Steve Chalmers has been named vice president, Boeing Programs. Drew Lippert has been named vice president, Bombardier Programs. Faiez Aboelezz has been named vice president, Technical at the company's Menasco Aerospace Oakville Division located in Ontario, Canada.
James Griscavage has been named vice president, Quality Assurance. Pushp Kumar "P.K." Sharma has been named vice president, Information Systems. Barry Watson has been named vice president, Business Development.
COUNTERMINE UAV: The Commanders in Chief (CINCs) want countermine and mine detection capabilities for UAVs, says Gen. Dave Gust, Army program executive for UAVs, intelligence and electronic warfare. The Army is taking the lead on technology development, and work focuses on a ground penetrating radar that is tied to multiple sensors. The Marine Corps is also interested in the system.
Stephen R. Horowitz, former executive for Raytheon (formerly Hughes Electronics), has been appointed a Cubic Defense Systems vice president to head the company's Australian Air Combat Training Systems (AACTS) program.
The U.S. Marine Corps has added a gun to its set of requirements for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Short Take-Off and Landing (STOVL) variant. "There is a gun; the Marine Corps and Air Force have both put in a requirement for a gun," said Marine Maj. Michael K. Hile, JSF requirements officer. "The Navy has yet to be sold on the utilization of a gun in the twenty-first century. The U.K. is not interested in a gun either."
Jake D. Breland has been named vice president of operations. He will serve as the chief financial officer and will be in charge of contracts management and supporting the institute in terms of programs, resources and infrastructure needs.
LUNAR OPTION: Thirty years after Apollo 11, NASA has no solid plans to return to the moon, but it wants to be ready if the call comes. One of the requirements just added to the Space Transportation Architecture Study for the next-generation human-rated launch vehicle, is the ability to assemble and service large structures in orbit.
REP. DANA ROHRABACHER (R-Calif.) has introduced legislation mandating expedited export approval for "commercial satellites, satellite technologies, their components and systems to NATO allies, major non-NATO allies and other friendly countries." Also covered in the amendment to the fiscal 2000 State Dept. authorization is data needed for launch failure and insurance purposes; bid information for foreign procurements, and information on the reexport of unimproved materials. State's Office of Defense Trade Controls gets $11 million in earmarked funds to do the work.
CYPHER II FOR DRAGON WARRIOR: Indications are that the Sikorsky Cypher II has been chosen as the Marine Corps UAV for battalion commanders. Gen. Terrence Dake, assistant commandant, is showing a large picture of the shrouded-rotor air vehicle during his presentations labeling it "Dragon Warrior." The contract, being lead by the USMC Warfighting Lab, is in the last days of paper chase at Marine Corps Systems Command.
Millard Franklin "Frank" Rose has been named director of the new Science Directorate created during the reorganization at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
UPGRADES: Goldin's new transportation requirement for on-orbit assembly of large structures would appear to give the edge to an upgraded Space Shuttle in the horse race the NASA administrator has set up between the Shuttle and a completely new reusable launch vehicle based on technology from the X-33, X-34 and X-37 programs (DAILY, March 19). After all, the Shuttle is already assembling a large structure - the International Space Station - and has also performed assembly at Russia's Mir station and orbital servicing on the Hubble Space Telescope.
Mark Bole has been appointed vice president, sales and finance. Daniel G. Kirkpatrick has been appointed vice president, technical support. Michael J. Miller has been appointed director, economic analysis. Robert Stangarone has been appointed vice president, corporate affairs.
Tests of the composite liquid hydrogen tanks and the linear aerospike engines developed for NASA's X-33 reusable launch vehicle prototype are the final hurdles remaining before workers at a Lockheed Martin Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, Calif., can complete work on the vehicle and shift it to its new launch pad for final checkout.
The U.S. Dept. of Defense completed Year 2000 (Y2K) testing of its mammoth logistics network Wednesday, the largest such testing to date. Initial results indicate that the supply system, which delivers everything from aircraft parts to soldiers' meals, will operate smoothly through key calendar rollover dates, including Jan. 1, 2000.
Riding the wave of airlines' desire to get out of the business of managing spare parts and fixing airplanes, spares logistics specialist AAR Corp. wound up its fiscal 1999 with double-digit revenue gains at its Aircraft&Engines Group and 16% better profits overall.
AlliedSignal Inc. posted record second quarter earnings of $395 million on sales of $3.82 billion, the company reported Wednesday. In the 1998 second quarter, the company earned $350 million on sales of $3.87 billion. Earnings in the 1999 second quarter got a boost from a $161 million after-tax gain on the sale of Taco Stock, but repositioning and other charges led to a $156 million after-tax charge. AlliedSignal said that excluding the effects of divestitures and a government contract restructuring, sales rose 5% during the time period.
The House Appropriations defense subcommittee's proposed $1.8 billion cut to the F-22 next-generation fighter will add $6.5 billion to the program and slip testing plans, Air Force officials told reporters yesterday. The Air Force leaders predicted doom and gloom for the program in an eleventh-hour attempt to sway the full House Appropriations Committee to reject the defense subcommittee's proposed cut to the Lockheed Martin-built plane. The full committee takes up the issue today.
The House Appropriations Committee Wednesday marked up its fiscal year 2000 foreign operations bill, cutting the White House request by almost $2 billion. The White House requested $14.57 billion and the committee funded $12.82 billion. Within the bill, the committee increased Israel's military assistance from $1.86 billion in FY '99 to $1.92 billion in FY '00 as requested. Israel's economic assistance drops from $1.08 billion in FY '99 to $906 million.
Rolls-Royce plans to invest $20 million in a new facility at Guarulhos Airport in Brazil to handle V2500 engine overhaul and repair. Motores Rolls-Royce, Sao Paulo, also will upgrade an existing facility at Sao Bernardo. The new capability is geared principally to support the 38 V2500-powered A320s on order for TAM Brazil. TAM has 37 options as part of a joint order for up to 177 A320s from it, LanChile and Grupo Taca of El Salvador.
