Mike Becraft has been appointed executive vice president of the mission services group. Marylynn Stowers has been named executive vice president of the information technology group.
Congressional pressure to avoid a gap in U.S. human space access is behind a NASA push to accelerate the first piloted flight of the planned Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV).
GKN Aerospace said Jan. 11 that it has been awarded a contract to produce composite components for Northrop Grumman's X-47B Joint Unmanned Combat Systems (J-UCAS) aircraft. If the X-47B enters full production, the contract's total value would be more than $500 million, the company said. The graphite composite skins will be manufactured at GKN Aerospace's St. Louis facility. The skins cover nearly 90 percent of the aircraft's surface. The aircraft's actuated doors for its weapon's bay, nose and main landing gear are also produced in St. Louis.
Boeing is nearing deals on upgrades to AH-64 Apache helicopters purchased by various countries through foreign military sales, according to the company. Closest to fruition is a contract to remanufacture 30 AH-64A Apaches purchased by the United Arab Emirates into the AH-64D configuration. That contract is expected in the first quarter of this year, according to Mike Burke, Boeing's director of rotorcraft business development.
Craig Bambrough has been appointed vice president and director of defense and intelligence strategies for the SRA Touchstone Consulting Group. John M. Miller has been named vice president and director of operations for the SRA Touchstone Consulting Group. Pat Sidhu has been appointed vice president and director of the SRA Spectrum Solutions Group. Sonu Singh has been appointed vice president and director of enterprise systems for the SRA Spectrum Solutions Group.
Data transfer rates on a test aircraft have been increased 40 times using the F-15E's existing wiring. During a Boeing-funded demonstration, the amount of time it takes to transfer the image of a target from aircraft to a Joint Direct Attack Munition on its wing was slashed to one-half second from 11-12 seconds.
European and Canadian radar satellites are providing data on side-wall stability of the largest open pit mine in Africa, which is threatened by subsidence from underground mining below the pit floor.
Lockheed Martin Corp. expects an upcoming Defense Department report to validate its Joint Common Missile (JCM) program, or at least most of the technology it developed under that effort, and lead to a resurgence in the otherwise terminated missile replacement program, a company official said.
Boeing will get at least $500 million for three big geostationary L-band communications platforms in its largest commercial satellite deal since 1997, when it sold two spacecraft to Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Ltd.
Rep. J. Randy Forbes (R-Va.), a leader of congressional China and shipbuilding caucuses, said the caucuses this year will focus on the Navy's final long-term shipbuilding plan, maintaining a dozen U.S. aircraft carriers and even pushing the formation of a so-called national strategic directorate. The caucuses will examine how the shipbuilding plan provides for a reliable, stable funding stream and assures a strong work force through apprenticeships, Forbes told the Surface Navy Association's national symposium in Arlington, Va.
Lt. Gen. Brian A. Arnold (USAF Ret.) has been named vice president of National Space Programs within the Space and Airborne Systems (SAS) Strategic Systems organization.
A senior executive who played a leading role in Intelsat's privatization is leaving his post at the global satellite operator in a management shakeup. Ramu V. Potarazu resigned his post as chief operating officer this week and will leave the company next month. Kevin Mulloy, president of Intelsat Global Service Corp., also resigned.
While being generally dismissive of price creep in the U.S.'s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, a senior Australian defense official admitted that if cost goes up appreciably, the projected order of 100 aircraft could go down. That comment from Deputy Defense Secretary Shane Carmody follows revelations that the U.S. Navy and Air Force are making plans to pull funding from the JSF's F136 alternative engine program as a cost-cutting measure. The 100 JSFs are supposed to replace 71 F/A-18 and 26 F-111 strike aircraft.
ACS: Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors has been awarded a $57.3 million contract modification to provide DDG 51 Class Aegis Combat System installation, integration and testing, the Defense Department said Jan. 10. The work will be done in Moorestown, N.J.; Bath, Maine; and Pascagoula, Miss. It is expected to be finished by January 2007.
