The U.S. Air Force's Milstar advanced military communications satellite system has been instrumental in providing Global Hawk command-and-control operations over Iraq, including use of the large UAV during the rescue of Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch, Air Force sources said. Milstar was also used for the rapid targeting of Navy Tomahawk cruise missiles involved in Iraqi strikes and clandestine communications with Special Operations Forces.
Dominique Hedon (see photo) has been named vice president-industrial strategy of Snecma and a member of the French group's management committee. He was vice president/general manager for commercial propulsion engines of Honeywell.
Moritz Suter, founder/former chairman of Crossair, has been named chairman of Jet Aviation parent Hirschmann Holding Ltd., Zug, Switzerland. Other new board members are: Rita Hirsch- mann, Wolf-Rudiger Bub, Karl Dersch, Peter Gauweiler and Hans Loliger.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada report on the 1998 crash of Swissair Flight 111 (AW&ST Apr. 14, p. 62) reminded me of an experience I had as a passenger on a Hunting (now Air Contractors) Boeing 727F in February 1997 with an original route of Dublin to Brussels via East Midlands in England.
Elbit Systems Ltd. and Rockwell Collins joint- subsidiary Vision Systems International has been awarded a contract from Boeing to deliver up to 300 joint helmet-mounted cuing systems within the next 18 months, under a $60.1-million supply order.
Philip J. Vincenzes has been named chief technology officer, USAF Lt. Col. (ret.) Norman Edwards senior associate and Jordan Richie associate of DFI Government Services of Washington. Vincenzes was founder of eXtensible Business Solutions Inc. Edwards was chief of joint modeling simulation for Joint Staff J-8 at the Pentagon, while Richie was a chief researcher for the Wisconsin Project.
Martin Melnick has been named vice president/chief information officer for internal information systems for North- rop Grumman Space Technology. He was the vice president of the sector's e-Enterprise.
ARIZONA NIGHT VISION Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Electro-Optical Systems business plans to consolidate its night-vision components manufacturing operations by moving most of them to Tempe, Ariz., from Garland, Tex., in June. As a result of the shift, there will be a net reduction of more than 100 jobs, according to company officials. The Garland facility will remain the business unit's headquarters.
Southwest Airlines reported a net income of $24 million in the first quarter, but officials warn that projected earnings in the current period may fail to match last year's performance because of weak travel demand.
I read with great interest and admiration David A. Fulghum and Robert Wall's article on the A-10 flown by K.C. (AW&ST Apr. 21, p. 27). It is a remarkable story. If the government trains women to fly combat aircraft, why were they prohibited from flying combat missions? K.C. did what she was supposed to do and did it well. Recent events show her training was a worthwhile investment.
The Columbia accident investigation board is beginning to embrace assertions that the same management loopholes and flaws that resulted in the Challenger accident 17 years ago also played key roles in the Columbia tragedy. Such findings would mean that in effect similar NASA program deficiencies are directly culpable in the death of 14 astronauts and the loss of two shuttle orbiters worth $4 billion.
Peter J. Gundermann has been nam- ed president/CEO and David C. Burney vice president/chief financial officer of the Astronics Corp., Buffalo, N.Y. Gundermann was president of Astronics subsidiary Luminescent Systems Inc., while Burney was controller of Astronics' aerospace division.
WORKHORSE Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Pegasus launch team is preparing for a busy spring. Through June, three of the winged Pegasus XL rockets are to be fired into orbit from the company's L-1011 drop aircraft. One will be staged from Cape Canaveral; the other two will be launched off Vandenberg AFB, Calif. The Cape mission will go on Apr. 28 with NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer (Galex) spacecraft (shown). The ultraviolet space telescope will seek star-forming galaxies to help astronomers understand how and when stars form.
RUSSIAN REVIEW The Ilyushin Il-112V is in the forefront for a Russian air force light transport aircraft requirement. The bid committee is expected to make a formal announcement soon. The service is also stepping up efforts to acquire a medium-lift aircraft with the Tu-330 and the Il-214 in the running.
USAF Brig. Gen. Charles B. Green, who has been command surgeon for Headquarters Air Mobility Command (AMC) and U.S. Transportation Command at Scott AFB, Ill., will become commander of the 59th Medical Wing (Wilford Hall Medical Center) and lead agent for Defense Dept. Health Services Region 6, Lackland AFB, Tex. Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Loftus, command surgeon for Headquarters U.S. Air Forces Europe at Ramstein AB, Germany, will succeed Green. Brig. Gen. (select) Kip L.
Although it has yet to be formally launched and its engine selected, the proposed A400M airlifter is now scheduled to make its maiden flight during the first quarter of 2008, a full year later than planned.
USN Rear Adm. (ret.) Philip A. Dur, corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Ship Systems Sector, Pascagoula, Miss., has been selected as one of America's 50 most important Hispanic executives in technology and business by Hispanic Engineer & Information Technology magazine. He had been vice president-program operations of the Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems Sector.
President Bush has signed legislation authorizing a memorial to the crew of the space shuttle Columbia in Arlington (Va.) National Cemetery. The law calls for the Army to spend as much as $500,000 on a monument and permits NASA to supplement that amount with private funds. The memorial will be near that of the crew of the shuttle Challenger, which was lost in January 1986.
Terri Ragsdale has been appointed air medical market manager for American Eurocopter, Grand Prairie, Tex. She was vice president-customer service for Rocky Mountain Helicopters.
Kim Wiemuth has been appointed managing director of team resources and corporate communications for Kitty Hawk Inc. of Fort Worth. She was director of marketing and corporate communications/director human resources for North American operations for Worldwide Flight Services.
Stanley W. Kandebo (Dayton, Ohio), Pierre Sparaco (Angerville, France)
CFM International expects to manufacture about 720 powerplants this year, and projects that while an upturn in the transport business is unlikely before 2006, the company should continue to deliver no fewer than 600-650 engines a year for the foreseeable future.
CMC Electronics has received an order from Swiss International Air Lines to supply the satellite communications antenna system for its dozen A340 aircraft. Deliveries are scheduled to be completed by January 2004.
B-52 operators have used their new targeting pod for the first time to drop precision ordnance in combat, capping a sometimes frustrating effort by the Air Force Reserve Command to field the Litening-2 targeting system on the veteran bomber. Earlier this month, one of two pod-equipped B-52s dropped two 500-lb. GBU-12 laser-guided bombs on a radar and command complex at an airfield in northern Iraq. The crew also used the targeting pod to survey an area before dropping a Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCMD) against a dispersed target complex.
Despite a "stunningly incompetent defense" by the Iraqi military, there are important lessons to be drawn from the conflict, says the Pentagon's top force-transformation official.
