Teledyne Technoligies 1Q report

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Teledyne Technologies Inc. reported first quarter 2009 sales of $440.3 million, compared with sales of $451.8 million for the same period of 2008. Net income for the first quarter of 2009 was $20.8 million compared with net income of $27.9 million in the first quarter of 2008. (Source: Business Wire, 04/22/09) Gulf Coast note: Teledyne Continental in Mobile, Ala., is part of Teledyne Technologies.

Boeing 1Q report

CHICAGO - Boeing Co. reported first quarter net income of $0.6 billion with earnings per share of $0.86 which includes the previously announced $0.38 per share reduction from revised twin-aisle commercial airplane production rates and lower price escalation forecasts. Revenue rose 3 percent to $16.5 billion on higher commercial airplane deliveries and higher volume in defense. (Source: Boeing, 04/22/09) Gulf Coast note: Boeing has operations in New Orleans and Northwest Florida.

Contract: Northrop, $21.6M

The Air Force is awarding a fixed price incentive firm contract to Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., of San Diego, Calif., for $21,600,000. This contract will provide advance procurement of LRIP Lot nine selected long lead items required to meet the production schedule of two Global Hawk Block 30 and three Global Hawk Block 40 Air Vehicles as well as the selected long lead items for the ASIP sensors. 303 AESG/SYK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 04/21/09) Gulf Coast note: Global Hawks are made in part in Moss Point, Miss.

F-35 visit delayed

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – The F-35 that was supposed to arrive here today has been delayed until Wednesday. A Lockheed official said the aircraft experienced an anomaly with a system during engine startup. The plane is making its inaugural visit to Eglin, which is scheduled to be the home of the Joint Strike Fighter Training Center. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 04/21/09)

Lockheed Martin 1Q report

Lockheed Martin Corp. reported first quarter 2009 net earnings of $666 million compared to $730 million in 2008. Net sales for the first quarter of 2009 were $10.4 billion, compared to $10.0 billion in 2008. Cash from operations for the first quarter of 2009 was $1.2 billion, compared to $880 million in 2008. (Source: Lockheed Martin, 04/21/09) Gulf Coast note: Lockheed Martin has multiple operations in the Gulf Coast region

Northwest fades in Mobile

MOBILE, Ala. - Northwest Airlines will begin fading from view next month at Mobile Regional Airport as Pinnacle Airlines Corp. stops providing ground services for its three daily round trips to Memphis. Beginning May 12 passengers on Northwest will check in at the Delta Air Lines ticketing desk and board at one of Delta's two gates at the airport. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 04/21/09)

Friction stir weld underway on Orion

NEW ORLEANS, La. - Lockheed Martin has begun its first friction stir weld process on an Orion crew module ground test article at the Michoud Assembly Facility. This ground test article will help validate the process, which will be used for all crew module welds. The weld system is part of the National Center for Advanced Manufacturing, managed by the University of New Orleans Foundation in partnership with NASA and Louisiana. Weld operations on the test article will continue for three months. The structure will then undergo mechanical assembly, integration and testing in New Orleans and Denver. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for the Orion crew exploration vehicle, slated to make its first crewed flight in 2015. (Source: PRNewswire, 04/20/09)

Feature: QinetiQ/PSI

LONG BEACH, Miss. - South Mississippi's QinetiQ/PSI has been working on an impressive list of cutting edge products at its 25,000 square-foot facility, including a shoulder-mounted system that detects the location of snipers, a device that checks for explosives at airports and a system that makes aerial supply drops more accurate. And those are just the systems it can talk about. (Source: Alliance Insight, April 2009)

City can proceed with suits

PENSACOLA, Fla. – The city of Valparaiso will be able to proceed with two suits against the Air Force over the Joint Strike Fighter Training Center at Eglin Air Force Base. In Pensacola federal court, a judge rejected a motion by the Air Force to dismiss the city’s Freedom of Information suit. Earlier in Valparaiso, a circuit judge denied a temporary injunction requested by Okaloosa County which would have halted the two Valparaiso suits. Valparaiso fears the noise of the F-35 will drive down property values. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 04/17/09)

City violated records law in F-35 fight

VALPARAISO, Fla. - An Okaloosa County circuit judge ruled Valparaiso officials violated state public records law in the fight over the Joint Strike Fighter Training Center at Eglin Air Force Base. Valparaiso has 10 days to turn over documents. Okaloosa County’s request for a temporary injunction to halt Valparaiso's federal suit against the Air Force was denied until the state suit between the county and city is resolved. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 04/17/09)

EADS chief OK with split tanker buy

The chief executive of EADS, Louis Gallois, said his company and partner Northrop Grumman would probably bid on a $35 billion tankers project even if the Pentagon decided to buy from both Northrop/EADS and Boeing. His condition is his company would have to be able to build at least 12 planes a year. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates opposes a split buy, but there’s a move underway in Congress to buy from both aerospace giants. (Source: New York Times, 04/16/09) Gulf Coast note: EADS NA plans to assemble the planes in Mobile, Ala., at Brookley Industrial Complex. Northrop Grumman also plans to build a site next to EADS’ plant should the team win the contract. EADS has also expressed interest in building cargo planes at the site.

Land buy helps protect Whiting

MILTON, Fla. - The Navy has partnered with Santa Rosa County to buy nearly 600 acres near Naval Air Station Whiting Field to help prevent encroachment at the base in Milton. In the last eight years the county has been using state money to buy up land to keep development away. The Navy contributed $2.8 million, 75 percent of the cost. (Source: WEAR-TV, 04/16/09)

Center to provide new service

FOLEY, Ala. - Goodrich Corp.'s Alabama Service Center received approval from Boeing to provide overheat service bulletin inspections and modifications for Boeing Next-Generation 737 aircraft. The bulletin outlines instructions for inspection of the aircraft's CFM-56-7 engine thrust reverser inner walls as well as insulation blankets. In 2007, the Alabama Service Center became the third facility in Goodrich's worldwide maintenance, repair and overhaul network authorized to participate in Boeing's Network Service Center program to repair and overhaul Next-Generation 737 and 777 thrust reversers. (Source: Goodrich, 04/16/09)

Gulfport hosts airline summit

GULFPORT, Miss. – The Mississippi Gulf Coast Airline and Tourism Development Summit will be held at the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino with a dinner April 28, followed by a day of presentations and tour of the Coast. The first Airline Summit was held soon after Hurricane Katrina and the fourth summit this year will give airline executives a look at the progress on the Coast and plans for more development. (Source: The Sun Herald, 04/16/09)

Lakota program chief wins award

The Huntsville, Ala.-based program manager for EADS North America’s Light Utility Helicopter, John Burke, will receive the 2009 Leadership Excellence Award from the National Defense Industrial Association’s Tennessee Valley Chapter. Through March 2009, the company has delivered 62 of the Columbus, Miss.-built UH-72As to active Army and National Guard units nationwide. The Army plans to buy 345 Lakotas through 2016, and the Navy wants five. (Source: EADS North America, 04/15/09) Gulf Coast note: EADS also has an engineering center and maintenance operation in Mobile, Ala.

NASA picks 16 STTR projects

Mississippi State University and a company in Winona, Miss., think they’ve come up with a way to ensure the purity of hydrogen fuel that’s important for engine testing at Stennis Space Center, Miss. The proposed is among 16 selected by NASA for negotiation of Phase 2 contract awards in the Small Business Technology Transfer program. Mississippi Ethanol LLC and MSU want to develop a technique and sensor to measure simultaneously concentrations of several contaminants in hydrogen gas storage tanks and supply lines. The purity of hydrogen fuel is important in NASA engine testing. The proposed sensor may also be used for quality control in pharmaceutical, chemical and food processing industries. (Source: NASA, 04/15/09)

Director steps down

GULF BREEZE, Fla. – Brice Harris, director of the Andrews Institute's space-tourism program, resigned Tuesday in the wake of accusations he used his state job to get the position. Gov. Charlie Crist is seeking an Ethics Commission inquiry into Harris' role in developing the institute's contract for Project Odyssey, designed to get tourists ready to launch into orbit.(Source: Pensacola News Journal, 04/15/09)

Goodrich Alabama center wins award

FOLEY, Ala. - Goodrich Corp's Alabama Service Center in Foley and Customer Services campus in Monroe, N.C. received Corporate Diamond Certificate of Excellence awards from the Federal Aviation Administration Aviation Maintenance Technician program. The Corporate Diamond award is the highest award presented in the AMT program. The award has now been presented eight times to the Alabama center. (Source: Goodrich, 04/15/09)

F-35 to visit Eglin

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will make its inaugural landing at Eglin April 21 and will remain at the base for four days. Base officials invited local mayors, county commissioners and school board members to see the plane that has been the focal point of several lawsuits. The city of Valparaiso wants to stop the Air Force from establishing a JSF training center at the base, but the county is suing the city to get it to drop its suit. No pubic events are scheduled. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 04/15/09)

More money for pro-tanker Web site

MOBILE, Ala. - The Mobile County Commission approved paying a Pensacola, Fla., company $63,500 to train county workers to run a Web site that encourages the Air Force to select Mobile as the site for construction of new refueling tankers. Birdwell Photography & Multimedia Inc. has previously been paid nearly $450,000 by the county to build and maintain the Web site, www.keepourtanker.com. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 04/14/09)