Singapore to buy F-35s

Singapore is expected to announce sometime in the next 10 days that it plans to buy its first squadron -- 12 planes -- of Lockheed Martin's F-35Bs. It will ultimately buy 75. The decision will eventually leave China facing 50 to 100 Australian F-35As, 42 F-35As in Japan, 75Bs in Singapore and however many of the three versions built and fielded by the United States are regularly in the Pacific. Singapore and the other Pacific countries have concluded that the F-35 is effective. One senior official from the region told Colin Clark of AOL Defense that the F-35 is "simply undefeatable." The official said the aircraft is expected to maintain its dominance for at least a quarter of a century. (Source: AOL Defense, 03/25/13)

UT completes unit's sale to Safran

HARTFORD, Conn. -- United Technologies Corp. said today that it completed the sale of the former Goodrich electric power systems business to Safran for about $400 million. Sale of the electric power systems unit was one of the two divestitures required by regulatory authorities as a condition of UTC's acquisition of Goodrich Corp. UTC completed the sale of the other unit, the legacy Goodrich pumps and engine controls business, earlier this month. (Source: PRNewswire, 03/26/13) Previous Gulf Coast note: UT's Rocketdyne, which has an operation at Stennis Space Center, Miss., is being sold to GenCorp.; Goodrich has an operation in Foley, Ala.; Safran is building a $2 million engineering center in Mobile, Ala.

Dragon spacecraft returns

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft successfully completed the company's second cargo flight to the International Space Station with a 12:36 p.m. EDT splashdown Tuesday in the Pacific Ocean a few hundred miles west of Baja California, Mexico. The capsule will be returned to the SpaceX test facility in McGregor, Texas. Some cargo will be removed at the port in California and returned to NASA within 48 hours. This includes a freezer packed with research samples collected in the space station's unique microgravity environment. The remainder of the cargo will be returned to Texas with the capsule. The spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on March 1, carrying about 1,268 pounds of supplies and investigations. It returned about 2,668 pounds of science samples, equipment and education activities. (Source: NASA, 03/26/13) Previous Gulf Coast note: NASA's Stennis Space Center in South Mississippi, in addition to testing rocket engines for NASA, tests rocket engines for some commercial space companies. Lockheed Martin will assemble the composite structures for Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Previous Michoud is also involved in NASA's Space Launch System project.

Contract: Northrop, $433.5M

Northrop Grumman Corp., Aerospace Systems, San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $433,518,021 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for contractor logistics support for the RQ-4 Global Hawk fielded weapon system. The location of the performance is San Diego, Calif. Work is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2014. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2013. The contracting activity is AFLCMC/WIKBA, Robins Air Force Base, Ga. (Source: DoD, 03/25/13) Gulf Coast note: Global Hawks are make in part in Moss Point, Miss.

Contract: Lockheed Martin, $40.2M

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $40,200,000 fixed-price-incentive, advance-acquisition contract to provide long lead-time parts, materials and components required for the delivery of four Low Rate Initial Production Lot VIII F-35 conventional takeoff and landing aircraft for the government of Japan. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in February 2014. Foreign Military Sales contract funds in the amount of $40,200,000 are being obligated on this award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to the FAR 6.302-4. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting authority. (Source: DoD, 03/25/13)

Contract: L-3 Vertex, $12.9M

L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace LLC., Madison, Miss., is being awarded a $12,946,025 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery requirements contract for logistics services support of the TH-57 aircraft fleet. Services to be provided include repair and/or overhaul of aircraft, engines, avionics and related components. Work will be performed at the Naval Air Station, Whiting Field, Milton, Fla., and is expected to be completed in June 2013. Funds are not being obligated at time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual delivery orders as they are issued. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 03/25/13)

Nellis gets three F-35s

NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- Three F-35s were formally accepted during a ceremony at Nellis Air Force Base last week. The aircraft will be assigned to the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron, where they will undergo operational testing. One of the focus areas for the 422nd TES will be to develop tactics. Orlando Carvalho, executive vice president Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, said the group's and squadron's pilots and maintainers "would take the F-35's performance to new heights and define the very tactics the F-35 will one day use to defend freedom around the world." Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Lofgren, U.S. Air Force Warfare Center commander, said he expects to see the same dramatic new tactics development with the F-35A as was seen with the F-22. Nellis is slated to get 36 F-35A Lightning IIs by 2020. The 422nd TES and 53rd TEG are geographically separated units of the 53rd Wing, headquartered at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. (Source: 99th Air Base Wing Public Affairs, 03/21/13)

H2 gets nod from GSA

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- H2 Performance Consulting (H2), Pensacola, Fla., was awarded Schedule 70 for Professional IT Services from the General Services Administration. IT Schedule 70 is a long-term contract issued by the GSA to a commercial technology vendor that signifies the GSA determined the vendor's pricing is fair and reasonable and the vendor is in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. Buying from pre-approved vendors allows agencies to cut through red tape and receive goods and services faster. (Source: H2 Performance, 03/21/13)

International student flies F-35

Buchler in F-35. Air Force photo

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The first international student aviator at the 33rd Fighter Wing training to be an F-35B instructor pilot completed his first sortie in the joint strike fighter March 19. United Kingdom Royal Air Force Squadron Leader Frankie Buchler flew with Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron-501. "The ground school training package at the Academic Training Center with the flight simulators prepared me for smooth flying," said Buchler. The ATC is part of the F-35 Integrated Training Center hosted by the 33rd FW. It is the hub for U.S. and international partner operators and maintainers of the joint strike fighter. It takes 10 flight hours, or about six to seven sorties, for a student pilot transitioning from other aircraft to become a qualified F-35 pilot. Buchler's last time flying was a year ago, coming from a background with the SEPECAT Jaguar and Eurofighter Typhoon. (Source: 33rd Fighter Wing Public Affairs, 03/21/13) Eglin is where students, pilots and maintainers, from all branches of service and allied pilots will train.

NASA awards contract mod

NASA signed a one-year contract option with Jacobs Technology Inc. to continue manufacturing support and facilities operations at the agency's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The one-year contract option begins on May 1. With the exercise of Option 2, the mission services value increases by about $38 million, and the IDIQ potential maximum order value increases by $100 million for a new maximum potential contract value of approximately $477 million. The contract was awarded in May 2009. The contract will support critical operations under way at Michoud to advance the nation's human spaceflight endeavors, including work on the Orion spacecraft and modifications to manufacture the core stage of NASA's Space Launch System rocket. (Source: PRNewswire, 03/22/13)

New assignment at Tyndall

Brig. Gen. Jack L. Briggs II, deputy commander, Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Region, and deputy commander for Operations, 1st Air Division, North American Aerospace Defense Command, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, to vice commander, 1st Air Force (Air Forces Northern), Air Combat Command, Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. (Source: DoD, 03/22/13)

Contract: EDO, $11M

EDO Corp., Panama City, Fla., is being awarded a $10,984,400 firm-fixed-price contract to build and deliver one MK-105 Mod 4 Magnetic Minesweeping System for the Airborne Mine Countermeasures Program. This system upgrade provides a significant reliability and performance improvement to the current MK-105, increasing the Navy's capability to conduct quick response, high speed airborne mine countermeasures for the next decade. Work will be done in Panama City and is expected to be completed by October 2014. The Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division, Panama City, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 03/22/13)

FAA has new tower closing lists

Federal contract towers at Stennis International Airport in Kiln, Miss., Hawkins Field in Jackson, Miss., and Dothan, Ala., are among 149 that will close beginning April 7 as part of a sequestration plan. But the Federal Aviation Administration chose to keep open 24 towers that were previously proposed for closing because a shutdown would have a "negative impact on national interest." The 24 towers saved from the chopping block include towers at Brookley Aeroplex in Mobile, Ala., Meridian, Miss., and Columbus/Starkville, Miss. Another 16 federal contract towers under the "cost share" program will remain open because Congressional statute sets aside funds every fiscal year for these towers. These cost-share program funds are subject to sequestration but the required 5 percent cut will not result in tower closures. (Sources: FAA, Sun Herald, 03/22/13)

Contract: H2 Performance, $4M

H2 Performance Consulting (H2), Pensacola, Fla., announced the award of a five-year, $4M contract to provide the Navy Manpower Personnel Training and Education with support for its Authoritative Data Environment. Authoritative data is mandated by Department of Defense. The DoD IT Strategy and Roadmap sets forth a fundamental change in the way the DoD acquires, develops, fields, and maintains applications through consolidation of applications and data services. A key is the identification of authoritative data sources and elimination of duplicative data systems through the use of data warehouse best practices. H2 experts and advisors are tasked with preparing and supporting ongoing development of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and the application of SOA capability. (Source: H2 Performance, 03/22/13)

Boeing buys more S.C. land

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Boeing will pay $12.5 million for about 320 acres of land near its current 787 Dreamliner final assembly plant in North Charleston, S.C. The company doesn't have specific plans, but the purchase will provide land for possible future use. Boeing South Carolina does final assembly for the 787 Dreamliner. The facility also makes aft and mid-body sections for the 787. A deal signed in December provides Boeing the option to buy 750 more acres in several parcels, including the 260 acres it sits on, now leased for $1 a year from the Charleston airport. If it exercises the option, by 2025 Boeing could own almost 1,100 acres. (Source: Reuters, 03/21/13) Gulf Coast note: Boeing's chief rival, Airbus, is building an A320 final assembly plant in Mobile, Ala.

Airbus makes first Mobile hire

MOBILE, Ala. -- Airbus Americas filled its first position for Mobile's $600 million A320 final aircraft assembly plant. Jennifer Ogle, 49, is the new director of human resources for the Mobile operation. She'll join Airbus on April 15 and report to Linda Herbert, vice president of HR for Airbus Americas. Ogle joins Airbus from Taylor-Wharton Cryogenics in Theodore, Ala., where she has been the human resources director since July 2011. Groundbreaking for the Mobile facility at Brookley Aeroplex is slated for April 8. Hiring for manufacturing jobs at the assembly line will begin during the fourth quarter of 2013 and continue into 2014. (Source: Airbus, 03/21/13)

Airline ops for Airbus' ROPS

American Airlines will equip all its A320s with Airbus' Runway Overrun Prevention System (ROPS) technology. This on-board cockpit technology which Airbus pioneered independently over several years increases pilots' situational awareness during landing, reduces exposure to runway excursion risk, and if necessary, provides active protection. ROPS was first approved by the European Aviation Safety Agency on the A380 in October 2009 and is in service or ordered on around 70 percent of the A380 fleet. ROPS is part of the A350 XWB's basic configuration and is also being applied on the other Airbus types being produced today, starting with the A320 family, with certification on this type expected later this year. (Source: Airbus, 03/20/13) Gulf Coast note: Groundbreaking is slated for April 8 for an A320 final assembly line in Mobile, Ala.

3-D printed part on rocket engine

J-2X with 3-D printed part. NASA photo

The latest in cutting-edge manufacturing is already having an impact on space exploration. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne of Canoga Park, Calif., prime contractor for the J-2X engine, recently used a 3-D printing process called Selective Laser Melting, or SLM, to create an exhaust port cover for the engine. SLM uses lasers to fuse metal dust into a specific pattern to build the cover, which is essentially a maintenance hatch for the engine's turbo pumps. On March 7, this part was exposed to the strenuous conditions of a rocket engine firing during a test at NASA's Stennis Space Center, Miss., and will be a part of the rest of this test series. The J-2X is undergoing testing in support of the agency's Space Launch System Program, managed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. (Source: NASA, 03/19/13)

Keesler to lose planes, squadron

BILOXI, Miss. -- The Air Force Reserve Command has decided 10 C-130Js from Keesler Air Force's 403rd Wing will be transferred to Pope Field, N.C., and the base's 815th Airlift Squadron will shut down. Keesler officials made the announcement Wednesday, according to the Sun Herald. The newspaper reported that a press release from Keesler said the base will lose the aircraft in October, the beginning of the 2014 fiscal year. (Source: Sun Herald, 03/20/13) The 815th "Flying Jennies," a tactical airlift unit that has been at Keesler since 1973, is responsible for delivering cargo to combat zones and provides humanitarian relief in disaster areas.

Report: Boat hit Eglin officer

A report released by a ground accident investigation board shows an Air Force officer was struck and killed by a government-contracted boat in October while participating in a one-man life raft training exercise near Pensacola, Fla. Maj. Garrett Knowlan was killed immediately when he was struck by a 41-foot MonArk tow boat involved in the Air Force Water Survival Training Course. Knowlan was a 2002 graduate of the Air Force Academy and a 2010 graduate of the Air Force Test Pilot School. He was then-assigned as the executive officer for the commander of the 96th Test Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. (Source: Air Education and Training Command, 03/19/13)