LONDON, Aug 17 (Reuters) - British aerospace and defencecompany Cobham said on Wednesday its chief executive BobMurphy will step down by the end of the year and be succeeded byDavid Lockwood, the current boss of technology company Laird.
Cobham said Murphy was leaving "to pursue otheropportunities".
It said Lockwood will join the company no later than Jan. 12017.
Earlier this month Cobham reported a 36 percent drop infirst-half profit, leaving it needing a big improvement in thecoming months to meet full-year targets.
Laird said it had appointed Chief Financial Officer TonyQuinlan to take over from Lookwood on Sept. 5. (Reporting by James Davey, Editing by Paul Sandle)