Election a referendum on F-35?

VALPARAISO, Fla. – The 2010 mayor’s race may shape up as a referendum on the city’s face-off with the Air Force over the F-35. The March 9 ballot so far pits Valparaiso Mayor Bruce Arnold against challenger Brent Smith. Arnold was a driving force behind the city’s lawsuit against the Air Force, while Smith opposed the litigation. The Air Force is building the F-35 joint training center at Eglin, but some residents have been concerned over the noise. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 12/30/09)

Contract: Vertex, $11.4M

L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace, LLC, Madison, Miss., is being awarded an $11,406,910 modification to a previously awarded contract to provide specialized technical services in support of depot level maintenance work performed at the Fleet Readiness Center, Southwest on aircraft and rework of associated components and materials. Services to be provided include modifications, in-service repairs and all other categories of service associated with aircraft depot level maintenance and its planning. Work will be performed in California, Washington, Hawaii and Arizona and is expected to be completed in April 2010. The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, China Lake, Calif., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 12/30/09)

Second F-35B arrives

The second Lockheed Martin F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing arrived Tuesday at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. The aircraft flew nonstop from Fort Worth, Texas, and completed an aerial refueling en route. Over the next year a team will ramp up the plane for flight testing. (Source: PRNewswire, 12/29/09) In another F-35-related development, the United States may let Japan take part the multinational team developing the F-35, according to a Kyodo News report. (Source: Japan Times, 12/30/09) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base is scheduled to be the JSF training center.

Pensacola airport gets director

PENSACOLA, Fla. - Melinda Crawford will be appointed Wednesday as the new director of Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport. Crawford has been the interim director since May 15, when former director Frank Miller left the position for a job in San Antonio, Texas. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 12/29/09)

Contract: General Dynamics, $33.6M

General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, Burlington, Vt., was awarded a $33,638,976 firm-fixed-price contract for 144 Bradley reactive armor tile sets for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle systems. Most of the work will be done in Haifa, Israel; Burlington and Lyndonville, Vt., but McHenry, Miss., will do 1.7 percent of the work. Estimated completion date is Nov. 30, 2010. Army Contracting Command, Joint Munitions and Lethality, Contracting Center, Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 12/29/09)

Contract: Raytheon, $12.4M

Raytheon Co., Tucson, Ariz., was awarded a $12,427,000 contract, with a task order from an existing requirements contract, to purchase 43 range safety systems necessary for decoy operational testings and miniature air launched decoy and jammer initial operational test and evaluation. 692 ARSS/PK Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 12/29/09)

Rapiscan may get more work

The attempted attack of an airliner by a man wearing explosives under his clothing may mean more business for Rapiscan Systems of Torrance, Calif., and its 10,000 square-foot production facility in Ocean Springs, Miss. Louis Peters, general manager of Rapiscan Mississippi, said Rapiscan has a contract with the Transportation Security Administration to provide 150 systems for airports across the United States. The plant recently hired 25 additional workers. TSA in May awarded Rapiscan a follow-on order of about $3 million for its Rapiscan 620DV Advanced Technology X-Ray system to screen baggage and parcels. A year ago Rapiscan was named the 2008 North American Homeland Security Inspection and Screening Company of the Year by Frost & Sullivan for its ability to develop and deploy products that enhance security at airports, seaports and border crossings worldwide. (Sources: WLOX-TV, Sun Herald, Tcp, 12/28/09)

Contract: Lockheed, $98M

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $98,000,000 modification to the previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for special tooling and special test equipment required for the manufacture of Joint Strike Fighter Air System low rate initial production aircraft. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in November 2011. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 12/28/09) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., will become home to the JSF training center.

JSF center construction funded

More than $84 million for F-35 structures and a 96-room dormitory at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is part of the $13.5 billion fiscal 2010 military construction budget. It’s part of the $2.4 billion headed to the Air Force for new or better dorms, fitness centers, training centers, control towers and runways. Final approval of the funds came Dec. 13, when the Senate passed the 2010 consolidated appropriations bill. President Barack Obama also must sign off on the measure. (Source: Air Force Times, 12/27/09)

Teledyne Continental eyes new market

MOBILE, Ala. – Teledyne Continental Motors is making a push into diesel-powered engines to enter new markets worldwide – including small unmanned aerial vehicles. Teledyne Continental is hiring engineers and has bought diesel-related technology, licenses and hardware from an outside source. Teledyne plans to announce details in January. Teledyne Continental is a unit of Teledyne Technologies of Thousand Oaks, Calif., and has about 450 workers in Mobile. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 12/27/09)

Developer picked for Eglin resort

A developer has been chosen for the new Emerald Breeze Resort on Air Force Gulf-front property in Okaloosa County. Eglin chose Innisfree Hotels and Innisfree Development for the operation and development of a $24 million hotel and multi-use resort next to the Four Points Sheraton, a dozen miles south of Eglin's west gate. The 17-acre property with 600 feet of Gulf frontage will continue its military function as a radar installation, but the resort will be open to military and civilian visitors. Innisfree beat out more than 100 potential developers to create the resort. (Sources: WEAR-TV 12/24/09, Hotels, 12/22/09)

UK announces third JSF buy

The United Kingdom has received financial approval to buy its third Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II operational test aircraft. The approval follows recent F-35 down-select or procurement commitments by Australia, Norway, the Netherlands, Italy and the United States. The U.K. has invested $2 billion in the F-35's development. More than 100 British companies are involved in the program. (Source: Lockheed Martin, 12/22/09) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., will become home of the JSF training center.

Hurricane Hunters fly winter mission

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. - Members of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron have been tasked by National Weather Service officials to fly their first winter storm of the season on the East Coast starting Dec. 25. The Air Force Reserve's "Hurricane Hunters," assigned to the 403rd Wing, normally collect weather data during tropical storms, enabling forecasters to make more accurate predictions. Between hurricane seasons, they have a lesser known role of collecting weather data during winter storms. The Hurricane Hunters fly WC-130Js at high altitudes and drop small weather canisters, or dropsondes, designed to collect weather data in key locations of high-weather activity. (Source: AFNS, 12/21/09)

Shuttle tank departs Michoud

A 15-story shuttle external tank left Sunday from NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans for its roughly 900-mile trip to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The trip usually takes six days, meaning it should arrive on or around Christmas day. The tank, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, will boost shuttle Discovery into orbit in March. (Source: Florida Today, 12/21/09)

Ravens to get upgrade

AeroVironment of Monrovia, Calif., has received a $23.9 million firm fixed-price order under an existing contract to upgrade existing analog Raven systems being used by the Army and Marine Corps. The potential value is $66.6 million. The Raven unmanned aircraft is a 4.2-pound, hand-launched sensor platform that provides real-time video imagery for reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition in support of tactical units. (Source: BusinessWire, 12/21/09) Gulf Coast note: AeroVironment has an operation in Navarre, Fla.

Missile two for two in testing

An F-15C fired Raytheon’s AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder advanced, infrared-guided air-to-air missile as part of the missile's developmental testing program. The weapon successfully passed within lethal range of a BQM-74 target drone, meeting all primary test objectives. The Nov. 20 test occurred at the test range at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and marks the second time the missile has been fired. (Source: Raytheon, 12/21/09)

ST Aerospace Mobile gets contract extension

MOBILE, Ala. - ST Aerospace Mobile said Friday that it has won a three-year extension of a contract to maintain/overhaul Airbus A330s, Boeing 737s, Boeing 757s and Boeing 767s for US Airways. No terms were announced. It’s the second big contract announced this month for the company at Brookley Field Industrial Complex. It earlier won a three-year $90 million contract to maintain Airbus A320s and Boeing 767s for an unnamed airline. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 12/18/09)

Composite joining method passes test

An innovative method for joining composite structures has passed a series of structural tests. Gene Fraser, vice president of Advanced Programs and Technology for Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, said it’s a major step towards using composites in future space missions. The joint design was used to mate two segments of NASA’s composite crew module demonstrator. The test article represents the inner pressurized shell for the Orion crew module, part of the Constellation Program to return astronauts to the moon and beyond. Test results proved the mating process retains compartment pressure and withstands external loads at twice the level normally experienced in flight. Tests were done at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. (Source: Globe Newswire, 12/17/09) Gulf Coast note: Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans are involved in the Constellation program.

Jacobs acquires FWB's Tybrin

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. of Pasadena, Calif., announced Friday that it's acquired Tybrin Corp., a 1,500-person professional services firm headquartered in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. Jacobs did not disclose the terms of the transaction. Founded in 1972, Tybrin is a supplier of mission planning solutions, systems engineering, software development, modeling and combat environment simulation, engineering and testing, range safety, and other services to the Department of Defense, NASA, and other government clients. (Source: Jacobs via PRNewswire, 12/18/09) Gulf Coast note: Jacobs has operations in Fort Walton Beach and Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and Stennis Space Center, Miss.

Star Aviation gets military work

MOBILE, Ala. – Ten-year-old Star Aviation has won its first military subcontract. MacAulay-Brown Inc., an engineering firm based in Dayton, Ohio, awarded the Mobile company a deal to work on combat survivor locator systems for Air Force C-130s. Star will do structural and electrical engineering work, make wiring harnesses and structural parts, and support installation work. Star did not disclose the value of the work. The company is based at Brookley Field Industrial Complex, where it has about 55 workers. (Source: Mobile Press Register, 12/16/09)