Record four Fire Scouts deploy

The guided missile frigate USS Klakring left Mayport, Fla., on Friday with a record four Fire Scout unmanned helicopters for a six-month deployment. The drones will operate up to 12 hours per day, testing their ability to linger in the air for long periods to provide real-time surveillance. Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light 42 will operate the drones in support of operations off the Horn of Africa. HSL-42 has worked with the MQ-8B since 2008 when the USS McInerney was retrofitted for the Fire Scout's first deployment. Last year HSL-42 deployed with two Fire Scouts and an H-60 helicopter aboard USS Halyburton. Three Fire Scouts are also operating in Afghanistan. (Sources: Naval Air Systems Command, UT San Diego, 06/29/12) Gulf Coast note: Fire Scouts are built in part in Moss Point, Miss., at the Northrop Grumman Unmanned Systems Center.

Contract: Raytheon, $8.8M

Raytheon Co., Missile Systems, Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded an $8,796,079 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to procure hardware in the loop facility upgrade and study. The location of the performance is Tucson, Ariz. Work is to be completed by June 30, 2013. AAC/EBAD, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 06/29/12)

Contract: Sierra Nevada, $45M

Sierra Nevada Corp., Sparks, Nev., is being awarded a $45,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, and cost-no-fee contract to procure products and services in support of the Precision Strike Package Program. The location of the performance is Englewood, Colo. Work is to be completed by Oct. 29, 2012. AAC/PKES, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 06/29/12)

Plant would be watershed event

A320. Airbus photo

There will be no official announcement until Monday regarding the reports that Airbus will build an A320 assembly plant in Mobile, Ala. But there's little doubt the addition of an airliner assembly plant would provide the already active Gulf Coast aerospace region with an entirely new capability that could mark a watershed event for the region. (Source: GCAC, 06/29/12)

Neighbor courts ST Aerospace

MOBILE, Ala. -- As Mobile chased new aerospace projects this spring, officials from nearby Pensacola, Fla., were in town courting ST Aerospace Mobile. Win Hallett, president and chief executive officer of the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, told the Press-Register that a Pensacola delegation visited with ST Aerospace executives this spring to lure part or all of the 1,000-employee airplane repair company's operations. It's not clear which side initiated the contact. ST Aerospace Mobile President Joseph Ng did not immediately return calls requesting comment. Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward, through a spokesman, declined to comment. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 06/28/12) Previous post of Mobile operation moving to Pensacola.

Reports: Airbus to build Mobile plant

Airbus will build its first assembly line in the United States in Mobile, Ala., according to the New York Times, Bloomberg and the Mobile Press-Register. The plan calls for an investment of several hundred million dollars in a plant that could eventually assemble dozens of 150-seat A320 jets each year. The Mobile Press-Register reported the announcement will be made Monday in Mobile that Airbus plans to build A320neo aircraft at Brookley Aeroplex. Multiple company, state and local officials confirmed to the paper that an agreement was in place and that company president Fabrice Bregier was scheduled to announce the project at a 10 a.m. news conference at the Mobile Convention Center. (Source: New York Times, Bloomberg via Seattle Times, Mobile Press-Register, 06/27/12) Airbus parent EADS had planned to build a plant at Mobile's Brookley Aeroplex to assemble tankers for the Air Force, but Boeing won the contract and is building the planes in Washington state. Mobile officials continued to maintain a close relationship EADS/Airbus after the tanker loss. Mobile is also the home of an Airbus Engineering Center and military aircraft maintenance facility.

Contract: Raytheon, $34M

Raytheon Co., Missile Systems, Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded a $34,064,647 cost-plus-fixed-fee with performance incentives contract to procure electronic protection improvement program. The location of the performance is Tucson, Ariz. Work is to be completed by Oct. 31, 2015. AAC/EBAD, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 06/26/12)

Major awarded DFC

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- A weapons flight commander with the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for action May 2, 2011 when deployed to Nuristan Province, Afghanistan. Maj. John Caldwell, at the time a captain piloting an F-16, responded to an ambush on a special operations team that was taking casualties. His award citation said the pilot employed an immediate, nonstandard, danger close strafe run into the rugged, midnight black valley as the enemy continued to fire with rounds impacting inches from the trapped allies. Caldwell then re-attacked with an expertly placed, danger close Joint Direct Attack Munition, completely neutralizing the ambush. The DFC narration said the presence of Caldwell prevented a catastrophic loss of American lives and directly turned the tide of this engagement. (Source: Eglin Public Affairs, 06/25/12)

Machinists to vote Thursday

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Machinists will vote Thursday on a tentative agreement reached by Lockheed Martin and the union to end a nine-week strike at a fighter jet plant in Fort Worth and two other sites. About 3,600 workers went on strike in April over proposed changes in health benefits and a Lockheed plan to stop offering a traditional pension to newly hired workers. The plant in Fort Worth builds F-35s and F-16s. (Source: multiple, including Reuters, 06/25/12, New York Times, 06/24/12) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 training center.

Eglin seeks drone control software

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- An industry day will be held June 28 in advance of a Request For Proposals for systems engineering and software engineering support for custom software to operate unmanned aircraft. The revised pre-solicitation notice says the software is for the automated control of full-scale and sub-scale aerial targets of the Gulf Range Drone Control System (GRDCS). It covers system programming, drone control software, calibration, graphics and more. (Source: Defense Systems, 06/25/12) The GRDCS is used to control drones, ground vehicles, collect and display time space position information data for aircraft and surface vehicles, and control aircraft instrumentation. GRDCS support will be provided by the contractor at the Central Control Facility at Eglin, but support may be required at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., White Sands Missile Range, N.M., or the Utah Test and Training Range or other locations. The Air Force anticipates issuing an RFP for a single, three-year and 45-day contract and two, one-year option periods. Solicitation

Florida wants drone test site

Count Florida among the states interested in landing one of six unmanned aerial system test sites. Space Florida's board recently approved spending up to $1.4 million to try to win one of the sites Congress has directed the Federal Aviation Administration to establish by the end of the year. The test sites will have the goal of finding ways to let unmanned systems operate in the same space as piloted aircraft. (Source: Florida Today, 06/23/12) Right now, drones can only fly in military airspace and locations that have received FAA Certificates of Authorization. Previous posts: Test site selection starts; Shelby picked for UAV center; Mississippi player in growth field

Hotel on AF land raises issues

FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. -- Questions have been raised about whether the developer of a hotel on land owned by Eglin Air Force Base will have to pay property taxes. The Emerald Breeze Resort Group signed a 50-year deal with the Air Force under the enhanced use leasing program to build and manage a resort on Okaloosa Island. The island is home to a number of hotels that pay the tax since they are not on Air Force land. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 06/19/12)

The next Austin?

PENSACOLA BEACH, Fla. -- The two-year-old Gulf Coast Patent Association held its summer meeting at Pensacola Beach Friday to explore "the economic development wheel." The meeting attracted about 30 participants from Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, including patent attorneys, technology transfer professionals, angel investors and others who discussed bringing innovations to the marketplace. At least one patent attorney said he thinks there's a big future for the Gulf Coast region, pointing out how Austin, Texas, changed over the years into a booming technology center. He and others think the same thing can happen in this region. The Gulf Coast has research and development activities in a host of fields, including aerospace, marine science, advanced materials and more. The Patent Association was launched at Stennis Space Center, Miss., and has expanded to draw in members from across the Gulf Coast region. (Source: GCAC, 06/23/12)

Squadron leader dismissed

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- The commander of the Osprey squadron that lost an aircraft in a crash last week has been dismissed. According to reports, the Air Force lost confidence in Lt. Col. Matt Glover, who headed Hurlburt Field's 8th Special Operations Squadron since May 2011. The CV-22 tiltrotor crashed June 13 at Eglin Air Force Base, injuring five airmen. The cause is being investigated, but mechanical failure is not considered a factor. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, AOL Defense, 06/21/12)

SLS core passes review

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- The core stage of the Space Launch System has passed a major technical review. The core of the heavy-lift launch vehicle will be more than 200 feet tall. Engineers from NASA and Boeing of Huntsville presented a full set of system requirements, design concepts and production approaches to technical reviewers and the independent review board. The core is being designed and developed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville and built at the agency's Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans. (Source: PRNewswire, 06/21/12) Stennis Space Center, Miss., is testing engines for the Space Launch System.

Airman released from hospital

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- A Hurlburt Field airman was released from the hospital, and two remain hospitalized for injuries received when their tilt-rotor aircraft crashed during a routine training mission north of Navarre, Fla. on the Eglin Range June 13. Capt. Brett Cassidy was discharged from Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola on June 19. Tech. Sgt. Edilberto Malave was moved to West Florida Rehab. Staff Sgt. Sean McMahon remains hospitalized at Sacred Heart in stable condition. (Source: 1st Special Operations Wing, 06/20/12) Previous

Congress balks at BRAC

WASHINGTON -- Both the House and Senate Armed Services committees have produced spending bills that deny Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta's request to set up a Base Realignment and Closure Commission next year. Panetta has said he needs to close bases and small installations to help him achieve $487 billion in congressionally mandated spending cuts over 10 years. (Source: Washington Times, 06/20/12)

Michoud team recognized

NEW ORLEANS -- NASA's Orion Program hosted an employee recognition event for the Michoud Assembly Facility Orion team members to coincide with a milestone. The NASA team has been putting the finishing touches on the first space-bound Orion capsule. They completed the Orion pathfinder weld, essentially a practice operation, in preparation for the final weld. Then the team will do final inspections before preparing the capsule for its move to Florida's Kennedy Space Center at the end of June for final assembly and checkout. NASA's unmanned Exploration Flight Test-1 is scheduled for 2014. The first Orion spacecraft will be launched atop a Delta IV rocket operated by United Launch Alliance. The mission will take Orion to an altitude of more than 3,600 miles, more than 15 times farther away from Earth than the International Space Station. (Source: NASA, 06/20/12) Stennis Space Center, Miss., tests the engines that will be used in the Space Launch System, the rocket that will be used for future Orion missions.

Contract: Lockheed Martin, $20M

Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $20,103,000 advance acquisition contract to provide long lead-time parts, material and components required for the delivery of two Low Rate Initial Production Lot VII F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter Conventional Takeoff and Landing aircraft for the government of Norway. Work will be performed in Texas, California, the United Kingdom, Florida, New Hampshire and Maryland. Work is expected to be completed in June 2013. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 06/20/12) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 training center.

Khobar Towers ceremony set

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The 33d Fighter Wing community is hosting the annual Khobar Towers Memorial Ceremony June 25 at 8 a.m. at the Nomad Memorial. Members of the tri-service F-35 Joint Strike Fighter team will honor the 12 Nomads and seven other airmen killed in the Khobar Towers terrorist bombing in Saudi Arabia on June 25, 1996. This year's keynote speaker is Air Force retired Chief Master Sgt. Troy A. Lowe, who was the senior enlisted advisor to the wing during the bombing. (Source: Eglin Air Force Base Public Affairs, 06/20/12)