Northrop Grumman appoints new lead executive for Air Force work in Dayton

Northrop Grumman Corp. announced Monday that it has appointed Kevin Bell corporate lead executive for company business in Dayton. Bell reports to Timothy Jones, vice president, aviation and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

In his new role, Bell represents the company to customers in the Dayton region including those at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center.

Bell has supported Northrop Grumman customers in Dayton as a business development representative and a sector lead executive. Prior to joining Northrop Grumman, he served more than 26 years in the Air Force, retiring as assistant to the commander, Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright Patterson Air Force Base. His extensive and successful Air Force acquisition experience includes assignments as the senior acquisition adviser to the Office of Military Cooperation-Afghanistan, system program director for the KC-767 Aerial Refueling Tanker Lease Program and director of the F/A-22 Fighter Aircraft Engine Program.

Bell earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Valdosta State College, Valdosta, Ga., and a master's degree in management from Troy State University, Troy, Ala. He also attended the Air War College, and Air Command and Staff College.

Atmospheric effects on satellite V and W radio frequencies

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Space Vehicles Directorate, in collaboration with the Space and Missile Systems Center, Military Satellite Communications Directorate, and NASA Glenn Research Center, plan to conduct fundamental research to increase knowledge and understanding of atmospheric effects on radio frequency signal propagation in the V and W bands. The Air Force announced the research effort in a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) on Monday.

Known as the W/V-band Satellite Communications Experiment (WSCE) program, “specifically, the objective is to statistically characterize channel propagation effects in the V (71 - 76 gigahertz) and W (81 - 86 GHz) frequency bandwidths of the electromagnetic spectrum,” the AFRL said in the BAA. “Channel propagation effects can include, for example, signal attenuation, phase dispersion, and depolarization. It is necessary to correlate the long-term channel behavior to atmospheric and meteorological parameters. Measured data will be used to develop and validate modeling and design tools that can be used to design and assess future military satellite communication architectures.”

The Air Force invites companies interested in participating in the research to submit a proposal to the AFRL at Kirtland Air Force Base by Feb. 7. The Air Force anticipates awarding a minimum of one contract. Anticipated period of performance is approximately 108 months.

Cost of the overall WSCE program is estimated to be $30 million. The initial task order is estimated to not exceed $2 million.