Aerospace & Defense News - Technology Asia / Pacific.

Mar 22, 2009

Australia has set a compliance date of 12 December 2013 for the introduction of automatic dependent surveillance - broadcast in its upper airspace after scaling back a more ambitious and faster implementation plan. ADS-B is expected to deliver significant operational, safety and financial benefits to civil aviation, says the Civil Aviation Safety Authority's notice of final rule making (NFRM), which was published this month. ADS-B will be introduced above flight level 290 and will extend over continental Australia, much of which is outside radar coverage, and significant parts of oceanic airspace within its flight information region - "a very significant safety advancement", says the NFRM. Mar 18, 2009

Boeing

Boeing Research and Technology Australia (formerly Phantom Works Australia) and the Australian Research Centre for Aerospace Automation (ARCAA) are undertaking a series of tests over the next month aimed at helping integrate unmanned air vehicles into busy airspace. Working under Australia's A$10 million ($6.9 million), three-year Smart Skies research project, Boeing and ARCAA are investigating technologies including computer vision that could allow UAVs to see and avoid obstacles, including other aircraft. Mar 20, 2009

Boeing

President Barack Obama[sup.1] administration has cleared a $2.1 billion USD sale to India of eight Boeing Co P-8I maritime patrol aircraft, the largest U.S. arms transfer to India to date. The State Department said in a March 12 notice to the U.S. Congress that it would license the direct commercial sale having factored in [sup.3]political, military, economic, human rights and arms control considerations.[sup.2] The Indian navy was the first international customer for the P-8, a long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft. Mar 16, 2009

Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China

Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China's (Comac) ARJ21 regional jet has had its second test flight, about four months after the first flight. Its first flight was on 28 November last year and a Comac spokesman in Shanghai says the second flight was on 14 March and it flew for about 90mins. He says the company aims to have the third flight later this month but has yet to fix a date. Industry sources in China familiar with the programme say Comac is aiming to have the third flight within the next five days but the Comac spokesman declines to confirm this. Mar 20, 2009

Entecho

Australian technology company Entecho is believed to have signed memoranda of understanding with a number of major defence companies on further development of its Mupod unmanned air vehicle. For a number of years Perth-based Entecho has been developing manned and unmanned ducted fan vertical take-off and landing technology. The Mupod is a small UAV, measuring 600mm (23in) in diameter and weighing 5kg (11lb). The UAV made its first flight last May and has successfully demonstrated its ability to fly in urban airspace, including hovering near surfaces, perching on buildings, and bumping into obstacles and recovering. Director and founder Kim Schlunke declines to comment on potential partners or the nature of the proposed arrangements, but the company has previously been seeking licensing and co-operative development deals. Mar 16, 2009

Honeywell, Malaysia Airlines

Honeywell provided upgraded satellite communications equipment to Malaysia Airlines that will permit passengers to use mobile phones and PDAs inflight as part of a pilot program through mid-2009. Honeywell's HD710 high-speed data satcom unit replaces the high-power amplifier with a unit that contains both the HPA and a high-speed data unit. Mar 19, 2009

Lufthansa Systems, V Australia

Lufthansa Systems said V Australia selected its Lido RouteManual, Lido FMS Navigation Database Service and Lido eAPM solutions. Mar 19, 2009

National Aerospace Laboratories

India's National Aerospace Laboratories is vowing to press on with its 14-seat Saras push-prop utility aircraft programme despite losing one of the two prototypes in a 6 March test-flight crash near Bangalore that killed all three crewmembers. Launched in the 1980s, the first prototype of the indigenously designed aircraft flew in 2004 and the second in 2006. Mar 17, 2009

South Korea, Lockheed Martin, Elbit Systems

South Korea has awarded Elisra a $25 million contract to supply an integrated electronic warfare suite for its air force fleet of Lockheed Martin C-130H tactical transports. The company, which is 70% owned by Elbit Systems and 30% by Israel Aerospace Industries, says the selected EW equipment will be capable of coping with infrared- and radar-guided threats. The South Korean air force operates 12 C-130Hs, according to Flight's MiliCAS database. Elisra earlier this year received a $7 million contract to provide EW equipment for four prototypes of the Korea Aerospace Industries F/A-50 strike aircraft within the next two years, including an advanced radar warning receiver and chaff and flare dispensers. KAI hopes to later secure a production order for at least 60 F/A-50s from the South Korean air force, and to sell dozens more to export customers. The repeat selection of Elisra equipment by Seoul proves a high level of customer satisfaction and confidence in the company's products, claims chief executive Itzhak Gat. Mar 18, 2009

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