Contract: Kachemak, $9.8M

Kachemak Research Development, Inc., Logan, Utah, was awarded a $9,774,048 contract which will provide for robotics research in support of AutoScan 31G for robotic perimeter security applications. 325 CONS/LGCB, Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 01/29/10)

Contract: Raytheon, $23.7M

Raytheon Missile Systems Co., Tucson, Ariz., was awarded a $23,684,516 contract which will replace obsolete parts within the guidance section data processor module and modify the supporting missile hardware and software architecture as required to continue production of the existing missile systems. 695 ARSS, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 01/29/10)

Budget has $11B for JSF, boosts SOF

The Pentagon's 2011 budget will seek nearly $11 billion for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, boosts funds special operations forces and puts the Air Force on track to award a tanker contract in the summer of 2010, according to a draft overview obtained by Defense News. The budget is due to be sent to Congress Feb. 1. (Source: Defense News, 01/28/10) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base will be home of the Joint Strike Fighter training center; Northwest Florida and South Mississippi are home to several special operations organizations; if Northrop Grumman/EADS compete for and win the tanker contract, the planes will be assembled in Mobile, Ala.

Margin focus may play role in tanker

Northrop Grumman's threat to pull out of bidding for the tanker program, which would leave Boeing as the sole bidder, may resonate with investors who want new CEO Wes Bush to ensure profitability at the third largest U.S. defense contractor. Bloomberg writes about some of the factors, including profit margins, that will come into play when the Pentagon releases final requirements for the $35 billion contract next month. (Source: Bloomberg, 01/29/10) Gulf Coast note: Northrop Grumman and teammate EADS want to build the tankers in Mobile, Ala.

Goodrich 4Q report

Goodrich Corp. earned a $105 million profit in the fourth quarter, down 38 percent from $168.7 million in the last three months of 2008. Quarterly sales fell 3 percent to $1.64 billion. For the year, Goodrich earned $597.3 million, down 12.3 percent from $681.2 million in 2008. Goodrich, based in Charlotte, N.C., employs about 720 people at its service center in Foley, Ala. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 01/28/10)

Contract: Dyncorp, $6.7M

Dyncorp International, LLC, Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $6,745,095 contract for continued contractor logistics support for 12 U.S. Navy UC-35C/D aircraft. Seventeen percent of the work will be done at Naval Air Station New Orleans, La. Other work sites are Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Japan, MCAS Miramar, Calif., and MCAS Cherry Point, N.C. Work is expected to be completed in November 2010. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 01/28/10)

Lockheed Martin 4Q report

Lockheed Martin Corp. reported fourth quarter 2009 net earnings of $827 million compared to $823 million in 2008. Net sales for the fourth quarter of 2009 were $12.5 billion, a 13 percent increase over the $11.1 billion in 2008. For the year ended Dec. 31, 2009, net earnings were $3 billion compared to $3.2 billion in 2008. Net sales for 2009 were $45.2 billion, a 6 percent increase over the $42.7 billion in 2008. (Source: Lockheed Martin, 01/28/10) Gulf Coast note: Lockheed Martin has multiple operations in the Gulf Coast region.

Raytheon 4Q report

Raytheon Co. reported fourth quarter 2009 income from continuing operations of $517 million, up 21 percent compared to $428 million in the fourth quarter 2008. EPS from continuing operations for the fourth quarter 2009 was $1.30, up 29 percent compared to $1.01 in the fourth quarter 2008. (Source: Raytheon via PRNewswire, 01/28/10) Gulf Coast note: Massachusetts-based Raytheon has operations in the Gulf Coast region.

Teledyne 4Q report

Teledyne Technologies reported fourth quarter 2009 sales of $454.4 million, compared with sales of $464.8 million for the same period of 2008. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2009 was $32.2 million compared with net income of $19.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2008. (Source: Business Wire, 01/28/10) Gulf Coast note: Teledyne Continental Motors of Mobile, Ala., is a subsidiary of California-based Teledyne Technologies.

Return to moon dead?

Louisiana's U.S. senators are concerned about reports that President Barack Obama is planning to provide the space agency with no money in his 2011 budget for a NASA rocket program to replace the space shuttle. A Florida newspaper has reported that Obama is dropping plans by the Bush administration to return astronauts to the moon through the Constellation Program, and wants NASA to focus on earth science projects like research on global warming. (Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 01/27/10) Gulf Coast note: NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and Stennis Space Center, Miss., are both involved in the Constellation Program.

First UK service pilot flies F-35

PATUXENT RIVER, Md - A Royal Air Force officer on Tuesday became the first active-duty service pilot from the United Kingdom to fly an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. RAF Squadron Leader Steve Long piloted BF-2, the second short takeoff/vertical landing F-35B, over Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., logging the aircraft's 18th mission. He flew the aircraft to 20,000 feet before landing 1.3 hours later. Both the RAF and the Royal Navy plan to operate the F-35B. Long said he was particularly pleased with the sensors and the level of situational awareness. He was the third active-duty service member to fly the F-35. It's also been flown by U.S. Air Force and U.S. Marine Corps pilots. (Source: Lockheed Martin, 01/27/10) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., will be home to the Joint Strike Fighter training center.

Michoud preps for Ares I work

NEW ORLEANS, La. -- Work is well underway to prepare Michoud Assembly Facility for the work it will do on the Ares I upper stage and avionics. The Constellation Program's Ares I rocket is being developed to launch the next generation of astronauts into space. The rocket had a successful test Oct. 28 at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., the first time in more than a generation that NASA tested a new rocket. Boeing is the production and design partner for the Ares I upper stage, also called the second stage, and instrument unit avionics, the "brains." Tooling to produce the upper stage requires a nearly three-story building, and work is underway to reinforce floors in the Boeing Ares areas. Once reinforced, a robotic weld tool and a machining center will be installed. Construction has begun on a Vertical Assembly Building where the upper stages will be assembled. Currently 15 Boeing employees work at Michoud but that number is expected to grow to 120 by the end of 2010. Boeing also built the first stage of the Saturn V at Michoud. (Source: Michoud Messenger, January 2010)

Pilot's remains recovered

NEW ORLEANS, La. -- The body of Lt. Clinton Wermers, a Navy pilot whose training plane crashed Saturday in Lake Pontchartrain, has been recovered by divers. Wermers and a student aviator were in a T-34 assigned to Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Milton, Fla., when they crashed on approach to the New Orleans Lakefront Airport. The student was rescued Saturday. Wermer's remains were recovered Wednesday around 1 a.m. (Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 01/27/10)

United Technologies 4Q report

United Technologies Corp. reported fourth quarter 2009 net income of $1.1 billion, down 6 percent over the year ago quarter. Results for the current quarter include an $0.08 per share charge for restructuring costs net of one time items. (Source: UTC via PRNewswire, 01/27/10) Gulf Coast note: Connecticut-based United Technologies has activities in the Gulf Coast region, in part through subsidiary Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne

General Dynamics 4Q report

General Dynamics reported 2009 fourth-quarter earnings from continuing operations of $618 million compared to 2008 fourth-quarter earnings from continuing operations of $630 million. Full-year 2009 earnings from continuing operations were $2.41 billion compared to $2.48 billion for 2008. (Source: General Dynamics via PRNewswire, 01/27/10) Gulf Coast note: Virginia-based General Dynamics has activities in the Gulf Coast region.

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.