Aviation News, Boeing, Airbus

Modification kits to replace the bombers’ receiver and processor will be available beginning in 2011. The RMIP kit comprises a new radar transmitter and receiver, a radar processor computer, and a software package. Initial flight testing of the new hardware and completed software modes on a test bed aircraft are set for later this year. The testing will continue as the software modes are developed with flights slated through 2009. In turn, Boeing will flight-test a fully upgraded RMIP aircraft at Edwards AFB Calif., in 2010 and will support field installation and checkout of the RMIP kits at Dyess AFB, Texas; Ellsworth AFB, S.D.; and Tinker AFB. Installation is scheduled to be completed in 2014.

Operation Safe Commerce is a federally-funded initiative aimed at improving security of cargo entering ports in the United States and reducing threats to the supply chain. Boeing previously announced a similar pilot program for the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach.

A series of industry roundtables will start in Brisbane and Melbourne, with future meetings scheduled throughout the country next year. Initial focus will be on suppliers whose capabilities have been designated by the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) as export-ready and important to maintaining the through-life-support capability necessary to sustain the Australian Defence Force’s aerospace assets. The OAIC will draw upon previous DMO work, coordinating the Australian aerospace industry into a “Team Australia” to address opportunities associated with other major defence acquisitions. The DMO will notify eligible suppliers as the OAIC identifies opportunities. The OAIC, along with the DMO, also will offer various training and mentoring programs, host sector conferences and visit, assess and host select suppliers.

Using the two radar antennas on board the shuttle, astronauts collected a high-quality, seamless elevation data set of the Earth–at a resolution three times the density of previous global measurements. Boeing produced over 9,100 cells–about 66% of all the DTED produced for the SRTM project. The Company recently received a $4 million follow-on contract to make enhancements to the SRTM elevation data. The enhancements include the removal of certain rare radar processing anomalies and filling of missing areas with data from alternate sources.