www.Noticias-Aero.info: 2012/08/09

The world’s leading combat UAVs

jueves, 9 de agosto de 2012

The world’s leading combat UAVs: Capable of carrying out precision airstrikes, combat UAVs are picking up where their unarmed counterparts left off. Airforce-technology.com takes a look at some of the leading combat UAVs that are under various stages of development.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to Participate in Project to Develop P&W's PW1200G Jet Engine for the MRJ

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has concluded an agreement with Pratt & Whitney (P&W) of the United States under which it will participate in a project to develop that company's new jet engine, the PurePower® PW1200G, to power the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ), MHI's next-generation regional jet. MHI will undertake development and manufacture of the new engine's combustors, high pressure turbine disks and diffuser cases as well as final engine assembly and operational testing of delivered products. These various tasks will be carried out at MHI's Nagoya Guidance & Propulsion Systems Works in Komaki City, Aichi Prefecture.

Development specimens of the combustors and diffuser cases have already been delivered from the Nagoya plant to P&W, arrangements for the tooling and equipment for the final assembly and operational testing procedures have been completed, and the engine test cell has been modified as necessary. Additionally, because final assembly must conform with P&W's technical demands pertaining to the forms of all engine parts, the Nagoya plant is currently coordinating with P&W to develop the required final assembly management system.

The PW1200G, long under development by P&W, represents the latest achievement in high-efficiency engines. Adoption of the company's proprietary "Geared Turbofan™" (GTF) technology has enabled high-speed rotation of the low-pressure spool (turbine) to attain optimal efficiency, while the fan is rotated at low speed to achieve a significant reduction in noise. The new engine achieves a greater than 15% increase in fuel efficiency along with dramatically enhanced environmental performance.

MHI's track record in the development and manufacture of engines for commercial aircraft includes participation in projects relating to P&W's large-scale PW4000 jet engine, International Aero Engines' (IAE) V2500, and Rolls-Royce's TRENT 1000. In autumn 2011, the company also took part in a project involving P&W's Pure Power PW1100G-JM (for the Airbus A320 Family), which also features the GTF technology.

Through its participation in the manufacture and assembly of the PW1200G engine, MHI looks to further strengthen its international competitiveness in commercial aircraft engine technology. It also expects this initiative to give impetus to the smooth promotion of the MRJ project as well as to the new aircraft's market penetration.

ST Aerospace and Alenia unveil RSAF’s first M-346 aircraft

ST Aerospace and Alenia unveil RSAF’s first M-346 aircraft: Alenia Aermacchi has unveiled the Republic of Singapore Air Force's (RSAF) first M-346 Master advanced jet trainer aircraft at its facility in Venegono Superiore, Italy.

GE Aviation engines to power Saudi Air Force’s F-15 SA fleet

GE Aviation engines to power Saudi Air Force’s F-15 SA fleet: GE Aviation has been awarded a contract to supply its F110-GE-129E turbofan engines to the Royal Saudi Air Force's (RSAF) fleet of Boeing-built F-15 Saudi Advanced (SA) configuration fighter aircraft

Boeing Demos Autonomous Ship-Based Capability Of Unmanned Rotorcraft

Boeing Demos Autonomous Ship-Based Capability Of Unmanned Rotorcraft: 'Little Bird' Conducted 14 Operations From A Private Vessel The Boeing Unmanned Little Bird H-6U successfully performed 14 autonomous takeoffs and landings from a ship during flight tests in July, a significant milestone for a medium-size vertical-takeoff-and-landing unmanned airborne system (UAS).

Laser-Powered UAS Tested In An Outdoor Environment

Laser-Powered UAS Tested In An Outdoor Environment: First-Ever Outdoor Test Completed By LMC Stalker A series of flight tests of the Stalker Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) conducted by Lockheed Martin and LaserMotive, Inc. has further validated the performance of an innovative laser power system, the company's said in a news release. These tests mark the first-ever outdoor flight of a UAS powered by laser.

Boeing Flies X-48C Blended Wing Body Research Aircraft

CHICAGO, Aug. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A modified Boeing (NYSE: BA) Blended Wing Body research aircraft – designated the X-48C – flew for the first time today at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

The remotely piloted X-48C aircraft took off at 7:56 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time and climbed to an altitude of 5,500 feet before landing 9 minutes later.

The X-48C is a scale model of a heavy-lift, subsonic vehicle that forgoes the conventional tube-and-wing airplane design in favor of a triangular aircraft that effectively merges the vehicle's wing and body. Boeing and NASA believe the BWB concept offers the potential over the long-term of significantly greater fuel efficiency and reduced noise.

"Working with NASA, we are very pleased to enter into the next flight-test phase of our work to explore and validate the aerodynamic characteristics and efficiencies of the Blended Wing Body concept," said Bob Liebeck, a Boeing Senior Technical Fellow and the company's BWB program manager.

"In our earlier flight testing of the X-48B, we proved that a BWB aircraft can be controlled as effectively as a conventional tube-and-wing aircraft during takeoffs and landings and other low-speed segments of the flight regime," Liebeck said. "With the X-48C, we will be evaluating the impact of noise shielding concepts on low-speed flight characteristics."

The X-48C is a modified version of the X-48B aircraft, which flew 92 times at NASA Dryden between 2007 and 2010. The X-48C is configured with two 89-pound thrust turbojet engines, instead of three 50-pound thrust engines on the B-model; and wingtip winglets have been relocated inboard next to the engines on the C-model, effectively turning them into twin tails. The aft deck also was extended about 2 feet at the rear.

"We are thrilled to get back in the air to start collecting data in this low-noise configuration," said Heather Maliska, NASA Dryden's X-48C project manager.

The modified test vehicle was designed by Boeing and built by Cranfield Aerospace Ltd., in the United Kingdom, in accordance with Boeing requirements.

While Boeing continuously explores and applies innovative technologies at its own expense to enhance its current and next-generation products, the X-48C flight-test research is an example of how the company also is looking much farther into the future at revolutionary concepts that offer even greater breakthroughs in the science of flight.

"Boeing has been a leader in technology and aerospace for almost 100 years. Our employees work to solve big challenges and create complex, highly capable systems, from today's 787 Dreamliner airplane and P-8A Poseidon multi-mission military aircraft to the X-48C, which explores ideas for future advances. Every day our team is building on our legacy of groundbreaking technical achievements that have improved life for people worldwide," said John Tracy, Boeing chief technology officer and senior vice president of Engineering, Operations & Technology.

Engineers from Boeing Research & Technology, the company's central research, technology and innovation organization, will be working closely with NASA engineers during flight tests of the X-48C, which are expected to continue throughout 2012. As handling qualities of the X-48C will be different than those of the X-48B, the project team developed flight control software modifications, including flight control limiters to keep the airplane flying within a safe flight envelope.

With a 21-foot wingspan, the 500-pound aircraft is an 8.5 percent scale model of a heavy-lift, subsonic airplane with a 240-foot wingspan that possibly could be developed in the next 15 to 20 years for military applications such as aerial refueling and cargo missions. The X-48C has an estimated top speed of about 140 miles per hour, with a maximum altitude of 10,000 feet. The X-48C project team consists of Boeing, NASA, Cranfield Aeropace, and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory.

Boeing and NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate are funding X-48 technology demonstration research. The effort supports NASA's Environmentally Responsible Aviation project, which has goals to reduce fuel burn, emissions and noise of future aircraft.

¿Por qué explorar el espacio?

En 1970, una monja radicada en Zambia y llamada Hermana Mary Jucunda escribió al doctor Ernst Stuhlinger, entonces director asociado de ciencia en el Centro de Vuelos Espaciales Marshall de la NASA, en respuesta a sus investigaciones sobre una misión tripulada a Marte. Concretamente, preguntó cómo podía sugerir que se gastasen miles de millones de dólares en un proyecto así en un tiempo en el que tantos niños morían de hambre en la Tierra.
Stuhlinger envió a la Hermana Jucunda la siguiente carta de explicación junto con una copia de Earthrise, la fotografía-icono de la Tierra tomada en 1968 por el astronauta William Anders desde la luna (también incluida en esta carta). Su estudiada respuesta fue más tarde publicada por la NASA bajo el título de “¿Por qué explorar el Espacio?”

Leer carta traducida por Arturo Quirantes en: ¿Por qué explorar el espacio?:
Carta original: http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/08/why-explore-space.html

IAG registra pérdidas de 231 millones de euros en el primer semestre del año

IAG registra pérdidas de 231 millones de euros en el primer semestre del año: IAG, el holding resultante de la fusión Iberia-British, que ofrece vuelos Bilbao, ha tenido pérdidas por 231 millones de euros en el primer semestre de este año, cuando en el mismo período del 2011 había registrado ganancias por 98 millones, según ha informado la misma compañía a través de un comunicado, en el que se precisó que estas cifras no incluyen los 21 días de Iberia previos a l