David Chen was appointed president of the company's China operations. Prior to joining Eaton, he was chief representative for China for the BOC Group plc.
AEROJET ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS DIV., Azusa, Calif., received a $47.3 million increase to an earlier contract for FY 1997 sensor post-production support for the Defense Support Program, the Dept. of Defense said Friday.
Patrick J. Finneran, former vice president-general manager of production aircraft, has been named vice president-general manager, market development. Michael D. Marks, previously F-15 program manager, was named president- general manager of the F-15 program. John D. Tyson, who most recently served as vice president of market development for U.S. government programs, has been appointed vice president-general manager of the AV-8B and T-45 training systems programs.
Even minor problems in the F-22 fighter program aren't likely to delay the first flight, set for next May 29, Widnall says. Although none are expected, she tells reporters at the Air Force Association's annual meeting in Washington that "little surprises we can handle."
Senate and House intelligence committee conferees expect to have all outstanding differences on their fiscal year 1997 authorization bills resolved within the next day or two. The plan is to get the bill filed and on the House floor by Tuesday, one House aide says. The conference deliberations are a bit "dicey" but proceeding to a resolution, the aide says. It's unclear when the Senate will consider the conference bill. Both bills contain proposed reforms for the intelligence community, including creation of a National Imagery and Mapping Agency.
As the Joint Strike Fighter program nears its November downselect from three competitors to two, expectations are increasing that the start of the program definition and risk reduction phase will be delayed by a bid protest. One industry official says that the program office is "certainly acting like they expect [a protest]."
The Pentagon is considering the use of a mobile off-shore base to take some U.S. troops from Okinawa and yet continue to maintain a presence there. A study on what such a base might look like will soon be commissioned, Pentagon officials said. The issue came up in recent high level talks on Okinawa between the U.S. and Japan as one way to remove American troops from Futemma air base there and yet still keep them in the area, Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said Friday.
U.S. Air Force Secretary Sheila Widnall says the service is "comfortable" with the use of Navy EA-6B Prowlers for standoff jamming, but "we will always have a backup option." The AF is putting five EF-111 jamming planes through required depot maintenance next year to keep them until their retirement in fiscal 1998, a process that would also allow the Ravens to continue operations until around FY '00.
Michael Drake has been named manager, communications and community relations of the Lockheed Martin Federal Systems, a division of Lockheed Martin Corp. Prior to joining Lockheed Martin, Drake was with The Guilford Group, Guilford, Me. He has also held communications positions with Loral, LTV and Grumman.
Greg Smith, first vice president and executive service consultant with Prudential Securities, Chicago, Ill., has been appointed to the board of directors.
Saddam Hussein has the motivation to build up Iraq's nuclear weapons capability, but lacks the fissile material to do so, Director of Central Intelligence John Deutch tells Congress. Meanwhile, the Iraqi military has about 12 Scud missiles and some launchers, and the capability to deliver chemical and biological weapons, Deutch says.
John P. Cozzi was appointed senior vice president and head of its global space operations. He joins J&H from International Space Brokers, where he was a senior vice president responsible for national and international satellite insurance accounts.
Tim Morris has been named vice president, power systems for Sundstrand Aerospace, a business segment of Sundstrand Corp. He most recently served as program manager for auxiliary power unit product development. James F. Peterson, former director, customer support operations, was named vice president, customer service. Peterson succeeds Ken Krohn who has retired.
Research underway on the Space Shuttle Atlantis during its present mission to Russia's Mir space station could one day help farmers, engineers and miners better understand a key element of their work - dirt. Atlantis crew members are taking time from stocking Mir with fresh supplies to pressurize three dry soil samples as a way to learn how dirt compacts in microgravity.
Satellite services customers in the U.S. and abroad will have another source of "one-stop shopping" if Friday's announced merger of Hughes Communications Galaxy and PanAmSat clears U.S. government hurdles, officials of the two companies said.
President Clinton's new space policy is classified, but the White House "fact sheet" on its contents isn't likely to win many friends in recently renamed Moscow suburb Korolev where Russia's space industry is centered. "NASA will develop and operate the International Space Station to support activities requiring the unique attributes of humans in space and establish a permanent human presence in Earth orbit," the document states. This will no doubt seem an interesting objective to the cosmonauts who have occupied the Mir space station for the past 10 years.
McDonnell Douglas will launch a huge, two-phase program to convert DC- 10 trijets into modern freighters under an agreement unveiled this week with express package carrier Federal Express to modify at least 60 DC-10s to a planned MD-10 configuration. Some of those aircraft will come from United Air Lines, which is trading 36 DC-10-10s worth an estimated $118 million to FedEx in exchange for 59 Boeing 727-200 hushkits, and performing basic freighter modifications on those aircraft constitutes the first phase of the program.
Robert (Rob) D. Strain, Jr., former group vice president for finance and manufacturing, was named executive vice president and general manager of the Electronics and Sensor Systems Group (ESSG).
U.S. Marine Corps Commandant Gen Charles C. Krulak says the U.S. shouldn't plan to re-fight Desert Storm in the future, but rather so- called asymmetrical threats - ones that use inexpensive, precise weapons to target weak spots like ports, airfields and information infrastructure. He says "we need to look at the step-child of Chechnya."
Nuclear power in space gets a small shot in the arm under the policy, which explicitly directs the Energy Dept. to "maintain the necessary capability to support space missions which may require the use of space nuclear power systems," according to the fact sheet. The present U.S. program to analyze Russian work in the field is gasping for breath (DAILY, July 9), but the policy sets up a White House review of space nuclear power policy issues, including "possible commercial use of space nuclear systems."
The first operational test drops of GPS-guided munitions from a B-2 bomber were more than twice as accurate as projected, the Air Force announced Friday. In Sept. 17 tests at the Nellis AFB, Nev., range, each of three B-2s from the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman AFB, Mo., dropped one inert munition. Each of the GPS-Aided Targeting System/GPS-Aided Munitions (GATS/GAMS) had been projected to fall within 20 feet of its target, but one landed within seven feet and the other two within four feet, according to the AF.
Hal Howes, vice president, Washington Operations, has announced his retirement, effective Sept. 30. Tom Peoples, vice president, International and Field Marketing, will add responsibility for the Washington Operations to his charter and assume the title of vice president, International and Washington Operations.
William C. Brown, III has joined the firm as a partner in the aviation defense group. Previously, he was a partner with Kroll&Tract, where he was in charge of the aviation practice group.
