The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency will start evaluating four proposed vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft designs by the end of next month, IHS Janes’s 360 reported Wednesday. Gareth Jennings writes that Brian Ritter, a program manager at Boeing, told reporters Tuesday that DARPA will review VTOL X-Plane prototypes from Boeing, Aurora Flight Sciences, Karem and Sikorsky. DARPA […] More

General Electric has promoted James Fowler as vice president of the firm’s capital business and appointed Jason Hanson and Thomas Westrick to VP roles at its healthcare unit. Fowler, a 14-year GE veteran, has held information technology leadership positions within the company’s power and water, corporate and aviation subsidiaries, GE said Friday. Westrick, who joined […] More

General Electric has purchased Canadian company Wurldtech for an undisclosed amount in an effort to help better protect operation technology networks, ETF Daily News reported today. Tom Sandford writes that the move has GE, a technology development company usually known for its appliances and jet engines, moving into the realm of cyberattack protection. “The world […] More

General Electric Aviation has introduced new computing platforms for military and commercial aviation customers, the company said Tuesday. The platforms are designed with an open system, which means customers can ostensibly plug-in a number of different aviation computing applications on the same platform. “In new aircraft development programs, we’ve seen over time that the cost […] More

Greg Yadzinski, former acting director of MacAulay-Brown‘s Commonwealth Technology Division, has been promoted as the division’s vice president responsible for its business and technology development and customer support services. He will still report to Mark Chadason, senior vice president and general manager of the company’s National Security Group, as his group serves the intelligence, defense and homeland […] More

Richard Anderson, formerly a director in Eaton‘s Aerospace Group programs, has been appointed director of program management for the unit’s fuel and motion control division. He will be based in Irvine, California, and report to FMC division Vice President and General Manager Mike Beck, the company said Monday. “Rich has brought significant program-management experience to Eaton that is helping […] More

ATK has developed and tested a photovoltaic array for solar electric propulsion systems that NASA intends to use to power future robotic and manned spacecraft. The company’s MegaFlex solar array wing has a diameter of 32 feet and is designed to generate up to 400 kilowatts of electric power, ATK said Wednesday. “The completion of […] More

Carol Saro, formerly director of customer service for Eaton‘s fluid and electrical distribution division, has been appointed to the same role for the aftermarket division within the aerospace group. She joined the company in 2005, is also a former customer service manager for the conveyance systems division and has also supervised customer service for the […] More

Eaton Corp. has introduced a microgrid management system for military forward operating bases to convert individual power generators into a demand-based microgid. The Intelligent Mobile Power Distribution System is designed to manage generator output, supply power and shift demand onto auxiliary generators, Eaton said Thursday. John Stampfel, vice president and general manager of electrical engineering […] More

AT&T, Cisco, General Electric, IBM and Intel have launched a nonprofit group in an effort to accelerate industry-wide adoption of technology for managing big data and machine-to-machine communications. The Industrial Internet Consortium will work to develop best practices, interoperability standards and reference architectures to help enterprises adopt systems that can link machines, devices and people, […] More

A joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky Aircraft has started construction work on a complex that will house maintenance work on the Australian navy’s fleet of 24 MH-60R maritime helicopters. The Maritime Helicopter Support Company broke ground on the new maintenance and warehouse facilities and expects construction to finish in early 2015,  the company announced Wednesday. Representatives from Brisbane-based Sikorsky […] More

Ball Aerospace & Technologies has started to power the Joint Polar Satellite System spacecraft bus, kicking off a nine-month integration and testing phase as the company prepares to deliver the spacecraft to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The company said Monday the continuous power on-off cycle involves operating the satellite system with the electrical power and distribution and command and data handling subsystems. “Following […] More