Contract: Signal/Keltec, $14.2M

Signal Technology Corp., Keltec Operations, Fort Walton Beach, Fla., is being awarded a maximum $14,238,144 firm-fixed-price, sole-source contract for high voltage modules. There are no other locations of performance. Using service is Navy. The date of performance completion is June 2013. The Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 12/15/10)

Contract: Jacobs, $10M

Jacobs Technology Inc., Fort Walton Beach, Fla., is being awarded $10,028,003 under previously awarded contract to provide technical support to the Marine Corps Systems Command, Information Systems and Infrastructure Product Group, Marine Corps Network and Infrastructure Services Program Office. Work will be performed in Quantico, Va., and is expected to be completed in December 2011. The Marine Corps System Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 12/14/10)

Fire-X has first flight

The unmanned Northrop Grumman/Bell Helicopter Fire-X demonstrator had its first flight Dec. 10 in Yuma, Ariz., according to the program team. Fire-X is designed to compete in the potentially lucrative market for unmanned rotorcraft to move cargo or gather intelligence. The aircraft, which retains the ability to be piloted, was ferried to Yuma from Bell's Xworx facility in Arlington, Texas. Fire-X, built on the commercial Bell 407 platform, was modified at Xworx with computers, actuators and other systems from Northrop's MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned helicopter. (Source: Aviation Week, 12/14/10) Gulf Coast note: Fire Scouts are built in part in Moss Point, Miss.

Wyle gets JSF task order

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. - Wyle has been awarded a $318 million five-year task order to provide engineering and integration support services to the Joint Strike Fighter Program Office. Tasks will include strategic planning for technology programs and activities, concept development and requirements analysis, system design, engineering and integration, test and evaluation and more. Most of the work will be done in Arlington, Va. with field support at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and Fort Worth, Texas. (Source: PRNewswire, 12/14/10)

Teledyne Continental sold

Teledyne Continental Motors, headquartered in Mobile, Ala., is being sold to Technify Motors for $186 million. The sale was announced Tuesday by California-based Teledyne Technologies Inc. and China-based AVIC International. Teledyne Continental Motors manufactures piston engines, spare parts and components used in small propeller-driven general aviation aircraft. It has about 400 workers in Mobile, as well as service centers in Fairhope, Ala. and Mattituck, N.Y. The companies say the sale will enhance the ability of Continental Motors to compete in growing overseas markets like China. AVIC plans to retain Continental Motors’ senior management and headquarters in Mobile. It also sets the stage for new hires of skilled workers in Mobile as international demand for piston-powered aircraft would result in increased engine manufacturing at Continental Motors. (Source: Business Wire, Mobile Press-Register, 12/14/10)

Thunderbirds release show lineup

The Thunderbirds, the Air Force precision flying team, will perform at more than 70 shows across the United States and abroad in 2011. The team will kick off the season with a Feb. 20 flyover for the Daytona 500. Two shows are scheduled for Northwest Florida. One is March 26-27 at Tyndall Air Force Base and the other is April 14-15 at Eglin Air Force Base. (Source: Air Force Times, 12/13/10)

SLAMRAAM completes second firing

Raytheon's SLAMRAAM (Surface Launched Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile) system successfully participated in a second ballistic test vehicle firing at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. SLAMRAAM can defeat current and emerging cruise missile threats, and this was the second test firing from a medium tactical vehicle. The vehicle was chosen as the new platform to provide improved crew and system survivability, particularly in light of lessons learned from Operation Iraqi Freedom. The new platform provides additional armored capability and is more ruggedized to support the SLAMRAAM mission. (Source: Raytheon, 12/13/10)

Week in review column

An analyst's assessment that Boeing is losing the tanker competition, the flawless flight of a commercial space capsule and a possible reprieve given to the endangered Marine Corps version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter were just some of the aerospace news items of interest to the Gulf Coast region during the week. (Source: Gulf Coast Aerospace Corridor, 12/11/10)

First production STOVL engine delivered

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. - Pratt & Whitney has delivered the first production F135 Short Take Off/Vertical Landing (STOVL) engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The engine has powered 509 flights and more than 740 flight test hours to date. The F135 has also completed more than 20,000 hours of testing, 3,600 test hours during the concept demonstration phase, 15,800 test hours during development and more than 700 hours powering the F-35 flight test program. The Conventional Takeoff and Landing (CTOL) / Carrier Variant (CV) engine received Initial Service Release in February 2010. The STOVL F135 engine is on track to receive ISR certification before the end of the year. (Source: Pratt & Whitney, 12/09/10) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., will be home of the JSF training center.

Commercial launch, recovery a success

The first attempt by a commercial company to launch a space capsule into orbit and bring it back is being praised as a milestone in the future of space travel. SpaceX's unmanned Dragon spacecraft left Cape Canaveral, Fla., Wednesday atop a Falcon 9 rocket and entered orbit 10 minutes later. It circled Earth twice before splash-down in the Pacific. The next step is a fly-by of the International Space Station, then a cargo and crew mission to the ISS, both in 2011. NASA signed a contract with SpaceX in December 2008 under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program to provide 12 spacecraft to resupply the ISS through 2016. NASA also signed a contract with Orbital Space Corp. for eight launches of its Taurus II rocket starting in 2011. Wednesday's flight was important for the Obama administration's hopes to expand commercial space efforts as a way to free up NASA funds for missions to send astronauts much deeper into space and ultimately to Mars. (Sources: AFP via Space Travel, Washington Post, 12/08/10) Gulf Coast note: Stennis Space Center, Miss., is testing the AJ26 propulsion systems for the Orbital Space Corp. program.

Contract: Textron, $258M

Textron Systems Corp., Wilmington, Mass., was awarded a $257,737,338 contract which will provide for 512 sensor-fuzed weapons CBU-105 production units and 44 training units. This contract supports foreign military sales to India. At this time, $126,291,295 has been obligated. AAC/EBJK, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 12/08/10)

Contract: Lockheed Martin, $76M

Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $76,041,000 fixed-price-incentive-firm modification to a previously awarded advance acquisition contract activity. This modification provides additional funding for long lead efforts and materials associated with the production and delivery of 42 low rate initial production Lot V F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft for the Air Force (22 Conventional Take Off and Landing aircraft); Marine Corps (13 Short Take Off and Vertical Landing aircraft); and the Navy (7 Carrier Variant aircraft). Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas; El Segundo, Calif.; Warton, United Kingdom; Orlando, Fla.; Nashua, N.H.; and Baltimore, Md., and is expected to be completed in May 2011. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 12/08/10) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 training center.

AF picks Meridian for C-27J

The Air Force on Wednesday said it has chosen Key Field Air National Guard Base in Meridian, Miss., as the preferred base for two C-27J training aircraft. The planes would arrive in the second half of fiscal year 2014. Selection is subject to completion of the environmental impact analysis process, the Air Force said. The Meridian Star reported that the training mission will bring about 50 full-time jobs. (Sources: DoD, Meridian Star, 12/08/10)

Marines may get more time for F-35

The defense secretary will recommend giving the Marines two additional years to develop its version of the F-35 to correct technical and manufacturing glitches. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told General James Amos, the Marine Corps commandant, of the decision in a Dec. 3 meeting, according to officials who asked not to be identified. The president’s debt commission has proposed terminating the Marine Corps version to save money. (Source: Bloomberg, 12/07/10) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is scheduled to become home of the JSF training center.

EADS soliciting bids for Mobile center

MOBILE, Ala. - EADS North America on Wednesday said it's soliciting bids through its program management firm for design and construction of the Mobile Conversion Center where KC-45 aerial refueling tanker aircraft will be militarized for the Air Force. The conversion center is part of an aircraft production facility that EADS North America will construct in Mobile if it wins the tanker contest against rival Boeing. The KC-45 will create more than 1,500 direct positions in Mobile. EADS North America has also committed to build commercial A330 freighter aircraft at the same site. Earlier this year, the company began its transfer of the KC-45 program management team, nearly 200 employees, to new offices in Mobile. (Source: EADS North America, 12/08/10)

PW completes key J-2X assembly

CANOGA PARK, Calif. - Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne successfully completed assembly of the oxidizer turbopump on NASA's J-2X rocket engine, moving the next-generation, human-rated rocket engine a step closer to testing at Stennis Space Center, Miss., in 2011. The oxidizer turbopump delivers high pressure liquid oxygen to the engine's main injector, pumping more than 80 percent of the propellant consumed by the engine. It's driven by a turbine that uses the products of the gas generator after it has driven the engine's fuel turbopump. The J-2X engine was developed with heavy-lift capabilities in mind, and could play an important role as a powerful upper-stage engine for future missions to low-Earth orbit, Mars or an asteroid. (Source: PRNewswire, 12/07/10)

Analyst: EADS will win tanker

EADS will beat Boeing in the competition to build tankers for the Air Force, according to a defense analyst who's been a Boeing advocate. The Mobile Press-Register reports that Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va., said Boeing executives concluded EADS is ahead after getting a look at the Air Force's internal analysis of the two competing bids. The Air Force expects to announce a winner for the $40 billion competition early next year. If it wins, EADS plans to assemble the planes in Mobile, Ala. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 12/06/10; Follow-up reports appeared in the Seattle Times and Seattle PI)

Week in review column

Another delay in the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery, the F-35 cost controversy, a new Boeing operation in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., praise for the Fire Scout unmanned helicopter and a secret Air Force unmanned space vehicle were just some of the aerospace news items of interest to the Gulf Coast region during the week. (Source: Gulf Coast Aerospace Corridor, 12/04/10)

X-37B lands after 7 months

An unmanned spacecraft, the X-37B, landed early Friday after more than 7 months in orbit. The winged autonomous vehicle, built by Boeing originally for NASA before it became an Air Force project, landed at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base. It launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on April 22. While it looks like the Space Shuttle, it's much smaller and can be launched from atop a Delta V rocket. (Sources: AP via Times-Picayune, Wired, 12/03/10) Gulf Coast note: The Gulf Coast region has interests in unmanned systems and space-related activities.

Contract: Northrop Grumman, $9.5M

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Melbourne, Fla., is being awarded a $9,500,000 modification to previously awarded contract for continued post-delivery technical support for Rapid Airborne Mine Clearance System units, a helicopter-mounted anti-mine system. This contract will be used to modify and/or repair delivered hardware; modify or build new RAMICS system components; provide maintenance of delivered hardware and more. The system is deployed from surface ships and aircraft carriers in a carrier strike group or amphibious strike group. Work will be performed in Melbourne and is expected to be completed by September 2011. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 12/02/10)