Eglin EOD school growing

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – The demand for training in explosive ordnance disposal is on the rise. The Naval School Explosive Ordnance Disposal at Eglin will be at maximum capacity in fiscal 2010, with 1,786 students – up from 1,705 students in 2009 and 1,283 in 2008. The executive officer of the school said this year’s increase will be the last one until additional facilities are built. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 01/13/10)

Remote training with avatars

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. – Air Force officials are testing the waters to see if training with avatars in a virtual environment is effective. It would allow students who are assigned on temporary duty to Keesler to use computers at their home base for training. Keesler officials say if TDY students are able to complete the training from their home base, the savings to the military could be as high as $700,000 a year in housing, food, and transportation costs. Avatars are computer-generated figures that represent the computer user. (Source: WLOX-TV, 01/14/10)

County OKs money for aviation park

MILTON, Fla. – Nearly a half-million dollars will be used to begin work on Whiting Aviation Park, a 269-acre facility near Naval Air Station Whiting Field. The Santa Rosa County Commission voted to seek bids for infrastructure work. The commission discussed having county road crews do the work for some $315,000, but decided to seek bids to see if a private contractor can do it for less. Commissioners also approved $175,000 for a consultant to develop a master plan. The park, which will have access to one of Whiting's runways, is intended to attract aviation-related businesses. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 01/14/10)

Spec ops deploy to Haiti

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. - Two MC-130H Combat Talon IIs from the 15th Special Operations Squadron and multiple teams from the 720th Special Tactics Group deployed to Haiti in support of humanitarian operations. These teams bring an array of capabilities with them to the country devastated by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake Jan. 12. In addition to opening up the airport at Port-au-Prince, combat controllers are trained to survey other areas to look for potential airdrop and landing zones so other cargo and personnel can be accepted into the country if required. (Source: AFNS, 01/14/10)

Drilling would hurt Eglin mission

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The commander of Eglin Air Force Base told lawmakers Wednesday that oil and gas drilling in Florida waters could threaten military operations. Col. Bruce McClintock told the House Military Affairs and Local Policy Committee that when Eglin fires missiles at drones, the drones and the spent missiles “have to fall somewhere.” Drilling supports say the entire Gulf is not a military training area, and exclusion zones can be set up. (Source: Florida Today, 01/13/10)

Army to end two robotic programs

The Army told Congress it’s terminating a robotic vehicle and unmanned aircraft program that were once part of the Army’s Future Combat Systems, according to The Hill. It comes as the Pentagon prepares its 2011 budget request, and highlights the need to focus on technologies military planners see as key to supporting soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. The terminated unmanned ground vehicle is the Multifunction Utility/Logistics and Equipment Countermine and Transport, and the UAV is the Fire Scout. The Army said the Shadow UAV can meet the Army needs with some technology improvements. The Navy, however, is still involved in Fire Scout. (Source: The Hill, 01/12/10) Gulf Coast note: Fire Scouts are built in part in Moss Point, Miss.

Ex NASA official faces fraud charges

GULFPORT, Miss. – A former high-ranking NASA official who’s on federal probation faces fraud charges over a $600,000 contract awarded to Mississippi State University by Stennis Space Center. Courtney A. Stadd pleaded not guilty Monday to a nine-count indictment that alleges he conspired to have MSU subcontract $450,000 of work on a remote-sensing study to his consulting business, Capitol Solutions. (Source: Sun Herald, 01/11/10)

Tanker specs won't be tech improvement

European Aeronautic Defense and Space said Tuesday that the Air Force’s latest specifications for an aerial tanker will not yield significant technological improvements over the current tanker fleet. Sean O’Keefe, head of EADS North America, says the current draft request for proposals is not a modernization program, just a replacement program. (Source: New York Times, 01/12/10) Meanwhile, the CEO of Boeing’s Defense, Space and Security Systems Division, said the company is well positioned to meet the demands of a fixed-price contract, even though the company doesn’t like a fixed-price contract. (Source: Defense News, 01/11/10) EADS and partner Northrop Grumman, which want to assemble the planes in Mobile, Ala., have threatened to withdraw from the contest if the RFP is not changed from the current version, which they say favors the smaller plane being offered by Boeing.

Guard gets Lakotas

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Two Alabama Army National Guard UH-72A Lakota Light Utility Helicopters were unveiled during a ceremony last week. The guard is getting four of the helicopters from EADS North America, which will be based at the Army Aviation Support Facility #2 in Birmingham. The Alabama Army National Guard’s Lakotas are assigned to Detachment 1, Co. C, 2nd Battalion, 151st Aviation Regiment. The UH-72As will replace Detachment 1’s OH-58 Kiowas. EADS North America has delivered 93 Lakotas to the Army and five to the Navy. The UH-72As are built in Columbus, Miss., by the American Eurocopter business unit of EADS North America. (Source: EADS, 01/09/10)

STOVL F-35 has flight test

The short takeoff/vertical landing version of the Lockheed Martin F-35 engaged its STOVL propulsion system in flight for the first time this week during testing at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. Tests to come include short takeoffs, hovers and vertical landings. The F-35 is powered by a Pratt & Whitney F135 engine driving a Rolls-Royce LiftFan. In the test, the pilot from BAE Systems engaged the LiftFan propulsion system at 5,000 feet and 210 knots, then slowed to 180 knots with the system still engaged before accelerating to 210 knots and converting back to conventional-flight mode. The F135 system development and demonstration program has completed 164 hours of flight time, including cross-country flights to and from Edwards and Eglin Air Force Bases and Patuxent River Naval Air Station. (Sources: Pratt & Whitney, 01/08/10; Lockheed Martin, 01/07/10). Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base is scheduled to become home of the JSF training center; Lockheed Martin, Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems all have operations in the Gulf Coast region.

Airbus picks Kansas for project

Airbus Americas said Thursday it will add 80 jobs to its 210-worker engineering facility in Wichita, Kan., a project that Wichita officials had said they were competing against Mobile to land. Airbus has a 150-worker engineering facility at the Brookley Field Industrial Complex. Airbus said the company's new engineering work is related to wings, already the primary focus in Wichita. Engineers in Mobile work on cabin interiors, cargo systems and escape systems. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 01/08/10)

Gates wants delay of F-35 purchases

Bloomberg reports that Defense Secretary Robert Gates has ordered a delay in the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, cutting the Pentagon’s planned purchases by 10 aircraft in fiscal 2011 and a total of 122 through 2015, according to a budget document. More than $2.8 billion that was budgeted earlier to buy the military’s next-generation fighter would instead be used to continue its development. (Source: Bloomberg, 01/07/10) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is scheduled to be home of the Joint Strike Fighter training center; Lockheed Martin has multiple operations in the Gulf Coast.

Airport has good year

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Hattiesburg-Laurel Regional Airport topped its 2008 figures for departures and posted its third-highest count in the past eight years for incoming passengers. The airport averaged 758 passengers per month between January and April, outgoing traffic picked up, topping the 1,000 mark in May for the first time since August 2008. After that, outgoing traffic never fell below 1,145 in any of the following seven months. The airport finished 2009 with 12,365 boardings, a couple hundred departures more than 2008. (Source: Hattiesburg American, 01/07/10)

Guardrail moves toward certification

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - Northrop Grumman and the Army recently completed electromagnetic interference/electromagnetic compatibility testing on the first RC-12X Guardrail, bringing the signals intelligence system one step closer to providing mission-critical capability to the warfighter this year. The RC-12X is the Army's airborne SIGINT sensor and ground processing system. The EMI/EMC testing validates operation of the aircraft's electronic systems in a large, electromagnetically shielded chamber. EMI/EMC testing is required before an airworthiness certificate can be issued. Delivery to the Army is scheduled for summer 2010. (Source: Global Newswire, 01/05/10)

PW delivers F-35 demo engine

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. - Pratt & Whitney has delivered its final conventional take off and landing/carrier variant F135 flight test engine to the F-35 Joint Program Office as the program transitions from development and demonstration to production. Pratt & Whitney has delivered 17 flight test engines and expects to deliver the final short take off and vertical landing flight test engine early this year. Pratt & Whitney is a United Technologies Corp. company. (Source: PRNewswire, 01/05/09) Gulf Coast note: The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter training center will be at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.; Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne has an operation at Stennis Space Center, Miss.

Notice of intent for F-35 basing issued

Air Force officials at Langley Air Force Base, Va., published the notice of intent in the Federal Register to prepare an environmental impact statement to assess the impacts of establishing operational F-35 units at existing Air Force and Air National Guard installations. The candidate bases are Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho; Hill AFB, Utah; Burlington Air Guard Station, Vt.; Shaw AFB/McEntire Joint National Guard Base, S.C.; and Jacksonville AGS, Fla. The analysis will examine issues relating to land use, airspace and safety, air and water quality, noise, socioeconomics, biological and cultural resources and cumulative actions. Air Force officials expect to complete the environmental impact analysis process in about one year. (Source: AFNS, 01/05/10) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., will be home to the Joint Strike Fighter training center. The city of Valparaiso has raised concerns over the potential noise associated with the fighter.

Airport looks into security lapse

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport is looking into how a college student from Korea ended up spending the night at the airport undetected. The Pensacola Christian College student was found asleep at a Delta airlines gate at 4:15 a.m. Sunday when an agent of the airline arrived to open the gate for business. The student told airport officials he spent the night sleeping in the concourse waiting for friends, also college students, scheduled to arrive Sunday. The concourse is closed when the final flight arrives and several sweeps failed to find the student. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 01/05/10)

Northrop moving HQ to DC region

Defense contractor Northrop Grumman said it plans to move its headquarters from Los Angeles to the Washington D.C. area by 2011. It plans to identify a site by this spring and is looking at the District, Maryland and Virginia. The company plans to move about 300 people to the headquarters. Wes Bush, the company’s chief executive, says Northrop has a lot of customers in the Washington, D.C., region and the move will help the company better serve customers. (Source: Northrop Grumman, 01/04/10) Gulf Coast note: Northrop and partner EADS are competing against Boeing to build tankers for the Air Force. If the Northrop/EADS team wins the tankers will be assembled in Mobile, Ala.

Work continues on A-3 stand

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – This year will bring several milestones in the construction of the A-3 stand that will be used to test the next generation of rocket engines. Lonnie Dutreix, A-3 project manager, said some of the deadlines are tentative as the future direction of NASA’s exploration program is decided. A-3 will be used to test the J-2X engine, a key propulsion system for NASA’s Constellation Program. This year workers will install the stand’s test cell and diffuser, which let operators simulate altitudes of up to 100,000 feet using a series of chemical steam generators to create a vacuum. The test cell and diffuser is being manufactured by American Tank and Vessel Inc. at its facility in Lucedale, Miss. The stand is slated to be finished in late 2011. (Source: NASA, 01/04/10)

Airport expects good 2010

GULFPORT, Miss. – The head of Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport predicts an 8 to 10 percent passenger growth in 2010 compared to the previous year. Bruce Frallic, the airport’s director, says the last two years have been tough on the industry, but he sees signs of recovery. AirTran returns Jan. 8 after a year’s absence from the airport, with flights to Atlanta and Tampa three days a week. Millions have been spent on improvements at the airport, and millions more will be spent this year. (Source: Sun Herald, 01/01/10)