MANAGEMENT ON THE MOVE
LOCATIONS
LAND
25 Mar 09. Ecuador will transform a military base now used by U.S. forces
into a center for its operations on the Colombian border when American personnel leave in November, local media reported March 24. The Manta Air Base on Ecuador’s Pacific coast is currently a key logistics hub
for Washington’s fight again South American drug traffickers. But Ecuador’s leftist president, Rafael Correa, has indicated his country will not renew the base’s 10-year lease when it expires later this year.
Ecuador’s joint commander-in-chief, Fabien Varela, told local television station Ecuavisa the armed forces plan to use Manta as a platform for air force reconnaissance and unmanned aircraft operating near the Colombian frontier. (Source: Defense News)
30 Mar 09. Lockheed Martin has established a new Space Vehicle Integration Laboratory (SVIL) to enable a more efficient and reliable process for space vehicle component and flight software integration. As a Lockheed Martin Space Systems-wide asset, the laboratory will have applications for large, small, existing and future satellite development. The SVIL utilizes state-of-the-art computer hardware and software technologies to provide users with the ability to more thoroughly understand how their space vehicle, at various stages of development, will eventually operate on-orbit. This approach facilitates less complex development, and fosters close customer partnerships, with more transparency and long-term predictability. The laboratory is designed to significantly reduce risk associated with flight software-space vehicle hardware integration. It allows flight software developers to test and integrate early models of software in “flight-like” conditions long before flight qualified hardware is available. With the SVIL, hardware and software models are integrated at an earlier stage, allowing identification and troubleshooting of any issues near the beginning of the development cycle. This will enhance Lockheed Martin’s ability to build satellites more rapidly, at lower costs, and with a higher confidence of mission success.
Mar 09. Increasing emphasis on indigenisation of the defence and aerospace sector by the government and also with foreign companies seeking local partners for the defence offsets programme has prompted public sector undertaking Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) to expand its R&D activities. India’s premier aerospace establishment will now be setting up another division in Bangalore in addition to the existing five divisions in the city. The new ‘Mission and Combat System’ division will operate from the Bangalore-based Design Complex and will focus on R&D activities with regard to implementation of aircraft and avionics projects on hand and also those which will be undertaken by the defence PSU in future. The new division will not only focus on avionics systems integration and the use of smart avionics weapons systems but also act as a lead agent to encourage and assist other agencies. The R&D focus will be on development and integration of the avionics and systems for the existing fleet of aircraft, new aircraft programmes and also unmanned aerial vehicles technology development, according to government sources. (Source: Google)
30 Mar 09. Data Link Solutions (DLS) has opened its Link 16 European Service and Support Facility in Heidelberg, Germany. The facility will serve the company’s European customers of Multifunctional Information Distribution System (MIDS) terminals and also provide support services associated with Link 16 terminal, applications and integration support. DLS has delivered over 4,000 Link 16 terminals in various airborne, maritime and ground applications. Data Link Solutions’ European Service and Support Facility will be located within Rockwell Collins Deutschland GmbH’s facility at Grenzhoefer Weg 36, 69123, Heidelberg, Germany, and will be operated by Rockwell Collins Deutschland personnel under