VT Aerospace, PW partner

SINGAPORE -- Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd (ST Engineering) announced that Vision Technologies Aerospace Inc. (VT Aerospace) entered into an agreement with Pratt & Whitney to invest in a 50.1 percent stake in EcoServices LLC. Pratt & Whitney will retain the remaining 49.9 percent. EcoServices will provide EcoPower Engine Wash services to customers around the world, and will become a subsidiary of VT Aerospace. VT Aerospace owns three aerospace operating companies in Mobile, Ala., and San Antonio, Texas, specializing in aircraft engineering design, maintenance and modification. (Source: PRNewswire, 12/21/11, ST Engineering, 12/22/11)

Contract: Equilon, $99M

Equilon Enterprises, doing business as Shell Oil Products, Houston, Texas, was awarded a fixed-price with economic price adjustment contract with a maximum $99,807,351 for JP8 aviation turbine fuel. The other location of performance is Mobile, Ala. Using service is Defense Logistics Agency Energy. Type of appropriation is FY12 Defense Working Capital Funds. The date of performance completion is April 30, 2012. The Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Va. is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 12/20/11)

Contract: Placid, $41.6M

Placid Refining Co. LLC, Baton Rouge, La., was awarded a fixed-price with economic price adjustment contract with a maximum $41,583,070 for JP8 and JP5 aviation turbine fuel. There are no other locations of performance. Using service is Defense Logistics Agency Energy. Type of appropriation is FY12 Defense Working Capital Funds. The date of performance completion is April 30, 2012. The Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Va. is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 12/20/11)

Contract: Cubic, $14.9M

Cubic Defense Applications Inc., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $14,972,799 firm-fixed-price for about 70 airborne subsystems, parallel umbilical, ground subsystems: transport ground subsystem with live monitor, control display units, portable ground subsystem, remote range unit, maintenance boot flash module, engineering and technical management support and program management. The location of the performance is San Diego, Calif. and Fort Walton Beach, Fla. and is expected to be completed May 6, 2013. AAC/EBYK, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 12/20/11)

Japan opts for F-35

FORT WORTH, Texas -- The Japan Ministry of Defense announced its selection of the Lockheed Martin F-35 as the Japan Air Self Defense Force's next generation fighter aircraft. The initial contract will be for four F-35A conventional takeoff and landing variants. The F-35 program is comprised of nine partner nations: the United States, United Kingdom, Italy, Netherlands, Turkey, Canada, Australia, Denmark and Norway. The U.K. and Netherlands have ordered test aircraft, and Italy and Australia have committed long-lead funding for their initial operational aircraft. In October 2010, Israel selected the F-35A as the Israel Air Force's next generation fighter. (Source: PRNewswire, 12/19/11) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 training center.

Contract: Boeing, $10.9M

The Boeing Co., Fort Walton Beach, Fla., is being awarded a $10,878,123 firm-fixed-price contract for five major subassemblies required to build-up six AC-130U 25mm ammunition storage handling systems assemblies. These subassemblies are conveyor assembly; loader/downloader; magazine transfer unit; magazine drive gearbox; and the gun drive gearbox. The location of the activity is Fort Walton Beach, Fla., and is expected to be completed Jan. 31, 2014. AFGLSC, Robins Air Force Base, Ga., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 12/19/11)

AJ26 No. 8 tested at SSC

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- There was another successful test firing of Aerojet's AJ26 engine No. 8 Thursday in support of Orbital Science Corp.'s program to launch a cargo mission to the International Space Station. The next test of an AJ26, this one engine No. 9, is slated for January. Once the data is reviewed and the engine is inspected, it will be shipped to the launch site at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia for installation on Orbital's Antares rocket, the new name for the medium-class launch vehicle previously called Taurus II. The Aerojet engines will power the first stage of the Antares. Orbital is part of NASA's ongoing Commercial Orbital Transportation Services Contract. (Source: NASA, 12/15/11) Previous AJ26 test post

AIRINC to reopen in Fairhope

FAIRHOPE, Ala. -- Aero-mark MRO will open a 26,000 square-foot facility to assemble and repair military aircraft system parts, according to the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance. Plans are to open in January at the Fairhope airport with 25 workers, growing to 60 in three years. The company is awaiting FAA approval for a license. The company is owned by AIRINC, a repair station at the airport that was sold to Fokker Aircraft. Fokker closed the plant last October and moved operations to Georgia. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 12/16/11) Previous post

Panel: BRAC in 2015 or 2017?

Amid uncertainty over how deep the Pentagon's budget cuts will be over the coming decade, a panel of speakers in the inaugural Defense Communities 360 Live Webcast Thursday warned defense communities that the consequences will be widespread at installations across the nation. They expect another base closure round between elections, perhaps in 2015 or 2017. (Source: Defense Communities 360, 12/16/11) Gulf Coast note: This region is home to multiple bases, with many involved in aerospace activities.

Mobile ranked 34 on Milken list

Mobile, Ala., is ranked 34, Pensacola, Fla., 73, and New Orleans 101 in the 2011 Milken Institute Best-Performing Cities Index of 200 large metro areas. All three moved up in the index, designed to show performance of 379 large and small metro areas in creating and sustaining jobs and economic growth, including technology growth. Mobile last year was 59, Pensacola 116 and New Orleans 123. In the list of 179 small metro areas, Pascagoula, Miss., is ranked 40, Panama City, Fla., is 73, Fort Walton Beach, Fla., is 75, and Gulfport-Biloxi, Miss., 79. Gulfport's ranking is an improvement over last year's 101 ranking. Pascagoula, Panama City and Fort Walton Beach dropped from 26, 49 and 73, respectively. The Gulf Coast region has signficant aerospace activities. (Source: Tcp, 12/15/11) Milken data link

Goodrich EPP wins Florida award

Goodrich Corp.'s Engineered Polymer Products (EPP) site in Jacksonville, Fla., was recognized as a 2011 Manufacturer of the Year by the Manufacturers Association of Florida. The advocacy group selected EPP, part of Goodrich's Aerostructures business, because of the quality and customer focus of its workforce, as well as its commitment at all levels to continuous improvement. The award is in the 61- to 125-employee category. (Source: Goodrich, 12/14/11) Gulf Coast note: Goodrich Alabama Service Center, Foley, Ala., is part of Goodrich Aerostructures.

SSC wraps up J-2X 2011 tests

J-2X engine test Dec. 14, 2011. NASA photo

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- NASA conducted its final J-2X rocket engine test of the year Wednesday, the 10th firing in a series on the upper-stage engine for the Space Launch System. The engine was test fired on the A-2 stand at 100 percent power for engine performance calibration and the effects of fuel inlet pressure variations. The engine, No. 10001, will be moved from the stand to allow for addition of a nozzle extension and associated test facility modifications needed for additional engine tests in 2012. J-2X engines 10002 through 10004 are being manufactured for hot fire testing at Stennis planned through 2014. In addition, tests of the J-2X powerpack are scheduled for 2012. On Thursday SSC is scheduled to test the Aerojet AJ26 engine. (Source: NASA, 12/14/11)

Eglin protection measure in bill

An amendment designed to protect the research, development, test and evaluation activities at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is included in a defense spending bill coming before Congress. The amendment drafted by Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., was pushed through a conference committee by Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla. It requires the Air Force to present Congress a report on its proposal to reorganize its Materiel Command within 180 days of the bill’s passage. The consolidations announced in November would put Eglin's 46th Test Wing under the command of a two-star at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. A thriving aerospace industry has grown up around Eglin due to the base's RDT&E functions, and the fear is any attempt to move that function to Edwards. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 12/13/11)

South Miss hotspot for defense jobs

A new report ranks South Mississippi as one of the top five less-known regions in the country for defense jobs. The report released Tuesday by ClearanceJobs.com said defense spending, notably in shipbuilding and aerospace, helped rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Katrina. The report said South Mississippi has jobs for rocket scientists, oceanographers, cyber-security personnel, geospatial analysts, technical trainers and test engineers. South Mississippi is home to NASA's Stennis Space Center, and the Navy is a big tenant. It's also home to the Navy Seabees, Keesler Air Force Base and major shipbuilding activities. Detroit, Omaha, Neb., Seattle, and Mohawk Valley in upstate New York also were named in the top five. (Source: Sun Herald, PRNewswire, 12/13/11)

Engines to be tested this week

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- Two rocket engine tests are scheduled this week at Stennis Space Center. On Wednesday NASA will conduct another in a series of tests on the J-2X rocket engine being developed by Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne for NASA's Space Launch System. The test is at the A-2 stand. NASA did a combustion stability test of the J-2X Dec. 1. On Thursday there will be a test of the Aeroject AJ26 rocket engine that will power Orbital Sciences Corp.’s commercial cargo flights to the International Space Station. (Source: NASA, 12/13/11)

20th Space Control Squadron

U.S. Air Force photo

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The operators of the 20th Space Control Squadron have a big task: using the world's most powerful radar for around-the-clock space surveillance. The squadron's AN/FPS-85 radar helps the Air Force keep track of more than 22,000 orbiting satellites, from baseball-size objects in near-Earth orbit to basketball-size objects in deep space. A feature story on the organization by the public affairs office. (Source: 20th Special Control Squadron, 12/12/11) Previous post

46th Test Wing gets award

U.S. Air Force photo

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- For the 13th year, the 46th Test Wing has received an Air Force Outstanding Unit award. The award recognizes the top 10 percent of numbered Air Force units. The 46th Test Wing performed more than 5,600 air and ground test missions and logged more than 6,200 flying hours while testing 37 highly modified test aircraft worth $4.5 billion. Some of the weapon systems tested for both U.S. and allied forces included the Small Diameter Bomb I & II, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, Hard Target Void Sensing Fuze, Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile, and the Trident Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile. (Source: 46th Test Wing, 12/12/11)

Avalex grand opening next month

GULF BREEZE, Fla. -- The new $10 million, 53,000-square-foot headquarters of Avalex Technologies will hold a grand opening Jan. 7, 2012. The company, which makes flat panel displays, digital mapping systems, video recorders and infrared sensor pointing systems for military and law enforcement airborne surveillance, has 65 employees. CEO Tad Ihns said the company is still hiring, looking for two software engineers and a military business developer. Workers moved into the new building, a former Ford dealership, in November from nearby Pensacola. Avalex has 7,000 square-feet of space left that’s available for lease, and the property is also zoned for a five-story building on the western edge of the property. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 12/10/11)

Contract: Lockheed Martin, $4B

Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $4,011,919,310 fixed-price-incentive (firm target) (FPIF) modification to a previously awarded advance acquisition contract. This modification provides for the manufacture and delivery of 30 Low Rate Initial Production Lot V F-35 Joint Strike Fighters for the Air Force (21 Conventional Take Off and Landing (CTOL) aircraft); the Navy (6 Carrier Variant (CV) aircraft) and Marine Corps (3 Short Take Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) aircraft). In addition, this modification provides for associated ancillary mission equipment and flight test instrumentation for those aircraft, and flight test instrumentation for the United Kingdom. Work is expected to be completed in January 2014. This contract combines purchases for the Air Force ($2,644,270,340; 65.9 percent); Navy ($937,374,286; 23.34 percent); Marine Corps ($426,190,013; 10.6 percent); and the United Kingdom ($4,084,671; 0.1 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 12/09/11) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the F-35 training center.

NLRB ends complaint over plant

The National Labor Relations Board has dropped its legal challenge against Boeing over a nonunion 787 plant the company opened in South Carolina. The decision announced Friday comes after the Machinists union approved a four-year contract extension with Boeing. As part of that deal, the union agreed to withdraw its charge that the company violated federal labor laws. (Source: multiple, including FoxNews, New York Times, Bloomberg, 12/09/11) Gulf Coast note: Boeing has operations in the Gulf Coast region.