AMF JTRS: Lockheed Martin Corp. on Sept. 8 showed off a flight demonstration of network-centric operations for the Airborne, Maritime and Fixed Stations (AMF) component of the U.S. military's Joint Tactical Radio Systems (JTRS), the company said Sept. 19. Lockheed Martin said it funded the demonstration as a "risk-reduction effort to highlight the technical maturity" of its offering. The airborne nodes included an Army helicopter, a T-39 Sabreliner (supposedly representing an unmanned aircraft) and an Air Force F-16.
Izhar Dekel has been named CEO. Dekel is currently company president. Jacob Even-Ezra is being replaced by Dekel. Even-Ezra will continue to serve as chairman of the board. Jacob Perry has been appointed deputy chairman of the board.
The U.S. Air Force plans to offer a "healthy incentive" to the prime contractor of the Global Positioning System III (GPS III) program to try to advance the launch of the first spacecraft to 2011 from its current projected date of 2013, according to Lt. Gen. Michael Hamel, commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base. "We believe speed-to-market is a key element of our future success," Hamel said during a teleconference Sept. 19.
The Pentagon has put planning for a new Africa combatant command on a "fast track," with the first proposal due in a few weeks, Army Gen. Bantz Craddock told the Senate Armed Services Committee Sept. 19. Craddock, current commander of U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), said he was a "proponent of a dedicated command for Africa." Craddock has been nominated to take over the European Command (EUCOM).
Clarification:In the story "LM combining SPY1, AEGIS radar capabilities with COTS" (Sept. 19), Congressional Research Service naval expert Ronald O'Rourke's comments regarding Navy radar systems were in response to a query about the possibility of using commercial-off-the-shelf-technology (COTS) to provide a multimission processor that essentially would make Navy AEGIS and Spy1 radars the same, capability-wise, at a reduced cost.
Joseph Carleone has been named president and chief operating officer effective Oct. 15. He will also continue to serve on the board of directors. Jeffrey M. Gibson was appointed vice president and chief technical officer. Dana M. Kelley has been named vice president, chief financial officer, and treasurer. Dirk Venderink has been appointed vice president of engineering.
Joe M. Allbaugh has been appointed president of the Ecosphere Systems Inc. subsidiary. Allbaugh is president and CEO of The Allbaugh Company LLC and a former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
NASA has delayed the planned Sept. 20 landing of space shuttle Atlantis by at least 24 hours while flight controllers attempt to identify two mysterious objects seen drifting near the orbiter on Sept. 19. The first object was inadvertently spied by mission controllers over a video feed from a camera in the shuttle's open payload bay at 2:45 a.m. Eastern time. Viewed as a small black object moving against the backdrop of the Earth, its size could not be determined.
Gregg Burgess has been named vice president of special programs. G. David Low has been named senior vice president and program manager for the commercial orbital transportation services program. John Pullen has been appointed to head the technical services division. Sally Richardson has been appointed vice president and deputy director of technical operations.
Robert O. Crawshaw has been named director of business development for AMSEC LLC. William Arthur Decker has been appointed to the intelligence and security group as senior vice president and chief engineer. Mark Harris Leonard has been appointed acting director of operations for AMSEC. Gary Lisota, who is leaving as president and chief executive officer of AMSEC, has joined the executive staff of SAIC's system and network solutions group as a consulting employee.
The Pentagon has significant obstacles to overcome in stringing together its web of global bases and forces, and the Defense Department needs to keep Congress informed of the military's efforts, a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office report says. The Defense Department faces three key challenges in developing its global structure, the GAO says in its September report, "Defense Management: Comprehensive Strategy And Annual Reporting Are Needed To Measure Progress And Costs Of DOD's Global Posture Restructuring."
HELO FUNDING: The European Commission has cleared a French government measure to provide 100 million euros ($127 million) in reimbursable loans to underpin development of the EC175, a medium-lift helicopter to be undertaken jointly by Eurocopter and Avic 2 of China. The EC says the loans will cover 29 percent of Eurocopter's share of the development costs, which puts the project's price tag at nearly 690 million euros, compared to the 600 million euro initial estimate. The EC175 is scheduled to fly in 2009 and to enter service in 2011.
Oliver Althoff, Alejandro Henriquez and Andrea Zana have been named assistant vice presidents in the aerospace and defense finance group. David Scott Orner has been appointed director. Antares Reis has been named vice president.
Efforts to finally secure a key NATO standoff air surveillance capability may stand - or fall - in the next nine months. The proposal for the design and development phase of the NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) project is anticipated to be submitted by the end of September by a European-U.S. industrial consortium. However, European industry is concerned that should overall contract signing slip toward mid-2007, the whole future of the project could be jeopardized.
Steven J. Cortese has been named senior vice president, Washington operations, effective Oct. 1. John E. Gordon is being replaced by Cortese. Gordon is retiring.
BOAT TRAP: Foster-Miller Inc. said Sept. 19 it received a $1 million contract from the Defense Department's Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate to further develop an advanced "boat trap system" for harbor security in the United States and at military bases abroad. The team includes Moscow Mills Manufacturing, the directorate and the Coast Guard. The boat trap is a nonlethal, ballistic net that is deployed from a helicopter into the path of threatening watercraft traveling at high speeds to ensnare their propellers.
ENGINE RUNS: Lockheed Martin performed initial engine runs on the first preproduction F-35 Joint Strike Fighter on Sept. 15 and again on Sept. 18 at company facilities in Fort Worth, Texas. The Pratt & Whitney F-135 engine was operated at various power settings as well as in full afterburner. First flight is tentatively scheduled for late this year, according to Doug Pearson, vice president, F-35 Integrated Test Force.
Defense Department appropriations are a better barometer than contract awards of whether war costs are taking money away from procurement, a Congressional Research Service defense budget analyst says. "An analysis of contracts captures obligations rather than appropriations and contractual obligations capture not only the amount of monies but also how quickly those monies are put on contract," Amy Belasco said in response to a recent Aerospace Daily analysis of Pentagon contracts for 2005 and up to late August 2006.
Marshall Byrd has been named vice president and general manager of commercial space systems. Ted Gavrilis is being replaced by Byrd. Gavrilis is retiring.
