Week in review (8/25 to 8/31)

Progress on Mobile's Airbus assembly line; some more firsts for the F-35 fighter, including night shipboard landings and refueling firsts; an upcoming forum for companies that would like to do business with NASA; and formation of a manufacturing council in Northwest Florida were among the news items during the week of interest to the Gulf Coast region.

Here's your week in review:


Airbus
A report on a global manufacturing trend pointed to the decision by Airbus to expand production into the United States as a prime example. The CNBC report focused on the Boston Consulting Group's recent report indicating the United States is rapidly becoming a low-cost leader for manufacturing. Part of the reason is that exports have been growing more than seven times faster than GDP since 2005. (Post)

That manufacturing trend will sound familiar if you read a copy of Gulf Coast Aerospace Corridor 2013-2014, an annual book that was published in June. It had a chapter on foreign investments that suggested a new foreign investments wave was near. It, too, pointed to Airbus as a part of that trend. You can read the chapter by clicking here. If you want to look at the entire book, you can click here. I recommend it, but then again, I am part of the Gulf Coast Reporters' League, the team of reporters/editors who produced it.

Speaking of that Airbus plant, the company says 85 percent of the more than 2,100 pilings for the final assembly line hangar and service building have been driven at the Brookley Aeroplex site. Steelwork is slated to begin in September. The $600 million plant is scheduled to come online in 2015. (Post)

Meanwhile, an architectural firm in Fairhope was picked o work on portions of the Airbus A320 final assembly line campus being built at Brookley Aeroplex. Walcott Adams Verneuille Architects will be lead architectural firm for design of the transshipment hangar, main entry gate building and renovation of Brookley’s existing warehouse and receiving facility. (Post)


Workers/training
In Alabama's Baldwin County, school officials have moved the opening date to fall 2014 for their $2.7 million aviation training facility at the H.L. "Sonny" Callahan Airport in Fairhope. The school board approved an operating lease for the training center, which will be built as part of a partnership with Faulkner State Community College, Enterprise State Community College and the Fairhope Airport Authority. School officials had originally planned to start classes in January. (Post)

While on the topic of future workers, manufacturers in 12 Panhandle counties have formed the Northwest Florida Manufacturers Council. It's goal is development of a manufacturing workforce. The council estimates that 3,400 new skilled workers will be needed in the next five years, but regional education and workforce development programs forecast producing only 860 in that time. The council is working with schools, technical centers and state colleges develop curricula to provide students with the skills they need to work at a high-tech manufacturing business. (Post)


Space
NASA is the focal point of a business-to-business forum Wednesday at the Mobile Convention Center in Mobile, Ala. NASA and an entourage of its agencies and prime contractors will give presentation and participate in a trade show to meet with small- and medium-sized companies interested in doing business with NASA. In the Gulf Coast region NASA operates Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The event, hosted by the Mobile Area Chamber, is from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Post)

-- A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office lifted off from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base during the week. The rocket’s common booster cores are powered by RS-68 engines assembled and tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss. (Post)

-- Sierra Nevada of Colorado successfully completed a captive-carry test of the Dream Chaser spacecraft Aug. 22 at Dryden Flight Research Center in California. Lockheed Martin is assembling the composite structure for the first space-bound Dream Chaser at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. (Post)


F-35
Two F-35B fighters completed dozens of test flights from the deck of the USS Wasp over the past month. Marine Corps officials said the jets had made more than 90 successful vertical landings, including many at night. Marines plan to use their version – one of three variants – in mid-2015. Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 training center. (Post)

-- An F-35 carrier variant refueled from an Air Force KC-135 for the first time Aug. 20. With the completion of this test, the F-35C joins the A and B models in proving that all three variants of the F-35 can be refueled from a common tanker platform, despite different methods. The Strike Fighter Squadron 101, the Navy's first F-35C carrier variant aircraft squadron, completed its first flight at Eglin Air Force Base in early August. (Post)

-- The weapons troop Standardization Load Crew from the 33rd Maintenance Group performed the first munitions load verification during the week on the F-35A. It involves loading and unloading laser-guided and GPS-guided bombs, and air-to-air missiles into the weapons bays of the aircraft. Ultimately, this is the work that is performed down range. Eglin is laying the foundation. (Post)

-- Pratt and Whitney of East Hartford, Conn., was awarded an advance acquisition contract valued at $69.6 million for long-lead components, parts and materials associated with the low rate initial production Lot VIII of 19 F135 engines for the Air Force; six for the Marines and four for the Navy. It also provides for long lead components, parts and materials associated with Lot VII of four F135 engines for Italy; four for the United Kingdom and two for Norway. (Post)

In anothe engine-related item, the Pentagon and Pratt & Whitney reached an agreement on a contract to build 39 engines for the sixth batch of F-35 fighters. In July, DoD agreed on a contract with Lockheed Martin for a sixth and seventh order of the F-35s. DoD buys the jet engines directly with Pratt and Whitney. (Post)


Airports/bases
Air Force officials held a meeting in Apalachicola, Fla., to discuss making Tate's Hell State Forest a site for some Eglin Air Force Base training. Dozens of residents showed up to express concern about the land north of the coast in Franklin County. An Air Force official said the land has unique features, including abandoned logging roads that make good runways for small aircraft. (Post)

-- Cesar Pelli has joined the team redesigning the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. The $826 million project will result in a new 30-gate terminal, complete with hotel, parking garage, highway access and other amenities. (Post)


Contracts
Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training, Orlando, Fla., was awarded a $7 million contract modification for upgrade of the Visual and Joint Precision Airdrop systems on the C-130J maintenance and aircrew training system devices. Work will be done in Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark., and Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., with completion by Dec. 31, 2014. … InDyne Inc., Reston, Va., was awarded a $250.3 million contract modification for Eglin Test & Training Complex range operations and maintenance services. Work will be done at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and is expected to be completed by March 31, 2016. Air Force Test Center/PZZB, Eglin AFB, Fla., is the contracting activity. … A&D GC Inc., Santee, Calif., was awarded $9 million for firm-fixed-price task order under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract for Triton Maintenance Training Facility PM50 renovation at Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu, Calif. Triton UAVs are built in part in Moss Point, Miss.


Shipbuilding/maritime
Workforce: Ingalls Shipbuilding President Irwin F. Edenzon spoke with the Pascagoula Rotary Club about the long-term future of the shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. Edenzon said the shipyard is ramping up to a workforce of about 13,000. (Post)
LCS 4: In Pascagoula, Miss., the future USS Coronado successfully concluded acceptance trials after completing a series of graded in-port and underway demonstrations for the Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey. (Post)

Week in review (8/18 to 8/24)

A somewhat unsettling scenario is developing in the nation's space debris surveillance effort. With the next generation space surveillance system, Space Fence, now five years away and the current Air Force Space Surveillance System slated to be mothballed soon, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., will have an increasingly important role tracking space debris.

Here's some background from a recent story in Space News:

The budget crunch is hitting the U.S. military space program, and the Air Force is delaying and revising plans for its next-generation space-object tracking system. The full-scale development contract for its next-generation Space Fence won't be awarded until next March, later than previously planned.

At the same time the Air Force expects to save about $14 million a year by shutting down the current space fence, which consists of a line of radars stretching across the southern United States. It's a key component of the overall U.S. Space Surveillance Network, which includes other ground- and space-based sensor assets.

Space Command is looking at modified operating modes for the Perimeter Acquisition Radar Characterization System (PARCS) at Cavalier Air Force Station, N.D., and the space surveillance radar at Eglin. While this points out the high value of the Eglin operation, T.S. Kelso, senior research astrodynamicist at the Center for Space Standards & Innovation, a research arm of orbit-modeling software provider AGI, is worried about depending too heavily on Eglin. Kelso said that with Eglin being the only remaining dedicated space surveillance radar, any outages there would effectively leave us blind. (Story)

We'll keep on an eye on this one. But if you want more background stories, tries these:
Space Fence shutting down?
AF begins using SBSS
Group tackling space debris
Feature: 20th Space Control Squadron
Here's an interesting video on space debris accumulation over the years.

-- By the summer of 2016 the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans will complete
construction of a tank for NASA's new Space Launch System. Gordon Bergstue, production director for Boeing, said the company is on schedule and in budget with the core stage of SLS.

The core stage is more than 200 feet tall and will store liquid hydrogen and oxygen to power four RS-25 engines that will lift SLS. The RS-25 engines will be tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss., some 35 miles from Michoud. (Post)

-- NASA during the week released new video animation showing how an asteroid capture mission might look. The images show crew operations including the Orion spacecraft’s trip to and rendezvous with the asteroid and astronauts maneuvering through a spacewalk to collect samples from the asteroid. Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, are both involved in the SLS program. (Post)


Airbus
The July/August 2013 issue of Business Facilities magazine has two Gulf Coast cities as No. 1 and 2 in a list of U.S. metro areas with the highest economic growth potential. Baton Rouge, La., was ranked at the top and Mobile, Ala., was No. 2. Mobile's ranking was for landing what the magazine called the “crown jewel” of aerospace manufacturing, the $600 million Airbus final assembly line.

Business Facilities Editor in Chief Jack Rogers said Airbus will "be a powerful engine for growth in the Mobile region for decades to come." (Post)

Airbus is building a plant at the Brookley Aeroplex to assemble its A319, A320 and A321 aircraft. The plant will have up to 1,000 employees when it reaches full capacity. It will also mean over 3,000 construction jobs over next few years.

A supplier network is taking shape. A subsidiary of Labinal, Safran Engineering Services, announced in December that it will operate an engineering supporting facility in Mobile. Labinal is part of the French aerospace conglomerate, Safran Group.


F-35
Marine Corps test pilot Lt. Col. Russell Clift recently performed the first F-35B night-time vertical landing aboard the USS Wasp. At the conclusion of Developmental Test Phase II, it is expected the Navy and Marine Corps will have sufficient data to support certification for future F-35B shipboard operations in anticipation of initial operating capability in 2015. Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 training center. (Post)

-- Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded a $34.5 million modification to the previously awarded Low Rate Initial Production Lot 6 Advance Acquisition contract for the F-35. This modification provides for the procurement of Autonomic Logistics Information System equipment, training devices and sustainment and logistics support for non-recurring engineering activities for the government of Italy. (Post)


Bases
Florida Gov. Rick Scott and his cabinet approved the purchase of a conservation easement on a 21,000-acre tract on the east side of Eglin Air Force Base. The $12.5 million purchase is being accomplished through a partnership with DOD's Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration Program, with the department contributing $1.75 million and the Air Force $550,000. The Trust for Public Land also is a project partner. (Post)

One reason the state is interested in acquiring lands around bases is financial. Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., just this week released its latest economic impact statement. The base, where F-22 pilots are trained, has a $617.8 million economic impact on Bay County and the surrounding area.

There are some 3,395 active duty military personnel at the base, and the economic impact considers payrolls, expenditures for contracts, materials, equipment, services, construction and other procurements. According to the latest figures from DoD, Tyndall's plant replacement value is set at $1.46 billion. (Post)

-- The Air Force's 96th Operations Group is doing some munitions testing in the Gulf of Mexico about 20 nautical miles south of Destin from through to Sept. 13. The morning tests, Mondays through Thursdays, are part of the 53rd Wing's Maritime Strike Program. (Post)

-- The 81st Training Wing at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss., has a new commander. Brig. Gen. Patrick C. Higby replaced Brig. Gen. Brad Spacy during a change of command Friday. (Post)

-- The National Naval Aviation Museum at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., is back to operating seven days a week. It started closing on Mondays in early July to cut costs during sequestration. But earlier this month the Pentagon found other alternatives to save money and reduced the number of furlough days from 11 to six. (Post)


Weapon systems
There were some news stories during the week on three weapons systems of interest to the Gulf Coast region. One is an aircraft, the other two are munitions.

Xinhau, citing local media reports, said Japan plans to add the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle for reconnaissance duties in 2015. The Global Hawk is likely to be deployed at the United States' Misawa Air Base in northern Japan, although other locations are also being considered. The Global Hawk will be jointly operated by the U.S. Air Force and Japan's Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF). Global Hawks are built in part in Moss Point, Miss. (Story)

On the weapons front, Boeing marked production of the 250,000th Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kit, which converts unguided munitions into near-precision weapons. Maj. Gen. Scott W. Jansson, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., said JDAM remains a valuable asset to warfighters. With a range of more than 15 nautical miles, JDAM is an all-weather day or night weapon. (Post)

In another munitions-related item, Air Force researchers are asking industry to supply a high-power laser system. It should have output power of 1 to 1.5 Watts, operate at a wavelength of 2.95 microns and should be rugged enough to withstand shock of about six Gs. The Air Force Material Command AFTC/PZIO Operational Contracting Division at Eglin issued the solicitation. (Post)


Shipbuilding/maritime
LPD 25: The future USS Somerset, LPD 25, successfully completed builder's trials at Ingalls Shipbuilding's Avondale, La., yard. It's the ninth ship of the LPD 17-class of amphibious transport dock ships. (Post)

Contract: Lockheed Martin of Moorestown, N.J., was awarded an $18.2 million modification to previously awarded contract for cruiser and destroyer modernization testing efforts associated with the Aegis Combat System. Fifteen percent of the work will be done in Pascagoula, Miss. (Post)

Week in review (8/11 to 8/17)

A land swap deal in Pensacola, a huge purchase of Airbus A320s, a Navy F-35C makes its first flight at Eglin, a large F-35 order; a thruster is sent to SSC; a recovery test of the Orion space vehicle; the move of C-130Js from Keesler is delayed; four companies are awarded contracts to continue work on carrier-based UAVs; Fire Scouts wrap up their deployment in Afghanistan were among the stories of interest to the Gulf Coast aerospace corridor during the week.

Here's the week in review:

Land swap
In Florida, Escambia County is moving forward on a project to acquire 640 acres of Navy land in the county's Beulah community and turning it into a commerce park. In exchange, Escambia County would provide the Navy with 640 acres land in neighboring Santa Rosa County not far from Naval Air Station Whiting Field.

During the week the Escambia County Commission unanimously agreed to take the lead on the $16 million to $25 million deal to obtain Outlying Field 8, used by the Navy for helicopter training.

The hope is to provide a home for aerospace companies tied to the Airbus' final assembly line being built in Mobile, Ala. The land in question is adjacent to the 308-acre Navy Federal Credit Union campus and close to Interstate 10.

The commission set aside $200,000 to find and pay for a consultant to help conduct due diligence and to cover the cost of taking over other responsibilities on the agreement from the Greater Pensacola Chamber, which initiated the land swap that will take about two years to complete. Congress must also agree to the deal. (Post)


Airbus/crash
London-based International Airlines Group secured orders and options for up to 220 of Airbus A320 family short-haul aircraft, a deal worth to some $20 billion. The airlines group, which is the parent of British Airways and Iberia, said up to 120 of these orders will be for Spanish subsidiary Vueling, which joined IAG in April.

The Vueling agreement comprises 62 firm orders and 58 options. The firm orders will be delivered to Vueling between 2015 and 2020. IAG also has secured 100 A320neo options, which could be used for any of its airlines for aircraft replacements. (Post)

-- Airbus sent a team of specialists to Alabama in the wake of the crash during the week of a twin-engine A300-600F UPS cargo plane near Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport. The crash killed the pilot and co-pilot of Flight 1354 from Louisville, Ky., to Birmingham. The plane has been in service with UPS since 2003, and accumulated some 11,000 flight hours in about 6,800 flights, according to Airbus. (Post)

-- The first blue-collar job postings are expected as early as October for the final assembly line being built at Brookley Aeroplex. Lee Hammett, Alabama Industrial Development Training program’s assistant director for South Alabama, said his organization is working with Airbus to finalize guidelines and protocol for pre-employment training.

If Airbus OKs AIDT's hiring guidelines, orientations could begin in November followed by interviews in December and pre-employment training as early as January. The blue-collar workers will be the hourly employees who assemble the aircraft. The plant will open in 2015 and deliver its first A320 in 2016. (Post)


F-35
An F-35C, the Navy variant of the stealth fighter, completed its first training flight
during the week at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The 1.3-hour flight was made by Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 101 naval aviator Chris Tabert.

The squadron received the Navy's first F-35C from Lockheed Martin June 22. The flight was the first in the new Navy aircraft flown by a VFA-101 pilot at Eglin. VFA-101 will now begin to schedule and perform sorties under their own charter from their facilities at Eglin. (Post)

-- Military and community leaders in Beaufort, S.C., will get a chance to see F-35 fighters during an invitation-only event this week. Two F-35B fighters, flown up from Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., will be on display during the showcase Tuesday.

Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort will eventually be home to three combat squadrons and two training squadrons of the next-generation jets. The air station is expected to get its first group of the fifth-generation fighters in January 2014, when its first training squadron will arrive. Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501, now at Eglin, will relocate to MCAS Beaufort as part of the air station's new role. (Post)

-- Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded a not-to-exceed $852.3 million modification to the previously awarded Low Rate Initial Production Lot 6 Advance Acquisition contract. This modification provides for the procurement of special tooling and special test equipment for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force and the international partners, which is critical to preserving the current F-35 delivery schedules and meeting future production rates. Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 training center. (Post)


Space
Aerojet Rocketdyne shipped to NASA's Stennis Space Center, Miss., the first set of four Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) thrusters for the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R Series (GOES-R).

At SSC, Lockheed Martin will integrate the thrusters and associated power conditioning units and electrical cabling with the GOES-R spacecraft. It will then be shipped to Lockheed Martin's facility near Denver, Colo. where it will undergo final integration and testing.

The completed satellite will ultimately be shipped to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., for a planned late 2015 or early 2016 launch on an Atlas V 541 expendable launch vehicle. Aerojet Rocketdyne, a GenCorp company, also has an operation at SSC. (Post)

-- In Norfolk, Va., NASA conducted a stationary recovery test of the spacecraft Orion in the well deck of the amphibious transport dock USS Arlington, while berthed at Naval Station Norfolk's Pier 12 on Aug. 15, 2013.

This successful test of the four-man, 16-foot capsule paves the way for future testing of NASA's Orion Program, including a West Coast underway recovery test in January, and the recovery of a low-orbit module following splashdown in the fall of 2014. NASA plans its first unmanned Orion voyage to take place in 2017, and a manned expedition in 2021.

The Navy has worked with NASA with space craft recoveries for programs including Mercury (1959-1963), Gemini (1961-1966) and Apollo (1961-1972). The last recovery done by the U.S. Navy was in 1975.

Orion was built in part at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. (Story)


Bases
The Air Force Reserve will delay the move of C-130Js from Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., to Pope Field, N.C. The movement of planes from the 815th and 345th airlift squadrons was set for Oct. 1, but has been delayed until at least April 2014.

In addition to the loss of aircraft, the 815th and its active duty partners, the 345th, are also slated to shut down. The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, the Hurricane Hunters, will not lose aircraft or personnel. (Post)

-- A federal judge ruled in favor of Bay County over a water and sewer rate dispute with Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. Tyndall refused to pay at higher levels for sewer and water service when the county increased rates, saying system upgrades did not directly benefit the base.

The county said Tyndall owes $850,000 dating to the first rate increase in 2007. While the ruling sided with the county, it said Tyndall is obligated to pay the higher rate back to March 14, 2011, when the lawsuit was filed. (Post)

-- After two years as the 81st Training Wing's command chief, Chief Master Sgt. Angie Johnson is leaving Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., to become the command chief for Air Force Space Command's Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif. Johnson's successor will be Chief Master Sgt. Farrell Thomas, who has served for the past three years as the special assistant to the Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force at the Pentagon. (Post)


Unmanned
Four defense companies each have been awarded $15 million to continue work on a new
unmanned combat plane for the Navy. Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Boeing and General Atomic each won awards for preliminary design review assessment for the Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) Air Vehicle. Work runs through June 2014.

The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting authority. Under a separate contract, Northrop Grumman's X-47B has already logged a catapult launch and arrested landing from the deck of a carrier. (Post)

-- The Northrop Grumman-built MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned helicopter wrapped up its Afghanistan mission earlier this month after more than 5,000 flight hours, the program's top officer said during the week at an unmanned-vehicle symposium.

Since deploying to Afghanistan in 2011, the MQ-8 Fire Scout system has provided real-time airborne surveillance and targeting supporting counter improvised explosive devices (IEDs), provided targeting support and delivered real-time video to military forces on the ground.

Northrop Grumman is under contract to the Navy to build the first eight of 30 planned MQ-8C versions of the Fire Scout, which will have twice the endurance, three times the payload capability, and will be ready for operation next year. Fire Scouts are built in part in Moss Point, Miss. (Post)


Conracts
Whitesell-Green Inc., Pensacola, Fla., was awarded a $15.9 million contract for construction of a Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) Mission Control Complex at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla.


Shipbuilding/maritime
NSC: Ingalls Shipbuilding launched Hamilton (WMSL 753), the company's fourth Legend-class national security cutter for the U.S. Coast Guard. (Post)

Week in review (8/4 to 8/10)

Many of you are aware of the annual aerospace book "Gulf Coast Aerospace Corridor," which published for the third year in June. And you're likely also aware of the Gulf Coast Aerospace Corridor daily news feed, as well as this weekly column.

Well beginning in September you'll also be able to get a quarterly update of Gulf Coast aerospace activities through a brand new newsletter produced by the Gulf Coast Reporters’ League, the team behind the annual book.

The quarterly will be a free, downloadable PDF and will provide in-depth stories about this region’s aerospace activities. The newsletter will be available on the website gulfcoastaerospacecorridor.com, and we'll also send out a news brief on the RSS feed letting you know when it's published.

What's becoming increasingly clear is that we're focusing on the right topic at the right time. Our first annual was published in 2011, and the aerospace news digest goes back to 2008 with a news archive dating to 2005. The news feed gets thousands of page views each month, with many of the readers from foreign countries.

Economic development groups in the Gulf Coast have shown a strong belief in this region's aerospace future. Many of them are underwriters for our news and information efforts. But they also have their own programs.

The Greater Pensacola Chamber of Commerce recently created an online survey to attract and recruit experienced workers interested in pursuing aviation/aerospace careers. Further to the east, Florida's Great Northwest recently launched a website about aerospace activities in Northwest Florida. FGNW is working with counterparts to the east to extend its area of aerospace interest all the way to Jacksonville, Fla., and up the coast to Charleston, S.C.

To the west, South Mississippi has been interested in aerospace and other science and technology fields for a very long time. I once worked with the Mississippi Gulf Coast Alliance for Economic Development, a multi-county organization, to create materials on their sci-tech activities, including aerospace.

And Mobile is continuing to make the most of Airbus' decision more than a year ago to build an A320 final assembly line at Brookley Aeroplex. The new head of the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce is Bill Sisson, who until recently was head of the Mobile Airport Authority. And the person who replaced Sisson at MAA, Roger Wehner, is also quite familiar with efforts to make Mobile a center for aircraft manufacturing.

So keep your eyes on this region. A lot of aerospace activity is going on and will continue to do so, and we'll do our best to keep you up to date. Now here's the week in review:


F-35
At Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., the F-35s are continuing to ramp up training and have started to simulate some combat-type missions. For the first time last month, the F-35 was controlled by an air battle management squadron on the ground at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla.

"It's what we would do in the real world," said Col. Stephen Jost, commander of the 33rd Operations Group at Eglin AFB. As more F-35s arrive, more sorties are flown and more students put through the F-35 training program.

The air battle managers are with the 337th Air Control Squadron, which falls under the 33rd Operations Group but is stationed at Tyndall AFB in Panama City. The 337th trains about 130 students a year to become air battle managers.

Their radar equipment provides a much broader view than the radars inside the F-35. The equipment can pick up anything flying over the Gulf of Mexico from Houston to down and around the Florida peninsula and then up the East Coast to Virginia. (Post)

-- A Lockheed Martin short takeoff/vertical landing F-35B, designated BF-1, completed its 500th vertical landing August 3. It's the same plane that marked the variant's first vertical landing in March 2010 at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md.

This week Developmental Test 2 sea trials are scheduled to begin onboard the USS Wasp. DT-2 is the second of three planned tests aimed at defining and expanding the F-35B's shipboard operating envelope for the U.S. Marine Corps.

The first shipboard testing phase was successfully completed in October 2011, when an F-35 successfully completed an at-sea landing. The successful completion of the upcoming Sea Trials is key to declaring F-35 Initial Operating Capability for the Marines in 2015. (Post)


Space
The Air Force is closing part of its network for tracking satellites and orbital debris. It could happen as soon as Oct. 1. Gen. William Shelton, commander of Air Force Space Command, directed that the Air Force Space Surveillance System, known as Space Fence and a component of the U.S. space surveillance network, be closed and all sites vacated.

A memo obtained by SpaceNews to Five Rivers Services of Colorado Springs, Colo., operator of the Space Fence, said the Air Force was not exercising its option for a fifth year of a contract for the nine field stations. And that's a big deal since Space Fence is responsible for about 40 percent of all observations of the space surveillance network.

Shelton said in July that engineers at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., home of the 20th Space Control Squadron, were looking for ways to improve the current Space Fence should funding not come down the pike for the next-generation system. (Post)

-- Space Florida during the week moved forward with plans to renovate two former shuttle hangars. The board approved spending up to $4 million to overhaul Orbiter Processing Facilities 1 and 2 at Kennedy Space Center.

The future tenant was not identified, but is believed to be the Air Force's X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, a reusable unmanned system that resembles a small space shuttle. Previously the Air Force confirmed studying consolidation of X-37B operations at Kennedy or the Cape. (Post)


Unmanned
The Navy plans to fly its two Northrop Grumman X-47B unmanned combat air system demonstrators into 2014. The service had earlier said that the prototypes would be retired after demonstrating the ability to make carrier arrested landings at sea. That was accomplished July 10.

The two X-47Bs will stay at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., while the program continues to assess potential opportunities for additional tests at Pax River and at-sea, according to the Navy. Critics said the Navy was prematurely retiring the two testbeds.

The X-47B isn't built in the Gulf Coast region, but Northrop Grumman Fire Scout and Global Hawk unmanned aerial systems are built in part in Moss Point, Miss. The X-47B is also of interest to the Naval Aviation Museum at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., which eventually will get one of the X-47Bs to put on display. (Post)

-- The Federal Aviation Administration's recent certification of ScanEagle and Puma unmanned aircraft for commercial use further opens up the U.S. market for drones. The agency in late July gave the green light to Boeing's Insitu ScanEagle and AeroVironment's Puma.

Congress called on the FAA to write rules by 2015 that would govern the commercial operation of drones in the national airspace. The Teal Group has estimated that annual spending on drones around the world will almost double to $11.4 billion by 2022.

The FAA said a major energy company plans to fly the ScanEagle off the Alaska coast to survey ice flows and whale migration, and the Puma will be used for oil spill monitoring and wildlife surveillance over the Beaufort Sea in the Arctic Ocean.

Fire Scout and Global Hawk UAVs are built in part in Moss Point, Miss., and Camp Shelby is home of a UAV regional flight center for the Army National Guard. The Puma is among the UAVs used at Camp Shelby. Special Forces also fly UAVs at Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., also have drone activities. (Post)


Airbus
A bulk order from easyJet in July allowed Airbus to overtake Boeing in orders for commercial aircraft in the first seven months of this year. Airbus booked new orders for 174 jetliners in July, thanks to a bulk order from easyJet for 135 A320 single-aisle planes.

July's orders brought to 892 the number of firm orders booked by Airbus over the first seven months of this year, and put it well over the net firm order total of 833 recorded in 2012. All but seven of July's new orders were for the A320 jets, a workhorse for low-cost airlines. Airbus is building an A320 assembly line in Mobile, Ala. (Post)


Bases
A chafed electrical wire is being blamed for the crash of an F-22 in November at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. The pilot ejected and nobody was injured on the ground. The 43rd Fighter Squadron jet was the lead of a two-ship training mission. According to the board's findings released Friday, the fire damaged the hydraulic system and caused the pilot to be unable to control the jet. (Story)

-- Hundreds of thousands of Defense Department civilian employees who have had to take a weekly unpaid day off from work since July 8 are getting some relief, as the total number of furlough days was reduced from 11 to six. Civilian workers in the Gulf Coast’s multiple bases have been subjected to furloughs. (Post)

-- Newly promoted Maj. Gen. Scott Jansson received his second star during a pin-on ceremony Aug. 2 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Jansson, the Air Force Program Executive Officer for Weapons, Armament Directorate, pinned on the rank of major general in a ceremony officiated by Lt. Gen. C.D. Moore II, commander, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center. (Post)


Contracts
Nova Group Inc., Napa, Calif., was awarded a contract with a maximum value of $14.9 million for the construction of a fuel storage facility at Hurlburt Field in Mary Esther, Fla. A combination of fiscal 2009, fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2013 military construction funds are being obligated on this award. The Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile, Ala., is the contracting activity. … CACI-ISS Inc., Chantilly, Va., was awarded an $8.7 million contract for healthcare facilities support to support Air Force Medical Support Agency mission. The long list of bases where work will be performed includes Eglin Air Force Base, Hurlburt Field, and Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, and Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. Work is expected to be completed by Aug. 31, 2016.


Shipbuilding/maritime
Zumwalt: The Navy is switching to a steel deckhouse for the next Zumwalt-class destroyer, DDG-1002, the future USS Lyndon B. Johnson. The Navy was reportedly unhappy with the costs of the composite structures for the first two Zumwalt ships. Ingalls Shipbuilding in Gulfport, Miss., built those structures. (Post)

Week in review (7/28 to 8/3)

The parent of Airbus is changing its name; another Mobile, Ala., firm is picked to work on the Airbus assembly line project at Brookley Aeroplex; a key segment of the Space Launch System is unveiled at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans; the comment period for plans to allow more F-35 flights over Valparaiso, Fla., ends; and an agreement to buy 71 more F-35s were some of the aerospace stories of interest for the Gulf Coast region during the week.

But before we go into the week in review, it's appropriate to mark a passing.

Last weekend retired Air Force Col. George "Bud" Day died at age 88. Day, who lived in Shalimar, Fla., was among the nation's most highly decorated servicemen with nearly 70 medals, including the Medal of Honor.

He served in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, and was a prisoner of war in Vietnam's Hanoi Hilton, where he shared a cell with John McCain. About 1,500 people attended his funeral Thursday, and several thousand more lined U.S. 98 as the funeral procession drove to Barrancas National Cemetery in Pensacola, Fla.

Now here's the week in review:


Airbus
Airbus was a hot topic at the Economic Development Association of Alabama's summer conference this week in Point Clear, Ala.. According to the Mobile Press-Register, the prevailing belief at the gathering is that the $600 million A320 final assembly line being built at Brookley Aeroplex is just the beginning.

It's been said from the start that the plant, which had a groundbreaking in April, may expand beyond what's already in the works. When it's in production in 2015, the Mobile plant will be assembling 10 percent of the company's A320 jetliners. But there's room to grow at Brookley.

One of the interesting points brought up at the meeting is that the area between Mobile, Ala., and North Charleston, S.C., may become a hot spot for suppliers. Airbus will be building A320 jetliners in Mobile and Boeing is building 787 jetliners in North Charleston. Mark Williams, chief executive of Strategic Development Group Inc., in Columbia, S.C., said Alabama, George and South Carolina are well-positioned.

But it might also be appropriate to add North Florida to that mix. In addition to the aerospace activity in the Panhandle, Brazil's Embraer opened a plant in a hangar at Florida’s Jacksonville International Airport to build the A-29 Super Tucano planes for the Air Force. Further up the coast in Savannah, Ga., is headquarters for business jet builder Gulfstream, a General Dynamics company.

-- The parent of Airbus is changing its name from EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co.) to Airbus Group and putting its space and military units into one division. Airbus Group will consist of three divisions: Airbus, comprising all commercial operations; defense and space, which combines the company's Cassidian defense division with aerospace unit Astrium; and helicopters. The changes will begin in January. (Post)

-- Jean Botti, the chief technology officer from EADS, told an audience in Mobile, Ala., that cybersecurity, alternative fuels and aerodynamics are key research and development areas for the company. It wants to develop partnerships with the University of South Alabama and others to develop those areas in the coming decades. Botti was a speaker at the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce’s Advisors and Directors Summer Meeting. EADS has more than 350 global partnerships that have led to products needed by the aerospace company. (Post)

-- Speaking of products needed by the aerospace industry, Airbus got initial EASA certification of its Runway Overrun Prevention System (ROPS) technology on A320 current engine option family aircraft. The on-board cockpit technology increases pilots’ situational awareness during landing, reduces exposure to runway excursion risk, and if necessary, provides active protection. European Aviation Safety Agency certification of ROPS on the A320ceo is a step on the way to making ROPS available for line-fit and retrofit to other Airbus models. (Post)

-- Mobile-based Thompson Engineering will provide engineering services for Package D of the Airbus final assembly line being built in Mobile. Birmingham-based Hoar Program Management announced the contract Thursday. It will include design for utilities, parking lots, airfield pavements, security, electrical, communications, infrastructure and landscaping. (Post)

-- Airbus America posted two more job openings for its assembly line at Brookley. The company is seeking one person to fill the role of Avionics/Electrical Installation Station Coordinator and another to fill the role of Mechanical Installation Station Coordinator. (Post)


Space
The first liquid hydrogen tank barrel segment for the core stage of NASA's Space Launch System recently was completed at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The segment validates the vertical weld center, a friction-stir-weld tool for wet and dry structures on the SLS core stage, is working the way it should. NASA and Boeing engineers have been conducting friction-stir-welding tests at Michoud to ensure quality and safety of flight hardware. (Post)


F-35
The comments period on a proposal to allow more F-35 jets to fly over Valparaiso, Fla., has ended. Nearly 70 people lodged comments, according to a preliminary analysis. About 20 percent favored lifting restrictions on the runway that would send F-35 traffic over Valparaiso. The main concerns of those opposed to the plan are noise and impacts to property values. A final report is expected to be released to the public this fall. The F-35 Integrated Training Center is at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. (Post)

-- The Defense Department and Lockheed Martin reached agreement on orders for 71 more F-35s worth as much as $7 billion. The deal includes 36 jets in the sixth lot and 35 in the seventh, with 60 going to the U.S. military and 11 for Australia, Italy, Turkey and Britain. (Post)

-- Northrop Grumman delivered its 100th AN/ASQ-242 communications, navigation and identification (CNI) system to Lockheed Martin Corp. for integration into the F-35. CNI provides pilots with the capability of more than 27 avionics functions. It allows the simultaneous operation of multiple functions, including Identification Friend or Foe, navigation, and various voice and data communications. (Post)


Contracts
Lockheed Martin Information Systems and Global Solutions, Owego, N.Y., TYBRIN Corp., Fort Walton Beach, Fla.; Harris IT Services Corp., Dulles, Va.; SRA International, Fairfax, Va.; Raytheon, Garland, Texas; and L-3 National Security Solutions, Reston, Va., were awarded a $960 million multiple award contract for Network-Centric Solutions-2 (NETCENTS-2) Application Services. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center/HICK, Maxwell Air Force Base-Gunter Annex, Ala., is the contracting activity. … Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training, Owego, N.Y., was awarded a $39.4 million contract to provide flight test, technical, management, and process support services necessary to update and maintain operational software, vendor software, maintenance-related software, and laboratory support software in support of the MH-60R/S and SH-60B aircraft. Pascagoula, Miss., will perform 1.5 percent of the work.


Shipbuilding/maritime
LPD 27: The keel of Ingalls Shipbuilding’s 11th amphibious transport dock ship Portland (LPD 27) was authenticated Friday at the company's shipyard. (Post)

Week in review (7/21 to 7/27)

The first F-35 built outside the United States takes shape in Italy; Airbus posts another job opening for its Mobile final assembly line; China's AVIC buys a German engine-maker; GE's purchase of the aeronautics unit of engine-maker Avio is approved; the Air Force sweetens the pot to retain pilots; and the end of an Air Force training program at a Navy base in Milton, Fla., were some of the aerospace stories of interest for the Gulf Coast region during the week.

Here's the week in review:


F-35
Lockheed Martin and the Pentagon are making progress in talks about the next two batches of F-35 fighter jets. That involves 36 planes to be purchased in the sixth production lot and 35 in the seventh. The number includes 60 F-35s for the U.S. military, and 11 for Australia, Italy, Turkey and Britain. Lockheed is building three models of the F-35 for the U.S. military and partners, Britain, Australia, Canada, Norway, Turkey, Italy, Denmark and the Netherlands. Israel and Japan are also buying the jets. Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 integrated training center. (Post)

-- Assembly of the first F-35 built outside the United States is now underway in Italy west of Milan. The 22-building complex with more than a million square feet of covered space is jointly operated by Lockheed Martin and Alenia Aermacchi. The plant will build planes for the Italian air force and may eventually assemble planes for the Netherlands. It’s also committed to building wings. (Post)

According to AINonline, the rear fuselage for the first Italian-assembled F-35 was built by BAE Systems in Samlesbury, UK, the forward fuselage and wing by Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, Texas, and the center fuselage by Northrop Grumman in Palmdale, Calif. The plant near Milan will put it all together at the final assembly line, much like workers in Mobile, Ala., will put together the A320 jetliners at Brookley Aeroplex.

-- Lockheed is looking toward the international community for sales to keep the F-35 program aloft in an age of sequestration. Over the next five years close to 50 percent of F-35 orders will come from international customers, according to Chief Executive Marillyn Hewson. In the pre-sequestration fiscal 2014 budget, the Pentagon plans to order more than 300 F-35s in all three variants in the next five years. (Post)

-- In Fort Worth, Texas, the 100th F-35, the first aircraft destined for Luke Air Force Base in Glendale, Ariz., has entered the last stage of final assembly. The conventional takeoff and landing aircraft, AF-41, is scheduled to arrive at the base next year. Luke will eventually have 144 aircraft and will be the largest F-35 base in the world. (Post)


Airbus
Airbus Americas is looking for a quality conformance specialist for the A320 final assembly line being built at the Brookley Aeroplex in Mobile, Ala. The successful candidate will work with the company’s quality project team in Hamburg, Germany. The successful candidate will be responsible for designing how quality inspections will be performed at Airbus’ first U.S. assembly line. Airbus broke ground in April on the $600 million A320 assembly line, which will employ 1,000 people when it reaches full annual production. (Post)

-- American Airlines took delivery of its first A320 family aircraft at a ceremony at Airbus facilities in Hamburg, Germany. Representatives from American Airlines, Airbus and engine-maker CFM International were on hand. American’s A319s will seat 128 passengers and is the first A319 to feature sharklet wingtip devices that improve fuel efficiency. Sharklets will be standard on all A320neo family. (Post)

-- RAK Airways of the northern Gulf emirate of Ras Al Khaimah said it's in talks with Boeing, Airbus and Bombardier about an order for at least 10 single-aisle aircraft to meet expansion plans. RAK is looking at the Boeing 737-800, Airbus A320 and the CSeries jet from Bombardier, and hopes to make a choice by the end of the year. (Post)


Corporate changes
China's Aviation Industries Corp. (AVIC) is buying Germany's Thielert Aircraft Engines GmbH and shifting the supplier's focus from military drones to private aircraft. Bloomberg reports that AVIC International Holding Ltd. plans to leverage Thielert's civil propeller-engine operations to capitalize on an anticipated private aviation boom. AVIC purchased Mobile-based engine maker Continental Motors for $186 million in April 2011 and also bought Minnesota-based planemaker Cirrus Aircraft. (Post)

-- The Federal Trade Commission OKd General Electric's purchase of the aeronautics unit of engine-maker Avio SpA, Italy's manufacturer of aviation propulsion components and systems for civil and military aircraft. GE agreed not to interfere with the development of a key engine component for United Technologies Pratt and Whitney, an aircraft engine maker that competes with GE.

The FTC had been concerned the $4.3 billion acquisition of Avio's aviation business from Cinven, a private equity firm that has owned Avio since 2006, would be anticompetitive. GE and Pratt and Whitney are the sole firms that make engines for the Airbus A320neo. The European Commission earlier this month also cleared the purchase. Airbus will be building A320neo jets in Mobile, Ala. (Post)


Military aviation
A salary up to $97,400 and a signing bonus of $225,000 may help the Air Force replenish
its fighter pilot ranks. The shortfall of 200 this year could grow to 700 by 2021 if something isn't done, officials said. The Air Force wants veteran pilots to make a nine-year commitment to fly fighters.

The problem is, many of them find the lure of being a commercial pilot hard to resist. The competition between the military and airlines for pilots promises to be fierce in the future as airlines seek out young talent to replace retirees. Boeing last year estimated a global need for 460,000 new commercial pilots over the next two decades.

Pilots from all branches are learning to fly F-35s at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and Air Force pilots train on F-22s at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. Naval aviators have initial training in Florida at Pensacola and Milton. (Post)

-- A 19-year arrangement ended during the week when the last Air Force pilot finished his instrumentation test. Nearly 100 Air Force student pilots annually have taken the main phase of their flight training at Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Fla., while a like number of Navy pilots have trained at Vance Air Force Base in Enid, Okla.

But the services decided to end the reciprocal agreement to save travel expenses and trim other associated costs. However, 18 Air Force instructors will continue to be based at Whiting to help train naval and Coast Guard students. (Post)

-- Lt. Col. Dorene Ross is the new commander of the 335th Training Squadron. Lt. Col. Bradley McAlpine relinquished command during a ceremony July 22 at the Roberts Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Facility at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. (Post)


Space
Two congressmen are concerned NASA might award use of a Kennedy Space Center launch pad in Florida to a company that wants exclusive use. The two members of the House subcommittee that approves NASA budgets said Launch Complex 39A is a unique, tax-funded asset that should be available to multiple rocket launchers. SpaceX and Blue Origin are known to have submitted proposals. (Post)

The folks at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and Stennis Space Center, Miss., are likely keeping a close eye on how this plays out. They are both involved in NASA and commercial space programs.

-- Astronauts at Johnson Space Center in Houston got a look at Boeing's CST-100 space capsule during the week. Boeing is one of the companies building spacecraft to fly astronauts to and from ISS. SpaceX and Sierra Nevada are also building them. (Post)


Shipbuilding/maritime
DDG 1001: Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pasacagoula, Miss., has delivered the final aft peripheral vertical launch system assemblies for the Navy's second Zumwalt-class guided missile destroyer, Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001), being built in by General Dynamics' Bath Iron Works in Maine. (Post)

Week in review (7/14 to 7/20)

A possible name change for EADS; an upward revision of numbers for Airbus; the crash of a second target drone in a week at Tyndall Air Force Base; delivery of an upgraded version of the Fire Scout unmanned helicopter to the Navy; kudos for an F-35 flight equipment team; the launch of the Navy’s second MUOS satellite; a target date to launch Orbital Sciences' cargo spacecraft; an update on a resort being built on Air Force property near Fort Walton Beach; and a change of command were some of the aerospace stories of interest for the Gulf Coast region during the week.

Here's the week in review:

Airbus
The European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co., or EADS, is considering changing the company's name to the Airbus Group. That's according to Reuters. The change would reflect the success of the company's commercial aircraft sales, two thirds of EADS revenue. The value of the commercial jet sales is expected to increase as airlines move towards more fuel-efficient models. Some of those jetliners will eventually be build along the Gulf Coast. Airbus broke ground in April on an A320 assembly line at Brookley Aeroplex in Mobile, Ala. (Post)

Airbus, by the way, has raised its order target for 2013 to more than 1,000 aircraft, compared with a previous goal of over 800, sales chief John Leahy told Reuters. That puts Airbus on course to beat its 2012 gross order tally of 914 aircraft. Airbus is trying to regain leadership of the $100 billion annual jet market after Boeing grabbed the top spot in both orders and deliveries last year. So far Boeing is winning this year's order race. (Post)

-- Why did Airbus opt to put that assembly line in Mobile? Airbus Americas Chairman Allan McArtor wrote that it all boils down to the relationship Airbus and Mobile had built over the years. McArtor wrote in a guest column for CNBC that Airbus felt Mobile and Alabama would be the ones to stand with the company and meet its needs.

The relationship goes back to the years when EADS, Airbus' parent company, was competing to build tankers for the Air Force. That contract eventually went to Boeing, but it started a relationship that eventually resulted in the A320 assembly line. The first Mobile-assembled A320 will be delivered in 2016. (Post)


Unmanned
Northrop Grumman delivered the first upgraded version of the Fire Scout unmanned helicopter to the U.S. Navy earlier this month. The new MQ-8C uses a larger airframe than the MQ-8B Fire Scout. But both aircraft share proven software, avionics, payloads and ship ancillary equipment.

The upgraded Fire Scout responds to an urgent need to provide the Navy with increased endurance, range and payload. It has three times the payload and double the endurance of the MQ-8B, which currently operates on Navy frigates and in Afghanistan. The first deployment of the upgraded MQ-8 system with the MQ-8C Fire Scout aircraft will be in 2014. Fire Scouts are built in part in Moss Point, Miss. (Post)

-- An unmanned Air Force QF-4 target drone assigned to the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group crashed on the drone runway during take-off during the week, forcing the closing of U.S. 98 for a day. Target drones are equipped with a self-destruct charge powered by a short-life battery that takes 24 hours to fully deplete, and it was a matter of safety to close the road.

The crash occurred while a second drone was in the air. That drone, as planned, was destroyed by a missile over the Gulf of Mexico. The drones assigned to the 53rd WEG run about 100 missions each year and are used as targets for manned aircraft. Just a week earlier another QF-4, which will ultimately be replaced by QF-16s, was destroyed near Port St. Joe after it veered from its planned flight path. (Post)


F-35
Lockheed Martin was awarded a $70.4 million modification to a previously awarded advance acquisition contract to provide long lead-time parts, material and components required for the delivery of seven conventional take off and landing F-35 aircraft and one short take-off vertical landing F-35 for the government of Italy. (Post)

-- Lockheed Martin recently delivered the 100th Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS) for the F-35. It combines forward-looking infrared and infrared search and track functionality to provide pilots with situational awareness and air-to-air and air-to-surface targeting from a safe distance.

Lockheed Martin is producing EOTS under the seventh low-rate initial production contract. Components are made at the company's Ocala, Fla., and Santa Barbara, Calif., facilities. Lockheed Martin also makes the low observable window for the aircraft at the company's Orlando, Fla., facility. (Post)

-- One of the Air Force's newest aircrew flight equipment teams is now the Air Force's best. The 33rd Fighter Wing's aircrew flight equipment flight at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., was chosen the best in the Air Force in the small program category for 2012. The wing is the only unit to fly and train on the F-35A fifth generation fighter. (Post)

-- The first F-35B is now at Cherry Point Fleet Readiness Center East in North Carolina to undergo modifications. Workers will reinforce hinges on doors that allow the F-35B to take off and land vertically as part of the first modification to the jets. Such modifications are common once an aircraft joins the fleet. Lt. Col. Steve C. Gillette, of Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501, flew the F-35 unescorted from Elgin Air Force Base, Fla., to Cherry Point on July 9. (Post)


Space
The Navy's second Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite was launched Friday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., atop an Atlas V. The system is a key step in providing enhanced satellite communications for the Navy and Department of Defense. MUOS is a next-generation narrowband tactical satellite communications system designed to improve beyond-line-of-sight communications for U.S. forces.

MUOS will provide military users 10 times more communications capacity over the existing system by leveraging 3G mobile technology, including simultaneous voice and data capability. Work on the core propulsion system for the MUOS, an A2100 satellite-based spacecraft, is done at Stennis Space Center, Miss. (Post)

-- A measure to create a commission to look at consolidating Alabama's Marshall Space Flight Center and Mississippi's Stennis Space Center was withdrawn at the last minute Thursday. Rep. Donna Edwards, D-Md., who represents an area where Goddard Space Flight Center is located, was reportedly upset over cuts in programs managed by Goddard.

Her amendment would have directed the BRAC-like panel to study MSFC and SSC "to determine if their rocket-related activities should be combined in one location." The measure also directed the panel to look at moving Marshall's work to Stennis or Houston's Johnson Space Center. (Post)

-- Orbital Sciences' cargo spacecraft is set to make its first flight to the International Space Station in September. The Dulles, Va., company has a launch window between Sept. 14 and 19 for the Cygnus cargo ship. It will be launched atop an Orbital Science Antares rocket. Orbital was awarded a NASA contract to provide at least eight resupply flights to the ISS. The first stage Antares is powered by twin Aerojet AJ26 engines tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss. (Post)


Bases
Construction crews are less than a year away from completing a resort in Northwest Florida being developed under an enhanced use lease (EUL) with the Air Force. The Holiday Inn Resort, slated to open in the spring of 2014, is being built on 17 acres of land on Santa Rosa Island owned by Eglin Air Force Base.

The land is used to perform telemetry testing by the 96th Test Wing. The developer will provide infrastructure for Eglin’s 96th Test Wing to install test monitoring equipment on the hotel’s roof that previously sat at ground level. The construction team is getting ready to pour the fifth floor sometime before August. (Post)

-- Col. Daniel J. Orcutt, former Strategy Division chief of the 609th Air Operations Center in Southwest Asia, received the guidon and command of the 505th Command and Control Wing during a change of command ceremony at Hurlburt Field, Fla., July 9. He took over from Col. Mustafa Koprucu. Maj. Gen. Jeffery Lofgren, the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center commander, presided over the ceremony. (Post)


Shipbuilding/maritime
Contract: Science Applications International Corp., McLean, Va., was awarded a $10.2 million modification under a previously awarded contract to exercise an option for services supporting Military Sealift Command's information technology ashore operations. Some of the work, 2.4 percent, will be done in Pensacola, Fla. (Post)

Workers: Ingalls Shipbuilding of Pascagoula, Miss., has applied for a $1.3 million Hurricane Katrina-related community development block grant to add a basic skills training annex to the nearly complete Haley Reeves Barbour Maritime Training Academy. (Post)

Week in review (7/7 to 7/13)

If you're interested in unmanned systems and robotics, this was the week for you. On Wednesday, history was made when an unmanned jet the size of a fighter landed on the deck of a carrier. The next day DARPA unveiled a robot designed to come to the aid of humans during natural and man-made disasters. But almost as a reminder that much work still needs to be done, another robot aircraft, this one a target drone, crashed in the Gulf of Mexico after it went haywire.

Welcome to the age of the Robo sapiens.

The story that grabbed a lot of headlines was the landing of a Northrop Grumman-built X-47B fighter on the deck of a carrier off the coast of Virginia. True, it's not the first time an unmanned aerial vehicle has landed on a moving ship. Northrop Grumman's unmanned Fire Scout helicopters have done so for quite some time now, and smaller unmanned aircraft have been caught in huge nets aboard ships.

But this was a plane that landed on the ship autonomously, using GPS navigation, a high-integrity network connection and advanced flight control software to guide itself through the turbulent air behind the aircraft carrier and onto the moving flight deck, just like generations of naval aviators have done.

The take away – and no doubt it was not lost on the new generation of pilots being trained by the Navy – is that the robot was able to perform what it takes a long time for a human to master. The X-47B was even able to determine on its own to abort a third attempted landing and return to Naval Air Statiaon Patuxent River, Md.

"It isn't very often you get a glimpse of the future. Today, those of us aboard USS George H.W. Bush got that chance,” said Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus about the landing by "Salty Dog 502." What's really remarkable is it was just this past May that the X-47B successfully performed a catapult launch from the same ship, CVN 77. (Post)

For the Gulf Coast, the landing was significant for several reasons, not the least of which is that Northrop Grumman builds portions of two unmanned aircraft, Fire Scout and Global Hawk, in Moss Point, Miss. In addition, one of the X-47Bs will eventually be put on display at Pensacola's National Naval Aviation Museum, according to the Pensacola News Journal.

This is also the region where naval aviators begin initial training and where pilots learn to fly the fifth-generation F-35, F-22 fighters. It's also where the military regularly flies unmanned systems, ranging in size from hand-held systems to plane-sized target drones. And the Gulf Coast is also the home of Florida's Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, a recognized leaders in robotics.

A team from Pensacola's IHMC will be going up against other top robotics teams in the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency Robotics Challenge in December at the Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla., with a final challenge a year later for the $2 million prize.

IHMC may be considered a team to beat by virtue of the initial stage of the competition. The IHMC team won first place in the virtual challenge, where the competitors' software programs were used in computer simulations (Post). IHMC beat 25 other competitors, scoring 52 of a possible 60 points – way better than the other teams. For the next part of the challenge, competitors will use the software in an actual robot. (Recent column)

That robot was unveiled Thursday (Story). Dubbed Atlas, it's a somewhat intimidating looking 6-2, 330 pound robot with a huge chest and extra-long arms designed to help with disaster response. Created by Boston Dynamics, its hydraulically powered and equipped with both laser and stereo vision systems. It will be used as part of the challenge where teams will compete to provide Atlas with a variety of moves that might be required in disaster response. IHMC will be getting its Atlas later this month.

But before we get too carried away about the robotic future, there was another event with a drone that reminds us a lot of work still needs to be done. A drone aircraft out of Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., plunged into the Gulf of Mexico near St. Joseph Peninsula State Park after it was destroyed by ground controllers.

Tyndall officials said the unmanned Air Force QF-4 target drone assigned to the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group was destroyed after it went "haywire." The Vietnam-era Phantom, converted to fly without a pilot, carries a self-destruct charge and was destroyed as it returned to base after a routine operation. That drone is being replaced by QF-16 drones, unmanned Falcon jets. (Post)

Stay tuned, readers.


Space
NASA is offering its expertise and test facilities to potential lunar-lander partners who might be able to help mount scientific missions to the Moon as early as 2018. A July 2 request for information seeks concepts for an industry-developed robotic lander for NASA and commercial missions. Responses are due Aug. 2.

NASA is proposing no-exchange-of-funds partnerships to private companies willing to put up funding for lander development. NASA is piggybacking on the Google Lunar X Prize, $30 million in prizes to teams that can land a robotic spacecraft on the lunar surface. Right now 22 teams worldwide are in the running, working against a deadline of Dec. 31, 2015. NASA has two facilities in the Gulf Coast region: Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans. (Post)


F-35
The Integrated Training Center at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., has trained the 100th pilot to fly an F-35. Maj. Robert Miller chalked up the milestone when he took to the skies above Eglin July 9. The joint service partners at Eglin have flown 2,292 F-35 hours and have 28 aircraft, the largest fleet of F-35s in the world. About 100 pilots and 2,200 maintainers will be qualified annually through the training system at the base. (Post)


Airbus
The U.K.'s easyJet firmed up an order for 35 A320s with currently available engines and 100 that will be powered by new, more fuel-efficient engines. EasyJet is the U.K.’s largest airline, carrying 55 million passengers a year. It’s also the largest A320 family customer and operator in Europe. (Post)


Airports/bases
Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport near Panama City, Fla., needs new hangars to lure a top tier aerospace company, according to Bay County Economic Development Alliance Director Neal Wade. He wants two hangars at a cost of some $30 million.

Wade said a couple of potential sources for funding are being worked. Airport Executive Director Parker W. McClellan agreed. He said that if one hangar opened, there could be 50 to 200 additional acres of property that could be developed.

Wade noted that in April, an aircraft maintenance company announced the opening of a 400,000-square-foot facility at Alabama's Dothan Regional Airport. The availability of hangar space was key, Wade said. (Post)

-- Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., got a tip of the hat from the Air Force's chief scientist, Mica Endsely. It was during a breakfast during the week that was hosted by the Air Force Association. National Defense magazine reported that Endsley said the future will bring many challenges to Air Force science and technology initiatives. She said the Air Force needs to look at how to better enable rapid innovation, prototyping and testing.

That's when Eglin was mentioned.

"I was down in Eglin a few weeks ago, and I saw where they're developing new munitions systems and new approaches," she said. "They're taking it out on the range right there, testing them, getting rapid data, and coming back and being able to iterate their product and their ideas very rapidly. That's the kind of thing we need to be doing,” she said. (Story)

-- Col. Jay Jensen, commander of the 403rd Wing at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss., is going to the Pentagon to be senior Air Force policy administrator for the Reserve Forces Policy Board. A new commander will take over the 403rd at the end of this month. The makeup of the 403rd is changing. (Post)

-- The National Naval Aviation Museum is now closed Mondays because of sequestration. The new opening days will remain in effect through September. The museum, which has no cover charge, is closed on Mondays because federal employees handle management of the museum. (Post)

-- Twenty-nine civilian positions will be eliminated at Naval Air Station Pensacola later this year. Another 15 will be eliminated at Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Milton, Fla. In Pensacola, jobs are being cut from force protection, command management and morale, welfare and recreation. The Reduction in Force will occur Nov. 30. (Post)


Air show
Although sequestration grounded the Navy Blue Angels from participating in the summer air show at Pensacola Beach, Fla., the show was held Friday and Saturday with an all-civilian lineup. The crowd was not as large as it is when the Blue Angels fly, but folks came out nontheless. The Blue Angels' home is at nearby Naval Air Station Pensacola. (Post)


Workforce/education
GE Aviation, which opened its Ellisville, Miss., plant in May, is now renting laboratory space in The Accelerator innovation center in nearby Hattiesburg, to train new employees to make components for jet engines. Two other new businesses are Vatican Capital, a private equity investment firm that moved to The Accelerator in March, and Radiance Technologies, which moved in at the beginning of the year. The Accelerator business incubator was developed by the University of Southern Mississippi. (Post)


Contracts
SRI International, Menlo Park, Calif., was awarded a $230 million contract for hardware, software, prototype systems, spiral software enhancements and installation training support for the Digital Video Laboratory III. Air Force Test Center/PZIE, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity.


Shipbuilding/maritime
Workers: The demand for jobs in South Mississippi's maritime industry is higher than ever. Huntington Ingalls, VT Halter Marine, both in Pascagoula, and Trinity Yachts in Gulfport are constantly seeking skilled workers for new projects. (Post)

Supply vessels: Edison Chouest Offshore of Galliano, La., will build more than 40 new vessels to meet demand for offshore oil and gas support in the Gulf of Mexico, the Arctic and Brazil. Most of the building will be done at Chouest's North American Shipbuilding in Larose, LaShip in Houma, Gulf Ship in Gulfport, Miss., and Tampa Ship in Tampa, Fla. (Post)

Contract: Raytheon Integrated Defense System, Portsmouth, R.I., was awarded $14.2 million for cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order #0004 under a previously awarded Basic Ordering Agreement for upgrading the AN/AQS-20A mine hunting sonar 3493-AS-780-9 configuration with a high frequency wide band forward look sonar and multi-function side looking sonar and associated components. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City Division, Panama City, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Post)

Week in review (6/30 to 7/6)

NASA has traditionally been an organization where innovation is important, and that hasn't changed in an age where commercial companies are handling low-Earth orbit missions. The agency is focusing on deep-space missions, and innovation is important to that.

A project in Huntsville, which could eventually have implications for Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, is a case in point. NASA recently successfully tested a pressurized, 8-foot diameter cryogenic propellant tank made of composite materials.

That's important for the next generation of rockets and spacecraft needed for future space exploration. Cryogenic propellants are gasses chilled to subfreezing and condensed to form combustible liquids. Propellants such as liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen are used to provide the thrust needed for large rockets. Tanks traditionally have been made out of metals, but the tank tested at Huntsville's Marshall Space Flight Center is a potential game-changer.

Switching from metallic to composite construction could increase performance through a dramatic reduction in weight. A potential initial target application for the composite technology is an upgrade to the upper stage of NASA's Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket.

"This investment in game changing space technology will help enable NASA's exploration of deep space while directly benefiting American industrial capability in the manufacturing and use of composites," Michael Gazarik, NASA's associate administrator for space technology at NASA headquarters in Washington.

Boeing built the tank at its Tukwila, Wash. facility. NASA and Boeing are in the process of manufacturing an 18 foot-diameter composite tank that also will be tested at Marshall next year. (Story)

The Gulf Coast region is heavily involved in advanced materials work, notably at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Miss., and at Florida State University's High-Performance Materials Institute in Tallahassee, Fla. In addition, Michoud is where the Orion and core stage of SLS are being built, and SSC is where the engines will all be tested.

- Lockheed Martin delivered the third of four highly elliptical earth orbit (HEO) satellite payloads as part of the Air Force’s Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS). The SBIRS program, which provides improved missile warning capabilities, include four HEO payloads, four GEO satellites, and ground assets to receive, process, and disseminate the infrared mission data. SBIRS is an A2100 satellite-based spacecraft, and work on the A2100 core's propulsion system, which positions the spacecraft in orbit, is done at Stennis Space Center, Miss. (Post)


Airbus/EADS
Syphax Airlines of Tunisia has confirmed its order to buy three fuel-efficient A320neo jetliners and three A320, all powered by CFM International engines. The list price of an A320neo is $100.2 million and the A320 is $91.5 million. The company announced plans to buy the planes at the recent Paris Air Show. Airbus broke ground in April on a $600 million A320 final assembly line in Mobile, Ala. (Post)

- EADS North America, Herndon, Va., was awarded a $12.9 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, option-filled contract for contractor logistics support for the Army's aviation assets. Work will be performed in Columbus, Miss. (Post) In addition to the Lakota helicopter plant in Columbus, EADS also has operations in Mobile, Ala.


F-35/training
Northrop Grumman won a training-simulation contract potentially worth $490 million to support the Air Force's next-generation air-combat virtual-training network. Northrop Grumman Information Systems of Herndon, Va., was awarded the follow-on support for the Combat Air Force Distributed Mission Operations and Integration program.

The system will connect dissimilar combat-aircraft simulators, from fighters to refueling aircraft, to the same interactive trainer. The F-35 pilot-training center at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., one of the centers that will be connect to the Air Force's mission-operations training network. (Post)

- United Technologies Corp., Pratt & Whitney Military Engines, East Hartford, Conn., was awarded a $134 million modification to a previously awarded advance acquisition contract. This modification provides for non-recurring and recurring sustainment, site activation and depot activation efforts in support of the Joint Strike Fighter F135 Propulsion System Low Rate Initial Production Lot VI. (Post)

- Lockheed Martin received a $12.7 million contract modification to supply the final batch of automatic backup oxygen supply (A-BOS) systems for the F-22 Raptor fleet. F-22 pilots are trained at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. (Post)


Bases
Col. Patrick Higby next month will become commander of the 81st Training Wing at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss. He'll be replacing Brig. Gen. Brad Spacy, who has been named director for logistics, installations and mission support for the European Air Force command at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, according to the Sun Herald. Spacy has been commander at Keesler since May 2012. Higby is currently deputy commander of the White House Communications Agency at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C. (Story)

- Over at Hurlburt Field, Fla., Col. Bill West took command of the 1st Special Operations Wing in a change of command ceremony during the week. West, a navigator, comes to Hurlburt from the 27th Special Operations Group at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico. He succeeds Col. Jim Slife, who has headed the wing for two years. (Post)

At nearby Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., Col. Christopher Riga took over as commander of the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) during a change of command ceremony. He's the group’s third commander since it moved from Fort Bragg, N.C., to its new 500-acre cantonment in Eglin Air Force Base. Riga replaces Col. Antonio Fletcher, who has served as commander of the 7th Special Forces Group for two years. (Post)

- Eglin Air Force Base's northwest gate will be closed beginning Monday because of manpower issues from civilian furloughs, according to the Northwest Florida Daily News. It will remain closed until the furloughs are lifted, said Lois Walsh, a spokeswoman for Eglin. That could mean September. An estimated 40,000 vehicles use Eglin's four gates each day. Of those, about 2,000 go through the northwest gate. (Story)

- Sequestration has hit the region’s base commissaries. In Florida, commissaries at Pensacola Naval Exchange near Corry Station and Eglin Air Force base are among 247 commissaries that will be closed on Mondays. The commissary at Keesler Air Force Base, Biloxi, Miss., will also be closed Monday.

About 148 other commissaries will close Tuesdays as well. The list includes Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Hurlburt Field and Tyndall in Florida, Naval Construction Battalion Center Gulfport, Naval Air Station Columbus and Naval Air Station Meridian, all in Mississippi, and Naval Air Station/Joint Reserve Base New Orleans in Belle Chasse, La. (Post)

A feature story was published during the week in the Northwest Florida Daily News about the 4th Special Operations Squadron, which is getting a much-needed break after 12 years of nearly constant deployment. The squadron, which provides close air support for Special Operations ground troops, has been in high demand that whole time. Airmen have been deploying and coming home in two- or three-month cycles the entire time. (Story)


Airports
Sunil Harman begins work July 23 as Okaloosa County's new airport director. Harman, who has worked as Tallahassee’s aviation director since 2011, was chosen from 175 applicants. He will oversee Northwest Florida Regional Airport, Destin Airport and Bob Sikes Airport in Crestview. Harman replaces Greg Donovan, who left in March 1. (Post)

A proposed change to Okaloosa County’s land development code would prohibit private or residential airports from operating on the waterfront. The policy change also would restrict private airports to one of three zoning areas: agricultural, institutional or airport industrial park. County commissioners held the first of two public hearings on the change Tuesday. The second hearing is scheduled for July 16 in Fort Walton Beach. There's been some concern over helicopter sightseeing businesses adding to air traffic congestion. (Story)


Shipbuilding/maritime
Contract: Raytheon Integrated Defense System, Portsmouth, R.I., was awarded $14.2 million for cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order #0004 under a previously awarded Basic Ordering Agreement for upgrading the AN/AQS-20A mine hunting sonar 3493-AS-780-9 configuration with a high frequency wide band forward look sonar and multi-function side looking sonar and associated components. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City Division, Panama City, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Post)