During an Air Force test of a Peacekeeper intercontinental ballistic missile last week, the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization also was able to conduct the first operational evaluation of command and control components that could be used in a national missile defense (NMD) system. The command and control components were used to track the Peacekeeper, carrying nine re-entry vehicles, as it flew 4,200 miles in about 30 minutes from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., to the Kwajalein Missile Range in the Marshall Islands (DAILY, May 9).
John McLuckey, president of Boeing North American, says that four satellites a week could be produced for Teledesic, bringing a new type of production line to the satellite market. Other efforts of this kind, such as Iridium, will solidify the trend, aerospace executives say at the AIAA conference.
BOEING CO. Jim Dagnon will lead the newly created People organization in Company Offices when he joins Boeing on May 1. He will also be a member of the Executive Council.
The New Attack Submarine C3I system (NSSN C3I) will consume nearly $1 billion in funding for research, development, test and evaluation, and another $2.8 billion in procurement in the next decade, a Teal Group analyst predicts.
Now firmly entrenched in the Rolls-Royce hierarchy, Allison Engine Co. hopes to grow from a little more than a billion dollar-business today to a $2 billion business in just over three years through a combination of stronger sales and selective acquisitions.
The Navy last week selected 14 candidate programs where it intends to insert commercial technology as part of an initiative to cut the service's operations and support costs. The candidate programs could receive as much as $43 million in Dual Use Applications Program funding (DAILY, May 8). Contractors also would provide funding for the programs. Programs the Navy has selected include:
HUGHES AIRCRAFT COMPANY D. Kenneth Richardson, retired president and COO, received the Engineering Alumnus Award for Outstanding Achievement from the University of Southern California on April 11.
FAIRCHILD DORNIER Michael L. Meshay will join the board of management of Dornier Luftfahrt GmbH on April 14, subject to supervisory board approval. James A. Robinson has been appointed president and member of the board of directors of Fairchild Aerospace Corporation.
Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services seapower subcommittee, complains that the Navy's shipbuilding plan calls for only 33 ships between fiscal 1998 and 2003, when planned aircraft procurement soars. The defense budget calls for acquisition of 51 aircraft in FY '98, 71 in '99, 125 in '00, 144 in '01, 150 in '02 and 154 in '03. Long-term, the situation isn't much different. The Congressional Budget Office notes that in the 2002-2020 period, the Navy is scheduled to double its ship purchases.
Delay in nailing down all the details of the budget agreement between the Administration and the Republican congressional leadership is causing fiscal 1998 national security markup schedules to slide. The Senate Armed Services Committee was hoping to mark up this week or next, but now the week of June 9 looks most likely. The House National Security Committee is in the same situation, and sources are talking about a markup about the same time.
DRS TECHNOLOGIES INC. Richard D. Williams III, has joined the company's DRS Precision Echo subsidiary in the new position of vice president, special projects. He is a retired Navy Rear Admiral.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP. D. Wayne Snodgrass has been appointed vice president of the newly created Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) and Ship Systems business unit, an element of the Electronic Sensors and Systems Division (ESSD).
Sundstrand Aerospace capital investment funding has continued to climb over the last five years as the company strives to stay even with production ramp-ups at Boeing and Airbus, says Ronald McKenna, corporate executive vice president and chief operating officer, aerospace.
TELEPHONICS CORPORATION Gary W. Fortmeyer has been appointed director, program management, command systems division. He will be responsible for the APS-143 Maritime Surveillance Radar Product Line.
