Jake Volkert (see photo) has been named vice president/general manager of the Northrop Grumman Corp. Electronic Systems Sector's Navigation Systems Div., Woodland Hills, Calif. He was vice president-battle management/command, control and communications and strategic systems for Boeing.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin faces tough questioning this fall as he pushes his stripped-down space-exploration plans on Capitol Hill. Griffin will unveil a tightly-focused program that aims to return humans to the Moon as early as summer 2018, basically using a replay of the Apollo approach of the 1960s, with updated electronics.
Makhuparetja Nyama has been appointed CEO of Sweden-based Saab Grintek Ltd. Nyama was acting CEO following the departure of Shaun Liebenbeg to Denel and had been CEO of Grintek Technologies.
The Air Force's new leadership will get its first big tests in how the service fares in the budget and quadrennial defense review battles, and in how Congress reacts to acquisition reviews. "Buzz [Gen. T. Michael Moseley, the new chief of staff] plays the guy who says he doesn't know anything and grew up in a dusty West Texas town, and he plays it really well, but he's as smart as a whip," says a congressional staffer. "He's also very adaptive to the circumstances. He's well-liked by both Democrats and Republicans.
European defense giant BAE Systems plc attracts a lot of attention from investors and for good reason. The company has reinvigorated its business while penetrating the lucrative U.S. defense market. Earlier this month, BAE announced interim first-half results that included a 35% jump in pre-tax profits from the same period a year earlier.
William Cotton has been named general manager of the Firth Rixson Aerospace Components (Suzhou) Co. Ltd. in China. He was general manager of the U.K.-based company's forging operations in Darley Dale, England, and Eger, Hungary.
Lockheed Martin's delivery of the first eight Arrowhead systems for the U.S. Army's Modernized Target Acquisition and Designation Sight/Pilot Night-Vision Sensor program marks the completion of all milestones required for the Army's first unit equipped at Ft. Hood, Tex. The units were integrated on Boeing's AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopters. Pilots have begun flight training, and Army maintenance personnel are learning the intricacies of the new system.
Paul A. Robinson, President (AeroTech Research (USA), Newport News, Va.)
The findings of Mark Wiggins of the University of Western Sydney with regard to pilots' interpretation of weather radar data ("Pilot's Rorschach" AW&ST Aug. 22/29, p. 48) hit the nail on the head.
SUPERSONIC AEROSPACE INTERNATIONAL (SAI) is continuing its work with Lockheed Martin to develop new technology that will reduce the sonic boom impact of its proposed Quiet Supersonic Transport (QSST). According to the company, the technology would cut sonic boom to a level on the ground that would be "barely audible against ordinary background noise." SAI was founded in 2001 by J. Allen Paulson, son of aviation entrepreneur Allen E. Paulson. The 12-seat QSST would have a range of more than 4,000 naut. mi. and could fly above Mach 1 over land. SAI and Aerion Corp.
L-3 Communications has acquired Joseph Sheairs Associates, a systems and software firm that supports air traffic control systems. Terms were not disclosed, but L-3 says it expects Sheairs to add $25 million to its sales in 2006.
Spanish-U.S. satellite operator XTAR has signed up the Danish defense ministry to use its XTAR-EUR spacecraft. COO Denis Curtin says it is the first deal so far for left-hand polarization--a frequency-use enhancement feature common on commercial satellites that was previously unavailable on military communications spacecraft. Curtin says USAF and Army trials using RH/LH polarization in Germany earlier this year attracted strong interest. That could produce a deal as early as year's end, he says.
Singapore's Changi International Airport and Hochtief Airport have opted out of the bidding for New Delhi and Mumbai airport modernization following changes in the tender that imposes a guarantee of $80 million on the airport developer and not the joint venture, as is the norm. Six bidders are now left in the competition.
GAO is calling for the Transportation Dept. to revise safety guidelines for code-sharing by U.S. airlines to define "safety critical" and "nonsafety critical" issues. A GAO report on oversight of the safety aspects of code-sharing shows that from 2000-04, the department authorized U.S. carriers to code- share with foreign airlines 270 times and has not suspended any code-sharing agreement for safety reasons. But GAO now is calling for safety scrutiny to be improved.
Johnny Armstrong, who is chief engineer for the Edwards AFB, Calif.-based 412th Test Wing Hypersonic Flight Test Team, has been named the winner of the Society of Flight Test Engineers' Kelly Johnson Award for Excellence in Flight Test Engineering. Armstrong began his 49 years of government service by participating in the testing of the YB-58 and F-104. He later was the Air Force flight planner on the X-15 program and for both the X-24A and X-24B lifting bodies. Armstrong was project manager for the X-24B, the Defense Dept.
American Airlines, with a goal of cutting fuel costs, plans to retrofit 20 of its Boeing 757-200s and one of its 737-800s with blended winglets. According to Aviation Partners Boeing, the work will be performed at the carrier's maintenance facility at Tulsa, Okla., from November through early 2007.
Guidelines for a new U.S.-Thai aviation agreement approved by the Thai cabinet include a progressive increase in frequencies via a third country (Japan) before the accord takes effect in 2010. Presently, Northwest and United airlines, with a total of 14 flights, are entitled to a maximum of 21 a week from Bangkok to the U.S. via Narita. The agreement will boost Thailand's plan to promote Bangkok's new international airport as a regional aviation hub. Thailand is negotiating similar pacts with Japan, India, South Korea, Switzerland and Uzbekistan.
The Rambo taking center stage in the Israeli army today wields far more power than that of the celluloid superhero. V-Rambo, or Video Receiver and Monitor for Battlefield Operations, was born out of the frustration of Israeli commanders who could spot ambushes thanks to UAV sensors, yet were unable to warn their troops in time. Indeed, this need is being addressed by defense firms, worldwide.
The U.S. Air Force's top special operations officer says he wants to accelerate fielding of the next combat-search-and-rescue helicopter by a year, limiting the variety of technologies available to replace the venerable HH-60G Pave Hawk. Lt. Gen. Michael Wooley, head of Air Force Special Operations Command, says he prefers to purchase what is available in industry as soon as possible--with initial operational capability in 2009 rather than the planned 2010--and incorporate improvements as they become available.
Hoping to pique public interest in a human return to the Moon, Lockheed Martin is sponsoring the nationwide release of a 3D IMAX "experience" based on Apollo film archives that will place audiences in the boots of the 12 astronauts who visited Earth's satellite. The National Air and Space Museum in Washington plans a Sept. 23 premiere of "Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D," followed by simultaneous openings in 84 other IMAX theaters worldwide. Narrated by actor Tom Hanks, the presentation uses digitally remastered 35-mm. and 70-mm.
Shane Eddy has been appointed vice president-customer support and services/deputy chief service officer for Bell Helicopter Textron of Fort Worth. He succeeds Carey Bond, who has resigned. Eddy was executive director of commercial helicopter programs.
Eclipse 500 airframe static testing was completed last week. Another airframe will undergo fatigue testing next spring to validate structural continued airworthiness. Eclipse Aviation is aiming for certification of its very light jet in March 2006.
A three-vehicle U.S. Army convoy ambushed on the outskirts of Baghdad prompts a soldier to press a "help" button on his blue-force tracking (BFT) device, a portable, GPS-based position-reporting system. That transmits a so-called "9-1-1 distress code" to a national intelligence-gathering aircraft or spacecraft overhead, which forwards the notification to an Army- operated Mission Management Center (MMC) here.
Saudi Arabia and Oman are emerging as potential customers for the British Paveway IV precision-guided bomb. The Paveway IV could form part of the weapons package for the Saudis' Tornado strike aircraft upgrade program.
