Contract: L-3, $21.2M

L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace LLC, Madison, Miss., is being awarded a $21,209,470 modification to a previously awarded an indefinite-delivery requirements contract for logistics services support of 119 TH-57B/TH-57C aircraft. Services to be provided include repair and/or overhaul of aircraft, engines, avionics, and related components. Work will be performed at Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Milton, Fla., and is expected to be completed in September 2012. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 03/15/12)

Bases off limits for exercise

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- About 90 percent of workers at Naval Air Station Pensacola will stay home next week as the base enacts tight security measures as part of a nationwide naval preparedness exercise. The base's commanding officer said access to most base facilities will be unavailable from noon Thursday until noon Saturday of next week due to Exercise Solid Curtain/Citadel Shield. Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Milton will also be participating. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 03/15/12)

NRL opens robotic lab

WASHINGTON -- The Naval Research Laboratory held a ribbon cutting for its Laboratory for Autonomous Systems Research, which will focus on autonomous systems research for the Navy and Marine Corps. The lab will bring together scientists and engineers from diverse backgrounds. The one-of-a-kind lab has specialized facilities to support research in intelligent autonomy, sensor systems, power and energy systems, human-system interaction, networking and communications and platforms. It has multiple bays providing environments from desert to littoral and more. (Source: Business Wire, 03/16/12) Gulf Coast note: The NRL has a lab at Stennis Space Center, Miss.; unmanned systems are built in Moss Point, Miss.; there are multiple UAV-related activities in the region; a lab in Pensacola, Fla., does research on artificial intelligence and human-machine interaction.

It's official: Rocketdyne for sale

Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne is officially up for sale by its parent company, United Technologies. On Thursday, Rocketdyne's parent company, Hartford, Conn.-based United Technologies, announced it was selling the company to help finance its $16.5-billion purchase of aerospace supplier Goodrich Corp. Rocketdyne was first formed by North American Aviation. North American later merged with Rockwell International, which became part of Boeing. In 2005, Boeing sold Rocketdyne to United Technologies Corp. (Source: Los Angeles Times, 03/15/12) Previous: Shareholders OK merger; UT eyeing sale. Gulf Coast note: Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne assembles and tests engines at Stennis Space Center; Goodrich has an operation in Foley, Ala.

Material for booster tested

Booster test at MSFC. NASA/MSFC photo

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- A sub-scale solid rocket motor designed to mimic NASA's Space Launch System booster design successfully was tested Wednesday at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. The 20-second firing tested new insulation materials on the 24-inch-diameter, 109-inch-long motor. The motor is a scaled down, low-cost replica of the solid rocket motors that will boost SLS off the launch pad. ATK of Brigham City, Utah, is the prime contractor for the booster. (Source: NASA, 03/14/12, Huntsville Times, 03/15/12) Gulf Coast note: Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans builds the Orion crew capsule for the SLS and Stennis Space Center, Miss., will test the RS-25 and J-2X engines for the SLS.

Contract: Raytheon, $7M

Raytheon Co., Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded a $6,973,286 firm-fixed-price and cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for 18 range safety systems with jammer compatibility for Low Rate Initial Production 3, Reliability Assessment Program and initial operational flight tests. The location of the performance is Tucson. Work is expected to be completed Feb. 15, 2014. AAC/EBJM, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 03/15/12)

Military council re-established

The Mississippi Military Communities Council has been re-established by Gov. Phil Bryant. The commission will advise Bryant and staff on legislative issues that could impact Mississippi's bases as well as "promote Mississippi's military missions at the national level" and develop growth opportunities. The Pentagon is tightening its belt and two new Base Realignment and Closure rounds are expected. (Source: Sun Herald, 03/14/12) South Mississippi has military aviation activities at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Gulfport International Airport and Camp Shelby near Hattiesburg. South Mississippi is also home to a Naval Construction Battalion Center in Gulfport and has a large Navy presence at NASA's Stennis Space Center.

Direct Air suspends flights

GULFPORT, Miss. -- Direct Air, which said last month that it will provide three non-stop flights a week beginning June 15 between Gulfport and Lakeland, Fla., suspended operations for two months. The Myrtle Beach, S.C.-based air carrier is working through contract issues with a fuel provider, officials said. (Source: Sun Herald, 03/13/12) The sudden suspension caused some problems in other airports already served by the carrier. (Source: Myrtle Beach online, 03/14/12) Previous

F-35 takes to air again

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- An F-35 jet had a successful second flight Tuesday, a week after a flight was aborted because of a fuel leak. U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Joseph Bachmann flew the 93-minute local orientation flight in aircraft AF-13, a conventional takeoff and landing variant. The F-35 Integrated Training Center at Eglin is scheduled to train about 100 F-35 pilots and 2,200 maintainers annually. (Sources: Star-Telegram, BayNet, 03/13/12) Previous

Abort engine hot-fired

CANOGA PARK, Calif. -- Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne completed mission-duration hot-fire tests on a launch abort engine on Friday, March 9. The engine is in support of Boeing's CST-100 spacecraft being developed for NASA's Commercial Crew Development Round 2. Boeing's Crew Space Transportation system is a reusable, capsule-shaped spacecraft designed to take up to seven people or a combination of people and cargo to low Earth orbit, including the International Space Station. The abort propulsion system is designed to push the crew capsule to safety if an abort becomes necessary during launch or ascent. (Source: PRNewswire, 03/13/12) The CST-100 is compatible with the Atlas V, Delta IV and Falcon 9 launch vehicles. Gulf Coast note: NASA's Stennis Space Center, Miss., tests RS-68 engines for United Launch Alliance's Delta IV, and also has a Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne operation.

Jacobs awarded contract option

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. announced Tuesday that it's been awarded its first option year by NASA for its Manufacturing Support and Facility Operations Contract at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The option year has a potential value of $137 million. MAF, capable of manufacturing large aerospace structures at a single location, has played a key role in the design, assembly and manufacture of the Space Shuttle external tank and continues to support the development and manufacture of hardware for future spaceflight programs. (Source: PRNewswire, 03/13/12)

Building named for Hurlburt pilot

FORT RUCKER, Ala. -- The Air Force's 23rd Flying Training Squadron named its new consolidated operations center after a Hurlburt Field, Fla., airman. The building was named after Maj. Randell Voas, a CV-22 Osprey pilot who died April 9, 2010, near Kandahar, Afghanistan, in a crash during a combat operation. Voas, stationed at Hurlburt at the time of the crash, had been a pilot instructor for the 23rd at Fort Rucker, which trains helicopter pilots for special operations, combat search and rescue and more. All Air Force helicopter pilots start rotary wing training with the 23rd. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 03/12/12)

Shareholders OK merger

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Goodrich Corp. announced that shareholders today approved the proposed merger with United Technologies Corp. More than 98 percent of votes were cast in favor of the transaction, or some 75 percent of the outstanding shares of Goodrich common stock as of February 6, 2012. Upon completion of the merger, Goodrich will become a wholly owned subsidiary of United Technologies. (Source: Goodrich via PRNewswire, 03/13/12) Gulf Coast note: UT owns Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, which has an operation at Stennis Space Center, Miss.; Goodrich operates the Alabama Service Center in Foley, Ala.

Contract: Lockheed Martin, $56.3M

Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $56,329,396 cost reimbursement modification to previously awarded contract to provide additional funding for the sustainment effort necessary to meet the requirements and delivery schedule for the F-35 Low Rate Initial Production V. Sixty percent of the work will be done at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and 15 percent at Fort Worth, Texas. El Segundo, Calif.; Warton, United Kingdom; Orlando, Fla.; Nashua, N.H.; and Baltimore, Md., each will do 5 percent. Work is expected to be completed in May 2012. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 03/12/12)

Contract: Lockheed Martin, $38.6M

Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $38,599,999 modification to the previously awarded low rate initial production Lot 6 advance acquisition contract to provide additional funding for the procurement of long lead items for F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter low rate initial production conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) aircraft for the Air Force, and the governments of Italy and Australia. Work, which will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, is necessary to protect the delivery schedules of CTOL aircraft planned for delivery through January 2015. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 03/12/12) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 training center.

Orion EFT-1 nears completion

NEW ORLEANS -- The initial construction of the Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 vehicle built at Michoud Assembly Facility is nearing completion, NASA said. The EFT-1 will be launched in 2014 by a United Launch Alliance Delta IV. The test will be conducted for NASA by Lockeed Martin Space Systems. The unmanned capsule will be launched to an altitude of more than 3,600 miles above Earth. When EFT-1 is finished in May, it will be shipped to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Fla., for final assembly and launch preparations. The capsule is designed to carry astronauts into deep space. (Source: NASA, New Orleans Times-Picayune, 03/08/12) Previous. Orion will eventually be launched by the NASA's Space Launch System. The SLS engines are being tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss.

Cause of F-35 fuel leak found

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Three loose fasteners caused the fuel leak that shortened the first flight of an Eglin F-35 earlier this week. The 90-minute flight was cut to 15 minutes Tuesday when the pilot of an F-16 chase plane saw the leak from the F-35. Maintainers also found residual water from an earlier wash of the aircraft. The F-35 is expected to fly next week, with the goal of two flights a week. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, WEAR-TV, 03/09/12) Eglin, in northwest Florida, is home of the Joint Strike Fighter training center, which will train all aviators and maintainers from all three branches of service that will use the F-35. Previous

Contract: Lockheed Martin, $24.1M

Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $24,138,848 modification to a previously awarded cost-reimbursement contract for the development of a data farm for the Joint Strike Fighter U.S. Reprogramming Laboratory to be located at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The data farm will interface with lab's prime mission equipment and is used to store software and data from the F-35 mission data testing. The ability to store and retrieve data is critical for mission data production which is vital to program execution. Work will be performed at Fort Worth, Texas (95 percent), and Orlando, Fla. (5 percent), and is expected to be completed in November 2014. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 03/09/12)

Bunker buster against Iran?

The 30,000-pound bunker-buster bomb designed to penetrate deep in the ground before exploding is one of the weapons in an arsenal that could be used in a clash with Iran over its nuclear program. That's what Lt. Gen. Herbert Carlisle, Air Force deputy chief of staff for operations, told a conference on U.S. defense programs. The Pentagon is working on options if sanctions and diplomacy fail to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons. (Sources: multiple, including Reuters, Bloomberg, 03/08/12, The Hill, 03/09/12) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., was involved in development of the bomb, called the Massive Ordnance Penetrator. Previous post

J-2X returned to A-2

J-2X at A-2 stand. NASA/SSC photo

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- J-2X engine 10001 is returned to the A-2 Test Stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center for its second round of tests. The developmental engine underwent an initial series of tests last year. Both the engine and test stand have been modified to begin simulated altitude testing in the coming months. The J-2X engine is designed and built by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne. The J-2X will provide upper-stage power for NASA's Space Launch System, a new heavy-lift vehicle capable of missions beyond low-Earth orbit. (Source: NASA/SSC, 03/08/12)