Businesses and professionals in the avionics industry have weathered an economic storm and emerged, in many cases, stronger and wiser. “Our industry (aerospace) made it through the worst recession since WWII,” recognizes Richard Aboulafia, vice president of analysis at Teal Group. The commercial market is now investing in the aerospace product and the future looks bright, especially for Airbus and The Boeing Company. Industry analysts anticipate 2012 to be a year of recovery, bringing a wealth of new orders for manned and unmanned aircraft, as well as myriad modern avionics.

JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J., 15 March 2012. U.S. Army officials needed high-definition electro-optical imaging sensors for the Persistent Ground Surveillance Systems (PGSS) program, which mounts a broad variety of persistent-surveillance sensors on tethered helium-filled blimps that float as high as 3,000 feet off the ground for wide-area surveillance. They found their solution from FLIR Systems Inc. in Wilsonville, Ore.

ARLINGTON, Va., 15 March 2012. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has released a request for public comment on the selection process for six unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) test sites. Comments are due by 9 May. Before the FAA issues a request for proposals to select the test sites, the FAA first needs help developing the test site requirements, designation standards, and oversight activities, according to the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI).

WASHINGTON, 15 March 2012. NASA officials are seeking proposals from accredited U.S. universities for the inaugural Space Technology Research Opportunities for Early Career Faculty. This solicitation seeks to sponsor research in specific, high-priority technology areas of interest to NASA. NASA will award approximately 10 grants this fall, funded up to $200,000 each per year, based on the merit of proposals received. Notices of intent to submit proposals are due March 30.

GREENBELT, Md., 14 March 2012. NASA officials have responded to aerospace and defense industry pundits and executives involved in matters of national security, International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), and U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) concerned about NASA’s decision to auction off satellite software patent lots. Will placing federal intellectual property (IP) on the international stage for public/commercial/international consumption open up the nation to growing cyber warfare, cyber terrorism, and cyber security concerns?

KNUTSFORD, England, 14 March 2012. Officials at Corsairfly have selected IFE Services as the French airline’s in-flight entertainment (IFE) provider. IFE Services will provide the Corsairfly airline with a regularly updated package of entertainment content for passengers to enjoy across the fleet's digital audio and video on demand (AVOD), overhead, and portable handheld systems. 

CHRISTCHURCH, England, 13 March 2012. Executives of motion Control specialist Curtiss-Wright Controls Inc. in Charlotte, N.C., are sharpening their company's focus on avionics and electronics technologies by standing up a new business unit based in Christchurch, England, called the Curtiss-Wright Avionics & Electronics division. Curtiss-Wright Avionics & Electronics will focus on rugged data acquisition, rugged data recording, air data, and sensor data management subsystems.

PHILADELPHIA, 13 March 2012. U.S. Navy aviation experts are asking the Boeing Co. Defense, Space & Security segment in St. Louis to repair and upgrade the U.S. Marine Corps fleet of ageing AV-8B Harrier jump jets under terms of a $30.9 million contract awarded late last week. Boeing will repair various parts supporting the AV-8 vertical-and-short-takeoff-and-landing (VSTOL) attack jets as part of the contract.

BOHEMIA, N.Y., 13 March 2010. Data Device Corp. (DDC) in Bohemia, N.Y, is offering drop-in direct-replacement MIL-STD-1553 avionics databus transceivers for applications that require NHi-65118 and NHi-15137 transceivers. For high-reliability military applications that need MIL-PRF-38534 security, DDC offers two qualified direct-replacement MIL-STD-1553 transceivers -- the BU-63147 dual 5-volt transceiver and BUS-63123 dual -15-/+5-volt transceiver.

WASHINGTON, 14 March 2012. Airlines for America (A4A), the industry trade organization for leading U.S. airlines, commends Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Ray LaHood for his efforts to overturn the application of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) to U.S. airlines and aircraft operators.

WASHINGTON, 13 March 2012. NASA, governments around the world, and civil society organizations will co-host the International Space Apps Challenge on April 21 and 22, with events taking place across seven continents and in space. The apps competition is intended to exploit openly available data collected by space agencies around the world to create innovative solutions to longstanding global challenges.

SEVILLE, Spain, 13 March 2012. The International Aerospace Environmental Group (IAEG), formed in June 2011 with 11 founding members, will be joined during its first annual meeting by nine additional aerospace companies that have applied for membership.

MESA, Ariz., 13 March 2012. Boeing (NYSE:BA) engineers, together with U.S. Army personnel, completed a series of tests on the company’s Adaptive Vehicle Management System (AVMS), an advanced rotorcraft flight control system. During the tests, a Boeing H-6 helicopter equipped with the integrated AVMS conducted seven test flights in Arizona between 9 and 21 Dec.

TOULOUSE, France, 12 March 2012. The World Trade Organization (WTO) Appellate Body (DS353) “confirms the existence of illegal U.S. subsidies to Boeing,” according to Airbus officials. The subsidies, identified previously by the WTO as “at least $5.3 billion” and extended by billions of U.S. dollars in its decision, has resulted in an estimated loss of approximately $45 billion in sales for Airbus, says a spokesperson.

CHICAGO, 12 March 2012. Boeing (NYSE:BA) officials have issued a statement in response to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Appellate Body’s decision in DS 353, which they describe as addressing a complaint the European Union (EU) filed against the United States in retaliation for an earlier U.S. challenge to the subsidies European governments have provided to Airbus.

GENEVA, Switzerland, 12 March 2012. The World Trade Organization (WTO) Appellate Body in Geneva, Switzerland, has released its decision in DS 353. The dispute, titled “United States – Large Civil Aircraft (second complaint),” was filed by the European Communities, more commonly referred to as the European Union (EU) against the U.S., with Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea as third parties.

WASHINGTON, 12 March 2012. Officials at Air France-KLMand Lufthansa, considered to be Europe's largest airlines, warn that high fuel prices will continue to negatively impact profits. Managers at both carriers express concern that profits will continue to deteriorate in the first half of 2012 due to high oil prices.

EVERETT, Wash., 12 March 2012. Boeing (NYSE:BA) and Uzbekistan Airways have partnered with Project Hope to transport medical supplies to hospitals in Tashkent on a new Boeing 767-300ER (Extended Range) aircraft. The 6,950-pound (3,150-kilogram) shipment, which includes 162 boxes of medicines and medical supplies, is part of Boeing's Humanitarian Delivery Flights program.

SÃO PAULO, Brazil, 11 March 2012. Embraer SA in Sao Paulo, Brazil, is ramping up manufacturing and support for the company's Embraer executive jet with announcements of plans for installing a modern service center in Bertram Luiz Leupolz (SOD) airport in Sorocaba, Brazil, as well as for the 100th Embraer executive jet to be delivered in Brazil.