Pentagon spending bill OK'd

The House and Senate have agreed to provide $554.2 billion in funding for the military in fiscal 2015. The funding includes money for additional F-35A and F-35C Joint Strike Fighters. The bill includes $224 million for two additional F-35A fighters for the U.S. Air Force and $255 million for two additional Navy F-35Cs. The measure funds a total of 38 F-35 fighters, nine more than in FY-14. (Source: Reuters, 12/10/14) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 integrated training center.

Italy-built F-35 rollout in March

Italy is preparing for the rollout of its first F-35A from the final assembly and checkout facility at Cameri Air Base in northern Italy. The first aircraft is scheduled to come off the line by March 2015. Italy invested about $1 billion in building the facility, which began operations last year. The original plan called for about 250 planes, 113 for Italy and 85 for the Netherlands, to be built at the plant. But the final number is up in the air. The facility, however, has been built with expansion in mind. Cameri is also the site of Italy’s hub for Eurofighter Typhoon and Tornado work. (Source: Aviation Week, 12/10/14) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 integrated training center.

Visit highlights French investments

MOBILE, Ala. -- Denis Barbet, France's Atlanta-based Consul General to the Southeast, will visit Mobile this week. Barbet in a statement said that with recent investments by companies like Airbus and Safran, it's likely there will be an increase in the French presence in Alabama and Mobile in coming years. Barbet's visit will be hosted by business leaders from the region, including the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, which will host an event to spotlight France's existing investments, including chemical maker Arkema and Technip, which makes products for the oil and gas industry. Barbet also will tour the $600 million Airbus A320 final assembly line that will open in the fall of 2015, and the Port of Mobile. (Source: al.com, 12/09/14)

AVCON paving new ground

NICEVILLE, Fla. -- A new FAA-approved asphalt that's proven to be more durable, stronger and fuel resistant than what's currrently in use is making some inroads at airports. But officials from AVCON say it will take more time to overcome skepticism about P-601. Feature story. (Source: GCRL Newsletter, 12/09/14)

Small company with a big task

CANTONMENT, Fla. -- Marianna Airmotive's forte of overhaul, fabrication and remanufacturing help keep one of the military's key assets airborne. But the company's leaders also hope to grow the Cantonment operation's portfolio beyond the C-5. Feature story. (Source: GCRL Newsletter, 12/09/14)

Mobile company defining its niche

MOBILE, Ala. -- With a corporate history going back more than 100 years and highlights that include being a key supplier during World War II, Continental Motors has been a fixture in Mobile for a long time. Now under the ownership of Chinese aerospace giant AVIC, the company is on a path of growth. Feature story. (Source: GCRL Newsletter, 12/09/14)

The one that's knocking

CARRABELLE, Fla. -- Aerospace recruiting seldom tops the to-do list for Northwest Florida's non-metropolitan, smaller counties. But the Airbus plant being built in Mobile, Ala., provides an intense spotlight on the Gulf Coast region, and unique opportunity for the less populated counties to show off on a world stage. A feature story. (Source: GCRL Newsletter, 12/09/14)

Blue Angels release schedules

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- The Navy's Blue Angels flight demonstration team announced updates to its 2015 air show season and released its 2016 schedule. The team will perform 65 shows at 35 locations in 2015, and 69 shows at 36 locations in 2016. The schedules including two shows in Pensacola each year, one on the beach in the summer and the other the homecoming at Naval Air Station Pensacola. (Source: Blue Angels, 12/09/14)

Presidential plane makes Eglin stop

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The Boeing 747 aircraft that’s known as Air Force One when it’s carrying the president spent a portion of the weekend at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., undergoing recertification testing, according to Eglin Air Force Base spokeswoman Lois Walsh. The plane, assigned to the Presidential Airlift Group at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., arrived Friday and left Sunday. The plane recently completed a year-long maintenance cycle and is being tested before its return to service. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 12/08/14)

Airport eyeing name change

FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. – Northwest Florida Regional Airport is considering changing its name to Destin-Fort Walton Beach International Airport. The Department of Airports plans to ask Okaloosa County Board of Commissioners to consider the name change during a January meeting. The new name was suggested by Market Dynamics Research Group of New Orleans, on grounds the current name is too generic. The airport is located at Eglin Air Force Base. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 12/08/14)

Fire Scout work intensifies

WASHINGTON – A new level of activity is taking place with the Navy's Fire Scout unmanned helicopter, according to Defense News. For the first time, Fire Scouts will be at sea on four ships at the same time. Two East Coast-based frigates are deployed, each with four MQ-8B models. The LCS Forth Worth recently left San Diego for a planned 16-month deployment with a hybrid aviation detachment of one MQ-8B and one MH-60R Seahawk manned helicopter. Early this month the California-based Coast Guard National Security Cutter Bertholf got underway carrying two Fire Scouts, a first for an NSC. There are two variants of Fire Scout: the B model uses a Schweizer 333 airframe, and the much larger C model uses a Bell 407. Procurement of the B model has ended, with a total of seven test and 23 operational aircraft delivered by Northrop Grumman. Seven of those aircraft have been lost in accidents or stricken. Two Fire Scouts were damaged in October at Wallops Island, Va., when their hangar was damaged in the explosion of an Antares rocket. One of those already has been repaired and is deployed aboard Bertholf. The other is being repaired. (Source: Defense News, 12/06/14) Gulf Coast note: Final assembly of Fire Scouts is done in Moss Point, Miss.; Bertholf was built in Pascagoula, Miss.; LCS Independence class ships are built in Mobile, Ala.

Site first to get certification

VentureCrossings in Bay County, Fla., is the first industrial site to complete Gulf Power's "Florida First Sites" program. Fourteen sites were initially submitted, and nine are still working towards certification. Most expect to be certified by the end of February. St. Joe Co. owns VentureCrossings Enterprise Centre, adjacent to Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport. The site has proper zoning, service to utilities and met numerous other qualifications that make it ready for development. St. Joe, Gulf Power and local, regional and state economic development agencies will now work to market the site to prospective companies. (Source: Gulf Power, 12/05/14) Background: 6,200 acres seek shovel-ready status, December 2013 newsletter)

Contract: Speegle, $7.7M

Speegle Construction, Inc., Niceville, Fla., was awarded a $7,740,000 firm-fixed-price contract, with options, to construct a satellite dining facility. Work will be performed at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., with an estimated completion date of May 8, 2016. Bids were solicited via the Internet, with seven received. Fiscal 2011, 2014 and 2015 military construction funds in the amount of $7,740,000 are being obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Albuquerque District, Albuquerque, N.M., is the contracting activity (W912PP-15-C-0001). (Source: DoD, 12/05/14)

NASA's Orion test a success

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA's unmanned Orion space capsule, designed to eventually carry astronauts into deep space, had a picture-perfect spashdown  in the Pacific Ocean today at the end of its first test flight. After two laps of Earth, Orion plunged through the atmosphere at 20,000 mph, enveloped in a fireball that scorched its heat shield. The capsule emerged intact from its 3,600-mile fall and deployed three orange-and-white parachutes to brake its speed to 20 mph as it hit the water at 11:29 a.m. EST, 270 miles west of Baja California. (Sources: multiple, including USA Today, NBC News, 12/05/14) Gulf Coast note: Lockheed Martin built the capsule at Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans; the Delta IV, built in Decatur, Ala., is powered by RS-68 engines tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss. Previous

33rd gets simulation award

Academic Training Center simulator
Air Force photo 

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The National Training and Simulation Association selected the F-35 Lightning II Training System for the 2014 Modeling and Simulation Award. The award recognizes the 33rd Fighter Wing, the F-35 Joint Program Office and Lockheed Martin for delivering an effective, immersive training experience for F-35 pilots and maintainers. The F-35 team is one of six winners, across industry and defense, honored for advancing modeling and simulation technologies. The 33rd at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., was re-designated under the Air Education and Training Command on Oct. 1, 2009, to establish the F-35 training mission. The pilot and maintainer qualifications are accomplished in part through simulations to ensure efficient mission readiness. As the first of its kind in the Department of Defense, the wing is responsible for F-35 pilot and maintainer training for DoD and, in the future, at least eight coalition partners. Recently, Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., also established an F-35A training mission. To date, more than 140 pilots and 1,500 maintainers from the U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands have graduated from the 33 FW's F-35 Integrated Training Center. (Source: 33rd Wing Public Affairs, 12/03/14)

ONR awarded for F-35 innovation

ARLINGTON, Va. -- The Office of Naval Research received one of the nation's top manufacturing awards for an innovative, cost-saving method for making advanced cockpit canopies, for the F-35 program. Officials from ONR's Manufacturing Technology (ManTech) program accepted the Department of Defense's Joint Defense Manufacturing Technology Achievement Award at the Defense Manufacturing Conference in San Antonio. The automated process will be used to make canopies for more than 2,000 aircraft, saving nearly $125 million over the life of the F-35 program.(Source: NNS, 12/03/14) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 integrated training center; ONR's Naval Research Laboratory has a detachment at Stennis Space Center, Miss.

Finnair getting more XWBs

Finnair has firmed up an order for eight further Airbus A350 XWB aircraft, a decision that means additional Trent XWB engine business worth $450 million at list prices. The aircraft are in addition to 11 Airbus A350 XWBs that the airline already has on order, powered by the same engine. Finnair was the first airline to select the A350 XWB and will be the first European airline to receive the aircraft. The Trent XWB is the fastest-selling widebody engine ever with more than 1,500 engines already sold. It will power the first A350 XWB into service later this year. (Sources: Rolls-Royce, Airbus, 12/03/14) Gulf Coast note: XWB engines are tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss.

Contract: Lockheed, $97.8M

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $97,832,182 modification to a previously awarded advance acquisition contract (N00019-13-C-0008) for a financial arrangement implementing a Foreign Military Sales Letter of Offer for the government of Israel in support of the F-35 program. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and expected to be completed in December 2022. Foreign military sales funds in the amount of $30,296,783 are being obligated at time of 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, 12/02/14) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 integrated training center.

SSC research helps MRI, fuel-cells

Could NASA research at Stennis Space Center help hospital MRI machines and fuel-cell cars of the future? Perhaps. Engineers are testing an innovative technology that could yield new sources of both expensive helium gas required for cooling MRI machines and purified, high-pressure hydrogen gas, the fuel for fuel-cells. SSC, which tests rocket engines in South Mississippi, produces a large quantity of hydrogen and helium gas mixture in its rocket tests which right now is just burned or vented into the air. But using Sustainable Innovations' electrochemical Hydrogen Recovery System (HRS), NASA will be able to extract hydrogen from rocket fuel line purge gas, leaving behind high-value helium, a purified stream compressed to commercial storage pressure. And with helium's price only expected to rise as global supplies plateau, the helium extraction technology will become more and more valuable to NASA in the coming years and provide a possible revenue stream. Sustainable Innovations, of East Hartford, Conn., developed HRS for NASA under a Phase II Small Business Technology Transfer program. The same technology on which HRS is based will also be useful for separating hydrogen from CO2 and CO in the life support technologies now being tested and developed for its manned spaceflight missions. (Source: PRNews, 12/02/14)

Orion set to launch Thursday

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA will launch an unmanned Orion space capsule Thursday, weather permitting, on two orbits of Earth in the first space test of the deep-space vehicle. The vehicle will be launched by a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket, which is substituting for the still-being-developed NASA Space Launch System. The flight, which will take the capsule 3,600 miles out into space, will splash down some four hours later in the Pacific off the California and Mexico’s Baja coast. Orion will be recovered by Navy ships. (Sources: multiple, including al.com, Fox News, 12/02/14) Gulf Coast note: Lockheed Martin built the capsule at Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans; the Delta IV, built in Decatur, Ala., is powered by RS-68 engines tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss.