Week in review (2/23 to 3/1)

The Pentagon's proposal of a nearly half-trillion dollar defense budget had some fairly positive news for the Gulf Coast region's military. While it does call for a smaller Army, it wants to strengthen Special Operations forces and the nation's cyberwarfare capabilities. Both are important focus areas of the military along the Gulf Coast.

We have U.S. Air Force Special Operations headquartered at Hurlburt Field, Fla., and the Army's 7th Special Forces Group is at Eglin Air Force Base's Duke Field. Over at NASA's Stennis Space Center, Miss., Naval Special Warfare has two operations: Special Boat Team 22, which specializes in riverine warfare, and the Naval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School. The Pearl River is used by Navy SEALS for training.

And cyberwarfare? Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., is the home of Air Force electronics training, including cybersecurity, and training in cybersecurity is also done to the east at Hurlburt Field. In Pensacola, Fla., Corry Station is the Navy's Center for Information Dominance.

The Pentagon's proposed budget also provides money for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 training center. The budget also retires the U-2 spy plane in favor of the unmanned Global Hawks, which are built in part in Moss Point, Miss.

The Pentagon proposal is subject to Congressional approval. (Post)


Airbus
The construction of the Airbus A320 final assembly line in Mobile, Ala., is moving forward pretty quickly. In the latest, Birmingham-based Brasfield and Gorrie LLC was awarded the first of four general contractor packages for the $600 million plant.

The contractor will be responsible for the outfitting and completion of the final assembly line hangar and construction of the service building and logistics center. The contract was awarded by Hoar Program Management. The plant will open in 2015 and the first jetliner will be produced in 2016. (Post)

No doubt that plant will help Airbus meet demand for the popular plane. During the week Airbus said it will increase production of its best-selling single-aisle aircraft family to 46 a month in Q2 2016, up from the current rate 42. The new higher production rate will be achieved gradually, with an intermediate step at 44 aircraft per month in Q1 2016.

Over the past five years, Airbus has steadily increased A320 family production, going from rate 36 at the end of 2010 to rate 38 in August 2011, then up to rate 40 in Q1 2012 to reach 42 per month in Q4 of the same year. (Post)

While we're on the subject of jetliner production, the Airbus A320 final assembly line in Tianjin, China, delivered 46 aircraft last year, an increase of about 25 percent over 2012. The plant's general manager said the company is evaluating the possibility of producing two more aircraft this year. Tianjin, the third Airbus final assembly line in the world after Toulouse in France and Hamburg in Germany, assembled its first aircraft in May 2009. It makes the A319 and A320 for the Chinese market. (Post)

As if to underscore just how popular that plane is, China Eastern Airlines Corp. during the week ordered $6.4 billion single-aisle planes from Airbus Group to meet demand in a country set to become the world's biggest aircraft market. The 70 planes will be delivered between 2018 and 2020. The airline is buying A320neos, the most fuel-efficient version of the single-aisle planes. (Post)

In another purchase, Kuwait Airways ordered 25 aircraft including 10 A350-900 and 15 A320neo family aircraft as part of the airlines’ fleet renewal strategy. It already operates three A320, three A310, five A300 and four A340 family aircraft. (Post)

-- The Airbus Puerto Real plant in Cádiz, Spain, is leading a project to expand the automation of its assembly processes with the use of two-arm humanoid robots to perform repetitive tasks. The project could be used across other Airbus sites. One of the research areas is called the “Collaborative Robots” project, which explores the use of two-arm “humanoid” robots designed to work in the same environment as human operators, sharing tools and production resources. (Post)


Space
The first full joint testing between NASA and the Navy of Orion recovery procedures off the coast of California was suspended recently after the team experienced issues with handling lines securing a test version of Orion inside the well deck of the USS San Diego. Orion, part of NASA's ambitious Space Launch System project, will take astronauts deeper into space than ever before. An unmanned test from Kennedy Space Center, Fla., is set for September 2014.

Orion is built at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, and rocket engines for the Space Launch System, the primary launch vehicle, will be tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss. The launch vehicle for Exploration Flight Test-1 will be a Delta IV, built by United Launch Alliance, which uses Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-68 engines tested at Stennis Space Center. (Post)

-- The U.S. Air Force Space Command awarded BAE Systems in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., a three-year contract extension to continue maintaining space radars used for missile warning and space surveillance operations. The award is a continuation of work that BAE Systems has been done since 2007.

The Solid State Phased Array Radar System (SSPARS) is a network of radars that tracks more than 16,000 objects orbiting Earth. The radar system identifies various man-made objects in space, and also tracks objects that may enter the atmosphere, information vital to air missile defense operations and to protecting against submarine-launched ballistic missiles. SSPARS is capable of about 40,000 space observations daily. (Post)


Economic development
In the past decade it appeared the future of aerospace original equipment manufacturing would be in low-cost countries. But then the real world stepped in. Labor costs increased in those countries, and new technologies made it all less labor-intensive.

Today the hottest new aerospace cluster is not in China, but the U.S. Southeast, according to an opinion piece in Aviation Week. Boeing, Embraer, Airbus Rolls-Royce and Airbus Helicopters have or will have established final assembly facilities in the region, and dozens of sub-tier suppliers are following suit. (Post)

-- Lockheed Martin has broken ground on its Pike County Operations' Long Range Strike Systems cruise missile production annex in Troy, Ala. The planned 62,000 square-foot annex will expand the existing 92,000-square-foot manufacturing facility where the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) is produced. The facility employs some 300 full-time employees and over 100 contractors. (Post)

-- The Economic Development Council of Okaloosa County got a $195,000 grant from the Florida Defense Support Task Force to research, support and expand innovative community partnerships between Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and local governments. The grant's 12-month scope of work will be overseen by the Community Partnership Initiative committee.

As military installations continue to plan for the fiscal impact of a declining Department of Defense budget, bases are being encouraged to engage in innovative community partnerships designed to lessen operational costs while also benefiting the installation’s host community. (Post)

-- In Pensacola, Fla., despite some mild concerns about noise or air pollution, for the most part the conversations at a public meeting Tuesday were all about jobs and the positive economic impact ST Aerospace would have on the local economy. Joseph Ng, president of ST Aerospace's aircraft maintenance and repair operation in Mobile, Ala., said he hoped ST could begin servicing commercial jet liners by the first quarter of 2016. He said most jobs would be paying in a range between $30,000 and $58,000 annually. (Post)


Bases
The Air Force has released a Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement that analyzes the environmental impacts associated with where the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft will beddown on the Eglin Reservation and how they might be operated. The Final SEIS contains analyses of operational alternatives and presents mitigations for the F-35 aircraft at Eglin under the February 2009 Record of Decision. (Post)

-- Col. David Tabor took over as commander of the Air Force Special Operations Air Warfare Center during a ceremony at Duke Field, Fla., Thursday. The center, which has about 1,000 employees, trains and equips all special operations airmen. The center is headquartered at Hurlburt Field, but has units at Duke, Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., and Robins Air Force Base, Ga. Air Force Brig. Gen. Jon Weeks, the previous commander, was fired last month amid allegations that he had an inappropriate personal relationship. (Post)


Contracts
Exelis received a more than $13 million contract to provide the Naval Surface Warfare Center with depot level repair, maintenance and modifications for two mine defense systems currently fielded with the U.S. Navy. The Exelis MK-105 Minesweeping System and Airborne Mine Neutralization System is used for high-speed airborne mine countermeasures. The MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopter tows the MK-105 through the water to detonate mines. Work under this contract will be performed in Panama City, Fla., and is expected to be completed by December 2014. … PRIDE Industries, Roseville, Calif., was awarded a $13.8 million modification to multi-year contract for the Department of Public Works-Base Operations, Fort Rucker, Ala. Work will be performed at Fort Rucker. Army Contracting Command, Fort Rucker, is the contracting activity. … Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Orlando, Fla., was awarded a $10.2 million modification for an existing contract for Joint Air-to-Surface Strategic Missile anti-jam GPS receiver. Work will be performed at Orlando, Fla., and Troy, Ala., and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2016. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center/EBJK, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. … Raytheon Co. Missile Systems, Tucson Ariz., was awarded a $20 million contract for support of requirements associated with performance of the AMRAAM Aircraft Integration, aircraft operational testing related activities and flight test support. Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is one of the work sites. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center/EBA, Eglin AFB is the contracting activity.


Shipbuilding/maritime
Austal: Austal USA, Mobile, Ala., was awarded a $7.1 million modification to previously awarded contract to exercise an option for post-delivery support for the USS Jackson. Seventy percent of the work will be performed in Mobile. (Post)
LCS: U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said his considerable reservations about the Littoral Combat Ship led him to bar planning for any more than 32 ships, 20 fewer than the Navy's $34 billion program. One version of the ship is made in Mobile, Ala. (Post)

Week in review (2/16 to 2/22)

The president of the International Association of Machinists union sounded a pretty positive note to The Street when he spoke about that union's hope to organize the Airbus plant in Alabama and Boeing plant in South Carolina.

"I really believe we have a fair chance of pulling this off," said Tom Buffenbarger, president of the IAM. "Our union was founded in the South (and) we already have thousands of members in Alabama."

As far as Airbus is concerned, employees have the right to choose representation if they want it. The company is building an A320 final assembly line at Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley that will open in 2015 and deliver its first aircraft in 2016. It will eventually have 1,000 workers. Whether it will have a union remains to be seen. (Post)

But Buffenbarger’s optimism isn't without reason. Alabama is a right-to-work state, just like its neighbors. But it's far more unionized than its neighbors. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released last month, Alabama's union membership in 2013 was 10.7 percent of the workforce, a bit below the U.S. average of 11.3 percent. If the number of workers represented by unions is considered, the number goes to 11.7 percent.

That's far and away above Mississippi's 3.7 percent union membership, Georgia's 5.3 percent, Florida's 5.4 percent or Tennessee's 6.1 percent. And South Carolina, where the union wants to try again at the Boeing plant? Union membership in 2013 was the same as Mississippi's, 3.7 percent.

The BLS points out that union membership rates declined between 2012 and 2013 in 26 states, rose in 22 states and the District of Columbia, and remained unchanged in two states. Alabama and South Carolina were among the states where union membership increased.

-- In other Airbus-related news, Chinese low-cost carrier Spring Airlines plans to order up to 30 Airbus A320s worth $3 billion. Reuters reported that the airline hopes to divide the order between the current model and the A320neo. Shanghai-based Spring, which has a fleet of 40 A320s, is the largest dedicated budget carrier in China. (Post)

-- The Mobile City Council during the week OKd the last city-related road contracts associated with the redevelopment of the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley. Under the $1.4 million deal, Gulf Equipment Corp. will make improvements to Baker Street, a link between the Alabama state docks and the assembly plant. Some $20 million in taxpayer investment has been spent improving Aeroplex roads ahead of the plant's 2015 opening. (Post)

-- Herbert Meisler was elected chairman of the Mobile Airport Authority's board of directors. He succeeds Richard Davis, who retired after serving in that position for 14 years. The MAA, which overseas Mobile Regional Airport and Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley, also appointed W. Lance Covan
and Michael Pierce to the board. (Post)


Economic development
Pensacola and Escambia County officials are going back to the drawing board to decide how to split $8 million in incentives needed to seal the deal on an aircraft maintenance facility proposed for Pensacola International Airport. The initial agreement called for the county to contribute $4.8 million and loan the city another $3.2 million to be repaid by 2020. Now commissioners want the city to contribute more. ST Aerospace, which has an operation in Mobile, Ala., wants to establish a facility in Pensacola on nearly 19 acres of city-owned land at the airport. (Post)

-- Boeing during the week made official what it already promised. The company said Everett, Wash., will be the site of a new composite wing center for the 777X. Boeing agreed to build the 777X in Everett following the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751 approval of an eight-year contract extension in January. As part of the deal Boeing agreed to place the wing center in the Puget Sound region. It will go north of the 777X assembly site. The union vote came after Boeing started looking elsewhere for sites, including Alabama, to build the plane. (Post)


F-35
Two F-35Bs flew in formation while in short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) mode for the first time recently at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. The pilots flew the test jets in STOVL mode with the F-35B LiftFan engaged and engine rotated downward. The mission measured the effects the aircraft had on each other to ensure they can operate in formation safely in an operational environment. Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the F-35 training center. (Post)

-- Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded a $9.6 million modification to a previously awarded F-35 Low Rate Initial Production Lot VI contract during the week. It provides for Netherlands-specific, non-recurring sustainment activities to include procurement of Autonomic Logistics Information Systems equipment and logistics support for non-recurring engineering activities. Work is expected to be completed in April 2015. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Post)


Rolls-Royce
Engine testing at the Rolls-Royce Outdoor Jet Engine Testing Facility has been going nearly nonstop since the ceremonial ribbon was cut in October. The test stand, the company's second at this South Mississippi NASA facility, represents a $50 million investment. Rolls-Royce is still filling the last of the 35 jobs the new test stand created. The first stand at Stennis opened in 2007. (Post)

In another Rolls-Royce matter, the company was awarded a contract for $182.7 million by the Air Force to expand the company's support of the C-130J transport fleet. The contract covers sustainment services for the Rolls-Royce AE 2100 engines as well as nacelles and propellers on the C-130J fleet. Rolls-Royce now provides C-130J support at 10 Air Force bases in the U.S. and two overseas. (Post)


Bases/airports
Sikorsky during the week announced the award of a $110 million maintenance and support services contract for more than 360 aircraft operated by the Texas-based Chief of Naval Air Training. The work is expected to be completed in October 2014.

Aircraft covered by the contract include the single-engine T-34, twin engine T-44A and T-44C, and single-engine T-6A and T-6B. Work will be performed at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., NAS Whiting Field, Fla., NAS Corpus Christi, Texas; and seven satellite locations throughout the United States.

The contract was awarded by the Naval Air Systems Command, Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. Sikorsky is a subsidiary of United Technologies, which also operates an aircraft service center in Foley, Ala. (Post)

-- The University of Pittsburgh launched a Warrior Human Performance Research Center at Hurlburt Field, Fla., to conduct performance-optimization and injury-prevention research. The lab with the Air Force Special Operations Command brings the 8-year-old program to a third military branch. It already has sites at three Naval Special Warfare SEALs operations, including Stennis Space Center, Miss., and at one Army Special Operations post. The Warrior Human Performance Research Centers help to design physical-training programs to improve performance and reduce injury. (Post)

-- The U.S. Navy DoD Supercomputing Resource Center at NASA's Stennis Space Center, Miss., is adding more computer power to its operation. Starting in August, the new $21.8-million computers from Cray Inc. will be put to work performing large-scale scientific calculations for Department of Defense researchers around the county. The Navy DSRC is one of five supercomputing centers established by the DoD. (Post)

-- J.D. Lord, the contractor who died in an accident on base last month, entered the foam-filled airplane hangar against the advice of emergency personnel, according to an Air Force report. The 31-year-old and three co-workers wanted to see the foam that filled the massive King Hangar during an accidental activation of the fire-suppression system, the report said. The foam was dispensed after cold temperatures caused a water line to burst, flooding sensors in the hangar’s fire-suppression system and accidentally triggering the release of the high-expansion foam. (Post)

-- Army Maj. Gen. Kevin W. Mangum was nominated for appointment to the rank of lieutenant general and assignment as deputy commanding general/chief of staff, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va. Mangum is currently the commanding general, U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence and Fort Rucker, Fort Rucker, Ala. (Post)

-- Twelve airmen graduated from the Undergraduate Air Battle Manager training program in a ceremony Feb.19 at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. The students completed a nine-month course to prepare for duty aboard the E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System and the E-8 Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System aircraft. (Post)

-- Keesler Medical Center earned its second consecutive Environmental Protection Agency Energy Star Award. Brig. Gen. Kory Cornum, 81st Medical Group commander, presented the 2013 award to facility manager Michael Chatham, 81st Medical Support Squadron, at a Feb. 11 executive staff meeting. The energy-conservation elements were incorporated during construction following the August 2005 Hurricane Katrina. (Post)


Space
The first of eight Orbital Sciences' cargo missions to the International Space Station was successfully completed. The Cygnus spacecraft completed a 37-day stay at the orbiting laboratory, then re-entered Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean during the week. Orbital Sciences has a $1.9 billion Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. The company's Antares launch vehicles is powered by engines tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss. (Post)

-- A University of Southern Mississippi project hopes to get a step closer to seeing if an Earth-born organism can live on Mars. USM Professor Scott Milroy learned his NASA-funded "Pioneering Mars" project was selected for payload integration aboard the International Space Station.

Milroy's project is one of two chosen from the NASA ISS National Laboratory Education Project for transport to the ISS sometime in 2015. Milroy notes that while many of the physical, chemical, and climatic conditions of Mars can be simulated in an Earth-bound laboratory, the capability to maintain living cultures, like the blue-green algae in this experiment, in reduced gravity conditions can only be explored on the ISS. Milroy is an associate professor of marine science. (Post)


Jobs/training
With high-tech science and technology jobs expected to grow at a faster pace than other occupations, South Mississippi is embarking on a key project that should help ensure it can satisfy the growing need. The Mississippi Enterprise for Technology, a business incubator and tech transfer operation at NASA's Stennis Space Center, is conducting a project that will result in a "roadmap" of STEM employment in South Mississippi. (Post)

-- A retired Boeing 737 took center stage for a time early in the week when the 300-foot long fuselage was hauled from Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley to the Mobile Fire-Rescue Training Center. The fuselage will be used as a classroom for specialized training in aircraft rescue and fire fighting, medial and mass casualty situations. (Post)


Contracts
EADS-NA, Herndon, Va., was awarded a $22.9 million modification to a contract to acquire four UH-72A Lakota helicopters with engine inlet barrier filters and ARC-231 radios. Work will be done in Columbus, Miss., Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity.


Shipbuilding/maritime
Port: The Port of Pensacola in Florida struck a deal with a company that promised 100 jobs. Offshore Inland will be leasing an empty warehouse and building on adjacent property to in order to manufacture flexible pipes. (Post)

Week in review (2/9 to 2/15)

It was a pretty busy week for the Gulf Coast aerospace corridor: Airbus started its search for hourly workers for the final assembly line in Mobile, Ala.; a new component repair facility was unveiled at Mobile Regional Airport; Airbus Group said it will provide its own financial services to customers and suppliers; Stennis Space Center released figures showing its global economic impact is up; a move to attract an ST Aerospace operation to Pensacola, Fla., inches forward; and the arrival of more F-22s at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., were among the stories of interest during the week.

Here's your week in review:


Airbus
Airbus is hiring for the first wave of hourly manufacturing jobs at its A320 final assembly line being built at Alabama's Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley. The open positions include aircraft structure/installation mechanics, installers for aircraft cabin furnishings and aircraft electricians.

Starting hourly pay rates range from $13 to $22 plus benefits based on skills, experience and education. All positions require a minimum of a high school diploma/GED and at least five years' experience in aircraft maintenance. The $600 million plant will come online in 2015 and eventually employ 1,000 workers. (Post)

Because that assembly line will be building A320s, anything about the popular line of aircraft is of interest to Mobile. During the week, Airbus finalized a deal with Vietnamese low-cost airline VietJetAir for a fleet of its single aisle A320 aircraft. It's a firm order for 63 aircraft and purchase rights for another 30. The airline will also lease eight more A320 family aircraft from third-party leasers. VietJetAir currently operates 11 leased A320s. (Post)

It's not just Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley where Airbus is active.

A new 7,500-square-foot component repair facility at Mobile Regional Airport was unveiled during the week by Airbus Group's North American military aircraft unit. It's in addition to the existing 30,000-square-foot maintenance, repair and overhaul delivery center. New services include hydraulic, avionics, composite and structural repairs, painting, component exchange and highly skilled engineering support. Airbus Group’s North American military aircraft unit was founded in Virginia in 1984, but relocated to Mobile in 2005. (Post)

With all the talk in this region about Airbus suppliers, this item should be of interest. Airbus Group plans to create an in-house bank by taking over Salzburg Muenchen Bank from the Raiffeisenverband Salzburg cooperative for an undisclosed sum. The deal still needs German regulatory approvals.

A banking license would give Airbus direct access to European Central Bank money supply. The new organization will be renamed Airbus Group Bank, and could provide Airbus flexibility to aid suppliers, some of whom have struggled to finance investments to keep pace as the planemaker increases output to record levels. (Post)

Speaking of suppliers, two years after beginning production, NORDAM has shipped the 70,000th cabin window assembly for the Airbus A320. NORDAM, of Tulsa, Okla., since 2012 has been the original equipment manufacturer of cabin window assemblies for the A320, including the A318, A319, A320 and A321, as well as the ACJ business jet. (Post)


Economic development
NASA's Stennis Space Center, Miss., had a global impact in 2013 of $940 million, up from the previous year's $882 million. It also had a direct impact of $619 million on the local economy in a 50-mile radius, down from the $682 million in 2012. SSC, best known for rocket engine testing, has 41 resident agencies and 5,000 total employees at its site near the Louisiana state line.  (Post)

-- The Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition will more than double its downtown Pensacola, Fla., research space by adding a three-story, 30,000-square-foot addition and expanding and renovating the existing building. Construction for the $8 million project is expected to begin in April, with the building to open in 2015. (Post)

-- City of Pensacola and Escambia County have agreed on how to split the $8 million cost for bringing an ST Aerospace aircraft maintenance facility to Pensacola International Airport. The county would pay $4.8 million and would loan $3.2 million to the city. ST Aerospace also has a 1,500-employee operation in Mobile, Ala. (Post)


Unmanned
Northrop Grumman and the Navy successfully flew the second MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned helicopter for the first time this month. It happened at Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu, Calif. The flight will allow the team to ramp up testing efforts to prepare the system for operations, including ship-based flights this summer.

The MQ-8C uses a Bell 407 and will eventually replace the much smaller MQ-8B, which uses a Schweizer (now Sikorsky) airframe. The MQ-8C is larger, has a longer range and payload capacity. Both Fire Scouts are built in part in Moss Point, Miss. (Post)

-- Air Force crews flew MQ-1 Predators and MQ-9 Reapers from Creech Air Force Base, Nev., using repurposed commercial satellites during missions in November and December. The big deal here is that the satellites were in an inclined orbit, which happens when it lacks the fuel to maintain a fixed geostationary orbit and drift into slightly wobbling orbits.

A team with the 53rd Test Management Group, which falls under the 53rd Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., successfully demonstrated using a wobbling satellite for MQ-1 and MQ-9 unmanned systems.

To use wobbling satellites, the dish must be able to move, unlike the fixed dish of satellite television providers. MQ-1 and MQ-9 programs have integrated the satellite tracking software and the 53rd Wing developed procedures for continuously updating the satellite tracking data needed.

Air Combat Command's latest lease for continental United States commercial SATCOM includes four inclined orbit SATCOM lines at about 50 percent savings over a typical lease. (Post)


Space
The RS-25 engine, highly successful as the Space Shuttle Main Engine, is preparing for a new life with the Space Launch System. Testing at SSC will initially focus on a new Main Engine Controller (MEC) and the ability to accommodate the full range of propellant conditions in its new configuration with the SLS launch vehicle.. SSC engineers have been installing a 7,755-pound thrust frame adapter for the A-1 test stand in order to testing the RS-25s. The first engine on the stand will be 0525. The engine never flew in space, as it was one of two development engines used for component testing on Stand A-2 to support shuttle flights. The other was 0528. (Post)

-- A test article of the stage adapter that will connect the Orion spacecraft to a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket for Exploration Flight Test-1 aced structural loads testing last month in Huntsville, Ala. The adapter will be shipped in mid-March to ULA's facility in Decatur, Ala., where the Delta IV is being built. It will then travel by ship to Cape Canaveral, Fla., ahead of Orion's inaugural flight in September. (Post)


F-35/F-22
Air Force Reserve Command's 44th Fighter Group and Air Combat Command's 49th Fighter Wing, both from Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., delivered five F-22 Raptors to Tyndall AFB during the week. The Raptors are now assigned to Tyndall to be operated by the integrated 301st Fighter Squadron and 95th FS. The 301st FS is a detachment of the 44th FG. The transfer of the jets is part of the 24 Raptors that are anticipated to be here by April and become combat ready in the summer. (Post)

-- Britain is expected to order 14 F-35 fighters in a $5 billion deal that may not be finalized until next month, sources told Reuters during the week. The deal includes fuel, hangars, training and operational support for the jets. Meanwhile, the United States had been expected to order 42 jets in fiscal 2015, up from 29 in fiscal 2014. But budget cuts will force the Pentagon to scale back, according to the sources. The expectation is that the fiscal 2015 budget request will call for three to six fewer F-35s than expected. Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 training center. (Post)


Corporate
Northrop Grumman appointed Thomas P. Mendez, Jr., vice president and controller of its Aerospace Systems sector. Mendez will be responsible for financial planning and analysis; financial reporting and accounting; budgets, rates and overhead management; government relations and compliance; resource management; and property administration for the sector. The Northrop Grumman Unmanned Systems Center, Moss Point, Miss., is in the Aerospace Systems sector. (Post)

-- Rolls-Royce completed a long-term agreement with Lockheed Martin worth up to $1 billion to deliver about 600 engines to power future C-130J Super Hercules aircraft. The agreement secures the Rolls-Royce AE 2100 as the engine for all variants of the C-130J to 2025. (Post)

-- Camber Corp., Huntsville, Ala., has been awarded a $22.2 million 15-month contract by Battelle to provide program management and systems engineering and technical assistance to the Army Corps of Engineers. The Army Corps of Engineers' Engineering Research Development Center –Topographic Engineering Center will benefit from the work. Most of the work will be done in Colorado Springs, Colo., Fort Belvoir, Va., and Edgewood, Md., but one of the other work locations is Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. (Post)


Bases/airports
The 96th Operations Group at Eglin Air Force Base conducted boat operations in Choctawhatchee Bay and the Gulf of Mexico during the week, and will do so again this coming week. The operations are part of the 53rd Wing's Weapon System Evaluation Program, and involves fighter aircraft using the boats as targets. (Post)

Meanwhile, Duke Field, Fla., and several roads were scheduled to be closed first on Friday, then on Saturday due to Eglin's test mission. But all of that was canceled when the plane that was participating in the mission had mechanical problems. (Post)

-- Improvements are coming to Mobile Regional Airport in the coming months. The most immediate changes will be upgraded signage in the rental car lot, but the big shift begins in mid-April when all of the airport’s rental car and airline ticket counters will be remodeled. (Post)


Contracts
Oasis Systems LLC, Lexington, Mass., and COLSA Corp., Huntsville, Ala., each was awarded a $55.7 million modification for an existing contract for technical and acquisition management support services. Work in both cases will be performed at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and is expected to be completed by Feb. 28, 2015. Air Force Test Center/PZZ, Eglin AFB, Fla., is the contracting activity. … Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded a $16.8 million bilateral modification for an existing contract for engineering change proposal, follow-on agile sustainment for the F-22 Raptor, Reliability and Maintainability Maturation Program Project AF100 Acceleration Plan. Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., is home of F-22 training and an operational F-22 squadron. … L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace LLC, Madison, Miss., was awarded a $6.5 million contract for maintenance and logistics services in support of the KC-130J aircraft for the government of Kuwait under the Foreign Military Sales Program.


Shipbuilding/maritime
HII: Bath Iron Works, Maine, Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, La., and Eastern Shipbuilding, Panama City, Fla., were awarded first phase contracts in a $12 billion Coast Guard ship program. Huntington Ingalls Industries, with shipyards in Newport News, Va., and Pascagoula, Miss., was shut out. (Post)
VT Halter: VT Halter Marine in Escatawpa, Miss., launched the ocean-going articulated tug barge Denise A. Bouchard during the week. (Post)

Week in review (2/2 to 2/8)

Before we get to the week in review, permit me a sidebar. As I've mentioned before, we're slowly adding associated news digests from other aerospace regions in the Southeast to our lineup.

The newest one covers Northeast Florida from Tallahassee to Jacksonville, then up the coast of Georgia to South Carolina. That region made sense, in part because Embraer, Gulfstream and Boeing all have operations there.

If you're interested in seeing each of the aerospace news feeds, go to Gulf Coast Aerospace Corridor; Huntsville Region Aerospace and Defense; Central Mississippi/Golden Triangle; and Northeast Florida Aerospace and Defense. All the feeds are or will be available at Gulf Coast Aerospace Corridor.com.

Now for the week in review:


Economic development
Space Florida, the state's aerospace economic development agency, is talking to Pensacola officials about establishing an operation at the now-vacant nine-acre downtown Technology Park. Space Florida and the park's owner, the Pensacola Industrial Development Corp., have a memorandum of understanding.

Plans are for a multi-tenant building for tenants that would require some 65,000 to 75,000 square feet of space. No names have been divulged, but the proposed anchor tenant would be a leading aerospace company from the region. Other tenants would be academic and economic development service providers. (Post)

The significance of Space Florida's involvement is hard to overstate. The agency is a key player in bringing additional aerospace activities to Florida. It's been involved in the reuse of a NASA facility at Kennedy Space Center, spending up to $4 million to overhaul Orbiter Processing Facilities 1 and 2 at KSC for a new tenant. The tenant hasn't been identified, but the thinking is will be the Air Force's X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle. (2013 Post)

Space Florida was also involved in efforts to land one of the six FAA drone test site locations (2012 Post), and before that was instrumental in getting Boeing to consolidate its CST-100 Commercial Crew program office and manufacturing operations to KSC. Boeing is using Orbiter Processing Facility 3. (2011 Post)

What's particularly significant here is not only getting Space Florida involved in a project in Northwest Florida, but having that happen in a city that is seeing a renaissance of its downtown. The park is located just south of where Interstate 110 feeds into downtown. The site is also just two blocks from the internationally known Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition and its scientists and technicians.


Space
An Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ-26 engine tested at NASA's E-1 test stand at Stennis Space Center, Miss., last month is undergoing post-test inspections and flight prep activities. When that work is done, it will be shipped to NASA's Wallops Fight Test Center in Virginia for integration with Orbital Sciences' Antares medium-class space launch vehicle.

"Each test of an AJ26 engine is exciting and affirming because it is in direct support of NASA's commercial space flight efforts, as well as a continuation of a very successful Stennis partnership with Orbital and Aerojet Rocketdyne," said Stennis Director Rick Gilbrech. NASA has tested AJ-26 engines at SSC since November 2010. (Post)

In another item out of Stennis Space Center, the NASA center presented its highest honor for quality and performance, the Contractor Excellence Award, to A2Research and Jacobs Technology for outstanding contributions to the missions of the center. A2Research, which has managed a laboratory services contract at SSC since 2010, received the small business award. Jacobs, which has performed the Facility Operating Services Contract at SSC since 2007, received the large business award. The awards were established in 2008. (Post)


Airbus
Airbus has posted three new job positions for its A320 final assembly line in Mobile, Ala. It’s looking for a supply chain surveillance coordinator, an information technology manager and multiple IT specialists to form the team establishing and supporting the computer systems and networks for the assembly line. The plant is currently being built at Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley, and aircraft production is expected to begin in 2015. The FAL will eventually have 1,000 workers. (Post)


Military aircraft
The Navy version of the F-35 has passed the first round of tests of its tailhook, the part of the plane that makes traditional carrier arrested landings possible. CF-3, the first F-35C to be fitted with the redesigned Arresting Hook System, had 36 successful arrested landing tests on land. For the next few months it will undergo field-based ship suitability tests. Carrier flight trials will be in October aboard the USS Nimitz. Eglin Air Force Base is home of the F-35 training center; naval aviators begin their training at Naval Air Station Pensacola and Naval Air Station Whiting Field, in Milton, Fla. (Post)

Another new warplane, the newly minted AC-130J Ghostrider, took to the skies for the first time as a gunship Jan. 31 over Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. More than a year earlier, the Air Force Special Operations Command MC-130J arrived to begin the modification.

The end result became a C-130 model with the flying proficiencies of the MC-130J and the combat capabilities of an AC-130. Converting a mobility aircraft into a strike aircraft meant adding the Precision Strike Package, which includes dual electro-optical infrared sensors, a 30-mm cannon, AGM-176A Griffin missiles, all-weather synthetic aperture radar and GBU-39 small diameter bomb capabilities.

The sensors allow the gunship to visually or electronically identify friendly ground forces and targets at any time, even in adverse weather. A total of 32 MC-130J aircraft will be modified for AFSOC as part of a $2.4 billion AC-130J program. (Post)

Meanwhile, another military aircraft didn't have it so good. A QF-4 drone crashed on White Sands National Monument at the end of the week while on a routine training mission. The cause of the crash, four to five miles west of Runway 22, is unknown.

The monument west of Alamogordo was closed in advance of the test mission and will remain closed until further notice. The drone was assigned to Detachment 1, 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron, a tenant unit at Holloman assigned to the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group. The 82nd ATRS is part of the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group, which falls under the 53rd Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., is home to both QF-4s and QF-16s. (Post)


Airports
In Florida, Pensacola International Airport is getting $14 million in funding from the state to support efforts to establish an ST Aerospace facility at the airport. Gov. Rick Scott made the announcement Tuesday night. His 2014-2015 budget includes $325 million for aviation improvements, including the one in Pensacola. ST Aerospace, a maintenance, repair and overhaul provider, already has a large operation in Mobile, Ala. The operation in Pensacola is expected to provide 300 jobs. (Post)

-- Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport reported its first gain in passenger traffic in more than a year at a board meeting last week. Passenger traffic increased 2.74 percent over the previous year, the first traffic gain observed since August 2012. Airport Director Parker McClellan said the passenger gain as the beginning of a leveling out process for the airport, due to a significant reduction in flights that took about 400 seats out of the market in the fall of 2012. The airport is in West Bay, northwest of Panama City, Fla.. (Post)

-- Plans for a proposed general aviation airport in Louisiana’s Livingston Parish are progressing with state and federal authorities signing off on the project and parish officials moving toward site selection. A 2011 study suggested the airport would require at least 200 acres, but said 500 acres would be ideal. The proposed airfield would include a single runway of 5,000 feet to 5,400 feet and would accommodate small, private planes and corporate jets but not large jets. Livingston Parish is east of Baton Rouge. (Post)


Bases
On Feb. 14, Duke Field, Fla., and several roads will be closed due to Eglin Air Force Base's test mission. The base will be closed and personnel will be evacuated prior to 8:30 a.m. on the day of the test. The base and highways 85 and 285 and surrounding roadways to include range roads will be closed from 8:30 to 10 a.m. The 7th Special Forces Group facilities will remain open. (Post)

-- The 43rd Fighter Squadron at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., sent more than 200 Airmen, 14 F-22 Raptors and the 325th Training Support Squadron sent 25 Airmen and seven T-38 Talons to Savannah, Ga., Feb. 1. The 43rd FS will train at the Georgia Combat Readiness Training Center in a large-scale aerial scenario against multiple aircraft. "The main goal is to accomplish as much student pilot training as we can," said Maj. John Hensz, 43rd FS assistant director of operations. Team Tyndall will work with F-15 Eagles from Jacksonville Air National Guard, F-16 Falcons from D.C. ANG, Shaw Air Force Base, S.C. and Vermont ANG. (Post)

-- Marine Corps Reserve Brig. Gen. William T. Collins was nominated for appointment to the rank of major general. Collins is currently serving as commanding general, 4th Marine Aircraft Wing, New Orleans. In addition, Marine Corps Reserve Brig. Gen. James S. Hartsell was nominated for appointment to the rank of major general. Hartsell is currently serving as commanding general, 4th Marine Division, New Orleans. (Post)


Shipbuilding/maritime
International Shipholding: Marine services provider International Shipholding is leaving Mobile, Ala., and returning to New Orleans, the city it left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, by the end of 2015. (Post)
Land buy: Ingalls Shipbuilding bought the 12.26-acre former 84 Lumber property in Moss Point, Miss., that will be used to store material in close proximity to the shipyard. (Post)
LHA 6: The amphibious assault ship America, LHA 6, returned to Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., after successful acceptance sea trials in the Gulf of Mexico. (Post)
Avondale: The USS Somerset, expected to be the last Navy ship built at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Avondale shipyard, left early last week headed to Philadelphia for a March 1 commissioning. (Post)
Forrestal: The former carrier USS Forrestal, which was once homeported in Pensacola, Fla., to serve as a training carrier, left Philadelphia and is being towed to a Texas scrapyard. (Post)

Week in review (1/26 to 2/1)

For a good part of the week business in the Gulf Coast I-10 region ground to a halt or was severely curtailed by the winter weather that brought freezing temperatures, icy roads and closed bridges. NASA's Stennis Space Center, Miss., shut down for two days, and military bases reduced staff to essential personnel. Airports throughout the region shut down as air traffic ground to a halt. But before the end of the week the region returned to normal.

Here's the aerospace week in review:


Airbus/Boeing
BusinessWeek tackled an interesting story, wondering if it's possible for business to be too good. It took up the issue of the huge aircraft order backlog being experienced by Airbus and Boeing. Boeing finished 2013 with an order backlog of some 5,100 airplanes, and Airbus finished up the year with an even larger backlog of 5,559 airplanes, led by the popular A320 family.

The backlogs represent more than eight years of assembly work for both companies, and both companies have said they plan to ratchet up production. That's certainly welcome news for Mobile, Ala., which is the site of the newest Airbus A320 final assembly line.

But the article points out that the business situation for airlines can change over time, leading to cancelations. Frustration with having to wait is another factor that can lead to cancelations, making the production gear-up risky. (Post)

Speaking of aircraft orders, Vietnamese carrier VietJetAir said it would finalize a $9 billion order for up to 92 Airbus aircraft next month as it seeks to tap into Southeast Asia's fast growing low-cost market dominated by AirAsia and Lion Air. In September, privately owned VietJetAir and Airbus agreed a provisional order for mostly A320 planes, but the deal did not show up on the order book of Airbus in its 2013 data. (Post)

One of those Southeast Asia competitors in the same market as VietJet Air, Lion Group of Indonesia, has selected CFM International’s CFM56-5B engine for 60 firm A320ceo aircraft. The aircraft order was announced in March 2013. CFM is a joint venture of GE Aviation and Snecma, a division of Safran. GE Aviation has an aircraft engine parts plant near Hattiesburg, Miss., and Safran has an engineering center in Mobile, Ala. (Story)

While we're on the subject of propulsion systems, Airbus Group will decide by the end of March whether to offer more efficient engines for its A330. You'll recall the A330 MRTT was the plane that the Airbus Group, formerly known as EADS, proposed as the platform for Air Force aerial tankers it hoped to build in Mobile. The A330 currently offers engines from GE, Rolls-Royce and Pratt and Whitney. The A330 competes against Boeing's 787, powered by either GE or RR engines. (Post)

This region's interest in jetliner engines is of fairly recent vintage. True, propulsion systems have historically been a part of the aerospace activities in the Gulf Coast region, but that was limited to spacecraft engines. But our interest in airliner engines began when Rolls-Royce in 2007 opened its first outdoor engine test stand at Stennis Space Center, Miss. That interest was underscored when GE Aviation built its aircraft engine parts plant near Hattiesburg, Miss. GE Aviation also has engine parts plants in Batesville, Miss., and Auburn, Ala.

That Auburn plant, by the way, was visited early in the week by U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., as part of his statewide tour of businesses. Shelby said he visits every Alabama county yearly. This year, he decided to tour area businesses. It was Shelby's first visit to GE Aviation in Auburn, which opened in April. During the tour, Shelby observed the production of jet engine components, like shrouds, HPT blades and turbines. GE Aviation has about 65 workers at the plant, but the number is expected to increase to 300 or 400 in the next several years. (Post) Shelby also visited UTC Aerospace in Baldwin County on Jan. 21. (Post)


Corporate
United Technologies is pondering the future of helicopter maker Sikorsky, according to Defense News. Sikorsky, maker of Black Hawk, could emerge as a target for European firms eager to crack a U.S. market that remains lucrative. Sikorsky and UTC, which also owns aircraft engine maker Pratt and Whitney and UTC Aerospace Systems, declined comment to Defense News.

Sikorsky is the Pentagon's leading helicopter supplier, Boeing is second, the Bell-Boeing joint venture is No. 3, Textron's Bell Helicopter is fourth and Airbus Helicopters is fifth. Sikorsky has multiple support operations in the Gulf Coast. It's also the company that supplies the Schweizer 333 as the airframe for the Fire Scout MQ-8B built in part in Moss Point, Miss..

Other Gulf Coast connections related to this story: Airbus Helicopters builds helicopters in Columbus, Miss.; Bell plans to build a helicopter plant in Lafayette, La.; and UTC has a service center in Foley, Ala. (Post)

-- The Global Hawk unmanned aerial system, built in part in Moss Point, Miss., could be a big winner in the Air Force's fiscal 2015 budget submission, according to Defense News. That would mark a change in fortune for a program the service has tried to kill since 2012.

The Northrop Grumman-built Global Hawk Block 30 will be funded when the president's budget arrives March 4, said two sources with knowledge of budget discussions. The sources confirmed funding will come at the expense of the U-2, which the Air Force had promoted as a cheaper alternative. The news was first reported by Aviation Week. (Post)


F-35
The Air Force and Marine variants of the F-35 developed cracks in testing of the fighter's durability and wasn't sufficiently reliable in training flights last year, according to a report released by the Pentagon’s chief tester, Michael Gilmore.

The report says it will require mitigation plans and may include redesigning parts and additional weight. The test report also outlined achievements, finding that flight tests performed by 18 jets to evaluate the aircraft's flying prowess and handling qualities "made the planned progress" and "nearly matched or exceeded" sortie goals through October.

Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 training center. (Post)

-- South Korea expects to sign a deal for 40 fighter jets in the third quarter of 2014. Plans to acquire Lockheed Martin F-35s appear on track. South Korea decided to redraw terms of its $7.68 billion tender to buy 60 fighters last year, reducing the number in December to an initial 40 jets. South Korea signaled plans to buy Lockheed Martin F-35A after its Joint Chiefs endorsed a need in December for "cutting-edge stealth" jets for first delivery in 2018. (Post)


Bases
The U.S. Transportation Command announced early in the week that Air Force Command Chief Master Sgt. William W. Turner, currently assigned as command chief master sergeant, Air Force Special Operations Command, Hurlburt Field, Fla., has been selected as command senior enlisted leader, U.S. Transportation Command, Scott Air Force Base, Ill. (Post)


Contracts
Bell-Boeing Joint Project Office, Amarillo, Texas, was awarded a $10.3 million modification to a previously awarded contract for additional Joint Performance Based Logistics support for the Marine Corps MV-22 and the Air Force and Special Forces Operations Command CV-22 aircraft. Hurlburt Field, Fla., is home of the Air Force Special Operations Command and 1st Special Operations Wing, which uses the CV-22 Osprey. … Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Ft. Worth, Texas, was awarded a $35.8 million modification to a previously awarded contract to develop a Universal Armament Interface capability in the F-35 software for Small Diameter Bomb II F-35 Mission Systems Integration Laboratory, ground test only. Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 training center, as well as the location where aerial weapons systems are developed. … L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace LLC, Madison, Miss., was awarded a $13.8 million modification to a previously awarded contract to exercise an option for organizational, selected intermediate and limited depot level maintenance for F-16, F-18, H-60 and E-2C aircraft operated by the adversary squadrons based at Naval Air Station, Fallon, Nev.


Shipbuilding/maritime
QinetiQ: QinetiQ North America was awarded a $12 million, three-year contract for ocean modeling, remote sensing, and physical oceanography programs to support the Naval Research Laboratory at Stennis Space Center, Miss. (Post)
LCS 4: The future USS Coronado (LCS 4), departed from the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Ala., during the week en route to her commissioning site in Coronado, Calif. (Post)

Week in review (1/19 to 1/25)

The final truss of a hangar was put in place at the A320 final assembly line being built in Mobile, Ala.; a Pentagon report says software, maintenance and reliability issues could delay plans to start using the F-35B; $2.45 million is being awarded to 14 Florida communities with military installations; a new rear admiral takes over the training command in Pensacola, Fla.; an Army brigadier general is assigned to the aviation center at Fort Rucker, Ala.; and L-3 Crestview Aerospace cuts were among the aerospace stories of interest to the Gulf Coast I-10 region during the week.

Here's the week in review:

Airbus
The final, signed truss was placed atop the main structure of the Airbus A320 final assembly line during the week. That's less than 10 months after ground was broken on the $600 million plant that will start producing Airbus' most popular jetliner starting in 2015.

Construction contracts for other buildings that will make up the Airbus campus will be awarded soon. The final assembly line, the first for Airbus in the United States, will eventually have about 1,000 workers and will build 40 to 50 jetliners a year by 2018. (Post)

In another Airbus-related story during the week, Canada's Magellan Aerospace said it will supply 5-axis machined wing ribs for Airbus' single aisle A320 family, including the A320neo. Magellan will invest in a new high-speed, 5-axis machining center in its facility in Greyabbey, Northern Ireland. Magellan is a public company with operating units throughout Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, India, and Poland. (Post)


F-35
A Pentagon report warns that software, maintenance and reliability problems with the F-35 could delay the Marine Corps' plans to start using its F-35B jets by mid-2015. The report by the Pentagon's chief weapons tester, Michael Gilmore, forecasts a possible 13-month delay in completing testing of the Block 2B software needed for the Marine Corps to clear the jets for initial combat use next year. Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 training center. (Post)

Another report by a think tank takes issue with the number of jobs tied to the F-35 program.

Lockheed Martin says the F-35 program supports 125,000 jobs in the United States. But William Hartung, a longtime critic of the F-35, said in a report by the Center for International Policy that standard estimating procedures used by other studies would put the number of jobs closer to 50,000 to 60,000. Lockheed defended its estimate, which is based on 32,500 direct jobs and adds 92,500 indirect jobs. (Post)

In another F-35-related story, a former employee of Pratt and Whitney accused of trying to ship boxes of stolen information on the F-35 to Iran has been indicted by a federal grand jury. Mozaffar Khazaee, born in Iran but a naturalized American citizen since 1991, is charged with two counts of interstate transportation of stolen property. He was arrested Jan. 9 at Newark International Airport. (Post)


Bases
Defense grants totaling $2.45 million will be awarded to 14 communities with military bases. Escambia County is getting $250,000, Santa Rosa County $280,000, Okaloosa $300,000, Walton County $60,000 and Bay County $100,000, according to published reports. Part of the money is earmarked to buy land around the bases to prevent encroachment, and part for community relations and economic development. (Post)

-- The Naval Education and Training Command at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., has a new leader. Rear Adm. Mike White took command during a ceremony Friday afternoon. White is a naval aviator whose most recent duty was commander of Carrier Strike Group 11. The previous commander, Rear Adm. Don Quinn, is retiring after 35 years of service. (Post)
-- Brig. Gen. Michael D. Lundy, deputy commanding general, U.S. Army Combined Arms Center, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, Fort Leavenworth, Kan., has been assigned to commanding general, Aviation Center of Excellence and Fort Rucker, Fort Rucker, Ala. (Post)
-- Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., recently held an exercise designed to increase the combat prowess of F-22 pilots of the 43rd and 95th Fighter Squadrons. The simulated air combat mission pulled together aircraft in an atmosphere the pilots might see on a real battlefield. The event featured Mitsubishi MU-2 aircraft, F-4 Phantoms, F-16 Fighting Falcons from Luke AFB, Ariz., T-38 Talons and F-22s. (Post)


Economic development
For Crestview, Fla., there was good news and there was bad news.

The bad news: L-3 Crestview Aerospace over the past few weeks has eliminated some 10 percent of its workforce, or about 100 people. The company still employs more than 850 people at Bob Sikes Airport. Spokesman Lance Martin said the layoffs resulted from a lower volume of work in L-3’s U.S. defense programs and delays in the awarding of a commercial contract. (Post)

The good news: A company that will help train aerospace workers will open a branch at Okaloosa Industrial Air Park at Bob Sikes Airport. Carolina Aeronautical Airframe and Powerplant of Simpsonville, S.C., specializes in courses for FAA certification for aircraft mechanics. Beginning in March, Carolina Aero Prep Panhandle Campus initially will offer training for veterans or retired military aircraft maintainers. (Post)

While we're on the subject of training, south of Crestview in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., enrollment is up at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Institute and courses are already planned for the next three years. Enrollment went from 60 Choctawhatchee and Crestview high schools to 155 this year with the introduction of an evening class and unmanned aerial vehicle course. Next year Embry-Riddle plans to add engineering courses. (Post)

Meanwhile, to the north of the Florida Panhandle in Enterprise, Ala., a new $12 million aircraft maintenance hangar for Brightwater Aviation Properties will be built by BL Harbert International of Birmingham. Alabama Aircraft Support will operate the facility that will repair and maintain helicopters, creating up to 200 jobs. The project is slated to be finished in October. (Post)

To the west in Foley, Ala., U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), on a statewide jobs and industry tour, stopped at UTC Aerospace Systems early in the week. The largest manufacturing employer in Baldwin County was the seventh stop on his tour. The aerostructures business unit designs, builds and supports nacelle systems for commercial and military aircraft. (Post)


Corporate
Defense and aeronautics engineering group Safran will buy aerospace businesses from Eaton Corp. for $270 million in cash. Safran will acquire Eaton's Aerospace Power Distribution Management Solutions, which makes key contactor and circuit breakers for jets, and Eaton's Cockpit Solutions. Safran has an engineering center in Mobile, Ala.; Eaton has a hydraulic systems center in Jackson, Miss. (Post)


Contracts
B3H Corp., Shalimar, Fla., was awarded a $6.9 million task order for an existing contract for English language instructors and an English language training program using Defense Language Institute English Language Center courseware, methodology and processes. .. L-3 Communications, Madison, Miss., was awarded a $129 million contract modification for maintenance and modification of the Army C-12/RC-12/UC-35 fixed wing aircraft fleet. Work will be performed in Madison, Miss. … General PAE Applied Technologies LLC, Fort Worth, Texas, has been awarded a $28 million contract modification exercising the option for Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., base operations support services. Work will be performed at Keesler. The 81st Contracting Squadron, Keesler, is the contracting activity.


Shipbuilding/maritime
Supply vessel: Gulf Coast Shipyard Group Inc., Gulfport, Miss., launch the first of six Harvey Gulf International Marine dual-fuel offshore supply vessels. The vessel will be christened and put into service a few months later. (Post)
Support boats: Silver Ships of Theodore, Ala., was awarded a contract to provide 36 surface support vessels to the Navy. (Post)

Week in review (1/12 to 1/18)

The first Airbus workers for Mobile start training in Germany; Airbus beats Boeing in sales in 2013, and considers increasing A320 production; three airports lose direct service to Reagan National Airport; Northrop Grumman Global Hawk lauded for safety record; Cygnus docks with ISS; and a community college teaming up with Rolls-Royce were among the aerospace news items of interest to the Gulf Coast I-10 region during the week.

Here's your week in review:

Airbus
The first group of workers hired for the Airbus final assembly line being built in Mobile, Ala., are in Germany for training. The group has trained in Mobile for the past two months. The $600 million, 1,000-worker assembly line in Mobile will open in 2015 and eventually produce between 40 and 50 aircraft each year. (Post)

That group is only the start. Airbus is continuing its search for workers for the A320 final assembly line. It's now seeking liaison engineer candidates in three categories. The three new engineering positions will focus on installation, structure and systems, and each requires a minimum of 10 months training abroad. Liaison engineers support the production line, ensuring each aircraft meets standards of safety and reliability. (Post)

Meanwhile, the news about airplane production continues to be positive. Airbus beat rival Boeing with record sales and orders last year, but came second in airliners delivered. Airbus in 2013 took 1,503 net orders compared to 1,355 orders taken by Boeing. Last year Airbus delivered 626 planes and Boeing delivered 648 aircraft. (Post)

For Mobile the importance of all this is that Airbus is exploring higher output of A320 single-aisle and A350 wide-body aircraft. Airbus now builds 42 single-aisle jets a month, and production could rise to 44 or 46 in early 2016 according to Tom Williams, Airbus executive vice president for programs. Output of the updated A320neo, the new engine option, could rise to about 50 after 2018. (Post)

On the downside, United Continental Holdings Inc. canceled orders for six A319 and six A320 single-aisle planes valued at about $1.08 billion that the carrier said are no longer needed. That's according to Christen David, a spokeswoman for United. The orders were canceled in December, David said. (Post)


Airports/bases
Florida's Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach and Tallahassee will be losing an American Airlines direct flight to Washington D.C.'s Reagan National Airport. The are among 17 small and mid-size cities being cut as a result of the American-US Airways merger. (Post)

-- The Command Headquarters at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., was renamed in a ceremony Friday after Navy photographer Walter Leroy Richardson. About 300 people were at the ceremony that kicked off the base’s centennial celebration. The 63,000-square-foot Building 1500 recently had an $11.2 million renovation. (Post)

-- Brig. Gen. (Dr.) Kory G. Cornum, commander, 81st Medical Group, Air Education and Training Command, Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., is being assigned to command surgeon, Headquarters Air Mobility Command, Scott Air Force Base, Ill. Cornum is also the senior market manager for TRICARE's Gulf Coast Multi-Service Market. (Post)


Unmanned
The Global Hawk Unmanned Aerial System was singled out for having the best safety record in the U.S. Air Force in 2013. The Global Hawk has logged more than 100,000 flight hours and carries a variety of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance sensor payloads. The central fuselages for Global Hawk and Global Hawk variants are built by Northrop Grumman in Moss Point, Miss. (Post)

Meanwhile, the Global Hawk RQ-4A Broad Area Maritime Surveillance-Demonstrator completed 10,000 combat hours in the six years it's been deployed in the Central Command area of responsibility. The Global Hawk Block 20-based aircraft was originally intended to deploy for six months, but has had its deployment extended indefinitely ahead of the planned introduction into service of its successor, MQ-4C Triton. (Post)


Space
Orbital Sciences' Cygnus spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station last weekend. Launched by Orbital's Antares rocket Jan. 9 from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, Cygnus delivered cargo and will remain berthed to ISS until Feb. 18. When it leaves it will take disposable cargo for a destructive reentry over the Pacific Ocean. Antares AJ26 engines are tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss. (Post)


Workforce
Pearl River Community College in Mississippi received a $50,000 grant from the Mississippi Development Authority to support Rolls-Royce at Stennis Space Center, Miss. The funds are used to send new employees to a training center in Columbus, Ohio; the company's main test facility in Derby, England; or to training at Stennis. Rolls-Royce North America opened its engine test site at SSC in 2007 and completed a second test stand in the fall of 2013. (Post)


Shipbuilding/maritime
LCS: The Navy has been told to cut its order for littoral combat ships from 52 to 32 vessels, Pentagon sources told Defense News. Austal USA in Mobile, Ala., is one of two companies building the ships. (Post)
JHSV: The Navy's first joint high-speed vessel is on its maiden deployment to the U.S. 6th Fleet. USNS Spearhead was built by Austal USA in Mobile, Ala. (Post)
VT Halter: VT Halter Marine laid the keel for one of two articulated tug barge units being built for Bouchard Transportation Co. Construction of the two units began in April at VT Halter Marine's Pascagoula, Miss., facility. (Post)
Signet: Signet Maritime is investing $7.2 million in infrastructure improvements at its Pascagoula, Miss., shipyard, Signet Shipbuilding & Repair. The work will support an increased workload and future growth, the company said. (Post)

Week in review (1/5 to 1/11)

Test stands at Stennis Space Center, Miss., were the topic of a couple of stories during the week. With both the A-3 test stand and the B-2 test stand, the stories said that money was spent on the stands unnecessarily.

In one story, an audit released Wednesday by NASA Inspector General Paul Martin criticized NASA for spending $352 million to refurbish the B-2 test stand for Space Launch System tests when it would have cost less to revamp stands in Alabama and California. The other stands are at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

The audit said it would have cost $251 million to refurbish the Huntsville stand and $319 million for the Edwards stand. But NASA chose B-2 because of problems associated with using the other stands. In the case of Edwards, NASA was concerned over transportation risks, and with Huntsville it was concerned over transportaiton and noise issues. NASA responded to the audit by admitting it didn't follow its own rules and agreements, but said it "is confident it made the right decision." (Post)

Anther story earlier in the week, this one by Bloomberg, was about Stennis Space Center's $350 million A-3 test stand. It said the stand will be finished early this year, then mothballed for the foreseeable future. The article said Congress ordered NASA to finish building the 300-foot tall tower despite the demise of the program for which it was built. The story said it's an example of how U.S. lawmakers "thwart efforts to cut costs and eliminate government waste." (Story)

The IG audit that initially raised the issue of the A-3 test stand is close to a year old. It was released Feb. 12, 2013. Although the audit was concerned about wasting money, it never raised the issue of whether killing Constellation in 2010 was itself a waste of money. At the time, NASA already had spent $292 million on the A-3 test stand and needed $57 million to finish the work that was 65 percent complete.

The context is also important. Congress and the space community had serious concerns about canceling Constellation, and those who pushed to finish the A-3 test stand might have recognized that NASA's direction can change from administration to administration. It is, in fact, rocket science and decisions shouldn't be based on money alone.

The Bloomberg story did point out that while there are no rockets being developed for NASA that would need the high-altitude test capability of the A-3, it’s conceivable that such a rocket may be built in the future that would need that ability. Companies like Aerojet Rocketdyne and SpaceX, may need to test engines for yet-to-be-developed rockets that would send astronauts into space, said Chris Quilty, an analyst with Raymond James and Associates in St. Petersburg, Fla. "With all the discussion of going to Mars, going to the moon, they are going to need more advanced upper-stage engines," Quilty said.

Indeed, Glenn Mahone, a spokesman for Aerojet Rocketdyne, said that while company officials know the A-3 test stand isn't "a near-term priority, it likely will be required to support exploration objectives in the future."

It's dangerous to let infrastructure fall by the wayside based on the changing winds of politics. Back in 2005 following the decision to end the Space Shuttle Program, NASA commissioned an internal study to assess the relevance of its facilities to current and future work. The study took a critical look at each of the agency's 10 centers.

Among other things, the study found that Plum Brook Station, Ohio, Santa Susana Field Laboratory, Calif., Stennis Space Center, and Wallops Flight Facility, Va., had insufficient work to justify continued operations. With the exception of Santa Susana, NASA took no action to implement the study's recommendations.

Was that a mistake not to close SSC and the others? Ask Orbital Sciences, which is using Wallops Flight Facility and Stennis Space Center, or SpaceX, which decided SSC has enough going for it that it should test its Raptor at SSC. Wicker, in fact, made reference to these changing needs in his reply to Bloomberg.

"Stennis Space Center is the nation's premier rocket engine testing facility," the senator said in an e-mailed statement to Bloomberg. "It is a magnet for public and private research investment because of infrastructure projects like the A-3 test stand. In 2010, I authored an amendment to require the completion of that particular project, ensuring the Stennis facility is prepared for ever-changing technologies and demands."

Sounds on target to me.

Now here's more of the week in review:

Space
Orbital Sciences launched its unmanned Cygnus cargo ship on the company's first regular supply mission to the International Space Station. The liftoff of the Antares rocket carrying Cygnus was Thursday afternoon from Wallops Island, Va. Cygnus is due to dock at the ISS on Sunday, the fifth mooring of a private vessel to the station. The first was California company SpaceX's Dragon in May 2012.

Orbital and SpaceX, both private companies, stepped in to ensure the United States' ability to reach the ISS after the retirement of the space shuttle program in 2011. Orbital has a contract with NASA worth $1.9 billion for eight cargo resupply missions to the ISS. The launch is Orbital's second trip to the ISS, following a successful demonstration launch in September. (Post)

In another launch, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket took off Monday evening from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., to put a commercial communications spacecraft into orbit for Thai satellite operator Thaicom.

The satellite, built by Orbital Sciences, was deployed about a half-hour after the launch. The launch was the second in just over a month for SpaceX. Orbital Sciences tests its AJ26 rocket engines for its Antares launch vehicle at Stennis Space Center, Miss., where SpaceX will test its new generation Raptor engines. (Post)

-- The avionics system that will guide NASA's Space Launch System has seen the light. The flight software and avionics for SLS were integrated and powered for testing Thursday at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

The test will help NASA perfect the system and ensure the units communicate together as designed. Avionics tell the rocket where it should fly and how it should pivot its engines to stay on course. Stennis Space Center, Miss., tests engines for the SLS, and Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, is building portions of the SLS. (Post)

-- A secretive military space plane will move into a vacant former space shuttle hangar at
Kennedy Space Center, Fla., possibly bringing hundreds of jobs. Use of the former shuttle hangar called Orbiter Processing Facility-1 will allow the Air Force's classified X-37B program "to efficiently land, recover, refurbish and re-launch" the unmanned system in Florida, according to Boeing, which built and supports the program's two orbital vehicles. Officials did not say how soon the military program could move to KSC, which has been seeking new users for facilities it no longer needs following the shuttle’s retirement in 2011. NASA’s Stennis Space Center, Miss., also offers unused/underutilized facilities for commercial use. (Post)

-- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana will visit the agency's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans Monday. They will be updated on construction of the facility that will manufacture the massive core stage of NASA's Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket and progress on launching it on its targeted first flight test in 2017. The Michoud Vertical Assembly Center will be home to one of the world's largest welding tools when the facility is completed in March. (Post)


Airbus/Boeing
Allan McArtor, chairman of Airbus Americas, will replace Sean O'Keefe as chairman and
chief executive officer of Airbus Group Inc., the company's North American business unit, when O'Keefe resigns March 1, 2014.

O'Keefe elected to step down in order to fully address ongoing medical issues due to injuries he sustained in a 2010 aircraft accident in Alaska. However, he will continue with the company on special assignment to oversee and facilitate the compliant transition of the company’s ongoing security agreement with the Department of Defense to the new U.S. Group structure.

The company this year changed its name to Airbus Group from the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., EADS. The new Airbus Group will feature divisions called Airbus, Airbus Defense and Space, and Airbus Helicopters.

Airbus Helicopters is a direct name change from Eurocopter. Airbus is building an A320 final assembly line in Mobile, Ala., at Brookley Aeroplex, where it also has an engineering center. It also has an operation at Mobile Regional Airport; American Eurocopter has an assembly facility in Columbus, Miss. (Post)

-- Airbus won its annual order race with U.S. rival Boeing in 2013, industry sources said. Boeing earlier reported 1,531 gross commercial airplane orders for 2013, or 1,355 net orders after subtracting cancellations. Airbus booked more orders in both categories, the sources said. The European company delivered over 625 aircraft in 2013, beating its target of up to 620 but lagging Boeing's total of 648 deliveries, one source said. Airbus declined to comment ahead of an annual news conference on January 13. (Post)

Boeing set a company record in 2013 for the most commercial airplanes delivered in a single year with 648. The company's unfilled commercial orders stood at 5,080 at the end of the year, also a new Boeing record. Boeing also booked 1,531 gross commercial orders in 2013, a new company record and 1,355 net commercial orders in 2013, the second-largest number in company history. In 2013, three programs set records for deliveries in a single year. One was the 737 program, which delivered 440 next-generation 737s. Boeing has operations in the Gulf Coast region, and its biggest competitor, Airbus, is building an A320 assembly line in Mobile, Ala. (Post)

-- Singapore Airlines chose Airbus's A320 to launch its new Indian joint venture with Tata Sons, a win over rival Boeing as the airline market in Asia's third biggest economy shows signs of a revival. Sources familiar with the decision said a project team picked Airbus over Boeing's 737, the aircraft ordered by low-cost operator SpiceJet to expand its fleet in a deal reported by Reuters on Tuesday. The A320 market is of interest to Mobile, Ala., which is getting an A320 final assembly line. (Post)

-- Gov. Robert Bentley said Wednesday that Boeing might have used Alabama as leverage during union negotiations in Washington state. But he said Alabama would have been in the top three states competing for a new Boeing plant had the manufacturer not reached a deal with the union. Bentley said he asked Boeing officials whether they were seriously considering locating a new 777 plant in Alabama or if they were using the state to force a deal with unions. "When I met with them the first time, I said, 'Are you using us to get a positive vote out of the union or are you truly serious about moving?'" Bentley said. "We were the first state that they had met with and they said they were truly serious about moving." (Post)


Airports
The experimental Thatcher CX5 aircraft, a two-seat plane designed by Dave Thatcher of Pensacola, made its initial flights in December at Jack Edwards Airport in Gulf Shores, Ala. The experimental aircraft is powered by a modified Volkswagen engine. Once test flights are finished, the Thatcher CX5 will return to Pensacola International Airport in Florida, where the plane was built in a private hangar. Thatcher plans to sell plans for the CX5 after tests are finished for about $475. Thatcher sold 574 plans for his CX4, a single-seat plane he designed. (Post)
-- A ruptured fire sprinkler water pipe over the main concourse at Pensacola International Airport in Florida caused delays in boarding passengers for about 20 minutes one day during the week. The flooding affected the carpeting from gates 3 through 10 but was cleaned up by work crews. Boarding passengers were redirected to other gates. (Post)

-- A small plane made an emergency landing near Trent Lott International Airport in Moss Point, Miss., Monday evening and the pilot was uninjured. The pilot was traveling from St. Elmo, Ala., and was landing at Trent Lott Airport to refuel, but he lost power and set down in a field northeast of the airport. (Post)


Bases
Lt. Col. Erick Gilbert on Monday landed the first of five F-22 Raptors at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., the new home of the 95th Fighter Squadron. The five planes that arrived from Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico are the first of 24 Raptors that will be based at Tyndall. The remaining planes will arrive by the end of April. The arrival symbolizes an expansion of Tyndall’s mission into combat operations for the 95th Fighter Squadron, a first in Tyndall’s history. (Post)

-- A civilian contractor died and three others were injured Wednesday afternoon after the fire suppression system in 90,000 square-foot King Hangar at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., released an unknown amount of foam. The contractors worked for Defense Support Services (DS2), which provides support services. DS2 said the employee who died was Jonathan Lord, 31, a tool and parts attendant. A resident of Valparaiso, he is survived by his wife and one child. Three other DS2 employees were treated and released. (Post)

-- A brigadier general has been fired amid an investigation into an alleged inappropriate personal relationship. Brig. Gen. Jon Weeks was relieved as commander of the Air Force Special Operations Warfare Center on Thursday. Gen. Eric Fiel, head of Air Force Special Operations Command at Hurlburt Field, Fla., said he made the decision based on preliminary information from the ongoing investigation. (Post)

-- Col. Robert G. Armfield of Hurlburt Field, Fla., has been nominated for appointment to the rank of brigadier general, Pentagon officials said Thursday. Armfield is currently serving as the commander, 24th Special Operations Wing, Air Force Special Operations Command, Hurlburt Field. The appointment was among 31 nominations named in a release from Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced today. (Post)


Unmanned
Northrop Grumman and the Navy completed nine initial flight tests of the Triton unmanned aircraft system, the half-way point in a process called envelope expansion. During envelope expansion, the test team validates the aircraft's ability to operate at a range of altitudes, speeds and weights.

The flights are taking place at the company's manufacturing facility in Palmdale, Calif. Completion of envelope expansion will allow the test team to prepare for installation and further testing of Triton's surveillance sensors. The Navy plans to field 68 Tritons. Central fuselage work on the Triton is done in Moss Point, Miss. (Post)

Week in review (12/29 to 1/4)

Call it déjà vu.

On Friday the machinists union in Washington State approved an 8-year contract with Boeing that waters down some worker benefits, but does guarantee the 777X and composite wings will be built in the Puget Sound. (Post)

The immediate impact on Alabama was a sudden end to its attempt to bring the Boeing plant to Huntsville. But Alabama wasn't alone. A lot of other states that bid for the plant were also left holding the bag.

This whole turn of events shouldn't surprise anyone. This is all reminiscent of 2002, when Boeing was looking for a place to build 787s only to stay put in Washington State after it got a lot of incentives. But to see it as just an attempt by Boeing to twist the arm of the union and state would be a mistake.

The concerns of the state and workers is quite real, and with good reason. Recent history tells us Boeing is slowly but surely moving pieces of the Washington State enterprise to other locations. Corporate headquarters is now in Chicago, and a second 787 assembly line is in South Carolina. Engineering work on the 777X has also migrated away from Puget Sound. Huntsville is getting a piece of that action.

And there's another way to look at Boeing's search for a 777X site. True, the contest is at an end, but the effort did provide Boeing with fresh insight into the desire of other locations to host a Boeing plant. And if the 777X proves to be as popular as some think it will be, it may  one day need a second production line.

But Boeing wasn't the only economic development disappointment for this region and others. Early in the week the Federal Aviation Administration announced the locations where it would establish unmanned aerial system test and development centers.

Proposals from Alaska, Nevada, New York, North Dakota and Virginia came out on top. These sites will be key players in the effort to integrate drones into the nation's air space. The University of Alaska's proposal includes seven climatic zones and test site range locations in Hawaii and Oregon.

New York's Griffiss International Airport will look into integrating drones into congested airspace. Virginia Tech's proposal includes test ranges over both Virginia and New Jersey. The congressionally-mandated test sites will conduct research into the certification and operational requirements necessary to safely integrate UAS into the national airspace over the next several years. (Post)

But the FAA decision doesn't mean this region won't continue to be a big player in this high growth field. While the federal centers will be important, states and private companies are significant players as well who can create unmanned system magnets of their own.

Camp Shelby, Miss., is a prime example. More than two weeks before the FAA announcement, a program was launched that backers said could attract companies interested in unmanned systems to South Mississippi.

The program involves the Open Source Software Institute, the military and Department of Homeland Security, and the focus is integrating unmanned vehicle systems and open source software. It's called the Open Source Unmanned Remote and Autonomous Vehicle Systems program, and it's designed to drive innovation and reduce costs in part by utilized open source software. The research program is based at Camp Shelby and administered in conjunction with the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, DHS, Defense Acquisition University and non-government entities. (Post)

The FAA decision will not stop development of a test center in Shalimar, Fla., from moving forward. The Economic Development Council of Okaloosa County has partnered with the University of Florida for the past four years to develop an unmanned system test facility just near UF's Research and Engineering Education Facility outside Eglin.

Nathan Sparks, executive director of the EDC, told the Northwest Florida Daily News that the FAA's decision not to locate a UAV test site in Florida has no bearing on the interest to develop the business sector at the local level. The next step is for the EDC and UF to sign a memorandum of understanding that will provide a defined framework for how to move the project forward.

And one of the biggest lures for making this region a big player in unmanned systems, aerial, land, maritime, you name it, may well end up being the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition in Pensacola, Fla.

IHMC came in second in a two-day robotic competition at Homestead-Miami Speedway last month, beaten only by a team from Japan owned by Google. Sixteen teams competed, and IHMC outscored every team from the United States, including Carnegie Mellon, MIT, NASA and other internationally known names. (Post)

So yes, it would have been nice getting an FAA site. But there are other opportunities.


Economic development
Speaking of opportunities, Florida is ranked No. 1 overall in U.S. aviation manufacturing attractiveness in a PricewaterhouseCoopers index, according to a release from the office of Florida Gov. Rick Scott. The index ranked Florida's talent first, its industry ninth and cost six for an overall ranking of first in the nation in the index. Texas was ranked second and Washington State third. (Post)

That type of information is coming at a great time. The aerospace and defense industry will grow 5 percent globally in 2014, despite the budget pressures to the defense sector. That's according to a study from Deloitte.

"It is likely that 2014 will bring high single to double-digit levels of growth in the commercial aerospace sub-sector, as experienced in 2012 and expected in 2013, given the dramatic production forecasts of the aircraft manufacturers," said the study.

Commercial aerospace is a bright spot. The 2014 growth in the commercial aerospace industry is being driven by record-setting production levels, due to the accelerated replacement cycle of obsolete aircraft with newer fuel-efficient planes. The report predicts that by 2023, annual production levels in the commercial aerospace industry will increase by 25 percent. Aerospace and defense are pillars of the region's economy, and it will in the near future include an Airbus final assembly line. (Post)


Bases
The first of two dozen F-22 Raptors will begin arriving at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., on Monday. When all the aircraft arrive, the additional operational squadron will make the base the home of the largest contingent of Raptors in the world. The five jets coming Monday are the first of 24 that are being transferred from Holloman Air Force Base, N.M. (Post)

-- The 2014 Armament Industry Days will be held March 11 and 12 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and will provide stakeholders in the weapons development community a better understanding of current threats, technologies, and possible solutions to meet warfighter needs. The event is hosted by the Program Executive Officer for Weapons and the Armament Systems Development Eglin Satellite Office. Activities will be conducted at the Secret Security level and will feature comments by Brig. Gen. Scott Jansson, Air Force PEO for Weapons. (Post)


Airports
Funding for the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport's control tower is still in limbo. But continued funding is looking good for the Federal Aviation Administration’s contract tower program, in which the airport participates. “Right now, it looks like things are moving forward,” said ECP Director Parker McClellan, noting language in both the Senate and House budget bills in support of the program, which costs about $150 million annually. (Post)

-- A private plane’s landing gear malfunctioned early in the week while touching down at Pensacola International Airport. The landing gear of the single-engine plane gave way during the landing and the plane skidded partway down the runway on its belly. The pilot, the only one on board, was not injured, but the airport’s north-south runway was closed for several hours. (Post)


Space
The year's first launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., is now planned for no earlier than Monday. SpaceX had hoped to launch its Falcon 9 rocket around 5 p.m. Friday carrying a Thai commercial communications satellite. But the decision was made to conduct more rocket inspections. If necessary, launch attempts could also be made next Wednesday through Sunday. SpaceX plans to test its Raptor engines at Stennis Space Center, Miss. (Post)


Shipbuilding/maritime
LNG fuel tank: Lockheed Martin workers this month will put the finishing touches on the first 90-foot long, stainless steel liquefied natural gas fuel tank being built for an LNG-powered offshore supply vessels being built by New Orleans-based Harvey Gulf International Marine. (Post)