Bell Helicopter Textron announced yesterday that John R. Murphey has been appointed president of the company, effective Nov. 1. Murphey has been serving as executive vice president. He joined the company in 1961. In addition, P.D. Shabay was named executive VP and chief operating officer. Shabay has been executive VP of operations since January 1997. He has been with the company for over 30 years.
Dennis Biety has been hired to manage the company's United Kingdom and Netherlands facilities. Philip Panzera has been hired to serve as vice president for Corporate Development.
Richard W. Zurek has been named manager of the Earth and Space Sciences Division in the Engineering and Science Directorate at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. He replaces: Daniel J. McCleese who has been named chief scientist and manager of the Office of Strategy and Science Program for the Mars Exploration Directorate.
Richard J. Nelson, current Managing Director of Aviation, has been named interim dean of the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences. He succeeds John Odegard, the first and only dean, who died Sept. 27 of cancer.
Japan's government is laying plans for a $1.3 billion program to develop a fleet of high-resolution reconnaissance satellites by 2002 to monitor North Korea, after concluding that a mysterious North Korean launch last August was a ballistic missile test and not a satellite launch as Pyongyang claimed at the time.
Paul J. Coco has been appointed sector vice president-Program Operations of the new Integrated Systems and Aerostructures (ISA) Sector. Jim C. Hoover has been appointed sector vice president-Aerostructures of the ISA Sector. Biggs Porter has been appointed sector vice president of Business Management of the ISA Sector.
CONTRACT SIGNING for Block 60 F-16s the United Arab Emirates plans to buy from Lockheed Martin will be delayed until next year. The company yesterday informed market analysts about the delay, according to Bloomberg Business News. The source code for the aircraft's electronic warfare suite continues to be at issue.
One of the top officers in the U.S. Army's 18th Airborne Corps says development of new electronic warfare systems to support deep battle operations would be desirable. Brig. Gen. Larry Gottardi, who runs the 18th Airborne Corps' artillery command, described several such systems at the annual symposium of the Association of Old Crows in Virginia Beach, Va., last week, but funding is apparently lacking.
The U.S. military is heading into a force "hollowing" process, created by the "bottoming out" of the procurement budget, the aircraft aging rate and ship construction plans that won't keep pace with force structure requirements, according the Government Electronics and Information Technology Association.
The Coast Guard's Deepwater project suffers from an inaccurate need assessments, underestimating the useful life of many ships and aircraft in the fleet and their ability to carry out future Coast Guard tasks, the General Accounting Office said in a report.
Israel is integrating Lockheed Martin's Multiple Launch Rocket System with an indigenously-developed Trajectory Correction System to allow in-flight control of the battlefield missile. The Israeli government has awarded Lockheed Martin Vought Systems a $60.2 million contract to support the 27-month development program. Production will take place at the same time and run an additional 11 months, during which 1,902 rockets will be built. Lockheed Martin said it will build 72 rockets for flight testing.
Lockheed Martin plans to set up a limited liability company early next year to develop the commercial VentureStar reusable launch vehicle, but the corporation is still "half an invention away from this working," Lockheed Martin President and Chief Operating Officer Peter Teets told reporters yesterday. Teets told the annual Lockheed Martin technology symposium in Washington that getting the business side of the program together will be just as challenging as the technical hurdles, but expressed optimism that the commercial RLV will be built.
Pete Sterrantino has been appointed senior software engineer. His responsibilities include software development for LASAR digital engine control system and the EPiC Development Program.
Japan's Defense Agency released a forecast of its Air Self-Defense Force fighter arm through fiscal year 2002 that showed declining numbers of F-1 fighters and increasing numbers of F-2s. The forecast is as follows: Fiscal year 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Boeing/ Mitsubishi F-15J/DJ 194 198 201 200 198 197 Boeing/ Mitsubishi F-4EJ 109 107 107 106 104 103
Charles A. Bowsher, former comptroller general of the United States, has been named commissioner of BENS Tail-to-Tooth Commission. He joins 34 other leading business executives, former govenmrnt officials and retired military officers on the panel.
Paul G. Casner, Jr. has been named executive vice president, Operations. Terrance L. DeRosa has been promoted to president of DRS's Electronic Systems Group based in Gaithersburg, Md. He succeeds Casner.
RAYTHEON CO. won a $2.85 million contract to deliver Digital Modular Radios to the U.S. Navy. The company said yesterday that the initial award is a firm, fixed-price contract to support the Navy's operational test program by providing four radios and eight power amplifiers. The contract also includes five years of options, estimated at $337 million. Raytheon's St.
