New MEADS Leadership

The board of directors of the transatlantic consortium developing the Medium Extended Air Defense System has named a pair of new leaders.

David Berganini has been named president of MEADS International, and Volker Weidemann will be the new executive vice president and chief operating officer, according to a statement. On Berganini:

Berganini has 23 years of systems engineering and program management experience, and was named Chief Engineer for MEADS International in 2007.  In this role, he was responsible for Mission Success across all facets of the system/subsystem technical design and was the architect for the incremental Critical Design Review (CDR) that led to tri-national approval of the MEADS design in August 2010.  He also led the industry team working with the NATO MEADS Management Agency (NAMEADSMA) to implement a low-risk optimized program for integration and test of the advanced air and missile defense system.  Berganini was previously director of Systems Engineering at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, responsible for technical and personnel leadership and oversight of the Systems Engineering Department.

He succeeds Steve Barnoske, who led MI through successful completion of the CDR phase of the MEADS program.  Barnoske guided the program team to successful tri-national approval of the MEADS system design and set in motion an organizational transition from design to integration and test efforts.  He moves into a new leadership position in the Tactical Missiles line of business at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.

As for Weidemann, he replaces the retiring Klaus Reidel. Moreover:

Weidemann has served MI for the past 5 years as director of System Engineering, Integration, and Test (SEIT) and was responsible for coordinating tri-national design efforts at six development locations.  He was responsible for development and implementation of design requirements for the MEADS system and its six major end items.  During his tenure, he led the technical team through the transition from design, including a successful Preliminary Design Review and Critical Design Review, to initial build and test efforts.  Retired as an officer in the German air force, he has over 20 years of engineering management and air defense experience.  He previously served as SEIT Deputy Director and has been associated with the MEADS program for over 12 years.

Weidemann’s responsibilities as Director of System Engineering, Integration, and Test (SEIT) will pass to Norbert Wührer.  For the past three years, Wührer has led the Launcher and Reloader integrated product team based at LFK in Germany.  He has over 20 years of systems engineering expertise in air and missile defense technology, and has served as Project Manager for several Patriot efforts, including PAC-3 Missile integration and the German live firings at WSMR.

Riedel retires with extensive executive management experience on the MEADS program and will retain close ties to the program.  He previously served as President of MI and Chairman of the MI Board of Directors.

Dr. Walter Stammler, Chairman of the MEADS International Board of Directors, said, "The board appreciates the leadership that Steve and Klaus have brought to the successful MEADS design effort and development of our first major end items.  We now look to Dave and Volker to ensure successful flight tests and completion of the Design and Development contract.  MEADS International is proud that we will soon be delivering the mobile, interoperable, and affordable air and missile defense system jointly envisioned by Germany, Italy and the United States."

While a bridge contract with industry for MEADS has provided a sense of business-as-usual for the trinational project since the summer, Defense Department leaders are expected to decide by the end of this month whether they want to add nearly $600 million to the program, Inside Missile Defense reported on Dec. 1. The money is needed to bring the program's design phase to a successful close, according to officials. Further:

What could play into the decision are signals given last month at the NATO summit in Lisbon, Portugal, where alliance leaders agreed that territorial missile defense should be a core NATO military mission. Experts said the move would ultimately afford upper-layer missile defense a place as a NATO-wide program, including dedicated funding streams. That new focus, officials said, would also trigger a renewed emphasis on lower-level defense systems, of which MEADS is one, that could provide a symbolic boost to the U.S.-German-Italian project.

Adding to the debate in the three countries are newly emerging prospects of sales to countries in the market for air and missile defense systems, including Poland, Japan, Spain and Qatar, several officials confirmed.

Defense acquisition chief Ashton Carter is expected to decide by year's end whether the Pentagon would help plug a funding hole of roughly $1 billion, diagnosed last year by an Office of the Secretary of Defense-led assessment.

The cost-sharing arrangement agreed in the original MEADS memorandum of understanding for the currently design-and-development phase of the project -- 58 percent from the United states, 25 percent from Germany and 17 percent from Italy -- would remain in place, according to defense officials.