Israeli MoD test fires upgraded Iron Dome system

Israeli MoD test fires upgraded Iron Dome system: The Israeli Ministry of Defence (IMOD) has successfully test-fired an upgraded version of the Iron Dome anti-rocket defence system from an undisclosed location.

ROKAF's F-15K fighters to participate in 2013 Red Flag exercise

ROKAF's F-15K fighters to participate in 2013 Red Flag exercise: The Republic of Korea Air Force's (ROKAF) F-15K Slam Eagle fighter aircraft will participate in the US-led multinational aerial combat training exercise Red Flag in 2013, an unidentified senior military official has revealed.

Taking Off: Implications of China’s Second Stealth Fighter Test Flight

China's fighter aircraft development efforts appeared to take another leap forward after local media reported that Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC) had successfully tested its J-31 stealth fighter prototype this week. Following the test flight of a Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC) J-20 prototype less than two years ago, the test of the J-31 suggests China could eventually become only the second country behind the U.S. to develop two stealth fighter programs – an important development with serious potential implications for the tactical aircraft export market and well as the U.S. military. http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/11/03/taking-off-implications-of-chinas-second-stealth-fighter-test-flight/

NASA examines hybrid solar-electric propulsion for manned space missions

NASA examines hybrid solar-electric propulsion for manned space missions:

A marriage of the tortoise and the hare may be the key to exploring the Solar System. At least, that’s the belief of Nathan Strange, a mission formulation systems engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who has outlined a plan to use hybrid chemical/solar-electric propulsion systems for the manned exploration of the Moon, Mars and the asteroids... Continue Reading NASA examines hybrid solar-electric propulsion for manned space missions

Hypergravity helps in development of light, aircraft-grade alloy

Hypergravity helps in development of light, aircraft-grade alloy:

In the quest for more efficient commercial aircraft to help reduce fuel consumption, weight reduction without compromising safety is one of the most obvious areas of focus. Researchers at the European Space Agency (ESA) working in the Intermetallic Materials Processing in Relation to Earth and Space Solidification (IMPRESS) Project have used hypergravity to help develop an aircraft-grade alloy they claim is twice as light as the nickel superalloys currently used in conventional jet engines, but boasts equally good properties... Continue Reading Hypergravity helps in development of light, aircraft-grade alloy

Air Mauritus y Air France KLM también unifican sus programas de fidelización

Air Mauritus y Air France KLM también unifican sus programas de fidelización:

Air Mauritius, la aerolínea nacional de Islas Mauricio, une su programa de fidelización al de Air France, profundizando la colaboración con la que ya cuentan ambas compañías

Air France KLM y Air Mauritius, aerolínea nacional de Isla Mauricio, ya socios desde hace unos años, han querido potenciar esta colaboración y han decidido brindar un beneficio adicional a sus clientes fieles

Cameron negocia en el Golfo Pérsico la venta de 100 aviones Eurofighter

Cameron negocia en el Golfo Pérsico la venta de 100 aviones Eurofighter:
Londres.- El primer ministro del Reino Unido, David Cameron, comenzó el periplo de tres días por países del Golfo Pérsico, en el marco del cual planea negociar contratos multimillonarios sobre el suministro de cazas polivalentes Eurofighter Typhoon a Arabia Saudita y Dubai, informó ayer la prensa británica.

Living concrete fixes its own cracks with built-in bacteria

Concrete is the most popular building material on the planet, probably because it's very strong, easy to work with and cheap, being made mostly of rocks. There are some durability issues with concrete, though, and to make it stronger, Dutch scientists have added self-healing capsules to help buildings heal cracks on their own.

Bacteria can fix cracks in concrete the same way that humans can, by filling them in with more concrete materials, or in this case, limestone: http://dvice.com/archives/2012/11/living-concrete.php

Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules Variants Declared 'Mission Capable' After U.S. Air Force Testing

MARIETTA, Ga., Nov. 1, 2012 – The Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] HC-130J Combat King II and the MC-130J Commando II aircraft have been certified as “Effective, Suitable and Mission Capable” by the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center. The U.S. Air Force is currently recapitalizing the HC, MC and AC-130 gunship fleets with new C 130J variants.

The HC-130J is the personnel recovery/combat search and rescue aircraft for Air Combat Command, and the MC-130J is the Special Operations tanker aircraft for Air Force Special Operations Command. Currently Lockheed Martin is on contract for 27 MC 130Js and 15 HC-130Js. The certification was received in October.

“This further demonstrates the amazing flexibility of the C-130J. We took a KC-130J tanker and, through in-line production design changes and significant capability enhancements, produced the current HC and MC aircraft,” said George Shultz, Lockheed Martin vice president and general manager for C-130 Programs. “The C 130J is without equal in terms of its multi-role, multi-mission flexibility and availability. No aircraft in production — or in development — can match the capabilities of the Super Hercules.”

From initial contract award in mid-2008 to the first ahead-of-schedule flight on July 29, 2010, the HC/MC program demonstrates the proven design, reliability and technology of the C-130J. The new AC-130Js will be converted to MC-130Js with the addition of a precision strike package.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs about 120,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation's net sales for 2011 were $46.5 billion.

Boeing, ALAFCO Firm up Order for 20 Boeing 737 MAXs

KUWAIT, Nov. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) and Kuwait airplane leasing company ALAFCO finalized an order for 20 Boeing 737 MAX 8s valued at $2.0 billion at current list price. The order was first announced as a commitment at the Farnborough Airshow in July.

"This is the first order for the 737 MAX from the Middle East, which is one of the aviation industry's highest growth regions," said Ray Conner, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "We are proud of the confidence that ALAFCO has placed in the 737 MAX, and hope to continue this partnership well into the future."

The 737 MAX is the new-engine variant of the world's best-selling airplane and builds on the strengths of today's Next-Generation 737. The airplane will be powered by new CFM International LEAP-1B engines. Along with the engines, aerodynamic improvements to the tail and the new Advanced Technology winglet, the 737 MAX will reduce fuel burn and CO2 emissions by 13 percent over today's most fuel-efficient single-aisle airplane, the Next-Generation 737. The 737 MAX will have the lowest operating costs in the single-aisle segment with an 8 percent advantage per seat over tomorrow's competition.

"Today, with rising fuel costs, the 737 MAX will provide operational cost savings to airlines in addition to being more environmentally friendly due to its latest quiet engine technology," stated ALAFCO's chairman and CEO Ahmad Alzabin during the Farnborough Airshow. "These are the advantages that airlines are looking for in the current competitive and demanding environment."

The order brings the total number of 737 MAX orders to date to 878.

Boeing Delivers the 7,370th 737

• -Lion Air to operate the Next-Generation 737-800 with Boeing Sky Interior
• -Popular single-aisle is the best-selling commercial airliner family in history

SEATTLE, Nov. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) today delivered the 7,370th 737 to come off the production line to Indonesia-based Lion Air. The airplane is Lion Air's 75th Next-Generation 737. The Boeing 737 is the best-selling commercial jetliner of all time with total orders exceeding 10,100 airplanes, including orders for the new 737 MAX

Aeroflot takes delivery of its 100th Airbus aircraft, an A330

• Carrier benefits from Airbus’ unique fleet commonality

Aeroflot, the Russian national carrier, has taken delivery of another A330-300, which will become the 100th Airbus aircraft to enter service with the airline.


Powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines, Aeroflot’s A330-300 features a spacious and comfortable two-class cabin layout seating 296 passengers (28 in business and 268 in economy class). Aeroflot plans to deploy the aircraft on numerous routes on its medium and long-haul network.

Aeroflot was the first airline in Russia to operate the A310, with an entry into service in 1992, as well as the first to operate the A320 Family (in 2003) and the A330 Family (in 2008). Currently the airline operates a fleet of 79 A320 Family aircraft and with today’s delivery 21 A330 Family aircraft.

“We congratulate Aeroflot, a long-standing partner of Airbus, with this milestone delivery’’, said John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer, Customers. ‘’We are convinced that the carrier will continue to benefit from the most efficient Airbus Family fleet, while its passengers will continue to enjoy the highest level of comfort on board Airbus aircraft .”

The A330 Family, which spans 250 to 300 seats, and includes Freighter, VIP, and Military Transport/Tanker variants, has now attracted more than 1,200 orders, with around 900 aircraft flying with some 90 operators worldwide. Ever since the original version of the A330-300 entered service, the hallmark has been its very efficient operating economics. Thanks to the introduction of numerous product improvements, it still remains the most cost-efficient and capable aircraft in its class. The cabin is widely recognized as one of the quietest cabins in the sky offering a light spacious atmosphere, making flying less tiring and more pleasurable. The A330 family is achieving average dispatch reliability above 99 percent.

European Union project "ARUM" to provide flexibility for small-lot producers and production ramp-up of new, complex products

• 14 European partners from 7 countries
• € 11.5 million budget, € 8.5 million funding from EU FP7 programme, remainder from partners
• Operational between 2012 and 2015
• ICT Solution to identify mitigation strategies to respond faster to unexpected events

The growing competition, a high demand for individual and highly sophisticated products and a shorter innovation cycle are leading to a rising number of ramp-ups especially in small batch production. Daily challenges such as late changes and missing maturity of high technology products and processes create significant risks. The occurring risks are by no means comparable to large batch production. Consequently, a new ramp-up approach is required.

The ARUM (Adaptive Production Management; www.arum-project.eu) research project aims at improving planning and control systems for the manufacturing of complex products in small lot production, such as aircraft and aircraft interiors. ARUM will do this by decreasing the risks of product immaturity and production disruptions, ICT improvements for manufacturing systems and increasing the integration of engineering into production process. The ARUM team will identify mitigation strategies to respond faster to unexpected events and will provide ICT systems and tools to enable this.

Key requirements of modern manufacturing include support for complex products, scalability, integrated control of factory assets, production optimisation on factory and workshop levels, cost effective interoperation of information across legacy systems, and flexible service-oriented models. ARUM provides answers to this challenge through its novel techniques and unique partnership.

The approach is based on a new generation of service-oriented enterprise information platforms integrating service-based architecture and knowledge-based multi-agent systems (MAS). A MAS combined with a service architecture will improve performance and scalability. The solution integrates multiple layers of sensors, legacy systems and agent-based tools for beneficial services like learning, quality, risk and cost management. The outcome will be a software solution which serves as an early warning and risk mitigation system for the production ramp-up.

ARUM is strongly end-user driven and the results will be tested on industrial use cases with a focus on aircraft and aircraft interiors. The solution will be validated in a real industrial environment by industrial partners and benchmarked against today’s ICT

solutions. A test-bed will be established for the design and testing of ARUM systems and will be opened for dissemination and demonstration.

ARUM is a collaborative research project within the EU’s 7th Framework Programme and part of the European Research Initiative “Factory of the Future”. The overall budget contribution to the initiative amounts to €1.2 billion between 2010 and 2013, to be shared between the European Commission and the private sector. ARUM started in September 2012 and will last for 37 months involving 14 partners form seven EU countries plus Russia. The participants are technology providers (TIE, Certicon, Smart Solutions, Almende, P3 Ingénieurs), research organisations (Cologne University of Applied Sciences, University of Manchester, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Institute of Communication and Computer Systems of the National Technical University of Athens, Czech Technical University of Prague, University of Hagen) and user organisations (EADS, Airbus and Modular Galley Systems), all led by the managing partner, EADS Innovation Works.

Iberia e Iberia Express: La Audiencia Nacional anula el laudo

La Sala de lo Social de la Audiencia Nacional ha anulado el laudo que ponía fin al conflicto entre Iberia y el sindicato de pilotos SEPLA y ordena que se vuelva a dictar tras escuchar las alegaciones de la filial de bajo coste Iberia Express.

http://www.extracrew.com/info/noticias/23613-la-audiencia-nacional-anula-el-laudo?lang=es

U.S. Navy investigates use of fuel-saving Rotating Detonation Engines

U.S. Navy investigates use of fuel-saving Rotating Detonation Engines:

With around 430 gas-turbine engines on 129 of its ships burning about US$2 billion worth of fuel every year, the U.S. Navy is examining the potential of using Rotating Detonation Engines (RDEs) to improve fuel consumption and cut costs. Researchers at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) estimate that retrofitting RDEs to its fleet could save the Navy approximately 300 to 400 million dollars a year. .. Continue Reading U.S. Navy investigates use of fuel-saving Rotating Detonation Engines

Curiosity takes self-portrait, sniffs Martian air

Curiosity takes self-portrait, sniffs Martian air:

NASA’s Curiosity rover has taken a whiff of Martian air at the "Rocknest" site in Gale Crater. The robot explorer's Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instruments are now being used to measure the constituent elements of the atmosphere and their isotopes with the aim of providing insights into the history of the Red Planet and its chances of having once supported life... Continue Reading Curiosity takes self-portrait, sniffs Martian air

Sepla exige que se cuiden los tiempos de descanso de los pilotos

Sepla exige que se cuiden los tiempos de descanso de los pilotos: Hace pocos días, la Comisión de Investigación de Accidentes e Incidentes de Aviación Civil (CIAIAC) ha presentado su informa sobre el accidente de helicóptero en Almería en el año 2010 -en el que perdieron la vida tres personas- y como se esperaba apunta a la fatiga de la tripulación, la “excesiva carga de trabajo del comandante”, a las “carencias de formación y entrenam

Air New Zealand informa sus medidas de seguridad de la mano de“El Señor de los Anillos”

Air New Zealand informa sus medidas de seguridad de la mano de“El Señor de los Anillos”:

Air New Zealand se suma a la promoción de ‘El Señor de los Anillos’ e incluye un video informativo sobre las medidas de seguridad a bordo con sus personajes como protagonistas.

Air New Zealand, que suele ofrecer vuelos Ámsterdam baratos, ha implementado una novedad curiosa para informar a sus pasajeros sobre las medidas de seguridad: ha sustituido la clásica demostración

Boeing’s Russian Titanium Deals

Boeing’s Russian Titanium Deals:

New planes need titanium. The metal’s exceptional strength and low weight help military aircraft offer better performance, and civilian aircraft offer better operating costs. Unsurprisingly, use of titanium and composite materials has skyrocketed in new military and civilian aircraft. It is a big opportunity for aircraft manufacturers, who want civil customers to recapitalize their existing fleets, in exchange for lower operating costs. It’s also a big headache, as they look to firm up key sources of supply, and build their engineering and manufacturing expertise with this difficult metal.

España mandará sus “Tigres” a Afganistán para reforzar la seguridad del repliegue

España mandará sus “Tigres” a Afganistán para reforzar la seguridad del repliegue:

Será el primer despliegue en una misión internacional de los helicópteros españoles fabricados por Eurocopter. La complejidad  y riesgos inherentes a la operación de repliegue progresivo de suelo afgano ha impulsado la decisión del envío de  tres helicópteros de ataque HA-28 «Tigre» españoles.