MANAGEMENT ON THE MOVE
LOCATIONS
02 Oct 08. Northrop Grumman Corporation broke ground today on a new facility at Wallops Island on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, the first building in the Wallops Research Park. Wallops Research Park is a joint effort by NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, the Marine Science Consortium and Accomack County to attract science, technology and educational organizations and provide high-tech jobs to the region. The one-story, 15,000-square foot building can house up to 55 Northrop Grumman employees supporting the U.S. Navy’s Surface Combat Systems Center and NASA. Northrop Grumman provides the Navy with systems engineering, planning, installation, operations and maintenance services for the Ship Self Defense System (SDSS) and the AEGIS Combat System. Both SDSS and AEGIS are advanced, shipboard command and control systems using computers and sensors to track and destroy enemy missiles. For NASA, the company designs, manufactures, tests, and provides launch support for the Sounding Rockets program, which uses low-cost rockets to launch sensors and instrumentation into suborbital space for exo-atmospheric measurements and experimentation.
Oct 08. Bulford Kiwi: Heritage Award Winner. The Bulford Conservation Group won the Heritage Award at the 2008 Sanctuary Awards. The Group leads the annual clean-up of the massive Bulford Kiwi carved onto Beacon Hill in Wiltshire by the New Zealand Army.
Comment: The Sanctuary Awards recognise group and individual efforts that benefit conservation on MoD land. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 08/40, 13 Oct 08)
08 Oct 08. Kosovo: Operational Reserve Force (ORF) Role to End
Following a review of the security situation, the Defence Secretary stated (8 Oct 08) that the UK will end its commitment to the NATO/EU Balkans ORF on 31 Dec 08.
Comment: Given the MoD’s “wider military commitments”, the ending of the ORF role can only be a relief
for the planners. NATO has been leading a peacekeeping Operation in Kosovo since June 1999, with 15,900 KFOR troops still deployed. The current (11 Oct 08) edition of ‘The Economist’ includes an interesting article on Kosovo. 2nd Bn The Rifles deployed to Kosovo as the ORF in June 2008. During the deployment, the Battalion fired some 2,225 rounds in training and one ‘in anger’ (to kill a feral dog which attacked a patrol). (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 08/40, 13 Oct 08)
10 Oct 08. PEI-Genesis, the franchised distributor specialising in connector assembly services, has successfully completed its relocation from Basingstoke to new premises adjacent to Southampton Airport in Eastleigh. Providing a total floor space of 65,000 ft2, the new premises are more than three times larger than the company’s previous building and will accommodate the increased assembly and stocking capacity needed as the business continues its rapid expansion throughout Europe.
Oct 08. The Tata Group, which pioneered air travel in the country, has proposed to set up a Rs 500 crore defence and civil aerospace hub in Andhra Pradesh for manufacture of allied equipment, radar and satellite systems. Tata group Chairman Ratan Tata has written a letter to Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy indicating that Tata Advance Systems was keen to invest in the hub in the proposed Special Economic Zone in Adibhatla village, on the outskirts of the state capital.
16 Oct 08. India to construct new aerospace hub. India has announced plans to construct a new aerospace hub in Andhra Pradesh. According to Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, the Tata Group will maintain its defence and aerospace facilities in the special economic zone. (Source: Google)
10 Oct 08. The Navy announced today that the name of the next missile range instrumentation ship will be USNS Howard O. Lorenzen. Designated T-AGM 25, the ship will honor the late Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) electrical engineer who was instrumental in the creation of our nation’s electronic