Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

Northrop Grumman's Centurion harbor protection system could be used as a rapidly deployable system for the U.S. Navy for force protection and anti-terrorism operations in harbors and littoral waters, company officials told The DAILY. "Our goal is to develop a system ... that can be quickly stood up," David Miller, the marketing manager for the program, said Dec. 7. "We're looking for a market for that."

Francis H. "Hooks" Burr, a former member of the board of directors, died on Nov. 25. He was 90.

Jim Agee has been named vp for sales and marketing.

USAF CONTRACTS: HJ Ford, a subsidiary of Andover, Mass.-based Dynamics Research Corp., has won $29.2 million in contracts to provide services for the Aeronautical Systems Center and Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, the company said Dec. 8. The Aeronautical Systems Center work includes $27.8 million for the Long Range Strike, Reconnaissance, Mobility and ACS System Wings, the Training Aircraft System Group and the F/A-22 System Program Office.

SHOULDER-LAUNCHED: Talley Defense Systems of Mesa, Ariz., will produce 4,067 Shoulder-Launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon High Explosive Dual Purpose Encased Assault Rockets for the Marine Corps under a $7 million contract modification from the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Department of Defense said Dec. 8. The work is expected to be completed in June 2006.

President Bush signed a $388 billion spending bill for FY 2005 on Dec. 8 that includes nearly $16.2 billion in funding for NASA. The bill covers the spending of all federal agencies except the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon. Congress passed the measure on Nov. 20, but it was not sent to Bush until lawmakers overturned language that would have made it easier for some Congress members and their aides to see income tax returns in Internal Revenue Service offices. FY 2005 began Oct. 1.

UPGRADES: Canada has awarded Raytheon Co. a $32 million contract to repair, overhaul and upgrade services to an additional 16 Phalanx radar and gun systems for the Canadian navy. Raytheon will provide total life-cycle support for Canada's Phalanx Close-In Weapon Systems (CIWS), including fleet repair work, field service support, overhauls and upgrades.

Wendell Lunceford Jr. has been appointed chief technology adviser. Randy Hill has been promoted to director of applied research.

Susan M. Tardanico has been named vice president of communications.

Steven R. Loranger, ITT's president and chief executive officer, has been elected board chairman.

Michael Caridi has been named senior adviser to the Bioterrorism Preparedness Advisory Board.

Communication upgrades that were installed on legacy Coast Guard cutters as part of the Deepwater modernization program played a big role in recent drug enforcement operations, the Coast Guard said Dec. 7. The C4ISR equipment on the ships allowed their crews to maintain a common operational picture and access real-time intelligence information, including from a Department of Defense satellite. The crews on the cutters Gallatin, Rush and Thetis seized more than 33,000 pounds of cocaine during the operations, the Coast Guard said.

Acting Pentagon acquisition chief Michael Wynne said Dec. 8 that he expects to continue his duties when President Bush's second term begins in January. While Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has also indicated that he will stay in his job, several other high-level officials, including Air Force Secretary James Roche and Air Force acquisition chief Marvin Sambur, have announced their departures (DAILY, Nov. 18, Nov. 19). "I have been asked by Secretary Rumsfeld to stay the course," Wynne said. "I intend to."

Rance Walleston has been chosen to direct an intelligence and information operations initiative.

New members of the board of directors are Jean Caron, EADS DCS, France (treasurer); Andrew Chadwick, QinetiQ, United Kingdom; Dina Hyde, Boeing Co.; Bjorn Kullberg, Saab Aerosystems, Sweden; Nick Miller, Thales UK, United Kingdom; Peter van Blyenburgh, Blyenburgh & Co., France (president); Bernhard Freiherr von Bothmer, UAV DACH, Germany.

Dain M. Hancock, executive vice president and president of the aeronautics company, is retiring. Ralph D. Heath, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics and general manager of the F/A-22 Raptor program, will succeed Hancock. Larry Lawson, vice president and F/A-22 deputy, will succeed Heath.

Overall sales in the aerospace industry rose 8% in 2004, jumping from $148.9 billion in 2003 to $161 billion, the Aerospace Industries Association said Dec. 8. At the end of last year AIA predicted only a $1 billion increase in overall sales from 2003, but instead it was $12 billion and could go higher still, AIA President and CEO John Douglass said at the AIA's annual year-end review and forecast luncheon. "We are clearly headed in the right direction," Douglass said.

Scott Carson has been appointed vice president, sales for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Laurette Koellner will replace Carson as president of Connexion by Boeing. Rick Stephens will replace Koellner as executive vice president, Internal Services. Mary Armstrong replaces Stephens as president, Shared Services Group.

Paul G. Stern, chairman of Claris Capital, has been named a board member.

William Schuster has been named chief operating officer.

Larry E. Williams has been named president and chief operating officer.

RESCHEDULED: Arianespace has rescheduled the launch of the Helios IIA spacecraft for Dec. 18, which will allow time for the replacement of a subassembly in the Ariane 5 rocket. The launch will take place at 11:26 Eastern time from the company's launch site in Kourou, French Guiana. The decision was made to postpone the launch after a similar subassembly failed during a ground test.