February 5, 2001

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WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Wargame: ‘Space' Can Deter, Defuse Crises

SCHRIEVER AFB, COLO. Having a robust space force could actually promote global stability, effectively deter a potential aggressor and avoid armed conflict. Simply being able to constantly monitor the buildup of an adversary's forces, then publicly display imagery of them, can be a major deterrent.

By WILLIAM B. SCOTT

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Attempt at Hard Landing Set For Asteroid Spacecraft

WASHINGTON After a fling and a rendezvous, it's time for NEAR to settle down. The NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft has completed a successful mission orbiting and studying Eros for a year. So why not try to bring the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous spacecraft to rest on the asteroid?

By JAMES R. ASKER

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Economic Slowdown Fails To Dampen Supplier Optimism

NEW YORK Commercial aerospace component and subsystem suppliers generally are bullish about their growth prospects this year, despite a U.S. economy that is virtually stalled. But Standard & Poor’s Chief Economist David Blitzer wonders if industry executives perhaps are being overly optimistic, especially with business jet sales so closely tied to corporate profits.

By ANTHONY L. VELOCCI

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Airbus Forecasts Market Downturn

PARIS and TOULOUSE After several buoyant years, commercial transport sales are expected to decrease slightly in 2001. However, no significant market downturn is in sight, according to Airbus Industrie executives. Last year, the European consortium booked firm orders for 520 aircraft valued at $37 billion, at catalog prices.

By PIERRE SPARACO

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Europe Seeks Global Leadership in Aeronautics

Vision 2020 calls for a $93-billion investment over 20 years and sets challenging goals for industry, R&D

By JOHN D. MORROCCO,JENS FLOTTAU

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Navy’s Missile Defense Closes In on Intercept

WASHINGTON Building on the successful flight test of the Standard Missile SM-3 ballistic missile interceptor, the U.S. Navy and prime contractor Raytheon are now sifting through huge amounts of seeker and telemetry data to ensure there are no hidden hurdles toward achieving a first target intercept later this year.

By ROBERT WALL,BRUCE D. NORDWALL

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Most Suppliers Beating Wall Street Estimates

NEW YORK BFGoodrich Co. last week reported a 19% improvement in fourth-quarter earnings per share on 10% higher sales, while Honeywell International posted a 10% drop in income, partly due to decisions related to the company’s pending acquisition by General Electric Co.

By ANTHONY L. VELOCCI

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Italy, France Unite For Dual-Use Satellites

Paris Italy and France have approved a plan to jointly develop and operate an optical/radar satellite system that will vastly improve Europe’s civil Earth-observation network while adding to its military intelligence capability. Last week’s decision, announced at a bilateral meeting in Turin, capped months of discussions between the two countries aimed at merging Italy’s Cosmo-Skymed X-band radar sensing system and France’s Pleiades optical imaging network.

By Michael A. Taverna

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

An-70 Crash Disrupts Airlifter Program

MOSCOW The crash landing of the Antonov An-70 prototype threatens to further delay the troubled airlifter program, and has Ukrainian and Russian engineers scurrying to recover. The second—and only—prototype of the four-propfan transport made an emergency landing shortly after takeoff from Omsk in Siberia on Jan. 27, damaging the aircraft and injuring four of the 33 people on board.

By ALEXEY KOMAROV

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Pentagon Analyzes Rumsfeld Approach

Washington While new U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is taking measure of the Pentagon, which has changed considerably since he was last in charge there in the mid-1970s, the Pentagon is sizing up Rumsfeld. Navy officials have been passing around a series of memorandums describing first impressions of the new chief and how to avoid running afoul of his fast-moving style.

By David A. Fulghum

January 292001

February 122001

February 5, 2001

February 5, 2001