MANAGEMENT ON THE MOVE

LOCATIONS

15 Sep 08. Airbus and GKN have signed a contract under which GKN will purchase the wing component and assemblies manufacturing unit based at Airbus’ site at Filton, near Bristol, UK. This will result in all operational business, assets and activities, within the parameters agreed, being transferred to GKN. As a result of the transaction, GKN is fully supporting the Airbus Power8 initiative and making further investment in the unit in order that Filton will continue to play its important role in Airbus’ current and future programmes. The manufacturing unit includes a total workforce of approximately 1,500 employees (both manufacturing workers and support staff), which equates to around 25 per cent of Airbus’ total workforce at Filton. The unit is responsible for producing wing components such as the wing leading and trailing edges; outer wingbox assemblies and shroud box; single aisle wing electrical harnesses; ribs and other machined parts; pipe forming, ducting and other detail components.

11 Sep 08. Alenia Aeronautica unveils its new Test Centre in Turin-Caselle. Alenia Aeronautica, a Finmeccanica company, has inaugurated today in Turin-Caselle the new Ground Test Centre dedicated to testing and qualification of commercial and military aircraft. The ceremony has taken place in the presence of Finmeccanica’s Chairman and CEO Pier Francesco Guarguaglini; Alenia Aeronautica’s CEO, Giovanni Bertolone; the Regional Councillor for Innovation, Internationalisation and Research Policies of the Piedmont Region, Andrea Bairati and Turin’s Deputy-Mayor, Tom Dealessandri. The new Ground Test Centre hosts the Sky Light Simulator – a facility designed and made by Alenia Aeronautica, capable of artificially reproducing any natural ambient light conditions where aircraft operate, and to test the several cockpit configurations – and the largest-in-Europe Anechoic Chamber. The latter has been designed to test electromagnetic compatibility of airplanes and systems and to carry out at best conditions controls and checks on the emitting devices’ performances, in particular in the field of radio-frequencies.

18 Sep 08. General Dynamics NASSCO launched the U.S. Navy’s newest resupply ship, USNS Carl Brashear (T-AKE 7), during a christening ceremony. The ship is named in honor of Master Chief Petty Officer Carl Brashear, the first African-American to qualify and serve as a Master Diver in the Navy. Brashear’s military career was portrayed in the 2000 movie Men of Honor. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead and the Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Joe Campa, Jr., spoke at the ceremony. Lauren Brashear, Master Chief Brashear’s granddaughter, christened the ship by breaking the traditional bottle of champagne against the bow before the ship slid into San Diego Bay. More than 3,000 people attended the ceremony, including Robert De Niro, who starred in Men of Honor.

18 Sep 08. The U.S. Army has awarded $61m of contracts to build a joint
military base in Bulgaria, the U.S. Embassy said in a statement Sept. 18.
Thirteen companies, including 11 Bulgarian firms, won contracts for the two-year
project to build barracks for 2,500 soldiers and administrative, storage, dining
and medical facilities at the Novo Selo camp in eastern Bulgaria, it said. (Source: Defense News)

17 Sep 08. Today, on the first day of the biennial Africa Aerospace and Defence show, being staged at AFB Ysterplaat in Cape Town, South Africa, history was made when Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota officially handed over the first of the country’s fleet of new generation Gripen fighters to Lt. Gen. Carlo Gagiano, Chief of the South African Air Force. The occasion was marked in style with a fly past of four of South Africa’s fleet of twenty-six Gripen fighters, with the spectacular backdrop of Cape Town’s famous Table Mountain providing some memorable photo opportunities. (Source: ASD Network)

10 Sep 08. The No