Two Blue Angels removed from duty

PENSACOLA, Fla. - Two members of the Navy's Blue Angels, one a pilot, were removed from duty with the team for allegedly having an inappropriate relationship. The six-plane team will fly the rest of the season - three shows ending Nov. 15 - with five F-18s. Neither team member was identified. The Blue Angels flight demonstration team is based at Naval Air Station Pensacola. (Source: AP, Navy Times, 10/30/08)

Ares I test launch delayed

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA's first Ares I test flight is being pushed back to July 12 because of the delay in a final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission. But NASA is also looking at speeding up development of the new moon rocket and an Apollo-style crew capsule for the Constellation program. Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and Mississippi's Stennis Space Center are both involved in Constellation. (Source: Florida Today, 10/30/08)

Land around base to be preserved

MILTON, Fla. - Gov. Charlie Crist and the cabinet have approved a venture with the Navy to eventually preserve more than 5,000 acres of undeveloped land around Whiting Field Naval Air Station north of Milton. The vote was unanimous to begin the process by spending $1 million for an initial 208 acres near the base's northeastern and southern perimeters. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 10/30/08)

New Orleans airport ripe for more service

NEW ORLEANS, La. - Continued high demand and nearly full airplanes make New Orleans an ideal place to add air service, aviation consultant Mike Boyd said. But that doesn't mean Louis Armstrong International Airport, which saw service slashed after Hurricane Katrina, will gain service anytime soon. (Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 10/30/08)

Test stand takes shape at Stennis

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - A new 300-foot rocket engine test stand is rising above the trees at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center. Fabricated steel began arriving by truck Oct. 24 for construction of the A-3 test stand that will be used to test the J-2X engine for the next generation of rockets. Work began with groundbreaking ceremonies in August 2007. The J-2X will power both Ares I and Ares V. It will be required to start at high altitudes, and the new test stand is designed to test the it at simulated altitudes of up to 100,000 feet. (Source: NASA, 10/28/08)

Gunships improve situational awareness

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - Air Force Special Operations gunships will be getting a new tool to provide increased situational awareness. The 46th Test Squadron conducted a flight test of the Rockwell Collins Data Link Processor and software that demonstrated Link 16 messaging between an AC-130, a Hurlburt Field ground station, a system integration lab at Eglin and an F-16. AC-130 aircraft can exchange battlespace information with ground and airborne participants, allowing the AC-130 to take on a mission commander role. Rockwell Collins supplies the data and display processing systems to BAE Systems, which will integrate the Link 16 capabilities onto the platform. (Source: Rockwell Collins, 10/29/08)

Boeing-union pact would limit outsourcing

Boeing and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers reached a tentative agreement Monday night. IAM says the new contract limits the amount of work outside vendors can perform in the workplace. Some 27,000 union members are on strike in Washington, Oregon and Kansas. Boeing also has Gulf Coast operations in New Orleans, La., and Fort Walton Beach, Fla. (Source: Aviation Week, 10/28/08)

Peer review may reduce protests

Two Air Force programs delayed by protests will be among the first subjected to a new review system. The new process will require Army and Navy officials to conduct peer reviews of the Air Force programs before, during and after contract decisions. The Air Force will help review contracts for the other branches. The new process began Sept. 30 for all programs worth $1 billion or more. EADS and Northrop Grumman had planned to build a refueling tanker in Mobile, but a Boeing protest was upheld. The Pentagon later decided to table the project until the next administration. (Source: Bloomberg, 10/27/08)

Ares test rocket on water journey

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Full-scale components of the Ares I-X test rocket manufactured at NASA’s Glenn Research Center was loaded on the Delta Mariner Oct. 22 for a nearly two-week trip down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to Port Canaveral, Fla. At Kennedy Space Center the components of the upper stage simulator of the Ares I-X test rocket will be integrated with other parts of the Ares I-X vehicle for launch in 2009. Ares I-X will be the first flight test vehicle of NASA's next generation launch vehicle system. Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans in the future will manufacture and assemble the upper stage of Ares I, as well as the core of Ares V and large structures for the Orion crew capsule. Stennis Space Center will test propulsion systems. (Source: PRNewswire, 10/15/08)

Study: F-35 twice as loud as F-15

At military housing areas and base schools on Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., noise from F-35 operations will be twice as loud as F-15 flights, reaching 83 decibels. Off base, F-35 noise will reach up to 90 decibels in neighborhoods under an Eglin flight path. That's according to an environmental impact study prompted by plans to set up the joint F-35 pilot and maintenance training school at Eglin. The city of Valparaiso has expressed concern over the noise, and filed suit to get more information. The report released this month shows the number of people exposed frequently to sound levels of 75 decibels or more would rise from 142 to 2,174. (Source: Air Force Times, 10/26/08)

AF works on cyberspace roadmap

BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. - The Air Force Cyber Command (Provisional) team at Barksdale and Air Force Space Command are determining how the two groups will jointly shape the cyberspace mission. The Air Force chief of staff announced Oct. 8 that there will be no new major command formed for cyberspace operations. It will instead be a numbered Air Force under the Space Command. Barksdale and locations along the Gulf Coast were among those competing for the new headquarters. (Source: Air Force News Service, 10/24/08)

City refiles suit for F-35 noise info

VALPARAISO, Fla. - The city of Valparaiso decided to re-file a suit against the Air Force. The city first filed suit last month seeking information about the F-35 and the noise it will bring to Eglin Air Force Base. The suit was never filed as the city and Eglin continued to talk. The new lawsuit says the Air Force should provide the information free or at a reduced cost rather than the more than $1 million the Air Force said it will cost. Source: WEAR-TV3, 10/24/08)

Teledyne 3Q report

Profits and sales at Teledyne Technologies continued to rise in the third quarter. The Thousand Oaks, Calif., based company reported profits of $30.9 million, up 14 percent from 2007’s third quarter. The news was not as good for the company’s Mobile subsidiary, Teledyne Continental Motors. The operation laid off 20 workers from its second shift earlier this month because of slumping demand for airplane engines and parts, leaving it with about 500 workers. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 10/24/08)

Raytheon 3Q report

Raytheon said third-quarter profit rose 12 percent on higher international sales of border-security equipment and Patriot air-defense systems. The company said 2008 profit will be higher than it previously forecast and that earnings next year may exceed estimates. Profit from continuing operations beat the estimates, rising to $427 million, or $1.01 a share, from $380 million, or 86 cents, a year earlier, Waltham, Massachusetts-based Raytheon said in a statement. (Source: Bloomberg, 10/23/08)

Goodrich 3Q report

Goodrich reported third quarter 2008 net income of $168 million, or $1.33 per diluted share, on sales of $1,772 million. In the third quarter 2007, the company reported net income of $127 million, or $0.99 per diluted share, on sales of $1,602 million. Third quarter 2008 sales increased 11 percent and net income per diluted share increased 34 percent compared with the third quarter 2007. Income from continuing operations during the third quarter 2008 was $168 million, a 20 percent increase over income from continuing operations of $140 million in the third quarter 2007. (Source: PRNewswire, 10/23/08)

General Dynamics 3Q report

FALLS CHURCH, Va. - General Dynamics reported 2008 third-quarter earnings from continuing operations of $634 million, or $1.59 per share on a fully diluted basis, compared to 2007 third-quarter earnings from continuing operations of $544 million, or $1.34 per share fully diluted. Revenues rose to $7.1 billion in the quarter, a 4.5 percent increase over third-quarter 2007 revenues of $6.8 billion. Net earnings, which were equal to earnings from continuing operations, increased 16 percent over the year-ago period. (Source: PRNewswire, 10/22/08)

Lockheed Martin 3Q report

Lockheed Martin reported third quarter 2008 net earnings of $782 million, $1.92 per diluted share, compared to $766 million, $1.80 per diluted share, in 2007. Net sales were $10.6 billion, a 5 percent decrease from third quarter 2007 sales of $11.1 billion. Cash from operations for the third quarter of 2008 was $1.0 billion, compared to $935 million in 2007. (Source: Lockheed Martin, 10/22/08)

Northrop Grumman 3Q report

WASHINGTON - Northrop Grumman said higher sales of surveillance systems helped boost its third-quarter profit 4.7 percent and spurred the defense contractor to raise its 2008 earnings forecast. The Los Angeles-based company reported net income of $512 million, or $1.51 per share, in the quarter ending Sept. 30, up from $489 million, or $1.41 per share, a year earlier. (Source: AP, 10/22/08)

Boeing 3Q report

CHICAGO - The Boeing Company's third-quarter net income declined 38 percent, to $695 million, while earnings per share declined 33 percent to $0.96 per share, both reflecting an ongoing machinists' strike and supplier production challenges. Those items reduced third-quarter commercial airplane deliveries by approximately 35 units and net earnings by an estimated $0.60 per share. Revenues for the quarter declined 7 percent, to $15.3 billion. (Source: PRNewswire, 10/22/08)

Virginia-class sub launches Tomahawk

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - A Virginia class submarine fired a Raytheon Tomahawk Block IV missile from the Gulf of Mexico to engage a simulated target. The flight completes the integration of the Tomahawk cruise missile onto the Navy's newest fast-attack submarine. Tomahawk Block IV is a surface- and submarine-launched precision strike stand-off weapon designed for long-range precision strike missions. (Source: PRNewswire, 10/21/08)