LOS ANGELES, 10 Jan. 2012. Private Jet One has completed a whirlwind charter for a major movie star as he promotes his new film worldwide. The company planned routes and provided all private jet transportation for the international superstar and his entourage, to locations that included London, Tokyo, Dubai, New York, and Los Angeles.

SEATTLE, 10 Jan. 2012. Ethiopian Airlines executives have ordered from Aviation Partners Boeing, a Seattle-based joint venture of Aviation Partners Inc. and The Boeing Company, Blended Winglets for the company’s 767-300ER airplanes. Ethiopian Airlines personnel will install the winglets at the company’s maintenance facility at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa. Initial installations, involving three aircraft, will commence in Feb. 2012.

MCLEAN, Va., 9 Jan. 2012. Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC; NYSE: SAI) won a task order from the Program Executive Office (PEO) for Simulation, Training & Instrumentation (STRI) Acquisition Center under the Simulator & Trainer Omnibus Contract (STOC) II vehicle. The task order—with a one-year base period of performance, four one-year options, and a contract value of more than $55 million, if all options are exercised and funded—calls for SAIC engineers to advance the capabilities of One Semi-Automated Forces (OneSAF) for a broad audience. 

HAIFA, Israel, 5 Jan. 2012. Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT) won a $50 million contract to supply its Hermes 900 unmanned aircraft systems to a government office in the Americas for perimeter security missions. The project, spanning roughly one year, also includes Universal Ground Control Stations (UGCS), Elbit Systems Electro-Optics Elop's advanced DCoMPASS payload systems, and satellite communication systems. 

STAMFORD, Conn., 4 Jan. 2012. GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS), General Electric’s commercial aircraft leasing and financing arm, has placed an order for two additional ATR 72-600 turboprop aircraft, and two options. GECAS officials placed the company’s first-ever ATR order in June at the Paris Air Show; this follow-on contract brings the total number of ATRs ordered by GECAS to 17 with 17 options. GECAS will start to take delivery of the new aircraft in late 2012.

Jan. 4, 2012 By Chris Murray.

When it comes to a sound certification practice, commercial and military avionics are light years ahead of the pack. DO-178 certification, first introduced in the 1980s, represents the gold-standard, requiring companies to comply with software processes that mandate requirements traceability, software architecture and coding guidance, comprehensive testing of all code, and the production of certifiable products. Both commercial and military industries boast the healthiest record on system safety. And, largely due to these processes, projects such as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) are recognized for the highest levels of design and safety integrity.

LOS ANGELES, 20 Dec. 2011. A provider of electronics manufacturing services (EMS), the  Ducommun LaBarge Technologies (DLT) business unit of Ducommun Inc. (NYSE:DCO) will produce electronic assemblies and wiring harnesses for the V-22 Osprey military aircraft under a roughly $14 million contract from Bell Helicopter, a unit of Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT).

FAIRMONT, W.Va., 6 Dec. 2011. TASC Inc. of Andover, Mass., won a contract to provide software services to NASA’s Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) Facility in Fairmont, W.Va. TASC personnel will deliver independent verification and validation, software assurance, research and development, and technical quality monitoring. The cost-plus-award-fee contract has a five-year total period of performance, including options, and a potential value of $133.9 million.

SEATTLE, 30 Nov. 2011. Boeing (NYSE:BA), pending approval of an early contract extension with the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAM), will build the company’s new 737 MAX in Renton, Wa. Boeing has received more than 700 commitments from customers for the 737 MAX, which is expected to enter service in 2017.

MINNEAPOLIS, 16 Nov., 2011. Honeywell (NYSE:HON) announced that it has been awarded a $21.7 million contract to provide Heathrow's new Terminal 2 with an integrated fire safety, public address and voice alarm system, along with advanced lighting controls and building management systems covering mechanical and electrical operations.

UNTERSCHLEISSHEIM, GERMANY, Nov. 12, 2011. The framework contract for maintenance and support of the Spanish Air Force’s twelve C130 HERCULES planes was recently awarded to Cassidian Spain through an international open tender procedure.

SAN JOSE, Calif., 23 Oct. 2011. Altera Corp. (NASDAQ: ALTR) in San Jose, Calif., is joining hands with Eutecus Inc. in Berkeley, Calif., to introduce a 1,080-pixel, 30-frame-per-second single-chip video surveillance system packaged on one field-programmable gate array (FPGA) for surveillance and reconnaissance applications in traffic surveillance that monitors accident detection, vehicle counting, lane-exit detection, stopped traffic, red-light violations, and vehicles moving in the wrong direction.

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA, 17 Oct, 2011. Cobham has been awarded a $509 million (AUS $500 million) extension of its current B717 QantasLink contract through until 2018 that involves the expansion of operations into Queensland. The extension includes an increase in B717 aircraft operated by Cobham from 11 to 13, and the establishment of a Brisbane operating base in early 2012.

HAWTHORNE, Calif., 15 Oct. 2011. Officials from the U.S. Air Force, U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), and NASA have jointly agreed upon a process whereby new companies can compete to provide launch services. NASA executives have lately issued requests for proposals (RFPs) for upcoming contract awards, including those relevant to the Space Launch System (SLS) program. Air Force, NRO, and NASA officials have issued a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the process by which new companies can compete to deliver launch services; the MOU will be followed by detailed guidance for prospective new entrants.

WASHINGTON, 20 Sept. 2011. Vizada, an independent satellite communications provider, and ARINC Inc., provider of aeronautical services for commercial airlines, business aviation, and government customers, have extended contract agreements to deliver Inmarsat Classic Aero voice and data services over Inmarsat's I-4 and I-3 satellite networks. Company personnel, working under joint multi-year agreements, will provide fixed (FSS) and mobile (MSS) satellite services to commercial and government aviation customers.

ALEXANDRIA, Va., 2 Sept. 2011. DCS Corp won the Navigation, Safety Operations, and Sensors (NSS) contract providing support to the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR). This cost-plus-fixed-fee contract has a five-year period of performance with a total value of $74 million. DCS personnel will deliver engineering, acquisition, technical, and logistic support to NSS efforts in meeting warfighter requirements by providing operational products for various Navy, Department of Defense, and Foreign Military Sales aircraft platforms.

WASHINGTON, 29 Aug. 2011. Raytheon Company (NYSE:RTN) officials demonstrated the company’s unmanned aircraft system (UAS) common ground control system (CGCS) technology for United Kingdom Ministry of Defence representatives. In a Scavenger unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) mission scenario, the Raytheon control station demonstrated simultaneous control of multiple dissimilar vehicles, sensor command and control, and connectivity to external systems, among other capabilities. Raytheon received International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) approval from the U.S. State Department to demonstrate its CGCS to U.K. and French governments last month.

WASHINGTON, 23 Aug. 2011. Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) spending will nearly double over the next decade, growing from current worldwide UAV expenditures of $5.9 billion  to $11.3 billion annually—reaching more than $94 billion in the next 10 years, according to Teal Group's 2011 market study. Philip Finnegan, director of corporate analysis at Teal Group in Fairfax, Va., presented Teal Group’s UAV market findings during "Emerging Market Trends According to the Experts,” a panel discussion at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) show last week in Washington.

WASHINGTON, 22 Aug. 2011. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA ASI)—manufacturer of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), tactical reconnaissance radars, and electro-optic surveillance systems—won a study contract to support pre-Milestone A activities for the U.S. Navy’s Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) program.