Weight & Balance for the CESSNA L-19 Bird Dog 305C

assemble its first production SH09 later this year. The SH09 will be manufactured in Lafayette, Louisiana, US, as well as a new facility in Mollis, Switzerland. Deliveries are set to begin in 2021, with the company saying that it has orders for more than 70 helicopters. 4 AEROSPACE Larger cabin The rear cabin has been enlarged to give an additional seat – allowing for eight passengers plus a single pilot. Part of the fuel cells have been relocated from the rear cabin wall to the cabin floor. Kopter Quieter tail rotor The shrouded tail rotor design has been redefined to optimise the noise signature, as well as to improve the service life and ease of maintenance. SH09 specifications Crew/passengers 5-9 Range 430nm Max cruise speed 140kt MTOW 6,283lb 5 APRIL 2020 Optimised main rotor The main rotor mast has been elongated to improve handling qualities, while the blade shape has been optimised to enhance performance. The architecture features inter-blade elastomeric dampers and external flight control lines to ease maintenance. Glass cockpit The SH09 features a Garmin G3000H glass-cockpit with two 12in touch-screen displays. The avionics suite has the capability to integrate a four-axis autopilot to allow for IFR operations. Skids updated Landing skids have been updated with a modified geometry and a simpler attachment to the fuselage. 6 Radome AEROSPACE NEWS IN BRIEF Boeing has requested a $60bn bailout, including loan guarantees, from the US Government, to protect itself and the 2.5million jobs and 17,000 companies in its wider supply chain during the Coronavirus crisis. An Air Tahiti Nui Boeing 787 Dreamliner has set a new record for the world's longest airline flight after flying 9,765 miles from Tahiti to Paris on 14 March. The lightly loaded aircraft was supposed to make a stop over at Los Angeles but, because of the US ban on international flights, made the non-stop flight in 16 hours. US flight training contractor Air USA is reported to have bought 46 former Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) F/A-18 Hornets. Air USA already operates BAE Hawks, Alpha Jets and MiG 29s as part of its training with the US Air Force. The European Space Agency (ESA) and Russia’s Roscosmos have announced that the Exomars mission launch has now been delayed until 2022. The mission, to land the European rover Rosalind Franklin on the Red Planet, was originally intended to be launched this summer. However, ‘tests necessary to make all components of the spacecraft fit for the Mars adventure need more time to complete’, according to ESA. US aircraft manufacturer Textron is to lay off 7,000 workers for four weeks due to the Coronavirus. Most of the layoffs will come from the company's factory in Wichita, Kansas. A consortium of UK aerospace and automotive companies is to work together to manufacture additional medical ventilators for the UK National Health Service for the Coronavirus pandemic. Led by Meggitt, which already produces oxygen systems for aircraft, GKN, Airbus, Thales and Renishaw from the aerospace industry together with McClaren and Nissan from the automotive sector. The aim is to produce an initial 5,000 ventilators followed by an additional 30,000. On 20 March, Farnborough International Air Show announced that this year's global aerospace trade exhibition and air show, set for 20-24 July, would now be cancelled due to the Coronavirus. The organisers say the show will return in 2022. The move came on the same day that the Royal International Air Tattoo reached a similar decision and cancelled its 2020 air show. Other trade shows and exhibitions cancelled or postponed include AERO Friedrichshafen, ILA Berlin, EBACE and the Hamburg Aircraft Interiors show as well as Cosford and Yeovilton air displays. Farnborough International Military exercises curtailed ESA closes spaceport, NASA halts work on SLS COVID-19: airlines go into full lockdown mode Farnborough cancelled As AEROSPACE goes to press in mid-March, the world's airlines have begun cancelling services and grounding fleets as the COVID-19 pandemic has closed international borders and load factors have plummented. In the US, United has reduced its international services by 95%, while in Europe, budget carrier Ryanair is to ground almost its entire fleet after 24 March. In Australia, flag carrier Qantas has cut all international flights and stood down 20,000 of its staff, while Cathay Pacific is to reduce its flights by 96% over April and May. IATA now estimates that the world's airlines are facing losses of $252bn. In the UK, Airlines UK is pressing the Government for an emergency £7.5bn cash injection. (See ‘A bioshock to aviation’ p 14). Military exercises and routine operations are now being affected by the Coronavirus outbreak. On 11 March, NATO closed the Norway- based exercise Cold Response, which would have involved 15,000 troops. NATO's tactical air warfare exercise, Frisian Flag, set to take place in The Netherlands from 23 March - 4 April and involving around 50 aircraft has also been cancelled. International exercises in Morocco, South Korea and Israel have also been cancelled or scaled back.  Meanwhile, air forces have been busy in transporting vital medical supplies, including virus testing kits, patients from worst affected areas to ones with more capacity, as well as helping repatriate tourists stuck overseas. AEROSPACE AIR TRANSPORT DEFENCE COVID-19 On 16 March the European Space Agency (ESA) announced that all launches from its spaceport in French Guiana, South America, were suspended indefinitely due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, the Agency has shifted the majority of its personnel at its ESOC mission control centre in Germany to home working. In the US, NASA has yet to cancel launches, including the first SpaceX Crewed Dragon mission in May but has instituted remote working plans for its employees. It has also suspended all production and testing work on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket at two facilities in Louisiana and Mississippi. ICAO SPACEFLIGHT 7 APRIL 2020 US carrier Silver Airways is to introduce four new ATR- 600 regional turboprops into its Caribbean operation this year. The first aircraft, an ATR 72- 600, began flying in March which will be followed by three ATR 42-600s in April, June and July. On 3 March, Lockheed Martin delivered the 500th F-35 Lightning II. The aircraft, a F35A was delivered to the Vermont Air National Guard. The 500 F-35s delivered so far comprise 354 F-35As, 108 STOVL F-35Bs and 38 carrier-capable F-35Cs. A prototype of SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft was damaged on 28 February when a stainless steel tank was blown off the test stand in Boca Chica, Texas, during a pressure test. The incident is not expected to delay the Starship test programme. Babcock’s Offshore business has won a new five-year shared contract with three oil and gas operators for helicopter transport in the North Sea. The contract will initially see Babcock operate over 100 helicopter flights each month from Sumburgh in Shetland, on behalf of CNR International, EnQuest and TAQA. Flights are expected to begin in July. UAV manufacturer UMS Skeldar has launched a new V-150 VTOL platform to support tactical operations including military missions, surveillance, police and emergency response and homeland security. The V-150 can carry multiple payloads in two payload bays (30kg and 12kg) and be fitted with a variety of different sensors depending on the type of mission. Russian flag carrier Aeroflot has taken delivery of the first of an eventual 22 Airbus A350-900s. Bell and a Sikorsky- Boeing team are to go to the next stage of the US Army's Future Long Range Air Assault (FLRAA) programme. Bell will offer its V-280 Valor tiltrotor while Sikorsky-Boeing will compete with the compound helicopter SB-1 Defiant. On 4 March, cash- stricken UK regional airline Flybe collapsed, with its aircraft impounded and the company going into administration late in the evening. The airline, which employed over 2,000 workers, had previously warned that it needed a Government loan of £100m to keep operating, amid a slump in flight bookings due to the Coronavirus outbreak. Meanwhile, in the US, regional carrier Minneapolis-based Compass Airlines, which flies feeder services for American Airlines and Delta Air Lines as American Eagle will close down on 7 April. In St Louis, regional airline Trans States, Airlines will also cease flight operations on 1 April. UK to leave EASA, says Minister France’s VoltAero has said it has began flight tests with its hybrid-electric powered Cassio prototype from its HQ in Royan-Médis Aérodrome, France. The aircraft is based on a modified pusher-puller Cessna 337 with two Safran electric engines replacing the forward piston engine. Formed by ex-Airbus CTO Jean Boti, the current testing is focused on a powertrain for a six-seat version of the aircraft, which will be followed by validation of aerodynamics and configurations for four and nine-seat variants. UK Transport Minister Grant Shapps MP has revealed that Britain is to leave EASA fully after Brexit at the end of 2020 – with civil aviation regulatory powers reverting back to the national CAA. Speaking to US trade publication Aviation Week, in Washington DC on 6 March Shapps said that regulatory Regional airlines go under in US, UK Boeing reveals FARA contender powers would revert back to the UK in a gradual way – with the aim of the UK developing its own certification and standards. Meanwhile, UK aerospace and defence trade body ADS had previously estimated that it would take 5-10 years and 300 staff for the UK to regain its responsibilities and oversight. VoltAero AEROSPACE AIR TRANSPORT DEFENCE GENERAL AVIATION Boeing has revealed its entry for the US Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) programme to replace OH-58D Kiowa Warrior scout helicopters and some AH-64 Apaches. Powered by a single General Electric T901 engine, the as yet unnamed Boeing Future High-Speed Armed Scout Helicopter is fitted with a single six-bladed main rotor, four- bladed tail rotor and four-bladed pusher prop. The helicopter will have a modular cockpit with a reconfigurable large area display and a pilot-optional autonomous capability. Boeing Hybrid-electric VoltAero Cassio begins flight tests AEROSPACE 8 The 20th SpaceX Dragon unmanned cargo capsule docked with the International Space Station on 9 March. The docking was the last time the capsule needed to be captured using the ISS Canadarm robotic arm, as future Dragon capsules will be designed to dock directly. The capsule was carrying over 4,300lb of food, experiments and spare parts. The UK MoD’s Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) arm has sold 63 decommissioned Vigilant T1 motor gliders to disabled pilot charity Aerobility. Formerly used to train RAF Air Cadets, the gliders will be upgraded with new engines, propellers and cockpits with the first aircraft ready to fly in the summer of 2021. The first ten gliders will be refurbished by Grob Aircraft in Germany – the original manufacturer and design authority – to meet civil certification standards with the remaining aircraft to be engineered and recertified by Southern Sailplanes in the UK. The latest UK Government budget, revealed on 11 March, has outlined increased funding for R&D in Britain – pledging to double it by 2024. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, announced that £800m would be used to create a new research body based on the original US DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). Some £100m has also been earmarked for defence R&D, including ‘cutting-edge technology in aviation and space propulsion’. Eurocontrol has signed a ten year agreement with Aireon for the provision of space-based automatic dependent surveillance- broadcast (ADS-B) data. Eurocontrol said that the agreement will enhance flow management capabilities across its 41 European member states and two comprehensive agreement (CA) states to improve air traffic predictability, capacity and environmental impact. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has unveiled its new Radome NEWS IN BRIEF MBDA tests Sea Venom missile Bell EDAT breaks cover Piaggio up for sale Satellite docking milestone GENERAL AVIATION AEROSPACE DEFENCE Bankrupt Italian aerospace company Piaggio Aerospace is being offered for sale, with a deadline of 3 April for potential bidders. Currently under ‘extraordinary administration’, Villanova d'Albenga-based Piaggio Aero Industries and Piaggio Aviation are responsible for the P.180 Avanti twin-turboprop business aircraft, a UAV variant, the P1HH Hammerhead, as well as the design and manufacture of aircraft engines. The move comes after the company was put into receivership after the then owner, Abu Dhabi's Mubadala, withdrew. Piaggio says that it has some $490m in its order backlog, with an equal amount of deals pending. The sale will be subject to approval from the Italian Ministry of Economic Development. On 3 March, Northrop Grumman’s subsidiary SpaceLogistics docked its mission extension vehicle (MEV-1) with commercial communications satellite Intelsat 901 (IS-901). The manoeuvre was the first time that two commercial satellites have docked in orbit. MEV-1 will remain with IS- 901 for the next five years, using its thrusters and fuel to maintain the satellite’s position. A second mission extension vehicle is expected to be launched later this year. Bell has unveiled a secret rotorcraft demonstrator, based on its 429 helicopter that has been modified with an electric multi-rotor tail fin. The Electrically Distributed Anti- Torque (EDAT) prototype has conducted around 25hrs of flight testing since May 2019 from Bell’s Mirabel, Canada facility. Swapping the traditional tail rotor, powered by transmission from the engines, to four electric fixed-blade motors, reduces noise, carbon emissions and operating costs – as well as enhancing safety, says Bell. Northrop Grumman Missile company MBDA has conducted the first qualification firing trial of its medium range Sea Venom anti-ship missile fired from a helicopter. The test was carried out on 20 February at the French DGA defence procurement agency’s Essais de missiles test site in the Bay of Biscay, in which the missile was launched from a Dauphin helicopter at a shipping container stacked on a large vessel at sea. Developed as part of an Anglo-French co-operation programme, the Sea Venom is intended to be used by the French navy’s future Airbus Helicopters H160M and the UK Royal Navy’s Leonardo Helicopters AW159 Wildcat. SPACEFLIGHT Bell Skyryse has launched a new flight automation system which it claims can be retrofitted onto any aircraft to enable anyone to fly using intuitive controls. Named FlightOS, the automated system operates using simplified flight control operations in which an aircraft can be operated with a touchscreen tablet or joystick, while on-board computers control all aspects of the flight envelope and use exterior radar and sensors for situational awareness. According to the company, the technology can operate in all weather and visibility conditions, as well as taking over control in emergency situations.' APRIL 2020 9 ON THE MOVE Mitsubishi Aerospace Skyryse OneWeb reportedly faces bankruptcy Mega-constellation start-up OneWeb, which is aiming to develop a global LEO satellite communications network has been considering bankruptcy options as it runs out of cash, Bloomberg news reports. The satellite operator, founded in 2012, has launched 74 of its 650 satellite fleet, with the MoD projects £13bn black hole, says NAO most recent launch taking place on 21 March using a Russian Soyuz. However, the company is now reported to be struggling with higher costs and intensified competition – primarily from SpaceX's Starlink network, which is developing a 3,500 satellite megaconstellation and which has already deployed 360 spacecraft. Fly anything using a tablet AEROSPACE DEFENCE The UK National Audit Office (NAO) has warned of a £13bn ‘black hole’ in the Ministry of Defence’s defence spending. An NAO report claims that the MoD risks losing day-to- day operational capabilities such as air surveillance due to ‘unaffordable’ equipment plans and being ‘over-optimistic’ about its ability to make savings. According to the NAO, the MoD’s plans to acquire and support aircraft, ships and weapons will cost £183.6bn between 2019-29 – an overspend of £2.9bn. The announcement comes at the same time that Prime Minister Boris Johnson has launched a spending review into UK defence and security strategy. Willie Walsh is to stay on as CEO of IAG due to the Coronavirus crisis. James Taiclet has been named successor to the Lockheed Martin CEO, Marillyn Hewson, effective 15 June. Nikki Haley, former US Ambassador to the UN, has resigned from the board of Boeing. Éric Martel is to become the new President and CEO of Bombardier. Cranfield University has appointed Chikage Myoshi as Associate Professor in Environment Systems for Aerospace and Guy Gratton, as Associate Professor in Aviation and the Environment. Defender conceptual unmanned air vehicle designed to be used as an air-to-air missile platform for protecting large and slow-moving aircraft. The UAV could also remain on station longer by being refuelled by aerial tankers. Virgin Galactic Holdings has reported a net loss of $73m for 2019. However, the company announced that it achieved the key milestones in its mission to open access to space in a safe, innovative and affordable way, including building operational readiness at Spaceport America in New Mexico. Russian Helicopters has delivered the first serial produced twin- engine multi-purpose Mi-38 helicopter to the Gazprombank Leasing company. Built by Kazan Helicopters, the aircraft will be operated by Russian Helicopter Systems (RHS) in a corporate transport configuration. SpaceJet M90 makes first flight On 18 March, Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation successfully flew the first SpaceJet M90 in its baseline production configuration from Prefectural Nagoya Airport, Japan. The flight lasted one hour and 45 minutes The regional airliner is an enhanced version of the original MRJ, which is now running ten years behind schedule. The aircraft will perform other tests in Japan, before joining the rest of the MRJ/SpaceJet test fleet in Moses Lake, US. The goal is certification this year. SPACEFLIGHT GENERAL AVIATION An eVTOL prototype made by Germany's Lilium Jet was damaged by a fire on 27 February. The incident took place during ground maintenance in a hangar. Correction In the March edition of AEROSPACE, in the article Stronger Togther, we incorrectly referred to the Director of Life Cycle Management at the NATO Support Procurement Agency (NSPA) as Rudolf Mauser. His correct name is Rudolf Maus. We apologise for any confusion. 10 AEROSPACE IATA By the Numbers Understanding the world of Aerospace through data The Effects of Covid-19 on World Aerospace Airports Council International 5G report. For aviation, 5G is seen as being key to enabling cost-effective urban air mobility traffic control. There are two key differences between 5G and its predecessors. One, the wide-area network has more small cells and masts, which use millimetre wave frequencies for a shorter connection range. The second is that wide-area network uses multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) antennas to link with those small cell clusters. Nokia’s air-to-ground system uses MIMO antennas to communicate with aircraft. This all in turn connects to the core network which consists of telecoms exchanges with distributed Internet servers to reduce response times, along with a voice and data management system which is fully integrated with the Internet and cloud-based services. Building air 5G With 5G, passengers are expected to notice a difference in service levels curbside, long before they get airside. For the airport, cable-free terminals are being touted as a benefit, along with fewer WIFI access points and radio cell masts; less to be maintained but far greater data throughput. For this communications revolution, the 5G market in aviation in 2021 will be worth $0.5bn with North America representing the largest share and airports the main investment, according to Indian market research firm Markets And Markets Research. The Indian firm also estimates a rapidly growing 5G aviation market reaching a worth of $3.9bn by 2026. In an airport, the 5G network will connect to the existing 4G equipment and use it for the bandwidth capacity expansion and smoother service passengers will experience. Airports can already install 4G LTE networks to improve upon the legacy 3G grid performance. Alongside the passenger services, airports are being offered private 5G staff networks for security and reliability. Today, many airports use the same WIFI network for staff and passengers. Ultimately, air traffic control is seen as a beneficiary of 5G with far greater communication between ATC and incoming and departing aircraft, enabling a far more efficient use of airspace. Supersonic aircraft could be linked to a terrestrial 5G network over land even if the Mach-1 plus business jets in development cruise near the speed of sound. The technology of 5G is expected to bring true broadband to passenger and crew alike and magnify airport communications, while also simplifying an airport’s network and reducing in-flight telecommunications’ need for satellites. For governments, Chinese 5G provider Huawei has courted controversy with accusations of being in cahoots with the Beijing regime but US firms Intel and Verizon and the European companies Ericsson and Nokia are also offering 5G solutions. The speed of the sound of voice calls The one-time mobile phone giant, Nokia, has a 5G solution that it says can work with vehicles at speeds of up to 1,200kph (745mph). Existing standards have only allowed speeds of up to 300kph. Nokia has a 4G LTE, or Long-Term Evolution, air-to-ground version of this and it is used by Deutsche Telekom’s European Aviation Network (EAN) broadband service. The EAN also uses Inmarsat satellite communications and Thales avionics and it operates within the European Union. The International Airlines Group uses EAN and Nokia’s 4G LTE. Whether it is 5G or 4G LTE, passengers would connect through an onboard antenna. Other companies which are offering an airborne 5G service are Ericsson, with Panasonic Avionics Corporation technology and in-flight connectivity firm Gogo with network systems specialist Cisco. A 5G network is a radio system operating in the microwave band of the electromagnetic spectrum. Microwave radiation is between 300 megahertz and 300 gigahertz. Mobile phones use part of that microwave band, from 900MHz to 1.8GHz. A 5G network’s two main components, the radio access network and the core network, are also used by its telecommunications predecessors, 3G and 4G. Many promises have been made for the enormous bandwidth of 5G: the consumer terrestrial service could deliver as much as 100 megabits per second, according to technology advisory firm Ovum’s 2018 Pushing the Envelope Aerospace pulls 5Gs Robert Coppinger 11 APRIL 2020 NOKIA, HAS A 5G SOLUTION THAT IT SAYS CAN WORK WITH VEHICLES AT SPEEDS OF UP TO 1,200KPH Exploring advances on the leading edge of aerospace AEROSPACE 12 Transmission f i LETTERS AND ONLINE f i @aerosociety Find us on LinkedIn Find us on Facebook www.aerosociety.com Charlie Jeffs Aviation was doomed the moment we decided to leave the EU. Covid-19 has just accelerated it, don’t blame the virus, blame the public brain sickness, failing to think first. Eur Ing Bishnujee Singh They just need to move on with another opportunity. Life never ends, airlines across the continent are in the same boat due to flight cancellations. Aviation and Covid-19 George F. Very happy with the result, thank you for organising a great event! Talitha-Kay Greatorex So proud of you all! Well done! Alex Middleton A great Young Persons’ event! Very happy with the result and to meet so many like-minded people. Penny Broadway Well done Team Leeds! Fadl I [On New members Spotlight Shumit Das(1) ] Congratulations on the Fellowship Shumit Das! Jamie Jungmi Seebaluck Well done Shumit. Keep making us proud!! Zuhair Mir Hey Shumi congrats mate what an achievement. Chris Fonseka All good wishes Shumit. Nuno Helder Shumit Das, look at you! New member? Weren’t you and Olivia Stodieck representing it at Airbus Bristol? Shumit Das Heya Nuno! New Member because new Fellow. Actually Olivia and I were representing the Materials Society #SAMPE UK & Ireland when we were at Aerospace Bristol last week! Flybe bankruptcy AeroChallenge Congratulations to Team AvSoc UoL from the University of Leeds for winning #Aerochallenge2020 – students have finally taken the crown from the grads! Thank you to all the teams for taking part. And thank you to the Leonardo Company for supporting this event once again. #aerochallenge Magdalene Elyetu Unfortunately all men – where are the women? An annual event for teams of young people organised by the RAeS Young Persons’ Committee, AeroChallenge 2020 was held at No. 4 Hamilton Place on 4 March. AeroChallenge New Members spotlight @AlexLuck9 [On ‘A Bioshock to aviation – what next’ blog(2) ] Excellent and very thorough write-up on where it’s at for the aviation industry – Brace brace brace! @Brannonski Uncharted territory in all areas! In fact ,the uncomfortable truth is that air transport is what has actually got to this uncharted territory! Interesting times ahead for one such as myself that own an ATO... I was worried about coming out of EASA! Bigger issues now! @aerodynmagic [On Spaceflight in 2020 – a look ahead(3) ] Would be better to donate every penny of space tourism money to virus research. @maxsundance1 [On ‘Breaking through the HUD- glass ceiling’ blog – is the end of the fighter pilot here?(4) ] Yes! The era of the drones is already here + AI. With all the technological advances that come up every day, I would not underestimate the AI of being more accurate than humans in any dog fighter. And why are we still fighting with each other? @Elchrich_Elch I heard this already in the ‘50s. Drones are still more vulnerable to cyberwarfare than a F-4. @NoliMarcelo I don’t think so. It’s like when they said (early Phantom jet era) that aerial dogfighting with guns was also obsolete. @HenryCobb The next generation fighter pilot shall be a forward mentor for our remotely mentored aircraft. @timdavies_uk Don’t worry, the end of the fighter pilot is nigh but their egos will last a millennium. Women in Aviation Thanks to the engagement of our speakers at the first-ever Women in Aviation Forum held by @AeroSociety @RAeSParis on 10 March, we learned of their motivation, the challenges they faced, their professional achievements and the messages to young women keen on entering the domain. In February the last A380 wing produced at Airbus Broughton in Wales was shipped by barge to Mostyn to be transported to Toulouse. The starboard wing is pictured here proceeding down the River Dee at Queensferry near Chester. End of an era for A380 @RAeSCareers [Cool Aeronatics Super Thursday] #ThrowbackThursday to last week when we brought you #superthursday with three #coolaeronautics across the UK & Ireland! With support from @RAFHalton, @RollsRoyce and @irishskys we #inspired over 200 children with #aerospace and #STEM activities. Aviation and Covid-19 Redirect space funds Drones vs pilots Allen Coughlan i f @aerosociety linkedin.com/raes facebook.com/raes www.aerosociety.com 13 APRIL 2020 1. https://aerosociety.com/news/new-member-spotlight-shumit-das/ 2. https://aerosociety.com/news/a-bioshock-to-aviation-what-next/ 3. https://aerosociety.com/news/spacefl ight-in-2020-a-look-ahead/ 4. https://aerosociety.com/news/breaking-through-the-hud-glass-ceiling/ Unloading bullion to the approximate value of $48,000,000 which was transported from Germany to Croydon by a Junkers G24, as payment from Germany to Britain under the Dawes Plan, July 1925. From the RAeS photo archives RAeS/NAL #BlackArrow rocket 1st stage joins two other historic British aircraft on display at @FASTmuseum – Cody’s British Army Aeroplane No 1A and the Zephyr record-breaking HAPS UAV #avgeek #spaceflight @ProfAtkin [On Aerospace consortium races to produce ventilator] Some action already, efforts probably more widespread too. @MichaelJPryce Getting qualified machinists etc from aerospace firms into the factories of existing ventilator manufacturers could also be valuable. Rapid ramp up to 24/7 shifts and cross- learning on processes to feed back to new producers. @steveaprocter [On Apollo 15, Col Al Worden passes away aged 88] Very sad news. A lovely man who loved being over here in the UK when he could. @Rob_Coppinger I enjoyed interviewing him many years ago and talking to him about his deep space EVA, the very first. @yasserthoughts [On Could RAF Red Arrows evolve into a joint display/ aggressor sqn after the Hawk T1A retires?] The PAF Sherdils can act as a model here. Pilots taken from PAF academy staff, K-8a borrowed from academy fl eet. Obviously not 100% ideal but very cost efficient. They could be better but the pilots are full time instructors so need to balance that off. A part time team is better than no team at all. It would be tragic if The Reds were axed. @daylyt100 Absolutely agree. I was instructor and part time team member for a season and was exhausted. I just can’t see national aerobatic team free-lancing part time as ‘aggressors’ other than as a ‘war role’. I don’t think, for many UK.co reasons, it will come to that. FAST Black Arrow @rys_parker What most people fail to realise, is there’s virtually no sideways movement in this business. It’s all seniority based. Whether you have 200hrs or 10,000hrs, you start a new company at the bottom of the ladder. No negotiating your ‘package’ – it’s pay point 1 @matthewsydney In normal times, is there ever pressure within the pilot community in airlines to reform that system, and might this precipitate that? Would imagine strong vested interests in favour and against... @vcs22 Yes it’s not uncommon, however, the airlines have gone through a decade of massive profits, which have never been seen. All this should give them sufficient financial heft to treat their employees well in trying times. @krisvancleave They aren’t making anyone take unpaid leave at this point. An unpaid leave where the employee keeps their benefits and travel privileges is not uncommon in the airline world. But this is not likely to be a single quarter. Airlines are bracing for possibly years of recovery. Airline pilot jobs under threat @PhillipCovell [On UK to leave EASA] Seems an unusually long and bureaucratic timeline to me! Surely you start by adopting everything as it is, then progressively changing that which you want to change, so the emphasis goes on recruitment and training where required. @ @SouthernFairy16 Just had my first request on @AltaMentoring to be a mentor for a lady looking to get into the aerospace sector. Exciting! @RAeSCareers Aerospace ventilators Al Worden RIP Future of Red Arrows UK to leave EASA @AltaMentoring FAST to be the size of that of Portugal. Whole countries are now in lockdown. Aircraft fleets are grounded and the global air transport system, that critical oil that lubricates the world economy, is in danger of seizing up completely. The global pandemic is not just affecting airlines but is now rippling through supply chains, tourism, industry events and even spaceflight, as entire countries have gone into lockdown, with borders closing and ‘social distancing’ rules coming in. With sports, entertainment, restaurants, social and face-to-face activity curtailed, the entire world economy may be on the brink of recession. The deadly virus, spreading out from its origin in Wuhan, China, has now entered Europe and the US, home to the 14 AEROSPACE AEROSPACE Coronavirus Only six months ago, the world’s airlines were in rude health. After another straight year of profits, the biggest crisis facing some was that manufacturers were not getting aircraft fast enough to cope with insatiable demand. Climate change was the biggest cloud on the horizon but airlines and OEMs were safe in the apparent law of nature that, despite blips, air travel doubles every 15 years. Then the Coronavirus struck. The Chinese aviation market, predicted to be the biggest in the world by 2022, rapidly contracted As the air transport system reels under the unprecedented pressure from a global pandemic, TIM ROBINSON looks at the impact on the world’s airlines and the global aerospace system. A Bioshock to aviation – what next? 15 APRIL 2020 most mature and busiest airline markets. These factors, and the uncertainty of when restrictions might ease, make it clear that this is an existential crisis that dwarfs even 9/11 – where fears of terrorism temporarily suppressed demand for air travel. Traffic has dropped completely – and as a scale of measurement while the 9/11 attacks caused a 18.9% fall in US capacity and the 2008 financial crash caused a 10% drop, predictions now are around the 50% mark just for US airlines. Some other analysts suggest that a staggering 80% of the global fleet could be grounded – an unprecedented number. The CAPA Centre for Aviation, for example, has an apocalyptic prediction that, by the end of May, most airlines will be bankrupt without some form of state support. Such is the speed of this crisis, that a prediction from IATA that in a worst case scenario, the world’s airlines will need $113bn to survive, was quickly surpassed. IATA now estimates that carriers will need $200bn in bailouts. There is also no immediate answer to when the situation might recover or even ease. With groundings and flight cancellations running through April into May – the disruption may last longer. While President Trump has said that the worst may be over by August, the UK Government is planning on the basis that it could be a long campaign and it may not be until April 2021 until things return to normal. In the meantime, the economic damage to the world’s air transport sector – which carries 4.4bn passengers every year and is worth $2.7tn – is unprecedented. The skies shutdown The magnitude of the crisis has accelerated rapidly, catching airlines off guard with capacity reductions now expanded to full blown groundings as nations lock down their borders. Ryanair, for example, Europe’s largest budget airline with over 450 aircraft, is to ground almost all its entire fleet from 24 March, except for essential UK-Ireland services. This follows in the footsteps of airlines such as Poland’s LOT, SAS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Air Baltic – as well as a French all-business carrier, La Compagnie. Meanwhile, other airlines are scrambling to reduce capacity, with Lufthansa Group parking up 95% of its fleet, Norwegian Air cutting 85% of its flights and laying off 90% of its workforce. The crisis is accelerating the retirement of larger aircraft – with Air France- KLM announcing that flights will be reduced by 70-90% and all AF A380s and KLM 747s being parked up. Finnair, meanwhile, is to reduce its capacity by 90%. In the UK, British Airways CEO Alex Cruz told staff on 13 March that the flag carrier faces “a crisis of global proportions like no other we have known” with the airline expecting to ground 50% of its aircraft. Only a few days later, its owner, IAG which also comprises Aer Lingus and Iberia, said it will reduce capacity by 75%. EasyJet meanwhile, has already cancelled 40% of its flights in March and is expecting to ground the majority of its fleet. Virgin Atlantic is to ground 75% of its fleet and is asking staff to take eight weeks unpaid leave. Outside Europe, Korean Air has grounded 100 of its aircraft or some 80% of its capacity while Emirates has cancelled flights to 30 international destinations and pilots have being asked to take unpaid leave. Cathay Pacific has cut its flights by 90% while Sri Lankan has suspended operations. In Australia, Qantas is to halt international flights and lay off 20,000 of its staff. In the US, the situation is not much better. While the US has, so far, resisted a flight ban on domestic air travel, airlines were caught off guard by the announcement by President Donald Trump of a ban on transatlantic travel for continental European nations on 12 March – adding to existing bans on travel from China and Iran. This directive (which did not include cargo or US citizens, as well as the US and Ireland) added to confusion. The UK and Ireland were added to the ban on 16 March while travel between the US and Canada curtailed to ‘non-essential travel’. These restrictions to transatlantic services on the world’s most lucrative and busiest long-haul route have caused US airlines to face capacity cuts. American Airlines, for example, cancelled 75% of its international services while United has announced that it is looking at 60% cuts and warning things could get worse. Delta Air Lines meanwhile, cancelled all flights to mainland Europe and, in the space of a few days, has doubled the number of aircraft it will park up from 300 to 600. For its part, JetBlue is to slash its flights by 40% in April and May. One bright spot is that airlines in mainland China, where carriers cancelled an average of 10-22% flights in January and February – some are looking to reinstate services as the outbreak seems to be slowing due to draconian measures. These above are obviously just a snapshot of the cuts and cancellations across the entire globe and the situation is extremely fluid. THE CAPA CENTRE FOR AVIATION, FOR EXAMPLE, HAS AN APOCALYPTIC PREDICTION THAT, BY THE END OF MAY, MOST AIRLINES WILL BE BANKRUPT WITHOUT SOME FORM OF STATE SUPPORT. Bonnielou2013 16 AEROSPACE system to successfully restart production on the other side of the crisis. With mass gatherings now cancelled across the globe and governments warning against assembling more than ten people together, the aerospace sectors conference, exhibition and air show schedules has been thrown into limbo. Business aviation show EBACE (26 May), Germany’s ILA Berlin (13-17 May) and Hamburg Aircraft Interiors (30 March-2 April) have all been cancelled or postponed – with other smaller air shows and industry events being cancelled or postponed. Going forward it is uncertain what that means for the busy summer airshow season – as we go to press, both RIAT and the Farnborough Air Show in the UK, are now cancelled. What can be done? This unprecedented crisis for airlines and the aviation industry has meant there have been calls for extensive government assistance and support to help help survive. Loosening of slot restrictions on airports was one of the first measures to be announced, hoping to end ‘ghost flights’ where airlines flew almost empty aircraft to retain landing rights at key airports under the ‘use it or lose it rule’. Airlines are now pressing for direct bailouts and state support. In the UK, the Airlines UK industry group has called for an immediate £7.5bn emergency stimulus from the government to assist beleaguered airlines. In Italy, the Government has already indicated it will re-nationalise flag carrier Alitalia in a €600m bailout – the latest twist in the fortunes of the ailing national airline. Over in India, the latest news is the AEROSPACE Coronavirus The entire aerospace industry reels It is also not just airlines that are suffering but also other sectors of aerospace and aviation. Military exercises have either been curtailed (NATO Cold Response) or cancelled (Frisian Flag) while the Pentagon has cancelled all non-essential domestic travel until 11 May. The virus has also spread to affect the aerospace supply chain, destroying demand for new aircraft and threatening existing production lines. On 17 March, Airbus announced that it would close assembly lines in France and Spain to implement stringent health and hygiene measures. In the US, Boeing already in crisis with the 737MAX still grounded, faces demand for new aircraft falling off a cliff edge, just when it was expecting the narrowbody to return to flight. Meanwhile, with its base in the epicentre of the European outbreak, Italy’s Leonardo group has suspended deliveries of helicopters. Even in spaceflight, the Coronavirus is now affecting everyday operations. ESA has suspended all launches from its spaceport in French Guiana in South America. NASA has yet to cancel launches but has instituted remote working plans for its employees. The effects are also likely to ripple down the global aerospace supply chain. While OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers should have enough resilience, SMEs that supply components or sub-components (already under pressure from above to cut costs) will be at greater risk of going bankrupt while production lines are at a standstill. Loss of these small companies, that produce parts to feed into the giant aerospace supply chain, could hamper the capability of the Boeing Ministerio Defensa 17 APRIL 2020 airlines, as well as those with de-facto state ownership will emerge from the other side. What also is unclear is what will happen to airline staff and pilots furloughed in this period. In previous crises, the mobility and skills of airline pilots allowed them to move to where the highest demand was. Now, with a global pandemic and recession, the option to move to sunnier climes may simply not be available. Recurrent checks, type ratings and the need to maintain currency thus mean that if the shutdown is prolonged, the more difficult it will be for airlines to ramp up when passengers return. What can aviation do to help? However terrible this pandemic is, aviation is also on the front line in saving lives, delivering much needed medical equipment and aid to the worst hit areas, as well as repatriating passengers to their own countries as the world goes into lockdown. Cargo- only flights using passenger aircraft are already taking place, as well as humanitarian flights delivering essential testing equipment and medical supplies. In France, the Armee d’Air has been using its Airbus A330MRTTs configured as medical transports to shift infected patients from cities in France with overwhelmed hospitals to those with more space capacity. In the US, the USAF has swung into action to transport 500,000 Coronavirus sampling kits aboard a C-17 from Italy to the US. Government is planning a $1.8bn rescue bailout for its stricken airlines. In Norway, the Government has promised $533m to its airlines, including Norwegian Air, Wideroe and SAS. Meanwhile in the US, the Airlines 4 America trade body is pressing for a $50bn emergency stimulus to assist the country’s airlines, including direct grants, loans and tax relief – with a warning that airlines are burning through $10bn a month to stay afloat. The US is also considering assistance for the aerospace sector – primarily its strategic asset and leading exporter, Boeing, with a requested $60bn bailout. Ironically, this plea for state assistance from Boeing came only 24 hours after Washington raised import tariffs on Airbus products from 10% to 15% for European subsidies. However, money for corporate bailouts has not been welcome by everyone. In the US, fingers have been pointed at airlines that have invested 96% of their free cashflow into ‘share buyback schemes’ instead of future resilience. Boeing too was already under criticism for its focus on share dividends, even before the virus outbreak. There are thus calls that any state rescue cash infusions come with conditions that protect jobs and services first and foremost. Some airlines, therefore, could be looking at nationalisation or consolidation. These may be the lucky ones, with travel restrictions and economic carnage causing others to go under. It is thus likely then, that only the biggest and most well-financed Chad Davies/Flickr GotoVan AEROSPACE 18 How long will this last? All indications are that this will not be over quickly and it will take time either for populations to acquire ‘herd immunity’ or a vaccine to be developed and distributed. While there is enough evidence to suggest that pent-up demand for foreign travel and holidays will return, there may well be restrictions on travel and tourism – from countries that have conquered the outbreak to those still suffering from it. One positive aspect is that in China, the worst seems to be over and life is now returning to normal admittedly after an extreme lockdown. Some experts warn, however that a second wave could easily spring up once restrictions are relaxed. There is also an unknown factor in how the necessity of remote working and video conferences will change demand, at least for business travel. Much as how the corporate travel departments ‘discovered’ non-frills carriers in the wake of the 2008 financial crash, will investment in high-speed broadband for HD video mean that passenger demand has permanently shifted? Will working from home destroy the case for eVTOLs to escape traffic in crowded cities? There have been calls for ‘social distancing rules’ to be applied to airlines – spreading out passengers and blocking the booking of middle seats. While the circulation of airflow is highly As well as these relief and cargo flights, there have also been calls to utilise the now-idle resources of the world’s airlines in what amounts to wartime conditions. Could airline food caterers be mobilised to deliver essential meals to the elderly and those in quarantine? Airport cleaners to help disinfect hospitals? Another suggestion has been to ask flight attendants, who already have medical and emergency training, to be deployed to assist frontline health workers – thus keeping them employed and paid, as well as reducing the burden on medical staff. The air transport sector thus, deprived of its passengers, is potentially a valuable resource of individuals with skills in organisation, logistics and who are already laser focused on safety. Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector is also quickly shifting to assist. Investments by aerospace in 3D printing and rapid prototyping is now being redirected towards the manufacturing of ventilators needed by those Coronavirus patients in the most serious condition. In the UK, Meggitt, Airbus, Thales, GKN and Renishaw are now part of industrial consortia racing to develop life-saving oxygen ventilators, in parallel with automotive companies. The worldwide talent, experience and technology of aerospace is thus being focused on the biggest challenge that humanity has faced since WW2. AEROSPACE Coronavirus AN INDUSTRY THAT HAS BROUGHT THE WORLD TOGETHER... NOW FINDS THAT, TO HALT THE TIDAL WAVE OF DEATHS, IT MUST STOP CONNECTING PEOPLE Bonnielou2013 Dipartimento Protezione Civile 19 APRIL 2020 effective in scrubbing germs for the air onboard aircraft – fewer seats would lower yields – pushing ticket prices up and reversing the trend towards air travel for the masses that came in half a century ago with the 747. In the future, a temperature scanner and potentially health screening at airports is likely to become as indispensable as passport and security screening. There may also need to be thinking about redesign of airport, cabin and travel infrastructure to allow for ‘social distancing’ in transit and to avoid the situation where an epidemic flare-up in one country jumps across borders to become a global pandemic. Airlines, tourism, sport and events industries are likely to be on life support for a while. And while industry bailouts will be compelling, the bulk of any government’s resources will be going now to heath services and emergency critical care. What is true is that the world will never be the same again. Summary It is also true that the global air transport system has helped the rapid spread of this disease – as well as the slow response by some governments to realise the scale of the crisis they are facing. Only a decade ago, international point-to-point connections to secondary cities like Wuhan in China would have been few and far between and would have slowed the initial spread. A side effect of globalisation and the travel of people and goods is the ease in which other actors, such as terrorism and disease, can also quickly spread. Make no mistake – aviation as we know it is in a fight for its survival in the worst crisis of its 100+ year history. An industry that has brought the world together and facilitated affordable and swift face-to-face contact between people from other sides of the globe, now finds that, to halt the tidal wave of deaths, it must stop connecting people. As United CEO, Oscar Munoz notes: “When medical experts say that our health and safety depends on people staying home and practising social distancing, it’s nearly impossible to run a business whose shared purpose is ‘Connecting people. Uniting the world.’” Aviation may have had a hand in spreading the virus but it will also play a role in fighting it too. As the essential lubricant of the world’s economy, it is vital that air transport is there to keep the motor running – lest it seize up completely. aviation has been on the front line delivering much needed medical equipment as well as repatriating passengers to their own countries Ministerio Defensa Personnel and Air Secretary, Air Vice Marshal Maria Byford, began her career in the RAF as a dentist. Meanwhile, a comms engineer, Group Captain Emily Flynn is set to be the next CO of RAF Brize Norton. Indeed, the RAF’s Assistant Chief of the Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Ian Gale, says it is not just the case of that a future CAS ‘could’ be non-aircrew but that they ‘should’ be. This buy-in from current senior officers (part of the RAF’s ASTRA initiative to empower and harness its personnel at all levels) thus suggests that the service is already making the cognitive shift in this regard in opening up the top job to a wider set of potential applicants. The ASTRA initiative itself is set to be one of the headline topics at this year’s RAF Chief of the Air Staff Air and Space Conference (ASPC), held on 15-16 July in London. This annual gathering, which attracts over 40 air force chiefs and 500 high-ranking delegates from military, industry and academia, is a key barometer and thought- 20 AEROSPACE DEFENCE Pilots and higher command Pilots and aircrew, for very good historical reasons, dominate the higher command echelons of air forces. However why is this? And does it matter? One of the biggest differences to other services, it could be argued, is that in air forces it is the officers (or aircrew) that go out to do the actual fighting while the NCOs and enlisted personnel stay back at base – rather than in the army (where the officers traditionally sent the men into battle or the navy (where officers and sailors fought and died together). This is obviously somewhat of a simplification (NCO aircrew provided the bulk of Battle of Britain fighter pilots and casualty rates in junior infantry officers are over and above enlisted soldiers) – yet the concept of it being the officers who fight in air arms has persisted. Interestingly, the RAF is already moving in this direction in promoting non-aircrew to ever more senior leadership positions. The Chief of Staff Does the Chief of an Air Force necessarily need to be a pilot? Increasingly, the world’s oldest independent air arm, the Royal Air Force, thinks not. TIM ROBINSON reports. BAE Systems Breaking through the HUD-glass ceiling ‘WE ARE THE ONLY ORGANISATION THAT RECRUITS OUR CEO BASED ON THEIR HAND-EYE COORDINATION AT AGE 17. Greg Bagwell President of the Air and Space Power Association 21 APRIL 2020 leadership forum for air power professionals. With a theme of ‘Information Advantage’, this year’s ASPC will also look at how air forces can achieve and retain the ‘cognitive edge’ in future air operations. Says the RAF’s current Chief of the Air Staff (himself a former Tornado pilot), Air Chief Marshal Mike Wigston, of ASPC: ‘Our aim is to put Information Advantage at the forefront of international air and space power debate.’ It is a topical subject, given that this year sees the 80th anniversary of the ultimate air conflict – the Battle of Britain – which saw Dowding – leveraging his ‘information advantage’ of radar, the Observer Corps and the Fighter Command defence network – to beat a famous ex-WW1 ace opponent who was fixated on older tactics and suffering from an incomplete intelligence picture over the strength of the RAF. It is thus no coincidence that, in 2018, the RAF reformed its historic Battle of Britain 11 Group as its ‘multi-domain eyes and ears’ for future threats. From ‘Dowding to Digital’, ASTRA and the next- generation air force are thus set to be some of the key themes over the two days of ASPC 2020 this summer – building on last year’s conference which saw UK hypersonics, space power and ‘grey-zone’ competition make headlines. As well as senior speakers from the RAF, Royal Navy (First Sea Lord) and international air forces, political figures and industry, the conference is widening out its reach to include presentations from some of the most innovative and dynamic pockets of personnel – such as the RAF’s e-sports and video gaming association. There is also set to be a presentation from a new innovation cell at RAF Marham – (home of the F-35B Lightning fleet) – AIRCOGXX. Phantom innovators This new unit, of ‘free-thinking innovators’ is called The Phantom Air Cognitive Manoeuvre Team (AIRCOGXX) and is further evidence of how the RAF is setting the pace in aiming to pull agile thinking from all its personnel, not just its aircrew through its ASTRA initiative. Its name ‘Phantom’ draws from the unconventional WW2 liaison regiment (which actor David Niven) which delivered real-time battle reports direct to GHQ. The ‘XX’ is also, says the RAF, a ‘gentle nod’ to the ‘double cross’ system of WW2 – which fed false information to Nazi agents. Based with the RAF’s new fifth-generation asset at RAF Marham- the F-35B – AIRCOGXX has a similar remit to use disruptive thinking and innovation to exploit and support the Lightning II’s already impressive sensor and stealth capabilities. Says AIRCOGXX’s founder, Squadron Leader Rob Pitt: “Air Information Advantage is about remembering some wartime daring and overlaying that with winning human, tech and network opportunities – it’s modern magic and mischief.” AIRCOGXX includes specialists in tactical information warfare, behavioural psychology, linguistics, intelligence, high-threat operations and strategic communications, as well as experts in content generation and photography, engineering, high performance coaching and global corporate consultancy – for the ‘multi-domain knife fight’. Interestingly, AIRCOGX is also branch/rank agnostic. ‘We’re facing a golden age of information warfare,” said Wing Commander Rolf Kurth, a new RAF Reservist, brought in as Phantom’s Tactical Director, “but we can be more clever and more disruptive to our adversaries. In fact, I’m learning that the best RAF tradition is its appetite to innovate – it’s a very exciting time.” Having, it seems, been on the ‘back foot’ against Russian information operations, fake news and weaponised memes – is AIRCOGXX now a sign that the West is beginning to fight back in the information domain? AIRCOGXX’s presentation then, of its early ‘Playbook’ experiment in conceptualising ‘Tactical Air Information Advantage’ will thus be of major interest at this year’s ASPC – especially for those air forces introducing the game- changing F-35 and searching for new and novel ideas about how to use it to its full capabilities. Is then, AIRCOGXX a Phantom Menace to the cultural dominance of fighter pilots in air force leadership? Or just the latest evolution of innovation in aerial combat? The rise of the ‘Knights of the Sky’ The evolution of air warfare in the early days and the novelty of flight saw pioneering military pilots closely linked (and in some cases drawn from) the most glamorous branch of the army – the cavalry. The cavalry’s role (of reconnaissance) and its speed, elan and fighting spirit thus migrated easily over to aircraft and its pilots. Aircraft were seen (and were) dangerous in themselves, difficult to master and therefore required a special level of courage to fly and fight. It is thus no wonder then that, just as traditional cavalry roles died out in the trenches of WW1, these new aerial scouts evolved into the ‘Knights of the Sky’. Furthermore, the selection process, training and weeding out of those not suitable (eyesight, poor hand-eye co-ordination) thus meant that the pilot quickly became regarded as an elite warrior – with only the best candidates having the right stuff. This has continued today with the average cost of training a pilot of over £4m each. Air forces then can be strict in selecting only the very best to be pilots. There is also the factor that the fighter pilot, unlike infantry on the ground or sailors onboard a ship, has no comrades immediately nearby to turn 22 AEROSPACE encounter new tactics, weapons or aircraft (eg jets) in the skies. This knowledge and experience thus gave them a vital edge in adapting to air warfare where technology rapidly advanced over the course of months or even weeks. Underlying this too, is perhaps a more negative aspect – that pilots arguably had less respect for those outside their own elite tribe – and thus, some would argue, would have difficulties in taking orders from non-aircrew. Even within the pilot tribe, there are subdivisions between transport, helicopter and fighter types – and sub-divisions within those – such as the ‘Harrier mafia’. Each then is subconsciously assigned a status level based on the role and difficulty of mastering a particular aircraft. Tom Wolfe’s classic tome, The Right Stuff on the early Mercury astronauts, gives an insight into the professional pecking order of fighter pilot, test pilot and finally astronaut. All of the above has effectively meant a ‘HUD-glass ceiling’ for anyone aspiring to command an air force – they must be a pilot. However is that really now the case? As AM Greg Bagwell, President of the Air and Space Power Association, notes: ‘We are the only organisation that recruits our CEO based on their hand-eye co-ordination at age 17.” DEFENCE Pilots and higher command to in high-stress situations. Even with the advent of radios and now datalinks – the single-seat fighter pilot fights their war alone. Mastering their fear, then is a prerequisite even before the enemy appears – and this too has fed into the cult of the ‘single combat warrior’ – a style of warfare that dates back to ancient times when ‘champions’ would fight duels to decide larger battles. It is therefore no wonder then, that with WW1’s ‘Knights of the Air’, WW2’s Battle of Britain’s The Few and latterly Top Gun, that the pilot (and especially the fighter pilot) has been elevated to a mythical status as the ultimate warrior and leader. Superior hand/eye skills, quick reactions, rapid decision-making, aggression and ‘Type A’ personalities has thus formed a natural pool of leaders for air forces to recruit from. And why not? The pilot was the one who entered battle, put their life on the line and experienced first-hand air combat. It also was remarkably egalitarian – class, riches or formal education make no difference to the skills needed for survival in the sky. It was too, pilots who held the ‘information advantage’ from seeing first-hand the movement of enemy armies during aerial reconnaissance, to being the first to IN 2009, FOR EXAMPLE, THE USAF TRAINED MORE DRONE OPERATORS THAN BOTH FIGHTER AND BOMBER PILOTS. WILL THESE DRONE SPECIALISTS, IN 20 YEARS TIME, BE TOMORROW’S LEADERS? MoD US Space Command 23 APRIL 2020 Second, just as the role and the importance of the individual pilot is decreasing, other roles and jobs in air forces are increasing in importance. Air combat (even in WW1) has always been a ‘team sport’ from ground crew, intelligence officers and wingmen – but now this ecosystem is widening further with AEW, tankers and transport aircraft to include space assets, cyber and UAVs. Aircrew, on the very tip of the spear, are thus becoming submerged in a larger network of ‘multi-domain’ capabilities and platforms. The traditional lines between ‘sensors’ and ‘shooters’ are thus becoming blurred. Today it is feasible that a USMC KC-130J ‘Harvest Hawk’ tanker/ transport, equipped with small smart munitions, may be the ‘shooter’ – cued in by a F-35 fighter acting as an ISR ‘sensor’ node. A key question to ask here is who might have a better overview of an air battle or campaign – the pilot of an E-3D AWACS or the battlespace commander in the rear cabin, directing fighters and other assets and having a God’s eye view of the airspace? Does a weapon system operator, sat in the back of a fast jet, peering at a target through the ‘drinking-straw’ view targeting pod display, have a better understanding of the collateral damage risks or is it perhaps a UAV sensor operator, who has been observing ‘patterns of life’ for the past weeks or months? Who is more important to the war effort – a fighter pilot about to fire a missile to take a single enemy aircraft down or a cyber expert pressing ‘Enter’ on a keyboard that disables an entire enemy air defence network with a trojan? Moving to ‘multi-domain’ warfare where a computer or AI assigns optimal targets to pilots based on speed and efficiencies – rather than a pilot shouting ‘Tally-Ho’ and diving into a dogfight – may further weaken the individual pilot’s role. The ‘information advantage’ then that the individual pilot previously enjoyed is thus now becoming more shared, diffused and networked. Third – there are also larger demographic and social forces at work. While ‘pilot’ still retains its allure as a high-status job, today’s and tomorrow’s generations have changing expectations of careers, flexibility, diversity and work-life balance. A 100 or 50 years ago the slogan ‘Join the Navy (or air force), See the world’ acted as an effective recruiting tool for earlier generations that lived in an era without TV or low-cost air travel. The complexity of modern weapon systems and the expansion of further education opportunities now means that recruits are arriving at a later stage in their life – with different expectations and commitments. Whereas in WW2, over 25 was seen as ‘too old’ to be a squadron leader – because of But superb hand-eye co-ordination does not always equate to equivalent levels of management or organisational skill – and indeed is nothing new. Lord Trenchard himself, the founder of the RAF, was reportedly described as an ‘indifferent pilot’ and a ‘dangerous’ flying instructor. Instead, his skills were in far-seeing organisational qualities and in the management of a new and embryonic air arm. Meanwhile, the RAF’s Battle of Britain mastermind, Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding too, although a fighter pilot in WW1 and while he commanded 16 Sqn, is barely remembered for his actual flying exploits. Conversely, his opposite number, Herman Göring, was widely known as a WW1 ace with 22 victories – yet led the Luftwaffe to defeat by clinging on to outmoded thoughts of air combat and by a series of bad strategic decisions. Kills painted on the side of the cockpit then, do not translate to understanding on technological shifts, political nous or organisational acumen. So why is this changing now? Is this just a matter of fashionable diversity and HR box ticking? Or are there structural, organisational and technological reasons why a chief of air staff need not be a pilot? The changing role of the pilot First – is that the role of the pilot, if not diminishing, is changing. As noted previously, early aircraft required nerves of steel and high levels of skills to fly, let alone fight. Today, aircraft are (on the whole) easy to fly – yet difficult to fight. Pilots are now thus transitioning from ‘aerial knights’ to mission operators and battlespace managers, using data and sensors to fight smart. ‘De-skilling’ of the pilot task is not a purely military phenomenon and is also occurring in the civil airline world, where the relentless focus on cost and efficiency, coupled with highly automated and ultra-reliable aircraft is (arguably) sucking some of the glamour out of the profession of airline pilots. Technology has also shifted around from the military to the civil sector. Whereas, in 1940 a Supermarine Spitfire represented the cutting edge of technology – today many young pilots may be flying a 30-40 year old aircraft – and have more processing power available in their smartphone than in their fighter. (For comparison as an inflection point, the Tornado, GR1 introduced in 1983 featured a computer with 64k of memory. The Commodore 64 home computer, arrived in August 1982). This too has changed the status of pilots as operating on the very limits of today’s technology. H e r m a n n _ G o e r i n g Air C h i e f M a r s h a l S i r H u g h D o w d i n g AEROSPACE 24 BVR missile shots. All these above then mean that in the natural ‘friction’ and chaos of war, success of a mission will return once again to the skill, experience and bravery of a human(s) in the cockpit, able to see things first hand and use their superior decision-making ability to outthink the enemy, or come up with a plan that a computer would not even consider. Conclusion Thus, while the idea of ‘Top Gun’ still catches the imagination of many, the reality is that the role of aircrew and their status is changing. However, tomorrow’s air force chiefs, whether their background is in fighters, helicopters, satellites, UAVs or even perhaps one day cyber, will still need to draw on the daring, ethos and rapid decision-making of earlier generations of fighter pilots. The OODA (observe, orient, decide, action) loop, coined by a USAF fighter pilot, John Boyd, has now expanded from a way of understanding dogfighting to other domains, including land, sea, cyber and even the commercial and business strategy world. In the fast moving, data-heavy world of today, the ‘information advantage’ is thus even more critical for air forces to exploit – whatever the background of their leaders. Indeed, the rapid development of aviation technology in the early years of air warfare has direct parallels in the rapid product cycle of today’s consumer and IT sector – where the average smartphone has a ‘service life’ of 2.75 years. While previous revolutions in ‘network-centric’ warfare have been promised, “the key difference today”, notes AVM Gale, “is about time” – or synchronising ‘effects’ across multiple domains (land, sea, air space and cyber) faster than your opponent can throw them (and keep them) off balance. The challenges then in this (some would say long overdue) revolution are thus mainly cultural. Can the world’s oldest independent air arm break through the ‘fighter/aircrew mafia’ mindset and open up the top job to a wider and more diverse set of talent and experience? It may be too soon, as Elon Musk said to a USAF audience, to say that the era of the fighter pilot is over but it is certainly evolving in new directions. It is thus noteworthy that, over the past 100 years, air forces’ leadership has evolved based on the prevailing doctrines and technology – from WW1 pioneers, to the bomber barons, to the fighter mafia. In the future will it be the turn of the UAV tribe, the orbital warriors or the cyber specialists? the quick reflexes needed and the intense tempo of combat – this is when today’s pilot reaches the front line. Families, women and ‘whole force’ of regular, reserve and contractor support are now pushing armed forces to more reflect the societies they defend. Additionally, air forces are becoming much smaller than ever before in terms of piloted aircraft – reducing the available pool of talent from which to draw future chiefs. As recently as 1991 the RAF had 36 fast jet squadrons – today it has six. UAV, ISR analysts, cyber and space roles are on the rise. In 2009, for example, the USAF trained more drone operators than both fighter and bomber pilots. Will these drone specialists, in 20 years’ time, be tomorrow’s leaders? The human in the cockpit However, this is not to discount the human in the cockpit – particularly at the most critical times. Though limited in persistence compared to a UAV, a fast-jet aircrew on the scene, can observe things using the ‘Mk1 eyeball’ that potentially even then most high-resolution cameras will miss – such as civilians inadvertently moving near a target that is just about to be struck. On the scene they can steer the smart bomb away (and have done) saving lives. In Afghanistan too, humans in fast jets, were able to employ ‘non-kinetic’ shows of force, using the speed and sheer sound of a fighter jet to deter insurgents – a tactic unavailable to UAVs. Meanwhile, weather too can obscure targets from satellites and sensors – requiring pilots to dive under cloud to see their targets. Datalinks and communications can be jammed, hacked or simply fail – leaving the pilot alone in the cockpit like their WW1 forebears. Rules of engagement too may specify visual identification, rather than DEFENCE Pilots and higher command L t . P e t e‘M a v e r i c k ’ M i t c h e l l ( T o m C r u i s e ) ’ T o p G u n ( P a r a m o u n t P i c t u r e s ) MoD Chief of the Air Staff’s Air & Space Power Conference: – 15-16 July 2020, IET, London (2EA) which comprises Capability Development, Special Missions and Charter. The Charter division operates two VIP Boeing 737s based at London Stansted and three turboprop Beechcraft King Air 200s based at Doncaster Sheffield Airport. The company also operates The Blades aerobatic flying team which performs flying displays and provides aerobatic formation flying experiences for passengers. The Special Missions division supplies a wide range of contract air services, including aerial dispersant and surveillance operations for the oil and gas industry, as well as training for military air controllers. GENERAL AVIATION UK fixed-wing SAR First formed 15 years ago by two RAF pilots, 2Excel currently employs 475 people at four bases at Sywell Aerodrome, Stansted Airport, Doncaster- Sheffield Airport and Lasham Airfield. The company works across a range of industries, including defence and security, engineering, events and disaster response. 2Excel has two main divisions – 2 Excel Engineering (2EE) which specialises in maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services for Boeing and Airbus narrow- bodied aircraft, as well as King Air, PA31, PA28, Islander and Cessna 406s; and 2Excel Aviation The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) recently brought into service two customised Beechcraft King Air 200s upgraded and equipped by commercial company 2Excel which greatly enhance the Agency’s maritime mission capability. BILL READ FRAeS reports from Doncaster-Sheffield airport. King Airs to the rescue 2Excel 25 APRIL 2020 Above: On the day of AEROSPACE’s visit to 2Excel, the plan had been to see MCA’s latest King Air G-HMGA but the aircraft was called away on a search and rescue mission. Opposite page left: Mission System display showing multiple ship positions and images. Opposite page right: The Blades display team is perhaps 2Excel’s best known arm. 26 AEROSPACE GENERAL AVIATION UK fixed-wing SAR Special mission modifications Fixed-wing assets can also be used for conducting wide area searches and co-ordinating helicopter assets. HM Maritime and Coastguard Agency Commercial Director, Damien Oliver, explained how, 18 months ago, the MCA launched a tender to replace its aging aircraft. “We have an increasing demand to support search and rescue (S&R) missions,” he explained. On 19 March 2019 2Excel’s Special Missions division won a five-year contract (with an optional two- year extension) from MCA to provide two customised Beechcraft King Airs to use on UK Coastguard missions. The first aircraft was rolled out on 19 November 2019. “The contract required a service with 95% availability,” explained Matt Tones, 2Excel’s Head of Surveillance. “The reason that the Beechcraft King Air was chosen as the mission platform was because it is a long-established and well supported design.” “The work drew on expertise across 2Excel, including our Capability Development team,” added Arnie Palmer, Director of 2Excel Special Missions. “This included integrated design, manufacturing and installation of the specialist mission equipment, as well as training our crews to operate the aeroplane. “All the modification work on the King Airs was conducted in-house, confirmed Matt Tones. “We did all the work on the aircraft here in Hangar 3 at Doncaster Airport, including design, production, certification, and operation.” Capabilities The two King Air 200s are fitted with a multi-spectral surveillance suite, co-ordinated through an integrated mission control system. Some of the sensors are fitted in a pod which can be attached onto the aircraft. “Currently we move the pod from one aircraft to another but both King Airs will soon get their own set of sensors,” said Tones. The primary sensor in the pod is a Seaspray 7300 radar from Leonardo. “We’re going to upgrade to an Osprey 30 radar as soon as they become available,” said Tones. “Leonardo can’t build these things fast enough.” The radar can be used in a number of different modes. Flying at 26,000ft, the aircraft can use wide- area surveillance (WAS) mode to see over distances up to 200nm. “The radar works over 360º and can detect a person in the water,” said Tones. Other modes include synthetic wide aperture radar which can detect targets on the ground and an air-to-air mode that can detect other aircraft which is used when vectoring helicopters to a rescue location. The aircraft are also equipped with an Optimare long wave infrared (IR) and ultraviolet (UV) line scanner which can be used to detect hydrocarbons in the water when the aircraft is being used on a counter-pollution mission. There is also a HD electro-optical sensor turret which can operate in both day and night conditions. Other equipment includes a search and rescue directional finding system which can detect any of the maritime directional frequencies and directional beacons and survivors’ location messages, so that the aircraft can fly directly towards anyone who has got a problem. The aircraft can also detect automatic identification system (AIS) transponders fitted to vessels. “We have a broadband satcom system onboard allowing us to stream live video and other mission data to the MCA co-ordination centre,” said Tones. The data from all the different sensors is integrated together by the aircraft’s mission system and can be displayed as a map showing the rescue aircraft’s position and track, together with locations and information on other ships and aircraft. There is also a broadband voice communications system designed for multi-agency communications. Using these integrated systems enhances crew situational awareness while reducing operator workload. UK COMMERCIAL COMPANY 2EXCEL AGREED TO SUPPLY TWO TWIN-ENGINE BEECHCRAFT KING AIR 200 AFTER WINNING A TENDER LAUNCHED BY THE UK’S MARITIME AND COASTGUARD AGENCY (MCA) 2Excel 27 APRIL 2020 electro optical and IR sensor to identify it. We can then use the information from the AIS transponders fitted to vessels to backtrack to see what ship has passed by recently. We can pass evidence onto the MCA for investigation. When we detect oil spills, we can’t tell what kind of oil it is from the air but we can laser scan it. To get more data about the oil, we need to send a vessel to put a sensor in the water.” Co-ordination “All the flying we do is fed into CADS (Central Aviation Deconfliction System) which is run by the military and which we can access through the MCA,” Tones explained. “We recently had an open day where the RAF P-8 Poseidon crews came to see what we were doing and learn about our capabilities. The Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre (ARCC) based at the National Maritime Operations Centre in Fareham in Hampshire is responsible for the tasking and co-ordination of this and all HMCG aviation assets. The MCA also liaises with countries which border the UK Search and Rescue region including France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Norway and the Irish Coast Guard.” Enhanced capability By early February, the MCA King Airs had flown on 78 operational sorties and 200hrs of reconnaissance, including SAR, fisheries patrol and counter pollution missions. “The new King Airs have a much enhanced capability, in that we can now go further, faster and higher than before,” said Tones. Concluding, Damien Oliver from MCA said: “We are very pleased with the new capability and think that this will be a very valuable asset to search and rescue missions.” Missions The customised King Airs are used on a variety of missions, some of them reactive and some proactive. Search and rescue (SAR) can be conducted up to the maximum range of the aircraft, as well as fisheries patrol and counter pollution missions, which are conducted within the UK Exclusive Economic Zone. One line of tasking from the King Airs is available, for deployment 24 hours a day, with crews working on 12-hour shifts (one daytime, one night-time). The aircraft are based at 2Excel’s Doncaster Airport base which, although not near the sea, has the advantage of being centrally located which means that the aircraft can go anywhere in the UK. “The King Airs have a six-hour endurance and we can fly distances of up to 400nm away as far as 20º west longitude over the Atlantic,” said Tones. The new fixed-wing aircraft work in conjunction with HM Coastguard’s helicopter fleet which are stationed at ten bases around the UK at Stornoway, Sumburgh, Prestwick, Inverness, Humberside, Caernarfon, St Athan, Lydd, Newquay and Lee-on- the-Solent. When conducting search and rescue missions, the King Airs work co-operatively with the helicopters to effect a timely rescue. Detecting oil spills Another role for the MCA King Air is to detect pollution. “Shipping can report in to HM Coastguard if they spot something,” explained Tones. “Once we get in the air, our radar can detect differences in sea conditions, so we can spot an object in the water from a long way off or, in the case of an oil spill, an unusually flat surface. Once we’ve detected an object in the water, we can fly over and use the Above: The underside of King Air G-HMGB showing some of the new sensors but not the transferable sensor pod which was away flying on HMGA. Left: MCA’s second King Air G-HMGB seen here in 2Excel’s hangar at Doncaster Airport. 2Excel for space? a climate crisis Space debris Even though the reality might be comfortably hidden from our sight, space has become infested with junk. Defunct satellites disintegrate, empty rocket stages explode, fragments hit other spacecraft, creating clouds of uncontrollable debris. According to NASA, more than 500,000 pieces of debris are currently being tracked orbiting the Earth. For years scientists have been sounding the alarm about the risk of the so-called Kessler syndrome, an out of control accelerating cascade of collisions between objects in space, which could ultimately render the space environment unusable. The scenario, named after the now retired NASA astrophysicist Donald 28 AEROSPACE SPACEFLIGHT Space debris and mega-constellations Space is far away and yet so close. Humankind depends on satellites for navigation, telecommunications, weather forecasting and many other applications. Since the 1957 launch of the world’s first satellite, the USSR’s Sputnik 1, humankind has launched almost 9,000 objects into space. Some of them, those launched into lower orbits, have since been pulled back into the atmosphere and burned. However, thousands of others, though no longer functional, are still there, hurtling at speeds of thousands of kilometres per hour, threatening everything in their way. With satellite operators planning mega-constellations and nano-sats becoming ever more popular − are we running out of space in low Earth Orbit? TEREZA PULTAROVA looks at an environmental crisis for space A scene from the film Gravity showing space debris hitting the satellite upon which the lead characters are working. Warner Bros IN SEPTEMBER LAST YEAR, ESA SAID IT HAD TO MOVE ITS WIND- MONITORING SPACECRAFT AEOLUS AS IT APPEARED ON A COLLISION COURSE WITH ONE OF THE STARLINK SATELLITES Astroscale 29 APRIL 2020 Japan-headquartered start-up Astroscale, currently researching space debris removal, operates from the in-orbit servicing control centre at the UK Space Applications Catapult in Harwell. Kessler who first predicted it in the late 1970s, provided inspiration for the 2013 film Gravity, Insufficient mitigation measures A recent study by scientists from the University of Southampton has revealed that the space debris problem might, in fact, be even worse than previously thought. The research, led by Professor Hugh Lewis, found that, at the current level of space activities, the amount of space debris will continue to grow over the next 1,000 years with collisions becoming more and more frequent. Even diligent compliance with existing mitigation guidelines will not thwart the trend. “We used simulations to understand how the space debris population in low Earth orbit (LEO) might respond to the number of satellites humans are launching and the best space debris mitigation measures we can employ,” Professor Lewis said. “The results from the simulations showed that the space debris population – debris that is bigger than 10cm – tended to grow at an accelerating rate with the assumptions we used. This exponential growth was driven by collisions taking place in the simulations at altitudes above 1,000km.” The researchers used a 3D computer model called DAMAGE, which simulates the evolution of the debris population by propagating the trajectories of the orbiting satellites and debris objects. The model identifies occurring collisions and calculates the number of resulting fragments, which then continue on their own trajectories. The simulation assumed humankind would continue launching satellites into space at the same rate it did between 2011 and 2018. “We used data provided by the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Space Debris Office and essentially repeated this ‘cycle’ over and over,” said Professor Lewis. “In terms of the launch rate, it equated to about 170 new objects added to LEO each year on average. Only about 10% of those objects were deployed at altitudes above 1,000km.” The simulation also assumed that operators would diligently remove their spacecraft from orbit within 25 years from the end of each mission, as requested by guidelines set forth by the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee, and vent leftover fuel from spacecraft to prevent explosions. The mega-constellation problem The rate of launching satellites into orbit, however, is not expected to remain the same. It is set to increase exponentially over the next decade, with the growth driven predominantly by companies such as SpaceX and OneWeb, which plan to operate constellations of hundreds to thousands of satellites. “Adding large constellations will add considerable variability into the results,” said Professor Lewis. “A lot would depend on the behaviour we assumed for the constellation operators. However, in broad terms, it would likely make it harder to rely on our existing debris mitigation measures.” SpaceX, for example, has launched more than 120 of its Starlink internet-beaming satellites in 2019 and submitted a spectrum application for a staggering 30,000 satellites. In September last year, ESA said it had to move its wind-monitoring spacecraft Aeolus as it appeared on a collision course with one of the Starlink satellites. ESA is no stranger to orbital mishaps. In August 2016, a piece of debris about the size of a bullet, smashed a hole into one of the solar panels of the remote sensing satellite Sentinel-1, which is part of the EU’s Copernicus Earth observation constellation. The satellite was able to make up for the loss of power but the situation could easily have had much more serious consequences. Astroscale Astroscale Above: Astroscale’s ELSA-d spacecraft is designed to demonstrate technologies to approach and capture orbital debris. It is due to launch in 2020. 30 AEROSPACE as many, or even more, satellites, as have been launched since the beginning of spaceflight. “The satellites we have launched so far have left quite a lot of debris behind,” he said. “The orbital environment is already quite degraded. If you have 10,000 new satellites, even with good reliability you might leave behind hundreds of defunct objects, which can no longer be controlled.” Krag said that satellites operating at lower altitudes are not that much of a concern, since residual atmosphere at these altitudes causes spacecraft to re-enter quite fast. The higher the orbit, the bigger the problem. “At 600km, the satellite won’t stay for more than 25 years,” said Krag. “At 800km, because the atmosphere is much thinner, it would stay for 200 years. And at 1,000km, it would stay forever.” The Southampton University study, in fact, found that the amount of space debris will grow the most at altitudes above 1,000km. “The growth is slow: it looks almost like there is no growth for the first 200 years but the population is actually growing from a starting size of about 20,000 objects at a rate of about five objects per year over that period,” said Professor Lewis. “By the end of the 1,000-year simulation, the total number of objects had doubled, to about 40,000 objects on average. Moreover, more collisions could occur as a result of the deorbiting manoeuvres, the study found”. Removing debris Japan-headquartered start-up Astroscale, which has recently set up an in-orbit servicing control centre at the UK Space Applications Catapult in Harwell, SPACEFLIGHT Space debris and mega-constellations “If the two objects had met only two or three milliseconds earlier, we would have had an impact into the main body and that definitely would have had an effect,” said Holger Krag, Head of ESA’s Space Debris Office. “We would have probably lost one of the instruments or, if the tank was hit, we might have lost the whole mission.” Mega-constellations, such as OneWeb and SpaceX, have long been a concern for ESA space debris experts. Krag says that despite the best intentions, mega-constellation operators likely won’t be able to remove successfully 100% of their satellites. Not because of ill intentions but simply because of technical failures. “The operators have to manoeuvre the spacecraft into a lower orbit, where it would naturally deorbit within 25 years,” said Krag. “But these manoeuvres have to be done at the end of a mission when the spacecraft is already old. The older the spacecraft, the less reliable it is and frequently it fails to perform this big disposal manoeuvre. Then the thing stays in space for a very long time.” Krag says that only about 60% of spacecraft currently deorbit successfully. “The problem with mega-constellations is that they would have to have a much better success rate in implementing these prevention measures than everybody else in order not to leave a lot of debris behind,” Krag said. “But why should we expect them to be more reliable than the spacecraft we have been flying so far? In fact, because they will have to operate under commercial pressure, it will be even more difficult for them to comply.” Krag points out that firms such as SpaceX intend to launch in a very short period of time Astroscale Governments of the countries where those space companies are registered are ultimately responsible for what happens in space 31 APRIL 2020 Billed as the first mission to remove an item of debris from orbit, the spacecraft will use four robotic arms to capture the 100kg Vespa (Vega Secondary Payload Adapter) upper stage, which was left in an approximately 800km by 660km altitude orbit after the second flight of ESA’s small launcher Vega back in 2013. The object was chosen, according to ESA, for its simple shape and sturdy construction. The mission will test new technologies and pave the way for future more complex orbital debris removal missions. “NASA and ESA studies show that the only way to stabilise the orbital environment is to actively remove large debris items,” Luisa Innocenti, Head of ESA’s Clean Space initiative, said in a press release. “Accordingly, we will be continuing our development of essential guidance, navigation and control technologies and rendezvous and capture methods through a new project called Active Debris Removal/ In-Orbit Servicing – ADRIOS”. Regulations Astroscale’s Auburn says that the creation of governmental regulations that would require operators to ‘clean up’ after themselves would be key not only for maintaining order in the Earth’s orbits but also for facilitating the development of active debris removal as a commercial service. “Governments of the countries where those space companies are registered are ultimately responsible for what happens in space,” Auburn said. “They have to make it part of their licensing requirements for operators to remove their spacecraft at the end of a mission. The ideal scenario would be a ‘traceless future’ where you bring down everything you launch, and no trace remains.” Krag said that, fortunately, international players seem to understand the problem and take seriously the threat that space debris now poses to the use of the valuable resource that is space. ESA previously proposed a range of solutions including a sustainability rating system, which would assess the potential impact of each satellite on the orbital environment before it is launched. Objects found too risky might then have to be modified or have their mission design changed to pose less risk. is one of the companies developing solutions that could potentially enable removing malfunctioning satellites from orbit using a robotic junk-collector spacecraft. The company plans to carry out the world’s first commercial active debris removal demonstration, the End-of-Life Service by Astroscale mission (ELSA-d), in mid-2020. The mission will consist of two spacecraft – a 180kg chaser, built by a company in Tokyo, and a 20kg target, built by SSTL in Guildford. The two will be launched together as a stack and separate once in orbit. The chaser is packed with sophisticated navigation technology and carries a magnetic capture mechanism, which will pull the target, fitted with a magnetic docking plate, back to the chaser. “We will perform the capture twice,” said John Auburn, Chief Commercial Officer and Director, UK, at Astroscale. “First, we let the target float away in a stable position to a distance of only about 10 to 20 metres and we capture it only to test the capture mechanism. Then we release it again and let it float away to a distance of about 100 metres. It will start tumbling so the second capture will be much more complicated because we will have to manoeuvre around the target without crashing into it.” The idea is, Auburn explained, for a future chaser to be able to release the captured satellite at a lower altitude and return for another piece of junk. The company has been working with OneWeb and ESA as part of the Sunrise Public-Private Partnership on a technology that would enable efficient removal of defunct satellites from orbit. “The idea is that future satellites, such as those of OneWeb, would be equipped with magnetic plates compatible with our system,” Auburn said. “With this demonstration we will prove that we can capture a tumbling satellite and eventually we hope to do an in-orbit demonstration with a OneWeb satellite.” At the 2019 ministerial conference in Seville, Spain, ESA committed to fly its own space debris removal mission in 2025. The mission, called ClearSpace-1, will be developed by a consortium led by a Swiss start-up, Clear Space, a spin-off from the Swiss technical university Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). RemoveDEBRIS: An in-orbit demonstration of technologies for the removal of space debris – G.S. Aglietti The Aeronautical Journal, Volume 124, Issue 1271 GOVERNMENTS OF THE COUNTRIES WHERE THOSE SPACE COMPANIES ARE REGISTERED ARE ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT HAPPENS IN SPACE. John Auburn Chief Commercial Officer and Director, Astroscale 28 AEROSPACE SHOW REPORT Singapore Air Show 2020 The show must go on With the Singaporean Government declaring a Coronavirus Orange health alert on the eve of the exhibition – it was a very different atmosphere at the Singapore Air Show on 11-16 February. TIM ROBINSON and BILL READ report. Nearly 20 years ago, the events of 9/11 made for a muted air show in Dubai in November 2001 – with some companies and visitors staying away. This year it was the turn of the Singapore Air Show which, in the wake of the spread of the Coronavirus, saw last-minute cancellations from exhibitors and visitors – most notably from the US. Though Singapore