Michelle A. Scarpella and Stephen D. Hogan (see photos) have been appointed Falls Church, Va.-based VPs for the F-35 and F/A-18 programs, respectively, for the Northrop Grumman Corp. Scarpella has worked on the B-2, Joint Stars and E-2C Hawkeye programs, and Hogan was EA-18G and EA-6B program director.
Gilles Gosselin (see photo) has been appointed general manager of Munich-based Aviareps' subsidiary in Paris with added responsibility for the Morocco office. He was managing director for France and Europe at Air Seychelles.
NEW DELHI — India has started price negotiations with France’s Dassault Aviation on the 126-fighter Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) program. A contract is expected to be signed after six months, Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony says. India announced early February that the French Rafale had won the $11 billion deal, beating the Eurofighter Typhoon on price.
Robert G. Semelsberger (see photo) has joined Rincon Research Corp., Tucson, Ariz., as director of the Procession and Development Div. He was a senior officer at the CIA.
A U.S. Marine Corps AH-1 Cobra fires a pair of BAE Systems-designed, advanced precision-kill weapon system 2.75-in. rockets. The rockets, previously dumb, have been upgraded with screw-in, mid-body guidance systems that feature fold-out wings, flaperons and four optical sensors that quarter the field of view for faster, more accurate targeting. The missiles have hit a meter-wide, laser spot from a range of 3 mi. Seven-rocket pods are being prepared for several Marine helicopter models and the U.S. Navy's MQ-8 Fire Scout unmanned aircraft. BAE Systems photo.
When GE Aviation spearheaded its drive to qualify the F136 as a second powerplant choice for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, it naturally emphasized the project's jobs potential. Southern state political leaders, eager for new, well-paying manufacturing jobs, offered incentives to win a share of the Defense Department's biggest procurement program. In the end, GE Aviation and its partner, Rolls-Royce, lost their JSF bid; Pratt & Whitney's F135 retained its role as the fighter's sole powerplant.
William J. Lynn , 3rd, has become chairman and CEO of DRS Technologies, Parsippany, N.J., succeeding Mark S. Newman. Lynn was U.S. deputy secretary of defense in 2009-11.
SINGAPORE — Raytheon is starting discussions with international customers about the possible purchase of the Griffin missile, although export approval remains to be secured. The program is now transitioning from its sole-U.S. focus to expanding the customer base, said Zack May, director of Air Warfare Systems business development at Raytheon, during the Singapore air show.
Safety in numbers could be the catchphrase of the aviation industry as it pursues alternative fuels. The more feedstock-to-fuel pathways that are developed and commercialized, the more chances aviation has of securing lower-emission jet fuels at prices competitive with petroleum.
Charitably, one might say that the U.K.'s Defense Ministry is in a no-win situation regarding defense programs—damned if it cuts more and damned if it doesn't. A less charitable interpretation posits that after almost two years of trying to fix its military equipment plan, the U.K. is still left with a huge mismatch between funding and capabilities, with risk increasing of even greater imbalances as the nation's economy remains in a slump.
R. Scott Rettig has been named chairman and CEO of OTO Melara North America in Washington, succeeding U.S. Navy Adm. (ret.) James Amerault, who will retire. Rettig was chairman and CEO of AgustaWestland North America.
With U.S. defense spending about to drop and, at best, only stay level through the rest of the decade, and the Pentagon resolved to reduce the price of weapons systems to what they “should” cost, it is easy to understand why some industry professionals are anxious about the new business environment.
The nomination of Mark Lippert as assistant secretary of defense for Asia-Pacific security affairs, which was on hold for a nearly one year, is being further delayed in an attempt to bolster the Taiwanese air force. In a statement saying the White House has not yet addressed concerns about the aging of Taiwan’s fighter jet fleet, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) has placed a hold on the president’s nominee to lead the Pentagon’s policies in Asia.
Maj. Gen. (ret.) Ajit Hari Gadre has become CEO of the Helicopter Academy to Train by Simulation of Flying, Bengaluru, India. He was director-general of army aviation of India.
William Greenwalt has joined the Aerospace Industries Association, Arlington, Va., as VP-acquisition policy. He was deputy director for surveys and investigations of the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee.
An unguided, Vietnam War-vintage missile has been transformed into an air-to-ground precision-guided munition (PGM) that will be introduced into combat in Afghanistan this spring. The 2.75-in. Hydra rocket was the keystone weapon of the U.S. Army aviation's aerial artillery. Now BAE Systems has turned it into the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) II that does not require communications with its launch aircraft. All the precision is introduced after the rocket is launched.
David Fulghum (Washington), Bill Sweetman (Washington), Amy Butler (Washington)
With the Pentagon's budget goals set for affordable programs and the U.S. Air Force's MQ-X next-generation unmanned aircraft program killed, there appear to be new opportunities for the reduced-signature, jet-powered Predator C Avenger. To show off the aircraft's truck-like versatility, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems quickly built a 4-ft. longer version of the original, reduced-signature design, which first flew in 2009. The modified Avenger made its unannounced initial flight on Jan. 12 at the company's Palmdale, Calif., facility.
LOS ANGELES — Following the termination of its long-running F136 alternative F-35 Joint Strike Fighter engine last year, General Electric is accelerating R&D efforts to support an installed base of 25,000 engines and provide new sixth-generation combat engines that it says will be needed sooner rather than later.
In the U.S., the aerospace and defense industry has not been subtle in preparing for a leaner spending era: L-3 Communications is looking to sell assets, ITT Corp. has spun off its defense activities, as did Northrop Grumman with its shipbuilding business. In Europe, the signs are much less obvious, but they are there.
Congress is already locked in a steel-cage death match over the budget, but now side fights are breaking out in the aftermath of the president's fiscal 2013 budget release.
BETTER BUYING: The Pentagon will have Statements of Budgetary Resources for general funds “audit ready” by 2014, three years earlier than previously planned, the White House declared last week in rolling out its fiscal 2013 budget request. “This audit of the department’s Statement of Budgetary Resources will encompass a complete review of how the department receives and spends its funds,” according to the official budget announcement.
Amy Butler (Washington), Andy Nativi (Rome and Fort Worth)
Another new year brings another new price tag for Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II. Italy, one of nine partners for the single-engine, stealthy fighter, announced last week it will slice its buy to 90 from 131 only days after the Pentagon unveiled yet another new procurement profile that gutted 179 of the aircraft from its buy in fiscal years 2013-17. Last year, the Pentagon also sliced more than 100 aircraft from its near-term buy.
