Baton Rouge has NASA day

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Patrick Scheuermann, director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., met with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and key members of the state Legislature Wednesday as part of "NASA Day in Baton Rouge." NASA's history in the state is tied to Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, where workers have long assembled large space structures for NASA programs, from Apollo-era rockets to the 136 external fuel tanks that lifted the space shuttle to orbit during its 30-year history. Now MAF workers are making hardware for the Space Launch System heavy-lift launch vehicle and the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle. The Michoud Assembly Facility alone employs an estimated 2,700 people. (Source: NASA, 05/08/13)

Eglin gets upgraded F-35

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- An F-35 with upgraded software arrived here Monday. The 58th Fighter Squadron will get 13 more of the Block 2s by the end of the year. For the first time, F-35 pilots will be able to use a series of six sensors embedded in the skin of the F-35 that provide a complete spherical view around the jet, day or night. The addition of at least 16 new aircraft this year will add more permanent personnel to the 33rd Fighter Wing, which oversees the schoolhouse that will train personnel from all military branches as well as international students. The wing now employs more than 1,300 people, but that's projected to go to 1,900 by the end of the year. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, Flightglobal, 05/07/13)

Two more land Airbus projects

MOBILE, Ala. -- Hoar Program Management said Tuesday that two more Alabama contractors were chosen for projects associated with the $600 million Airbus final assembly line at Brookley Aeroplex. Birmingham's Brasfield and Gorrie will construct the piles and foundations for the project's hangar and service building, while Dothan's Covenant Steel will be responsible for the building steel. Airbus broke ground April 8 on the plant that will build A320 jetliners. (Source: al.com, 05/07/13)

Drone makes arrested landing

X-47B arrested landing.
Northrop Grumman photo

NAVAL AIR STATION PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – Northrop Grumman and the Navy conducted the first arrested landing of the X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System demonstrator. The May 4 test at the Navy's shore-based catapult and arresting gear complex was a first for an unmanned aircraft. The event also marks the start of the final phase of testing prior to carrier-based trials planned for later this month. Northrop Grumman's UCAS-D industry team includes Pratt and Whitney, Lockheed Martin, GKN Aerospace, Eaton, General Electric, UTC Aerospace Systems, Dell, Honeywell, Moog, Wind River, Parker Aerospace, and Rockwell Collins. (Sources: Avionics Intelligence, 05/07/13, U-T San Diego, 05/06/13) Gulf Coast note: Northrop Grumman Fire Scout and Global Hawk unmanned aerial systems are built in part in Moss Point, Miss.; Northwest Florida is major training location for naval aviators.

EOD school has new leader

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Capt. Joseph Polanin relinquished command of the Naval School Explosive Ordnance Disposal school at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., to Capt. William Noel on Monday. The change of command was at the EOD Memorial across from the school attended by every military bomb technician. Noel comes to NAVSCOLEOD from Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, Norfolk, Va. Polanin had led NAVSCOLEOD since May 2011, and will now serve as commanding officer of the Center for Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Diving in Panama City, Fla. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 05/06/13)

Orbital delays first cargo flight

Orbital Sciences said the first full-up test flight of its Cygnus cargo ship to the International Space Station will likely slip to September due to a variety of factors, including an engine replacement on the mission's Antares rocket and a scheduling conflict with a Japanese logistics spacecraft. The first flight of Orbital's Cygnus resupply freighter, an automated cargo carrier developed in partnership with NASA, was expected this summer. But Orbital officials decided to swap out one of the AJ26 first stage engines on the spacecraft's Antares rocket, adding up to four weeks of prep time. The first Cygnus mission is a demonstration flight under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program. Orbital's Antares rocket launched for the first time April 21. (Source: Spaceflight Now, 05/06/13) Gulf Coast note: Aerojet AJ26 engines are tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss. Previous

Southwest announces flights

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- Southwest Airlines will offer daily nonstop flights to and from Nashville, Tenn., and Houston from Pensacola International Airport. Beginning Nov. 3, the Dallas-based airline will offer daily nonstop flights to Nashville International Airport at 11:20 a.m. and 5:20 p.m. Sunday through Friday and 12:05 p.m. and 4:10 p.m. Saturday. It also will offer a daily nonstop flight at 4:10 p.m. Sunday through Friday and 10:15 a.m. Saturday to William P. Hobby Airport in Houston. Customers will be able to reach 65 destinations from Nashville and Houston. (Source: WEAR-TV, Pensacola News Journal, 05/07/13)

11 honored at memorial

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The school that trains military bomb technicians held a ceremony over the weekend to mark the deaths of 11 graduates killed in the line of duty last year. Since World War II, 298 military bomb technicians have died in the line of duty. All military volunteers for the job of locating explosives and disarming them, more than 1,000 each year, attends the Naval Explosive Ordnance Disposal school at Eglin. The 11 men killed last year ranged from 22 to 39 years of age and came from all across the country, serving with the Army, Marines, Navy and Air Force. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 05/04/13)

Hurlburt getting new commander

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- Col. Jim Slife will be leaving his post as commander of the Air Force's 1st Special Operations Wing this summer. He'll be replaced by Col. William West, who commands the 27th Special Operations Group at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M. Slife, commander at Hurlburt since June 2011, earlier this spring was selected for promotion to brigadier general. His new assignment will be as deputy director of special plans working group at U.S. Central Command headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 05/05/13) Previous

Kudos for Airbus project, chamber

Site Selection magazine named the Airbus final assembly line being built at Brookley Aeroplex in Mobile, Ala., among its top 10 U.S. deals for 2012. Top deals were selected based upon the level of capital investment, degree of high-value jobs, creativity in negotiations and incentives, regional economic impact, competition for the project and speed to market. Ground was broken in April for the $600 million assembly line. In addition, the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce was listed by Site Selection as among the "Best to Invest" U.S. economic development groups for 2012. (Source: al.com, 05/03/13)

Vector Aerospace expanding

Vector Aerospace announced a $3 million expansion of its Andalusia, Ala., operation, creating as many as 75 jobs. The company, which opened the Andalusia operation in 2008, maintains Army TH-67 helicopters from Fort Rucker near Dothan, Ala., and repairs Navy TH-57 helicopters from Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Milton, Fla. Toronto-based Vector was purchased in March 2011 by Eurocopter, a subsidiary of Airbus parent EADS. (Source: al.com, Made in Alabama, 05/03/13) Previous: Vector to add jobs in Andalusia; Vector expands in Covington; Eurocopter buying Vector Eurocopter builds Lakota helicopters in Columbus, Miss.; Airbus has an engineering center in Mobile and is building an A320 assembly line.

Rolls-Royce aerospace chief quits

The head of Rolls-Royce's prestigious aerospace division has resigned just four months after being promoted to lead the division that makes engines for commercial and military aircraft. Mark King, 48, will leave by the end of June. Rolls-Royce did not provide a reason for the departure. King will be replaced by Tony Wood, head of the company's ship engine business. Aerospace is the biggest Rolls-Royce division, accounted for more than 70 percent of 2012 revenues. In December the company said it was cooperating with a probe by Britain's Serious Fraud Office into allegations of bribery in some of the company's Asian business operations. (Source: The Guardian, New York Times, Financial Times, 05/02/13) Gulf Coast note: Rolls-Royce tests jetliner engines at its outdoor test facility at Stennis Space Center, Miss.

Drone sale to S. Korea OKd

SEOUL, South Korea -- The United States approved the sale of four Global Hawks to South Korea, eight years after its request, Seoul's acquisition agency said Thursday. But the purchase may be reconsidered due to the cost. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration said it has received the letter of offer and acceptance for Global Hawks made by Northrop Grumman Corp. from the Pentagon in mid-April after it won congressional approval. Although the proposed price for four drones hasn't been made public, it reportedly well exceeds the $435 million initially set by the Seoul government. (Source: Yonhap, 05/02/13) Gulf Coast note: Global Hawks are made in part in Moss Point, Miss.

Hybrid squadron launched

SAN DIEGO -- The Navy Thursday introduced its first squadron combining manned and unmanned helicopters. Helicopter Maritime Strike 35, "the Magicians," with 140 sailors, will combined eight manned MH-60R Seahawks with 10 unmanned MQ-8B Fire Scouts and will work off coastal combat ships. The Navy expects the squadron to make its first deployment in early 2014 on the littoral combat ship Fort Worth, with two Fire Scouts and one Seahawk. Pilots will fly the drones from a control room inside the ship or even on shore. The Fire Scouts will reside at the Rancho Bernardo campus of Northrop Grumman, said the squadron's commanding officer. Fire Scouts can stay aloft at least eight hours, compared to the Seahawk's 3.3 hours. The Navy has been testing the Fire Scout since 2007 and deploying it since 2009, using it for counter-narcotics operations and in Afghanistan. (Source: Reuters, UT-San Diego, 05/02/13) Gulf Coast note: Fire Scouts are built in part in Moss Point, Miss.; Austal USA in Mobile, Ala., builds one version of the littoral combat ships. Previous

Contract: Lockheed, $20.1M

Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $20,100,000 fixed-price-incentive, firm-target, advance acquisition contract to provide long lead parts, materials and components required for the delivery for two low rate initial production Lot II F-35 conventional takeoff and landing aircraft for the government of Israel. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in May 2014. Foreign Military Sales funding in the amount of $20,100,000 are being obligated on this award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting authority. (Source: DoD, 05/02/13) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 training center.

General officer assignment

Col. James C. Slife, who has been selected for the rank of brigadier general, commander, 1st Special Operations Wing, Air Force Special Operations Command, Hurlburt Field, Fla., is being assigned as deputy director, Special Plans Working Group, Headquarters U.S. Central Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. (Source: DoD, 05/02/13)

Orion handles parachute test

NASA's Orion safely landed during a simulation of two types of parachute failures Wednesday in Yuma, Ariz. The capsule was traveling about 250 mph when the parachutes were deployed. Engineers rigged one of the test capsule's two drogue parachutes not to deploy and one of its three main parachutes to skip its first stage of inflation after being extracted from a plane 25,000 feet above the Arizona desert. Orion has the largest parachute system ever built for a human-rated spacecraft. Orion's next Earth-based parachute test is scheduled for July, when the test capsule will be released from 35,000 feet. The first test of the parachutes after traveling in space will be during Exploration Flight Test-1 in 2014, when an uncrewed Orion will be return from 3,600 miles above Earth's surface. The spacecraft will be traveling at about 340 mph when the parachutes deploy. (Source: NASA, 05/01/13) Gulf Coast note: Orion is built at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.

Garver to visit SSC, MAF

Deputy Administrator Lori Garver on Friday will visit NASA's Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans. Both facilities are critical to the construction and testing of NASA's Space Launch System rocket and Commercial Crew Program. Michoud and Stennis also are important to partnerships with private industry, which is helping maximize the use of NASA facilities. At 9 a.m. CDT, Garver will visit MAF to see progress being made to support the SLS and Orion spacecraft programs. At 1:30 p.m. Garver will tour testing facilities and the B-2 test stand, which is being restored in preparation for testing of the SLS core stage. (Source: NASA, 05/01/13)

Retired colonel to head group

Retired Air Force Col. Kim Wintner was named to head a tri-county committee that works to protect the military and defense industry in Northwest Florida. Wintner, of Destin, has served on the Defense Support Initiative committee for 10 years. The committee works to protect local military bases and their economic contributions to Okaloosa, Walton and Santa Rosa counties. Before Wintner retired from the Air Force 13 years ago, he served as a commander at Hurlburt Field and as a vice commander at Eglin Air Force Base. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 04/30/13)

Lockheed Huntsville marks 50 years

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- Lockheed Martin celebrated 50 years of space and defense work in Huntsville Wednesday. About 1,000 employees, retirees and dignitaries marked the event at the company's 57-acre, nine-building complex at Cummings Research Park. The company, one of the first tenants in the park, has about 800 employees in Huntsville. (Source: al.com, 05/01/13) Gulf Coast note: Lockheed Martin also has operations along the Gulf Coast, including the Mississippi Space and Technology Center at Stennis Space Center, Miss.