Bruce D. Parker has been named to the board of directors of AirNet Systems Inc., Columbus, Ohio. He is president of the IT Management Group and had been senior vice president/chief information officer at United Airlines.
The Pentagon hopes to complete the next intercept of its ground-based mid-course missile defense system before Dec. 25. The Missile Defense Agency has been stepping up the pace of testing after achieving a series of successes.
USAF Lt. Gen. (ret.) Charles J. Cunningham, Jr., has become director of Air Force strategic programs for DynCorp, Reston, Va. He was director of the Defense Security Service and had been deputy assistant secretary of Defense for intelligence.
The lawyers and politicians are arguing intensively about the recent decision by the European Court of Justice on the legality of the bilateral agreements between the U.S. and several European Union member states. Does this mean that these agreements have to be renounced? Is it the end of bilateralism? Has the European Commission overstepped the mark, and will it be put back in its box by member states at the Ministerial Transport Council meeting in Brussels this week?
Denmark's Sterling European has awarded a five-year contract to Snecma Services for the maintenance and overhaul of CFM56-7 turbofans powering the carrier's Boeing 737s.
A team led by Northrop Grumman is helping the U.S. Transportation Command keep track of passengers and cargo in the Defense Transportation System (DTS). The team recently received a contract to develop the Global Transportation Network-21 (GTN-21) information system. Besides improving in-transit visibility, GTN-21 will give commanders better decision support tools. The GTN-21 is to set a technical standard for other DTS information systems. The six-year contract is worth $63.8 million and includes options out to 15 years worth potentially $204.7 million.
The Pentagon and the British Defense Ministry plan to collaborate on a next-generation supersonic strike weapon. Dubbed SHOC (stand-off high-speed option for counterproliferation), the project is intended to explore development of a Mach 3.5-4.5 missile with a 400-600-naut.-mi. range. The effort is set to get underway in Fiscal 2004 as a Defense Dept. ACTD (advanced concept technology demonstration) with about $150 million in funding. Britain aims to contribute around 10% of the overall costs. Program go-ahead could come as early as this month.
Maurizio Tucci has been named chief executive of Alenia Spazio. He succeeds Giuseppe Viriglio, who has become vice president-international affairs. Tucci was chief operating officer of Bull Italy.
Inside North America call American List Counsel at: (609) 580-2775; Fax (609) 580-2803. Outside North America call The Prospect Shop at: 020 8481 8730; Fax: 020 8783 1940
NASA will pay the California Institute of Technology about $8 billion to operate the Jet Propulsion Laboratory over the five-year period beginning Sept. 30, 2003, under an agreement announced last week. The new cost-plus award fee contract, which continues an arrangement between Caltech and NASA dating back to December 1958, includes a new award-term provision that could see the contract period extended another five years, based on performance reviews.
Correction: The story in last week's issue on the RC-135 Rivet Joint upgrade package (p. 56) incorrectly stated the cost per aircraft. The correct figure is $31.5 million per aircraft, $15 million of which is for reengining.
The U.S. Air Force wants to restock its supply of 5,000-lb.-class penetrator bombs and use the opportunity to enhance the design over the currently fielded enhanced GBU-28 laser- and GPS-guided weapon. During recent military conflicts, the Air Force has expended a large portion of its GBU28 inventory, dropping the hard-target penetrator weapon from B-2s and F-15Es. The 19-ft.-long, 14.5-in.-dia. weapon debuted during the 1991 Persian Gulf war, when it was employed by F111s.
Ken Smith has become interim director-general of the Brussels-based International Air Carrier Assn. Smith was managing director of Air 2000. He succeeds Marc Frisque, who has formed a business consultancy.
Juergen Weber, chairman/CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, has been appointed chairman of the supervisory board of Frankfurt-based Thomas Cook AG. He succeeds Walter Deuss, the former chairman of Karstadt Quelle, who is retiring. Karstadt Quelle board member Peter Gerard was named to the Thomas Cook board.
UNITED STATES Editor-In-Chief: David M. North [email protected] Managing Editor: David Hughes [email protected] Assistant Managing Editors: Stanley W. Kandebo--Technology [email protected] Michael Stearns--Production [email protected] Senior Editor: Craig Covault [email protected] NEW YORK 2 Penn Plaza, Fifth Floor, New York, N.Y. 10121 Phone: +1 (212) 904-2000, Fax: +1 (212) 904-6068
In response to C. Norman Winningstad's recommendation that pilots "combine it [their response to a TCAS advisory to climb or descend] with a right-hand turn" (AW&ST Sept. 30, p. 6), the aircraft may be traveling in opposite directions and passing right wing to right wing.
Triumph Group Inc. plans to purchase the Boeing Co.'s fabrication operation in Spokane, Wash., subject to the successful negotiation and ratification of new collective bargaining agreements. The business will add about $60 million of revenue to Triumph's fiscal 2004 top line and be accretive to earnings. The operation, with a workforce of about 400, produces non-structural composite and thermoplastic parts. As part of the transaction, Triumph and Boeing will enter into an eight-year single-source supply agreement for the products produced by the Spokane facility.
Daniel LeBlanc has been named chief operating officer for Spaceport Inc. at the Kennedy Space Center for Delaware North Parks Service Inc. He was vice president-operations and marketing.
To keep EA-6B Prowlers flying in support of military operations in recent years, "the Navy took spare parts and personnel from non-deployed squadrons and subjected the EA-6B to above average cannibalization of parts," the General Accounting Office points out in a new report on electronic warfare. The congressional auditors assert that the development has left a scar on personnel and equipment in the U.S. In addition, more aircraft could be grounded due to the slow pace of solving wing fa- tigue problems.
