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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 1688.PDF
B V PARIS SHOW REPORT AIR TRANSPORT Airbus and Boeing unite for ATM Rivals join up in bid to push European and US regulators towards defining common standards and reducing delays Boeing has joined its rival Airbus in a bid to harmonise future commu nications/navigation/surveillance and air traffic management (CNS/ATM) standards. The US manufacturer is to collaborate with the Airbus/EADS/Thales joint ven ture Air Traffic Alliance in defining "issues affecting the interoperabil ity" of air transport systems, but specific projects are not yet defined. Air Traffic Alliance, which was legally established as an integrated company last week, is to hold "reg ular meetings" with counterparts at Boeing Air Traffic Management in an attempt to push regulators in Europe and the USA to define com mon standards. Air Traffic Alliance president Lionnel Wonneberger says both companies agree "at the high level" on broad themes for the future of CNS/ATM and will jointly promote their views. Boeing Air Traffic Management senior vice-president John Hayhurst says Boeing needs to help reduce air traffic delays, which cause around $8 billion in losses for carriers in the USA annually, to sell more aircraft. Hayhurst says Air Traffic Alliance and Boeing are "equally committed to increasing the safety, security, capacity and efficiency of the current ATM sys tems". Wonneberger says increased automation in data exchanges and auto separation should be the grouping's first priority. AIR TRANSPORT A330 enhanced goes Northwest Northwest Airlines has become the first carrier to take delivery of the enhanced version of the Airbus A330. The US carrier received the 298- seat, Pratt & Whitney PW4000-powered A330-300 at the show and is set to add 23 more A330-200/300s over the next two years. The type will replace Northwest's ageing McDonnell Douglas DC-10s on transatlantic and Asian routes. The enhanced A330 features a fly-by-wire controlled rudder, improved flightdeck including liquid crystal displays and an updated pas senger cabin. AIR TRANSPORT An-148 design tweaked as date for first flight approaches Antonov has introduced design changes to its An-148 regional twinjet aimed at improving performance and boosting reliability as it works towards the planned March 2004 first flight of the 70-seater. Changes include a switch from the ZMKB Progress D-36-5AF powerplant to the same developer's 15,000lb-thrust (67kN) D-436-148. Antonov says the turbofan will be de-rated to provide extended and better reliability engine life, based on data from the D^l36T1/TP-powered Tupolev Tu-334 and Be-200 flight-test programmes. Antonov is halfway through a noise-reduction pro gramme aimed at achieving Chapter 4-7dB for the fly-by-wire An-148. An initial plan to use the An-140's analogue cockpit has been dropped in favour of a two-crew glass cockpit design using five liquid crystal displays inte grated by Russia's Aviapribor. Most of the avionics are Ukrainian and Russian, including satellite-based navigation, with a few Western components. Antonov deputy general designer Victor Kazurov says several variants of the basic An-148 have been studied following the engine change, including a stretched version for 90 passengers. The basic An-148-100 has five-abreast seating for 70 passengers at 34in (86cm) pitch or 80 at 30in. It is offered with three different take-off weights providing ranges of 2,200-5,100km (1,190- 2,760nm) with 75 passengers. "We continue evaluating a shrunk 50-seat variant, but less and less optimistically," says Kazurov. Aeroflot, Antonov Airlines, Odessa Airlines and Volga-Dnepr have expressed interest in the $17 million An-148-100 and first delivery from the Kharkov state aviation plant is targeted for 2005. DEFENCE Alenia builds UCAV around JDAM requirement Alenia Aeronautical newly unveiled unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) programme is being devel oped around an indicative Italian air force requirement for a system able to deliver two JDAM-type weapons against ground targets. Alenia sources say the company received the indicative UCAV requirement from the Italian air force in January this year. The sources say the air force is continuing to examine operational concepts that may later evolve into a formal UCAV requirement. However, Alenia does not expect any formal requirement emerging in the near future, and is support ing the programme as a means of developing a technological foot hold in the sector. The mock-up unveiled on 30 May (Flight International, 10-16 June) is a half-scale version of a more- capable, low-observable UCAV that would fly around 2008 if the pro gramme received formal funding from either the Italian ministry of defence or any future European development programme. The demonstrator phase, sched uled to run until the end of 2005, is being wholly funded from within Alenia with a €15 million ($17.5 million) budget allocated. A UCAV demonstrator now being built by Alenia - referred to within the company as "Sky-X" - has an indicative payload capacity of 300kg (6601b), but this could be increased by 50kg. Alenia is to progressively evolve the single demonstrator vehicle by using a modular design approach. This could result in different wing configurations being explored. Conceptual images of the final con figuration at Le Bourget featured a tail-less arrangement with a wing- form similar to that of the Boeing X- 45A. The mock-up rolled out on 30 May carries a butterfly tail. 22 24-30 JUNE 2003 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.fliqhtinternational.com
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