Boeing 4Q report

The Boeing Co.reported fourth-quarter net income of $1.3 billion as revenue rose 42 percent to $17.9 billion. Current period results reflect solid performance across core businesses and represent a significant improvement over the year-ago quarter, which included a labor strike and a charge on the 747 program. Revenue for the full year reached a record $68.3 billion. (Source: Boeing via PRNewswire, 01/27/10) Gulf Coast note: Chicago-based Boeing has activities in the Gulf Coast region.

Contract: CSC, $29.5M

CSC Applied Technologies LLC of Fort Worth, Texas was awarded a $29,513,871 contract which will provide for base operating support service at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. 81 CONS, Keesler Air Force Base, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 01/26/10)

Cyber AF gets initial operating capability

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- The commander of Air Force Space Command certified 24th Air Force for its initial operational capability Jan. 22. The 24th Air Force, activated in August 2009 at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, is a component numbered Air Force subordinate to Air Force Space Command located at Peterson. "Cyberspace operations represent one of the critical and major areas of growth within the Air Force today," said Maj. Gen. Richard Webber, the 24th Air Force commander. (Source: AFNS, 01/25/10) Gulf Coast note: Air Force cyber training is done at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss.

Hurlburt works to save lives in Haiti

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. - Medics from the 1st Special Operations Support Squadron have performed dozens of surgeries, evacuated scores of citizens and delivered tons of supplies as part of the ongoing relief effort in Haiti after the Jan. 12 earthquake. The squadron's special operations surgical teams, special operations critical care evacuation teams, and special operations forces medical elements arrived in Haiti Jan. 13. "Up until a few days ago, our medics were the only military surgical capability in the country and the only surgical presence at the embassy," said Lt. Col. Jeremy Kokenes, the 1st SOSS operations director, who is in frequent contact with his personnel in Haiti. (Source: AFNS, 01/26/10)

EU complains about WTO ruling gap

A 10-month gap between World Trade Organization rulings on cases involving government subsidies to Boeing and Airbus could hinder the ability of the EU and U.S. to arrive at a settlement. An EU spokeswoman said the two cases are so similar that the WTO appeals body should rule on both at the same time. The WTO in September said Airbus was receiving subsidies, but won’t rule on the alleged subsidies to Boeing until June. (Source: Business Week, 01/25/10) Gulf Coast note: Airbus parent EADS is teamed with Northrop Grumman and competing against Boeing to build tankers for the Air Force. EADS plans to assemble the planes in Mobile, Ala.

Navy pilot presumed dead

NEW ORLEANS, La.-- A Navy pilot whose training airplane crashed Saturday into Lake Pontchartrain is presumed dead, and the search is now a recovery mission. The pilot has been identified as Navy Lt. Clinton Wermers, a native of South Dakota. He was the instructor aboard a T-34C that also carried a student aviator, who was rescued Saturday. They were assigned to Training Squadron 6 at Naval Air Station Whiting Field, in Milton, Fla. (Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 01/25/10)

Search continues for missing pilot

NEW ORLEANS, La. – The search continued Monday for a missing pilot whose Navy trainer crashed into Lake Pontchartrain, just outside New Orleans, Saturday around 7 p.m. The T-34C Turbomentor training plane from Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Fla., had two pilots on board. One pilot was rescued Saturday, reportedly with minor injuries. The plane was conducting a routine training mission. (Sources: CNN, New Orleans Times-Picayune, Pensacola News Journal, 01/24/10; updated Monday)

Oceanographers help in Haiti

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – Oceanographers from the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command at Stennis Space Center are heavily involved in relief efforts in Haiti. Stennis-based personnel are conducting hydrographic surveys of ports of interest around Haiti to determine navigational hazards for ships bringing aid to Haiti. Personnel from the command’s Naval Oceanographic Office have conducted airborne lidar surveys of Port-au-Prince using the CHARTS system aboard a Beechcraft King Air 200 aircraft. Other NAVO personnel are aboard the naval oceanographic 329-foot survey ship USNS Henson. (Source: NNS, 01/22/10)

Taurus tests expected in April

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – First stage engine testing for the Taurus 2 rocket at Stennis Space Center is expected in April or May. Orbital Sciences is still hoping for a March 2011 debut of the company’s medium-lift Taurus 2 rocket, according to Frank Culbertson, Orbital senior vice president. Orbital is building the Taurus 2 to launch the company's Cygnus cargo freighter to the International Space Station. The Taurus 2 rocket first stage will use a pair of kerosene-fueled AJ26 main engines provided by Aerojet Corp. The first batch of AJ26 engines is slated to arrive at Stennis no earlier than March, nearly a year later than expected in schedules announced in late 2008. (Source: Spaceflight Now, 01/20/10)

Mayor urges split tanker buy

WASHINGTON - Mobile Mayor Sam Jones wants President Barack Obama to reverse the Pentagon's plan and buy aerial tankers both Boeing and the Northrop Grumman/EADS team as a major job creation program. Jones, in a letter to Obama, said that would create nearly 100,000 jobs nationwide and help retire the existing fleet seven years earlier. He delivered the letter Thursday during a meeting at the White House with other city mayors. (Source: Reuters, 01/22/10). The Northrop/EADS team wants to assemble the planes in Mobile, Ala.

Contract: Sikorsky, $7M

Sikorsky Support Services Inc., Pensacola, Fla., is being awarded a $7,035,212 modification to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery requirements contract to provide aircraft maintenance and logistics support for the T-34C, as well as manage the aircraft's service life extension and service life maintenance management programs. Additionally, the contractor will provide all required support to enter T-6 aircraft flight data into the Training Information Management System and Organizational Optimized Maintenance Activity software systems. Work will be performed at the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas and NAS Whiting Field, Fla., and is expected to be completed in September 2010. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 01/21/10)

F-35 testing, acquisition to slow

The Pentagon is slowing testing and acquisition of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz said Wednesday during a briefing with reporters in Washington. He said the path had been too aggressive, and there’s an effort underway to lengthen the test period, increase test assets and make the production rate less ambitious. The F-35 will be ready for initial operational capability with the Air Force in 2013, Schwartz said. (Source: Navy Times, 01/21/10) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is scheduled to be home to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter training center.

Pentagon may budge on fixed-price

The Air Force chief of staff, Gen. Norton Schwartz, says changes to the request for proposals for the aerial tanker will “lessen the financial risk” for bidders. But he characterizes the changes as “modest.” Schwartz says the final RFP will be issued within a month of the fiscal 2011 budget release scheduled for Feb. 1. Boeing and the Northrop Grumman/EADS team are expected to bid for the work, though Northrop has threatened not to bid if the RFP is not changed. (Source: Aviation Week, 01/20/10) Gulf Coast note: The Northrop/EADS team wants to assemble the tankers in Mobile, Ala.

Astronauts thank Stennis workers

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – NASA astronauts were at Stennis Space Center Tuesday afternoon to thank employees for their work. Five of the six members of the Space Shuttle Crew Atlantis flew to Stennis, where space shuttle engines are tested. The Atlantis returned to earth in late November. The crew's 13 day mission included a trip to the International Space Station to deliver supplies and bring one of the astronauts back home. The trip also involved three successful space walks. (Source: WLOX-TV, 01/19/10)

Lockheed lands contract extension

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - NASA has awarded Lockheed Martin of Bethesda, Md., a contract extension to continue the Outsourcing Desktop Initiative for NASA, or ODIN, services to support the agency. The extension has a value of about $230 million and will continue through Oct. 31, 2011. Agency-wide services under the ODIN master contract and center delivery orders include desktop hardware and software, personal digital assistants, telephone operations, network services, information technology security and other services. The contract will be managed by the NASA Shared Services Center at Stennis. (Source: PRNewswire, 01/19/10)

Boeing: France protectionist

PARIS - Boeing's representative in France on Tuesday accused the European nation of shielding its defense market behind a wall of "extreme protectionism." Yves Galland said Paris had few lessons to give America on opening up to foreign suppliers. Boeing is in a battle with Europe’s EADS/Airbus to supply tankers to the U.S. Air Force. Airbus and U.S. partner Northrop Grumman have called the draft request for proposal tilted in Boeing’s favor. But Galland, president of Boeing France, said the U.S. had ordered hundreds of helicopters from EADS’ Eurocopter, while it’s been 30 years since France bought any defense equipment from Boeing. (Source: Reuters, 01/19/10) Gulf Coast note: The Northrop Grumman/EADS team wants to assemble the aerial tankers in Mobile, Ala.; Eurocopter builds helicopters in Columbus, Miss.

NASA Global Hawks ready for GloPac

SAN DIEGO – The NASA Global Hawk unmanned aircraft system completed 10.4 hours for pilot training and flight characterization in preparation for the Global Hawk Pacific Campaign set to start this spring. Five flights have been completed since the first flight of Air Vehicle Six (AV-6) on Oct. 23. Prior to this, the aircraft had not flown in more than 6 years. AV-6 is being modified to carry eleven earth science sensors in preparation for GloPac. (Source: Globe Newswire, 01/18/10) Gulf Coast note: Plans are still on track to use Global Hawks in August and September 2010 to track hurricanes for the Genesis and Rapid Intensification Process Experiment.

Flying Jennies back home

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. – The Flying Jennies of the 403rd Wing at Keesler have returned home from four months in Southeast Asia. The Reservists of the 403rd's 815th Airlift Squadron set a record by airdropping 801 bundles in 24 missions over a one-week period. They logged 2,500 hours in just three months. Flying the C-130J-30 model aircraft, the 815th airdropped nearly 5,000 tons of cargo, including ammunition, medical supplies, food and water – and “care packages” with comfort items. They also flew more than 20,000 passengers and 500 aeromedical evacuation passengers during the deployment. (Source: Sun Herald, 01/17/10; 403rd Wing Public Affairs, 01/12/10)

Coast Guard Mobile sending aircraft

MOBILE, Ala. - The U.S. Coast Guard has assigned the new HU-144A Ocean Sentry aircraft based out of Mobile's Coast Guard Aviation Training Center to help with relief efforts in Haiti. The Ocean Sentry is the new medium-range fixed-wing search and rescue aircraft, replacing the HU-25A Falcon jets that have been used by the Coast Guard for about 30 years. The Ocean Sentry is powered by two turboprop engines and has a longer range than the Falcon and normally carry a crew of five. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 01/15/10)

ADS-B operational in Gulf of Mexico

A next-generation air traffic system is now in place covering the Gulf of Mexico. Houston air traffic controllers are now using Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, a GPS-based technology, to separate and monitor aircraft flying over the Gulf of Mexico. The milestone announced this week by FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt came as the Coast Guard prepared to shut down the U.S. Loran-C chains that for decades provided long-range position-fixing capability to mariners and aviators. Previously, there was virtually no radar coverage over the Gulf, which required 120-mile in-trail separation of high-altitude IFR traffic. Similarly, individual helicopters flying under IFR at low altitudes to and from oil platforms were encased in 20x20-mile “boxes” to ensure safe separation from other helicopters. ADS-B now permits five-mile separation. Philadelphia will roll out its ADB-B system next month, and the system will be available nationwide by 2013. (Source: Aviation Week, 01/14/10; AIA, 01/14/10)