Ann D. Davidson has been appointed vice president/general counsel of Alliant Techsystems of Minneapolis. She has succeeded Daryl L. Zimmer, who has retired. Davidson was associate general counsel/assistant secretary of the Parker Hannifin Corp. of Cleveland.
Pentagon officials are expected to assign at least some blame to three participants in an exercise in Kuwait during which an errant bomb caused six deaths earlier this year. Army Gen. Tommy Franks, head of U.S. Central Command, is expected to recommend punishment for a Navy F/A-18 pilot who dropped the bomb, a Navy F-14 aircrewman who was an airborne forward air controller and an Air Force forward air controller on the ground who was monitoring the exercise. The pilot mistook the observation tower for his target which was actually a mile away.
Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Integrated Systems Sector has won a $23.6-million, fixed-price contract from the U.S. Navy to produce 78 BQM-74E aerial targets and associated kits. The contract includes options for three additional years of production. The potential total value is $107 million.
Setting the scene for airports to analyze their infrastructure and airlines to reexamine their peak-hour scheduling, the FAA documented last week what has been obvious to air travelers for the past couple of summers--flight operations often exceed capacity at the nation's most congested airports.
General Dynamics' $2.1-billion cash offer to buy Newport News Shipbuilding represents the company's second bid in two years to absorb its main competitor and become the U.S. Navy's chief supplier of aircraft carriers and submarines. The proposed deal, tentatively set to close in the third quarter, would include assumption of $500 million of debt accumulated by Newport News Shipbuilding. Although the boards of both companies have approved the plan, it is subject to government and regulatory review.
With a new Administration in the White House, lighter-than-air proponents are rolling out some new ideas. NORAD is pitching the demonstration of an airship that in large numbers would offer early warning of attack by aircraft or missiles. BMDO is considering missile-carrying airships to fend off cruise missile attacks.
Titan Corp. received an indefinite-delivery/quantity follow-on contract by the U.S. Navy for technical and software engineering services in support of satellite communications systems improvements. The potential value is $127 million over the next five years.
AerotechTelub of Sweden, Aerotech of Denmark and Astec Helicopter Services of Norway have signed a memorandum of understanding to form a logistics support organization for defense helicopters, called the Nordic Support and Service Center. It plans to purchase more than 70 aircraft.
Ron King has been named Houston-based commercial executive for North American marketing operations for Antonov Airlines, the joint venture between Air Foyle Ltd. and the Antonov Design Bureau. He was vice president of Curtis Air Service.
U.S. Navy Capt. David M. Walker (ret.), who commanded three space shuttle missions and was copilot on a fourth, died Apr. 23 at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. He was 56.
China's two major carriers, China Southern Airlines and China Northern Airlines, have begun a code-share partnership for flights to and from Guangzhou and Shenyang. Plans call for operating 2-3 flights daily on the route. The pact marks a key change in relations between the two airlines, which have been fierce competitors. Revenue will be shared proportionately, according to airline officials.
Airbus' new A340-600, Europe's largest commercial aircraft, successfully completed its first flight on Apr. 23, in Toulouse, France. The A340-600, fitted with flight test instruments and water ballast tanks, took off at a weight of more than 300 metric tons (660,000 lb.). The 380-seat aircraft, powered by four Rolls-Royce Trent 500 engines, has a maximum takeoff weight of 365 metric tons and a maximum range of 7,500 naut. mi.
Canada's CAE has signed a contract with Lockheed Martin Corp. to upgrade the Merlin helicopter simulator system to be used by the U.K. Royal Navy. The contract covers changes to the Cockpit Dynamics Simulator.
Eric Wildhagen has been named vice president-engineering and product support for the Pemco Aviation Group Inc., Birmingham, Ala. He was group head of mechanical engineering for the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. in Dallas.
BFGoodrich's income for the fourth quarter was $80 million, or 76 cents a share, compared with $76.4 million, or 69 cents a share, a year ago. In the aerospace segment, all four operating groups achieved higher sales and operating income, compared with the year-ago quarter. Operating income increased 12%, to $1 billion.
Robert Patton (see photo) has been appointed president/CEO of Shaw Aero Devies Inc., Shaw Aero Development Inc. and the Dyna-Air Corp., all of Naples, Fla. He was vice president/general manager.
Barry A. Benedict (see photo) has been appointed senior vice president/chief academic officer of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Fla., starting next fall. He is vice president-academic affairs/dean of faculty at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Ind.
Weaker-than-expected sales and income from Logicon and Electronic Systems and Sensors were primarily responsible for a 43% drop in Northrop Grumman's earnings per share, according to industry analysts. The company reported net income of $103 million, or $1.42 a share, compared with $173 million, or $2.47 a share, in the first quarter of 2000. Sales also came in below some Wall Street estimates.
A TRW/Raytheon-led contractor team completed a Space-Based Infrared System-Low (SBIRS-Low) System Design Review in late March, clearing the second of three major program milestones. While pointedly guarding proprietary aspects of their design for this low-Earth orbital component of a next-generation missile early-warning and tracking system, TRW and Raytheon officials attending the 17th National Space Symposium here were clearly pleased with the review's outcome.
Northrop Grumman is buying Aerojet's Electronic and Information Systems (EIS) business group for $315 million in cash. The sale will reduce the debt of Aerojet parent company, GenCorp, to approximately $240 million, and facilitate growth for the rest of Aerojet's Sacramento, Calif.-based operation, according to company officials. Carl Fischer, the current president of Aerojet, will head the EIS sector in Azusa, Calif., during its transition to Northrop Grumman.
