbody. The C919 modular avionics the nacelles and thrust reverser, approach provider Naverus, system provided by joint venture delivering reduced weight and which it acquired last year. will be the central information improved aerodynamics, for an “RNP approaches will be part of the foundation for system and backbone of the estimated cut in rebuilding ATM and I airplane’s networks and electron- fuel burn of 1.5 am now even more ics and will host the airplane’s percent. The nacelle convinced that it is avionics, maintenance and utility is to be integrated critical for the viability functions. The system replaces with the pylon. of the [air transport] For Bolsinger, dozens of traditional, standalone industry,” said Bolsinger, computers fitted to aircraft flying these new program explaining that the today, benefitting in weight sav- selections and partmore efficient, direct ings, improved reliability and nerships are the approaches to airports outcome of GE reduced operating costs. contribute to reducThe deal with Comac and Avic Aviation Systems’ tions in fuel burn of marks GE Aviation’s first major strong commitment between 5 and 15 selection as an integrated systems to research and GE Aviation’ Systems president and CEO percent. GE believes supplier. “There aren’t too many development even Lynn Bolsinger that with its backing, other big platforms coming up and during the aerospace Naverus will be able to down it is important for us to keep tech- industry’s nology advancing,” GE Aviation’ cycle. The U.S.-based group start making progress with North Systems president and CEO Lynn intends to double its total R&D American airports, building on Bolsinger told AIN. “This will spend between 2008 and 2012 as its earlier successes in Australia, propel us a generation ahead of it seeks to raise its presence in China and South America. GE Aviation also has been chothe fields of propulsion, electrical where we are today. sen by the U.S. Federal Aviation “Avic is quite accomplished power and avionics systems. Part of this additional invest- Administration to contribute to in terms of systems and they bring excellent engineers with ment is paying for two new the Continuous Lower Energy, integration capability for the air- electrical power laboratories, one Emissions and Noise program, frame interface,” she added. “We in Ohio and the other at Chel- which is part of the wider bring civil aircraft capability, tenham in the UK. Those labs NextGen ATM project. Its focus is making this a truly symbiotic have been tasked with achieving a to enable responsible air transport leap forward in technology such growth through better asset utirelationship.” Bolsinger explained that Comac as an integrated gearbox generator lization, lower fuel burn and has made a conscious decision that could be applied to General reduced costs for airlines, as well to go with an open-architecture Electric and CFM International as reduced delays and improved approach to the C919’s avionics, turbofans, but also potentially to airport throughput. Finally, in health monitoring, rather than buying systems “off- other companies’ powerplants. “Variable frequency is the GE has introduced the new the-shelf,” specifically because they wanted to fit the C919 with way of the future for civil air- ProDAPS system for Agusta the most advanced technology. craft generators,” said Bolsinger. Westland’s AW139 helicopter. The Conversely, for the aircraft’s “We could deliver this as a bolt- system uses artificial intelligence electrical power system, Comac on variable frequency unit or for advanced anomaly detection, looking not only how certain aircraft conditions relate to each Rockwell Collins To Supply Comac C919 other but identifying abnormaliIntegrated Surveillance Package ties in the data to detect about 50 percent more faults. Canadian Rockwell Collins and China Leihua Electronic Technology Research InstiAW139 operator Ornge has just tute (LETRI) have signed a letter of intent with Shanghai-based Comac to received the first of 10 aircraft provide an integrated surveillance system for the C919 family of single-aisle equipped with the system. GE regional airliners. The product will combine weather radar, traffic alert and has also Web-enabled its health monitoring technology so that collision avoidance system, mode-S surveillance and terrain awareness customers can see data for their and warning system in a single package. aircraft online. The U.S. avionics group also has been selected to supply navigation and communication equipment for the C919. As part of these agreements, Collins and LETRI have agreed to form a China-based joint venture, which is expected to sign a formal supply contract with Comac by the end of the year.

NEWS CLIPS ITT/Boeing Team Wins Jammer Contract Naval Air Systems Command has awarded a team from ITT Electronic Systems and Boeing’s Phantom Works a contract for continued work in support of the Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) program. The $42 million contract covers technology maturation efforts, such as design and analysis of critical elements to ensure that the proposed solution is affordable and of low development risk, while offering significantly improved operational effectiveness. The NGJ program, valued at around $2 billion overall, seeks to replace ageing ALQ-99 jammer pods used by the U.S. Navy’s EA-18G Growler electronic warfare platform, and also forms an important stepping stone toward an electronic attack capability for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Asian Carriers Commit To Blended Winglets Two major Asian airlines have committed to Aviation Partners Boeing (APB) blended winglets for future deliveries of their nextgeneration Boeing 737 fleets. China Southern Airlines will take delivery of 55 aircraft between 2011 and 2015, marking APB’s largest winglet order to date in China. Once all 55 aircraft are in service with blended winglets, China Southern expects annual fuel savings of more than 7,700 metric tons, an annual reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of more than 24,000 metric tons, as well as a two-metric tons improvement in takeoff performance from locations such as Kunming. Blended winglets will also be installed on all 35 B737-800s on order by Malaysia Airlines, with deliveries starting later this year and continuing into 2013. More than 3,600 Blended Winglet Systems are now in service with over 120 airlines in 80 countries. APB estimates that blended winglets have saved airlines more than 2.1 billion U.S. gallons of jet fuel to date.

UK Government To Pledge Apprenticeship Effort Vince Cable, the new British government’s business secretary, is due to open, today, “Sustainable Aerospace,” the themed conference of the Farnborough airshow’s opening day. He is expected to call upon young people to pursue a career in aerospace and commit to giving the industry “the skills and research base” it needs. According to the government, there is unmet employer demand for apprenticeships. Cable is expected to announce investments in high-level apprenticeships. “We will need a new generation to push aerospace forward,” he said on the eve of the show. Also planning to attend the airshow this week are defense secretary Liam Fox, Mark Prisk, business minister, and David Willets, minister of state for universities and science. ADS is coordinating a series of themed conferences for the first time at Farnborough. Each of the trade days has been themed around the main business sectors that the industry is involved in today.

Finland Orders EADS Data Fusion System EADS Defence & Security’s defense electronics business has been awarded a contract by the Finnish air force’s material command for the second phase of a distributed data fusion system. The first phase was awarded in 2004 and concluded last year with field trials. The second phase, worth approximately $56 million, calls for a multi-sensor tracking system and will run until 2016. It will provide Finland, which is considered among the pioneers of introducing network-enhanced capabilities, with a nationwide comprehensive security situation picture, enabling the coordination of sensors and force deployment, and enhancing decision-making at all levels.

AVWest Orders Four Bombardier Global Expresses Perth, Australia-based charter operator AVWest has ordered four Bombardier Global Express XRS ultra-long-range business jets, the manufacturer announced just before the Farnborough airshow. Two of the aircraft will be equipped with the new Global Vision flight deck. The contract is valued at $213 million at list price. AVWest’s fleet already includes one Global Express XRS.

www.ainonline.com • July 19, 2010 • Farnborough Airshow Newsaa71

Boeing forecast shows $3.6T airliner market

A 20-year Boeing forecast released on Thursday predicts demand for 30,900 airliners worth some $3.6 trillion. The outlook predicts strong demand for new aircraft such as the Boeing 787, which is on static display here at Farnborough.

In its latest current market outlook published last Thursday, Boeing projects a near-term increase in airline traffic growth, with global economies expected to regain lost ground in the next two or three years as they recover from the latest worldwide recession. Having grown steadily at around 5 percent per year for the past 30 years, international scheduled passenger traffic is seen as increasing annually at a higher 5.3 percent during the 2009 to 2029 timeframe, according to Boeing Commercial Airplanes marketing vice president Randy Tinseth. Launching Boeing’s latest 20year forecast in London four days ago, Tinseth attributed a 0.4 percent-point increase (from 4.9 to 5.3 percent) in projected long-term annual-growth rates to 2009’s lower traffic base following recession. He said he expects the average 5-percent-increaseper-year trend to resume after

the 2013-2014 timeframe. A team of six dedicated market analysts foresees a $3.6 trillion market for new commercial airplanes over the next 20 years as world economies recover. Reflecting “improving, yet still unstable [market] conditions,” the new Boeing current-market outlook expects strong demand for new and replacement aircraft to stimulate growth. The document predicts airline requirements for 30,900 new-build commercial airplanes, including 740 freighters, by 2029. Predicting that airlines will focus on “more flights, using more efficient rather than significantly larger airplanes,” Boeing analysts see a “small” market for 720 models of 747 size, or larger. “It is a [$220 billion] market largely for replacement of existing airplanes, not additional growth, with 45 percent of demand from Asia and 23 percent from [the]

DAVID McINTOSH

by Ian Goold

Middle East.” Boeing also foresees a 20-year demand for 7,100 twin-aisle and 21,160 singleaisle aircraft, valued at $1.63 trillion and $1.68 trillion respectively, and 1,920 regional jets worth $60 billion. “The market is doing much better than last year, but there are still challenges,” concluded Tinseth. “Airline revenue and yields are up, but fuel prices remain volatile.” Demand will be driven by “economic growth from regions with diverse airplane needs,” with the single-aisle sector dominating “due to the proliferation of low-cost carriers, emerging markets such as India,

China and Southeast Asia, and continuing instability of fuel prices.” This narrowbody segment will continue to grow as older fleets are retired. Geographically, Asia Pacific shows “the most robust market gains, with China leading the way.” About one third of all airline traffic touches that area, where continued strong growth is expected to mean that, by 2029, “almost 43 percent of all traffic will be to, from or within the region.” Asia-Pacific carriers will be the largest buyers of twin-aisle airplanes, representing about 40 percent of such demand. The fast-growing Middle East

CAE books new training business

smoke-generation system when delivered in 2011 to a new training center the Asian carrier plans to build in Ho Chi Minh City. Ab initio pilot candidates will train at CAE’s academy in Phoenix, Arizona. The training company’s network of such schools includes 11 flight facilities in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and North America, with capacity to train 1,800 new airline pilots a year. India’s Directorate General Civil Aviation and the European Aviation Safety Agency have certificated to level D the Bell 412 full-mission simulator used by the Helicopter Academy to Train by Simulation of Flying (Hatsoff), the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) and the CAE joint venture. The simulator features CAE’s “roll-on/roll-off ” design, which enables use of various cockpits, such as those of the Indian army/air force and civil variants of the HAL-built Dhruv and (in future) the Eurocopter Dauphin. The first Sikorsky MH-60R avionics maintenance trainer (AMT) built by CAE for the U.S. Navy has entered service at the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit in Florida. The AMT will offer transition and readiness training, and be used to demonstrate, instruct, and provide MH-60R helicopter maintenance experience. –I.G.

CAE has announced recent business covering civil and military flight and mission simulators, as well as other equipment and services. The company said Bombardier Aerospace, ATR, Vietnam Airlines and a U.S.-based airline have ordered four full-flight simu-

lators (FFSs) worth just over $52.5 million. Business aircraft manufacturer Bombardier is slated to acquire a CAE 7000 FFS for the Learjet 85 business jet for delivery in |2012. In addition to training, the simulator will support aircraft

testing and certification. The Learjet 85 uses Pro Line Fusion avionics equipment that CAE is simulating for Bombardier’s Global Vision flight deck, which will be ready for training next year. Long-term authorized provider agreements cover training for the Bombardier Global 5000, Global Express, XRS, Challenger 604 and Challenger 300, as well as the Learjet 40, 40XR, 45, and 45XR business jets. ATR Version on Order

Bombardier is buying a CAE 7000 full-motion flight simulator to support testing and certification of the Learjet 85. The simulator, which will also be used for pilot training, is slated to be delivered in 2012.

For delivery next year, ATR has ordered a prototype CAE Series 7000 to replicate both ATR 42-600 and ATR 72-600 cockpits. CAE also will provide the FrancoItalian regional-airliner manufacturer with a SimFinity maintenance/ flight-simulation training device and a desktop trainer. CAE’s Flightscape flight data monitoring software has been selected to help ATR operators to analyze performance trends. Demonstrating CAE’s comprehensive capabilities and flexibility to offer cadet-to-captain training services, Vietnam Airlines has contracted for an Airbus A320 FFS and training provision of 40 pilots. The A320 FFS will feature a brief/debrief station and a

72aaFarnborough Airshow News • July 19, 2010 • www.ainonline.com

Boeing Current Market Outlook Demand by size Size Large Twin aisle Single aisle Regional jets Total

New airplanes

Value ($B)

720

220

7,100

1,630

21,160

1,680

1,920

30,900

3,590

region is also “very strong,” as airlines benefit from geography, demographics, airplane performance and “well coordinated growth and investment plans.” North America and Europe will see “substantial” demand for aircraft to replace “ageing, less-efficient” jets. Global demand will become more balanced following “robust” growth in emerging markets with dynamic populations and increasing incomes, said Tinseth. Boeing projects the world aircargo fleet to grow more than two thirds, from 1,750 to 2,980 airplanes, and to require 2,490 extra freighters. Additions will include 740 new-production cargo units (nominally worth $180 billion) and 1,750 airplanes converted from passenger operation. Large freighters (over 80 metric tons payload) will account for 520 new-build airplanes, while medium-capacity (40 to 80 metric tons) aircraft will number 210. There will be very few new-build “standard-body” cargo aircraft (up to 45 metric tons). From a low-traffic base in 2009, Boeing forecasts world air cargo will increase at an average 5.9 percent per year through 2029. It estimates that this strong growth will reach “nearly 14 percent” over last year’s level. “The inclusion of [2010] high-traffic growth levels, following recession, is driving our cargo forecast upward, [but industry] strength and growth will continue to be driven by sound fundamentals: speed and reliability, consumer product innovation and global industrial interdependence.”

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Where aerospace leaders get down to business

Embraer mulls next member of E-Jet family by Gregory Polek Embraer has narrowed down in serious talks with the three the possibilities for its next phase possible contenders: Pratt & of product development to two Whitney, with its PW1000G Pure options, company CEO Frederico Power; General Electric, with Curado told AIN on the eve of this a version of the new Leap-X, Farnborough airshow. Either it will now under development by the re-engine its existing line of E-Jets Snecma-GE CFM International or develop an all-new, larger air- partnership; and Rolls-Royce, liner–or even perhaps opt for both, which in late May celebrated the likely by the end of this year. successful running of the latest “We don’t have a hard dead- core engine build in its E3E (effiline,” said Curado, “but I would ciency, environment, economy) guess probably before the year two-shaft research program. ends we’ll either have a decision Curado had long expressed or at least some sort reservations about the of conclusion [about PW1000G, once known what direction we will as the Geared Turbofan, likely go.]” but he has more reCurado said that the cently articulated a less chances of Embraer pessimistic view, due developing a new turmainly to all the sucboprop have degraded cessful testing the ento virtually nil, as the gine has undergone company has apparboth in the air and on ently reached the conthe ground. clusion that the market “I’ve always tried to can support no more be very sober on this Frederico Curado, than two Western supissue,” said Curado. Embraer CEO pliers of turboprop“One thing I have to powered airplanes. Bombardier say, however, [is that] the level of builds the Q Series and ATR is pre- comfort–not only with us, but in paring to introduce the new ATR the market–about the potential for 600 series, featuring a new cockpit the GTF is increasing,” said and upgraded Pratt & Whitney Curado. “There’s hard data; there’s Canada PW127M engines. evidence now to support [Pratt & “An artificial demand in the Whitney’s] contentions much market [as a result of pilot more than a year ago.” unions’ scope clauses] did create Clean-sheet Design a strong demand for 50-seater RJs,” said Curado. “In that sense, Meanwhile, the company conone can say it’s a niche product. I tinues to study the possibility of a do not see a similar situation with so-called “clean-sheet” airplane the E-Jets–an optimized four that would compete with the larger abreast aircraft of 75 to 120 seats. of the two C Series models–the I think there is a natural demand CS300–as well as with the Airbus in the market for that, so rightsiz- A319 and Boeing 737-700. In ing in that market will always be fact, depending on the availability there. The way I look at the E-Jets of the needed resources and the is as a family of aircraft that, if demand Embraer finds, the comwe manage its evolution properly, pany could develop both a can have a lot of longevity.” re-engining program for the E-Jets and an all-new airplane simultaneRe-engining Possible ously, said Curado. “They’re not Introduced in 2004, the E-Jet exclusive to each other,” he said. family in ordinary circumstances “It could be both. Of course, should produce market demand besides all the market analysis–the for at least 20 years. However, evaluation of our ability to penethe fact that engine technology trate into markets–besides that, has developed faster and more resources are also important.” convincingly than Curado even One might assume that Emimagined five years ago raises braer’s decision to re-engine the the question of whether or not the E-Jets could depend on whether E-Jets will need an upgrade to the C Series renders its E190/195 reach their lifespan potential. obsolete. But notwithstanding the Promising a 15-percent improve- serious effort Embraer has comment in fuel burn, new engines mitted to studying new engine could reduce operating costs by 5 possibilities, Curado said the E190 and E195 as they now exist to 6 percent, he said. Hence, Embraer has engaged could compete effectively against

Although Embraer has rejected a proposal to stretch the E195 while using its existing General Electric CF34 engines due to range concerns, the airframer continues to study whether it will need to re-engine the family to maintain its market relevance.

the C Series CS100. “We believe the 195 as it is today is a pretty competitive airplane,” he said. “I’ve always been very clear, and I still have my opinion, that the smaller C Series is a direct competitor to our 195. The larger C Series is a direct competitor to the A319 and 737-700. It’s an occupied market. There’s no niche, there’s no room there. I’m not saying the aircraft has no demand. I’m saying there’s not a vacant market there. It’s going to be a straight competition to existing aircraft, both in the smaller and the upper end. “So why consider the new engine for the family? Number one, of course, we have to constantly listen to our customers; we have to be sure that they have the best value possible,” said

Curado, adding that Embraer would like to see a 12- to 15-percent improvement in fuel burn from any new engine it eventually chooses. He also said he doesn’t believe the E195 necessarily needs more range, however, despite the fact that that the CS100ER, at 2,950 nm, would have considerably longer legs than the Embraer 195AR, whose range the company lists as 2,200 nm. “Obviously there are markets where we cannot perform and the C Series can perform,” admitted Curado. “But those represent a small portion of the total network, so we believe that actually plays to our [weight] advantage. We think that by having a more optimized aircraft for the largest share of the networks, you’re

basically flying in an optimum way most of the time.” Curado declined to commit to a service-entry date for either a re-engining or an all-new airplane, although Embraer executive vice president Mauro Kern told AIN earlier this year that a new airplane would have to reach the market some time between the middle and second half of this decade. Kern leads a new division called New Programs-Airline Market, which Embraer recently formed specifically to explore options for a successor to its E-Jet line. Recruited to lead the division fulltime, Kern last served as executive vice president for the airline market–a position Curado abandoned when he took the reins of the airframer.

RAS’s quest is to be more inclusive by Charles Alcock Qatar Airways is set to be made the newest corporate partner of the Royal Aeronautical Society. The membership will be conferred on Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker here at the Farnborough airshow by the Society’s new chief executive, Simon Luxmoore. The expansion of the corporate partner scheme is a prime example of how the Society is seeking to expand its connection with the wider aerospace, defense and air transport industries. But at the core of its updated strategic plan is a firm commitment to preserve its ability to serve as a truly independent forum for key issues, while also working more closely with direct industry advocates such as the UK’s new Aerospace, Defence and Space trade group. There are now about 170 corporate partners of the Society, and Luxmoore feels that so far it has only scratched the surface in terms of extending its international scope and the individual categories of membership. The former Messier-Dowty CEO also wants to include more non-engi-

74aaFarnborough Airshow News • July 19, 2010 • www.ainonline.com

neers on the Society’s member- Hamilton Place, in the heart of ship rolls and to boost the in- London. Luxmoore acknowledged volvement of members at all that some rationalization of the stages in their careers, but most cost structure may be necessary. At notably the 18 to 25-year-olds and the same time, with the generous those aged between roughly 28 support of Airbus and Rockwell Collins, he has set about and 45 who perhaps the task of bringing its feel they aren’t yet at information technology the right stage in their infrastructure into the careers to be able to 21st century and has contribute to the work plans to significantly of the Society (Hall 1 boost its online presence Stand B26). and use of the Internet “Aviation and aeroto engage with memspace is a far broader bers. It is also establishchurch than just deing a new foundation, signing airplanes,” LuxLuxmoore, specifically tasked with moore told AIN. “All theSimon Royal Aeronautical long-term fund raising. sorts of people are Society’s new chief executive Ultimately, the key touched by what we do first step in just about in this huge industry. A proportion of our members are en- all aspects of the Society’s new gineers, but by no means are they strategic plan is to more graphia majority, and we need to do cally demonstrate the value it more to welcome them into the brings to members and to the world of aeronautics. “We don’t fold and let them participate.” On a more pragmatic level, the just want to collect subscriptions,” Society faces the challenge of concluded Luxmoore. “We must maintaining its financial viability demonstrate the benefits we bring now that it has bought its excep- and not just assume that we will tional headquarters building, 4 always there.”

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Mitsubishi Aircraft expects to freeze the design of its MRJ regional jet within the next two months.

Mitsubishi says MRJ nearing design freeze by Gregory Polek

GREGORY POLEK

The time for refinements to company “is not ready” to pubthe Mitsubishi MRJ has nearly lish the numbers yet. “We are passed, as Mitsubishi Aircraft carefully looking at the customers expects to freeze the regional and the market, and also we are jet’s design within the next two looking at the business plan of an months. The company has frozen additional airplane,” he said. all the interfaces between the varJCAB, FAA Coordinating ious systems and the structural components, both in the 88-seat The more immediate concern MRJ90, scheduled for Japanese centers on preparations for the certification in late 2013, and 2012 first flight and certification of the 76-seat MRJ70, which would the MRJ90, plans for which Mitlikely gain its certification subishi works closely with the roughly a year later. Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau “The next milestone will be (JCAB) at its offices at Nagoya critical design review, then we Airfield, coincidentally the regional will start manufacturing parts,” airport located adjacent to the said Mitsubishi Aircraft executive eventual site of MRJ producvice president Junichi Miyakawa, tion–MHI’s Komaki South plant. who explained that the company The JCAB and the U.S. FAA will undertake a series of critical have begun to coordinate efforts design reviews (CDRs) between toward issuance of a shadow type now and the end of September. certificate, said Miyakawa, ensur“As far as the major features of ing that the airplane gains U.S. the structures or systems are con- approval in early 2014, soon after cerned, they’re not going to be the JCAB issues its approval. changed,” he told AIN. So far, according to Miyakawa, Meanwhile, the so-called the JCAB hasn’t encountered any MRJ100X–a prospective 100-seat problems or expressed special version of the airplane–remains in interest in any particular design the preliminary design phase. But element. “You might understand this airplane has yet to draw a that our airplanes are using customer and so likely won’t reach conventional structure and conthe market until 2016 or 2017, ventional systems, except the depending on when the [Pratt & Whitney company decides to PW1000G] engine, and launch the program, the engine certification said Miyakawa. Neveris not our business… theless, Mitsubishi We really haven’t seen possesses a firm grasp any challenges in our of the form it will take. airplane as far as “As a result of JCAB is concerned,” the preliminary design he said. review, we know what In fact, one of the needs to be changed changes to the design between the MRJ70/90 that Mitsubishi instiand the 100X,” said tuted in the summer of Miyakawa. “The wing 2009 involved scrapJunichi Miyakawa, Mitsubishi Aircraft is going to need to be ping its original plans executive v-p beefed up, although for an all-composite we’re going to use the same wing wing. Using composites in an airbox.” Another change will involve plane as small as the MRJ, the strengthening the landing gear, he company found, would not yield said, although engineers do not enough of a weight reduction to believe they’ll need to change the warrant their use, particularly actual design. given the need for metal reinforceOf course, designers will have ments in the structure. Another to incorporate a more robust reason centered on a desire to air-conditioning system to accom- “optimize” the wing boxes across modate the larger cabin, added the entire family. the Mitsubishi executive. OtherThe aluminum box–as opposed wise, engineers believe adding to composite–allowed for a shorter three more rows to the MRJ90 lead time for structural changes will prove a fairly straightfor- because the company plans to ward exercise. use the same wing box across Miyakawa said Mitsubishi the entire family, including for has calculated the specifications the 100X. of the 100X based on prelimiOther changes involved the carnary design work, but that the bon-fiber fuselage, which began

life as a 114-inch tube, only to morph into a 116.5-inch-wide oval, then again into a 116.5-inchdiameter cylinder. The result–a two-and-a-half-inch larger barrel– leaves more room for a four abreast passenger configuration than any other regional jet in its class, according to Mitsubishi. Although moving from the original 114-inch circular fuselage to a wider design did add some weight to the structure, the second change resulted in no further weight penalty due to the uniform stress characteristics inherent in a nearly perfectly round design. Airline Input

While industrial considerations led to the decision to switch from composites to aluminum for the wings, most of the other changes resulted from consultations with airlines during a series of advisory group meetings. The seat design, for example, went through a series of iterations, the most recent of which appears on display here at the show. “That is going to be very close to the final design of our seat,” said Miyakawa. “We’ve been hearing from many customers about the evaluation of the seat throughout the development, so we are trying to put all those voices into our product. The latest design is basically the result of those efforts.” Mitsubishi chose Hiroshima’s Delta Kogyo, the company perhaps best known for the seats it manufactures for Mazda automobiles, to supply the airplane’s slim-profile seats. Rather than urethane, Delta Kogyo’s 3-D net seats use fibers woven into threedimensional structures that act as small springs and dampers. The approach results in thinner yet stronger seats, according to Mitsubishi. In fact, although the company assumes a 31-inch pitch in its calculation of both airplanes’ typical capacity, several airlines have expressed interest in

76aaFarnborough Airshow News • July 19, 2010 • www.ainonline.com

Seat designer Delta Kogyo of Hiroshima uses a process that weaves fibers into three-dimensional structures that act as springs and dampers, resulting in thinner but stronger seats that could accommodate a 29-inch pitch.

a 29-inch pitch due to the extra space the thin seats afford. Airline consultation also led to the decision to combine the pair of cargo holds–one in the front and one in the rear–to a single 644-sq-ft compartment in the rear. To help compensate for what might have presented a c.g. problem, designers moved the avionics equipment to the forward belly, where an access panel will replace the baggage door. Another improvement related to baggage capacity took the form of expanded overhead bins, the capacity of which designers managed to increase 12 percent by adding width and changing the contour of the side that faces the fuselage wall. According to Miyakawa, the bins can hold the largest roller bags allowed by any airline. While Mitsubishi Aircraft carries responsibility for design, procurement, sales and support, parent company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) will take care of manufacture and final assembly, as well as flight testing. Production will take place at MHI’s Komaki South plant, located adjacent to Nagoya Airfield, the regional airport north of the city

center. Although it stopped building the MU-300 business jet at Komaki South after Raytheon bought that airplane’s marketing rights and renamed it the Beechjet 400 in 1985, MHI (Hall 2 Stand C17) still assembles the F-2 fighter jet at the plant for the Japanese Self Defense Forces. To date, only one airline has definitively proved its readiness to commit to the MRJ program as a whole with a firm order. Japan’s All Nippon Airways holds an order for 15 MRJ90s, along with options on another 10. Meanwhile, converting a letter of intent signed by Trans States Holdings of the U.S. that called for an eventual firm order for 50 MRJs and options on another 50 stood as a top priority for Mitsubishi Aircraft. “We are discussing with [Trans States] the final description of the details of the definitive contract,” said Miyakawa. “We’re expecting that business to be finished very soon.”

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Irkut’s MC-21 raises Russian comfort bar by Charles Alcock This week’s Farnborough airshow will provide the closest look yet at what Irkut Corp. plans to deliver when it completes development of its MC-21 airliner family. The Russian company has had an almost full-scale mockup of the single-aisle transport produced in the U.S. and it will unveil it here today. The mockup is 66 feet long and includes the cockpit and part of the passenger cabin (featuring both businessand economy-class seating), as well as the galley and lavatory. According to Irkut, the mockup will show that it has followed through on its design commitment to deliver higher levels of passenger comfort than existing narrowbodies, with a wider cabin, larger seats, improved lighting and more baggage space. It claims that the MC-21 will provide levels of comfort normally associated with long-haul airliners, but Farnborough visitors can to judge for themselves by visiting the new mockup. Ahead of this week’s show, Irkut president Oleg Demchenko told AIN that the company remains on schedule to complete initial Russian certification before the end of 2015, followed by international certification and first customer deliveries in 2016. First flight is planned for an as-yet unspecified date in 2014. Irkut is targeting the MC-21 at a number of market niches and is proposing a family of three versions. The lead variant is the MC-21-200, with 150 seats at a 32-inch pitch. Later will come the MC-21-300 (181 seats) and MC-21-400 (212 seats), and all will be available with various range options. Certification Process

At the start of this year, Irkut’s engineering team, which includes the Yakovlev Design Bureau, passed the so-called third control gate for the program, at which point the aircraft configuration and draft design were completed. In April, the company received approval from Russian aviation authorities to handle all aspects of aircraft design. As it heads toward the fourth control gate for the program in April 2011, Irkut has formally applied to Russian authorities to begin the certification process and it will make the same application to the European Aviation Safety Agency in March 2012. Over the past year, Irkut has been busy lining up its main program partners for the MC-21, and since April this year it has been locking them in with the signing of firm contracts. Most notably, late last year it announced that Pratt & Whitney will provide the PW1400G version of its new PurePower PW1000 engine. Russian manufacturer Hydromash, based in Nizhny Novgorod, is responsible for the main fuselage. Also from the U.S., Rockwell Collins

Irkut is planning the first flight of its Pratt & Whitney PW1400G-powered MC-21 single-aisle airliner for 2014, with Russian certification in 2015 and first customer deliveries in 2016.

is the main avionics supplier, along with the Russian company Avionica. Irkut is acting as systems integrator for the avionics. Rockwell is also developing the MC-21’s control systems, with contributions from Goodrich. Hamilton Sundstrand also has a big position on the MC-21 program. It will provide the auxiliary power unit and wing anti-icing system. Through a new joint venture with Russia’s Nauka company it will develop the air-conditioning system. The U.S. company is also forming an alliance with France’s ECE (part of the Zodiac group) to provide the aircraft’s electrical system, and another with Kidde group subsidiary L’Hotellier for the firefighting system. Another Zodiac subsidiary, Intertechnique, will provide the fuel, oxygen and inert gas systems for the MC-21. Zodiac’s U.S. operation, C&D, will provide the cabin interior, and to accomplish this is expected to form a new interior design joint venture with Irkut. Eaton Corp., also from the U.S., is responsible for the aircraft’s hydraulic system, and has committed to sourcing more than half of the components for it from Russian companies. Tier-two Suppliers

Demchenko said Irkut has selected most of its tier-one suppliers, and is now closing negotiations with tier-two suppliers. He added that additional joint ventures may be arranged to cover other aspects of the program as it moves forward–in particular maintenance and after-sales support. The MC-21 program has yet to secure the support of a firm order, but Irkut said it has had interest from several Russian and Western airlines. Demchenko conceded that Russia will likely be the most promising market but said that the aircraft eventually could win as much as 10 percent of the world’s medium-haul, single-aisle market segment. Irkut accepts that in many markets the MC-21 will have to go head-to-head with the dominant Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 families, but insists that it will hold its own by offering improved passenger comfort and operating costs that will be 12 to 15 percent less. Airbus has argued that the

78aaFarnborough Airshow News • July 19, 2010 • www.ainonline.com

Irkut Opens Yak-130 Training Center Irkut has opened a new facility to provide training for pilots and maintenance crews for operators of its Yak-130 jet trainer. The center has been developed at the Moscow-area air base of Zhukovsky in the test facilities of the Yakovlev Design Bureau, which is set to be restructured as the Irkut Corporation Engineering Center. The manufacturer has plans to further develop the new complex to provide training for operators of its new MC-21 airliner. In February, the new Yak-130 entered service with the Russian air force and on May 9 the aircraft appeared in the annual fly-past over Moscow’s Red Square to mark the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II. The Russian pilots and technicians have all been trained at the new Irkut facility. However, Russian authorities now have to investigate an accident on May 30 near the city of Lipetsk, which both pilots survived after bailing out. To date, Irkut has sold almost 100 Yak-100s and, in addition to Russia, firm customers include Algeria (16 aircraft) and Libya (six). According to Irkut president Oleg Demchenko, orders for another 150 aircraft are being negotiated with various prospective export clients and the manufacturer expects to sign another contract for several

dozen units before year-end. Vietnam has previously been reported as a Yak-130 customer, but is not currently confirmed by the manufacturer. Irkut also hopes that the Yak-130 will be used to provide training for prospective astronauts. Russian cosmonaut Alexey Leonov, a member of the joint Russian-American Soyuz/ Apollo space program, has recommended that the aircraft be selected for this application. The new Zhukovsky training center has been equipped with computerized classrooms and modern flight simulators. Its staff includes Yak-130 test pilots and engineers who designed the aircraft. Pilot training covers theory and extensive simulator work. Flight training includes weaponry and combat simulation and can be done at the customers’ own bases with support by the Irkut team. With its enhanced maneuverability and advanced avionics suite, the two-seat Yak-130 can be used for both basic and advanced training for new fighter pilots. The jet is powered by a pair of Klimov/Motor Sich AI-222-25 turbofans, each producing 5,510 pounds of thrust. It has a top speed of 573 knots, a load factor range of plus-8g to minus-3g (max sustained g-load of 5.4) and an angle of attack of up to 40 degrees. –C.A.

The two-seat Yak-130, powered by a pair of Klimov/Motor Sich AI-222-25 turbofans and with a top speed of 573 knots, can be used for both basic and advanced training for new fighter pilots.

S-30MKI To Test New Anti-Ship Missile Irkut and India’s BrahMos Aerospace are engaged in a joint venture to arm the Indian Air Force’s Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters starting in 2012. Flight trials of the new airborne anti-ship missiles are in the planning stages. According to BrahMos, it finalized development of the new missile in May, adding a new booster, extra fins and a new nose cone. Working with the Sukhoi Design Bureau, the company has been developing an airborne launcher for the weapon, as well as modifying its command and control software. The weight of the airborne missile is about 1,100 pounds less than that of

the navy and army versions. The first production versions of the new missile are being built at the BrahMos Strela plant in Russia. This factory also is making assembly kits that can be put together in India. The new BrahMos missile is to be fitted to 40 Su-30MKI jets that India has ordered from Irkut. From 2012, it could be made available to other export customers, such as Algeria and Malaysia. On the eve of this week’s Farnborough show, Russian defense export agency Rosoboronexport confirmed that the Indian Air Force is about to order 42 additional Su-30MKIs. –C.A.

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BrahMos Aerospace is preparing to start flight trials of a new airborne anti-ship missile that to be used to arm the Indian Air Force’s Sukhoi Su-30MKIs.

MC-21 does not represent the technological step change needed to pose a serious challenge to its established rivals, but Irkut can fairly claim to have made a bold choice of engine technology in opting for the Geared Turbofan powerplant while its Western rivals are still vacillating over future engine selections for successors to their current single-aisle product ranges. Demchenko stressed the importance of keeping to the declared development schedule for the MC-21 if Irkut is to be seen as a credible challenger in the key single-aisle market. Program delays have dented the reputation of Russia’s Superjet 100 development, although this does now seem to be making up for lost time. Malaysian Connections

Irkut has also declared that it will deliver a much more customer-focused approach to after-sales support than has previously been the case with Russian airframers. As evidence of this commitment, it has just signed a partnership with a group of Malaysian companies to establish a regional service center for the MC-21 in Kuala Lumpur, as part of a wider cooperation with the Malaysian aerospace and defense sectors. In a June 18 briefing at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Demchenko revealed that by the end of this year, Irkut parent company United Aircraft Corp. (UAC) will conclude a contract with Malaysia for the sale of 50 MC-21s. Demchenko, who is a vice president of UAC, also confirmed that UAC is going to enter the competition to supply the Royal Malaysian Air Force with a new fighter.

Vous trouverez ces mêmes renseignements en français sur le site Web indiqué.

The tender is due to be issued before the end of 2010 and UAC will propose a new batch of Sukhoi Su-30MKM jets, derived from the Su-30MKI multifunction combat aircraft. In May, UAC signed a new contract with the Algerian Air Force under which it will supply 16 Su-30MKA warplanes. Over the past few years, Irkut has invested in modernizing manufacturing facilities at its Irkutsk Aviation Plant, with the specific goal of being ready for MC-21 production. Most recently, it has installed high-speed metal machining equipment and automated riveting systems, mirror milling capability and automatic assembly stands with laser positioning systems. The Irkutsk Aviation Plant is connected to the MC-21 design bureau via digital communications channels. Back in 1997, the factory in Siberia became the first Russian plant to be certified to ISO 9002 standards and it has since become an official Airbus supplier, meeting international EN 9100 standards as well as achieving Bureau Veritas certification in 2007. Irkut expects to form part of a new unit of UAC, which will include other leading design bureaus and factories, such as Aviastar-SP at Ulianovsk and Voronezh-based VASO, both of which are being lined up to become MC-21 program partners. Another partner will be the new Aerocomposit composites joint venture created by UAC and Sukhoi.

www.ainonline.com • July 19, 2010 • Farnborough Airshow Newsaa79

Alenia adopts new tech to build M-346 trainer by Paolo Valpolini The production process currently is in a hybrid state as the company seeks to meet its commitment to deliver the first couple of aircraft to the Italian air force by year-end (with two more to follow by mid-2011). At the same time, it is setting up the permanent final assembly line. The first four M-346s being produced for the Italian air force are in various

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80aaFarnborough Airshow News â&#x20AC;˘ July 19, 2010 â&#x20AC;˘ www.ainonline.com

stages of completion in Hangar Five at Venegono. These aircraft are being produced with the same rigging used for the prototypes and the low-rate-of-initial-production units. The full Master assembly line will occupy two adjacent hangarsâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Three and Four. In establishing this new production platform, Alenia has leveraged its experience in both lean manufacturing of engine nacelles and in using digital mockups based on Delmia software throughout the design and manufacturing phases. In addition to helping Alenia design the production line, the digital mockup also has allowed the company to simulate assembly operations and to give workers animated instructions showing how to execute the most critical steps. Hangar Four already houses three rigging cells for the main fuselage components and around the sides of the building are subcomponent assembly areas and rigging. The forward and rear subassembly rigging consist of two stations, while there are five for the central subassemblies. The companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s goal is to achieve a similar pace of production for all three elements. Efficiencies Seen

Manufacturing efficiencies can already be seen in the production process. Parts are moved automatically from one station to the other within each of the cells. In addition, the workstation architecture, which permits positioning of the main components and jigs at a height that allows them to be rotated into the space immediately in front of the workers, also facilitates the ergonomics of the assembly process. Part of the tooling was purpose-built using carbon fiber to accommodate unusual shapes and to save weight as needed. Subassemblies are transported under the rigging to be coupled with the part assembled airframe sections on the rigging. Some subassemblies of aircraft S/N 5 were installed on the cell in mid-June. Once the three main fuselage subassemblies have been completed, they are moved to the completion area for partial

PAOLO VALPOLINI

Alenia Aermacchi is stepping up the pace on the production line for its new M-346 Master jet trainer at the Venegono Superiore factory in northern Italy, while also attempting to leap forward in manufacturing efficiency. Its aim is to initially produce up to 24 of the aircraft per year in a way that reduces unit costs and allows for an eventual increase in annual output to 40.

fuselages. Some of them will go first to the new paint shop, which is due to open late this month. Fuselage sections are moved from one area to another using an automated guided vehicle that can recognize the specific completion stage of a fuselage section and move it to the next place. The vehicles are guided by a network of magnets installed in the factory floor. The assembly process in Hangar Four ends with the marrying up of the fuselage sections, carried out using a numerical control machine. A laser continuous reference system ensures maximum precision in this process. Last month, the wing kit assembly area, located adjacent to the fuselage assembly area, was being finalized. The last operation carried out in Hangar Four will be to join up the electric and

Alenia Aermacchiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new approach to manufacturing efficiency includes the installation of three highly automated rigging cells for the M-346 trainerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main fuselage components in Hangar Four at its Venegono, Italy facility.

hydraulic systems, followed by the installation of the landing gear. Then the fuselages will be towed into the final assembly line in Hangar Three. The Venegono line is expected to process up to 12 aircraft on two parallel assembly lines at the same time, with an aircraft being moved forward to the next position every five days. Alenia Aermacchi plans to have completed the final marrying-up area by late this year to enable it to complete the third aircraft for the Italian air force in early 2011. The first two aircraft completely produced on the new assembly line are expected to be delivered at the end of 2011.

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Britain’s industry remains challenged by Charles Alcock At face value, the UK’s aerospace and defense industries might feel entitled to breathe a quiet sigh of relief and gently pat themselves on the back coming into this year’s Farnborough airshow. When the 2008 event closed its doors it was obvious to all but the most optimistic analysts that these markets were on the cusp of a major downturn that threatened to drastically clip the wings of these industry sectors. The dip in demand undoubtedly did materialize as the full ramifications of the global financial crisis were felt, but, according to the UK’s new Aerospace, Defence and Security (ADS) industry association, its members have generally proved to be more resilient than might have been anticipated. That said, in a preshow interview with AIN, ADS chairman Ian Godden warned against complacency, arguing that more needs to be done to make the supply chain more robust and efficient, and that the defense sector now faces its own period of retrenchment. With the exception of the business aviation sector, which took an especially hard hit from the financial crisis, the civil aviation sector has been able to maintain fairly healthy rates of production over the past two years because the vast order backlogs built up during the boom years just prior to 2008 have proved to be more

robust than some in the industry had reckoned. Godden said there are tangible signs of a recovery in new demand, which is more apparent in the singleaisle market segment than in that of long-haul, widebody transports. “There is still an expectation that the rest of 2010 could see continued pressure in terms of pricing margins, but there is certainly an air of optimism beginning to re-emerge [in the civil sector],” Godden told AIN.

If the UK industry loses its major workshare position in the Airbus A400M program through British government budget cuts, it could undermine the country’s ability to compete for its traditional wing manufacturing role on future civil aircraft programs.

Defense Could Be Vulnerable

By contrast, ADS is concerned that the European defense sector may be heading in the opposite direction, having enjoyed robust market conditions during the civil aviation slump. “There is certainly a belief that we have come to the end of an era,” said Godden. “There is an air of realism that says that the next two years in defense will be tough.” Defense budgets cannot expect to be untouched by the actions of European governments having to cut public spending to reduce national debts that have accumulated at an unsustainable rate during the financial crisis. Godden maintained that while many programs are still active with plenty more work to be done, growth will be curtailed due to a lack of new business. In his view, companies will be able to grow only through diversification and

ADS Replaces SBAC The UK’s new Aerospace, Defence and Security (ADS) industry group was formed in October last year following the merger of the Society of British Aerospace Companies with the Defence Manufacturers Association and the Association of Police and Public Security Suppliers. ADS member companies employ more than 500,000 people and generate over $90 billion per year to the UK economy. According to ADS, the UK remains the largest aerospace and defense industry in Europe, second only to the U.S. globally. It claims a 17-percent share of the worldwide market in these sectors. ADS chairman Ian Godden acknowledged that with the growing prominence of the nascent aerospace industries in countries like China and India, the UK’s market share (along with that of other Western countries) will inevitably shrink over the next 40 years or so. However, he said that the UK will be more than holding its own if it can achieve a long-term market share amounting to three times the 3-percent share of the global market accounted for by UK domestic demand–that is, 9 percent in total. In the defense sector, ADS claims that the UK has more small- and medium-sized enterprises than France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Norway combined. ADS counts 800 SMEs in its membership and stages some 140 events each year, mainly aimed at boosting SMEs. ADS is the parent company of Farnborough International, which organizes –C.A. the biennial Farnborough airshow.

ADS chairman Ian Godden says the UK aerospace and defense sectors must strengthen their supply chains and make them more competitive.

this will inevitably mean “eating each other’s growth.” By contrast with the shrinking markets of Europe and the U.S., there is still buoyant demand for defense products to the east. “But there is a belief that if companies are not already very active outside Europe and the U.S. then they are now very late in doing so. Most have recognized this,” commented Godden, referring to markets such as Asia and the Middle East, which ADS has been urging its members to pursue for several years. Here in the UK, ADS and its members must come to terms with a new government committed to tackling Britain’s public sector debt very aggressively. Following the general election in early May, one of the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition’s first actions was to commit to a new strategic defense review that could overturn some long-standing commitments on military spending. ADS has been urgently trying to get the ear of cabinet ministers to convince them that they need to be very judicious in how defense budgets are trimmed because the damaging consequences could

82aaFarnborough Airshow News • July 19, 2010 • www.ainonline.com

According to ADS, the single-aisle airline market is showing signs of recovery but demand is still quite slow for widebody aircraft work as represented by GKN Aerospace’s aerostructures factory at Filton in southwestern England, which makes trailing edges for Airbus A380 wings.

be long-lasting. The highest profile bone-of-contention in this respect is Europe’s late-running and over-spending A400M military transport development for which there is new concern about the ongoing commitment from new European governments, such as that in the UK. Key Factor

“The complication with the A400M is that it is more than just a defense contract,” argued Godden. “It is crucial to the future of aerodynamics in our industry because [the UK contribution to A400M] is part of a long line of civil aircraft capability that could be a key factor in the next generation of civil aircraft. If we decide this is not important,

then the UK will essentially be giving up [its leadership position] in civil wing manufacturing.” Godden also suggested that early contact with members of the new UK government has shown that they are not unappreciative of this point. ADS hopes to enjoy further high-level contact with government ministers here at the Farnborough show this week and it will take the chance to show them the opportunities that could be squandered if the UK does not hold its own in the A400M and other key defense programs. Despite the apparent resilience of the UK’s civil aerospace sector, it has not been unscathed by the downturn. ADS estimates that employment levels have been Continued on page 84

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Boeing brings blue-sky interior to 737 by Matt Thurber After launching its new Sky Interior for the 737 airliner last year, Boeing has sold more than 37 customers on the new interior for more than 1,100 firm orders in the 737 backlog. The first customer to fly with the new interior will be low-cost airline flydubai, which is to take delivery of its first Sky Interior 737 in this year’s fourth quarter. There were seven customers at the Sky Interior launch last year, and the orders for the 737 with the new interior are about half of the entire 737 backlog, according to Kent Craver, regional director of passenger satisfaction and revenue marketing. The 737 Sky Interior shares the same philosophy as the interior on the 787 Dreamliner and 747-8 Intercontinental, according to Craver. “First is to create a welcoming environment through the architecture,” he said. The idea is to separate psychologically the worst part of the travel experience– driving to the airport, going through security, endless waiting in line and so on–from the flight. “Through a lot of research we’ve found people really like to fly,” he said. But Boeing has no influence on those parts of the trip. “Our area of influence is the airplane. We use the architecture of the airplane to create this welcoming environment because,” he said, “when we’re welcomed we help create a psychological separation between events.” The other goal with the Sky Interior is to remind people just how wonderful flying can be. “In our research, people are totally

enamored with physical flight. It’s awesome; it’s cool,” said Craver. “Our goal was to bring that magic back and we’re trying to use the airplane to do it.” The Sky Interior features LED lighting, pivot baggage bins and oval window reveals, all of which combine to make the cabin much brighter and wider in appearance. The LED lights have a mean time to failure of 40,000 hours, 10 times that of the 737’s halogen lights. Boeing selected eight of the most popular LED lighting predefined scenes from the 787 palette for the Sky Interior. Compared to the standard 737’s fluores-

Charity finds target audience at airshow

Britain’s industry remains challenged

The Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA) has been chosen as the official charity for this year’s Farnborough International airshow. The UK organization is collecting donations during the show, through a network of professional staff and volunteers, in support of its work on behalf of serving military personnel, as well as veterans and their families. Among the group’s initiatives are the Homes from Home project, which allows families to stay close to injured service personnel while they are being treated. SSAFA, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary, also organizes vacations for children and family-support groups. “Our Corporate Friends Scheme already brings in support from exhibitors such as BAE Systems, Finmeccanica and Northrop Grumman and we are therefore convinced that the Farnborough International airshow, with its strong defense and MoD [UK Ministry of Defence] connections, provides a perfect venue to reach a receptive audience and raise valuable funds and awareness,” said SSAFA corporate and events manager Karen Woodgate.

cent ceiling lights, the LEDs are much brighter while using less power. This is not just because of the amount of light emitted by the LEDs but also because Boeing engineers were able to create more reflective light in the Sky Interior cabin. The pivot bins rotate down and add more baggage space so that four additional IATA standard 9- by 14- by 22-inch bags can be carried. While the heights of the pivot bins and passenger service units remain the same as the older shelf bins, the pivot bins don’t encroach into the center of the cabin as much. This opens more space for people sitting in the aisle seats and

makes the cabin appear wider, without any structural changes to the airframe. Boeing added mechanical assist levers on the Sky Interior pivot bins, which cuts the force needed to close the bins by half, reducing the workload for flight attendants who work on 737s with frequent turns. The bins can be closed with or without using the assist. The oval inner window reveals make the windows look larger, but the windows are not altered. “It helps draw the connection to the outside and this magic of flight,” Craver said. Boeing is considering offering the Sky Interior as an upgrade, but currently it isn’t worth the expense of tearing out an existing good interior, he said. There is a price premium for the Sky Interior, but new 737 customers cannot select the old interior.

Boeing’s Sky Interior for the 737 draws on the philosophy of the designs for the 787 and 747-8 interiors, using the architecture of the airplane to create a welcoming environment.

Continued from page 82

reduced by between 10 and 15 percent over the past two or three years, partly due to the fallout from the steep decline in the business and general aviation sectors. “We have to be prepared for another difficult period to come,” said Godden, indicating that he could not rule out further downsizing in parts of the industry. Assessing the health of the UK aerospace and defense supply chain, ADS reckons that the latest recession resulted in fewer bankruptcies than it had anticipated among the 3,000 or so small- and mediumsized enterprises. The organization believes this is because the large backlogs built up before the downturn gave the industry plenty of work to sustain it through the neworder famine, but also because the UK industry was more competitive than it had been going into earlier recessions. “Britain has not been found to be uncompetitive and the supply chain has done a good job so that the number of failures has been in the tens rather than in

84aaFarnborough Airshow News • July 19, 2010 • www.ainonline.com

the hundreds,” said Godden. “The devaluation of the pound has helped, but credit has been tight and this has damaged the potential for small companies to grow or invest in their future, partly thanks to the negative attitude of banks, which have a lot to answer for.” In Godden’s view, the recession has identified where the weaknesses still lie in the UK industry and he still sees significant flaws in the way the supply chain manages itself and gaps in terms of investment in skills and technology. While much of the remaining corrective work will have to be done by the industry itself, he believes that the government also needs to play is part. Either way, if the weaknesses are not addressed, the ADS chairman cautioned that further

harm could be done in any subsequent downturn, especially given the added element of new competition from countries such as China and Russia where the emerging industries enjoy overt government support. “The UK has reawoken to the fact that after a period of industrial success the government must invest to maintain our global position and that is certainly a challenge for our new government,” said Godden. Mindful of the continuing transatlantic clash over allegedly illegal state subsidies for aerospace firms, he insisted that to maintain a level playing field some forms of government support would have to continue if any of the competing countries resorted to this approach–which, one way or another, they all do.

ADS Opens New Northern Ireland Office Here at the Farnborough airshow this week, the UK’s Aerospace, Defence and Security (ADS) industry association is to announce the opening of a new regional office in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The office is being established in partnership with the Invest Northern Ireland agency and will be hosted by the Belfast facility of Bombardier Aerospace. ADS has other regional UK offices at Leeds in the north of England and in Scotland. In June, the association also opened new offices at Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. ADS wants to open two more offices–in Bahrain and Qatar–over the next 12 months and has just signed a cooperation agreement with the Middle East Aerospace Consortium and the Farnborough Aerospace Consortium. ADS has international offices in Toulouse, France, and in the Indian cities of Dehli and Bangalore. –C.A. It is now making plans to establish representation in China and Brazil.

Sales surge as GKN defies downturn by Charles Alcock GKN Aerospace has surfed into the Farnborough airshow on a wave of more than $1.5 billion worth of development and production contracts signed in recent months. The UK-based group says the new business will take it well “into the next decade and beyond.” In February and March, GKN signed deals worth a total of $300 million for composite winglets for the Bombardier C Series regional jet and for components for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning Joint Strike Fighter. This was followed by two 10-year long-term agreements (LTAs) with Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney, respectively; a five-year LTA with GE Aviation; and a “life of program” contract with Airbus on the A350XWB. The specific values of these deals were not disclosed.

The company will manufacture parts for Rolls-Royce Trent 700 and 1000 engines at its El Cajon, California factory. The deal with Pratt & Whitney is for supplying, through 2020, critical engine components for the F135 engine, also at El Cajon. Airbus Bremen awarded the company a contract for A350 XWB composite inboard flap components and Fokker Aerostructures another, for outboard flap parts. For GE Aviation, GKN will manufacture components for the GEnx-1B, CFM56 and GP7200 turbofans. So while the two years since the 2008 Farnborough show certainly have not been a time of boom, they have not been a bust for the group. Financial results for the first quarter suggest that 2010 will be a fairly stable year for GKN. At a pre-Farnborough show press brief-

ing, GKN’s instinctively bearish CEO, Marcus Bryson, declared himself delighted to have been proved wrong about the potential impact of the recession on the aerospace sector. In fact, he maintained the industry has been more resilient than expected to the extent that the long-anticipated steep downturn in airliner output has not materialized and probably will not materialize. Meanwhile, GKN has continued to invest in its future and, even in the shorter term, still believes it can achieve its next major strategic goal of doubling the size of its business (for the second time in recent history) over the next five years. The UK-based group’s board has the appetite and means for further acquisitions and substantial commitments to long-term research and development. “Our investments in advanced compos-

Ultra cracks fatigue issues with ASIS

by the crack is compared with the ASIS system’s permanent memory of the acoustic signature of that structure. ASIS then displays a 3-D illustration of the structure, showing the location and potential severity of each crack. ASIS consists of a data storage unit and remote data concentrator developed by Appareo Systems, pre-amplifiers to amplify and digitize readings and a network of sensors, installed at intervals of around two

According to McDonald, civil aircraft operators will not be willing to accept this weight penalty, and, in any case, would have to change their maintenance philosophy fairly radically to adopt the ASIS approach. He believes that significant quantities of data generated from using the system in the military environment may change this attitude. In fact, ASIS is not intended to replace existing inspection techniques, but rather to complement them by providing earlier detection of cracks to avoid the need for more costly repairs once the damage has worsened. –C.A.

NEWS NOTE Yemen Airways has selected the International Aero Engines V2500 engine to power the 10 Airbus A320s it has on order for delivery starting in 2011. With Sana’a International Airport sited at 7,200-foot elevation, the engine’s superior performance and reliability in arduous hot and high conditions was one of the key factors in the airline’s decision. The engines will be the new V2500 SelectOne standard and will be supported by a long-term IAE Aftermarket Services agreement. The combined value of the deal is $300 million.

ites technology have transformed our business,” said Bryson. “We now have customers coming to us primarily because of the technology we can offer.” Among the more recent converts to GKN’s capabilities are BAE Systems, Boeing and Rolls-Royce. The group is heavily involved in aerostructures, engines, nacelles, fuel tanks, helicopter flotation systems and transparencies. It is the emergence of new-generation airliner programs, such as the envisioned replacements for the Airbus A320 and the Boeing 737, that are a primary focus of GKN’s intensive research and development efforts. GKN’s new technical director, Richard Oldfield, has been tasked with a mission to ensure that the company is at the cutting edge of emerging, disruptive technologies such as low-drag, laminate-flow wings and improved ice protection work (such as the electrothermal unit it has developed for the 787). At the same time, he wants to maintain what GKN claims to be a leadership position in advanced composites, such as those use to make the wing trailing edges for the A350 wing.

PAKISTAN’S JF-17 THUNDERS ONTO THE FARNBOROUGH STAGE

ASIS gathers and analyzes acoustic emissions from the aircraft structure to pick up on cracks forming at an early stage, making repairs less costly.

feet. The system runs on the aircraft’s 28 VDC bus and draws minimal power. The system is mainly intended to find cracks in aluminum structures. In theory, it could also be used to test composite surfaces, but this would require more work because composites have a significant different acoustic profile to metals. “The way aircraft and structures are maintained hasn’t changed for decades,” said Ultra’s marketing director Rob McDonald. “Checks are based simply on flying hours since last check and no one knows if cracks are there until they strip and test an area.” The cost of installing ASIS on larger military aircraft such as P-3 Orions would be in the range of $120,000 to $140,000, dropping to around $60,000 for a helicopter. The weight of the equipment is largely determined by the amount of harnessing required, so for a P-3 it would be around 50 pounds, but much lighter for a helicopter.

Making its international debut here is this Chengdu/PAC JF-17 Thunder, a joint Chinese/Pakistani multi-role fighter project. Known in China as the FC-1 Xiaolong, the Thunder is now in series assembly at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex’s Kamra plant. The aircraft is powered by a Russian Klimov RD-93 engine and has a Chinese NRIET KLJ-7 radar. The JF-17s are here at Farnborough to promote the type for export, with several nations having expressed interest in an aircraft that provides good capability at a very reasonable price. Pakistan received eight low-rate production aircraft from Chengdu for trials from 2007, with PAC beginning assembly of an initial batch of 42 for the Pakistan air force in June 2009. Although China’s air force appears to be concentrating on Chengdu J-10 and Shenyang J-11 acquisition, the final total of JF-17s for the PAF is expected to reach at least 150 (possibly as many as 250) to replace Mirage III/5s, F-7s and Q-5s. Subsequent batches are likely to feature modifications such as Western avionics. The air force inducted its first frontline unit, No. 26 Squadron “Black Spiders,” on February 18 at Peshawar and expects a –D.D. second to form on the type before the end of 2010.

DAVID McINTOSH

With military aircraft are working harder and longer, the task of managing their service life safely and cost efficiently is becoming ever more critical. This has prompted Ultra Electronics Controls to conceive the ASIS aircraft structural integrity system, providing an innovative approach to monitoring and maintaining them. ASIS, which is being launched here at the Farnborough airshow this week, is expected to provide more reliable and less time-consuming way to detect cracks anywhere in the airframe. It is based on passive acoustic detection technology that can detect extremely small cracks below the surface of aircraft structures in inaccessible places that would be difficult to access through existing nondestructive testing methods, such as eddy current and X-ray. Sensors attached to the structure detect the acoustic emissions created by developing cracks, using piezo-electric sensors to listen for acoustic signals within a specific frequency bandwidth. The precise moment in time when each sensor detects each emission is analyzed and the noise generated

GKN chief executive Marcus Bryson is thrilled to have been wrong about the anticipated impact that the economic downturn would have had on aerospace.

www.ainonline.com • July 19, 2010 • Farnborough Airshow Newsaa85

Boeing, EADS clash again as KC-X tanker war resumes by Chris Pocock Boeing will reveal more details here today about the NewGen Tanker, its entry for the third round of the U.S. Air Force KC-X competition. In the war of words accompanying the long-running and ill-starred contest, Boeing has not previously specified exactly how it will add a digital 787-style cockpit and a new fly-by-wire boom to the 767 airframe. Rival contender EADS North America (EADS NA) has again bid the A330MRTT, as the KC-45. In a pointed reference to the Boeing NewGen Tanker, EADS CEO Louis Gallois said in London on Saturday that “a large part of our development cost and risk are behind us…compared to our competitor.” The bids were delivered on July 8 and 9. EADS has evidently put aside earlier concerns that the Pentagon’s bid terms were skewed in favor of the smaller 767. Northrop Grumman thought otherwise, ending its partnership with the

European company for the KC-X and obliging EADS NA to bid as prime contractor. But Gallois expressed his confidence in the bid process. “I’ve been very impressed with the way the Pentagon is working with us. I think that their judgment will be fair,” he said. EADS NA chief executive officer Sean O’Keefe added, “The A330MRTT is 90 percent common with our KC-45 offer. It would be a quintessential off-theshelf procurement of the kind that the Department of Defense seeks.” When asked how EADS could match Boeing’s price with the larger A330MRTT, Gallois noted that the new competition calls for fixed-price bids. He opined that Boeing would surely have to price the risk of “a completely new airplane and refueling system, whereas we are able to have an aggressive price and still be profitable.” He noted that in the last, aborted KC-X competition, the KC-45 was cheaper, even after the

Show wakes up to Dreamliner

long flights, he said. “You don’t recognize it [so much] until you fly 12, 14, 16 hours–then you notice.” Still operating on Seattle time yesterday morning, Grady confirmed that it had been possible for the crew to “get a lot of rest” on their overnighter.

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Inside the 787

With prominent on-board references to ZA003’s “experimental” status, the cabin is liberally sprinkled with flight-test equipment, cables and other paraphernalia. Many wires are connected to thermo-couples measuring diverse characteristics such as cabin air temperature or on-board vibration at windows, in doorways and in passenger seating areas. Airframe ZA003 is equipped

with 45 seats in the forward cabin and some 78 units at the rear, a sufficient quantity to accommodate a representative number of passengers as Boeing tests the 787’s cabin environment, including equipment such as air-conditioning and galleys. It has no in-flight entertainment systems on board. This 787, which first flew in March, has the lowest flight time of the Trent 1000-engined fleet, having spent a lot of time in ground testing as Boeing validated environmental control systems and cabin equipment. Other work on the flights to and from Farnborough includes checks of e-mail facilities to Boeing contacts in many parts of the world and use of the aircraft’s electronic flight bag.

PHOTOS: DAVID MCINTOSH

of data as Boeing used the operation to contribute to its thorough understanding of 787 performance and its ability to meet airworthiness requirements. Boeing had to obtain special U.S. Federal Aviation Administration approval to fly in Minimum Navigation Performance Specification (MNPS) airspace, essentially between Flight Levels 285 and 420 (28,500 to 42,000 feet). Carriker confirmed the perception of increased comfort in the 787’s cabin, which is pressurized to 6,000- rather than 8,000-foot altitude. It becomes particularly apparent on very

Defense Department added a development-risk premium to the A330MRTT. When AIN asked Boeing Military Aircraft president Chris Chadwick recently how Boeing would factor the development risk of the NewGen Tanker into its KC-X bid price, he hinted that the company is leaning heavily on its suppliers to reduce their costs. “We have also learned from [the KC-767 sales to] Japan and Italy,” he said. Deliveries to both countries lagged well behind schedule after development problems. The Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) has now declared initial operating capability for its flying boom-equipped aircraft, and recently received its fourth and last aircraft. But two of the four boom-plus-drogue KC-767s for the Italian air force are still in the U.S., and the service has not yet formally accepted the type. Meanwhile, Airbus Military will deliver the first A330MRTT to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) early this fall, according to O’Keefe. This is also behind schedule, by 18 months. But company officials are buoyed by the fact that their airplane has won the last five competitions for tanker aircraft. By

Boeing 787 test pilots, left, were cheerfully greeted upon their Farnborough arrival in the company’s new widebody airliner yesterday morning. The interior in 787 S/N Z003 sports a 3+3+3 configuration, right.

86aaFarnborough Airshow News • July 19, 2010 • www.ainonline.com

this they mean the KC-X Round Two, plus those in Australia, Saudi Arabia, the UK and the United Arab Emirates. They note that the A330MRTT also came close to securing an order from India, before that country decided to “explore other political avenues.” India has now issued a new request for information. The Big Prize

But the KC-X is the big prize, and a win would be the largest contract in the 10-year history of EADS, according to O’Keefe. Referring to the plan to set up a final assembly plant for the KC45 in Mobile, Alabama, to which would be added assembly of the commercial A330-200 Freighter, Gallois called it “a very big deal, even if it is only 15 to 18 aircraft per year.” O’Keefe discounted reports that U.S. suppliers had declined to join the European company’s bid after being subjected to “Buy America” pressure from Boeing and the U.S. Congress. “All the KC-45 suppliers are listed on our Web site,” he added. But Gallois acknowledged that the U.S. Congress is still a big

Fresh doubts over A400M Continued from page 1

2001, with a seventh C-17 on order. The UK ordered 25 A400Ms to replace the remaining 15 RAF 1960s-vintage C-130Ks. Indicators at this point are that the most likely outcome of the SDSR will be an order for 22 A400Ms and an early retirement of the C-130J fleet. But like other UK government departments, last Friday the Ministry of Defence delivered to the Treasury multiple options for spending cuts. It is quite possible that one of these options is to cancel the A400M purchase and buy a few more C-17s instead. “The RAF always wanted a mixed fleet of C-130Js and C-17s. It never wanted the A400M,” said one former RAF officer with intimate experience of previous negotiations. Boeing has been saying recently that two C-17s offer the same capability as four A400Ms, and has already provided a price to the MoD for an eighth C-17. ADS, the UK aerospace, defence and security trade association, last Friday issued a strong plea for the A400M order to be retained. “A narrow, short-term saving in the defense budget would cost the country countless times more in lost business across both civil and military aerospace,” it said. The wings for the A400M are built by Airbus at

problem; legislation has been introduced that would oblige the defense department to inflate the KC-45 bid price to take into account alleged European government subsidies in developing the A330. If the KC-X evaluation process outlined by the defense department remains intact, it will proceed as follows: The rival contenders will be assessed to ensure that they meet all 372 technical requirements. The defense department will then modify the proposed prices submitted by the compliant bidders by applying three separate calculations. One is for military construction, another is for fuel burn and the third is the now-infamous Integrated Fleet Aerial Refueling Assessment program, which models the KC-X tanker refueling needs in four different scenarios. The defense department will then have arrived at an evaluated price. If, and only if, the evaluated prices of the competing bids are within 1 percent of each other, the department will give credit for 19 additional factors, to arrive at a modified evaluated price for each contender. Filton. They are made almost entirely from carbon fiber reinforced plastic–a first for Airbus (and for any military airlifter). ADS is worried that this work could be re-allocated to France, Germany or Spain, if the UK pulls out of the A400M. “The A400M project provides the ‘bridge’ between work on the current generation of civil aircraft and the next,” the ADS statement continued. In preparation for its debut, chief test pilot Ed Strongman took the controls of the second A400M as it flew over Farnborough last Friday to validate its flying display. It then landed at its potential future UK home, RAF Brize Norton, for a few hours before repositioning to RAF Fairford to make its UK debut at last weekend’s Royal International Air Tattoo. It will fly here daily until Thursday, when it will return to Seville. Nine days ago, three A400Ms were in the air at the same time, including the first flight of the third aircraft–MSN3–from Seville. On that day, the combined test fleet passed the milestone of 100 test flights and 400 flight hours. MSN3 is the third of an eventual five aircraft that will conduct the 3,700-hour flight-test program leading to first delivery. It is the first aircraft to carry a medium flight-test instrumentation load, rather than the heavy fit of the first two, and will be dedicated primarily to auto-flight development, aircraft systems development and route-proving.

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