Week in review (9/26 to 10/2)

It was a week where the aerospace news stories for the Gulf Coast region were all over the charts: Congress approved a blueprint for NASA, Michoud laid off workers, Southwest Airlines said it plans to buy AirTran, and a lot of contracts with Gulf Coast ties were awarded.


Space
Congress has given the thumbs up to a plan for NASA that extends the space shuttle program for a year and backs the use commercial carriers for transporting humans into near-Earth space. The bill dismantles the Bush-era Constellation Program, which sought to return astronauts to the moon, and extends the life of the International Space Station to 2020.

At Stennis Space Center, Miss., where propulsion systems are tested and certified, center director Patrick Scheuermann said he'’s confident Stennis will be fully utilized for future space exploration. In addition to testing engines for NASA, the facility for years has also been used by commercial companies to test engines.

But at Michoud Assembly Facility in east New Orleans, about 300 workers were laid off as production of the space shuttle external fuel tank ended. Lockheed Martin had about 1,500 people at MAF at the start of the year, but the number has dropped as various stages of external fuel tank production have ended. It'’s down to about 600.

- In another space-related matter, NASA chose the Naval Research Laboratory's Wide-field Imager to be part of the Solar Probe Plus mission set for launch no later than 2018. The Solar Probe Plus will plunge directly into the sun's atmosphere about four million miles from our star's surface to explore a region no other spacecraft ever encountered in a bid to unlock the sun's biggest mysteries. The Naval Research Lab has a detachment at Stennis Space Center, Miss.


Bases
Over $1 million in grants from the state of Florida will go to expand buffer zones around Naval Air Station Whiting Field near Milton, Fla., and Naval Air Station Pensacola. The Navy is also contributing $1.2 million to Santa Rosa County to buy land around Whiting, a key aviation training center. The Florida Defense Infrastructure grants are awarded annually to protect Florida's bases.

- At Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., Maj. Gen. Kenneth Merchant is scheduled to be the next Air Armament Center and Air Force program executive officer for weapons. Merchant will arrive from Headquarters Air Mobility Command, Scott Air Force Base, Ill., where he's director of logistics. Maj. Gen. C. R. Davis, the current program executive officer for weapons and Air Armament Center commander, was nominated for appointment to lieutenant general, and will be reassigned to Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass.

- Also at Eglin, Dr. Mikel Miller was promoted to chief scientist and senior technologist for the Air Force Research Lab Munitions Directorate. In his new position, Miller will help lead the AFRL Munitions Directorate to the next generation of munitions systems. He wants to boost the number of AFRL scientists who have doctorate degrees from 17 percent to 30 to 35 percent by hiring new scientists and through internal academic growth.

- In another Eglin-related story, Boeing successfully completed the first flight tests of the MK-84 Laser Joint Direct Attack Munition. The first two of seven planned tests at Eglin demonstrated the 2,000-pound weapon's capability against fixed, relocatable and moving targets. The test was in July, but only announced this past week. An existing JDAM can become a Laser JDAM with the installation of the Precision Laser Guidance Set.


Moves
Avalex Technologies, which makes aerial surveillance equipment, is moving its headquarters from Pensacola, Fla., to nearby Gulf Breeze. The 9.2-acre property is the former home of a car dealership. The new building will be some 53,000 square feet, way larger than the 17,000 square feet of two downtown Pensacola buildings Avalex now uses.


Airlines
Southwest Airlines plans to buy AirTran for about $1.4 billion, a move that will give the combined airline operations in more than 100 different airports. In the Gulf Coast region, AirTran serves the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport, New Orleans and Pensacola. Southwest Airlines serves New Orleans and the newly opened airport in Panama City Beach, Fla.

That announcement has accelerated a move in South Mississippi to establish an airline travel bank. Businesses and individuals are being asked to pledge support to keep AirTran flying and increase service at Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport. The Mississippi Gulf Coast Business Council and Chamber of Commerce have been working for months to establish an Airline Travel Bank.


Contracts
OK, if you're going to read this part of the column, grab a cup of coffee and relax. It will take some time to get through it all. It was an active week for DoD contracts with ties to the Gulf Coast aerospace region. L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace LLC, of Madison, Miss., was awarded two contracts during the week. The largest was a $125 million modification to a previously awarded contract to exercise an option for logistics services and materials for organizational, intermediate, and depot level maintenance to support 47 T-45A and 158 T-45C aircraft based at Naval Air Station Meridian, Miss., NAS Kingsville, Texas, NAS Pensacola, Fla., and Patuxent River, Md. Work is expected to be completed in September 2011. The other contract was an $18.5 million modification to a previously awarded contract to exercise an option for logistics support for TH-57B/TH-57C aircraft. Nearly all the work, 99 percent, will be done at Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Fla. Work is expected to be completed in March 2011. … Sikorsky Support Services Inc., Pensacola, Fla., was awarded a $63.5 million modification to a previously awarded contract to exercise an option for contractor logistics support services for the T-34, T-44 and T-6 aircraft. Forty-three percent of the work will be done at the Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Fla., and 10 percent at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla. Work is expected to be completed in March 2011. … Rolls-Royce Defense Services Inc., Indianapolis, Ind., was awarded an $89.1 million modification to a previously awarded contract to exercise an option for intermediate and depot level maintenance and related support for in-service T-45 F405-RR-401 Adour engines. The modification provides for inventory control, sustaining engineering and configuration management, as well as integrated logistics support and required engineering elements necessary to support the F405-RR-401 engine at the organization level. Work will be performed at the Naval Air Station Kingsville, Texas, NAS Meridian, Miss., NAS Pensacola, Fla., and NAS Patuxent River, Md., and is expected to be completed in September 2011. … Mississippi Aerospace Corp., Picayune, Miss., was awarded an $8.6 million contract which will acquire loadmaster scanner crashworthy seats for the Air Force Special Operations Command MC-130H/W and EC 130J aircraft, and Air Combat Command and Air Force Reserve Command HC-130P aircraft. Air Force Special Operations Command is based at Hurlburt Field, Fla. … Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Aerospace Battle Management and Engagement Systems Decision Support and Targeting, of Hollywood, Md., was awarded a $99 million contract to procure weapons planning software. AAC/EBSK, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. … Kaman Precision Products Inc., Orlando, Fla., was awarded a $36 million contract modification which will procure joint programmable fuze systems for four Foreign Military Sales countries at a total quantity of 10,518 units. AAC/EBDK, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. … Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Ariz., was awarded a $10.2 million contract modification to extend the period of performance of the Advanced Medium Range Air-to Air Missile (AMRAAM) aircraft integration support effort through Sept. 30, 2013. AAC/EBAK (AMRAAM Development Branch), Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity.

Week in review (9/19 to 9/25)

The dust may finally be settling on the issue of where NASA's space program is heading. The months of uncertainty no doubt has caused concern at two Gulf Coast facilities involved in the space program - NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.

During the past week, the House Science and Technology committee just about surrendered to a Senate plan for NASA that cancels the Constellation Program and gives commercial rocket companies a greater role in space exploration.

The Senate version, supported by the White House, directs NASA to build a new spacecraft that one day could reach an asteroid while investing about $1.6 billion over three years in commercial rocket companies. I say "just about" because the House bill is slightly different. For one thing, it budgets $400 million less for commercial companies, according to reports in the press.

So while the House and Senate are close, no cigar yet. (Detailed story)

- In another Gulf Coast space-related item during the week, the external fuel tank that will power the last planned space shuttle left Michoud Assembly Facility and is expected to arrive Sunday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

The tank has been restored to flight configuration at Michoud after sustaining damage during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The tank, ET-122, will support shuttle Endeavour's flight targeted for launch in February.

- Also during the week, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne said it successfully completed the latest round of tests on the gas generator for NASA's J-2X rocket engine. With the first NASA J-2X engine far along in development, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne said it's on track to begin testing in 2011 at Stennis Space Center, Miss. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne has an operation at the South Mississippi facility that's best known for rocket engine testing.

- In another Stennis Space Center item, NPD Resources Inc. of Brookhaven, Miss., was awarded a $12.46 million contract to expand Highway 607 at Stennis Space Center, Miss., from two lanes to fours. The project is expected to take 18 months. The roadway addition is part of a larger project to expand state Route 607 to four lanes all the way to I-59. The expanded road will provide service to Stennis Space Center and serve as a hurricane evacuation route.


F-35
Speaking of the dust settling, a bit more clarity came to another issue during the week, this one involving the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., home of the Joint Strike Fighter training center.

The Air Force narrowed the primary airfields for the F-35 to Eglin Main and Duke Field. In a draft of the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement released during the week, the Air Force said the JSF will bed down, be maintained, launched and recovered at one of the two fields. A final decision will be made after public hearings and release of the final EIS.

- Meanwhile, the Pentagon during the week said it reached a fixed-price agreement with Lockheed Martin for a fourth batch of F-35s. The deal includes 30 jets for the United States and one for Britain, and an option for one for the Netherlands.

Information on the price per plane was not provided, but previous F-35 production contracts were on more traditional "cost-plus" contract terms, which make the government liable for cost overruns. (Detailed story)


Hawker and Baton Rouge
Is Hawker Beechcraft going to move from Wichita, Kansas, to Baton Rouge, La.?

It's apparently been no secret that Hawker has been exploring the possibility of moving to a more affordable area. This summer there were reports the company was looking at Mississippi and Louisiana. Then Southern Business & Development wrote that Hawker made a deal to move to Baton Rouge. A television station has reported "multiple sources" saying an announcement would be made in November.

For what it's worth, Hawker is currently in contract negotiations with the machinists. (Detailed story)


Bases
Maj. Gen. C. R. Davis, Air Armament Center commander at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., has been nominated for appointment to lieutenant general. Davis arrived at Eglin in May 2009 and is responsible for the development, acquisition, testing, deployment and sustainment of all air-delivered weapons. Once confirmed, Davis will be reassigned to Hanscom AFB, Mass., as Commander, Electronic Systems Center.

- An F-15 Eagle engine at Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn., is undergoing performance testing using a unique blend of three different fuel types. The F100 engine is being tested with a combination of JP-8 conventional aviation fuel, a biofuel derived from an animal fat and a synthetic fuel derived from coal.

The fuels testing is being conducted to ensure the different fuels, in varying combinations, are suitable for an upcoming series of F-15 flight tests tentatively scheduled for October at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.


Contracts
L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace, LLC, Madison, Miss., was awarded a $21 million modification to a previously awarded contract to provide logistics services and materials for organizational, intermediate, and depot level maintenance of 14 T39N and 6 T-39G aircraft at the Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla. … Marianna Airmotive Corp., Cantonment, Fla., was awarded a $20 million contract to procure 18 national stock numbers of structural components, i.e., spoilers, applicable to C-5 aircraft. … Del-Jen Inc., Clarksville, Tenn., was awarded a $23.4 million modification of a previously awarded contract to exercise Option 3 for base operations support services at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., and surrounding areas. The work to be performed provides for public works administration including labor, management, supervision, materials, supplies, and tools for facilities management. … Aerojet General Corp., Cordova, Calif., was awarded an $8 million contract to manufacture empty warhead cases to support the precision lethality MK82 quick reaction capability program. AAC/EBSK, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. … Roy Anderson Corp., Gulfport, Miss., is being awarded $14.4 million for firm-fixed-price task order #0002 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract for the addition to and alteration of Air Force Central Command Headquarters at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C.

Week in review (9/12 to 9/18)

Flights of the Fire Scout unmanned helicopter the Navy is testing to operate from its warships will resume this week. The UAVs were grounded after operators lost control of one on Aug. 2 for about 20 minutes and it entered restricted airspace around Washington.

Operators regained control and it landed safely back at its base.

This time they'll be flying in Yuma, Ariz. The Navy had been flying Fire Scouts from a field near Naval Air Station Patuxent River in southern Maryland. Testing will resume there after engineers validate updated software for the aircraft. New software is scheduled to be installed early next month.

Fire Scouts are built in part in Moss Point, Miss.


Tanker
The World Trade Organization dispute settlement panel ruled during the week that Boeing received U.S. government subsidies to develop aircraft. The interim ruling is confidential and a final ruling is not expected for several months.

Three months ago the WTO found that European countries provided illegal subsidies to Boeing rival Airbus. The biggest impact of the ruling could be forcing the United States and European Union to come up with a negotiated settlement on subsidies.

Boeing and Airbus parent, EADS, are competing for a $40 billion contract to build tankers for the U.S. Air Force. EADS wants to assemble its tankers in Mobile, Ala.


Airports and bases
The new head of the New Orleans airport said Louis Armstrong International suffers from major management and staffing deficiencies and is headed for more problems if things don't change quickly. Iftikhar Ahmad said the airport is understaffed, lacks an overall business strategy and there are no performance measures.

- Col. Richard McBride Jr. took command of the 81st Diagnostics and Therapeutics Squadron Tuesday at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. He succeeds Col. Stephanie McCann, who retired Aug. 1. McBride's squadron consists of diagnostic imaging, nutritional medicine, pharmacy and pathology and clinical laboratory flights and is comprised of more than 300 military members and civilians.


Testing
It was snowing and temperatures reached 20 degrees inside the McKinley Climatic Lab at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., in preparation for testing snow traction and ice braking capabilities on vehicle tires. While the lab is primarily used to test military equipment in extremes, commercial customers can also use it. This time it was Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.

It took two days to fill the 55,000 foot chamber with snow and reach the conditions required. The lab is the largest climatic lab in the world. It was established back in 1947.

Contracts
Jacobs Technology Inc., Fort Walton Beach, Fla., was awarded $12 million for a task order under a previously awarded contract to provide support of the transition from the Navy/Marine Corps Intranet environment to the next Marine Corps Information Technology environment. The Marine Corps System Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity. … EDO Communications & Countermeasures Systems Inc., Thousand Oaks, Calif., was awarded an $11.4 million contract modification to provide sustaining engineering services in support of the B-1 and B-52 mission data test laboratories and special test equipment. AAC/PKES, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. … BAE Systems of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., was awarded a $38 million contract modification which will manage, operate, maintain and logistically support the solid state phase array radar system at five bases. 21 CONS/LGCZB, Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., is the contracting activity.

Week in review (9/5 to 9/11)

The week ended with an interesting item being reported by both Reuters and the Los Angeles Times: they raised the possibility of Boeing merging with Northrop Grumman. It made for a fascinating read, but likelihood? That's another matter.

Both news organizations said the possibility of such a combination came in the wake of comments by a Boeing executive during a Reuters summit. Dennis Muilenburg said the Chicago-based company is actively looking at potential acquisition opportunities amid prospects of sharp cuts in defense spending.

Muilenburg, chief executive of Boeing's defense, space and security division, said the company is targeting purchases of such businesses as unmanned aircraft, cyber security and intelligence and surveillance systems. Northrop already is a key player in those markets.

Northrop Grumman is exploring shedding its shipbuilding sector, and the company has really carved a major niche in high tech unmanned systems as well as systems integration. Such a merger would make Boeing a major player in UAVs, and would also give it a stake in the F-35.

But will regulators let that happen? Stay tuned. To read the Times story, click here. For the Reuters version, click here.


Tanker
The target date to award the U.S. Air Force tanker contract may be slipping, according to military officials. An Air Force spokesman said the decision will be announced in the fall, possibly as late as Dec. 20. The Air Force previously said it expected to announce a winner by mid-November. Boeing and EADS are competing for the contract. EADS plans to assemble its tankers in Mobile, Ala.

In another tanker item, L-3 Communications said it's open to joining the rematch to build aerial tankers, despite halting talks in April with EADS. Chief Executive Michael Strianese said conditions had not been right at that time. "The door is still open if EADS wants to talk in the future, or Boeing for that matter," Strianese said at the Reuters Aerospace and Defense Summit in Washington.


Space
The first Orion capsule passed a structural proof pressure test at the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility on Aug. 30. The proof test article will be used for ground and flight evaluations, which will correlate test data with analytical models to validate Orion’s flight design engineering. Lockheed Martin is outfitting the test unit with its final configuration of interior and exterior mass and volume simulators.


Testing
Officials in Plaquemines Parish, La., say the Army is considering building a missile test site at Port Eads. The Army told parish officials that it needs a site from which to launch missiles over the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico for "target practice." The Army Space and Missile Defense Command in Huntsville, Ala., said it received money for a feasibility study "to consider locations within the Gulf Coast region as potential sites for test and evaluation assets." The study is expected by the end of the month.

- Raytheon's Surface Launched Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile system (SLAMRAAM) successfully participated in a ballistic test vehicle firing at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The test included the firing of multiple AMRAAM missiles from the new family of medium tactical vehicle platform.


Airports
The new Federal Aviation Administration control tower at Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport in Mississippi was topped off during the week with a 50-foot-tall metal superstructure. That along with the existing concrete structure creates a 148-foot-tall tower that will replace the existing 90-foot-tall tower built in the 1970s.


Contracts
Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Ariz., was awarded a $25.8 million contract modification which will procure Radome Phase II Advanced medium range air to air missile. 695 ARSS/PK, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. … Rehabilitation Services Mississippi, Madison, Miss., was awarded an $8 million contract modification which will procure full food services at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. 81 CONS, Keesler Air Force Base, is the contracting activity. … Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Ariz., was awarded a $6.9 million contract modification which will procure the study for the replacement for the Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missile (AMRAAM) transponder module used in the AMRAAM telemetry section. AAC/EBAK, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity.

Week in review (8/29 to 9/4)

It's really satisfying when something you're told more than a year ago actually comes to fruition. It was in the summer of 2009 that I talked to NASA's Dr. Ramesh Kakar about the agency's plans to use Global Hawks to spy on hurricanes during the 2010 hurricane season. Now it's happened as he said it would.

During the week a NASA Global Hawk was sent over Hurricane Earl as part of the GRIP experiment. Earl was actually the third time a Global Hawk has flown over a tropical system. Days before spying on Earl, a Global Hawk was sent over Tropical Storm Frank in the Pacific. And during the 2008 hurricane season, a Navy Global Hawk flew over Hurricane Ike.

But the Earl mission is part of NASA's Genesis and Rapid Intensification Process, or GRIP, experiment that will be conducted throughout September. And it's an experiment that promises to be - to use a vastly overused phrase - a game-changer.

In the past, satellites as well as manned hurricane hunter aircraft were the primary tools used to keep a close watch on hurricanes. But the Global Hawk adds an entirely new dimension. It allows scientists to keep a persistent eye on a storm, and that's a big change. Instruments aboard low Earth orbiting satellites can only get a glimpse at hurricanes as they pass over on their fixed orbits. With a Global Hawk, those same cloud-piercing instruments can remain over a hurricane for hours on end, and provide moment by moment data on its development.

The Global Hawk left the Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base., Calif., and spent all day Thursday over Earl. Flying above Earl at over 60,000 feet, it was able to watch as the hurricane strengthened and degraded over real time. It was able to look down into the eye of the storm from the top to the sea surface and compare different layers in relatively high resolution and in real time.

Kakar said last year that it would be an unprecedented look at the inner workings of a hurricane. The experiment is designed not only to help experts better understand which tropical disturbances will develop, but will help them predict which ones will intensify into monsters.

NASA received its Global Hawks from the Air Force back in late 2007. They are the first and sixth aircraft built under the original DARPA Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration program. The initial mission for the NASA birds was Global Hawk Pacific 2009, six long-duration missions over the Pacific and Arctic.

The Global Hawk is built by Northrop Grumman, and part of the work today is done at the company's Unmanned Systems Center in Moss Point, Miss.

If you're interested in reading that story from last year, you can click here. If you want to look at the full newsletter in which it appeared, click here.


Unmanned systems
Northrop Grumman has begun work on the first MQ-4 Broad Area Maritime Surveillance drone at the company's Moss Point, Miss. facility. The Global Hawk BAMS aircraft is the first of about 40 of the high-altitude spy drones that will serve the Navy.

BAMS is designed to work with the Navy's new P-8 maritime patrol planes. The BAMS UAV is a multi-mission maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance system that will support a variety of missions while operating independently or in direct collaboration with fleet assets.

The Air Force version of the Global Hawk is the RQ-4. The Unmanned Systems Center at Moss Point does fuselage work on all the Global Hawks.


Geospatial
Mississippi's geospatial cluster now has a new organization. It's called the Magnolia Business Alliance. Mississippi has focused on building its cluster of geospatial businesses since the 1990s. It was first organized through the Mississippi Space Commerce Initiative, and that gave way to the Enterprise for Innovative Geospatial Solutions, based at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss. MBA is a non-profit corporation that plans to continue the work of EIGS.


Airports
The Transportation Security Agency at Lindbergh Field in San Diego debuted its new full-body scanner. The TSA is rolling out 450 of the scanners in U.S. airports this year.

According to the machine's maker, California-based Rapiscan Systems, a low energy x-ray beam images the front and back of a person, compiling the data into a computer-generated image that can reveal objects concealed under clothing. Rapiscan has a manufacturing facility in Ocean Springs, Miss.

- A $35 million terminal expansion project at the city-owned Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport is 98 percent complete. Greenhut Construction Co. was the general contractor for the expansion that began in August 2008 and was financed with airport revenue bonds and federal grants. The 1,400-acre Pensacola, Fla., airport offers 76 daily flights on six major air carriers. For the first seven months of this year, the airport handled 1.19 million passengers, up from 1.16 million in 2009.


Contracts
Boeing received a contract from the Air Force to provide spare servo-actuators for the AC-130U gunship. The five-year contract is worth up to $7.2 million. Between now and July 2011, Boeing will provide 10 servo-actuators for the Trainable Gun Mount Systems needed to install 40-millimeter guns on four AC-130Us. The work will be performed by Boeing teams in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. ... Tybrin Corp., Fort Walton Beach, Fla., has been awarded a $38.7 million contract modification which will exercise Option Year Eight for software engineering support of guided weapons evaluations, simulations, and other services supporting research and development for the principals and customers of the Air Armament Center. AAC/PKET, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. … InDyne Inc., Reston, Va., was awarded an $8.8 million contract modification which will provide photographic services associated with base support and the development, acquisition, testing, deployment, and sustainment of air-developed weapons including research, development, test, and evaluation photography. AAC/PKET, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity.

Week in review (8/22 to 8/28)

During the Association for Unmanned Vehicles Systems International conference in Denver earlier in the week, a vice president of Northrop Grumman made an interesting observation about two challenges faced by the industry.

Gene Fraser said one challenge is coping with the deluge of data unmanned systems can provide, and turning it into exploitable information to help the warfighter. The other challenge is public acceptance of unmanned systems.

Anyone using today's communications tools certainly understands the first challenge. It's information overload. We're bombarded daily, and the most important information can slip right past us.

The public acceptance challenge wasn't helped by an incident earlier this month involving an unmanned helicopter that wandered into restricted airspace in Washington D.C. The Navy said the communication link with the Fire Scout was lost, and once it was regained by another control station, the UAV returned to a base in Maryland. It was a software issue that has now been addressed.

Those issues aside, the move towards unmanned systems - land, sea and air - is growing. In a battlefield environment, unmanned systems allow commanders to get situational awareness quickly, and at a lower cost than manned systems. The Denver AUVSI meeting included hundreds of displays at the convention center showing off the latest in unmanned systems. Some of the systems are already operating, but some are designs put on display to attract the interest of investors and the military.

Bob Davis of Northrop Grumman spoke to reporters about Fire-X, the new unmanned helicopter being developed by Northrop Grumman with partner, Bell Helicopters. The company began working on Fire-X when it detected the emergence of new missions requiring a helicopter larger and more capable than Fire Scout.

Fire-X is an unmanned version of the Bell 407, which has about 2.5 million flight hours under its belt. It has 60 cubic feet of interior space and will be able to carry 3,000 pounds of payload. One idea being considered: a foldable rotor system.

Northrop Grumman's experience with converting the manned Schweitzer 333 into the Fire Scout provides for Northrop Grumman a template. By all accounts the Fire Scout has performed admirably. It's had more than 1,000 flights, and one Fire Scout even participated in a high-seas drug bust.

"We think we know a whole lot about this environment," Davis said.

The Fire-X project was made public in May, and plans are to have the demonstration model, being built in Texas, take its first flight test in California by year's end. Davis said the company has certainly given thought to where the helicopters would ultimately be built, but at this point the focus is on the development program.

I don't think it's a stretch to say one place that has to be considered for some of this work would be the Northrop Grumman Unmanned Systems Center in Moss Point, Miss. The plant currently does fuselage work on the Global Hawk and finishing work on the Fire Scout, and in the past it's also done work on the Hunter. It has the space and, importantly, FAA approval for UAV flights.

We'll just have to wait and see.


Space
NASA's chief technologist, Robert Braun, paid a visit to NASA's Stennis Space Center during the week as part of a national tour to bring attention to the $5 billion Space Technology Program slated to start next fiscal year.

The program will focus on developing transformative new space technologies, from propulsion systems to space habitats and more. By and large, SSC is more noted for test and evaluation. But Braun sees SSC playing a role in the Space Technology Program primarily through the Innovative Partnerships Program.

IPP at Stennis Space Center is responsible for the research and development of new technologies, as well as the assessment, certification, and acquisition of new technologies from the commercial, academic, and government sectors in order to improve safety, efficiency and the effectiveness of propulsion testing, earth science applications, and Stennis Space Center's institution.

The innovative partnership program will become a part of Braun’s office in 2011.

- Stennis Space Center during the week cut the ribbon on a new, storm-resistant Records Retention Facility that consolidates and protects records storage at the rocket engine test facility. The new facility will protect the history and the historical documents related to Stennis and its rocket engine test work. It was designed to meet all specifications and storage criteria set forth by the National Archives and Records Administration. Stennis is the first NASA center to open a NARA-compliant storage facility.


New project
GE Aviation will create a $45 million coatings facility for military jet engine components in Alabama. GE Aviation is in the final stages of selecting a site for the center. The coatings facility will be involved in the GE Rolls-Royce F136 jet engine being developed for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

The Alabama facility will be 200,000 square feet and is expected to open in the 2011-2012, employing 300-400 people. Pratt and Whitney makes the primary engine for the F-35, and GE Rolls-Royce is the alternate engine.

Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the home of the Joint Strike Fighter Training Center.


Bases
An F-16 was blown apart at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., to test an aerial-target flight termination system. The test was to demonstrate not only the flight termination system design, but to assess the debris footprint. The QF-16 is a supersonic reusable full-scale aerial target drone that will provide a 4th generation full-scale aerial target for air-to-air and surface-to-air weapons system evaluation conducted by the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. Currently the WEG uses QF-4s.

- Robertsdale, Ala., will hold a public meeting next week so local residents can provide comments on Navy plans to extend runways at two outlying fields in Baldwin County. The Navy wants to extend runways at the Barin and Summerdale outlying fields and will acquire 200 acres at each site.

The outlying fields are used by pilots training at Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Fla. The T-6B Texan, a more powerful aircraft, is scheduled to replace the T-34 Turbo Mentor.


Contracts
Regal Select Services Inc., Abbeville, Ala., was awarded a $22.8 million contract for facility inmate grounds and public works services at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla. It provides for routine grounds maintenance and other as needed services aboard the air station and surrounding areas. … L3 Communications Aerospace LLC, Madison, Miss., was awarded a $28.4 million time-and-material contract for aircraft workers. Work is to be performed at Corpus Christi Army Depot, Corpus Christi, Texas, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 28, 2011.

Week in review (8/15 to 8/21)

In case you missed it, a new Gulf Coast group was announced during the week in New Orleans. This one is called "Ready 4 Takeoff Coalition," and it describes itself as an "action-driven alliance that supports critical economic development projects that focus on building a better tomorrow for the vital Gulf Coast region."

According to the Mobile Press-Register, the group says that, given the string of disasters that have afflicted the Gulf Coast in recent years, the federal government ought to focus its power on spurring economic development in the region.(STORY)

One project mentioned on the group's Web site is the Air Force's $40 billion effort to replace its fleet of aerial tankers. EADS is battling Boeing to build tankers for the Air Force, and if EADS wins the planes would be assembled in Mobile, Ala. But the group also calls on the government to use its purchasing power to ensure a "robust" Gulf Coast seafood industry, and backs accelerating revenue sharing from offshore oil and gas development.

If you're starting to get confused about all these groups that have been cropping up of late, here's a brief rundown:

Late last year the governors from Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana announced the formation of the Aerospace Alliance, which also includes Northwest Florida but apparently not the rest of that state. That group, too, backs the tanker project for Mobile. But it also says on its Web site that "other priorities will include the growth of the space initiatives in the Alliance, driven by those companies and states involved in the nation’s space program."

Also last year there was the creation of a group called the Stennis-Michoud Corridor Alliance. Formed by Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana, it includes the heads of the state economic development organizations in Louisiana and Mississippi, as well as other Mississippi and Louisiana economic development groups and representatives of some of the region's aerospace companies.

Then there's Mobile County's Keep Our Tanker initiative focused on the tanker project, the Gulf Coast Aerospace and Defense Coalition promoting three counties in Northwest Florida, South Mississippi's Mississippi Gulf Coast Aerospace Corridor and the four-state, I-10 focused Gulf Coast Aerospace Corridor. Plenty of players, that's for sure.

The Ready 4 Takeoff group, which goes beyond aerospace, includes economic development organizations, cities, counties, chambers of commerce and other interests from an area between New Orleans and Pensacola, Fla.

The Web site says this group is "committed to the following principles to help turn the economic tide and build the economy of the future in the Gulf." It speaks about the strong pro-business environment and skilled workforce, and about maximizing the region’s strengths, and building a better tomorrow.

It's probably good that there are so many players interested in leveraging the Gulf Coast region's assets. This group is still developing its Web site and approach, and right now the main function appears to be getting people to sign up to show support.

But I'm getting a bit uneasy about the "we-have-suffered" approach. Yes, we've suffered through hurricanes and now the oil spill, and we have plenty of other problems as well. But if we're not careful that's the message that will stick.

Wouldn't it be more impressive to point out that we have 15 universities with campuses or significant operations in the region, or to say that $1.2 billion in R&D is performed in this region every year? That's a message that carries a lot of weight.

Let's hope these groups begin to understand that.


Michoud
New Orleans will get 600 new jobs when Blade Dynamics, a wind turbine blade and component manufacturer, moves into NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility. Blade Dynamics, a British company, partnered with American Superconductor Corp. and Dow Venture Capital on the project.

To qualify for $30 million in state incentives, Blade Dynamics had to incorporate in the United States and place headquarters in New Orleans. It has to create 600 direct jobs by 2015, and the company will invest $13 million.

The state estimates there will be 970 indirect jobs, with $35.8 million in new state tax revenue and $23.9 million in new local tax revenue over the next 10 years. Michoud, which for years built the external tanks for the space shuttle, is one of the world's largest manufacturing centers and sits on 832 acres.


Satellite
The first Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite built by Lockheed Martin for the Air Force was successfully launched last weekend from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., aboard an Atlas V rocket.

The multi-satellite AEHF system will provide the military with global, protected, high capacity and secure communications. It’s the successor to the five-satellite Milstar constellation. The AEHF constellation will also serve Canada, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Lockheed Martin Mississippi Space & Technology Center at Stennis Space Center, Miss., provides the core propulsion modules for the system.


Contracts
Jacobs Technology Inc., Tullahoma, Tenn., was awarded a $103.3 million contract modification which will provide technical, engineering and acquisition support at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and its other tenant units. AAC/PKES, Eglin Air Force Base, is the contracting activity. … Rockwell Collins Inc., Government Systems, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was awarded a $140.7 million contract to provide to develop, test and field the next generation range instrumentation systems intended to replace the Advanced Range Data System currently in use on DoD test ranges. AAC/EYBC, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity.

Week in review (8/8 to 8/14)

A lot of people from the Gulf Coast were paying close attention during the week when they learned that Sean O’Keefe was aboard a plane that crashed in Alaska.

O’Keefe, the CEO of EADS North America, did survive the crash, as did his son, Kevin, and two others. But five people, including former Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, were killed when the float plane hit a steep mountainside some 300 miles from Anchorage. The group had been on a fishing trip.

O’Keefe served as chancellor of Louisiana State University after he left NASA. Before the week drew to a close, O'Keefe's condition was upgraded from critical to serious.


Bases
The Marine Corps is updating its fleet of small transport airplanes and has designated a newly formed squadron at the Naval Air Station-Joint Reserve Base in Belle Chasse, La., as home for the first two of the new aircraft. The first UC-12W Huron arrived Tuesday. The "Whiskey" model replaces the older UC-12Bs. The Marines have purchased six of the airplanes from Hawker Beechcraft for $8 million each.

- The 345th Airlift Squadron was officially re-activated as an active associate unit to the 403rd Wing this week at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. The 345th AS is the first C-130J active associate unit in the Air Force and the third active associate unit to activate under its parent wing, the 19th Airlift Wing from Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark.

- Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ said early in the week that he'll eliminate the Joint Forces Command at Naval Station Norfolk, Va., and assign operational functions to other organizations. That's not sitting well with Virginia congressional leaders, who say such closings should be part of the Base Realignment and Closure process, which requires legislative input.(STORY)

What this may mean for the 144 members of Eglin's Joint Fires Integration and Interoperability Team is still unclear. They've not been told whether the directorate will be eliminated or assigned to another organization.(STORY)

The Eglin team, started in 2005, teaches new equipment tactics, techniques and procedures. It seeks out ways to improve the armed forces' ability to execute joint missions while testing and improving the hardware and software used at the tactical level.


Contracts
Boeing Co., St Louis, Mo., was awarded a $20.3 million contract modification to provide eight Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) extended user evaluation assets: eight MOP warheads and eight MOP toolkits. The modification will also provide various support items. AAC/EDBK, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. … Raytheon Co., Missile Systems, Tucson, Ariz., was awarded a $450.8 million contract to provide engineering and manufacturing development phase of the Small Diameter Bomb Increment II (SDB II) program, GBU-53/B. AAC/EBMK, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity.

Week in review (8/1 to 8/7)

For anyone who's followed the ongoing saga of the Air Force's attempt to replace its aerial refueling tankers, it probably wasn't much of a surprise that one of the competitors has already filed a protest.

U.S. Aerospace, the financially troubled California company that teamed up with Ukranian planemaker Antonov for an 11th hour bid on the $40 billion contract, filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office after its bid was rejected for arriving five minutes past the deadline.

The company, which filed the protest Monday, said it got to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio a half-hour before the deadline, but could not get into the base. When the courier finally did get in, the messenger got lost. The bid was stamped 2:05 p.m. – five minutes late. The claim is they were delayed on purpose by the Air Force.

Apparently the folks at U.S. Aerospace have never tried to get on a military base, or any federal facility for that matter. If they did, they'd know it's not easy. Reporters learn early on that if you have an appointment at a base – even if it's with the commanding officer – you better give yourself plenty of time. Much depends on the specific base you're going to, but as a matter of course you give yourself an hour, and certainly no less than 45 minutes.

U.S. Aerospace should have practiced by trying to get into Mississippi's Stennis Space Center. Delays there are almost legendary. When the media is invited to any event at SSC, they have to arrive well before the event. The organizations at SSC understand that and take it into account when inviting the media, having them arrive well in advance of the particular event. You don't just go to the desk and get your pass. It's a first-come, first-served.

I have a feeling that if the Air Force had its druthers, it would have preferred to have received the U.S. Aerospace/Antonov package on time. The last thing this program needed was another protest.

So can we assume the only competitors now are Boeing and EADS? The only thing I'm willing to assume in this battle is that Boeing still plans to build the tankers in Washington state and EADS still wants to build them in Mobile, Ala. Beyond that, I'd assume nothing.


Space
While we're on the topic of sagas, the struggle over the direction of NASA may be making its way towards a resolution. I'm sure our space workers at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi and Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans will be happy to finally see this issue resolved.

The Senate during the week defied the Obama administration's plans to gut NASA's rocket development program by voting to pass a compromise bill that preserves some of the contracts from the Constellation program.

Just in case you've been too obsessed with the tanker issue and have not had time to tune into this particular struggle, in February the president said he would cancel plans to return astronauts to the moon and beyond and instead have commercial companies send them to low Earth orbit.

That raised concerns for politicians with NASA facilities and Constellation-related work in their back yard. Everyone has been busy trying to hammer out something both sides could live with. Now the bill from the Senate has to be reconciled with one in the House.


Unmanned systems and hurricanes
NASA during the week talked about its upcoming research into the formation of hurricanes. It's called the Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes mission, and it's designed to study how hurricanes are created and why they can intensify rapidly.

The mission involves three NASA research aircraft, including the Global Hawk unmanned aircraft. While those UAVs are best known for surveillance over war zones, NASA got two early versions of the aircraft to use for earth science missions. Both are based in California, but this story is of high interest to the Gulf Coast because of the obvious - we have to worry about hurricanes. But also because newer versions of the Global Hawk are built in part in Moss Point, Miss.

GRIP will run from Aug. 15 to Sept. 25. If you want to learn more about GRIP, grab a PDF version of a story I wrote last year for the quarterly newsletter, Alliance Insight, a publication of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Alliance for Economic Development. I was able to chat with Dr. Ramesh Kakar well before this project became widely known. You can grab a copy of the newsletter here.


The good and not so good
On the good side, Singapore Technologies Engineering, parent of ST Aerospace Mobile in Mobile, Ala., signed a contract to maintain 75 Boeing 757s for Delta Air Lines over the next 18 months. Most of the work will be done in Texas, but at least some will be done in Mobile at the Brookley complex.

The Mobile operation has 1,400 workers. Singapore Engineering also owns VT Halter Marine, which has 1,500 workers in Pascagoula, Moss Point and Escatawpa, Miss.

The not so good: Northrop Grumman issued Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications to 52 employees at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans. Companies are required to provide advance notice to employees in the event of potential large layoffs. But the company remained confident it would get the contract and continue to support the squadron. Northrop Grumman since 1995 has provided maintenance to the Navy Reserve E-2C Hawkeye Airborne Early Warning Squadron.


Bases
The 308th Armament Systems Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., has been re-designated as the Air Armament Center's Armament Directorate to comply with new personnel strength standards for units across the Air Force. The wing's six subordinate groups were also re-designated as divisions and their 24 squadrons will be re-designated as branches.

The wing's mission will not change and no gain or loss of jobs is expected. The headquarters and staffing locations of the newly re-designated organizations will also remain the same as members continue to manage the acquisition of 14 munitions and combat support programs as well as multiple projects critical to the warfighter.


Contracts
Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Ariz., during the week was awarded a $492.4 million contract to provide air-to-air missiles, instrumentation, test equipment and more for a variety of organizations, including Foreign Military Sales customers, the Air Force and Navy. AAC/EBAC, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity.

Week in review (7/25 to 7/31)

The Air Force made final during the week what a lot of people were expecting.

The 59 F-35 jets that will be going to Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., for the joint strike fighter training center won't be going up to 107 after all. The announcement was made Thursday that the number will stay put.

The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission established the F-35 Initial Joint Training Center at Eglin, with the expectation of 107 planes. The number was set at 59 last year, but expectation were that Eglin could get 48 more.

The smart money was that the base probably wouldn't get the additional jets because of concerns that were voiced by some people that the planes are too noisy. But nothing was said about the noise issue in the announcement.

At a session with the press, Maj. Gen. C.R. Davis, commander of Eglin's Air Armament Center, said the additional aircraft would have interfered with other air missions at the base.

A day after that announcement, the Air Force said it chose Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., to get F-35s to use for training. It also announced that Hill Air Force Base, Utah, and Burlington Air Guard Station, Vt., will get operations F-35s.

Bases that had been in the running for the training jets, in addition to Eglin, were Boise AGS, Idaho, Hollman Air Force Base, N.M, and Tucson Air Guard Station, Ariz. Other bases seeking the operations aircraft were Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, Shaw Air Force Base/McEntire Joint National Guard Base, S.C., and Jacksonville Air Guard Station, Fla.

Even with that announcement, Northwest Florida is still winding up with more fighters.

Tyndall Air Force Base, in Panama City, Fla., will be getting an additional squadron of F-22 Raptors being relocated from Hollman Air Force Base, N.M. Another squadron of F-22s from Hollman is being distributed among three other bases.

The announcement was made by the Air Force Thursday as part of a consolidation plan for the F-22 fleet. Tyndall is getting 21 aircraft, Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, will get six, Langley Air Force Base, Va., will get six, and Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., will get two of the F-22s.

In another base-related matter, Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., Brig. Gen. Andrew Mueller on Monday will assume command of the 81st Training Wing from Brig. Gen. Ian Dickinson. It will be at the parade field. Mueller comes to Keesler from Eskisehir, Turkey, where he served as the deputy commander for NATO's Combined Air Operations Center 6, Allied Air Forces Southern Europe. Dickinson will be Director, Communications and Information, and Chief Information Officer, Headquarters Air Force Space Command, Peterson AFB, Colo.


Contract
Anderson Drace, JV, Gulfport, Miss., was awarded a $14.3 million firm-fixed-price contract which provides for the design and construction of a bachelor enlisted quarters for the Corry "A" School students training at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla. The work to be performed provides 80 2-plus-2 modules for 320 Corry "A" School students training at the Center for Information Dominance. Work will be performed in Pensacola and is expected to be completed by August 2012.

Week in review (7/18 to 7/24)

The Farnborough International Airshow in the U.K. ends Sunday, and reports show the value of orders will fall short of the record set in the previous Farnborough in 2008. But the value of orders will be ahead of last year's Paris air show.

According to Bloomberg, Airbus and Boeing won 237 jetliner orders worth $28 billion, more than three times the number announced in Paris a year ago. Airbus won 130 contracts with a list price of $13 billion, compared to Boeing's 103 orders worth $10 billion. But pledges kick up the dollar figure. Airbus received $15 billion of pledges compared to $4 billion at Boeing.

Event organizers said the 2010 show had 1,450 exhibiting companies compared to 1,393 in 2008. There were 70 delegations from 44 countries in attendance. The number of visitors during trade days and this weekend is expected to be on a par with 2008 – some 285,000.

- The Seattle Times had a story during the week pointing out that Washington state's trade booth at Farnborough was "small and decidedly unimpressive," and Alabama's nearby exhibit had better graphics, but wasn't much bigger. The newspaper was interested, of course, because of the competition between Boeing and EADS to build Air Force tankers. Boeing wants to build them in Washington state, and EADS hopes to assemble them in Mobile, Ala.

But the story also said the reception put on by Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi at Kensington Palace on the eve of the show attracted about 400 people, including representatives from Airbus, EADS, Northrop Grumman and Boeing, as well as a lot of suppliers. STORY


Space
You have to really pay close attention if you want to figure out where NASA is heading. And right now, that means following the activities in Congress.

The House Committee on Science and Technology wants to devote $750 million to developing a commercial space industry, well under the $6 billion requested by the Obama administration and the $1.3 billion a Senate panel approved the previous week.

The House authorization bill would also instruct NASA to continue developing its own rocket, which the administration wants to kill.


Bases
A decision should be made soon on which Baldwin County, Ala., airstrips will be expanded to handle new Navy training aircraft. Jay Cope, spokesman for Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Fla., said at a Baldwin County Commission meeting that studies are continuing on which two Baldwin outlying fields will get between 500 and 1,500 additional feet of runway.

Whiting, which trains military pilots, has eight outlying fields in the region. The Navy is switching from T-34 Turbo Mentors to T-6B Texan aircraft, which need longer runways to operate.


Contracts
Bates Engineers/Contractors Inc., Bainbridge, Ga., was awarded a $5 million contract to construct a new 1,400 square meter addition to an existing simulator facility at Hulbert Field, Fla. Corps of Engineers-Mobile Regional Contracting Center, Mobile, Ala., is the contracting activity. … Tybrin Corp., Fort Walton Beach, Fla., was awarded an $11.4 million contract modification which will add 70 man-years of software engineering support for guided weapons systems evaluations, simulations and other services supporting research and development for the principals and customers of the Air Armament Center at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. AAC/PKET, Eglin AFB, is the contracting activity. … Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded an $819.6 million modification to a previously awarded advance acquisition contract for special tools/test equipment required in support of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter air system low-rate initial production Lot IV production. Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the Joint Strike Fighter training center.

Week in review (7/11 to 7/17)

The Farnborough International Airshow gets underway in London this week, and Mississippi, South Mississippi and the broader region is participating. The state of Mississippi for the first time will have its own pavilion showing the range of Mississippi aerospace activities, including the substantial work done in South Mississippi.

Mississippi is also a member of the four-state Aerospace Alliance, which includes Louisiana, Alabama and northwest Florida. That group is hosting a reception for about 500 aerospace executives and prospects at London's Kensington Palace Sunday evening.

There will be about 70 delegations from 38 countries at the show. The nearly week-long event will include 132,000 trade visitors, 153,000 public visitors, 1,393 exhibitors from 40 countries, 29 international pavilions and 165 aircraft on display, and it will be covered by 1,800 media personnel.

Even before the show got under way, Alabama business and education leaders spent three days in Spain and France meeting with EADS to learn more about the company's training needs, should it win the competition to build tankers for the U.S. Air Force.

The delegation arrived early during the week in Madrid and toured EADS operations. On Friday, the group was at Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France, and left Saturday for London to attend the Farnborough show.

Earlier during the week, about 300 people showed up for a pep rally in Mobile supporting EADS' bid to build tankers. The celebration was also the formal announcement that EADS is bringing together its 150-member tanker team in Mobile to manage the company's bid during the Air Force's evaluation period. EADS, which plans to assemble the tankers in Mobile, and rival Boeing are competing for the $35 billion contract. A third team, US Aerospace and Antonov, is also in the competition.


Space
A Senate committee during the week unanimously agreed to a blueprint for NASA that cancels the moon program, starts investing in commercial companies that could build rockets to take astronauts in low Earth orbit and speeds development of a heavy-lift rocket for more distant missions.

It also keeps alive the Orion crew capsule portion of Constellation. The measure, which also extends the life of the International Space Station to 2020, must still go to the full Senate. The House has yet to pass its version of the NASA authorization bill.

The panel's version of the bill also calls for adding one more space shuttle flight next year and leaves the door open for yet another flight by instructing NASA to refurbish an old external fuel tank that had not been planned for flight. STORY

One of the panel members said the new plan will protect hundreds of jobs at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., said the provision requiring the development of Orion should ensure retention of 250 to 300 jobs at Michoud. And the provision directing NASA to begin refurbishing the ET-94 space shuttle external fuel tank should provide 300 to 500 jobs at Michoud. STORY

- An Aerojet AJ26 rocket engine was delivered to NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi on Thursday. It's the first of a series of Taurus II engines that will be tested at SSC to include acceptance testing of flight engines.

Stennis will provide propulsion system acceptance testing for the Taurus II space launch vehicle being developed by Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va. The first Taurus II mission will be flown in support of NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services cargo demonstration to the International Space Station. Orbital's Taurus II design uses a pair of Aerojet AJ26 rocket engines to provide first stage propulsion for the new launch vehicle.


Unmanned aerial systems
The Fire Scout passed a series of flight demonstrations over 10 days earlier this month in the United Arab Emirates. The MQ-8B demonstrations included takeoffs and landings in hot, windy and sandy conditions in temperatures as high as 117 degrees Fahrenheit and altitudes of up to 9,842 feet. The Navy will conduct operational evaluation of the system later this year aboard the USS Halyburton. Fire Scouts are built in part in Moss Point, Miss.


Joint Strike Fighter
The Government of Canada during the week announced plans to acquire the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter as its next-generation fighter aircraft. It will replace Canada's fleet of CF-18 Hornets that entered service in the early 1980s.

The stealth fighter is being developed and funded by a consortium of nine countries, including Canada, which plans to acquire 65 F-35s. Delivery of Canada's F-35s will begin in 2016. Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the joint strike fighter training center.


Airport
For the second time in less than a week, an international air carrier has announced new service between New Orleans and Toronto. Air Canada, which operated out of New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina, said it will resume flights from the city Oct. 30.


Contracts
Science Applications International Corp., McLean, Va., was awarded a $9.5 million contract for information technology ashore operations support services for the Navy's Military Sealift Command. Work will be performed primarily in Washington, D.C., and other sites in Norfolk, Va., Pensacola, Fla., and San Diego, Calif. … Simplex Corp., Hallandale, Fla., was awarded an $11.8 million contract which will lease four Mi-8/17 aircraft with the period of performance from Oct. 1, 2010 to Sept. 30, 2011. HQ AFSOC/A7KQ, Hurlburt Field, Fla., is the contracting activity. … Boeing Co., Fort Walton Beach, Fla., was awarded a $7 million contract which will support the 40mm gun requirement for the AC-130 Plus Four program.

Week in review (7/4 to 7/10)

Three bids have been submitted in the $35 billion contest to build aerial refueling tankers for the Air Force. The Pentagon will decide the winner in November. Mobile, Ala., which hopes to get a tanker assembly plant, is of course pulling for an EADS win.

Chicago-based Boeing submitted its 8,000-page proposal Friday, a day after its European competitor EADS, parent of Airbus, submitted its 8,800-page bid. Also on Friday, dark horse candidate US Aerospace and partner Antonov submitted a bid.

The contract is to build 179 planes to replace Eisenhower-era KC-135s. The Air Force has a tanker fleet of over 400, so long term the contract means a lot more money than this initial $35 billion.

Boeing wants to build tankers in Washington and Kansas. EADS wants to assemble its modified A330 in Mobile. The US Aerospace-Antonov planes, AN-112KC jets, would be built in the Ukraine and modified at an unspecified site in the United States.

Boeing was awarded a contract in 2003, but that was killed by a scandal. EADS and its then-partner Northrop Grumman won in February 2008, but that was killed by a Boeing protest upheld by the Government Accountability Office. Northrop dropped out of this round, saying the request for proposals favors the smaller tanker offered by Boeing.

A Boeing win would continue a tradition of building tankers in Washington state, while an EADS win would give Mobile and the Gulf Coast a major boost to its considerable aerospace corridor.

- We learned last week that the World Trade Organization will delay until mid-September a ruling on a complaint accusing the U.S. of providing illegal public subsidies to Boeing. The WTO ruled the week before that EADS-owned Airbus had received billions of dollars in illegal government aid.


Space
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation is moving toward an authorization bill that would reverse much of the president's proposed changes to NASA's human space flight program.

The bill lays out the direction of the space program for the next three years. It would add another space shuttle flight, speed development of a heavy-lift rocket and move ahead with building a spacecraft to venture beyond low-Earth orbit. It would also require companies to demonstrate their capabilities before receiving large contracts for delivering astronauts to the International Space Station.

- Over 1,000 people were on hand Thursday at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to send off the last external fuel tank for the space shuttle program. The ceremony offered plant workers a chance to celebrate their involvement in the space program even as fears loom about the facility's future.

The last space shuttle flight is scheduled for February of next year, leaving many workers at Michoud fearing for their jobs. A spare tank is still in production. But the move by the Senate panel may give the workers reason for hope.


Airports
Ground has been broken on a new general aviation building at Mississippi's Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport. The building on the southwest side of the airport is scheduled to be finished in December. Fixed-base operator Million Air will provide general airport services, including aircraft refueling and airplane rentals. The new building will have more than 52,000 square feet of combined terminal, office and hangar space, executive conference rooms and a business center along with a U.S. Customs facility.


Contracts
United Technologies, Pratt & Whitney Military Engines, East Hartford, Conn., was awarded a $57.6 million modification to convert a previously awarded advance acquisition contract to an undefinitized contract action. This modification further provides for the procurement of 32 low-rate initial production F-135 propulsion systems for F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. … Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded an advance acquisition contract with an estimated value of $522.2 million to provide for long-lead efforts and materials associated with the production and delivery of 42 low-rate initial production Lot V F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft. Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home to the F-35 joint training center.

Week in review (6/27 to 7/3)

The Air Force tanker project, a source of amusement, anger and frustration for the Gulf Coast region for quite some time, just keeps getting more bizarre. Late in the week a new player, Ukranian aircraft manufacturer Antonov and its California partner US Aerospace, said they will submit a bid on the $40 billion to build the 179 planes. The bids are due July 9.

The joint venture is considering offering the An-124, An-122 and An-112. It would be built in the Ukraine with final assembly somewhere in the United States, reportedly in the Southeast or Midwest. Antonov builds some of the largest planes in the world and became a Ukranian company after the breakup of the Soviet Union. You might have even seen one. Antonov AN-124s bring huge Rolls-Royce Trent engines to Stennis International Airport for testing at NASA’s John C. Stennis Space Center, Miss.

But even if it manages to put in a bid, what kind of a chance to you think this latest player has in the competition? If you think the subsidies bidder EADS gets from the European Union increases the blood pressure of Boeing supporters, imagine what they think of this competitor. Government owned? A U.S. partner with financial problems? Word is the venture wants an extension of the deadline, but will bid even without an extension.

Yeah, that's a horse I’ll bet on.

- On the subject of tankers, a potential game changer is waiting in the wings, so to speak. Ever hear of the KQ-X? Keep that tucked away in your "wave of the future" file.

The Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, better known by its abbreviation, DARPA, said last week that it will spend $33 million to have Northrop Grumman proceed with a demonstration of one unmanned aircraft refueling another.

Northrop will refit a high-flying Global Hawk with a hose-and-drogue refueling system to see if it can refuel another refitted drone, this one a NASA Global Hawk. The whole process will be completely autonomous.

The refueling will take place at a much higher altitude than has been previously demonstrated with manned aircraft. It will also be the first time that high-altitude UAVs have flown in formation.

The demonstration will mark yet another milestone in the move to replace manned missions with those that can be performed by unmanned aircraft. As it is, the thinking is that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter may be the last manned fighter. How long before we see the end of manned refueling aircraft?

Revealing is a sentence that was in the DoD contract announcement: "A successful outcome will allow developers of future unmanned aircraft to produce more cost-effective systems that rely on aerial refueling for the most demanding missions."

So let me see if I have this right. The Air Force will be spending $40 billion to replace 1950s era planes with a plane that's been flying for 30 years (767) or one that's been around for 20 (A330). Nevermind that the tankers are "new" versions. At the same time it's providing tax dollars to replace KC-135s, it's funding a project that points to the future – a drone tanker. Knowing the pace of technological change we've experienced, isn't it possible we'll start replacing manned tankers with unmanned tankers even before all the KC-135s are replace?

I feel certain there are people at the Pentagon that see this and know full well that technology changes exponentially. Look at what's happened with computers and communications. And the advancements in unmanned systems can be mind-boggling. In a relatively short time we've gone from UAVs that provide reconnaissance to those that can kill an enemy. A new generation of microdrones can mimic birds or insects, and yet another category that harks back to years past - airships - will be able to stay on station for weeks at a time, if not longer.

I'm not afraid to go out on the limb. So here goes: The Air Force KC-X tanker project won't last as long as people think. Sure, some of those tankers will be built. But at some point before the last KC-135s is replaced the program will be killed and replaced by a new multibillion-dollar tanker project for drone tankers or airships.

Certainly food for thought.

- Speaking of Global Hawks, the German version of the plane, called the Euro Hawk, successfully completed its first flight June 29. It took off from the company's Palmdale, Calif., manufacturing facility and climbed to 32,000 feet before landing nearly two hours later at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The UAV will be equipped with a signals intelligence mission system developed by EADS Defense and Security.

- In a ruling that could impact the current battle between Boeing and EADS - and the Antonov-US Aerospace team - over building Air Force tankers, the World Trade Organization ruled that aid European governments provided to Airbus violated global trade rules.

The WTO ruled that four decades of government-backed loans to Airbus helped it gain foreign sales, harming Boeing. The ruling was anticipated by the U.S. aerospace industry. The U.S. filed the case in 2004, accusing the European Union of unfair trade practices by subsidizing Airbus with hundreds of millions of dollars in "launch-aid loans."

Airbus officials said the EU would appeal the ruling.

The WTO is expected to rule next month on a countersuit accusing the U.S. of unfairly subsidizing Boeing. EADS, owner of Airbus, wants to assemble its tankers in Mobile, Ala.

- In Mobile, Ala., the city council, county commission, airport authority and city industrial development board modified incentive agreements each made in 2006 in an attempt to lure refueling tanker assembly to Mobile. The deals are similar to those granted at that time.

The Northrop Grumman/EADS team won the $40 million contract in February 2008, but it was overturned after a Boeing protest. Northrop dropped out after it determined the new requirements favored a smaller plane offered by Boeing.

- The Airbus Engineering Center at Mobile, Ala.’s Brookley Industrial Complex will be getting another 90 engineers. The center currently has 150. The employees at the center, opened in 2007, work on cabin interiors, cargo systems and escape systems on a wide range of Airbus jets.


Bases
St. Joe, a Florida real estate development company, provided a $1.25 million donation to the National Flight Academy at the National Aviation Museum, located at Naval Air Station Pensacola. The academy, which will provide week-long sessions to students in 7th through 12th grades, is set to open in 2012. Its purpose is to motivate students to learn more about science, technology, engineering and math in what's called a "learning adventure."

- An aircrew from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., found that a storm that had been upgraded from tropical storm to hurricane status hours before they took off had reached Category 2 status by the time they returned home. They had been in the storm more than seven hours. Hurricane Alex came ashore late in the evening of June 29 on an unpopulated stretch of coast in northern Mexico.


Space
NASA is targeting Nov. 1 for the launch of space shuttle Discovery's STS-133 mission and Feb. 26, 2011, for the liftoff of shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 flight from the Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The target dates were adjusted because critical payload hardware for STS-133 will not be ready in time to support the previously planned Sept. 16 launch.

- NASA and Lockheed Martin Space Systems will hold a ceremony at 9 a.m. Thursday, July 8, at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to commemorate 37 years of tank deliveries and the final external tank's rollout. The last shuttle flight, STS 134, is scheduled for February 2011. The tank will travel by barge to Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

- A House panel agreed during the week to accept President Obama's proposed funding increase for NASA, but without taking a position on changing the agency's course. The House appropriations subcommittee governing NASA unanimously approved $19 billion for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1. The panel opted to take to take no position on White House plans to scrap NASA's moon-rocket program and replace the space shuttle with commercial rockets.

- Roy Estess, former director of NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, died June 25 at age 71. Estess had an allergic reaction to an insect string. His career at NASA spanned 37 years, with 25 of that at Stennis Space Center.


Joint Strike Fighter
Northrop Grumman delivered to the Lockheed Martin F-35 Integrated Training Center at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., the first set of instructional materials needed to train pilots and aircraft maintainers for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The center will open this summer.

The electronic materials include all of the presentation materials that classroom instructors will use to teach pilots how to fly the F-35, and maintainers how to repair and support the aircraft. Northrop Grumman is a principal subcontractor for the Lockheed Martin-built plane that will be used by the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and foreign nations.


Contracts
L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace LLC, Madison, Miss., is being awarded a $51.3 million contract to provide aircraft maintenance and logistics life cycle support for 54 Navy and 11 Marine Corps C-12 aircraft. Works is at a variety of locations, including NAS New Orleans.

Week in review (6/20 to 6/26)

The Northrop Grumman Global Hawk has been under fire of late. The Air Force's acting acquisition chief, in a roundtable with reporters, had said the Air Force isn't happy about the pace of the program.

But according to Politico, the California congressional delegation is defending Global Hawk. The lawmakers sent a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, touting the merits of the combat-tested surveillance vehicle. (Story)

Fuselage work on the newer versions of the Global Hawk is done in part in Moss Point, Miss.

On another UAV topic, new drones are being developed that are much smaller, and can look from the ground like a bird. AOL News had a report about a recent Special Operations Forces Conference in Tampa, Fla., where a lot of these microdrones were on display. One of them, the Wasp, by California-based AeroVironment, is the smallest drone around and is already being used by the Hurlburt Field, Fla.-based Air Force Special Operations Command.

Also on display was TiGER, which can carry two hand grenades, and the Spy Pigeon by the Air Force Research Laboratory, able to fly for a week. It can recharge by landing on a utility wire. Another microdrone is the Maveric, which folds into a small tube. The Navy is buying Maveric for SEALS to launch from mini-submarines. (Story)


Space
The president submitted to Congress a fiscal year 2011 budget amendment that targets up to $100 million toward spurring regional economic growth and job creation in the aerospace industry. The amendment would provide up to $40 million in aid for Florida's Space Coast and a maximum of about $60 million for other affected regions.

The funds would be made available from the Constellation Program transition element of the agency's exploration request. Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, are both involved in Constellation.

- NASA is considering new target launch dates for its last two shuttle missions to give engineers more time to prepare equipment for the International Space Station. Launch of Discovery would be Oct. 29. Endeavour would aim for liftoff on Feb. 28, 2011. Senior managers are expected to approve the new dates at a meeting on July 1. Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, are both involved in the shuttle program.


Joint Strike Fighter
The first pilots and maintainers for the F-35 will start a training regimen this fall to learn the ins and outs of the Joint Strike Fighter on laptops and full-motion simulators. Instructors will do a dry run of the course at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., in July. Right now, the wing has about 200 instructors from the Air Force, Navy and Marines, but should hit full strength of 2,000 by 2014. By then, the wing will have at least 59 F-35s for training. The first is scheduled to arrive in November.

- A Lockheed Martin F-35C carrier variant successfully completed testing in which it was dropped from heights of more than 11 feet during a series of simulated aircraft-carrier landings. The tests helped confirm the F-35C's structural integrity for carrier operations. The jet underwent drop testing at Vought Aircraft Industries in Grand Prairie, Texas.


Contracts
SURVICE Engineering Co., Belcamp, Md., was awarded a $67.8 million contract to provide support to the Air Force Seek Eagle Office for the purpose of augmenting its workforce with contracted skills and expertise to provide modeling and simulation, and analysis and product development support. AAC/PKES, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. … Jacobs Technology Inc., Tullahoma, Tenn., was awarded a $16.3 million contract modification to provide technical, engineering and acquisition support at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla, and various other tenant originations. AAC/PKES, Eglin Air Force Base is the contracting activity.

Week in review (6/13 to 6/19)

It will be mid-November before the Pentagon awards a contract for Air Force refueling tankers. That word came at the close of the week from Lt. Gen. Mark Shackelford, the Air Force's top uniformed acquisition official, during a briefing with reporters.

The Pentagon, after it granted a 60-day extension to EADS to prepare a bid, had said the award date would not change from "early fall." EADS said it needed the extra time after partner Northrop Grumman dropped out of the competition.

The original deadline for EADS and rival Boeing to submit their bids was May 10, but it's now July 9. EADS is offering a tanker version of its Airbus A330 and Boeing is offering a modified 767.

EADS wants to assemble the tankers in Mobile, Ala., at a site at Brookley Industrial Complex.


Space
Lawrence D. Thomas was appointed manager of NASA's Constellation Program, which manages the effort to take humans beyond low-Earth orbit and develop the next generation launch vehicle and spacecraft. He'll be based at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Thomas most recently served as the deputy program manager of the Constellation Program at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. Last month, lawmakers who support Constellation were upset the agency reassigned the former head of the program, Jeff Hanley, to a deputy position at Johnson Space Center.

Hanley had opposed administration efforts to shut down the program. Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, are both involved in the Constellation Program.

- The Orion crew exploration vehicle took shape as the two halves of the crew module were fused together at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The Lockheed Martin Orion team welded the forward cone assembly to the aft barrel assembly using the next generation friction stir weld process.

Prior to flight testing, this crew module will be tested on the ground in flight-like environments, including static vibration, acoustic, and water landing tests.

- The STS-132 Atlantis space shuttle crew visited NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center Thursday to thank personnel for their role in the May mission to the International Space Station. Crew members presented a video recap of their mission, scheduled as the last flight for the Atlantis shuttle.

The 12-day mission of Atlantis carried the Russian Rassvet Mini-Research Module-1 to the ISS. Atlantis also was the first shuttle to dock to the Russian Space Station Mir. It traveled to the ISS 11 times. Atlantis now is being prepared to serve as a backup craft should an emergency arise during the final two scheduled shuttle missions.


Joint Strike Fighter
The Defense Department is threatening to withhold payments to Lockheed Martin starting as early as next month if it doesn't submit a suitable plan for fixing problems for tracking contract costs and schedules. The plan is due June 30 and a decision will come several weeks later on whether Lockheed has demonstrated it can fix the problems within six to nine months, according to Shay Assad, the Pentagon procurement director. It could impact payments on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., will be the JSF training center.

- The short-takeoff and vertical-landing version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter broke the sound barrier June 10. It's the first U.S. operational STOVL aircraft to exceed that milestone. A Marine pilot flew BF-2 to a speed of Mach 1.07 during a test at 30,000 feet over an off-shore range near Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. Two Air Force F-35A conventional takeoff-and-landing test aircraft also have broken the sound barrier.


Bases/airports
Because of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Air Force water survival courses have temporarily relocated from Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., to Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash. Training at NAS Pensacola was suspended June 4 when oil was discovered inside the training area used by Detachment 2 of the 66th Training Squadron.

Up to 55 students a week attend the three-day course. It's unclear how long training operations there will be suspended. The Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20, killing 11 workers. Oil from the well has spewed into the Gulf of Mexico since then.

- At Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., Cmdr. Cris Treharne turns over command of the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit to Cmdr. Angie Walker June 25 at Welch Auditorium. Walker is reporting from Stennis Space Center, Miss., where she served as the deputy assistant chief of staff for operations for the Commander, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command.

- The U.S. Transportation Security Administration unveiled a full-body X-ray scanner Friday at Mississippi's Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport’s security checkpoint. It's built by Rapiscan Systems plant in Ocean Springs, Miss. The scanner can detect metallic and non-metallic items including weapons and explosives, concealed beneath a passenger’s clothes. Rapiscan is part of OSI Systems of Hawthorne, Calif.

Week in review (6/6 to 6/12)

The fight between NASA leadership and Congress over the direction of the space agency is getting heated. NASA told major Constellation Program contractors last week that they must immediately cut back work by nearly $1 billion to comply with federal spending rules.

The move was seen by Constellation supports as a back door way of killing the program, despite a Congressional mandate that work continue on the program unless Congress specifically orders it killed. But NASA says it's simply abiding by the Anti-Deficiency Act, which requires contractors to set aside a portion of their payments to cover costs if a project is canceled. (Story)

The rift is of high interest to workers at Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The two NASA facilities, about 40 miles apart, are both involved in the Constellation Program. Stennis' A-3 test stand is designed to test J-2X engines for the Constellation Program, and a Lockheed Martin team at Michoud earlier this month finished the structural framework for the Orion crew capsule ground test article.

- The six crew members of the last scheduled space shuttle mission visited Stennis Space Center during the week. The shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission, scheduled for November, will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station. Shuttle crew traditionally visit NASA centers instrumental to the missions. Stennis has tested all of the main engines used on space shuttle missions.

- NASA is inviting members of the public to send an electronic image of their faces into orbit aboard one of the final remaining space shuttle missions. Visitors to the "Face in Space" Web site can upload their portrait to fly aboard shuttle Discovery's STS-133 mission or shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission. You can also just have your name sent up.

- NASA picked 18 projects for Phase II funding under the Small Business Technology Transfer program. Eighteen businesses are partnered with 15 universities in projects valued at $11 million. In a project of interest to Stennis Space Center, Miss., Combustion Research and Flow Technology of Pipersville, Pa., is teamed with the University of Florida to develop simulation software to predict potential damage to a propulsion system and test stands that can be caused by vibrations of liquid rockets.

Mississippi State University is involved in two of the 18 winning projects. In one, it's working with Keystone Synergistic Enterprises of Port Saint Lucie, Fla., on a process to solid-state weld high strength and temperature alloys used to make engine nozzel skirts. In another, MSU is working with Streamline Numerics of Gainesville, Fla., on an advanced simulation framework for design and analysis of space propulsion systems.


Tanker
EADS North America will transfer to Mobile, Ala., later this month 100 workers as it prepares to bid on the $35 million Air Force tanker project. According to the Mobile Press-Register, the company leased office space at Bel Air Mall to house employees now located in Arlington, Va., and Melbourne, Fla.

EADS and rival Boeing plan to bid on the contract. EADS, which already has operations in Mobile, wants to assemble the KC-45 at Brookley Industrial Complex. Boeing wants to build them in Washington state. EADS' former partner, Northrop Grumman, dropped out of the contest earlier this year, claiming the request for proposals favors the smaller Boeing offering.


Joint Strike Fighter
The Navy version of the F-35 made its inaugural flight last weekend. The carrier variant took off from Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, Texas, and logged a 57-minute flight. Lockheed Martin is developing the F-35 with principal industrial partners Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems. Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., will be the initial JSF training center.


Global Hawk
NASA's unmanned Global Hawk aircraft completed four science flights over the Pacific Ocean in April in a joint project between NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and plans are on track to use the UAV later this year to track hurricanes in the Atlantic. Global Hawks are built in part in Moss Point, Miss.


Contracts
McDonnell Douglas Corp., St. Louis, Mo., was awarded a $98 million contract for the production of the Small Diameter Bomb I weapon system for various Foreign Military Sales customers. 680 ARSSG/PK, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. … R.C. Construction Co. Inc., Greenwood, Miss., was awarded a $37.5 million contract to construct a new taxiway extension, a new aircraft parking apron, and a new load area, including a load crew shelter, flare facility, and a munitions holding area at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, Mobile, Ala., is the contracting activity. … L3 Communications Aerospace LLC, Madison, Miss., was awarded a $9.2 million contract for logistical support in the areas of aircraft workers, aircraft painters, and other areas at Corpus Christi, Texas. … Sunrise Beach Corp., Allen, Texas, was awarded a $59.5 million contract for aircraft paint and maintenance services for the 1108th Aviation Classification Repair Activity Depot for the Mississippi Army National Guard at Gulfport, Miss., and other locations. National Guard Bureau, U.S. Property and Fiscal Office for Mississippi, Jackson, Miss., is the contracting activity. … Raytheon Co., Tucson, Ariz., was awarded a $17.6 million contract to provide for the electronic protection improvement program. 696 ARSS/PK, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity.

Week in review (5/30 to 6/5)

Although much of the attention here has been on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, at least one item likely caught the attention of workers at NASA's Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.

On Friday the first of a new generation of private rockets took off from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Falcon 9, a 180-foot rocket, put a model of its Dragon capsule into orbit about 160 miles up. The launch is important to the Obama administration, which has proposed killing the Constellation Program - the program to return astronauts to the Moon and beyond - in favor of moving toward a far greater role for commercial space companies.

SpaceX plans to send a fully operational rocket and capsule into orbit later this summer and one to the space station next year. Both Stennis Space Center and Michoud are involved in the Constellation Program.


F-35
Despite fears that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is louder than the planes it's replacing, that's not stopping bases from making a pitch to get the aircraft. Eleven bases in seven states are hoping to convince the Pentagon to choose them to house the plane. The first round of selections is slated for 2011. Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is already scheduled to become a joint training center.

Meanwhile, the first F-35 mission rehearsal trainer is now at Eglin's 33rd Fighter Wing. It replicates the cockpit of an F-35 and is a containerized, deployable version of the full mission simulator slated to arrive late this year.

The trainer is one of many new technologies the three U.S. military services and eight partner nations purchasing the F-35 will be using. From their arrival at the 33rd Academic Training Center, students will interact with the latest technology. When the wing reaches full strength in 2014, it will train Air Force, Marine, Navy and international partner operators and maintainers of the F-35.

Advanced Media Design Systems of Pensacola, Fla., was recently awarded the audio visual component of the Joint Strike Fighter Air Force/Navy/Marine Squad Ops at Eglin. AMDS will be renovating a hanger including over 45 rooms with new AV control systems and equipment.


Bases
Three units representing each component of the Air Force recently completed the first homeland defense operational readiness inspection. It was held in Mississippi at the Gulfport Combat Readiness Training Center, and marked the first time the Air Force validated a unit's wartime capability to defend the homeland by fighting an enemy on U.S. soil. The ORI was May 16 through 23.

Thirty-two physicians and dentists are getting ready to graduate from 81st Medical Group internship and residency training at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss. It marks Keesler Air Force Base's first internal medicine residency graduating class since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The graduation is June 10 in Keesler Hospital's Don Wylie Auditorium.

Thirty-five units at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., will be getting name changes. Air Force Materiel Command officials notified commanders last month that headquarters approved converting the command structure from wings, groups and squadrons to directorates, divisions and branches. At Eglin, the 308th Armament Systems Wing will be impacted the most with all of its units undergoing a name change.