Neal E. Minahan has been named vice president of the Company and senior vice president, Legal of Raytheon Systems Company. He will be based in Arlington, Va.
NASA's Deep Space 1 picked up more than 100 kilometers per hour from the gentle push of its xenon ion engine over a week's time, once the engine started running. According to spacecraft prime contract Spectrum Astro, to date the electric-propulsion engine has been throttled to a level that generated 74 millinewtons of thrust with a specific impulse of 3,130, which is about the force needed to hold a sheet of paper between the fingers.
PRATT&WHITNEY-RUS, a subsidiary of Pratt&Whitney Canada, was granted a developers' certificate by the Interstate Aviation Committee of the Russian State Aviation Register. This means it now can design, develop and support aviation engines in Russia.
The U.S. is negotiating to get a second forward operating base in the Caribbean to complement forces in Puerto Rico, the Pentagon says. One or two forward operating bases also are sought in Central America, and a few more in South America. Access to those bases would mitigate the loss of Howard Air Force Base in Panama that will be vacated by May 1, 1999.
Digital video cameras at the San Carlos, Calif., airport control tower are helping controllers increase the traffic flow at San Francisco International, 10 miles away, by giving them real-time information on weather conditions like fog and low clouds.
Sen. Bob Smith (R-N.H.) is not leaving the Senate Armed Services Committee and thus will retain his strategic subcommittee chairmanship. Senate sources say Smith, who was interested in a Finance Committee vacancy, changed his mind when he was offered it. Smith would have had to give up his SASC membership to go on Finance.
The Pentagon's Ballistic Missile Defense Organization and the U.S. Navy are looking at whether there should be a "back up capability for upper tier engagement in case the THAAD [Theater High Altitude Area Defense] program does not work," says BMDO Director Lt. Gen. Lester Lyles. The THAAD missile has failed in its five tries to hit a target. Lyles says he remains confident THAAD will be very successful.
Primex Technologies said its board of directors has elected J. Douglas DeMaire as president, and Michael S. Wilson as executive vice president, both effective Jan. 1. DeMaire, 52, is currently an executive vice president of Primex, responsible for strategic planning and corporate development. Before his position at Primex, DeMaire spent 26 years at Olin Corp., rising in 1995 to VP corporate planning. He has worked for Primex since its spinoff from Olin in January 1997.
Officials of the Medium Extended Air Defense (MEADS) program say they expect a decision within the next two weeks on whether the U.S. will continue funding the program. While they say the structure of the current MEADS effort will be altered to include a PAC-3 missile alternative, they add it will not drastically change the focus of the program. The decision is expected to be announced before Defense Secretary William Cohen's planned trip to Germany on Dec. 15, officials say.
John R. Murphey has been named president, Bell Helicopter Textron. P. D. Shabay has been appointed executive vice president and chief operating officer for Bell Helicopter. Fred N. Hubbard has been appointed senior vice president Acquisitions&International Business Development. J.W. "Bruce" Camp has been named vice president Customer Support. Jeffery P. Pino has been named vice president Sales and Marketing.
James A. Hodgson has been named vice president of operations for BFGoodrich's Airframe Services Division. William B. Ashworth has formally assumed the title of vice president of maintenace, quality and engineering for BFGoodrich's Airframe Services Division. Terry Davidson has joined BFGoodrich as vice president of operations for BFGoodrich's Component Services Division.
U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary John Hamre hopes the new House leadership, its Senate counterpart, and the White House will be able to craft a budget resolution early next year. "It worries me that we didn't get a budget resolution last year," Hamre says. To what extent such a resolution may increase outyear defense spending is still unknown, he says.
John V. Andrews, president of Allvac Operations, has been named president of the company's high performance metals group. He succeeds Carlos E. Aguirre, who is leaving the company.
Dave McCurdy, former Member of Congress, was chosen president of the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA) succeeding Peter F. McCloskey who has retired.
John Clendening has been named media relations director for AlliedSignal Aerospace. He will work in coordination with Engines, Aerospace Equipment Systems and Avionics media relations contacts.
Some of Boeing's major suppliers said Friday that they do not expect the production cutback the airframe company announced last week to have a major impact on their earnings either this year or next. Pratt&Whitney said it took action back in October, announcing that it would eliminate about 2,000 positions over the next two years. "Nothing that Boeing said surprised us," a spokesman said.
John L. Lotzer has been appointed vice president, tax and investments. Paul David Miller, retired U.S. Navy Admiral, has been named chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer.
Larry Bishop has retired as vice president Communications and Investor Relations. Norma Clayton has been named vice president-Lean Manufacturing for the Military Aircraft and Missile Systems group based in St. Louis.
Atlantic Command has not yet come into conflict with any of the military services over its joint experimentation plans, although that may happen. "I haven't progressed far enough where I've bumped up against anybody yet," says Gehman, who is in charge of joint experimentation. However, he says he half expects to run into opposition once changes in the services' doctrines are recommended, or programs are criticized. Gehman is putting together a five-year spending plan for experimentation.
Rep. David R. Obey (D-Wis.), ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, wants to hear from Defense Secretary William Cohen on what Obey describes as a "disturbing proposal" from Lockheed Martin that ties F-22 costs to C-130J buys. Lockheed Martin has told the Air Force that unless it starts buying C-130Js, the production line will shut down for a few years and saddle the F-22 program with greater overhead costs at the Marietta, Ga., where both planes are built.
