LONDON BAE Systems is preparing for tough negotiations with its fledgling continental European counterpart on the future of Airbus Industrie and a host of joint ventures in which they are involved. Created by the merger of British Aerospace and Marconi Electronic Systems which was finalized last week, the renamed company is the world’s second-largest defense company after Lockheed Martin.

NEW YORK SAN FRANCISCO Development of an electronic or e-business strategy is the most critical issue facing aerospace/defense executives today, according to a global study by Computer Sciences Corp. In a complementary set of findings, the majority of e-business initiatives is emanating from senior management for business applications, rather than from information technology managers merely to meet design and production demands, according to a survey focusing only on the U.S. industry, by the consulting firm of Deloitte & Touche.

WASHINGTON The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has begun an effort aimed at demonstrating in orbit that a satellite can be repaired and refueled by an autonomous, space-based robot. Earlier this year, Darpa officials were asking what they could do to make it possible to work on satellites in space (AW&ST July 19, p. 58).

WASHINGTON The U.S. Marine Corps is looking for ways to keep its rapidly aging transport helicopters flying even as most of the service’s aviation funds are locked into a few, high-profile programs such as the MV-22 tiltrotor and major upgrades to the AH-1 Cobra and UH-1 Huey.