Bombardier First to Deliver Honeywell’s High-Speed “Jetwave” Connectivity Hardware for Business Jets

Bombardier to offer consistent, fast in-flight internet virtually anywhere in the world via Honeywell’s Ka-Band-based GX hardware and Inmarsat’s Jet ConneX service Bombardier Business Aircraft will be the launch business aircraft manufacturer for Honeywell Aerospace’s (NYSE: HON) JetWave Ka-Band satellite connectivity system.  Honeywell’s JetWave hardware exclusively supports Inmarsat’s forthcoming Jet ConneX* (JX) service which, when it goes live in 2015, will provide business jet passengers with high-speed, in-flight connectivity virtually anywhere in the world.
Bombardier will be the first business aviation manufacturer to equip JetWave and plans to offer the technology across the Global 5000, Global 6000,Global 7000 and Global 8000 platforms. A retrofit offering will also be available for all Global aircraft currently in service.

“With JetWave securing the backing of a leading business jet manufacturer in Bombardier, we celebrate a major milestone in the evolution of business aircraft connectivity,” said Brian Sill, president, Business and General Aviation, Honeywell Aerospace. “The industry is showing a clear desire for high speed, global, consistent in-flight connectivity and is turning to Honeywell and Inmarsat to deliver it.”

“Our customers want to be online everywhere they go. They will now experience the same level of connectivity in the air that they have come to expect on the ground without a drop in connectivity performance once they leave their homes or offices,” said Eric Martel, president, Bombardier Business Aircraft. “The introduction of this technology allows us to further strengthen the industry-leading cabin experience that we are offering to our customers.”

Honeywell’s JetWave hardware will allow passengers to video-conference, send and receive large files and access streaming content while on the move by enabling them to access Inmarsat’s JX service. A range of service packages will be available to Bombardier customers, enabling them to select the speed that is right for their operations. In an industry first, each service package will be covered by a minimum service guarantee ensuring passengers experience a remarkable step forward in connectivity when compared to currently available technologies.

In 2012, Honeywell signed an agreement with Inmarsat to be the exclusive hardware provider for its Ka-Band GX Aviation connectivity service, branded Jet ConneX for the business aircraft market. Honeywell is also the master distributor of airtime for the business aviation market, working alongside channel partners Satcom1, Aircell, ARINC Direct, Satcom Direct and OnAir.

Airbus says in final stages of A320neo ground tests

(Reuters) – Airbus is conducting the final stage of ground trials as it edges towards the keenly-awaited first flight of its revamped A320neo aircraft, the planemaker said on Tuesday.

The first test aircraft is on the “final run-in” towards its maiden flight, a spokesman said in answer to a query, but added it was too early to predict an exact date.

Airbus is sticking to its target for a first flight in the third quarter, or by the end of September, the spokesman said.

Maiden flights need 

good weather

 and are usually announced just a few days before they are expected to happen.

Industry sources have said the flight was tentatively planned in early September, but had to be pushed back because of a problem with engine testing, raising some concerns that the flight could slip to October.

Airbus and its engine maker Pratt & Whitney have declined to comment on the precise schedule, but analysts are paying close attention because the success of the new fuel-saving version of Airbus’s best-selling A320 jet depends in part on new engine technology to fulfil a backlog of 3,000 orders from airlines.

Another person familiar with the matter said preparations had been disrupted by a problem with a bird strike test.

The test, in which bird carcasses are fired at an engine to test its ability to withstand a potentially dangerous bird strike, is one of several key steps towards certification.

Pratt & Whitney declined to comment on the test.

SOURCE REUTERS, 

Boeing CST-100 Selected as Next American Spacecraft

Boeing will receive an award of $4.2 billion from NASA to build and fly the United States’ next passenger spacecraft.

Boeing’s Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 is being developed as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which aims to resume U.S.-based flights to space by 2017. The CST-100 will transport up to seven passengers or a mix of crew and cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) and other low-Earth orbit destinations.

“Boeing has been part of every American human space flight program, and we’re honored that NASA has chosen us to continue that legacy,” said John Elbon, Boeing vice president and general manager, Space Exploration. “The CST-100 offers NASA the most cost-effective, safe and innovative solution to U.S.-based access to low-Earth orbit.”

Under the Commercial Crew Transportation (CCtCap) phase of the program, Boeing will build three CST-100s at the company’s Commercial Crew Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The spacecraft will undergo a pad-abort test in 2016 and an uncrewed flight in early 2017, leading up to the first crewed flight to the ISS in mid-2017.

Boeing recently completed the Critical Design Review (CDR) and Phase Two Spacecraft Safety Review of its Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 spacecraft, becoming the only competitor for NASA’s Commercial Crew program to pass a CDR as well as complete all CCiCap milestones on time and on budget.

“The challenge of a CDR is to ensure all the pieces and sub-systems are working together,” said John Mulholland, Boeing Commercial Crew program manager. “Integration of these systems is key. Now we look forward to bringing the CST-100 to life.”

Boeing press release

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Russia: We warned the Americans about Islamic State

A joke making the rounds among Russian officials and hacks who take a keen interest in what is going on in the Middle East these days goes something like this: How will the Yanks deal with the Islamic State group? They will create "Islamic State 2", a bigger and better armed group, and let it deal with the original Islamic State group. And what happens when "Islamic State 2" turns against them as it happened with the original Islamic State? They will create "Islamic State 3", and so on.

But seriously, the rise and spread of the Islamic State group is no laughing matter. Now that the US and its allies have finally woken up to the dangers of the spread of the extremist group, the worry in Moscow is that the hotheads in the Pentagon and at Nato headquarters in Brussels will decide to start hitting Islamic State positions in Syria along with "other targets" there as well - for instance, Syrian army positions.

US President Barack Obama has already announced his plan to deal with the group, promising to lead a "broad coalition" that will "roll back this terrorist threat". In Moscow, the fear is that the US will seize this opportunity to intervene in Syria.

The Libyan scenario

According to Valeriy Fenenko from the Moscow Centre for International Security, the US can actually use the presence of the Islamic State group in Syria as a pretext to implement the "Libyan scenario".

"The Americans are bound to try to compensate for their failure last fall," he says. "At first, it will be air strikes against terrorists and then, in parallel, it may amount to helping the moderate opposition. The US may start a creeping interference, like it happened in Bosnia," he said.

The feeling in Moscow is that the recent Nato summit in Newport in Wales missed out on a great opportunity to involve Russia in finding a solution to the spread of the Islamic State group and other militant groups associated with it across Iraq and the Middle East generally.

In any event, Russian diplomatic efforts are in full swing. According to one Russian source, Moscow is trying to prevent possible air strikes in Syria by the US, UK and others, in the same way it did last year when the danger of air strikes was growing by the day.

"Our people in Arab and European capitals were desperately trying to find some sort of solution last year," he said. "The threat of a regional war that could escalate into a world war was taken very seriously by the Kremlin. And this scenario is in the cards again."

The feeling in Moscow is that the recent Nato summit in Newport, Wales, missed out on a great opportunity to involve Russia in finding a solution to the spread of the Islamic State group and other militant groups associated with it across Iraq and the Middle East generally. Not to mention, the very real threat of these violent men entering European countries, and even reaching the US.

"The Russians have been warning the Americans ever since the civil war broke out in Syria that it was very dangerous to arm the opposition there," one former Russian general who was in charge of anti-terrorist operation told me. "There was no chance that the arms destined for the so-called moderate opposition would not end up with the likes of the Islamic State. Not to mention that lots of it was coming as well from 'liberated' Libya."

The same bandits

What worries Russian officials is the stubborn refusal of the Obama administration to talk to President Bashar al-Assad's government about a possible joint effort in defeating the Islamic State group in Syria. As Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov said recently, it doesn't make sense for the West to help the Iraqi government to fight the Islamic State group but deny cooperation to Assad who is fighting "the same bandits".

Some Russian analysts are saying that the bigger problem of the current crisis is that the Islamic State group runs its recruitment campaigns not just in the Middle East but in Europe as well. Different figures are cited over the number of Europeans who have joined the ranks of the group in the past several months, but if you consider that the number of fighters has risen - according to Russian estimates, from about 6,000 in June to over 30,000 at present - it can be assumed that we are talking about thousands of young Muslims travelling from Europe to fight in what they believe is a holy war.

The senseless war in Gaza has probably indirectly boosted the Islamic State group's recruitment campaign, making it easier to claim that the West and Israel are hellbent on wiping out the Muslims in the Middle East. It remains unclear as to why Israel's armed forces attacked Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and conducted blanket air strikes that were bound to take a heavy toll on the civilian population.

In the opinion of Russian experts, this looked more like a smokescreen for US failures in Iraq and Libya rather than an attempt to wipe out Hamas' arsenal and top commanders. From a military point of view, Benjamin Netanyahu's war achieved absolutely nothing, except perhaps giving Hamas a boost in popularity. 

The danger for Russia from the Islamic State group is that some of its members come from Chechnya and Dagestan, the two Muslim republics in the south of Russia, and there is a risk that the group can find sympathisers and supporters there and even start to build a network across the Caucasus. That is why Moscow is now calling on all parties to make a joint effort to destroy the Islamic State group before it becomes truly international.

However, as the president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems Konstantin Sivkov points out, the military option is only part of the solution in tackling the Islamic State group. He says that air strikes would not be enough and that it's crucial to also fight its ideology and cut off its finances that are now flowing through perfectly legal banking channels.    

The war against the Islamic State group is fraught with dangers. It might get out of control and drag the whole region into a much wider conflict.

Alexander Nekrassov is a former Kremlin and government adviser.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.

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Jaji Masipa atishiwa baada ya uamuzi

Mashirika ya kisheria nchini Afrika Kusini, yameelezea wasiwasi kuhusu vitisho dhidi ya jaji aliyetoa uamuzi katika kesi inayomkabili mwanariadha mlemavu wa Afrika Kusini Oscar Pistorius.

Jaji Thokozile Masipa alimpata Pistorius na hatia ya kuua bila kukusudia wala sio mauaji ya kusudi.

Jaji huyo amekuwa akikosolewa tangu kutoa uamuzi wake kuwa Pistorius alimuua mpenzi wake kwa bahati mbaya.

Baadhi ya matamshi yaliyotolewa ni ya chuki , kumlimbikizia lawama na hata kwenda kinyume na mahakama.

Bi Masipa amewekewa ulinzi tangu kutoa uamuzi wake, kwa mujibu wa jarida la City Press.

Maafisa wa polisi wamekuwa wakishika doria nje ya nyumba yake na pia wamekuwa wakimsindikiza kila anapokwenda.

Pistorius alikana kosa la kumuua mpenzi wake Reeva Steenkamp kwa kukusudia.

Wataalamu wa maswala ya kisheria wamekosoa uamuzi wa jaji Masipa ambaye alichukua wadhifa wake mwaka 1998 na kuwa mwanamke wa pili mweusi kuwahi kushikilia wadhifa huo.

Taarifa ya wanasheria hao ilisema kuwa uamuzi wa jaji Masipa ilikuwa sawa kuambatana na sheria na pia kulingana na ushahidi uliotolewa Masipa.

Viongozi wa mashitaka walilaani uamuzi wa jaji Masipa wakisema kuwa Pistorius alipaswa kupataikana na hatia ya kumuua mpenzi wake kwa kukusudia.