Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

Members of Congress anxious to protect aircraft from shoulder fired missiles said Sept. 21 that they are encouraged by the progress Homeland Security contractors Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems have made in developing counter-MANPAD devices to fit on passenger airlines. Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems will enter the live-fire testing phase next year. Lawmakers say once that is completed, they will reinvigorate their efforts to get the systems installed on aircraft that fly high-risk routes.

A study of options to modernize the U.S. Air Force's long-range strike capabilities is scheduled to begin next month, according to a spokeswoman at Air Combat Command. The study, or analysis of alternatives (AOA), is expected to last a year.

Roger W.A. Spillmann has been named senior vice president and corporate secretary.

Department of Defense leadership on the development of its space cadre is still lacking, with the department falling behind schedule on many of its stated goals, according to the Government Accountability Office. "Without proactive DOD leadership, the secretary of defense and Congress will not have assurance that the services are obtaining and developing the space cadre the nation needs," the GAO's report says.

COAXIAL ROTORCRAFT: Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. said it was awarded two U.S. Army contracts to perform conceptual, preliminary design for two of its X2 Technology heavy-lift coaxial rotorcraft. The awards from the Army's Applied Aviation Technology Directorate go toward evaluating joint requirements and joint heavy lift rotorcraft for the U.S. military, Sikorsky said. Sikorsky said Sept.

Simon Haye has been named managing director of MECAR S.A., Allied's Belgian ammunition manufacturer.

Jerry B. Agee has been appointed corporate vice president and president of the company's Mission Systems sector. Stephen E. Frank has been elected to the board of directors. Frank is a former chairman, president and CEO of Southern California Edison.

Paul Savageau has been appointed vice president of investor and media relations.

Randy Kesterson has been appointed chief operating officer. Robert W. Rene has been appointed interim CEO.

N. Wayne Hale Jr. has been named manager of the space shuttle program. Roy Bridges has retired as director of Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va. Lesa B. Roe will replace Bridges.

Charles A. Ross has stepped down as chief operating officer but will continue as president and director. Stanton E. Ross has been named CEO, chairman of the board of directors, and interim chief financial officer.

Vice Adm. Phillip M. Balisle (USN Ret.) has been appointed senior vice president, maritime strategic plans and programs in Washington.

TEAMING FOR BID: Germany's ThyssenKrupp Technologies said Sept. 19 that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with EADS to make a joint bid for Atlas Elektronik, a BAE Systems subsidiary. If successful, ThyssenKrupp would take over 60% of Atlas and EADS would get 40%. Atlas Elektronik develops integrated sonar systems for submarines and is a supplier for ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems. Atlas Elektronik, which has 1,750 employees, would continue to be headquartered in Bremen.

Thomas Welch has been appointed general manager of Derco Repair Services.

JSC CLOSES: NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston closed at 2 p.m. Eastern Time Sept. 21 due to the threat from Hurricane Rita. A small emergency crew will remain on site but the center will not reopen until the storm passes. Primary flight control of the International Space Station has been transitioned to the Russian Mission Control Center near Moscow.

NASA's $104 billion plan to put astronauts back on the moon by 2018 and go on to Mars after that may have ramifications for its aeronautics program, according to Robert S. Walker, a former Pennsylvania Republican congressman who chaired the House Science Committee. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin unveiled the plan Sept. 19, saying it wouldn't take money from aeronautics and science budgets (DAILY, Sept. 20).

A former commercial airliner is being transformed in the desert to prepare it to serve as a high-tech test bed for the U.S. Defense Department's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. The Boeing 737-300, which JSF prime contractor Lockheed Martin bought from Lufthansa, the German airline, has been undergoing modifications at a BAE Systems facility in Mojave, Calif., since September 2003. Once completed, the test bed will be "able to replicate the entire sensor suite of the F-35," said Paul Metz, who oversees JSF flight-testing for Lockheed Martin.

Despite the back-to-back losses of two critical competitions to variants of General Atomics' Predator, Northrop Grumman is continuing production of its first Hunter II prototype and holds out hope that it may still find customers for the system. A derivative of the Israeli Heron unmanned aerial vehicle, Hunter II lost in the Army's Extended Range/Multi-Purpose UAV competition in early August, then again in the Department of Homeland Security's Arizona border patrol UAV competition at month's end.

Ahmed Jazzar has been appointed president for Saudi Arabia operations. Michael Probasco has been named president of Boeing Middle East Limited.

Amy Alving has been appointed the Transformation, Training and Logistics Group's chief technology officer and vice president for technology. Andrew W. Palowitch has been named senior vice president and chief technology officer for the Intelligence Group. Roberto L. Vasquez has been appointed the Intelligence Group's vice president of Department of Defense Space Operations for the National Security & Space business unit.

Some industry and Washington observers hope the White House's new National Strategy for Maritime Security and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina could help boost the U.S. Coast Guard's prospects on Capitol Hill, especially over its embattled Deepwater recapitalization program.

David M. Hall has been appointed senior vice president and general manager of its Defense Systems division.

South Korea plans to develop a horse-like mobile combat robot that would fight alongside human soldiers, the Korea Overseas Information Service said Sept. 21. The robot would have six or eight extendable legs with wheels, allowing it to move like an insect over uneven terrain. It would be armed with various weapons and operated by remote control and its own artificial intelligence system. Project officials have requested KRW 33.4 billion (USD $32.4 million) in funding between 2006 and 2011 to develop the robot.

Latin America will pose a bevy of nontraditional, even nonmilitary, threats to U.S. national security over the coming two decades, a trio of experts told a group of House Armed Services Committee members hearing testimony ahead of the Defense Department's ongoing Quadrennial Defense Review.