While throwing down the gauntlet against the temptation of top-tier contractors to link up in the face of tightening defense budgets, the Pentagon is inviting mergers and acquisitions among subcontractors. But the specter of additional consolidations in aerospace and defense is being seen as a mixed bag, with critics concerned about the potential to stifle innovation.
Paul D. Bradley, professional engineer and managing director of Peterson Industries, Adelaide, Australia, has been elected president of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers . In more than two decades with SME, he held various leadership roles, including terms on the SME executive committee and the board.
Leslie Blaker, chairman of C3I Solutions Business Development for Rockwell Collins , has joined the board of the Washington-based Satellite Industry Association for 2011. Other new members are: Jennifer Warren, vice president-technology policy and regulation for the Lockheed Martin Corp.; and Susan Eid, senior vice president-government relations at DirecTV Inc.
Jose Hernandez (see photo), former astronaut, is now executive director-strategic operations at MEI Technologies of Houston. His work at NASA ranged from engineering positions to flying on the STS-128 shuttle mission in 2009.
SSSP, the consortium of air traffic control providers that runs Europe’s Egnos GPS augmentation system, says the European Commission will declare the system available for air navigation on March 2, permitting nations to publish precision landing procedures using the system. Functional tests initiated in November to demonstrate the stability of the signal have been completed, and the Type O message, which restricts use of Egnos to the open signal, has been removed, paving the way for air navigation use.
The first upgraded MiG-29UPGs for the Indian air force should be ready for delivery this year now that the prototype has completed its first flight. Its nearly 1-hr. maiden run (below) took place at the Gromov flight-test center at Zhukovsky, near Moscow.
The International Civil Aviation Organization is moving ahead with new rules to ensure the proper recovery of critical data from aircraft downed at sea.
In the hunt for a more profitable, efficient business, Italian aerospace and defense giant Finmeccanica is quietly undergoing a shift in priorities as it navigates through a difficult business climate.
European aerospace giant EADS faces the prospect of another turbulent transition period, with extensive personnel changes and a possible realignment of its shareholding structure. The personnel upheaval could be even greater than what was already expected. Airbus’s long-serving sales chief, John Leahy, says he may depart the company next year in addition to the anticipated leadership transition at the top of EADS and Airbus.
The resurgence in fighter modernization programs in the Middle East is having the follow-on effect of spurring the purchase of new training aircraft. Manpower has long been an area of concern for Middle Eastern militaries, with a dearth of home-grown pilots. While that situation is not expected to abate immediately, there is growing interest among military leaders to lessen their dependence on foreign pilots.
Clark Gordon has become director of marketing at Pro Star Aviation , Londonderry, N.H. He was vice president of sales for TrueNorth Avionics of Ottawa and is chairman of the Professional Aviation Maintenance Association.
The U.S. Navy is building on the successful first flight of the stealthy, tailless Northrop Grumman X-47B demonstrator as a pivotal step toward the long-held goal of marrying persistent, autonomous unmanned intelligence and strike aircraft with the reach of its fleet of aircraft carriers.
NASA’s fiscal 2012 budget will continue to funnel money to commercial spaceflight and open-ended technology development, at the expense of a definite launch date for the troubled James Webb Space Telescope and robotic precursors for future exploration. Administrator Charles Bolden (below) was expected Feb. 14 to formally request funds to fly a third shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) this year, and to funnel enough money to the private companies developing space taxis for low Earth orbit for first flights in 2015.
Neelam Mathews (Bengaluru), Leithen Francis (Bengaluru)
As India grows its military arsenal to gain strategic reach beyond its traditional sphere of interest, the country also is looking to boost its surveillance capabilities to support operations further afield. Key decisions have already been taken to bolster airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) capabilities, as well as long-range maritime patrol, but more is in the offing. Carrier-based AEW&C is now in the cards, as well as further purchases of unmanned aircraft.
Eumetsat officials say Belgium, the only country which has not yet approved development of the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) weather satellite system, is poised to sign on, ending a two-month quest to finalize the €2.8 billion ($3.8 billion) program. Portugal OK’d funding for MTG in January, enabling Eumetsat to sign an authorization to proceed with Thales Alenia Space, OHB System and Astrium, which will supply the space portion of the system. Spain and Switzerland, the other two holdouts, have also agreed to participate.
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has struck a deal to acquire Herley Industries for $270 million in cash. Herley specializes in military microwave devices and has been an independent company for 45 years.
Frank Morring, Jr. (Washington), Michael A. Taverna (Paris)
NASA’s new budget request continues the Obama administration’s emphasis on using commercial spacecraft to send humans to space, and the players are putting their cards on the table as the next round of play begins. A new transatlantic entry in the agency’s Commercial Crew Development (CCDev-2) seed-money effort would marry the first stages from NASA’s defunct Ares I crew launch vehicle and Europe’s Ariane 5, which turns out to be a pretty good substitute for the Ares I upper stage Boeing was building under the old Constellation program.
Fiscal austerity may finally lead to breakthroughs in reforming Europe’s military structure. But if the efforts fail, the region runs the risk of losing its global relevance, warns the leader of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is particularly worried about European defense spending trends. “Over the past two years, defense spending by NATO’s European member nations has shrunk by some $45 billion—that is the equivalent of Germany’s entire annual defense budget.”
Japan’s defense ministry and industry aim to develop an engine with advanced stealth features, breaking away from reliance on the U.S. for a sixth-generation fighter that would enter service in the 2030s. Japanese engineers have designed the front of their proposed engine to avoid reflecting radio energy back to enemy radar. There is also evidence that the rear of the engine may be arranged to hide the turbines from radar behind the aircraft.
Financially troubled Indonesian carrier Mandala Airlines’ move to suspend all operations indefinitely may be a precursor of similar actions by other airlines. Indonesia has more than 20 commercial airlines, but market consolidation appears inevitable due to a new rule that is coming into effect in January 2012, which mandates that all commercial airlines have a minimum of 10 aircraft, five of which must be owned.
Feb. 20-24—International Defense Exhibition and Conference. Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) National Exhibition Center. See www.idexuae.ae Feb. 21-23—MIU Events’ Second Annual Indian Business Aviation Expo. Shangri-La Hotel, New Delhi. Call +44 (218) 332-2211, +91 (11) 4279-5061 or see www.miuevents.com
NextGen satellite-based air traffic management could lose at least $234 million if House Republican appropriators have their way with a belated 2011 spending bill revealed last week. It is igniting widespread opposition across the aviation sector. Groups representing airlines to general aviation, and air traffic controllers to airports—entities not afraid to throw each other’s programs under the bus—appear to be standing united in telling the House subcommittee on aviation that any delays in moving NextGen forward would only cost more down the road while impairing U.S.
Susan Donofrio has been appointed Hawaiian Airlines ’ senior director of investor relations, working from New Jersey. She was a director-level analyst at Cathay Financial and has held similar roles at Fulcrum Global Partners and Deutsche Bank.
