Boeing News
The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] has selected Honeywell T55-GA-714A turbo shaft engines to power the HH-47 helicopter proposed for the U.S. Air Force Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR-X) program.
"The Combat Search and Rescue program is an important initiative to flight crews and service people around the world," said Mike Tkach, vice president of Boeing Rotorcraft Systems. "Honeywell engines on the HH-47 will provide the best possible performance for our aircraft to meet critical mission requirements."
CSAR-X is a U.S. Air Force initiative to procure more capable and survivable aircraft able to recover isolated personnel from hostile or denied territory. The tandem rotor, heavy lift, high altitude HH-47 is based on the CH/MH-47 Chinook tandem rotor transport helicopter, with performance capabilities that have been widely demonstrated in the ongoing war on terrorism and in numerous U.S. and international humanitarian relief operations.
"Honeywell's T55 engine has a proud heritage on the CH-47 and MH-47 aircraft. We are currently delivering more than 200 engines per year to the U.S. Army to upgrade their fleet," said Serge Tarazi, program director for Honeywell's Heavy Lift Helicopters. "The CSAR-X mission is a natural extension for both the engine and the helicopter."
The engines for the HH-47 are identical to the engines currently used on the Chinook helicopter with the rating points matched to the Air Force mission. The battle-tested engines, which are built at Honeywell's facility in Phoenix, Ariz., have been proven in the sand, heat and high altitude of Iraq and Afghanistan. Additional system features include inlet particle separators for longer life and an infrared suppressor for reduced aircraft signature.
This month's scheduled Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-115 mission resumes assembly of the International Space Station (ISS) with delivery of the Boeing [NYSE: BA] Port 3/Port 4 (P3/P4) truss segment and two power-producing solar arrays. STS-115 is the first assembly mission since November 2002.
"Boeing is responsible for sustainment, integration, the operations element and development of the truss systems and most of the on-board mechanical systems," said Joy Bryant, Boeing vice president and ISS program manager. "We also are responsible for the integration of the international elements."
The 34,885-pound truss is the next major addition to the 11-segment integrated truss structure that eventually will span more than 300 feet and carry power, data and temperature control for the orbital outpost's electronics. The ISS, when completed in 2010, will be equivalent to a five-bedroom house, weigh almost a million pounds and measure as long as a football field including the end zones.
The Atlantis crew will grab the 45-foot long by 15-foot wide truss from the payload bay with the shuttle's robotic arm and pass it to the station's robotic arm, which then will attach it to the P1 truss. P3/P4 will serve as an attachment point for P5, which will fly on a shuttle flight in December.
One of the unique elements of P3/P4 is the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint, located between P3 and P4, which rotates 360 degrees every 90 minutes to keep the solar array wings oriented toward the Sun as the station orbits the Earth.
"While waiting to launch the P3/P4 cargo element, we've been diligent in maintaining the flight hardware to ensure the vehicle's mechanical and electrical systems work as designed when they reach the station," said Chuck Hardison, Boeing ISS site manager at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Fla. "The entire team is excited about resuming assembly operations."
Boeing designed P3 at Huntington Beach, Calif. Boeing (now Pratt and Whitney) Rocketdyne Power and Propulsion in Canoga Park, Calif., designed P4. Assembly of P3 and P4 in Tulsa, Okla., started in 1997. Boeing delivered P3 and P4 to the Space Station Processing Facility at KSC in 1999 and 2000, respectively. The Boeing-led team joined the components at KSC shortly thereafter. Major subcontractors included Lockheed Martin, Honeywell and Hamilton Sundstrand.
Because launch and installation of the solar arrays and the batteries used to store power when the station is in the Earth's shadow have been delayed so long, the ISS team replaced the lower and upper deck batteries in 2005. The new batteries will last eight to 10 years. NASA, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, who built the solar arrays, conducted extensive testing in July 2003 to ensure the arrays, which are stored in a folded, accordion-style box, properly deploy once on orbit.
The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] has received a $22.7 million U.S. Air Force full-rate production contract for 2,645 additional Combat Survivor Evader Locator (CSEL) communication system radios and support equipment.
Early last year, Boeing received an initial $43.6 million order to deliver 5,053 CSEL hand-held radios and support equipment to the joint services by January 2007. The acquisition of as many as 46,000 CSEL radios by the Air Force, Army and Navy could push the contract's total value to $250 million. To date, Boeing has delivered more than 8,200 radios to the joint services.
"Demand for CSEL remains strong, especially now that it has been authorized for use in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Michael Bates, Boeing CSEL program manager. "CSEL is accomplishing its mission, which is to ensure our warfighters, should they ever become isolated behind enemy lines, are rescued quickly and safely."
In March, the U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Persian Gulf region, announced that Boeing's
CSEL communications system has been authorized for use by the joint services now operating in Operation Iraqi Freedom. CSEL is the U.S. Department of Defense's program of record for Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) communications.
Designed for easy use, the multifunction CSEL radio is a cost-effective technological breakthrough that gives U.S. forces a tactical advantage. Unique communication and message encryption techniques prevent signals from being intercepted or decoded. Using communications satellites and global positioning technology, CSEL radios will save lives by providing real-time encrypted information about the precise location of isolated personnel such as downed pilots.
In addition to precise geopositioning information, the hand-held survival radios provide line-of-sight recovery forces and over-the-horizon joint search and rescue centers with two-way secure data communications capability. CSEL enables rescue forces to authenticate and communicate with isolated personnel in near real-time, anywhere the world.
Boeing developed the joint services CSEL system under contract to the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif. Currently, Boeing maintains CSEL and conducts pre-planned program improvements under contract to the U.S. Air Force Electronics Systems Center at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass.
The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] and New Delhi-based SpiceJet today announced that the airline converted its 10 options into an order for five Next-Generation 737-800s and five 737-900ERs.
SpiceJet first announced the preliminary agreement for this order in February at the 2006 Asian Aerospace Air Show in Singapore. The order is valued at more than $700 million at list prices and deliveries are scheduled to begin in late 2007.
The options exercised today are part of an order SpiceJet originally placed in February 2005. That order included 10 737-800s, the first of which Boeing delivered to the airline in February 2006.
"The Boeing Next-Generation 737 is the most technologically advanced single-aisle airplane, which offers the best technical reliability and lowest operating unit cost, that is vital to our low-cost structure," said SpiceJet Board Director Bhulo Kansagra. "These aircraft will enable us to develop additional routes in India and bring our low fares to even more customers."
The 10 737s will be fitted with Blended Winglets, which will improve fuel efficiency, increase range and reduce takeoff noise.
"The 737 continues to play an integral role in meeting the needs of India's rapidly growing aviation market," said Dinesh Keskar, vice president of Sales, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "We look forward to continuing to work closely with this valued customer as it expands its operations and serves its passengers."
SpiceJet, one of India's newest start-up private carriers, uses a single-class seating configuration on its short- and medium-haul flights within India. SpiceJet first began service in May 2005 with three leased Boeing 737-800s.
The digitally designed Next-Generation 737 is the most technologically advanced airplane family in the single-aisle market. With a bigger wing and more powerful engines, the 737 can fly higher, faster and farther than previous models and its competitor. The advanced-technology Blended Winglets allow airlines to save fuel, extend range, carry more payload and reduce engine maintenance costs.
The 737-800, which can seat between 162 to 189 passengers, is 1,500 pounds lighter, can fly 260 nautical miles farther and 1,100 feet higher while carrying 12 more passengers than the competing model.
The 737-900ER is the same size as today's 737-900, but -- with the addition of a pair of exit doors and a flat rear pressure bulkhead -- will carry 26 additional passengers, raising the maximum capacity from 189 to 215 in a single-class layout.
The 737 Next Generation has logged 422 gross orders in 2006 including this order. As of July 31, 2006, 99 customers have placed orders for more than 3,300 Next-Generation 737s; the program has 1,366 unfilled orders with a value of nearly $91 billion at current list prices.
Future Combat Systems Team Successfully Completes Milestone Review; Moves Forward with Design, Build and Test Activities
The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] and partner Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), functioning as the Lead Systems Integrator for the U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program, today announced the successful completion of the Initial Preliminary Design Review (IPDR). The IPDR is the FCS program's most important technical milestone to date and the largest review of the year.
During the week-long event held in St. Louis, nearly 1,000 industry and government representatives engaged in a multi-disciplined review of the technical progress of the FCS program, at the system-of-systems and system levels, over the last 12 months. Participants, many of whom joined virtually from more than 30 locations across the country, included representatives from the Army's Training and Doctrine Command, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Government Accountability Office.
The purpose of the review was three-fold: to review FCS program progress in requirements, design, build, integration and test -- confirming the functional baseline for the program; to assess individual systems' readiness to proceed to preliminary design; and to provide a two-year "roadmap" for the next major milestone, the System-of-Systems Preliminary Design Review in 2008. Leading up to IPDR, the program had met 100 percent of associated cost, schedule and performance criteria, demonstrating continued successful execution.
"IPDR represents the transition from requirements to design, build, integrate and test," said Maj. Gen. Charles Cartwright, program manager, FCS Brigade Combat Team. "Successful completion means the days of PowerPoint slides are over. Within a year, FCS capabilities will be integrated into the current force through our Evaluation Brigade Combat Team (EBCT). The EBCT will deliver to our soldiers new capabilities that are specifically designed to address 21st century threats. Our Army and our troops require these new FCS capabilities sooner rather than later."
"Successful completion of IPDR is a tremendous testament to the combined efforts of the FCS One Team members who have worked diligently to keep FCS on cost and on schedule, and is evidence of the continuing progress of the program," said Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing vice president-general manager, Combat Systems, and FCS program manager. "With IPDR complete, our focus for the remainder of the year will be on meeting experimentation objectives, delivering software and proceeding with platform-level Preliminary Design Reviews as we prepare for the first spin out of FCS technologies into the current force in 2008."
"The IPDR is indicative of what happens when you bring together the best of industry," said Dan Zanini, SAIC senior vice president and FCS deputy program manager. "But it's more than that; it's also a measurement of our technical success, and it therefore represents an important step forward. We've passed a milestone as we enter the next critical phase of the program, which paves the way for early soldier testing and fielding of key technologies."
The next near-term program milestone, Experiment 1.1, is under way and runs through early 2007. This three-phased risk mitigation effort will test operational capabilities of the systems slated for early fielding in 2008 as part of the first spin out.
