The Navy and Marine Corps Select Lockheed Martin/Kaman Unmanned K-MAX for Afghanistan Deployment

OWEGO, N.Y., October 5th, 2011 -- The Marine Corps will deploy the Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] and Kaman [NASDAQ-GS: KAMN] unmanned K-MAX® to Afghanistan next month.

 

The decision follows the successful completion of a five-day Quick Reaction Assessment for the U.S. Navy's Cargo Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) program. A formal report, released last week by Commander Operational Test and Evaluation Force, confirmed that the unmanned K-MAX exceeded the Navy and Marines' requirement to deliver 6,000 pounds of cargo per day.

 

"This announcement underscores K-MAX's strong performance and the strength of the Lockheed Martin/Kaman team," said Dan Spoor, vice president of Aviation Systems in Lockheed Martin's Mission Systems & Sensors. "We are fully prepared to deploy our system and augment Marine Corps ground and air logistics in Afghanistan."

 

K-MAX will be the Navy's first-ever cargo unmanned aircraft system to deploy in an operational environment. The deploying team recently concluded training and flight tests at its base in Twenty-nine Palms, Calif., and is currently preparing the aircraft for shipment into theater. The team consists of active duty mission commanders, air vehicle operators and Lockheed Martin employees.

 

"I am very confident in both the team and the K-MAX UAS to successfully perform their missions while deployed," said Rear Admiral Bill Shannon, Program Executive Officer for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons. "K-MAX has the capability to quickly deliver cargo, thus getting troops off the roads and allowing them to focus on other missions."

 

"We are extremely honored to have been selected for deployment by the Navy," said Sal Bordonaro, division president at Kaman Helicopters. "We are committed to providing the Marine Corps with the life-saving unmanned capability of our proven airframe, reducing the risk to our forces by taking the cargo resupply mission from the ground to the air."

 

Since partnering in 2007, Lockheed Martin and Kaman Aerospace have successfully transformed Kaman's proven K-MAX power-lift manned helicopter into a UAS capable of autonomous or remote controlled cargo delivery.

 

Kaman designed the K-MAX platform, and Lockheed Martin has designed the helicopter's mission management and control systems to provide the K-MAX with exceptional flight autonomy in remote environments and over long distances.

 

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 126,000 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 2010 sales from continuing operations were $45.8 billion.

 

Kaman Helicopters is a division of Kaman Aerospace Corporation, a subsidiary of Kaman Corporation. Founded in 1945 by aviation pioneer Charles H. Kaman, and headquartered in Bloomfield, Connecticut, the Company conducts business in the aerospace and industrial distribution markets.  

 

 

Airbus voted the most attractive employer in France. Offers long-term career perspectives worldwide

Blagnac,  06 October 2011

Airbus has been nominated the most attractive employer in France. The "Palmares Employeur 2011" prize was awarded to Airbus by RegionsJob, a leading French employment website.

 

More than 9 000 web users, comprising people in work and job-seekers, evaluated the most attractive companies to work for in France, based on 25 criteria. Airbus was ranked number one out of a list of nearly 1000 companies that were assessed from May to July 2011.

 

Airbus scored high.in criteria such as, career development, training, people management, working conditions and organisation as well as pride in belonging, welcoming disabled people, recruiting young graduates, leading economic player, innovative and long-term perspectives…

 

"We are delighted with this ranking" said Thierry Baril, Executive Vice President Human Resources Airbus. "We are now harvesting the fruit of our new human resources policy at Airbus. As the world's leading aircraft manufacturer and company with a global industrial footprint we welcome people who are keen and proud to contribute to innovation in aeronautics" he added.

 

This year is a very successful one for Airbus and its mother company EADS in terms of employer recognition. Earlier this year, Airbus was honoured with the Randstad Award as the most preferred employer in Germany. In the UK, Airbus was named second most popular employer for engineering graduates within a survey completed by Targetjob. Engineering students voted EADS first in the Universum Top 10 survey in France placing EADS ahead of prestigious companies such as Thales, Google, Veolia and Dassault. Finally, EADS came third in the Top 100 survey for Europe.

 

Airbus offers its employees a unique place to work, with wide career opportunities which can involve moving to different sites or countries around the world. Aircraft design and manufacturing is a very stimulating international environment, with cutting-edge technologies and a high level of innovation to develop the world's most eco efficient aircraft.

 

Airbus this year is to recruit more than 3,000 talents from all around the world and offers more than 2,500 internships at its global sites. Opportunities are generated by a growing demand for Airbus aircraft; new product developments such as the A320neo and the all new A350 XWB twin aisle jet families. Career development, training, mobility, diversity, are core assets and strengths for Airbus. The company currently employs some 54 000 people of more than 80 different nationalities.

 

For more information about Airbus' graduate programmes and careers, go to

www.airbus.com/en/careers/graduates

www.airbus.com/work/

www.facebook.com/Airbuscareers

Qantas and Airbus seal biggest order in Australian aviation history: Firm order for 78 A320neo and 32 A320s

Blagnac,  06 October 2011

Qantas and Airbus have finalised a contract for 110 A320 Family aircraft, to help with the airline's fleet renewal and expansion plans in the coming years. The firm order for 78 A320neo and 32 A320s is the largest single order in Australian aviation history by aircraft units and follows a commitment signed in August.

 

The new aircraft will be deployed across the Qantas Group on short to medium haul domestic and international operations and underpin the airline's commitment to build a fleet with the most fuel efficient and reliable aircraft in the market.

 

"The Airbus A320 will be the launch aircraft for Qantas' new, premium airline based in Asia and will support Jetstar's expansion plans - including the establishment of Jetstar Japan," said Alan Joyce, Qantas CEO. "The A320 Family's outstanding operational efficiency and comfort, plus its environmental credentials, make it the right choice for the Qantas Group."

 

"We are delighted that our A320neo and A320s are playing a vital role in Qantas' future strategy," said John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer, Customers. "Coming from one of the world's great aviation pioneering companies, this order is a great endorsement of Airbus and of our eco-efficient aircraft products."

 

The A320neo is a new engine option for the A320 Family to enter service in 2015. It incorporates latest generation engines and large "Sharklet" wing tip devices, which together will deliver 15 percent in fuel and CO2 emission savings.

 

A320 Family orders to date already exceed 7,900, reaffirming its position as the world's best-selling single-aisle aircraft family. To date over 4,790 have been delivered to over 330 customers and operators worldwide. The A320neo has over 95 percent airframe commonality with the existing A320 models while offering up to 500 nautical miles (950 kilometres) more range or two tonnes more payload. It is offered with engines from CFM International's LEAP-X or Pratt & Whitney's PurePower PW1100G.

 

Qantas will make its engine decision at a later date.

 

Airbus has received 1,245 A320neo orders and commitments since its launch just ten months ago, in December 2010

 

British Airways selects Airbus Flight Hour Services for its A380 fleet

Securing the highest service level for BA's daily A380 operations

 

6 October 2011 Press Release

British Airways, an International Airlines Group company, has selected Airbus Flight Hour Services (FHS) to provide aircraft inventory support for its A380 fleet of aircraft.

 

The FHS agreement, which will run for 15 years, provides an extensive scope of A380 line replaceable units (LRUs), spare parts, repairs and logistics services to British Airways Engineering. In addition, it will feature the deployment of a non-exclusive pool of A380 LRU spare parts at London Heathrow Airport, the major A380 hub in Europe.

 

Garry Copeland, Director of Engineering at British Airways said: "This long-term commitment recognises our confidence in Airbus to deliver the best possible service to future British Airways customers on A380 daily operations around the world."

 

Didier Lux, EVP Customer Services at Airbus said: "We are delighted to welcome British Airways as our first A380 FHS customer in Europe. This strengthens both our worldwide market position and ability to expand our presence in this area."

 

British Airways currently operates a fleet of more than 80 Airbus A320 Family aircraft. British Airways has ordered 12 A380s, which are scheduled for delivery from 2013 onwards.

 

The Airbus FHS portfolio today includes half a dozen customers (operators of A330, A340, and A380 aircraft), all benefiting from outstanding operational performance.

 

Acropolis Airbus ACJ319 is exhibited for first time at NBAA

Widest and tallest cabin of any business jet, with designer interior

 

6 October 2011 Press Release

 

Acropolis Aviation's Airbus ACJ319 is being exhibited for the first time at the NBAA show, giving visitors the chance to see a designer interior in what is the widest and tallest cabin of any business jet, existing or planned.

 

The stylish look of the Acropolis Airbus ACJ319's cabin was created by the Alberto Pinto design company, with cabin-outfitting by the Airbus Corporate Jet Centre (ACJC). The aircraft seats 19 passengers, in around twice the comfort, space and freedom of movement of traditional business jets of similar external size.

 

"With a hugely better cabin than traditional business aircraft, Airbus corporate jets can carry larger groups, as well as delivering a better environment for work and relaxation, which is why they are the new top of the line in bizjet travel," points out Airbus COO, Customers John Leahy. "So whether you're a company executive, a high net-worth individual, or a senior government official, you'll always have a better ride in an Airbus corporate jet," he adds.  

 

Airbus corporate jets are derived from the world's most modern airliner family, giving them unmatched passenger appeal, efficiency and reliability.

 

They are the leaders at the top-end of the market, where they consistently win more orders and register more deliveries.

 

Their success is built on a culture of innovation, which brings a continuous flow of worthwhile technological innovations that keep the Airbus aircraft family young and growing, as new versions and models are introduced to satisfy the world's air transport needs.

 

Airbus corporate jets are the only ones flying on every continent, including Antarctica, highlighting their versatility. And with some 450 Airbus customers and operators worldwide, operators are never far from someone else who is also flying them.

 

Total orders for Airbus corporate jets stand at more than 170 aircraft, comprising more than 110 sales of the ACJ318, ACJ319 and ACJ320, plus over 60 VIP and government widebody aircraft.

 

Airbus to support Greener Skies Initiative with ATM expertise

Working in partnership with industry players and the FAA to improve efficiency

 

5 October 2011 Press Release

Airbus has been selected to provide Air Traffic Management (ATM) and Performance Based Navigation (PBN) expertise for the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Greener Skies Initiative. As part of Boeing's FAA System Engineering 2020 (SE-2020) team, Airbus will identify procedures which fully utilize aircraft precision navigation capabilities to reduce fuel burn, lower emissions and decrease noise.

 

The Greener Skies initiative seeks to improve ATM efficiency and to minimize the environmental impact on the ground and in the air through the expanded use of PBN including Required Navigation Performance (RNP), area navigation (RNAV), and Optimized Profile Descents (OPD).

 

The industry consortium includes Adacel, Airbus, Boeing, Cessna and Honeywell, and is tasked with establishing methods for the full implementation of PBN by utilizing advanced flight deck and Air Traffic Control (ATC) capabilities while analyzing new policies and procedures. Airbus subsidiary Quovadis will provide PBN consultancy and implementation expertise for the initiative. Seattle will be used as a key site to enable these initial advanced operational capabilities to be introduced into the US National Airspace System (NAS).

 

"Airbus is fully committed to the FAA's success with NextGen to support a cleaner, safer and optimized air transportation system," said Eric Stefanello, CEO of Airbus ProSky. "The Greener Skies program is a prime example of the FAA's dedication to identifying early economic and environmental benefits by leveraging the investment in advanced flight deck capabilities."

 

Earlier this year, Airbus launched the Airbus ProSky subsidiary, dedicated to supporting the FAA's Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), Europe's Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) and other global ATM modernization programs.

 

Airbus is a leading aircraft manufacturer with the most modern, eco-efficient and comprehensive family of airliners available, ranging in capacity from 100 to more than 500 seats. With over 6,800 aircraft in service worldwide and a backlog of more than 4,200 orders, Airbus is a global company with design and manufacturing facilities around the world. Airbus Americas supports and sells to customers in North and Latin America and conducts engineering work for the global Airbus product line. In 2010 alone, Airbus spent over $10 billion with hundreds of US suppliers, translating into Airbus support of more than 180,000 American jobs.

 

South Pacific carriers will need 736 aircraft worth US$98 billion

Demand for larger eco-efficient aircraft over the next 20 years.

 

6 October 2011 Press Release

 

According to Airbus' latest Global Market Forecast (GMF), between 2011 and 2030, carriers in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands region will require 736 new passenger and freighter aircraft (above 100 seats) valued at US$98 billion.

 

The region's close links to emerging economies are the main contributor to traffic growth with business and tourism set to grow steadily. Urbanisation and a doubling in the number of mega cities from two to five in 2030 and a bigger middle class base will also spur traffic growth. Low Cost Carriers will continue to expand and their market share of traffic between the region and Asia is forecast to increase to some 35 per cent by 2030.  

 

Airbus forecasts a regional growth rate of 4.8 per cent per year up to 2030, matching the world average, but outstripping all other developed aviation markets such as North America (2.5 per cent, domestic) and Western Europe (3.5 per cent, inter regional).

 

The region's requirement for 736 new passenger and freighter aircraft includes 468 single aisles such the A320 Family, 211 twin aisles such as the next generation A350 XWB and the long range A330, and 57 very large aircraft (VLA) such as the A380. Of these 731 will be passenger aircraft which includes some 380 for growth, and 349 for replacing older models with more fuel efficient ones. In 20 years, the region's passenger fleet will almost double from some 400 aircraft today to over 780 by 2030.

 

"More people want to fly! Load-factors will continue to rise. Add to this higher fuel costs and infrastructure which cannot keep pace with growing demand, then larger more fuel efficient aircraft are the only sensible choice, and this is confirmed by our latest Global Market Forecast," said John Leahy, Chief Operating Officer Customers."The long term market appetite for high capacity, high productivity aircraft like the A380 remains healthy.

 

Today the A380 already serves over 50 per cent of the world's top 20 international airports and some 30 per cent of the airports are in the Pacific and Asia regions. Globally, in the next 20 years, Asia Pacific including China and India will be at the centre of the world's strongest demand for aircraft (34 per cent) and by 2030, the largest share of traffic (33 per cent).

 

This concentration of demand, together with its historical links to Western markets will drive business and tourism in the region. Traffic growth between Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Island's region and China (6.2 per cent), India (5.6 per cent) and the rest of Asia (5.7 per cent) is forecast to be significantly quicker than the world average 4.8 per cent  

 

Note to editors:

 

The Airbus Global Market Forecast gives a detailed analysis of world air transport developments, covering 300 distinct passenger and freight traffic flows, as well as a year-by-year fleet evolution of the world's aircraft operators, through fleet analysis of nearly 750 passenger airlines and 190 freighter operators over the next 20 years. In doing so, the forecast covers aircraft demand from the regional market to the very largest aircraft available, the A380 today.

 

 

 

Airbus opens an additional A320 Family final assembly line in Hamburg, Germany

A third A320 Family final assembly line (FAL) has opened in Hamburg, Germany as Airbus continues the overall production rate ramp-up for its best-selling single-aisle product line to 42 aircraft per month next year – marking a new industrial record.

 

5 October 2011

 

The latest operation – which produced its initial aircraft in August – is identical to the two already-existing A320 Family final assembly lines in Hamburg, and consists of assembly stations 41, 40 and 35, as well as a dock for the installation of cabin systems.  The new addition matches the others in cycle and speed as an aircraft moves through its build-up process.

 

These lines currently are working at a combined rate of 21 aircraft monthly, with production to be gradually increased to 25 per month by the end of 2012.

 

"This is a big success, given that in 2005 all our final assembly lines combined achieved an output of 25 aircraft per month," explained Daniel Baubil, head of A320 Family programme at Airbus. "This rate will soon be delivered by the Hamburg FAL alone."

 

More than 100 additional employees will join the final assembly team in Hamburg to manage the workload.

 

To meet Airbus' new production targets, the company is further emphasising the importance of cross-functional cooperation and teamwork for increased efficiency. Progress already had been made over the past three years, with lead times successfully reduced by 20 per cent. As a result, an A320 Family aircraft leaves one of the worldwide final assembly facilities – located in Hamburg; Toulouse, France and Tianjin, China – every seven hours.

 

"Our final assembly lines have reached a level of efficiency which is unique in the world," Baubil added. "We are convinced that an even better quality control will allow us to further accelerate our deliveries in the future."

 

According to Baubil, a concept for additional improvements already has been developed with the buy-in of several company functions, working closely with Airbus' own Centres of Excellence that provide the expertise in key production areas, along with the suppliers.