Kimberly Johnson, Airports editor for our sister publication Aviation Daily, has embedded in Iraq with the 2nd Marine Division for three months. She is reporting for The DAILY from there, covering the performance of specific weapon systems, the realities of warfare in Iraq and other topics important to our readers. She also writes and takes photographs for "Mother of All Blogs," a Web journal about her experiences. It is located at http://www.moab-iraq.blogspot.com.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - The U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Multiple Kill Vehicles (MKV) program plans to conduct several key activities later this year to prepare for major tests of the system. In November, a prototype or "pathfinder" seeker will be delivered to begin testing and integration with other parts of a small kill vehicle, said Richard "Rick" Reginato, who manages the program for prime contractor Lockheed Martin. During the same month, the main valve in the kill vehicle's solid-fuel propulsion system will be tested.
Jim Royston has been appointed deputy general manager of subsidiary Astrotech Space Operations. John B. Satrom, senior vice president and general manager of Astrotech, has resigned. Don M. White Jr. has been named vice president of Florida operations for Astrotech.
Honeywell Aerospace's recently announced reorganization will result in the reduction of 2,000 jobs worldwide by the end of 2005, about 5% of the company's work force of 40,000, but voluntary retirements, attrition, and workers taking other jobs will mean that a smaller number of current employees will be laid off, a company spokesman said Aug. 17.
Northrop Grumman has delivered its proposal for the U.S. Air Force B-52 Stand-Off Jammer System, the company said Aug. 17, and now expects a winner of the competition to be announced in early October. The work could be worth as much as $3 billion, with $250 million slated for a two-year pre-system development and risk-reduction effort, the company said. Boeing is expected to be among the competitors for the work (DAILY, July 12).
Rockwell Collins announced Aug. 17 that it has repurchased four million shares, or 2.3%, of its outstanding common stock from UBS AG London Branch as part of an accelerated share repurchase agreement. The shares were purchased for $49.10 per share, for a total of $196 million. The total amount of shares Rockwell has repurchased in fiscal year 2005 is now 10.6 million shares for a total cost of $498 million. The company is authorized to repurchase $66 million more this year.
President Bush will nominate former Pentagon acquisition chief Michael Wynne to be secretary of the Air Force and Northrop Grumman executive Donald Winter to be secretary of the Navy, the White House said late Aug. 16. Wynne most recently has been overseeing the Defense Department's base-closing efforts (DAILY, July 18), but he was acting DOD acquisition chief during the now-mothballed Boeing-Air Force tanker lease-buy deal and could face congressional criticism as he steps up for the top service job.
The Department of Defense is making progress in tackling problems of manned/unmanned aircraft integration that have been uncovered by recent operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to Dyke Weatherington, deputy in charge of the Unmanned Aerial System Planning Task Force.
Anthony W. DiGaudio has been chosen to temporarily lead the research and development function. Albert J. Mastrangelo has been named vice president of marketing. Steven P. Schaefer has resigned as senior vice president of marketing, effective Aug. 26.
LONGBOW COMPLETE: Boeing has completed manufacture of the first AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter intended for Kuwait, the company said Aug. 17. The U.S. government accepted the aircraft on behalf of the Kuwaiti government at Boeing's Mesa, Ariz., facility in July, the company said. It will stay in the U.S. for qualification testing until next year.
A battery problem with the spacecraft's Delta IV rocket discovered in the last five minutes of the countdown scuttled NASA's latest attempt to launch the GOES-N weather satellite on Aug. 16. As the rocket's onboard power systems were being brought online, technicians became concerned with voltage readings on a battery in the rocket's second stage that powers the self-destruct system, according to Boeing spokesman Robert Villanueva. The team was unable to diagnose the problem in time to make the launch window, which closed at 7:06 p.m. EDT.
NASA-funded researchers have made a breakthrough that will allow space weather forecasters to predict "all clear" periods when astronauts and spacecraft will be safe from potentially dangerous solar flares. Solar flares are explosions in the sun's atmosphere caused by the sudden release of magnetic energy that can equal up to 10 million one-megaton nuclear bombs. The radiation created by solar flares can be harmful to unprotected astronauts, satellites and airplane occupants flying over the Earth's poles.
