Two Blue Angels found guilty

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Two Blue Angels team members, one a pilot, that were removed from duty for an "inappropriate relationship" were found guilty today. The case was turned over to the Navy Personnel Command. The Navy has not identified the man and woman, but one was in the Navy, the other in the Marines. Rear Adm. Mark Guadagnini, chief of Naval air training, presided over the hearing that began Thursday. The Blue Angels flight demonstration team is based at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 11/07/08)

Obama to emphasize technology

President-elect Barack Obama is expected to emphasize technological investments under national security and space exploration efforts at the expense of Defense Department big-ticket acquisitions. Obama has declared his support for technological innovation across the federal government, but in particular, his campaign says he advocates unmanned aircraft, electronic warfare capabilities and cyber security. The Gulf Coast has operations in both space exploration and UAVs. (Source: Aviation Week, 11/05/08)

Fire Scout aboard LCS

The Navy’s first littoral combat ship, USS Freedom, will be commissioned Nov. 8 at a 10 a.m. EST ceremony at Veterans Park, Milwaukee, Wis. Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter will deliver the principal address. A Northrop Grumman Fire Scout helicopter drone is on the Freedom and will remain onboard as it transits from Milwaukee to Norfolk, Va. The Fire Scout will contributed to the ship's core missions of mine counter measures, antisubmarine warfare and surface warfare, as well as surveillance, targeting and communication-relay functions. Fire Scouts are built in part in Moss Point, Miss. (Source: Navy, Northrop Grumman, 11/05/08)

Some eye longer shuttle program

The space shuttle could continue to fly beyond its scheduled 2010 retirement date, a move that would help keep hundreds of people working at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. But the price tag of such an extension would be $2 billion per year, according to a report released this week. And it would also impact the Constellation program. (Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 11/05/08)

ST Engineering 3Q report

Singapore Technologies Engineering said Tuesday that third quarter profit rose 3 percent, though earnings in the key aerospace division fell. The company owns ST Mobile Aerospace Engineering, whose 1,600 employees at Mobile's Brookley Field Industrial Complex repair and modify jetliners. It also owns VT Halter Marine, whose 1,700 employees in Mississippi's Pascagoula, Moss Point and Escatawpa build and repair ships. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 11/05/08)

Ares I-X flight hardware arrives

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The first major flight hardware of the Ares I-X rocket has arrived in Florida to begin preparation for the July 12, 2009, test flight of the agency's next-generation launch system. The Constellation program test flight will allow NASA to gather data during ascent of the integrated Orion crew exploration vehicle and the Ares I rocket. Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and Mississippi's Stennis Space Center play roles in Constellation. (Source: NASA, 11/04/08)

Keesler to host first air show in 5 years

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. – Keesler Air Force Base will host its first air show in five years in April when it presents “Thunder on the Bay.” The two-day event April 4-5, 2009, will feature aerial acrobatics and static aircraft displays, though details are still being worked out. The show got its name as a result of a base-wide vote. (Source: Keesler Air Force Base, 11/03/08)

Hurlburt maintainers get DoD award

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. - Maintainers from Hurlburt Field won the Department of Defense Phoenix Award, the highest field-level maintenance award within DoD. The 1st Special Operations Maintenance group won the honor by supporting the generation of 3,200 combat sorties that flew nearly 14,000 hours over hostile territory. (Source: Air Force News Service, 11/03/08)

Northrop gets Army UAV contract

Northrop gets Army UAV contract
HERNDON, Va. - The Army awarded Northrop Grumman a $97 million contract to procure, modify and deliver 12 Hunter MQ-5B unmanned aerial vehicles and supporting ground stations, data links and spare parts. Northrop’s team include Stark Aerospace, Starkville, Miss.; L-3 Communications, Salt Lake City; Rockwell Collins, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; AAI Corp., Hunt Valley, Md..; APL GmbH, Germany; and Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd.'s TAMAM Division, Israel. Work will primarily be performed at Northrop’s Unmanned Aircraft System Center of Excellence, Sierra Vista, Ariz., and facilities at Starkville. Northrop also has a UAV center in Moss Point, Miss., which has also worked on Hunter aircraft. (Source: Globe Newswire, 11/03/08)

Workers ratify Boeing contract

SEATTLE - Striking Boeing machinists in Washington, Oregon and Kansas voted to ratify a new four-year contract. About 27,000 employees represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers begin returning to work with the third shift Nov. 2. The contract calls for general wage increases of 15 percent over four years, a 16 percent pension increase and lump-sum payments of at least $8,000 over the life of the agreement. (Source: PRNewswire, 11/02/08)

City to spend more on F-35 suit

VALPARAISO, Fla. - City commissioners voted Friday to more than quadruple their budget to cover the cost of noise experts and other legal expenses in the city's dispute with Eglin Air Force Base. Commissioners in executive session approve an additional $100,000 from the general fund. The city wants to find out more about the noise the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter training center will bring to Eglin. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 10/31/08)

Two Blue Angels removed from duty

PENSACOLA, Fla. - Two members of the Navy's Blue Angels, one a pilot, were removed from duty with the team for allegedly having an inappropriate relationship. The six-plane team will fly the rest of the season - three shows ending Nov. 15 - with five F-18s. Neither team member was identified. The Blue Angels flight demonstration team is based at Naval Air Station Pensacola. (Source: AP, Navy Times, 10/30/08)

Ares I test launch delayed

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA's first Ares I test flight is being pushed back to July 12 because of the delay in a final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission. But NASA is also looking at speeding up development of the new moon rocket and an Apollo-style crew capsule for the Constellation program. Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and Mississippi's Stennis Space Center are both involved in Constellation. (Source: Florida Today, 10/30/08)

Land around base to be preserved

MILTON, Fla. - Gov. Charlie Crist and the cabinet have approved a venture with the Navy to eventually preserve more than 5,000 acres of undeveloped land around Whiting Field Naval Air Station north of Milton. The vote was unanimous to begin the process by spending $1 million for an initial 208 acres near the base's northeastern and southern perimeters. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 10/30/08)

New Orleans airport ripe for more service

NEW ORLEANS, La. - Continued high demand and nearly full airplanes make New Orleans an ideal place to add air service, aviation consultant Mike Boyd said. But that doesn't mean Louis Armstrong International Airport, which saw service slashed after Hurricane Katrina, will gain service anytime soon. (Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 10/30/08)

Test stand takes shape at Stennis

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - A new 300-foot rocket engine test stand is rising above the trees at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center. Fabricated steel began arriving by truck Oct. 24 for construction of the A-3 test stand that will be used to test the J-2X engine for the next generation of rockets. Work began with groundbreaking ceremonies in August 2007. The J-2X will power both Ares I and Ares V. It will be required to start at high altitudes, and the new test stand is designed to test the it at simulated altitudes of up to 100,000 feet. (Source: NASA, 10/28/08)

Gunships improve situational awareness

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - Air Force Special Operations gunships will be getting a new tool to provide increased situational awareness. The 46th Test Squadron conducted a flight test of the Rockwell Collins Data Link Processor and software that demonstrated Link 16 messaging between an AC-130, a Hurlburt Field ground station, a system integration lab at Eglin and an F-16. AC-130 aircraft can exchange battlespace information with ground and airborne participants, allowing the AC-130 to take on a mission commander role. Rockwell Collins supplies the data and display processing systems to BAE Systems, which will integrate the Link 16 capabilities onto the platform. (Source: Rockwell Collins, 10/29/08)

Boeing-union pact would limit outsourcing

Boeing and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers reached a tentative agreement Monday night. IAM says the new contract limits the amount of work outside vendors can perform in the workplace. Some 27,000 union members are on strike in Washington, Oregon and Kansas. Boeing also has Gulf Coast operations in New Orleans, La., and Fort Walton Beach, Fla. (Source: Aviation Week, 10/28/08)

Peer review may reduce protests

Two Air Force programs delayed by protests will be among the first subjected to a new review system. The new process will require Army and Navy officials to conduct peer reviews of the Air Force programs before, during and after contract decisions. The Air Force will help review contracts for the other branches. The new process began Sept. 30 for all programs worth $1 billion or more. EADS and Northrop Grumman had planned to build a refueling tanker in Mobile, but a Boeing protest was upheld. The Pentagon later decided to table the project until the next administration. (Source: Bloomberg, 10/27/08)

Ares test rocket on water journey

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Full-scale components of the Ares I-X test rocket manufactured at NASA’s Glenn Research Center was loaded on the Delta Mariner Oct. 22 for a nearly two-week trip down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to Port Canaveral, Fla. At Kennedy Space Center the components of the upper stage simulator of the Ares I-X test rocket will be integrated with other parts of the Ares I-X vehicle for launch in 2009. Ares I-X will be the first flight test vehicle of NASA's next generation launch vehicle system. Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans in the future will manufacture and assemble the upper stage of Ares I, as well as the core of Ares V and large structures for the Orion crew capsule. Stennis Space Center will test propulsion systems. (Source: PRNewswire, 10/15/08)