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.
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.
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.
Warren Persavich has been appointed president and CEO of Wichita-based NASAM, succeeding Aki Sato. Persavich was senior VP-parts distribution of Greenwich AeroGroup.
USAF Lt. Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski, commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center of Air Force Space Command, has been selected by the Society of Satellite Professionals International of New York, to receive its Stellar Award for Government Service. Pawlikowski is being honored for introducing new satellite communications technologies and exploring ways to acquire space systems.
Ellen Tauscher has been named vice chair-designate of the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, which will be inaugurated later this year, by the Atlantic Council of Washington. She was U.S. undersecretary of state for arms control and international security. HONORS AND ELECTIONS
Israel Aerospace Industries CEO for the last six years, Itzhak Nissan, is being forced to retire; and Aeronautics Defense Systems CEO and founder Avi Leumi departed his position Feb. 1.
Concerns are being aired by military analysts in the U.S. and bloggers in the Middle East about Syria sending surface-to-air and long-range ballistic missiles to Lebanon's Hezbollah-controlled Bekaa Valley for safekeeping. U.S. defense officials say such moves might be “plausible” if the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is truly threatened, but so far no significant shift has been observed.
Mike Fetcko has joined Elliott Aviation, Moline, Ill., as avionics manager for the Quad Cities team. He was a systems design engineer with Great Lakes Aviation and a private contractor. Randy Davis has been promoted to accessory shop sales manager from sales data administrator.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Larry Lawson has been named executive VP for the aeronautics business at the Lockheed Martin Corp., Bethesda, Md., succeeding Ralph D. Heath, who plans to retire April 1. Lawson is VP and general manager for the F-35 program and will be succeeded by Orlando Carvalho. Lorraine Martin will follow Carvalho as VP and deputy for the program.
Gene L. Stygles and Renee D. Palyo have been appointed chief and deputy chief, respectively, of the Facilities Div. at the NASAGlenn Research Center in Cleveland. Stygles worked on the advanced solid rocket motor program, and Palyo was head of the division's Program Management Office.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association of Atlanta has presented the Archie League Medal of Safety to controllers Kristina Kurtz, Anchorage Tracon; Todd Mariani, Kansas City Center; Matt Reed, Potomac Tracon; Guy Lieser and Steve McGreevy, Chicago Center; Chris Henchey and Ryan Workman, Boston Center; Charlie Rohrer, Denver Center; Ken Greenwood, Josh Haviland and Ryan Herrick, Seattle Tracon; Alvin Kent, Atlanta Center; Frank Fisher and Greg Fleetwood, Corpus Christi Tower/Tracon; and Kevin McLaughlin, Southern California Tracon.
Jeff Chalupa (see photo) has been named general manager-domestic operations for Tulsa, Okla.-based Nordam's transparency division. He was senior director-global engineering and quality for the repair division.
Richard DeFatta has joined Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in San Diego, as VP-engineering support services for the Madison Research Business Unit of the Weapon Systems Solution Div. He was VP of Teledyne Solutions.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Pentagon's $614 billion fiscal 2013 spending request proposes to put to rest several ailing programs that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has deemed unnecessary, but there are some major programmatic decisions that remain unclear in this budget plan.
