Kent Brittan has been appointed chairman of United Technologies International Operations. Jothi Purushotaman has been named vice president of operations, replacing Brittan. Rajeev Bhalla is replacing Purushotaman as senior vice president, finance for UTC's Pratt & Whitney division.
Although it is intrigued by the possible advantages of near-space altitudes, the U.S. Air Force will not be "sold" until it answers some "tough questions" about its value and the difficulty of operating there, according to Gen. Lance Lord, head of Air Force Space Command (AFSPC).
The Boeing Co. is preparing to ship the first of three next-generation Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida for launch in May 2005. Built for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA, GOES-N is based on Boeing's 601 satellite bus and is slated to launch on the company's Delta IV Medium rocket. The spacecraft is expected to ship by aircraft from Boeing's facilities in El Segundo, Calif., to KSC on March 10.
Talk of layoffs in the wake of proposed budget cuts in U.S. Navy shipbuilding is "premature," and Congress needs to consider whether such cuts are budget driven or the result of requirement changes, a Northrop Grumman official said March 9 in Washington. Mike Petters, president of Northrop Grumman Newport News, also said he agrees with an estimate that a proposed delay in the CVN 21 next-generation carrier program could cost $1 billion, and that the carrier will save money over the long run through reduced personnel needs.
Asa Hutchinson has been named chair of the firm's homeland security practice. Hutchinson is a former member of Congress and undersecretary of homeland security.
Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R-Va.), an ardent naval shipbuilding advocate, on March 9 charged that the U.S. Navy and the Defense Department are partly responsible for the reduced readiness and condition of the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (JFK), which the Bush Administration has proposed for retirement this year.
U.S. military science and technology (S&T) officials are focusing on force protection measures, mainly against roadside bombs plaguing coalition forces in Iraq, as well as stronger, more reliable networks to disseminate the information new sensors and systems provide combat personnel, a panel told senators on March 9.
Key U.S. lawmakers and a congressional watchdog agency expressed concern March 9 that Pentagon spending on unmanned aerial vehicles is mushrooming without adequate coordination. Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee's tactical air panel, suggested that duplication has become a serious problem, partly because each service is acquiring UAVs without consulting the other services. He estimated there are 19 operational UAVs and another 17 under development, many of which seem to perform the same missions.
Joseph Alhadeff, David Hoffman and Richard Purcell of TRUSTe of San Francisco; D. Reed Freeman Jr. of Claria, Redwood City, Calif.; and John Sabo of Computer Associates International Inc., Herndon, Va., have been named to the Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee.
ACQUIRED: Telephonics Corp. has bought defense analysis, engineering and simulation company Systems Engineering Group of Columbia, Md. SEG will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Farmingdale, N.Y.-based Telephonics, which provides communications and command systems. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Although the margin growth for Boeing's Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) will start dropping to high single digits in the next few years, its earnings won't be affected, Boeing interim President and CEO James Bell said March 9. Boeing's IDS revenues for all of 2004 grew 11% to $30.5 billion, compared with $27.5 billion in 2003, about a 10% margin increase. IDS revenue is expected to reach about $32.5 billion in 2005 and increase another 7% in 2006, Bell said during the company's most recent earnings report (DAILY, Feb. 3).
COOLERS DELIVERED: Netherlands-based DCN has delivered the final two of six seawater/freshwater coolers for the British navy's Astute-class nuclear-powered attack (SSN) submarines, the company said. Financial terms were not disclosed. The coolers were ordered in 2001 by prime contractor BAE Systems Marine Ltd. of Glasgow, Scotland. Nuclear-powered subs use the coolers to dissipate waste heat from the nuclear power plant and auxiliary cooling circuits. Britain's Ministry of Defence ordered three Astute-class subs from BAE Systems Marine in 1997.
The Government Accountability Office has warned the U.S. Navy about the vulnerability of the planned Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) to large enemy warships. "Because the Navy focused the surface warfare threat and requirements analysis exclusively on small-boat swarms, the risks posed by larger surface threats when the LCS operates independently from nearby supporting U.S. forces have not yet been assessed," GAO investigators said in a report sent last week to the leaders of the House and Senate armed services committees.
Analytical Graphics Inc. (AGI) of Exton, Pa., was awarded two new patents in February by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, the company said March 7. One is for methods of "determining obscuration of sensors that are mounted on a spacecraft" and the other is for analysis of three-dimensional orbit maneuvers, the company said.
