Avalex breaks ground

GULF BREEZE, Fla. - Ground was broken here Friday on a $10 million headquarters building for Avalex Technologies, which specializes in aerial surveillance equipment for the military and law enforcement. The company currently uses two buildings in downtown Pensacola, just across the bay from Gulf Breeze. It has 55 technicians and researchers and needed room to grow. The 9.2-acre site in Gulf Breeze was once was occupied by a new car dealership. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 10/30/10) Previous story

Contract: L-3 Vertex, $8.6M

L3 Communications Vertex Aerospace, Madison, Miss., was awarded an $8,648,945 contract which will acquire aircraft maintenance support services for wing and site training devices, ground instructional training aircraft, historical/static display aircraft, and maintenance of the 80th Flying Training Wing. AETC CONS/LGCK, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 10/29/10)

Cubic books training equipment orders

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Cubic Defense Applications has received more than $16 million in new orders this year for air combat training systems and spares. The new bookings provide P5CTS/TCTS training equipment for Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., Eielson AFB, Alaska, Nellis AFB, Nev., Naval Air Station China Lake, Calif., NAS Fallon, Nev., and NAS Oceana, Va. The system allows the U.S. military and partner nations to train together using a common air combat training platform. Instrumentation pods are currently aboard A-10, F-5, F-15, F-16 and F/A-18 aircraft. An embedded variant featuring an internal subsystem within the aircraft is being developed for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter. (Source: Cubic, 10/27/10)

NASA scientists engage students

NEW ORLEANS - More than a dozen NASA and university scientists will visit schools in the New Orleans area Friday to encourage students to learn more about our Earth system and the importance of the view from space. The scientists are in New Orleans for the "A-Train Symposium," named after a fleet of NASA satellites orbiting the planet to collect data on a variety of aspects of the Earth system, including the atmosphere, land surface and oceans. The conference began monday and ends Thursday. (Source: PRNewswire, 10/27/10)

Museum welcomes 2 millionth visitor

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - The two millionth visitor to the only museum in the world dedicated to the collection, preservation and exhibition of Air Force armament passed through the doors Oct. 21. The 28,000 square-foot Air Force Armament Museum opened to the public in the spring of 1976. The museum gets about 400 visitors per day, and during fiscal year 2010, some 123,000 people walked through the front doors. (Source: Eglin Public Affairs, 10/26/10)

Lakota marks milestone

The UH-72A Lakota Light Utility Helicopter built by EADS North America has surpassed the 40,000-flight hour milestone in operational service with the Army and Army National Guard. Built at the company's American Eurocopter facility in Columbus, Miss., a total of 138 Lakotas have been delivered to date for fielding to Army, Army National Guard and Navy. The production plant is adjacent to the Golden Triangle Regional Airport. (Source: EADS North America, 10/26/10) Gulf Coast note: EADS North America also has operations in Mobile, Ala.

Eglin completes second alt fuel test

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - Eglin conducted its second aircraft performance evaluation using a biomass-derived fuel, this time with an F-15 Eagle. The jet flew at a variety of flight conditions, achieved supersonic speeds, and landed with no issues. The biofuel blend used for the Eagle flight was comprised of fifty percent Hydro-Processed Renewable Jet blend mixed with 50 percent JP-8. The HRJ was derived from extracted animal fats and oils, and then refined into a kerosene using conventional processes. In March of this year, an A-10 flew on a 50/50 JP-8/HRJ blend derived from oil extracted from camelina seeds, a weed-like non-food source plant. (Source: Eglin Air Force Base, 10/25/10)

Scanner shown at airport

NEW ORLEANS – A full body scanner was shown at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport Monday. The airport brought in the Transportation Safety Administration's regional director to vouch for the new system and the privacy protections that are in place. Ray White showed reporters how the images are captured and the measures TSA takes to ensure no one can ever see what a specific traveler looks like. (Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 10/25/10)

COBRA tested on Fire Scout

YUMA PROVING GROUND, Ariz. - The Navy successfully conducted the first flight test of the Coastal Battlefield Reconnaissance and Analysis (COBRA) Block I system at Yuma Proving Ground Oct. 13 on an MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned helicopter. The system allows the Northrop Grumman Fire Scout to conduct reconnaissance in littoral areas, detecting minefields and obstacles to prepare for amphibious assaults. The Block I upgrade was designed to address the beach zone and inland areas. With the test complete, the COBRA Block I system will enter low-rate initial production with the first production unit scheduled for delivery in fiscal year 2012. (Source: NNS, 10/21/10) Gulf Coast note: Fire Scouts are built in part in Moss Point, Miss.

860-mile trek winds to close

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. - An 860-mile walk that began at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, on Oct. 9 will end Thursday at Hurlburt Field, Fla. This is the second year for the walk, which honors special tactics airmen that have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq. Six teams of two to three walkers started from San Antonio carrying 50-pound packs and batons engraved with the names of the fallen airmen. The walk took them through five states. Last year's walk honored 12 special tactics airmen, but this year it's 14. The two most recent special tactics airmen to die in the line of duty are Senior Airman Mark Forester, who died Sept. 29, and Senior Airman Daniel Sanchez, who died Sept. 16. (Sources: Sun Herald, 10/19/10, AFNS, 10/09/10) (Last year's story)

NG: No regret about leaving tanker fight

Seven months after leaving the competition to build tankers for the Air Force, Northrop Grumman CEO Wes Bush says he has no regrets. Bush made the comment during an Oct. 19 forum hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The company backed out of a partnership with EADS North America because it felt the contest favored the smaller Boeing offering. Rebecca Grant, an industry consultant, said the tanker program is being miscast as a choice between buying a U.S.-made Boeing 767 versus a foreign-made Airbus 330. She said that ignores a fact of life in the aerospace industry: There are no purely American-made airliners. Grant said at an Oct. 19 news conference at the National Press Club that either company will create about the same number of jobs in the United States. She also said it's possible the number of tankers built will be well below original projection. (Source: National Defense Magazine, 10/19/10) Gulf Coast note: EADS wants to assemble the tankers in Mobile, Ala.

P&W wins NASA award

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne won the 2010 Large Business Prime Contractor of the Year Award from NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The award recognizes excellence in support of the work of the Marshall Center and in sustaining NASA's mission. The company was recognized for exemplary support of the center's subcontracting programs under the J-2X upper-stage engine and Space Shuttle Main Engine contracts. (Source: Pratt & Whitney, 10/18/10) Gulf Coast note: Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne also has an operation at John C. Stennis Space Center, Miss.

Third Australian MRTT takes flight

Australia's third mission-equipped A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport has completed a four-hour maiden flight and performed a series of tests. It reached an altitude of 41,000 feet. Airbus Military will begin deliveries of A330 MRTTs this year to its first operator, the Royal Australian Air Force. A total of 28 A330 MRTT will be produced for Australia, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. EADS North America is offering an A330 MRTT-based tanker to the U.S. Air Force as the KC-45 in the competition with Boeing. EADS plans to assemble them in Mobile, Ala., if it wins the contract (Source: EADS, 10/18/10)

STOVL engine completes thermal test

The Pratt & Whitney F135 short takeoff/vertical landing variant propulsion system for the F-35 successfully completed one of the most demanding tests in the qualification program. The high temperature margin test which took place at Arnold Engineering Development Center in Tennessee and involves intentionally running the engine to turbine temperatures beyond design conditions while simultaneously operating the turbomachinery at or above 100 percent of design conditions. (Source: Pratt & Whitney, 10/18/10) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., will be home of the F-35 training center.

Cyberspace the newest domain

With the creation of the U.S. Cyber Command in May and last week's cybersecurity agreement between the departments of Defense and Homeland Security, DoD is ready to add cyberspace to sea, land, air and space as the latest domain of warfare, Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III said. "Information technology provides us with critical advantages in all of our warfighting domains, so we need to protect cyberspace to enable those advantages," he said. Adversaries may be able to undermine the military's advantages in conventional areas by attacking the nation's military and commercial information technology infrastructure, Lynn said. This threat has "opened up a whole new asymmetry in future warfare," he said. (Source: AFNS, 10/18/10) Gulf Coast note: The Air Force trains cyberspace personnel at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. Other cyberspace training is done at Hurlburt Field, Fla., and at the Navy’s Corry Station in Pensacola, Fla.

Mini bomber UAV concept to be tested

A mini remotely piloted aircraft with attack capabilities makes its debut next month during evaluation flights at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., conducted by the Air Force Air Armament Center and U.S. Special Operations Command. Written specifications call for the aircraft to weigh 3 to 5.5 pounds and fly up to 30 minutes. Besides a warhead, the payload will include a video camera and transmitter to relay images to ground forces. Troops will fly the bomber using a console the size of a laptop. How much of a punch the RPA will pack is still under wraps. In December the Air Force will select up to three firms to compete for the contract. (Source: Air Force Times, 10/18/10)

Whiting hosts helicopter fly-in

The Naval Helicopter Association's multi-day Gulf Coast Fleet Fly-In will be held Tuesday through Friday at Naval Air Station Whiting Field near Milton, Fla. The event gives members of the naval helicopter community a chance to network with one another and with industry officials. Students at Whiting also get a chance to see some of the aircraft they’ll be flying. Whiting Field's Training Wing 5 trains about 1,300 pilots a year. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 10/17/10)

Vector to add jobs in Andalusia

ANDALUSIA, Ala. - Helicopter repair firm Vector Aerospace will add 100 jobs to its Andalusia operation, according to the mayor. Earl Johnson said local governments will spend around $3 million to build a 42,000-square-foot building for Vector at the South Alabama Regional Airport. Vector, of Canada, opened in Andalusia in 2008. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 10/12/10, Andalusia Star-News, 10/06/10) In another Vector development, the company plans to shed 30 jobs at its Almondbank facility in Scotland in a restructuring. (Sources: Multiple, including The Courier, Scotsman, 10/13/10)

Contract: Raytheon, $20.1M

Raytheon Co., Tucson, Ariz., was awarded a $20,133,837 contract which will provide for the next generation guidance section to design and build a new guidance section test position. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. AAC/EBAC, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 10/12/10)

Report highlights S. Mississippi military

The Harrison County Development Commission has released its second annual report on the military in South Mississippi. It highlights military activities at Harrison County's Keesler Air Force Base, Naval Construction Battalion Center Gulfport, the National Guard at Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport and the Coast Guard. While focusing on Harrison County, the report also has stories about Navy activities at Stennis Space Center in Hancock County Miss., Hattiesburg's Camp Shelby and more. (Source: Tcp, 10/11/10) (The 20-page PDF can be downloaded at the HCDC Web site)