First production F-35 fuselage delivered

Northrop Grumman has delivered to Lockheed Martin the center fuselage for the first production F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, designated AF-6, a conventional takeoff and landing variant for the Air Force. Northrop, a partner of Lockheed Martin on the F-35 program, designs and produces the center fuselages for all three F-35 variants – conventional, short-takeoff and carrier-compatible. (Source: Globe Newswire, 04/30/09) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., will be home of the JSF training center.

Lifeline thrown to shuttle

House and Senate leaders authorized $2.5 billion to keep the space shuttle flying through 2011, if it’s necessary to complete planned missions to the international space station. Funding to maintain shuttle operations past the current deadline of December 2010 is part of the nonbinding $3.4 trillion budget blueprint passed by the House and Senate Wednesday. (Source: Wall Street Journal, 04/29/09) Gulf Coast note: Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans are both involved in the shuttle program.

Outlook bright for Coast

BILOXI, Miss. - Representatives from six airlines and about 150 South Mississippi executives expressed optimism for the Coast at Wednesday’s Airline and Tourism Development Summit at the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino. Bruce Frallic, executive director of Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport, said airlines are making money serving Gulfport and are considering adding flights. Jeremiah Gerald, director of air service and business development for the airport, said Gulfport is outpacing U.S. growth, with passenger volume up 230 percent since 1998. (Source: The Sun Herald, 04/29/09)

General Dynamics 1Q report

FALLS CHURCH, Va. - General Dynamics first-quarter earnings rose 3 percent as sales of warships and other military equipment made up for lower profits from business jets. The Falls Church, Va.-based defense contractor reported first-quarter net income of $590 million, up from profit of $572 million in the same quarter last year. (Source: GD, 04/29/09)

Northrop adds to UAV lineup

Northrop Grumman, a major unmanned aerial vehicle maker with its Global Hawk and Fire Scout, has acquired Swift Engineering of San Clemente, Calif. The purchase gives Northrop the KillerBee line of unmanned systems, renamed the Bat. The blended wing-body UAV will be offered in sizes with wingspans ranging from 6.5 feet to 33.2 feet. (Source: Aviation Week, 04/28/09) Gulf Coast note: Northrop Grumman’s Unmanned Systems Center is in Moss Point, Miss., where the company builds portions of the Fire Scout and Global Hawk.

Control system for multi-UAVs gets nod

FALLS CHURCH, Va. - Raytheon Co. received a $16.5 million Navy contract to migrate the current Tactical Control System to a Linux-based operating system and add upgrades to the system software. The Navy's vision is to develop a common unmanned aircraft ground system for multiple platforms, allowing operators to run on one system multiple unmanned aircraft and payloads. Among other things, the contract provides for integration and testing leading to operational evaluation on the Fire Scout. The Navy plans to conduct operational evaluations of the Fire Scout this summer. (Source: Raytheon, 04/29/09) Gulf Coast note: Fire Scouts are made in part at the Unmanned Systems Center in Moss Point, Miss.

Sides forming in tanker deal

Despite a movement towards buying aerial tankers from both Boeing and Northrop Grumman/EADS, there’s still plenty of opposition and fence-sitting. The Mobile Press-Register reports that Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., blasted the split buy in an interview Monday. Meanwhile, Aviation Week reports that several key senators are not persuaded about the split. It says Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., as well as Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and E. Benjamin Nelson, D-Neb., are not taking a position yet. (Sources: Mobile Press Register, Aviation Week, 04/29/09) Gulf Coast note: Northrop/EADS plan to assemble the tankers in Mobile, Ala., if they win the contract.

Contracts: Multiple, $48M

The Air Force is awarding an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract to multiple contractors, including Tybrin Corp., of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., for a maximum $48,000,000. Other contractors are Mark G. Miller Inc. of Layton, Utah, SoBran Inc. of Dayton, Ohio,, White Dot Solutions Inc. of Salt Lake City, Utah, and Gauss Management Research and Engineering of Ogden, Utah. This action provides engineering and related services in the development and sustainment of software engineering support for the 309th Software Maintenance Group. OO-ALC/PKES, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 04/28/09)

Tanker marks refueling milestone

EADS says the Airbus A330 tanker transport marked a new development milestone when it was refueled by a French Air Force C-135. In two sorties the C-135 made 20 contacts with a Royal Australian Air Force A330. The A330 is the platform that Northrop Grumman plans to use for the KC-45, which is competing against the Boeing KC-767 to provide tankers for the U.S. Air Force. (Source: EADS, 04/28/09) Gulf Coast note: EADS North America and Northrop Grumman plan to assemble the tankers in Mobile, Ala., if they win the contract.

GBU-53B completes CTV test

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - Raytheon launched its first GBU-53/B Small Diameter Bomb II as a control test vehicle flight from an Air Force F-15E. After safely separating from the aircraft, the weapon deployed its wings, performed a series of preprogrammed maneuvers and flew to a predesignated position. The mission met all primary test objectives. The GBU-53/B is designed to take out moving targets in adverse weather conditions. (Source: Raytheon, 04/28/09)

33rd provided summit cover

EGLIN AIR FORCE, Fla. - Ten F-15s and 125 personnel from the 33rd Fighter Wing returned last week from a 15-day deployment providing aerial security support for Summit of the Americas conference. Wing members operated from Port Salines International Airport, Grenada, where a Joint Task Force set up a bare base. The airport had no taxiways or equipment to support fighter operations before the team arrived with four tons of equipment needed to establish 24-hour security protection. (Source: Eglin Air Force Base, 04/24/09)

Fire Scout payload gets nod

MELBOURNE, Fla. - Northrop Grumman received Milestone "C" approval from the Defense Department for its Coastal Battlefield Reconnaissance and Analysis (COBRA) system, designed to support Marine Corps amphibious assault operations. The system now enters low-rate initial production. COBRA is designed to detect and localize minefields patterns and other obstacles in the littoral zone prior to amphibious assaults. It will be carried aboard MQ-8B Fire Scout UAVs. (Source: Global Newswire, 04/27/09) Gulf Coast note: Fire Scouts are made in part at the Unmanned Systems Center in Moss Point, Miss.; two COBRA team members are Arete Associates of Niceville, Fla., and QinetiQ North America, which owns PSI of Long Beach, Miss.

F-35 in UK for testing

The first structural test airframe for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter arrived in the United Kingdom to undergo tests in the Structural and Dynamic Test facility at BAE Systems’ site in Brough, East Yorkshire, England. The F-35A, designated AG-1, is the conventional takeoff and landing variant. BAE Systems is a principal subcontractor to Lockheed Martin. AG-1 left Fort Worth, Texas, March 27. It took three weeks to make the ocean voyage. (Source: BAE Systems, 04/27/09) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is scheduled to become the home of the Joint Strike Fighter Training Center.

Museum to restore ditched plane

A vintage dive bomber pulled from Lake Michigan will be restored at the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Fla., and go on display at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. The Douglas SBD Dauntless was on a training mission in 1944 when it was ditched and found in the mid-1990s 20 miles from shore. It was brought to shore Friday. (Source: AP, 04/25/09)

Hurlburt top AF installation

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. - For the second time in six years, Hurlburt Field received the Commander In Chief's 2009 Installation Excellence Award. The first time was in 2003. The award includes a $1 million prize to be used to improve quality of life on the base. The award was established in 1984. Hurlburt is home of the Air Force Special Operations Command. (Source: Florida Freedom Newspapers, 04/24/09)

2008 big for bird strikes in N.O.

NEW ORLEANS, La. - Bird strikes at Louis Armstrong International Airport showed a six-fold increase between 2007 and 2008, but the number of serious strikes remained steady over the past 18 years, according to Federal Aviation Administration data released Friday. Officials said the jump indicates the airport is doing a better job reporting strikes. (Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 04/24/09)

Gulf Breeze vies for aviation company

GULF BREEZE, Fla. - Gulf Breeze is competing with Georgia to bring in a new avionics manufacturer that may mean 37 or more jobs. The Santa Rosa County Commission voted Thursday to designate “Project Broken Arrow” as a “Qualified Target Industry” to receive state tax discounts. The project would be a headquarters and manufacturing facility. The company manufactures and designs aviation-related components, said Shannon Ogletree, industry recruiter for TEAM Santa Rosa. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 04/24/09)

Teledyne Continental to cut hours

MOBILE, Ala. - Teledyne Continental Motors will cut the hours of its employees as the maker of piston airplane engines struggles with low demand. The company, which employs 400 people at Brookley Field Industrial Complex, will put employees on four-day weeks, and could close entirely for five weeks during the rest of the year. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 04/24/09)

Senators lift hold on Carter

After meeting with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Alabama Sens. Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions said they will lift their hold on Ashton Carter, the nominee for Under Secretary of Defense and Acquisition. The two senators met with Gates Thursday to discuss the contoversial Air Force tanker contract, which pits Boeing against the Northrop Grumman/EADS team. Shelby, who said he wants to contract to go to the best value rather than based on price alone, said Gates echoed the desire to deliver the best airplane to troops. (Source: WKRG-TV, 04/23/09) Gulf Coast note: EADS will assemble the plane in Mobile, Ala., if it wins the contract.

Contract: Lockheed, $5.6M

Lockheed Martin is being awarded a $5,553,093 contract for engineering and technical support in the integration of Organic Airborne Mine Countermeasures Systems into a MH-60S helicopter. Systems to be incorporated in the MH-60S are the Advanced Sonar System; Airborne Mine Neutralization System; Airborne Laser Mine Detection System; Rapid Airborne Mine Clearance System; and Organic Airborne and Surface Influence Sweep. Half the work will be done in Panama City, Fla., and half in Oswego, N.Y. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 04/23/09)