Contract: Raytheon, $6.7M

The Air Force is modifying a contract with Raytheon Co., of Tucson Ariz., for $6,736,211. This contract is a modification to the AMRAAM Production Lot 22 contract. 695ARSS, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 01/12/09)

Will Boeing, Airbus fight over AF1?

The Air Force last week officially launched the search for a new widebody presidential jet when it issued a request for information. This competition could pit Boeing's 747 against the Airbus 380. Airbus told Flight International the company received the RFI and is "taking a look." Boeing, which has provided AF1 for more than 50 years, has said keeping the contract is a top priority. Boeing has provided the presidential jet for more than 50 years. (Sources: Flight International, Wired, 01/09/09) The other high-profile Boeing/Airbus battle is over the Air Force tanker. The Northrop Grumman/EADS (Airbus) team won and planned to build them in Mobile, Ala. But Boeing's protest was upheld and the Pentagon cancelled the contest – opting to let the new administration decide where to go from here.

Airport hopes to land WestJet

FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. - Northwest Florida Regional Airport officials chose the eighth annual Senior Snowbird Expo Friday to roll out plans to lure a Canadian airline to the area. Local airport officials have set up a Web site and are asking people to show their interest. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 01/09/09)

Boeing to cut commercial plane workforce

SEATTLE, Wash. - Boeing said today that employment at its Commercial Airplanes business unit is expected to decline by some 4,500 positions in 2009 as part of an effort to control costs. The reduction will bring Commercial Airplanes' employment to about 63,500, the level it was at the start of 2008. Most of the cuts are expected in Washington state in the second quarter of the year. (Source: Boeing, 01/09/09) Boeing's operations in New Orleans and Northwest Florida are not in the commercial airplanes sector.

Contract: Northrop, $13.4M

The Air Force is awarding a cost plus award fee contract to Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., San Diego, Calif., for $13,474,949. This contract is for engineering, manufacturing and development activities in support of the Global Hawk Program. 303 AESG/SYK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 01/08/09) Global Hawks are built in part at the Northrop Grumman Unmanned Systems Center in Moss Point, Miss.

Ground broken on new office

SLIDELL, La. - Northrop Grumman's 3001 International broke ground Wednesday on a new facility. Northrop in October 2008 bought 3001, a provider of geospatial data production and analysis, including airborne imaging, surveying, mapping and geographic information systems. The new office combines the existing Slidell 3001 office with the one at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The new 20,000 square-foot facility brings 85 jobs, including 50 new positions to St. Tammany Parish. (Source: Northrop Grumman, 01/07/09)

Northrop streamlines units

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Northrop Grumman has combined seven units into five to lower costs. The Integrated Systems group was combined with Space Technology to form the Aerospace Systems unit, led by Gary Ervin. The Information Technology and Mission Systems groups have combined as Information Systems, led by Linda Mills. Northrop Grumman last year streamlined its shipbuilding business. (Source: Los Angeles Times, 01/08/09) The new aerospace unit includes Moss Point, Miss., and other facilities that build the Global Hawk and Fire Scout unmanned aerial systems.

NASA leader plans to step down

Like the other political appointees of the Bush administration, NASA Administrator Mike Griffin is planning to step down Jan. 20. Griffin does not expect to be offered an opportunity to stay on after President-elect Barack Obama takes office. A small list of potential appointees has already emerged. (Source: Florida Today, 01/07/09) NASA has operations at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi and the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.

Boeing gets JDAM, SDB contracts

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The Boeing Co. received two Defense Department contracts totaling $217.1 million for continued production of Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) tail kits and Small Diameter Bombs (SDB). The JDAM contract includes more than 4,000 tail kits for the Air Force and Navy. The SDB contract includes more than 2,500 weapons and associated carriages for the Air Force. Deliveries are scheduled for 2010. (Source: Boeing, 01/07/09). Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is where the Air Force develops airborne conventional weapons.

DAGR tested at Eglin

ORLANDO, Fla. - Lockheed Martin successfully conducted the first live warhead ground launch test of the DAGR guidance kit for the 2.75-inch rocket. Conducted at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., the test demonstrated DAGR's vehicle penetration and time-delayed fuzing feature. Lockheed Martin engineers fired a DAGR-equipped rocket armed with a live warhead at a stationary vehicle. It penetrated the side of the vehicle before detonating inside. The system is designed for rotary-wing Hellfire platforms, including the Cobra, Apache, Seahawk, Kiowa and Tiger. (Source: Lockheed Martin, 01/06/09)

Eglin building renamed for engineer

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - Building 22 at Eglin Air Force Base has been renamed the Register Physical Sciences Center, in honor of the late Henry I. Register. Register spent more than 50 years at Eglin and was one of the pioneers of laser-guided smart weapons. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 01/05/09)

NASA issues RFP for Ares V

WASHINGTON, D.C. - NASA issued a request for proposals for the Ares V rocket Monday. The rocket will perform heavy lift and cargo functions as part of the next generation of spacecraft that will return humans to the moon, part of the Constellation Program. Proposals are due to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., Feb. 9. Selections will be made in the spring of 2009. (Source: PRNewswire, 01/05/09) Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and Stennis Space Center in Mississippi both are involved in the Constellation Program.

Contract: Raytheon, $12.2M

The Air Force modified a contract with Raytheon Co., Tucson, Ariz., for $12,247,290. This contract action will provide a miniature air launched decoy jammer Block II program contract for a 14-month concept refinement study for data link and increased effective radiated power. 692 ARSS/PK, Eglin AFB, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 01/05/09)

Stennis names deputy director

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - NASA named Patrick Scheuermann as the deputy director of John C. Stennis Space Center, NASA's primary testing ground for propulsion systems. The promotion of Scheuermann, the center's associate director since August 2006, became effective Dec. 21. Scheuermann previously was chief operating officer of Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. (Source: NASA, 01/05/08)

Option exercised for Deepwater aircraft

ROSSLYN, Va. - Lockheed Martin and the Coast Guard exercised contract options valued at $13.25 million to install mission systems aboard two additional HC-130J aircraft used in the Deepwater Program. The new system uses the technology developed for the HC-144A Ocean Sentry Maritime Patrol Aircraft. (Source: Lockheed Martin, 01/05/09) Support for the HC-144A, based on the EADS CASA CN-235, is provided at EADS North America’s facility at Mobile Regional Airport in Mobile, Ala.

Stennis kicks off robot competition

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – This past weekend 27 high school teams from Mississippi, Florida and Louisiana gathered at Stennis Space Center’s StenniSphere for the regional kickoff of the 18th annual For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology Robotics Competition. It's the first step towards the national and international competition. Teams will participate in the Bayou Regional, March 19-21 at the University of New Orleans, to qualify for a place in April at the FIRST Championship in Atlanta. (Source: The Sun Herald, 01/03/09)

F-35 production on schedule

FORT WORTH, Texas - Lockheed Martin's F-35 production is on schedule and nearing its goal of a 2010 delivery to Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Last month Lockheed rolled out two more F-35s that are ready to be tested (story). The AF-1 is a flight test aircraft and AG-1 a ground test unit. Six F-35s are now complete and 17 are in production. The test aircrafts have completed 83 flights. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 01/04/09)

CV-22 set to get all-quadrant weapon

Special Operations Command is on track to install all-quadrant 7.62mm Gatling guns underneath seven Air Force Special Operations Command CV-22 Ospreys in 2009. The 413th Flight Test Squadron is testing the turret-mounted gun at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. It's passed a series of tests including firing from a hover, said Dave Adamiak, a BAE Systems official. Critics had complained that the CV-22 had no all-quadrant weapons, but in 2007 a contract was awarded to BAE Systems to deliver seven Remote Guardian Systems and install them on Ospreys for AFSOC deployments. (Source: Air Force Times, 01/04/08)

Contract: McDonnell, $13.8M

The Air Force awarded a firm fixed-price contract to the McDonnell Douglas Corp., St. Louis, Mo., for $13,835,952. This will authorize McDonnell to provide various test assets in support of The Small Diameter Bomb I program for aircraft/weapon integration for threshold and follow-on aircraft. 681 ARSS/PK, Eglin AFB, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 01/02/09)

Goodrich, Rolls enter joint venture

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Goodrich and Rolls-Royce announced today that they've formed a joint venture company to develop and supply engine controls for Rolls-Royce aero engines. The joint venture company, Rolls-Royce Goodrich Engine Control Systems Limited, operates as Aero Engine Controls. Each of the contributing companies owns 50 per cent of Aero Engine Controls. Goodrich will retain the aftermarket products and services business associated with the joint venture's products. (Source: PRNewswire, 01/02/08) Both companies have Gulf Coast operations. Rolls-Royce has a foundry in Pascagoula and tests jet engines at Stennis Space Center, Miss; Goodrich has a service center in Foley, Ala.