Boeing 737 MAX Gets New Orders

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Boeing easily beat rival Airbus in orders for new planes last month, but Chicago-based Boeing trailed its European rival in delivering planes to airline customers. Boeing said that it took orders for 31 planes in July while 17 others were canceled, resulting in a net gain of 14. That compared with two orders for Airbus. It was Boeing’s sixth straight month of positive net orders after seeing cancellations exceed orders for most of 2020. Boeing has reported 270 net orders so far in 2021. Brazil’s Gol ordered nine 737 Max jets last month and Dallas-based Southwest Airlines ordered six. Boeing delivered 28 planes in July, including nine 737 Max jets sent to Irish airline Ryanair. That fell short of Airbus, which delivered 47 planes last month. For the year, Boeing has delivered 184 planes, more than all of 2020. This despite the halt in shipping its 787 jet because of production flaws in the fuselage and nose. Last month, the company said it will cut production of 787s. Deliveries are cri

✈ US Military Test New GPS Jamming Weapon ✈

Future of Electromagnetic Weapon Systems

The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) have made warnings to aircraft to stay a few hundred miles away from the Naval Air Weapons Station at China Lake, California.

Modern Electronic Warfare
Modern Electronic Warfare
The US military is testing out a new electromagnetic weapon that disrupts GPS systems and other flight control systems.

June 7, 2016, GPS readouts will be unreliable or nonexistent for 253 nautical miles (291 miles) at 50 feet above sea level, for 340NM (391 miles) at 4,000 feet, and for 375NM (431 miles) at 10,000 feet, covering a huge area of very busy airspace.

The FAA issued the Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) Warning - CHLK_16-08_GPS_Flight_Advisory.pdf

FAA is warning
FAA is warning

The above map shows the Los Angles Basin, the San Francisco Bay Area and Las Vegas in Nevada are among the areas affected in some way.

In addition, the FAA is warning pilots flying the Embraer Phenom 300, one of the world's most popular executive jet aircraft, that the testing could interfere with flight stability controls and has said extra care should be taken in the area.

The jamming will take place between 0930 and 1530 Pacific Time and more tests are planned.

Further GPS jamming will take place at the same time on June 9, 21, 23, 28 and 30, bringing more disruption for travelers.

The US is not alone in this. The UK communications regulator Ofcom has issued an advisory that aircraft-based GPS jamming exercises will be held over the Scottish Hebrides at 0900-1100 and 1300-1500 local time for the entire month of July.

GPS jamming and electromagnetic war is nothing new even the North Koreans have it. And we reported about Electromagnetic war games by NATO back in 2014

This time however with the lack of ground jamming it could indicate that the GPS jamming device is airborne, but the FAA only concerns itself with airspace, so ground based jammers can't be ruled out.

It's also possible that the jamming is, in fact, just a testbed for some new anti-jamming technology under development and being flown overhead. With the ability to jam GPS getting easier and cheaper each day, the military is keen to develop new systems that would still allow aircraft, drones, and missiles to defeat jamming signals.

There's been no word from China Lake as to what the hardware used for the tests actually is (and we're not exactly holding our breath expecting an answer), but for the meantime avoid flying these unfriendly skies.




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