Blue Angels performing again

PENSACOLA, Fla. - Nearly a month after the unsafe performance of a maneuver led to the grounding of the Navy's Blue Angels and a change in command, the team performs again this weekend at the Quad-City Air Show in Davenport, Iowa. The grounding was prompted by a maneuver where the F/A 18 Hornets passed too close to the ground. The team is now under the command of Capt. Greg McWherter, who commanded the group from November 2008 to November 2010. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 06/17/11)

Hot air balloons gather in Foley

FOLEY, Ala. - The Gulf Coast Hot Air Balloon Festival is underway this weekend in Foley. It's the event's seventh year. The festival is held at the Foley Soccer Field on U.S. 98, and includes arts and crafts vendors, food tents, music and other attractions. The festival attracts about 60,000 visitors a year, according to organizers. Counts for the 2011 celebration were not available. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 06/18/11)

Contract: BAE Systems, $33M

BAE Systems Technology Solutions and Services Inc., Rockville, Md., is being awarded a $33,286,477 modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to exercise an option for engineering and technical services and supplies for the design, development, integration, test and evaluation, maintenance and logistics support of communication-electronic platform, equipment, systems and subsystems in support of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division's Special Communications Requirements Division. Two percent of the work will be done in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. Other work locations are Chesapeake, Va. (41 percent); Spring Lake, N.C. (22 percent); California, Md. (11 percent); San Diego, Calif. (10 percent); St. Inigoes, Md. (7 percent); Afghanistan (2.3 percent); Iraq (2.2 percent); Hollywood, Md. (1 percent); Fort Bragg, N.C. (1 percent); and Panzer Kaserne, Germany (0.5 percent). Work is expected to be completed in June 2012. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, St. Inigoes, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 06/17/11)

Contract: EADS, $74M

EADS North American Defense, Arlington, Va., was awarded a $74,390,932 firm-fixed-price contract to provide 14 light utility helicopters and 14 airborne radio communication systems. Work will be performed in Columbus, Miss., with an estimated completion date of Aug. 31, 2012. One bid was solicited with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Center, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 06/16/11)

Airport traffic up dramatically

Fort Walton Beach's Northwest Florida Regional Airport reported a record-setting May passenger count. The total number of commercial passengers topped 111,550, far exceeding any previous monthly traffic level, according to airport Director Greg Donovan. The increase, 57.2 percent over May 2010, was due largely to the new air service by Vision Airlines, Donovan noted. The airport is located at Eglin Air Force Base. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 06/15/11)

Weapons lab getting new commander

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – The Air Force Research Laboratory's Munitions Directorate will have a change of command ceremony June 20 at 2 p.m. at the Air Armament Museum. Col. Kenneth L. Echternacht, Jr., will relinquish his position as commander to Dr. John Wilcox. Maj. Gen.William McCasland, Commander, Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, will officiate. AFRL Munitions Directorate performs research on precision guidance, missile guidance and control, computational mechanics, smart sub-munitions, warheads, and explosives. (Source: Eglin Air Force Base, 06/16/11)

Company to relocate to Crestview

CRESTVIEW, Fla. – A satellite office for Capital Avionics will open at Bob Sikes Airport in Crestview this week, the first step in moving the entire business to Okaloosa County from Tallahassee. Capital Avionics employs 15 people, but Larry Sassano, president of the Economic Development Council of Okaloosa County, said it is an important one for the area. Capital Avionics creates custom-designed testing equipment for companies in the aviation field, and the company already has clients in Okaloosa County. Owner Al Ingle said he expects to hire four employees for the Okaloosa County branch. He then plans to build a new 15,500-square-foot hangar and 12,000-square-foot component repair and equipment testing facility at Bob Sikes and move the remaining Capital Avionics employees once that is completed. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 06/13/11)

Upper stage engine ready for SSC testing

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - NASA's new J-2X rocket engine, which could power the upper stage of a future heavy-lift launch vehicle, is ready for its first round of testing. The fully assembled engine was installed Saturday in Stennis' A-2 Test Stand, originally used to test Saturn V rockets for the Apollo Program. Beginning in mid-June, the engine will undergo a series of 10 test firings that will last several months. The test stand, which supported the space shuttle main engine project, has been modified for the J-2X's different shape. In addition to the structural, electrical and plumbing modifications, a new engine start system was installed and control systems were upgraded on the stand. The liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen transfer lines that dated back to the 1960s were replaced. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne designed and built the J-2X for NASA. (Source: NASA, 06/13/11)

Contract: Lockheed Martin, $100M

Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Orlando, Fla., is being awarded a not-to-exceed $100,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide technical support for the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile. Delivery orders under this basic contract may be firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, or cost-plus-incentive-fee contract types. Air Armament Center/EBJK, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 06/13/11)

AJ26 shuts down early in test

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - An Aerojet AJ26 engine, the propulsion system for one of NASA's commercial space-cargo haulers, shut down early in a test firing at the Stennis Space Center. The test was conducted Thursday on the E-1 Test Stand. The AJ26 is the main engine for Orbital Science Corp.'s Taurus 2 rocket, which will launch the company's Cygnus capsule for commercial resupply missions to the international space station. Orbital and Aerojet are investigating the cause, and Stennis will perform checkouts to the facility to ensure its operational integrity. "This is the reason we test engines here at Stennis before they are installed on launch vehicles," said David Liberto, AJ26 engine project manager at Stennis. Three AJ26 have been successfully test fired to date. (Source: NASA, Space News, 06/10/11)

First F-35 to arrive soon

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics says it's days away from sending Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., the first of 59 Joint Strike Fighters. Mike Rein, a spokesman for the company, said he believes it will happen in June. The arrival of the first F-35 will start a string of deliveries. Six jets are slated for delivery by the end of the fiscal year, Rein said. The base will receive the majority of the jets within the next three years. Eglin is home of the Joint Strike Fighter training center. The first pilots who will train on the F-35 will be instructors. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 06/07/11)

LM demos seeker against sea targets

Lockheed Martin's Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) tri-mode seeker successfully acquired and tracked multiple moving maritime vessels during recent high-speed, captive flight tests. The tests were in the Gulf of Mexico off the shore of Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., against multiple maritime targets, including a Revenge Advanced Composites (RAC), low-signature, high-speed patrol craft. The RAC performed a series of evasive maneuvers against the JAGM mounted in the nose section of a Sabreliner Series 60 jet aircraft. JAGM is the next-generation air-to-surface guided missile that is being competed as the replacement for the currently fielded Airborne TOW, Maverick and HELLFIRE missiles for the U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps. (Source: PRNewswire, 06/07/11)

Squadron saves lives, money

BILOXI, Miss. - When the five-member "Hurricane Hunter" crews of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron out of Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., head into the heart of storms, they're not only working to save lives, but also millions of dollars. A feature story. (Source: Mississippi Press, 06/05/11)

Shuttle work gone, Orion remains

NEW ORLEANS, La. - The launch of the 135th and final space shuttle mission, now slated for July 8, will mean the elimination of most of the 300 remaining Michoud Assembly Facility jobs connected to work on the project's external tanks. But the announcement two weeks ago that NASA is moving forward with the Orion project means continued space-related work at Michoud, though a small fraction of the numbers employed for the space shuttle program. (Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 06/04/11)

Airport to get money for improvements

MOBILE, Ala. - The federal government is sending nearly $3.2 million to three southwest Alabama airports, including Mobile Regional Airport. The money for safety and infrastructure improvements was announced Wednesday by Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala. Mobile's airport is slated to receive $1.8 million from the Federal Aviation Administration. (Source: Mobile Press Register, 06/01/11)

Vector expands in Covington County

ANDALUSIA, Ala. - Vector Aerospace held a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday for a new facility that will bring an estimated 125 jobs to Covington County. Gov. Robert Bentley and ADO Director Seth Hammett were among those attending the event. Vector, a Canadian-based helicopter repair company, currently employs 150 people. The expansion will allow the company to nearly double the number of employees and the amount of workspace at the South Alabama Regional Airport. (Source: Andalusia Star News, 06/02/11)

Airport eyes military contract

MOSS POINT, Miss. - Trent Lott International Airport, now equipped with a control tower and fire station, plans to go after a military contract that could increase its revenue by 25 percent. Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard planes already use the airport’s one runway for touch-and-gos, but they can’t stop or refuel because the airport doesn’t have a military fuel contract. That may be about to change. Carol Snapp, airport director, said they have begun the process to acquire one. (Source: Sun Herald, 05/29/11)

Blue Angels boss steps down

PENSACOLA, Fla. - The commander of the Navy's Blue Angels flight demonstration team, Navy Cmdr. Dave Koss, voluntarily stepped down from the team after some of its jets flew at a lower altitude than allowed at a Virginia air show last weekend. The team is on indefinite safety stand-down because of the error. Four of the six F/A-18 Hornets flew below their specified altitude in a diamond formation at the Lynchburg, Va., show. They all landed safely. The team cancelled performances at Friday's graduation at the U.S. Naval Academy and a Memorial Day weekend performances in Millville, N.J. Koss is being replaced by Navy Capt. Greg McWherter, who commanded the team before Koss took over in November 2010. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 05/27/11)

Contract: Raytheon, $82.9M

Raytheon Missile Co., Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded an $82,972,665 firm-fixed-price contract modification for the Miniature Air Launched Decoy low rate initial production lot four. Work will be performed at Tucson, Ariz. AAC/EBJM, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 05/27/11)

Images show extent of river sediment

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - NASA's Applied Science and Technology Project Office at the John C. Stennis Space Center has provided satellite images to the Army Corps of Engineers and Louisiana showing large amounts of sediment throughout coastal Louisiana as a result of flooding on the Mississippi River. The images show three large areas of sediment, or plumes, moving through the floodwaters across Louisiana. The U.S. Geological Survey and NASA are providing satellite imagery to help in flood response efforts. It's part of the Applied Science and Technology Project Office's commitment to use data from agency satellites to help communities address issues of concern. (Source: NASA, 05/27/11)