Engineered Support Systems Inc. of St. Louis has been awarded a $7 million contract by Australia's military to develop a Multi-Spectral Sensor Suite (MSSS) for the Australian Light Armored Vehicle, the company said Aug. 18. The MSSS will be designed, developed and tested by Engineered Support's Systems & Electronics Inc. subsidiary in St. Louis and West Plains, Mo. Australia's military will begin testing the prototype system in late 2006. A follow-on production award is possible in 2007 under the second stage of the program.
General Dynamics Land Systems has selected the 5L890 engine, made by Detroit Diesel Corp., to power ground vehicles for the U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems.
Raytheon Technical Services Co. was awarded a $13.8 million order under a $109 million contract to rebuild three AN/TPQ-37(V) and two AN/TPQ-36(V) Firefinder weapon-seeking radars, the U.S. Department of Defense said Aug. 18. The work, which will be done in Indianapolis, Forest, Miss., and Fullerton, Calif., is to be completed by Sept. 14, 2007, the DOD said. The U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command, Fort Monmouth, N.J., awarded the contract.
Brian Chase has been named assistant administrator for legislative affairs. Mary Cleave has been appointed associate administrator for the science mission directorate. Rex Geveden has been appointed associate administrator. Lisa J. Porter has been named senior adviser for aeronautics in the office of administrator. Michael P. Ralsky has been appointed senior adviser to the NASA deputy administrator.
PRAGUE - British buyout specialist ECI Partners has moved into the defense sector for the first time by backing a $93.8 million management buyout of United Kingdom-based Racal Acoustics from U.S.-based private equity investor J.F. Lehman & Company. Racal Acoustics, based in Harrow, Middlesex, produces specialized personal communications equipment for the defense and avionics sectors and was part of the Thales group until 2004 when it was taken over by J.F. Lehman.
Gene W. Ray has been elected chairman of the board of directors. Ray is a former CEO and director of Titan Corp. John A. Moore Jr., Wayne M. Rehberger and Anthony C. Warren have been named to the board of directors. Moore is a former executive vice president of ManTech International Corp. Rehberger has been the chief operating officer of XO Communications Inc. Warren is clinical professor of entrepreneurship and director of the Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Smeal College of Business at Pennsylvania State University.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is considering upgrades to the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system that would dramatically expand the area the system could protect, according to a program official.
STOCK SPLIT: Precision Castparts Corp.'s board of directors has approved a two-for-one stock split in the form of a stock dividend, the company said Aug. 17. CEO Mark Donegan announced the split at the annual shareholders meeting in Portland, Ore. The new shares will be issued Sept. 8. The company currently has 66 million shares of common stock outstanding.
EA-18G TRAINING: Boeing will continue working on modeling and simulation and design and development work for a training system for the EA-18G aircraft, the Department of Defense said Aug. 17. The work will be done under an $8.3 million modification to a previous contract, DOD said, and is to be completed in June 2008.
Northrop Grumman's BQM-34 modernized Firebee aerial target successfully completed its first flight at the Naval Air Warfare Center in Point Mugu, Calif., the company said Aug. 17. The BQM-34 simulates tactical threats from aircraft or missiles and is in service with the U.S. Navy and Air Force, and international armed forces. It also can be used "in a variety of operational scenarios," including carrying payloads, the company said. The target's modernization included an autopilot avionics upgrade and a common digital architecture for payloads.
Kimberly Johnson, Airports editor for our sister publication Aviation Daily, has embedded in Iraq with the 2nd Marine Division for three months. She is reporting for The DAILY from there, covering the performance of specific weapon systems, the realities of warfare in Iraq and other topics important to our readers. She also writes and takes photographs for "Mother of All Blogs," a Web journal about her experiences. It is located at http://www.moab-iraq.blogspot.com.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - The U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Multiple Kill Vehicles (MKV) program plans to conduct several key activities later this year to prepare for major tests of the system. In November, a prototype or "pathfinder" seeker will be delivered to begin testing and integration with other parts of a small kill vehicle, said Richard "Rick" Reginato, who manages the program for prime contractor Lockheed Martin. During the same month, the main valve in the kill vehicle's solid-fuel propulsion system will be tested.
Jim Royston has been appointed deputy general manager of subsidiary Astrotech Space Operations. John B. Satrom, senior vice president and general manager of Astrotech, has resigned. Don M. White Jr. has been named vice president of Florida operations for Astrotech.
Honeywell Aerospace's recently announced reorganization will result in the reduction of 2,000 jobs worldwide by the end of 2005, about 5% of the company's work force of 40,000, but voluntary retirements, attrition, and workers taking other jobs will mean that a smaller number of current employees will be laid off, a company spokesman said Aug. 17.
Northrop Grumman has delivered its proposal for the U.S. Air Force B-52 Stand-Off Jammer System, the company said Aug. 17, and now expects a winner of the competition to be announced in early October. The work could be worth as much as $3 billion, with $250 million slated for a two-year pre-system development and risk-reduction effort, the company said. Boeing is expected to be among the competitors for the work (DAILY, July 12).
Rockwell Collins announced Aug. 17 that it has repurchased four million shares, or 2.3%, of its outstanding common stock from UBS AG London Branch as part of an accelerated share repurchase agreement. The shares were purchased for $49.10 per share, for a total of $196 million. The total amount of shares Rockwell has repurchased in fiscal year 2005 is now 10.6 million shares for a total cost of $498 million. The company is authorized to repurchase $66 million more this year.
