Sparton plans to develop and install new prototyping capabilities in its EMS division to improve its return on sales within the next few quarters; otherwise the company will divest the business.

Lockheed Martin recently hosted the Strengthening the Middle Atlantic Region for Tomorrow (SMART) organization and the initiation of its new space technologies group.

BAE Systems has been awarded a contract to provide a Link 16 network management system to the Finnish Air Force. Supporting the operation of Finland's F-18 aircraft, the system will enable ground command and control operators to connect to, and maintain contact with, their fast jets across the entire country.

It's not just the military that's at risk. Chips perform key roles in countless commercial products, as well as phone links, banking networks, electronic grids and nuclear power plants. Given the flood of phony chips, counterfeit parts can be found everywhere.

Northstar Electronics, Inc. today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Northstar Network Ltd., has received a revised Master Purchase Order from Lockheed Martin to increase the value of NNL's P-3 contract by US $9.1 million, to a total of US $16.4 million.

After successful development of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) daytime persistent surveillance system, BAE Systems has been awarded an additional $49.9 million contract to develop the advanced processor for the agency's nighttime, infrared system - the Autonomous Real-time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance - Infrared (ARGUS-IR).

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Russia Defence and Security Report Q4 2010" report to their offering.

Harris Corporation, an international communications and information technology company, has been awarded a 2 1/2 year, $18 million contract to produce telemetry modules supporting the U.S. Air Force Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM).

TiaLinx, Inc., a developer of miniaturized mm-wave radars with integrated radio and antenna arrays, today announced the launch of the Eagle45-W, a hands-free precision Sense-Through-the-Wall Imager.

Elbit Systems Ltd. announced today, further to its announcements of June 15, 2009 and September 14, 2009, that it signed an agreement to acquire all the shares of Soltam Systems Ltd., Saymar Ltd. and ITL Optronics Ltd., that are currently held by Mikal Ltd. and its subsidiaries.

"Outstanding operational performance and increased customer demand across most key market sectors propelled LaBarge’s sales and earnings to record levels in the company’s fiscal 2010 fourth quarter and full year," said Craig LaBarge, CEO and President.

Is North America falling behind the rest of the world in HDI technology development? Not if Dan Smith can help it. "The New Mr. HDI" is putting together the first IPC HDI certification course and exam. We caught up with him and discussed the HDI course, what it takes to be an instructor and Happy Holden's 400-gig "data dump."

Neways Electronics International N.V. (Neways) recorded a fully organic increase in net turnover of approximately 25% in the first half of 2010 compared to the first half of 2009. This strong increase was due to a clear and broad-based rise in demand in the EMS market.

Casey Cooper, Microelectronics Lab Manager at STI, talks about the company's various educational, training and technology offerings and provides an overview of the company's newly-developed and tested embedded die assembly. The new assembly is being evaluated by some military product developers for high-reliability applications.

Developers of mil/aero and other high-rel applications depend on solid failure analysis. Paul Reid discusses how thermal cycling will cause a robust plated through-hole to crack slowly over time. Plotting a resistance graph of damage accumulation allows technologists to determine onset, rate of accumulation and whether the damage is accelerating linearly or exponentially.

"I am very pleased with our fourth quarter results as API had the strongest quarter in the company's history," said CEO, Stephen B. Pudles. "Our acquisition strategy and cost-cutting initiatives have shown considerable success and have enabled the company to achieve positive net income, which we expect to continue into fiscal 2011."

Suntron Corporation's Phoenix facility has received a perfect score on four consecutive semi-annual surveillance audits required by the AS9100 aerospace quality management certification.

"By expanding our presence in Europe, Labtech is a welcome addition to our portfolio of businesses," said Russell Shaller, VP and GM of Teledyne MEC. "Coupled with our Teledyne Cougar microwave component business in the U.S., Labtech's component business augments our already strong position in the field of custom, high-performance microwave components."

According to Mark Thompson, timing can make or break your controlled impedance board. With many jobs going through turnkey environments, late communication about impedance issues takes valuable time out of the fabrication process and can delay delivery of product, leaving the end-user and the turnkey assembler unhappy.

W. Barry Gilbert, Chairman of the Board and CEO, said, "This was an especially good quarter. Operating profit of over 8.5% of sales is unique in our industry. Sales growth of more than 50% and operating profit growth of more than 70%, as compared to the third quarter of fiscal 2009, were especially gratifying.

In this article, Paul Bodmer, Bruce Tostevin and Scott Mazur, Benchmark Electronics Inc., detail the methods used to prevent and detect counterfeit components for various industries such as telecommunications, military and aerospace. The objective is preventing counterfeit components and material from propagating into the manufacturing process.

Is North America falling behind the rest of the world in HDI technology development? Not if Dan Smith can help it. "The New Mr. HDI" is putting together the first IPC HDI certification course and exam. We caught up with him and discussed the HDI course, what it takes to be an instructor and Happy Holden's 400-gig "data dump."

Casey Cooper, Microelectronics Lab Manager at STI, talks about the company's various educational, training and technology offerings and provides an overview of the company's newly-developed and tested embedded die assembly. The new assembly is being evaluated by some military product developers for high-reliability applications.

Developers of mil/aero and other high-rel applications depend on solid failure analysis. Paul Reid discusses how thermal cycling will cause a robust plated through-hole to crack slowly over time. Plotting a resistance graph of damage accumulation allows technologists to determine onset, rate of accumulation and whether the damage is accelerating linearly or exponentially.

To confidently use lead-free in high-reliability applications, especially considering the EU drive to impose RoHS on some areas currently exempt, it seems prudent to step back and determine where we are, how we got here and what remains to be done.

Components that work as expected, and when required, are very important in general, and especially in harsh environments. After all, electronic systems are being used everywhere, from many thousands of feet underground or underwater to outer space.

These images of SMT defects and attributes were compiled by consultant Tom Clifford. Section 10 includes images of re-balled collapsing and non-collapsing C-BGAs, compromised fillets, mis-registered balls and more.

According to Mark Thompson, timing can make or break your controlled impedance board. With many jobs going through turnkey environments, late communication about impedance issues takes valuable time out of the fabrication process and can delay delivery of product, leaving the end-user and the turnkey assembler unhappy.

There's a chance that International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR) and other regulations that dictate how North American companies handle controlled products will undergo dramatic alterations in the next few years.

IPC's Fern Abrams discusses the importance of efforts in Washington, D.C.: After five long years of lobbying on Capitol Hill, IPC's members finally feel as though Congress understands how vitally important our industry is to national security.

Is North America falling behind the rest of the world in HDI technology development? Not if Dan Smith can help it. "The New Mr. HDI" is putting together the first IPC HDI certification course and exam. We caught up with him and discussed the HDI course, what it takes to be an instructor and Happy Holden's 400-gig "data dump."

Developers of mil/aero and other high-rel applications depend on solid failure analysis. Paul Reid discusses how thermal cycling will cause a robust plated through-hole to crack slowly over time. Plotting a resistance graph of damage accumulation allows technologists to determine onset, rate of accumulation and whether the damage is accelerating linearly or exponentially.

According to Mark Thompson, timing can make or break your controlled impedance board. With many jobs going through turnkey environments, late communication about impedance issues takes valuable time out of the fabrication process and can delay delivery of product, leaving the end-user and the turnkey assembler unhappy.

IPC's Technet offers a snapshot of the issues of the day as hundreds of engineers attempt to sort out the industry's latest technological challenges. Harvey Miller, PCB007 columnist and President of Fabfile Online, has agreed to gather a few of the latest Technet exchanges for our Tech Tuesday readers.

Perhaps no other organization in our industry polarizes people like IPC. For some, the association can do no right; others behave more like Obama volunteers walking lock-step with the president no matter what public approval ratings and unemployment statistics say.

It was a star-studded conference with fabricators looking to the government for support to develop the technologies needed along with commitments to strengthen the supply chain, while the government looked to the industry for solutions to its counterfeit components, reliability and supply chain security.

By bipartisan, I'm referring to the military customers and manufacturers of rigid and flex circuits who attended IPC's conference on "The North American PCB Industry: It Can and Will Support the Military Market." Learn why cooperation like this is so vital to the survival of the NA PCB industry.

Blackfox Institute and Export Solutions are helping to educate companies on export compliance laws and regulations. Al Dill of Blackfox and Don Buehler of Export Solutions discuss their partnership, as well as the free ITAR/EAR Webinar scheduled for December 8, 2009.

Does higher technology really beget higher profit margins? HEI is an EMS provider that lives on the bleeding edge of technology. CEO Mark Thomas joins EMS007 Editor Steve Gold for a look at life on the high end of the electronics assembly technology spectrum.

It was surprising for most (for sure, for me) in the audience to hear someone so close to the solar industry express so much cynicism. That's just what Paula Mints, Principal Analyst for market research firm PV Services, which has focused on the solar industry for the past 20 years, delivered to the audience.