Jack Devine has been appointed vice president and general manager, France. Tony Gioffredi has been named president of the Fairbanks Morse Engine unit, effective Sept. 1. Ken Walker has been named vice president and general manager of GGB-Americas in Thorofare, N.J. Woody Woodworth has been appointed vice president and general manager of Plastomer Technologies in Houston.
The world's first female space tourist is gearing up for her launch to the International Space Station this month, after Japanese entrepreneur Daisuke Enomoto flunked his spaceflight physical.
The U.S. Army's Aviation Applied Technology Directorate (AATD) is increasingly considering converting manned helicopter platforms into unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for cost and speed-of-delivery reasons, according to Raymond Wall, chief of the systems integration division.
DECOYS: Raytheon Co. said Aug. 30 that it has been awarded a $20.7 million contract to continue producing ALE-50 towed decoys for the U.S. Air Force. The contract calls for 862 decoys and was awarded by the 542nd Combat Sustainment Group, Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Ga. The equipment will be delivered through September 2008.
The U.S. Navy's Office of Naval Research has selected General Dynamics Corp.'s Land Systems to perform a "Best Technical Approach" trade study and to build a mock-up for defining a common set of requirements for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program, the company said Aug. 30. The vehicle is supposed to provide the Army and Marine Corps with a family of more-survivable vehicles and greater payload than the currently used Humvee.
Contractors working on technology to develop advanced S-band solid-state radar development say they've agreed to a partnership for such work, which they contend is key to Navy ship-borne missile defense. But while the Navy considers missile defense an important capability - the service says so in its Navy Strategic Plan in Support of Program Objective Memorandum (POM) 2008 report - a respected government analyst says radar advancements will depend on ship fleet size as well as technology.
NORTHCOM NORAD: The U.S. Air Force has chosen eight prime contractors to further compete for up to $800 million in support and advisory services over five years for the U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command. Chosen were Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., Intecon LLC, Lockheed Martin Services Inc., Science Applications International Corp., Delta Solutions and Strategies LLC, L.C. Wright Inc., Northrop Grumman Defense Mission Systems Inc. and Willcor Inc. Each contractor has received an initial $100,000, according to an Aug.
Kathleen C. Hanrahan will be promoted to president effective Oct. 23. Phillips W. Smith will retire as chairman of the board of directors. Thomas P. Smith will replace Phillips Smith.
READINESS FUND: Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) said Aug. 30 that Senate Democrats will try to focus the chamber's attention on setting up a separate, long-term account to fund Army and Marine Corps recapitalization and reset when senators return after Labor Day. A separate account - an idea broached for other "crisis" issues such as naval shipbuilding - could further crimp scarce defense dollars as the Pentagon faces burgeoning personnel, modernization and other costs.
The U.S. Air Force awarded a $49 million firm fixed price contract on Aug. 28 to Space Data Corp. of Chandler, Ariz., to provide space communication relay equipment. Such relays make up the strands of network connectivity for the military's future net-centric force that is tied together through the Global Information Grid (GID).
