Crew injuries not life-threatening

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- None of the five crew members injured when a CV-22 tilt-rotor aircraft crashed at the Eglin Air Force Base Range Wednesday has life-threatening injuries. The crew members have been identified as Maj. Brian Luce, a pilot, in stable condition at Eglin Air Force Base hospital; Capt. Brett Cassidy, a pilot, in stable condition at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola; Staff Sgt. Sean McMahon, flight engineer, in guarded condition at Sacred Heart Hospital; Tech. Sgt. Christopher Dawson, flight engineer, in stable condition at the Eglin hospital; and Tech. Sgt. Edilberto Malave, flight engineer, who is in stable condition at Sacred Heart. The 1st Special Operations Wing CV-22, which can hover like a helicopter, crashed north of Navarre around 6:45 p.m. during a routine training mission. (Source: 1st Special Operations Wing Public Affairs, 06/14/12) Previous

F-22 pilot vest scrutinized

Published reports say a potentially faulty pressure vest is the latest clue in the mystery over why pilots of F-22 Raptors get dizzy and disoriented. Pilots of the Lockeed Martin-built plane have been told to stop using the vest for routine flights until a fix is worked out. The vest may make it hard for pilots to breath under some circumstances. (Sources: multiple, including Bloomberg, NBC News, 06/14/12) Gulf Coast note: F-22s are located at six bases, including Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., near Panama City in Northwest Florida. The base also trains F-22 pilots. Previous: F-22 mishap probed; Report puts focus on F-22

Global Hawk Triton unveiled

PALMDALE, Calif. -- The U.S. Navy's MQ-4C Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) unmanned aircraft was unveiled during a ceremony Thursday at Northrop Grumman's Palmdale, Calif., plant. Called the Triton, the MQ-4C's unveiling caps more than four years of development with Northrop Grumman for the surveillance aircraft, a Global Hawk configured for the Navy's maritime needs. The Triton's new features include the AN/ZPY-3 multi-function active-sensor radar system, the primary sensor on the Triton. The aircraft will be an adjunct to the P-8A Poseidon as part of the Navy's Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force family of systems. (Source: NNS, 06/14/12) One of the Navy's BAMS demonstrator aircraft crashed Monday in a marsh in southern Maryland. (Post) Gulf Coast note: Global Hawks fuselage work is done in Moss Point, Miss.

AF CV-22 crashes; five aboard

Special Operations CV-22. File photo

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- An Air Force CV-22 Osprey assigned to the 1st Special Operations Wing crashed at about 6:45 p.m. Wednesday on the Eglin Range north of Navarre, Fla. The accident occurred during a routine training mission. Five aircrew members on board were taken to area hospitals. Two were taken by ambulance and three by air. A board of officials will investigate. (Source: 1st Special Operations Wing Public Affairs, 06/13/12) Release update

Wing activated at Hurlburt

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- The 24th Special Operations Wing was activated during a ceremony Tuesday at Hurlburt Field's Freedom Hangar. The wing's missions will include airfield reconnaissance and personnel recovery. It's the third active duty special operations wing presently headquartered at Hurlburt Field. In addition, Col. Kurt W. Buller took over the 720th Special Tactics Group during a change of command. The 720th is the major operational unit under the 24th wing. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 06/12/12)

Navy Global Hawk crashes

WASHINGTON -- A Navy Global Hawk unmanned aircraft crashed in a marsh in southern Maryland on Monday after the ground pilot lost contact with the aircraft. There were no injuries and no property damage at the crash site near Salisbury. The RQ-4A Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Demonstrator (BAMS-D) was on a test mission from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., when contact was lost. The Navy's version of the Northrop Grumman-built Global Hawk, which can fly 11 miles up for 30 hours, is for maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mission. (Sources: multiple, including Los Angeles Times, CNN, 06/11/12) Gulf Coast note: Global Hawk central fuselages are built by Northrop Grumman in Moss Point, Miss. Previous Global Hawk post.

RR buying joint venture

Rolls-Royce is buying out Goodrich in its engine controls joint venture for full ownership of the fuel pumps and metering units business. The two companies combined their controls businesses in 2009 to form Aero Engine Controls. United Technologies, which is in the process of buying aircraft components maker Goodrich, agreed to the deal. (Source: Reuters, 06/08/12) Meanwhile, UT has offered to sell assets to secure European Union approval of the Goodrich purchase. UT has already said it plans to sell portions of its business, including Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne. (Source: Reuters, 06/11/12) Gulf Coast note: Rocketdyne has an operation at Stennis Space Center, Miss; Goodrich has an operation in Foley, Ala.; Rolls-Royce tests engines at Stennis Space Center and has a propeller foundry in Pascagoula, Miss.

Drone control switching to Linux

The Navy awarded a $27.9 million contract to Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems, Dulles, Va., to complete the installation of Linux ground control software for its fleet of unmanned helicopters. The Navy currently uses the Northrop Grumman-built MQ-8B Fire Scout, but it's also acquiring the larger MQ-8C variant. Both are built in part in Moss Point, Miss. Work on the ground control system will be done at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., and is expected to be completed in February 2014, according to a DoD Wednesday release. (Source: GCAC, 06/10/12)

Legal action considered

Okaloosa County may take legal action against Vision Airlines to collect passenger facilities charges owed to Northwest Florida Regional Airport. The airline owes some $144,000, and agreed to a payment plan, but has reportedly failed to make consistent payments. Vision started offering flights from the airport in December 2010 and expanded to serve 17 cities. Flights were cut in half the following year and service to the airport ended earlier this year. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 06/09/12) Meanwhile, the airport is trying to attract new airlines. The deputy director recently attended a three-day conference in Sacramento, Calif., which offers airport officials and opportunity to meet airline executives. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 06/09/12)

ST Mobile parent eyes purchase

Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd., parent of Mobile's ST Aerospace, said ST Engineering's aerospace arm -- Vision Technologies Aerospace Inc. -- made a $49.7 million bid for the Tampa aerospace maintenance facility Pemco World Air Services Inc., at a bankruptcy auction. The facility will be held under wholly owned VT Aerospace, which operates ST Aerospace Mobile and ST Aerospace San Antonio. ST Aerospace Mobile employs 1,500 people at Brookley Aeroplex, where it maintains and overhauls large airplanes. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 06/08/12)

Powerpack test sets record

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- NASA's Stennis Space Center broke its own record Friday when it conducted a test on the new J-2X powerpack that lasted for 1,150 seconds, surpassing the previous record by more than a minute. For NASA the test marked a milestone step in development of a next-generation rocket engine to carry humans deeper into space than ever before. For SSC, the 19-minute, 10-second test represented the longest duration firing ever conducted in the center's A Test Complex. The powerpack is on the top of the J-2X engine and includes the gas generator, oxygen, fuel turbopumps and related ducts and valves. (Source: SSC/NASA, 06/08/12) Previous

Special Forces group growing

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The Army 7th Special Forces Group will stand up a fourth combat battalion this fall, bringing the total number of soldiers at the cantonment to 2,200. The new battalion will have 400 soldiers, and about 100 already have arrived. With the addition, there will be four combat battalions and one general support battalion at the cantonment on Eglin Air Force Base’s reservation south of Crestview. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 06/07/12)

Eglin to keep two-star

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The Air Force said that Maj. Gen. Kenneth Merchant, commander of the Air Armament Center, will remain at Eglin Air Force Base as its Program Executive Officer for Weapons. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., hailed the announcement as significant, but Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., remains leery. Last fall the Air Force announced changes for the Materiel Command, which included shrinking the command from 12 to five centers. Under the consolidation, Merchant's job would have been eliminated along with the Air Armament Center. Merchant himself said he's pleased to remain in charge of the weapons programs. "I look forward to continuing my role in weapons development, production and sustainment, and leading this group of men and women who are so dedicated to our nation's defense," he said. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, Pensacola News Journal, 06/07/12, DoD, 06/08/12) Previous

F-22 mishap probed

TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – The military is looking into a “ground incident” last week involving an F-22 Raptor. The plane was in a “touch and go” session when it was put out of commission, according to the Panama City News Herald. The plane was sidelined and the pilot benched. Tyndall is the home of the 325th Fighter Wing, whose primary mission is to provide air training for F-22 Raptor pilots, as well as maintenance personnel and air battle managers. (Source: Panama City News Herald, 06/05/12)

Technology and the F-35

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The Northwest Florida Daily News has a feature story about some of the technology being used to prepare pilots to fly the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the F-35 training center, and among the cutting-edge items being used is a scanner that reads the contour of a pilot's face and skull to come up with a custom-designed helmet that provides on the visor all the information usually found in a heads-up display. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 06/05/12)

Contract: Lockheed Martin, $19.2M

Lockheed Martin Corp., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $19,154,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for automatic backup oxygen supply in the F-22 Life Support System. Effort includes 40 retrofit kits, plus non-recurring engineering and 10 spares. The location of performance is Marietta, Ga. Work is to be completed April 30, 2013. ASC/WWUK, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 06/05/12) Gulf Coast note: Tyndall Air Force Base is home of an F-22 squadron and the location where aviators train to fly the aircraft. Previous

Northrop honored for safety

Northrop Grumman's Moss Point, Miss., plant is among nine of the company's facilities to receive the Aerospace Industries Association Excellence in Aircraft Manufacturing 2012 Worker Safety Award. Northrop Grumman earned top honors in the aircraft manufacturing category. This is the second such award for the company in as many years, and the third in the past five years. (Source: Globe Newswire, 06/04/12)

Contract: Lockheed Martin, $111.6M

Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded an $111,612,964 cost reimbursement modification to a previously awarded advanced acquisition contract. This modification provides additional funding for recurring support activities such as initial training, aircraft maintenance operations, stand-up of sustainment capability at specified locations, technical data management, and sustaining engineering for the Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force. Sixty percent of the work will be performed at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The remainder will be done in Fort Worth, Texas, El Segundo, Calif., Warton, United Kingdom, Orlando, Fla., Nashua, N.H., and Baltimore, Md. (5 percent). Work is expected to be completed in October 2012. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 06/04/12)

Three bases want tanker

FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. -- Hurlburt Field, Eglin Air Force Base and Tyndall Air Force Base are among nearly 60 installations being considered as operating bases for the KC-46A tanker, according to the Northwest Florida Daily News. Three bases will be selected initially by December, but 10 will eventually receive the Boeing-built planes, which replace the KC-135 tankers. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 06/02/12)

1st non-test pilot F-35 certified

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The first non-test pilot of the F-35 in the armed services was approved Thursday after flying his sixth and final cadre checkout. Air Force Lt. Col. Lee Kloos, commander of the 58th Fighter Squadron at the 33rd Fighter Wing, also earned certification as a flight instructor for the Joint Strike Fighter program. Kloos has been certified for the Air Force "A" variant. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 06/01/12)