Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

George Caufman has been named compliance director. Sven Lofstrom has been appointed director of technical programs. Mike Robbins has been named director of business development. Renee Wilson has been appointed general manager.

HOLIDAY REPRIEVE: The U.S. Army is delaying the release of a request for proposals for the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) until about Nov. 28 so contractors won't have to spend the Thanksgiving holiday working on their proposals, says an Army source. The final RFP had been scheduled to be released in the third week of November. The ARH, a commercial-off-the-shelf aircraft intended to replace the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, is to have a short system development period of about 12 to 18 months. The Army plans to buy 368 of the helicopters.

Marc Parent has been appointed group president for simulation products.

NO LAYOFFS: NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe envisions no layoffs at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, although he expects the space shuttle work force to shrink naturally by attrition after the orbiter returns to flight. "I know of no specific plans ... to target a drawdown anywhere," he says, responding to recent press reports that job cuts might be imminent. However, current work force levels are not expected to last. "This is the first time in anybody's memory ...

ARMORED VEHICLES: The U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command has awarded Textron Marine and Land Systems of New Orleans a $9.6 million contract modification for 27 armored security vehicles. The work will be performed in New Orleans and is expected to be completed by Feb. 17, 2006. The sole-source contract was initiated on Sept. 23, 1994.

HELPING COMPETE: Legislation approved by Congress to insure American commercial space companies against third-party catastrophic losses will "help the United States compete in an increasingly sophisticated worldwide orbital transportation market," the Aerospace Industries Association says. Congress approved the legislation last week and it is awaiting President Bush's signature (DAILY, Nov. 18). The bill extends the law under which the government insures launch companies to 2009, which "levels the playing field for U.S.

CONFERENCE: NASA's Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization is hosting the ninth annual Mentor-Protege Conference in Washington on Dec. 1. The program is aimed at giving small and disadvantaged businesses subcontracting opportunities with agency contractors.

2004 FMS: Deepwater-related foreign military sales activity in 2004 included selling an operations analysis and simulation study to Bahrain, receiving notice of interest in the Eagle Eye unmanned aerial vehicle from India and Australia, and a request from Israel to work on the common hull mechanical and electrical design for the Maritime Security Cutter Medium," says Danielewski. Sri Lanka also has inquired about the price and availability of the Eagle Eye and the Bofors Defence 57mm Mk3 gun, he says.

MOUS AND FMS: The U.S. Coast Guard expects to sign memorandums of understanding with Australia and the United Kingdom for collaboration on the Deepwater modernization program's Eagle Eye vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial vehicle, says Rear Adm. Patrick Stillman, the program executive officer for Deepwater. The MOU with Australia is to be signed in December, and the one with the U.K. in January. Negotiations on an MOU with France are under way. "The Deepwater Program already has MOUs with Canada and Germany to work on the Eagle Eye.

The European Space Agency's Huygens probe, which is orbiting Saturn onboard the Cassini spacecraft, successfully passed its 16th in-flight "checkout" on Nov. 23, the last one planned before it separates from Cassini in December. Preliminary analysis of the checkout data showed that the procedure went as planned, ESA said. Huygens is scheduled to dive into the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan after being released from Cassini on Dec. 24 (DAILY, Oct. 25).

STACKING BOOSTERS: Technicians at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida have begun stacking the solid rocket boosters for the shuttle Discovery's return-to-flight mission, STS 114, NASA says. The boosters are being assembled atop the Mobile Launch Platform, which is inside the Vehicle Assembly Building. The next step will be to join the external tank to the boosters, according to NASA. Launch of the shuttle is scheduled for May 2005.

RESTRUCTURING: The Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman Mission Systems a $10.4 million contract to "provide for a restructure" of the Minuteman III missile's Propulsion System Rocket Engine Life Extension Program, the DOD said Nov. 24. The restructuring of the work to refurbish the missile's liquid propulsion stage is "due to government testing delays and program budget shortfalls," DOD said. The work is to be completed by October 2006.

South Korea has developed a radar system that can take pictures of enemy terrain regardless of weather conditions, a South Korean defense ministry research institute said Nov. 23. The Korea Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar (KOMSAR) can detect enemy facilities hidden in hilly terrain within a range of 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) and take high-resolution pictures, the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) said. The earth observation radar currently used by the South Korean military doesn't work properly at night and in rainy or foggy weather.

Adm. David E. Jeremiah (USN Ret.) and Paul G. Stern have joined the board of directors. Jeremiah has been serving on ManTech's advisory board since 1994. Stern has founded two investment companies and served as a senior executive for a number of high technology companies. Gen. Thomas C. Richards (USAF Ret.) has been elected chairman of the advisory board.

Robert D. Weaver has been appointed to the board of directors. Weaver is a director and the president, chief operating officer and chief financial officer of Crownbolt, a privately held national distributor of fasteners and hardware.

Jeffery L. Emdee and Joanne H. Ostroy have been promoted to principal engineer.

IED THREAT: Attacks on American forces in Iraq will continue, and "perhaps intensify as the Iraqi election approaches," Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld says. One component of those attacks is the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). "Over the past two weeks, a single military unit found 191 weapons caches, and 431 improvised explosive devices in one sector of Fallujah alone. Soldiers and Marines have found large IED-making facilities, and facilities for making vehicle-borne bombs," Rumsfeld says.

Two programs initiated by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency - one to disrupt an enemy's command organization, the other to increase the effectiveness of friendly battlefield command structures - ultimately could complement each other, a DARPA spokeswoman said.

Northrop Grumman Corp. and the U.S. Air Force and Navy have for the first time tested the company's Affordable Moving Surface Target Engagement (AMSTE) against moving maritime surface targets. The $10 million, two-day maritime demonstration, called "Resultant Fury 2005," was held Nov. 22 and 23 off the coast of Hawaii by the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF).

TURBULENCE: "Too much turbulence" in military jobs helped former Air Force acquisition official Darleen Druyun consolidate her bargaining power, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld says. The government is investigating several deals the disgraced official negotiated, to see if she gave Boeing preferential treatment before taking a job there (DAILY, Oct. 13). "It turns out that during her tenure, the secretary of the Air Force changed two or three times ...

Walter J. Culver, a company cofounder and vice chairman, will retire effective Jan. 14.

SPACE RENDEZVOUS: More than 200 space business professionals are expected to attend the first Colorado Space Rendezvous on Dec. 8 at the Colorado History Museum in Denver. Colorado Lt. Gov. Jane Norton heads a group of Colorado leaders in government, business and academia participating as speakers and panel members. "It is a perfect time for Colorado's space-related commercial, civil, academic and military organizations to get together and discuss how we can grow and move forward as a community," Norton says. Those participating include Gen.

Companies in Germany and the Netherlands will continue developing the Boxer family of armored utility vehicles although the British company Alvis has pulled out of the program. Germany's Artec GmbH is the prime contractor for the vehicles, and is working with Germany's Kraus-Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall Landsysteme and the Dutch company Stork.