N.O. releases tech worker report

NEW ORLEANS, La. - There are more than 37,000 technology workers in the metro New Orleans area. That's according to a report released by the Louisiana Technology Council. The workers account for more than 7 percent of the workforce, and most work in sectors not seen as traditional technology fields, like healthcare, transportation and government. The survey was conducted in conjunction with the University of New Orleans and Louisiana Economic Development. (Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 12/30/08) One large group of technology workers can be found at the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility in east New Orleans.

City to pay to lease airport land

MOBILE, Ala. - The city of Mobile will have to pay about $40,000 a year to lease land at Mobile Regional Airport to build a police and fire station. City and airport officials say the Federal Aviation Administration forbids airports to lease property for less than fair market value. (Source: Mobile Press Register, 12/29/08)

NASA contracts grease private sector

NASA has awarded $3.5 billion in cargo contracts to two companies in hopes of encouraging development of a private-sector commercial space industry capable of providing the rockets that can carry passengers to the International Space Station and beyond. Space Exploration Technologies of California and Orbital Sciences of Virginia will provide 20 flights to the space station. (Source: Florida Today, 12/25/08). The Gulf Coast is involved in space activities primarily through Stennis Space Center in Mississippi and the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.

FWB losing countermeasure hub

FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. - Northrop Grumman will move its Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures system hub from Fort Walton Beach, Fla., to the Warner Robins area in Georgia. It's the result of an agreement between the Air Force and Northrop Grumman signed Dec. 11. Northrop officials designed LAIRCM to counter the increasing threat that slow-moving cargo aircraft face from shoulder-fired missiles and missiles launched from vehicles. The system detects heat-seeking missiles and puts out a signal to confuse its path and direct it away from the aircraft. (Source: Air Force News Service, 12/24/08)

UAV maritime team wins award

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Northrop Grumman’s RQ-4 Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration team was named Test Team of the Quarter for the second quarter of 2008 by the Navy's Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 20. The team won the award for achievements in the first half of the year. The team is, among other things, developing tactics and guidelines for Navy unmanned patrol systems. (Source: Globe Newswire, 12/23/08). Portions of Global Hawk are built in Moss Point, Miss.

ATK gets contract

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Alliant Techsystems received a $49 million contract from Orbital Sciences Corp. to provide at least nine flight sets of Orion solid rocket motors. The motors are used on a variety of launch vehicles, including Ground Based Missile Defense's Orbital Boost Vehicle, Minotaur, Pegasus and Taurus launch vehicles. Work will be performed by ATK in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Source: PRNewswire, 12/22/08). ATK has an operation in Shalimar, Fla.; Stennis Space Center, Miss., will test Taurus II AJ26 rocket engines for Orbital Sciences Corp. in 2009.

Stennis-made satellite item delivered

SUNNYVALE, Calif. - The Lockheed Martin-led team developing the Air Force's Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) delivered the remaining major spacecraft bus subsystem for the second geosynchronous orbit spacecraft. The GEO-2 spacecraft core structure and propulsion subsystem was recently completed and the high-performance communications subsystem for the spacecraft was delivered to Sunnyvale in early December. The propulsion subsystem, used to maneuver the satellite during transfer orbit and conducting on-orbit repositioning, was developed at Lockheed Martin's Mississippi Space & Technology Center at Stennis Space Center, Miss. (Source: Lockheed Martin, 12/22/08).

Northrop sectors win AIA awards

Northrop Grumman won two Worker Safety Excellence Awards from the Aerospace Industries Association. The company's Integrated Systems sector, which runs among other facilities Mississippi's Moss Point Unmanned Systems Center, was recognized for having the lowest injury and illness rate in the aircraft manufacturing category. The company's Electronics Systems sector was honored in the aerospace components category. The AIA cited Northrop Grumman's low workplace injury and illness rates as well as its positive safety program elements. (Source: Globe Newswire, 12/22/08). The Moss Point facility builds Global Hawks and Fire Scouts.

F-35 ground test unit rolls out

FORT WORTH, Texas - Lockheed Martin's second F-35 ground-test aircraft rolled out last week at the Fort Worth plant and in April will head to the BAE Systems Structures Laboratory in Brough, England for static testing. This F-35, AG-1, is a static test article for the conventional takeoff and landing version that will be flown by the Air Force and eight F-35 partner nations. The F-35 is being developed by Lockheed and principal partners Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems. Two interchangeable F-35 engines are being developed by Pratt & Whitney and GE Rolls-Royce. (Source: Lockheed Martin, 12/19/08). Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne and Rolls-Royce have Gulf Coast operations; Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., will be home to the F-35 joint training center.

Tanker fight: Low bid or best value?

Boeing and Northrop Grumman disagree over ground rules that should be used for the tanker competition expected next year. The companies discussed their views last week at the Reuters Aerospace and Defense Summit. Boeing, which wants to build the planes in Washington State, wants the contract to go to the low bidder, while Northrop and partner EADS, which want to build the planes in Mobile, Ala., favor a "best value" approach. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 12/21/08)

Airport Hyatt franchise OKd

PENSACOLA, Fla. - Innisfree Hotels won approval Wednesday for a Hyatt Place Hotel to be built on land owned by Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport. The 127-room Hyatt Place would be the centerpiece of a $24 million development. The site is at the main entrance to the airport. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 12/17/08)

Land buy will help protect Whiting

The governor of Florida and cabinet approved the purchase of more than 200 acres in the Clear Creek/Whiting Field area as part of the Florida Forever project. The acquisition will protect the environmentally sensitive land and prevent encroachment at Whiting Field Naval Air Station. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 12/17/08). NAS Whiting, near Milton, Fla., is a training site for naval aviators.

Northrop unveils Navy UCAV

Northrop Grumman unveiled the first of the Navy's new unmanned combat aircraft at a ceremony in Palmdale, Calif. The X-47B is the first of two aircraft Northrop Grumman will produce for the Navy to demonstrate unmanned combat aircraft operations from the deck of an aircraft carrier. (Source: Globe Newswire, 12/16/08) Northrop Grumman has multiple operations on the Gulf Coast, including an unmanned systems center in Moss Point, Miss.

Airport passenger count down

PENSACOLA, Fla. - The sour economy has caused a dip in the passenger count at Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport. From January through November of this year, 97,791 fewer passengers passed through the airport than during the same period last year — a 6 percent drop. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 12/17/08)

Okaloosa gets $300,000 in grants

SHALIMAR, Fla. - Enterprise Florida presented Okaloosa County with two grants totaling some $300,000. One was a Defense Infrastructure Grant worth $200,000, the other a $99,000 Defense Reinvestment Grant. Money from these grants is used to improve the state's defense activities. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 12/16/08)

Mobile airport buying back bonds

MOBILE, Ala. - The Mobile Airport Authority will buy back $2.75 million in bonds whose interest rate jumped when the bond market succumbed to financial turmoil this fall. (Source: Mobile Press Register, 12/16/08)

50th Lakota delivery marked

COLUMBUS, Miss. - EADS North America is hosting a ceremony Tuesday to celebrate the delivery of the 50th UH-72A Lakota Light Utility Helicopter to the Army. The ceremony will culminate with the 50th and 51st helicopters leaving the production facility of EADS North America’s American Eurocopter business unit. The event is at 11 a.m. CST. (Source: EADS North America, 12/14/08). EADS also has operations on the Gulf Coast, including an EADS CASA maintenance facility and an Airbus Engineering Center in Mobile, Ala.

SSC to test Taurus II rocket

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - John C. Stennis Space Center test the engine for the Taurus II space launch vehicle being developed by Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va. The first engine will be delivered to Stennis next year and the first Taurus II mission will be flown in support of NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services cargo demonstration to the International Space Station. The demonstration is planned for the end of 2010 from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va. Taurus II uses a pair of Aerojet AJ26 rocket engines to provide first stage propulsion for the new launch vehicle. (Source: NASA, 12/15/08)

New engineering degree eyed

MOBILE, Ala. - Alabama's community colleges could be offering a new associate's degree next fall in an effort to boost the state's engineering workforce. Higher education officials say figures show the need for 1,100 new engineers a year to meet industry demand. (Source: Mobile Press Register, 12/15/08)

Thunderbirds OK Keesler show

BILOXI, Miss. - The Thunderbirds will perform in April during Keesler Air Force Base's first air show since Hurricane Katrina. The lineup for the April 4 and 5 show also includes the Army's parachute team, The Golden Knights, a flight display by the Hurricane Hunters, a World War II-era B-25 Mitchell bomber, aircraft flown by the 81st Wing and more. (Source: The Sun Herald, 12/13/08)