Bernard P. McVey, Jr., (see photo) has been named vice president/controller for the Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Information Technology Sector, Herndon, Va. He was vice president/business manager for the Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, and Naval Systems Div. of the company's Electronic Systems Sector in Baltimore.
The proposed reorganization plan filed last week by Loral Space & Communications in federal court in New York follows a script backed by a committee of its unsecured creditors, based on its having sold off satellite assets to raise cash (see p. 54). The biggest change from the company's previous strategy is that it plans to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, probably in November, as a single business with two subsidiaries, Space Systems/Loral and Loral Skynet.
The U.S. government is embarking on the next stage of its assessment of the value of equipping airliners with countermeasures against shoulder-fired, heat-seeking missiles. Flight trials could take place within two years. The initiative is run by the Homeland Security Dept. and supports companies working with an array of missile warning and infrared countermeasures (IRCM) technologies.
Hytec has a broad offering of products and services through its Ports & Security Group. Its large X-ray container scanners are used to check shipping containers to assure compliance with manifests and prevailing regulations for import/export, contraband, explosives and/or biological and chemical or nuclear weapons, and for developing forensics and intel information for enforcement and customs authorities. The systems can be truck or rail mounted, or fixed. The energy levels are 6 or 9 MV. It takes about 20 sec. per container to conduct a full scan, the company says.
Rolf Schuette has been named a visiting scholar in European Union-Russia relations at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. He is on sabbatical from the German foreign ministry, where he oversees relations with Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova.
Singapore has established a National Security Coordination Secretariat to monitor and address biological, chemical and cyber terrorism threats. Minister for security and defense, Tony Tan, says a system to protect commercial aircraft against surface-to-air missile terrorist attacks should be ready in 12-18 months. The system will be installed on the entire fleet of flag carrier Singapore Airlines and its SilkAir regional subsidiary. Except to say the system was developed in cooperation with "friendly countries," Tan declined to provide details.
The Transportation Security Administration is considering the possibility of certifying "system-of-systems" to detect explosives in an effort to speed up the flow of baggage without sacrificing detection performance. Chuck Burke, assistant acting administrator for TSA and chief technology officer for the agency, said TSA favors the system-of-systems approach because it may increase the number of bags that can be processed per hour while lowering the false alarm rate. Vendors are developing concepts to present to TSA.
Emirates and Sri Lankan Airlines applied on Aug. 17 to the U.S. Transportation Dept. for authority to code-share on Emirates' daily nonstops between Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and New York Kennedy Airport. Both carriers operate between Colombo, Sri Lanka, and Dubai, and Emirates told the department the code-share deal offers "significant service enhancement" between the Eastern U.S. and Sri Lanka. Emirates received authority to serve the U.S. in July 2003.
USN Rear Adm. (lower half) Joseph F. Kilkenny has been appointed special assistant for human capital strategy to the commander of the Naval Air Force, Norfolk, Va. He has been director of the Aviation Plans and Requirements Branch in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations at the Pentagon.
Remember Joseph Stalin's response, in World War II, upon receiving Britain's well-meaning "gift" of a state-of-the-art Rolls-Royce fight- er engine: "Who would be so foolish as to give away their best technology?"
Christopher E. Kubasik (see photo) has been appointed executive vice president/chief financial officer of the Lockheed Martin Corp., Bethesda, Md. He was controller and had been a partner in Ernst & Young.
A U.S. Marine Corps Sikorsky CH-53D from the USMC Iwakuni air base near Hiroshima crashed near the campus of the Okinawa International University Aug. 13 while on a training mission. The three crewmembers were injured and the aircraft destroyed. Nobody on the ground was hurt. The university is located near the Marines' Futema air base, where training is controversial because of noise and safety issues.
U.S. Air Transport Assn. member carriers reported more mainline domestic traffic in July--46.3 billion revenue passenger miles--than in any month since the turn of the millennium. July also was the fourth month this year in which traffic exceeded that of the same month prior to the September 2001 terrorist attacks. International traffic continues to lag, however. Latin America has been up all year over 2001 levels, but Atlantic and Pacific still are down, as are system-wide mainline totals.
The European Commission's new team is expected to embark on efforts to accelerate a "free-market" strategy, including in air transportation, and sustain Europe's quest for a stronger economy and overall wealth. Major aviation issues are placed high on the EC's agenda, which also covers domestic affairs as well as transatlantic issues, disagreements and looming disputes--for example, the resurgence of a longtime battle on European government participation in Airbus program funding.
Engineers are examining how to make airliners more resilient when hit by ground fire, but luck, rather than design, is likely to spell the difference between death and survival if a missile strikes a commercial aircraft, some experts acknowledge.
Gen. Leonardo Tricarico has become the Italian air force chief of staff . He succeeds Gen. Sandro Ferracuti. Tricarico was military adviser to the prime minister.
Insurgents fired a hand-held missile at a DHL Airbus A300 departing Baghdad airport on Nov. 22, 2003. Remarkably, a photojournalist with the insurgents captured the attack on film. The first missile hit, but a second one missed. The A300 lost all hydraulics, and pilots used engine power alone to land safely. The fire burned through the fuel tank and part of the spar. (AW&ST Dec. 8, 2003, p. 42). Special report on "Aviation in an Age of Terror" begins on p. 56. Photos by Jerome Sessini/In Visu/Corbis.
William Pelletier, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Florida, has won The International Air Cargo Assn.'s Walter H. Johnson, Jr., scholarship for 2004. The $25,000 award is presented annually to a Ph.D. candidate in the air commerce field. Pelletier's thesis, "The Environmental Conditions in Aircraft Cargo Compartments," examines the effects of variations in temperature, relative humidity and pressure on the environment of aircraft cargo holds and the resulting impact on sensitive shipments such as livestock, perishables and electronics.
Peter J. Clare, a managing director at the Carlyle Group in Washington, has been named head of the firm's global aerospace, defense and government services industry group. He succeeds Managing Director Allan Holt, who will focus on co-managing Carlyle's U.S. buyout activities.
As the black helicopter with "Police" stamped on the side thunders up the Potomac River at treetop level and 160 mph., Andrew Breithaupt and the Steyr-Mannlicher rifle strapped to his chest are ready for action. Breithaupt, an officer with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is the "gunner" and "bust team" on today's flight. He and the two pistol-packing pilots up front could well become the government's last line of defense if a lightweight aerial intruder were to turn on Washington. To the ICE men, this is a war zone.
Lockheed Martin and Rolls-Royce are defining what changes, if any, will be needed to the AE 3007 turbofan to meet U.S. Army requirements for the Aerial Common Sensor (ACS) reconnaissance aircraft. The AE 3007 engine family currently powers the Global Hawk unmanned surveillance vehicle, Cessna Citation X business aircraft and Embraer ERJ 135/145 transports. The ACS platform, selected just weeks ago, will be based on the ERJ 145 (AW&ST Aug. 9, p. 27). The latest version of the AE 3007 to power the Army aircraft has been designated the AE 3007 M1.
Record net aircraft sales enabled Embraer last week to report a second-quarter net profit of $126.5 million, an 18-fold increase over the same period a year ago. Sales soared 63%, to $924.3 million. The Brazilian airframe manufacturer also reported an 84% jump in revenue. Pre-tax earnings were approximately double the amount posted a year ago. In each case, the company exceeded the financial market's expectations.
