William E. Carty has been appointed vice president and controller. John J. Chino has been appointed deputy of the Electronic Systems sector and vice president and general manager of enterprise excellence. David S. Harvey has been named vice president of business management and chief financial officer. George B. Hull has been appointed to the U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board. Elizabeth D. Iversen has been named sector vice president of mission assurance for the company's Electronic Systems sector.
Tom Darcy has been appointed executive vice president of strategic projects. Mark Sopp has been named executive vice president and chief financial officer.
Boeing on Feb. 1 reported strong revenue performance from its Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) business for both the December quarter and full year, and the healthy IDS order backlog is expected to offset tighter government defense spending in coming years.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) set up an investigation team on Jan. 30 to examine data transmission failures in the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) that was launched on Jan. 24. The problem appears to be in the direct X-band synchronization process between the satellite and the receiving/demodulation system in Saitama, Japan. Once fully operational, the satellite would mainly relay its data through another satellite named Kodama.
Army and Marine Corps leaders defended their services' commitment to soldier protection at a hearing on Capitol Hill Feb. 1, responding to recent press reports on the effectiveness of vehicle and body armor. "Force protection is the Army's number one priority," Maj. Gen. Stephen Speakes, director of force development for the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army, told lawmakers during a hearing of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces. "We will continue to improve force protection relentlessly."
The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command has exercised a contract option for the P-3C Sustainment, Modification and Installation program (SMIP) with L-3 Communications Integrated Systems for $104.2 million, the Defense Department announced Jan. 30.
Boeing Delta space launch missions at Cape Canaveral, Fla., and Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., are set to resume by about late March or April following the end of a three-month strike by members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. The most likely first mission of several delayed missions is launch from the Cape of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration GOES-N Geosynchronous Operational Environmental Satellite on a Delta IV.
Lockheed Martin Corp. named HR Textron, Honeywell Defense and Space Electronics Systems, EaglePicher and ITT Power Solutions as partners to compete for the second increment of the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS). The Textron Inc. subsidiary would supply the control actuation system, Honeywell the inertial sensor assembly, EaglePicher the thermal battery and ITT the power supply. In addition, General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products would supply the rocket motor, warhead and fuse for the initial production APKWS II rounds.
The Defense Department has awarded National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. of San Diego $317.1 million for design and construction of the ninth ship in the Auxiliary Dry Cargo/Ammunition Ship (T-AKE) class. The award, an option on a contract, also funds system integration, testing and delivery and initial logistics support. The ship will be built in San Diego and should be delivered by May 2009, according to the DOD.
The rising tide of new commercial and business aircraft production lifted Honeywell and Rockwell Collins avionics sales in the final quarter of 2005, a trend that is expected to continue this year.
'A' TEAM: The Defense Department announced Jan. 30 that the staff functions at the Air Force headquarters, major commands and warfighting headquarters will share the same structure as the Army, Navy and Joint staff by Feb. 1. The reorganization will not create nor eliminate jobs.
CYBER SECURITY: ManTech International Corp. will provide the Army with computer forensic analysis, vulnerability assessments and cyber security support for felony criminal investigations over intrusions into Army networks. The potential five-year, $3.8 million contract is with the Army Criminal Investigation Command's Computer Crime Investigative Unit.
MORTAR WEAPONS: General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems has been awarded a $19.4 million contract to produce Mortar Weapons Systems for the U.S. Army, the company said Jan. 30. The contract covers M120 120mm ground mounted mortars, M121 120mm carrier mounted mortars, M313 120mm mortar sub-caliber training inserts, M224 60mm mortar systems, and M252 81mm mortar systems. The contract, which contains four option years, was awarded by the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command, Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, Picatinny, N.J.
The U.S. Navy has awarded General Dynamics Corp.'s Electric Boat unit a $1.35 billion contract modification for construction of the eighth Virginia-class submarine and advance procurement for the ninth and 10th subs. But the company said Jan. 30 that the work was expected and would not alter its plan to slash its work force as the Defense Department has scaled back its submarine plans. "It is not unplanned work. For that reason, it will not affect the number of layoffs the company will make over the next two years," General Dynamics said.
EADS North America said Jan. 30 that if chosen, it would eventually produce the UH-145 rotary wing aircraft, the company's offering for the U.S. Army's Light Utility Helicopter (LUH), at the American Eurocopter plant in Columbus, Miss. Earlier in the day, EADS and Airbus executives, along with federal and state government officials, participated in a groundbreaking ceremony in Mobile, Ala., to begin construction on a new Airbus engineering center.
Since September 2001, the Congress and President Bush have provided about $323 billion in appropriations for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and for other Defense Department antiterrorism activities, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Total obligations by the end of last September reached about $254 billion. But that amount does not include obligations for classified activities or for coalition support, which are not included in DOD's obligation reports.
