Industry News
Raytheon Awarded $285 Million Contract to Continue Producing TOW ITAS Precision Guidance Systems
Raytheon Company has been awarded a $285.4 million contract to produce and deliver Improved Target Acquisition Systems (ITAS) to the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps. The five-year contract from the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command in Huntsville, Ala., continues Army procurement of the systems and marks the start of the U.S. Marine Corps system acquisition. The Army procured 709 ITAS units from 1999 through 2004.
ITAS is the advanced Electro-Optic Target Acquisition Fire Control System. It guides the TOW (Tube-Launched, Optically Tracked, Wire-Guided) weapon systems to their targets with surgical precision. The targeting system significantly increases TOW's effective range, improves the weapon's ability to hit a target with minimal collateral damage and allows a soldier to engage and destroy targets from safe distances. ITAS's 2nd generation FLIR (forward-looking infrared) sensor provides long-range reconnaissance and surveillance capability 24/7, in all weather and battlefield conditions.
ITAS is fielded in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, where it has demonstrated its value in all phases of the conflict and subsequent peace-keeping efforts.
Raytheon Network Centric Systems Vice President of Combat Systems Glynn Raymer noted that planned product improvements will incorporate the Far Target Location capability, which automatically determines target location and shows the troop location to give complete situational awareness. Incorporation of a network radio would allow transmission of this information to networked systems on the battlefield.
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Satoshi Ikeuchi Appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Fujitsu Network Communications
Representatives ofFujitsu Network Communications Inc., a leading supplier of IT and wireline/wireless networking solutions, announced Tuesday that Mr. Satoshi Ikeuchi has been appointed president and chief executive officer. In this role he will oversee all product planning, product development, sales, marketing, manufacturing and customer support organizations at the company's headquarters in Richardson, Texas. He succeeds Takanobu Yoden, who has retired from Fujitsu.
Mr. Ikeuchi's career in telecommunications began in 1975 where he was hired as an engineer in coaxial and optical transmission product development at Fujitsu. From 1987 through 1995, Ikeuchi took management positions with increasing responsibility in the Transmission Group at Fujitsu, and from 1995 to 2001, he served as senior director, vice president and eventually senior vice president of Engineering for Fujitsu Network Communications. In 2004, Ikeuchi was promoted to senior vice president of the Photonics Systems Group where he was responsible for the company's telecommunications business overseas. This leadership role led to extensive involvement in the business operations of Fujitsu Network Communications.
During the past several years, business planning and operations expertise has supported the expansion of Fujitsu into several new markets including cable/MSOs, wireless, enterprise, federal government and utilities through direct sales and an expanded channel partner program.
Ikeuchi holds a bachelor of science degree in electronics engineering from Tokyo Institute of Technology University.
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U.S. Navy Awards General Dynamics $35 Million Contract to Support Naval Submarine Base Work
The U.S. Navy has awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat a one-year US$34.8 million contract with four one-year options to staff and operate the New England Maintenance Manpower Initiative (NEMMI) at the Naval Submarine Base in Groton. Electric Boat is a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics.
The overall contract, with all options exercised and funded, has a potential value of $202 million and a completion date of Sept. 30, 2011. About 270 Electric Boat employees will be engaged in the work.
The award is a follow-on to a five-year, $130.5 million contract that ran from October 2001 through September 2006.
Under the terms of the contract, Electric Boat will provide a wide spectrum of intermediate and depot-level overhaul, repair and modernization services in support of operational nuclear-powered submarines, floating dry-docks, support and service craft and other platforms and equipment at the submarine base.
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Rockwell Collins Announces Executive Appointments
Representatives ofRockwell Collins announce the retirement of Bob Chiusano, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of Commercial Systems at the end of this calendar year. Kelly Ortberg, Vice President and General Manager of Air Transport Systems, has been appointed to succeed Chiusano.
As Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of Commercial Systems, Ortberg will be responsible for the company's aviation electronics, communications and cabin systems for the air transport, business aviation and regional airline markets. Ortberg has almost 20 years of experience with Rockwell Collins in both the commercial and government businesses. Prior to his current role he served as Vice President and General Manager, Communication Systems in Government Systems.
Jeff Standerski will replace Ortberg as Vice President and General Manager of Air Transport Systems. He currently serves as Vice President of Strategy for Commercial Systems. Standerski has 17 years of service with Rockwell Collins, and previously served as Senior Director, Advanced Communication Applications in Government Systems.
As a result, Kent Statler has been appointed Executive Vice President of Rockwell Collins Services. In October 2005, Statler assumed leadership of Rockwell Collins Services, as Senior Vice President and General Manager. He leads the company's growing global services business, including Maintenance Operations, Material Operations, Aftermarket Operations and Simulation & Training Solutions.
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SAP Names John Hanley as Senior Vice President in SAP Services Organization
Representatives of SAP AG announced the appointment of John Hanley as senior vice president to lead two important lines of services within the SAP Services organization—Managed Services and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). SAP Managed Services provides operations expertise to ensure high quality in application management and hosting services together with SAP's extensive partner network. SAP Business Process Outsourcing enables BPO providers and their customers to achieve business process outsourcing excellence to help customers generate sustainable business value—by dramatically reducing risk, lowering cost and improving quality.
Hanley joins SAP after 11 years with Oracle, where he was growing high volume services businesses. John most recently was responsible for Oracle services, support and on-demand business development in a global capacity. Prior to that, he spent seven years at Accenture UK, where he was responsible for Accenture's enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications. Within Accenture, he built his SAP practice and successfully engaged in joint business development with SAP.
Delivering on its vision for enterprise service-oriented architecture (enterprise SOA), SAP has designed its roadmap for services to optimize the offerings and processes to the demands of the midmarket and high volume businesses. Enabled by the SAP NetWeaver platform, enterprise SOA makes it easier for companies to move business processes outside the enterprise while retaining full control of information and workflows in a seamless, tightly integrated fashion. SAP Managed Services offers customers access to the applications and infrastructure needed to make their businesses successful. Hosting offerings leverage mySAP™ Business Suite applications and services that enable customers, business partners and co-workers to work successfully across several companies wherever they are located. Customers can choose hosting options for individual components of mySAP Business Suite or for an entire SAP software landscape.
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3M to Acquire Biotrace International PLC
Representatives of 3M and Biotrace International PLC announced an offer to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Biotrace International PLC, a Bridgend, UK-based manufacturer and supplier of industrial microbiology products whose shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange. The board of Biotrace International has recommended the offer to Biotrace International's shareholders.
The offer values Biotrace International shares at approximately £52 million, or $98 million.
3M has offered 130 pence, approximately $2.46, per Biotrace International share. Under the terms of the offer, Biotrace International shareholders will retain the right to receive the interim dividend, announced on Sept. 6, 2006, of 0.55 pence per Biotrace International share for the six months ended June 30, 2006.
The transaction has been approved by the board of directors of both companies. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter 2006, subject to customary closing conditions, regulatory approvals, and obtaining the requisite Biotrace International shareholder acceptances.
Representatives of 3M believes that Biotrace International offers a strong strategic fit and complementary product offering with 3M through its established position in providing hygiene monitoring and microbiological tests to the food, beverage and dairy sectors.
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BP Acquires North Sea Acreage
Representatives of BP announced that it has reached agreement to acquire acreage interests from Chevron in the UK Central North Sea containing the Arundel and Kidd discoveries and further exploration potential.
As a result of this deal, which is subject to DTI approval, BP will increase its interest in License P103 (Block 16/23 South) and entering License P240 (Block 16/22 Arundel). BP will also become Operator of both blocks upon completion of the transaction. These interests will be acquired in exchange for 2.2% of BP's interest in the Alba field which will be reduced from 15.5% down to 13.3%.
The Arundel and Kidd discoveries and associated exploration potential are located adjacent to the Farragon field which BP operates following a successful fast-track development in 2005. This deal is a good example of how changing ownership will lead to additional North Sea activity.
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IBM Acquires Ubiquity's DORANA Product Line
Representatives of IBM announced Wednesday that the company has acquired the DORANA product line and associated assets of Ubiquity Pty Limited, a privately held company based in Melbourne, Australia. Financial details were not disclosed.
This product line acquisition advances IBM's software asset management offerings, which help customers make informed software investments and decisions based on actual software use activity on both distributed and mainframe platforms. It also helps customers align mainframe software spending with business priorities, which is a key part of Tivoli's service management strategy.
For example, if a brokerage group is ramping up its use of software resources, the company can spot this well ahead of time, plan for it, and determine when they will approach a contract threshold that will require them to pay for more software. Also, by gathering software inventory and use activity information, a company that just merged with another can discover software that is redundant, link it to associated contract details and use that information for future buying decisions.
The technology will enhance IBM's systems management software portfolio and accelerate the delivery of asset management capabilities for System z software by helping organizations manage software costs and license compliance risk to align with changing business needs.
