Regional aerospace news 2007
DECEMBER 2007

Michoud lands more work
NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Boeing Co. was awarded a $799.5 million contract to build the
avionics system that will control the new Ares I rocket. NASA awarded the contract to
produce, deliver and install avionics systems for the Ares I rocket. Boeing said the project
will employ up to 20 production workers at the Michoud Assembly Facility and another 100
technical personnel at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. (Source: New
Orleans Times-Picayune, 12/13/07)

Fairhope aerospace facility to close
FAIRHOPE, Ala. – L-3 Crestview Aerospace is closing its Fairhope plant, a spokesman for
parent L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. said Tuesday. Lance Martin said all 41 Fairhope
workers have been offered jobs at the main plant in Crestview, Fla. The assembly work on
UH-1Y "Huey" helicopter bodies will be sent to the 1,000-worker facility in Crestview.
Operations in Fairhope will wind down over the next few months. (Source: Mobile Press-
Register, 12/12/07)

BAMS project discussed
MOSS POINT, Miss. – Should Northrop Grumman win a multibillion-dollar Navy contract to
build unmanned surveillance planes, it would increase the workforce at its plant in
Jackson County. Northrop Grumman is competing against Boeing and Lockheed-Martin to
provide UAVs for the Navy’s Broad Area Maritime Surveillance program. Northop
Grumman is proposing the Global Hawk. If it wins, fuselage work will be done at its facility
in Moss Point. The Northrop facility is located at Trent Lott International Airport. Plans
right now call for an access road and eventually extension of the runway from 5,700 feet
to 8,000 feet. (Source: The Sun Herald, 12/07/07)

Airport gets fire station
KILN, Miss. – A new fire station was dedicated Friday and could help Stennis International
Airport become a catalyst for economic development. The fire station replaces one that
was heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Stennis Airport is owned and operated by the
Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission, the county's economic-development
branch. The field, located north of Interstate 10 west of Mississippi 603, handles an
average of 120 flights daily, and is heavily used by the military. (Source: The Sun Herald,
12/01/07)


NOVEMBER 2007

Goodrich wins contract
FOLEY, Ala. – Goodrich won a contract to service components of nacelles, structures that
surround an aircraft engine, from Chile-based LAN Airlines. Work for the 12-year contract
will be done at Goodrich Aerostructures’ Alabama Service Center in Foley. The value of
the contract was not disclosed. The Foley plant, which makes nacelles and employs about
800, recently finished a 60,000-square-foot expansion. (Source: Mobile Press-Register,
11/28/07)

Rolls-Royce opts for Virginia over Mississippi
Mississippi was in the running, but Rolls-Royce announced that its new engine facilities
will be going to Singapore and Virginia. The Virginia plant will be south of Richmond and
will assemble engines for corporate and regional jets and parts for jet fighters. It will
employ about 500 people when it is fully operational at the end of 2009. The Singapore
site will build and test engines for civilian aircraft. Rolls-Royce, the world’s second largest
maker of aircraft jets, recently opened an engine testing site at Stennis Space Center. It
also operates a foundry in Pascagoula. (Source: Multiple, 11/21/07)

Bill would keep Army UAVs with Army
Language in a military appropriations bill moving through Congress ensures the Army will
not lose control of its unmanned aerial vehicle program. The Air Force had asked the
Department of Defense to make it executive agency over the program. The appropriations
bill for fiscal year 2008 came out of conference committee recently with language included
in the notes section of the bill precluding such a move. (Source: Dothan Eagle, 11/07/07)

Centers get assignments for space exploration work
NASA this week outlined new space exploration work for its 10 centers. In South
Mississippi, John C. Stennis Space Center was tapped as the lead center for testing the
Ares I and Ares V engines, as well as the lunar lander descent stage. The assignments
underscore NASA’s plans to send astronauts to the moon and to Mars in the next
decades. Missions assigned Tuesday won’t be funded until 2011 and 2012, but NASA
said laying out the work was a necessary step. Ares I will be used to launch Orion, the
crew capsule, while the larger Ares V will be used to lift heavier loads, including cargo and
the components needed to go to the moon and later Mars. Michoud Assembly Facility in
New Orleans will be the location for the manufacture of the Ares I upper stage, Ares V
stages and the Orion structure. (Source: Tcp, 11/01/07)


OCTOBER 2007

Company to submit proposal
BATON ROUGE, La. – Aviation Dynamics Corp. will submit a concept proposal for an
inflatable lifting body jet to the Fort Leonard Wood Institute. ADC, located at the LSU E.J.
Ourso College of Business’ Louisiana Business & Technology Center, formed in 2001. It
has been involved in the research and development of a jet-powered wingless lifting body
UAV. (Source: Baton Rouge Advocate, 10/30/07)

L-3 workers reject union
CRESTVIEW, Fla. – Employees at L-3 Communications Crestview Aerospace rejected
joining the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. More than 600
employees participated in the election. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 10/25/07)

Tanker award delayed until January
The Air Force will award a contract for aerial refueling tankers on Jan. 31. Air Force
officials said previously they expected to pick a winner for the proposed $40 billion
contract by the end of the year. The competition is between a team led by Boeing and
one led by Northrop Grumman/EADS. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 10/25/07)

Workers to vote on union
CRESTVIEW, Fla. – Employees at L-3 Crestview Aerospace will vote Wednesday on
whether to accept representation from the International Association of Machinists and
Aerospace Workers. Efforts to unionize began in late 2006. Nearly 700 people are eligible
to vote, according to a union spokesman. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News,
10/23/07)

Aerospace company to bring jobs to Crestview
CRESTVIEW, Fla. – An aerospace company moving its U.S. operations to Crestview
should be operating by this time next year. Segers Aerospace Corp. is moving from South
Florida to Bob Sikes Industrial Air Park. The company, which repairs and overhauls jet
engines, has set up a temporary office near Bob Sikes Airport while the 12.2 acres for its
new building is being developed. Company President Howard K. Hadley said the company
wanted to move to be near a major military installation. (Source: Florida Freedom
Newspapers, 10/18/07)

Operator error cited in drone crash
Accident investigators issued their first findings in an inquiry involving an unmanned
aircraft. A Customs and Border Protection UAV crashed near the Mexican border last
year. The National Transportation Safety Board found problems with the way the Predator
B drone was operated by Customs and its manufacturer, General Atomics Aeronautical
Systems. No one was injured as the plane slammed into a hillside near homes in a
sparsely populated area north of Nogales, Ariz. An operator flying the drone from a
military base accidentally shut down the engine while trying to deal with a locked computer
control console, according to the NTSB. (Source: USA Today, 10/16/07)

Rolls-Royce opens test facility
STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – Rolls-Royce North America officially opened its $49
million outdoor jet engine testing facility in South Mississippi Thursday. It will be used to
test engines used in the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787. General Manager Mitch Bell said
the company will conduct six tests a year. Rolls-Royce built the 50-foot tall stand in about
a year. Gene Goldman, deputy director of Stennis Space Center, noted that Rolls-Royce
has a long tradition of investing in research and development and the company is a fitting
addition to the federal community at Stennis. Rolls-Royce is one of the leading jet engine
production companies in the world with more than 38,000 people in 50 countries. Rolls-
Royce North America employs more than 7,300 people at 64 locations in the U.S. and
Canada. (Source: Multiple, 10/12/07)

Goodrich wins airline contract
FOLEY, Ala. – Goodrich Corp. said Tuesday its aircraft service center in Foley was
selected to provide maintenance and repair work on MD-11 jets flown by World Airways
Inc. Goodrich will refurbish thrust reversers and inlets on World Airways’ fleet of MD-11s.
The Foley plant, founded in 1984 as Rohr Aero Services, employs about 750 workers.
(Source: Mobile Press-Register, 10/10/07)

Textron buying United Industrial
Rhode Island-based Textron agreed Monday to buy unmanned military aircraft maker
United Industrial of Maryland for $1.1 billion. United Industrial’s AAI Corp. unit makes
aerospace and defense systems including UAVs and ground control stations and counter-
sniper devices. The company expects to complete the acquisition by the end of the year.
AAI has an operation in Choctaw, Miss. (Source: Multiple, 10/09/07)

EADS delivers pair of Lakotas
COLUMBUS, Miss. – EADS North America delivered a pair of UH-72A light utility
helicopters to the Army in September, the first time two Lakotas were delivered in a single
month. EADS is a subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. The
helicopters are assembled in the 325,000 square-foot Columbus by American Eurocopter,
a unit of EADS. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 10/09/07)

Commanders believe Eglin will house new JSF school
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – Although it hasn’t been officially approved, Air Force
commanders are confident a Joint Strike Fighter pilot and maintainer school would be built
where the 33rd Fighter Wing currently operates. Col. George Ross, who heads the new
Eglin F-35 Site Activation Task Force, said no ground would be broken until an
environmental impact study is filed. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 10/08/07)

Test stand opening ceremony slated
STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – An opening ceremony for the first Rolls-Royce test
facility outside the United Kingdom is slated for Thursday. The outdoor jet engine testing
facility is at the John C. Stennis Space Center in South Mississippi, which has been used
by NASA for rocket engine testing since the 1960s. The 50-foot high test stand will be
used by Rolls-Royce to test development and prototype engines for performance, noise
and other factors. Initially it will be used for the Trent 900 and Trent 1000 being
developed for the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner. (Source: Business Wire,
10/05/07)

Senate OKs extra money for NASA
The Senate approved $1 billion in extra funding for NASA. The extra money would
increase the agency’s budget to $18.5 billion for FY 2008, which began Monday. The
funding could help speed development of the Orion spacecraft and trim a five-year gap
where the United States would have no manned spacecraft after the shuttle retires in
2010. A final vote on the bill will come when the Senate returns after a week-long break.
(Source: Houston Chronicle, 10/05/07)

Boeing gears up for new work
Boeing Co. officials met with Louisiana, congressional and local officials this week to set
the stage for its Ares I upper-stage rocket work at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in
east New Orleans. Boeing’s Integrated Defense Systems operating company, based in St.
Louis, expects to create about 250 jobs at Michoud. Boeing’s Michoud work will be worth
up to $1.12 billion through 2017. (Source: Baton Rouge Advocate, 10/05/07)

Senate defense appropriations bill has $9 billion for Mississippi
The Senate’s version of the FY 2008 Department of Defense Appropriations Bill
recommends $459 billion in spending, including some $9 billion in Mississippi. The bill
goes to conference with the House within the next two weeks. The bill includes $2.8 billion
for development and construction of the Navy’s next generation destroyers, $1.37 billion
in funds for the LHA-6 amphibious helicopter carrier and $1.4 billion for construction of
LPD-25 amphibious ship, all at Northrop Grumman’s Ingalls Operation in Pascagoula. The
bill also includes $5.6 million for aircraft carrier propellers from Pascagoula’s Rolls-Royce,
$38.8 million for three Moss Point-built Fire Scout UAVs and $10 million for Hunter UAVs
with work done in Starkville and Moss Point. The bill also has $2.1 million for force
protection systems built by Rapiscan of Ocean Springs, $2.1 million for upgrades of
special operations boats at Gulfport’s United States Marine and $32.9 million for defense
research programs at the state’s four largest research universities. The bill also includes
$3 million for the continued scale-up of industrial capability for production of POSS
Nanotechnology. The scale-up allow for rapid insertion of the advanced material into a
broad range of weapon system. The production is conducted by Hybrid Plastics in
Hattiesburg. (Source: Sen. Trent Lott press release, 10/04/07)

Northrop awards design contracts for KC-30 plant
MOBILE, Ala. – Northrop Grumman selected Mobile-based Thompson Engineering Inc.
and a local branch of KBR Inc. to help design its KC-30 production center at the Brookley
Field Industrial Complex. Northrop is competing against Boeing Co. for a contract to build
a new fleet of aerial refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force. If successful, the company
and its bidding partner, EADS North America, would assemble and modify the new planes
in a pair of new plants at Brookley. The Air Force has said it expects to pick a winner for
the proposed $40 billion, 179-plane tanker contract by January. (Source: Mobile Press-
Register, 10/03/07)


SEPTEMBER 2007

Florida’s Santa Rosa looking for money for aviation park
MILTON, Fla. – Santa County officials are trying to find money needed to start
construction of the proposed 263-acre Whiting Aviation Commerce Park after the county’s
request for $2.5 million from the state fell through. The three options: get a client in the
park, resubmit the request or borrow bond money. The park would offer commercial
property with taxiway access to a 6,000-foot runway. Santa Rosa County is home to the
Navy’s Whiting Field and portions of Eglin Air Force Base. (Source: Pensacola News
Journal, 09/27/07)

Pratt & Whitney wins engine production contract
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. – Pratt & Whitney was awarded a $69.3 million production
contract for F135 engines to power the F-35 Lightning II. The F135 engine low rate initial
production contract will support two conventional take-off and landing F-35 production
aircraft. Engine deliveries are scheduled to begin in June 2009. Bill Gostic, vice president,
Pratt & Whitney F135 engine program, said the first F135-powered F-35 is scheduled for
delivery to Eglin Air Force Base in Florida in 2010. (Source: PRNewswire, 09/26/07)

MAE eyes expansion in Mobile
MOBILE, Ala. – ST Mobile Aerospace Engineering Inc. is considering an expansion of its
aircraft maintenance hub at the Brookley Field Industrial Complex. It would include
construction of a warehouse and up to three new hangars. MAE would use the new
hangars to support a $470 million contract it won from FedEx earlier this year to convert
Boeing 757-200 passenger jets into commercial air freighters. (Source: Mobile Press-
Register, 09/18/07)

Shanklin out at Crestview Aerospace
CRESTVIEW, Fla. – Chuck Shanklin was replaced Wednesday as president of L-3
Communications Crestview Aerospace by Barry Steiner, who will assume his duties next
week. The change comes about 14 months after the New York-based L-3
Communications bought Crestview Aerospace for $135 million. Shanklin said L-3 faces
some challenging programs and wanted to bring in its own experts. Crestview Aerospace
was purchased by L-3 in 2006. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 09/13/07)

Grant to be used for tech park near Eglin
FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. – The Economic Development Council of Okaloosa County
has been awarded a grant of $200,000 to help develop the Emerald Coast Technology
and Research Campus just outside Eglin Air Force Base. The campus is on property
adjoining the University of Florida’s Research and Engineering Education Facility. The
grant is part of nearly $3.5 million in defense grants awarded statewide to Florida
communities that host military bases. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 09/04/07)

EADS approved for Mississippi-built helicopters
EADS North America received federal approval to begin full production of military and
commercial helicopters at its American Eurocopter plant in Columbus, Miss. The
authorization by the Federal Aviation Administration enables EADS to assemble UH-72A
Lakota helicopters entirely in Columbus. Previously, the plant was restricted to finishing
work on Lakotas produced by EADS in Germany. The Army has said it intends to
purchase 322 light utility helicopters over the next decade. (Source: Mobile Press-
Register, 09/01/07)


AUGUST 2007

Boeing wins contract for work on new space vehicle’s rocket
NEW ORLEANS, La. – NASA has chosen a team led by Boeing Corp. to build the rocket
for the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle, a manned space capsule that will replace the
Space Shuttle. Boeing will assemble the Ares I rocket at the Michoud Assembly Facility in
eastern New Orleans. Boeing will manufacture a ground test article, three flight test units
and six production flight units in a contract valued at $900 million. Lockheed Martin Corp.,
which currently builds external fuel tanks for the shuttle at the Michoud facility, lost its bid
for the Ares contract, but last year it won a separate contract to build the capsule in which
astronauts will travel on Orion. Some of the work on that capsule will be done at Michoud.
Michoud  employs 2,000 people. The Ares I upper stage development is managed by
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. (Source: Multiple, 08/28/07)

NASA breaks ground on new test stand
STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – Stennis Space Center broke ground Thursday for a
new rocket engine test stand that will provide altitude testing for the J-2X engine. The
engine will power the upper stages of NASA’s Ares I and Ares V rockets. NASA Deputy
Administrator Shana Dale was joined by Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, Senators Thad
Cochran and Trent Lott and Congressman Gene Taylor at the event. The Ares I and Ares
V rockets are being developed as part of NASA’s Constellation Program. Constellation
spacecraft will be used to send astronauts to the International Space Station, return
humans to the moon, and eventually journey to Mars. The stand will be a 300-foot-tall,
open steel frame structure located south of the existing A-1 test stand. Testing on the A-3
stand is scheduled to begin in late 2010. In November 2006, Stennis’ existing A-1 stand
was handed over to the Constellation Program for testing the J-2X engine. Tests on J-2X
components are set to begin later in 2007. The engines will be assembled at Stennis.
(Source: NASA, 08/23/07)

Northrop says KC-30 will mean $12 million impact for Mississippi
The Northrop Grumman-EADS KC-30 tanker program will contribute nearly $12 million
annually to Mississippi’s economy if it’s selected by the Air Force. Northrop Grumman and
teammate EADS currently employ 11,000 Mississippians, support more than 34,000 jobs
statewide and bring a combined economic impact of $2 billion annually to the state.
Northrop Grumman injects an employee payroll of $574 million into the state’s economy
each year. Northrop Grumman’s current KC-30 supply base in Mississippi employs 520
people and will provide aircraft components for the KC-30 tanker. The KC-30 will be
assembled in Mobile, Ala. (Source: Prime Newswire, 08/15/07)

Groundbreaking set for new test stand
STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – There will be a groundbreaking Aug. 23 at Stennis
Space Center for the new A-3 test stand. The test stand, the first large test stand to be
built at the center since its beginning in the 1960s, will be used to test engines for the new
spacecraft that will replace the space shuttle. Expected to participate in the
groundbreaking are Sens. Trent Lott and Thad Cochran, Gov. Haley Barbour and
Congressman Gene Taylor. The A-3 Test Stand will be used to conduct altitude testing on
NASA’s developing J-2X engine that will power the upper stage of NASA’s Ares I crew
launch vehicle and the Earth departure stage of the Ares V cargo launch vehicle. The
new test stand will be a 300-foot-tall, open steel frame structure. Testing on the A-3 stand
is scheduled to begin in late 2010. (Source: NASA, 08/15/07)

Northrop Grumman releases impact figures
The Northrop-EADS KC-30 tanker program will create 5,000 jobs in Alabama and more
than 2,000 in Florida if it’s selected by the Air Force, according to Northrop Grumman.
The company currently employs more than 1,300 workers in Alabama with a combined
annual salary approaching $107 million. In Florida, Northrop Grumman employs more
than 4,700 workers. The KC-30 aircraft, if it beats competitor Boeing to replace the aging
fleet of tankers, will employ 25,000 American workers at 230 U.S. companies. It will be built
in Mobile, Ala., by a team that includes Northrop Grumman, EADS North America, General
Electric Aviation and Sargent Fletcher. (Source: Prime Newswire, 08/08/07 and 08/14/07)

Northrop wins UAV contract
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Northrop Grumman beat Boeing to win a $636 million Navy contract
to develop an unmanned combat plane that can operate from aircraft carriers. The
Unmanned Combat Air System CV Demonstration Program calls for development of a
stealthy, strike fighter-sized aircraft. The Navy said the contract was expected to be
completed in September 2013. The new UAV will operate use catapult takeoffs and
arrested landings and will carry no weapons. Northrop will build two planes, two mission
control segments and a support system. Flight testing is due to begin in late 2009.
(Source: Reuters, 08/01/07)


JULY 2007

Global Hawk completes 1,000th flight
SAN DIEGO –  The unmanned RQ-4 Global Hawk recently completed their 1,000th flight.
The fourth production Global Hawk, designated AF-4, flew the mission June 14-15. Gary
Ervin, vice president for Northrop Grumman’s Integrated Systems sector, said the AF-4
cruised at extremely high altitudes for more than 18 hours without refueling. This was the
517th combat mission flight for the Global Hawks, which have logged more than 10,700
combat hours. Global Hawks are operated overseas by Air Force pilots from a mission
control element stationed at its main operating base at Beale Air Force Base near
Sacramento, Calif. A launch and recovery element and a combined Air Force and
Northrop Grumman team are forward deployed with the air systems. Some of the Global
Hawk fuselage work is done in Moss Point. (Source: Northrop Grumman, 07/27/07)

KC-30 runs successful refueling
Northrop Grumman Corp. and EADS North America said Tuesday that their KC-30 tanker
aircraft successfully passed fuel through its boom refueling system during ground testing
in Spain. The boom, which is extended from the tanker to connect with a receiving aircraft,
is capable of transferring 1,200 gallons of fuel per minute, according to the companies.
Northrop and EADS are competing against Boeing Co. to build a new fleet of tankers for
the Air Force. If successful, the Northrop-led team would assemble its tankers at a new
plant in Mobile, creating up to 1,500 direct jobs. (Source: Mobile Press-Register,
07/25/07)

Designs for next spacecraft unveiled
NEW ORLEANS, La. – NASA has unveiled designs for the next generation of spacecraft it
plans to manufacture at its Michoud Assembly Facility in eastern New Orleans.
Construction of Orion, a pod-like spacecraft meant to carry six astronauts into space, is
expected to begin at Michoud by mid-2008. Orion is the first of three projects Michoud has
been commissioned to build for NASA's Constellation program, an initiative to return
astronauts to the moon and send them to other parts of space. Along with Orion, Michoud
also would build for Constellation stages of the Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles, which
would be used to propel the Orion and cargo into space. With 43 acres under one roof,
Michoud is the world’s largest spacecraft manufacturing plant. (Source: New Orleans
Times-Picayune, 07/20/07)

Changing output of U.S. scientific articles: 1988-2003
In the early 1990s, the absolute number of science and engineering articles published by
U.S.-based authors in the world’s major peer-reviewed journals plateaued – a change
from a rise in the number of publications over preceding decades. The trend occurred
across different categories of institutions, different institutional sectors, and different fields
of research. In other developed countries – a group of 15 members of the European
Union and Japan – the absolute number of articles continued to grow throughout most of
the 1992–2003 period. During the mid- to late 1990s, the number of articles published by
EU scientists surpassed those published by their U.S. counterparts, and the difference
between Japanese and U.S. article output narrowed. (Source: National Science
Foundation, 07/18/07)

Jacobs Technology gets NASA Stennis contract
STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – NASA has awarded a contract to Jacobs Technology
Inc., of Tullahoma, Tenn., to provide facility operation services at Stennis Space Center.
The contract has an estimated potential value of $561 million. The 10-year, cost-plus-
incentive-fee contract has a three-year base period with seven potential one-year award
terms. Jacobs Technology will provide a broad range of facility engineering, maintenance
and operations, and institutional and logistics services in support of NASA’s mission.
Jacobs Technology also will support programs of other resident federal and state
agencies that share and use the center's facilities and services. (Source: Stennis Space
Center, 07/12/07)

Boeing plane has Foley connection
FOLEY, Ala. – Boeing’s new 787 passenger has a Foley connection. The Foley Service
Center of Goodrich Aerostructures had a hand in production of a crucial Dreamliner
component, the nacelle, a structure that surrounds the engines. Goodrich is the exclusive
nacelle provider for both of the Dreamliner’s engine options, one from General Electric
and the other from Rolls-Royce. Goodrich is building nacelles for six flight-test airplanes,
three with each brand of engine, as well as a spare set for each, the company said. The
Foley facility treats the components in a giant autoclave and provides a six-member team
to oversee testing of the nacelles. The Foley facility is among the candidates for full-scale
nacelle production for the 787. The company is expected to make that decision in the next
year or two. (Source: Mobile Press Register, 07/08/07)

Investments to help Michoud
Before wrapping up the session in Baton Rouge on Friday, the state Legislature set aside
money for improvements at the Port of New Orleans, new equipment at the Michoud
Assembly Facility, and several other projects designed to nudge the city’s post-Hurricane
Katrina recovery. Fulfilling a promise to support the aerospace industry based at the
Michoud Assembly Facility, the administration supported a $20 million investment in new
equipment and facilities at the eastern New Orleans plant. The centerpiece is a friction stir
welder that will be used on NASA’s Orion program to build the next generation space
vehicle, said Russ Trahan, dean of the University of New Orleans College of Engineering.
This will be the second friction stir welding machine to be located at Michoud. UNO, which
is partnering with Lockheed Martin on the Orion project, also was approved to seek
another $75.5 million to construct a new building at Michoud to house classrooms and
offices for contractors working on the project. (Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune,
07/04/07)

Raytheon files protest over outcome of cargo aircraft bid
Raytheon Corp. has filed a protest over the $2 billion Joint Cargo Aircraft contract
awarded to L-3 Communications last month. Waltham, Mass.-based Raytheon is
challenging the military’s choice of L-3’s C-27J Spartan over its C-295 cargo plane. The
company filed a 40-page formal protest with the Government Accountability Office on
June 22. The company claims that the C-295 matched the C-27J in every category but at
a significantly lower price. Raytheon, the lead contractor on a team that also includes
EADS CASA, has proposed to assemble its C-295 at Mobile Regional Airport. A
spokesman for the GAO confirmed the protest had been received and that the agency
must complete its review by Oct. 1. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 07/01/07)


JUNE 2007

Cargo plane to be built in Jacksonville
The Pentagon has chosen a team led by New York-based L-3 Communications to build
new cargo planes for the Army and Air Force. The C-27J Spartan will be built at a new
plant in Jacksonville, Fla. Engineering work will be done at Vertex Aerospace of Madison,
Miss. The winning team also includes Boeing and Italy’s Alenia Aeronautica. A rival
aircraft, the C-295, was offered by Raytheon Corp. and EADS CASA. Had that team won,
the Joint Cargo Aircraft would have been built in Mobile, Ala. The new cargo plane will
replace the Army’s fleet of C-23 Sherpas and C-12 Hurons. The Air Force will use the
plane to complement its fleet of C-130s. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 06/14/07)

Fort Walton Beach recognized
FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. – For the second time in the past month, Fort Walton Beach
has been recognized for its healthy business climate, thanks in large part to Eglin Air
Force Base. The city was ranked second behind Austin, Texas by Moody’s Economy.com
on its Business Vitality Index. The report’s findings, which appeared in Monday’s Wall
Street Journal, were based on economic conditions such as household income growth,
labor availability and the risk of employment volatility. “We have been called the ‘little
Austin, Texas,’ ” said David Goetsch, vice-president of Okaloosa-Walton College Fort
Walton Beach. “They have a really big version of the high-tech companies that we have.”
The force behind it all? Eglin Air Force Base and the industries it fuels, Goetsch added.
“Nobody in Florida, including Orlando, has the high-tech concentration per capita that we
do,” Goetsch said. In early May, the Fort Walton Beach-Crestview-Destin area was ranked
19th on Inc. magazine’s 2007 Best Cities for Doing Business rankings. (Source:
Northwest Florida Daily News, 06/12/07)

Army equips first unit with Lakota
The Army has equipped its first unit with the UH-72A "Lakota," a new helicopter made in
Mississippi by EADS North America. The Army said it received its first six Lakota light utility
helicopters on May 22 and assigned them to the National Training Center Air Ambulance
Detachment in Fort Irwin, Calif. EADS won the $2.6 billion LUH contract in June 2006 and
delivered the first six helicopters in less than a year. The Army said it intends to purchase
a total of 322 light utility helicopters over the next decade. The helicopters are designed
for a variety of missions including Homeland Security, civil search and rescue, air
ambulance and counter-drug operations. EADS is assembling the helicopters at its
American Eurocopter subsidiary in Columbus, Miss. (Source: Mobile Press-Register,
06/05/07)


MAY 2007

Degussa plans $10M plant
MOBILE, Ala. – A high-tech foam used in products as varied as the Airbus A380 airliner
and skis will be made at a new $10 million plant Degussa AG will build at the company’s
Mobile site. The expansion is expected to add about 14 jobs. The new facility is scheduled
to start operation in mid-2008. Construction will begin in the fall. Degussa will use the new
facility to make its version of rigid polymethacrylimide foam, trade named ROHACELL, a
foam that’s “sandwiched” between plastic skins reinforced by carbon or glass fibers.
Company officials say the material is ideal for aerospace use. The only Degussa facility
that makes ROHACELL is in Darmstadt, Germany. North American demand for the
product drove the decision to build a production facility here. The product is a division of
Degussa’s High Performance Polymers Business Unit, which has more than 1,000
employees worldwide. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 05/31/07)

GE announces Mississippi engine parts plant
BATESVILLE, Miss. – General Electric said Tuesday it will break ground in August on a
200,000 square foot plant that will make composite parts for jet engines. GE Aviation,
which expects the plant to be finished in early 2009, will hire a work force of about 100
workers in the first 18 months of operation. The company received incentives and
technical support from the Mississippi Development Authority, the city and the Tennessee
Valley Authority, according to the press release. GE also worked with Mississippi State
University’s College of Engineering on an incubator program that successfully produced
composite components for jet engine fan blades. The plant will make composite fan blade
platforms for the GEnx and GE 90 engines. GE Aviation of Cincinnati, Ohio, develops and
manufactures jet engines for commercial and military aircraft. It is a unit of General
Electric, headquartered in Fairfield, Conn. Batesville is along Interstate 55, 140 miles
north of Jackson. (Source: Multiple, 05/29/07)

Palm Bay police hope to use UAVs
PALM BAY, Fla. – Federal aviation officials plan a second meeting next month with
developers of a low-flying, unmanned aircraft that Palm Bay police hope to put in the skies
for surveillance and fighting crime. The purchase of the $38,000 Cyberbug aircraft and
support equipment is on hold pending FAA approval of the drone, but the police
department plans to go ahead and apply for limited authorization to fly and train with the
craft. Palm Bay police want to use the laptop-operated aircraft to assist officers on the
ground with everything from locating missing persons to providing overhead surveillance
on suspected drug houses. The department would be one of the first municipal law
enforcement agencies in the United States to deploy an unmanned aerial aircraft. The
UAV maker is CyberDefense of St. Petersburg. (Source: Florida Today, 05/29/07)

GoldenEye 50 gets certification
COLUMBUS, Miss. – Aurora Flight Sciences Corp. received an experimental airworthiness
certificate (EAC) from the FAA, allowing the GoldenEye 50 Unmanned Aerial System to fly
in the national airspace system. To date, the FAA has issued only eleven EACs for drone
operations in civil airspace. Aurora completed a demonstration flight at the company’s
manufacturing facility located at the Golden Triangle Regional Airport. The man-portable
unmanned vehicle can take off vertically, autonomously transition to high-speed winged
flight and then return to hover flight in the target area to collect imagery and sensor
readings. (Source: PRNewswire, 05/23/07)

Northrop gets Global Hawk deal
The U.S. Air Force on Friday awarded a $371.4 million contract boost to a unit of Northrop
Grumman Corp. for five global hawk air vehicles and other equipment. San Diego-based
Northrop Integrated Systems Air Combat Command will also provide three launch and
recovery elements for the global hawk and other related equipment. The company is
expected to complete the work by March 2010. Northrop operates a Global Hawk
production facility in Moss Point. (Source: AP, 05/18/07)

Team chosen to head $250M Eglin research park project
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – The Air Force has awarded Eglin Properties LLC, a joint
venture between Dick Corp. and Hunt Development Group, a $250 million contract to
head up the design, development, financing and construction of the Emerald Coast
Technology and Research Center, adjacent to the University of Florida’s Research
Education & Engineering Facility. The 98-acre park just outside Eglin Air Force Base will
be the site of the Emerald Coast Center, a complex featuring 1.1 million square feet of
office, technology and research space. The development will be supported by a
conference center, a wellness center, a restaurant, two hotels and student housing.
Architectural firm Bullock Tice Associates is handling the project’s design. It’s being
developed under the Defense Department’s Enhanced Use Lease program, which gives
military installations the ability to maximize the use of excess real property. Pittsburgh-
based Dick Corp. is a national firm that engages in construction, management, design-
build and environmental services in the commercial and industrial building markets.
Headquartered in El Paso, Texas, Hunt Development is an affiliate of Hunt Building Corp,
which provides development, design, construction, investment, and asset and property
management services. (Source: Commercial Property News, 05/18/07)

Billionaire tours aviation institute looking for ideas
FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. – Although automobiles are the staple of Michigan’s
economy, the state’s 2006 gubernatorial candidate, Dick DeVos, wants industry education
to take flight. He may have found a catalyst for his plans through Choctawhatchee High
School’s Aviation Institute. The son of billionaire Amway co-founder Richard DeVos, he
envisions opening a charter aviation institute in Michigan. Okaloosa County school
officials guided DeVos through Choctaw’s Aviation Institute facilities Friday morning, while
DeVos articulated his concern for Michigan’s public education system unless there is
reform. “We’re coming out of the old industrial model, where frankly, education was what
you did until you could get a job at one of the auto companies,” he said. DeVos was in
town to see first-hand Okaloosa County’s CHOICE (Community High: Okaloosa Institutes
for Community Education) program. Choctaw Principal Cindy Massarelli explained how
CHOICE’s success is related to “reculturing the society” and its view on education.
CHOICE’s programs are “extraordinarily encouraging about what the future of public
education can be in America,” DeVos said. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News,
05/18/07)

NASA to build second stand at Stennis to test Ares I engines
STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – NASA wants to build a new test stand at Stennis
Space Center to test one of the rocket engines being developed for its new launch
vehicle. The stand will be used to test the J-2X engine, which will power the upper stages
of NASA’s Ares I and Ares V rockets. The proposed structure will be the first large test
stand built at the center since the 1960s. The 300-foot-tall open-frame design will allow
engineers to simulate conditions at different altitudes. NASA engineers need to simulate
conditions at various altitudes to test the J-2X’s ability to function as a second stage
engine for Ares I and the Earth Departure Stage engine for the Ares V cargo launch
vehicle. The new stand will be finished in time to test the first J-2X engine in December
2010. An existing test stand at Stennis also is being modified to test the J-2X engine at
sea level conditions. Ares I will launch the Orion spacecraft, taking astronauts to the
International Space Station no later than 2015, then to the moon by 2020. Ares I is a key
component of NASA’s Constellation Program. The test stand, along with its control center,
propellant barge docks and access roadways, will be built in SSC’s A Complex. (Source:
NASA, 05/08/07)

DoD turns to venture capitalists
The Defense Department is using some of the nation’s top technology investors to help it
find innovations from tiny start-up companies. DeVenCI (Defense Venture Catalyst
Initiative) brings together two groups that have much to gain from each other and that
have had trouble finding efficient ways to work together. “We’re a search engine,” said
Bob Pohanka, director of DeVenCI, noting that the program is a chance for military
procurement officials to have more intimate contact with investors who make a living
scouring laboratories and universities for the latest innovations. The program provides a
regular exchange of ideas and periodic meetings between a select group of venture
capitalists and dozens of strategists and buyers from the major military and intelligence
branches. Government officials talk about their needs, and the investors suggest
solutions culled from technology start-ups across the country. The project is in its early
stages. There have been three meetings since October. (Source: New York Times,
05/07/07)

Stennis union accepts contract
STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – Union aerospace workers accepted a second-round
offer from a federal contractor, averting the possibility of a strike. Local 2249 of the
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers voted late Monday to
accept the Jacobs Technology contract offer. The company, a subsidiary of Jacobs
Engineering of Pasadena, Calif., does test operations at Stennis and the Marshall Space
Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The local union had rejected the first offer but agreed to
stay on the job another week as negotiations continued. The contract is a four-year
package with total salary increases of 13 percent over the life of the contract. (Source:
Sun Herald, 05/02/07)

Aviation group moving conference
NEW ORLEANS, La. – A trade association that had to move its conference from New
Orleans in 2005 following Hurricane Katrina has announced it will also relocate a 2008
meeting it had planned to hold in New Orleans. Citing the slow recovery of New Orleans
Lakefront Airport, the National Business Aviation Association said that it will meet instead
in Orlando. Dan Hubbard, a spokesman for the Aviation Association, said his group’s
decision to relocate was based solely on the status of Lakefront Airport. The association,
which has held its conference in New Orleans at least six times, needs the airport to
showcase its display of about 120 aircraft. (Source: Times Picayune, 05/02/07)


APRIL 2007

Cost analysis likely to favor keeping wing at Eglin
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – Congress expects to get copies Monday of the RAND
Corp. cost-benefit analysis that, in part, would signal what the Air Force intends to do with
the 46th Test Wing. The test wing was marked for moving to Edwards Air Force Base,
Calif., and many of its major facilities, including McKinley Climatic Laboratory, were slated
for mothballing or closure until lawmakers intervened. Sources familiar with the study
indicate the report does not favor a move to California. It reportedly says the Air Force
underestimated the cost. The test wing employs more than 3,000 active-duty airmen, civil
service workers and contractors. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 04/26/07)

Air Force draws fire in bid to control UAVs
WASHINGTON – The split between the Air Force and Army over the future of unmanned
aerial vehicles is widening with the Navy and Marine Corps siding with the Army. At issue
is the Air Force proposal to the Defense Department suggesting it become the lead
agency for developing and fielding unmanned aircraft that fly above 3,500 feet. The
dispute was the center of attention April 19 at a congressional hearing called to review the
services’ budget requests for unmanned aerial vehicles and other reconnaissance
aircraft. The chairman of the House Armed Services air and land forces subcommittee,
Rep. Neil Abercombie, D-Hawaii, promised to settle the differences if the services don’t.
(Source: Army Times, 04/24/07)

School district to establish engineering program
PENSACOLA, Fla. - Four Escambia County public schools will receive a $200,000 grant to
enhance math and science instruction and create a pre-engineering academy. The
funding is a WIRED grant from Florida's Great Northwest Inc. Carl Leiterman, director of
workforce education for the Escambia School District, said the money will purchase
computers and establish high-end, specialized engineering software programs for
Warrington and Woodham middle schools, Escambia and West Florida high schools. Over
the next few months instructors for the pre-engineering curriculums will be chosen from
local district faculty and local private industry engineers. (Source: Pensacola News
Journal, 04/19/07)

MSU distance-learning engineering degree offered
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Designed primarily for working professional engineers unable to
take traditional courses, Mississippi State is offering an interdisciplinary master of
engineering degree through distance learning. “This master’s program is especially
designed to meet the needs of the practicing engineer,” said Roger King, associate dean
of research and graduate studies. King said the interdisciplinary nature of the degree also
enables students to develop programs of study unique to their individual requirements.
For more information, contact Rita Burrell at 662.325.5923 or rburrell@bagley.msstate.
edu. (Source: MSU, 04/18/07)

EADS breaks ground on hangar
MOBILE, Ala. – EADS CASA broke ground for a 38,000-square-foot aircraft hangar and
office building on land adjoining its customer service center at Mobile Regional Airport.
The Spanish subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. last year
named Mobile as its final delivery center for aircraft sold to civil and military customers in
the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The new hangar will be used to store and maintain light
cargo planes including the CN-235 and the C-295. EADS CASA already operates a
13,000-square-foot office and warehouse at Mobile Regional to support customers
including the U.S. Coast Guard, which will be operating the CN-235 maritime patrol aircraft
as part of the Integrated Deepwater Systems program. (Source: Mobile Press-Register,
04/18/07)

State’s financial commitment to Michoud revealed
BATON ROUGE, La. – Louisiana’s top economic development official said the state wants
to spend $102 million spread out over six years to fund enhancements to the National
Center for Advanced Manufacturing and a proposed office and lab building at NASA’s
Michoud Assembly Facility in east New Orleans. “This is NASA’s only manufacturing plant
in the United States, NASA’s only manufacturing plant anywhere in the world,” Mike Olivier
said on the final day of the 2007 Governor’s Conference on Economic Development. The
appropriation Gov. Kathleen Blanco and Olivier’s department will seek this year from the
Legislature is $20 million. Blanco signed a memorandum of understanding with NASA in
February to pursue new investment at the site. Olivier’s speech was the first indication of
financial commitments the administration would be seeking. (Source: Baton Rouge
Advocate, 04/13/07)

Northrop, Boeing submit bids
Both Northrop Grumman and Boeing have now submitted bids for a U.S. Air Force
contract to build a new fleet of aerial refueling tankers. The Northrop bid was made
Tuesday and Boeing’s Wednesday. Los Angeles-based Northrop is proposing the KC-30
tanker, which is says “meets or exceeds the Air Force requirements.” Chicago-based
Boeing is proposing the KC-767, which the company sais is the “right-sized” aircraft. The
Air Force wants the planes to replace its fleet of more than 500 KC-135 tankers. An initial
contract for 179 planes is estimated at $40 billion and could be awarded by October. If
Northrop wins the planes will be built in Mobile, Ala. (Sources: Multiple, 04/12/07)

AIA: Aerospace industry booming
The U.S. aerospace industry was highly successful in 2006, with total deliveries estimated
at more than $184 billion. While sales increased for nearly all product and customer
categories, the civil aircraft sector surged 21 percent. The AIA Aerospace Research
Center projects aerospace industry sales will grow to more than $195 billion in 2007, as
purchases by the military and the space sector increase slightly while commercial aircraft,
engines and parts deliveries rise by 15 percent. (Source: Aerospace Industries
Association, 04/06/07)

Analysts expect DoD to continue funding aircraft fleet
Despite spending tens of billions of dollars on wartime expenses such as fuel, logistics
and new or upgraded trucks, the Pentagon still is investing heavily in operating and
upgrading its aircraft fleet and is likely to continue doing so well into this century, defense
and military budget analysts say. The Government Accountability Office agrees, but in a
report released this month it says the Pentagon needs to change the way it spends its
aircraft funds to keep from wasting money. Combined, aircraft costs for such items as
fixed-wing expenses, defense operations and engine procurement, maintenance or
development represent the largest outlay – $29 billion. The Air Force had the greatest
percentage, with about $16 billion, followed by the Navy, with about $12 billion. The top
companies involved in such work were Lockheed Martin, Boeing, United Technologies,
General Electric and Northrop Grumman. (Source: Aerospace Daily & Defense Report,
04/05/07)


MARCH 2007

NASA awards contract to Pratt & Whitney
STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – NASA has announced the selection of Pratt & Whitney
Rocketdyne Inc., of Canoga Park, Calif., to provide hardware assurance testing at NASA’s
Stennis Space Center. The estimated total value of the contract is $80 million. The cost-
plus-award-fee contract is for a one-year period with four one-year options. Pratt &
Whitney Rocketdyne will perform space shuttle main engine testing and testing of
Constellation Program engines and propulsion systems. The contractor also will perform
engine and propulsion systems testing as needed for other NASA programs, as well as
provide hardware assurance and engineering support, including design work. (Source:
NASA, 03/30/07)

Northrop, EADS unveil tanker team
WASHINGTON – Northrop Grumman and EADS Co. has named a team of subcontractors
in their bid to win a $40 billion Air Force contract for an aerial tanker. Northrop officials
said they completed agreements with major suppliers including GE Aviation, Honeywell
Inc. and General Dynamics. At least 52 percent of the plane would be made in the United
States, including final assembly in Mobile, Ala. For industrial recruiters in Alabama and
elsewhere on the Gulf Coast, the list represents companies that may ultimately set up
operations near the Mobile assembly facility. Northrop and Boeing are the only two
companies vying for the contract to replace 179 KC-135 refueling planes. Northrop is
proposing the KC-30, a modified Airbus A330. Boeing is proposing KC-767, a modified
767 freighter. The Air Force expects to make a decision by the end of the year. (Source:
Multiple, 03/28/07)

Lawmakers fight to keep Army program at arsenal
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The Air Force wants to take the lead role in running the military’s
unmanned aerial vehicle program. But members of the Alabama congressional delegation
have written a letter to the deputy secretary of defense opposing the move. Redstone
Arsenal is home to the Army’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Product Office, which oversees
the Army’s UAV programs. The issue of establishing one executive agent was raised by
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley in a March 5 memo to the Joint Chiefs of
Staff. He suggested the Air Force was “organized, trained and equipped” for the role of
executive agent for UAVs that fly above 3,500 feet. (Source: Huntsville Times, 03/24/07)

USAF creates UAV pilot specialty
The U.S. Air Force is creating a new job specialty: UAV pilots, an officer position. The
Army uses NCOs to pilots its UAVs, which are generally smaller than those used by the Air
Force. The program expects to attract those who had applied to be regular pilots, but had
been denied because of minor physical faults. But the Air Force is also aware that the
current crop of recruits are the X-Box generation. They grew up on video games, and the
military has already found that all those thousands of hours used to play video games
developed skills that are quite useful in the military. UAV pilots may be required to have a
commercial, single engine, pilot license. (Source: Strategypage.com, 03/23/07)

Researchers hope to improve UAV coordination
ORLANDO, Fla. – Two researchers at the University of Central Florida are working to
enable small, unmanned aerial vehicles to operate together in an intelligent, coordinated
manner. The research is being conducted by professors Mubarak Shah and Niels da
Vitoria Lobo, who recently received a $210,600 grant from the Defense University
Research Instrumentation Program. The new UCF research aims to make the UAVs
smarter and better able to consolidate and analyze what their cameras are seeing.
Ultimately, flocks of spy planes could team up and pool their resources to yield a more
comprehensive picture of the action below. (Source: Orlando Sentinel, 03/22/07)

GAO wants review of Air Force tanker need
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A congressional investigative agency says the Air Force should be
made to analyze its passenger and cargo needs before including them in a $40 billion
program to replace aging aerial refueling tankers. The report was released Wednesday at
a House Armed Services subcommittee hearing. Northrop Grumman and EADS are
competing against Boeing Co. to build the tankers. The Northrop-EADS bid is with a larger
craft that has the passenger and cargo capability. The Boeing plane is smaller and
focused on refueling. Top Pentagon acquisitions official disagreed with GAO's conclusion.
(Source: Mobile Press-Register, 03/08/07)

AIRINC to be honored
FAIRHOPE, Ala. - AIRINC/Fokker Services is among the 2007 recipients of Governor’s
Trade Excellence Awards to be presented next week. AIRINC performs maintenance,
repair and overhaul work for airlines. AIRINC, founded in 1990, was acquired by Fokker
Services, a subsidiary of Netherlands-based Stork Aerospace, in July 2006. The company
has a 26,000-square-foot facility on U.S. 98 that employs about 65 people. The award is
part of the Export Alabama initiative, a partnership of the Alabama Development Office,
Gov. Bob Riley's office and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Traderoots program. This is
the second year for the awards. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 03/08/07)

First Global Hawk center fuselage leaving Moss Point
MOSS POINT, Miss. – The first Global Hawk center fuselage built at Northrop Grumman’s
new Unmanned Systems Center has been completed and now heads for the company’s
primary production facility in Palmdale, Calif. Tom Tomlinson, manager of the Antelope
Valley Manufacturing Center in Palmdale, was on hand Thursday for the ceremony
marking the completion of the fuselage at the 101,000 square foot center in Jackson
County. “I had some concerns,” Tomlinson admitted about the company’s decision to shift
some of the Global Hawk work to a new manufacturing center with an entirely new team of
workers. But he told workers to applaud themselves for the work they’ve done. Jerry
Madigan, Northrop Grumman vice president of the integrated product team, said the Moss
Point workers acted like they’d been together for 10 years. “You folks made it easy. It has
been top quality and on schedule.” George Freeland, executive director of the Jackson
County Economic Development Foundation, said the success of the new plant sends a
clear message to the aviation industry that Jackson County is a major player in
aerospace. The Unmanned Systems Center officially opened in April 2006. Its work
includes final assembly of the Fire Scout, a rotary wing UAV, and center fuselage
assembly of the fixed-wing Global Hawk. In recent months it also took on some
modification work with the Hunter UAV. (Source: Tcp, 03/01/07)


FEBRUARY 2007

Stennis Space Center impact totals $488 million
STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – NASA’s Stennis Space Center in 2006 had a direct
impact of $488 million within a 50-mile radius, according to results of a study released
Wednesday. The study was done by Mississippi State University economics professor Dr.
Charles Campbell. While post-Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts continue, the study
noted SSC maintained a stable direct impact on the global economy for two consecutive
years, totaling $691 million. SSC is home to NASA and more than 30 other resident
agencies. NASA and its contractors employ 1,973. The largest agency on-site is the
Department of Defense with 1,885 employees, including the Navy, Army and contractors.
Other resident agencies employ an additional 693, bringing the total SSC workforce to
4,551. The impact study was announced during a news conference in Jackson. (Source:
NASA, 02/28/07)

Airbus slates ceremony for aircraft center
MOBILE, Ala. – Airbus on Monday will unveil its new aircraft engineering center at the
Brookley Field Industrial Complex. The Airbus Engineering Center will open with 32
employees but is scheduled to expand to 150 over the next two years. Engineers at the
center will work on the A350 XWB, a widebody commercial jet.  The center could become
part of a much larger industrial site if EADS and its partner, Northrop Grumman Corp., are
successful in their bid to build a new fleet of aerial refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force.
They are competing against Boeing for the $40 billion contract. (Source: Mobile Press-
Register, 02/25/07)

Infinity site cleared
STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – Navy Seabees cleared 15 acres of land in Hancock
County that will become the home of NASA’s Infinity Science Center, an educational
extension of the 3,000 scientists and engineers at Stennis Space Center. Education
program director John Wilson said $12.5 million of the $35 million needed to build the
68,000-square-foot center has been raised. The state has given $6 million, NASA has
contributed $5 million and private donors $1.5 million. A feasibility study has estimated the
site will receive around 300,000 visitors a year. Wilson expects the center to open in
spring 2009. (Source: The Sun Herald, 02/17/07)

NASA works to create jobs
BATON ROUGE, La. – Louisiana and NASA officials committed Thursday to wide-ranging
discussions on ways to expand research and development at the agency’s Michoud
Assembly Facility in eastern New Orleans. The plant at the 832-acre Michoud site builds
external fuel tanks for the space shuttle, but that role ends in 2010. NASA announced in
April that Ares upper-stage rockets would be built at Michoud. The five-year memorandum
of understanding says Louisiana and NASA will work on new R&D initiatives at Michoud
that could lead to new investment, new jobs and the attraction of new technology
companies. (Source: AP, Baton Rouge Advocate, 02/16/07)

The remaking of Michoud
NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Michoud Assembly Facility, long a plant that focused on
assembling one spacecraft component with one contractor, is remaking itself to become a
central assembly facility for spacecraft for the next generation of space exploration. And
that could make New Orleans and the broader region a hotbed for space-related work.
This summer NASA will choose a company to build the rocket for the Orion Crew
Exploration Vehicle, a manned space capsule that will take astronauts to the moon and
perhaps on to Mars. The Ares I rocket will be assembled at Michoud. But NASA has
already determined that in addition to Ares I, all of the spacecraft in the Constellation
program will be assembled at Michoud. (Source: Times-Picayune, 02/11/07)

Northrop decides to compete for tanker
Northrop Grumman said Thursday it will submit a bid for the high-profile, $40 billion Air
Force refueling tanker contract. Northrop had indicated for several weeks that it would not
compete if the request for proposal focused more on price than capabilities, which it said
would favor rival Boeing in the competition to replace the KC-135. The Air Force altered
the final version of the RFP to make capability a factor, apparently a move that satisfied
Northrop. Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman formed a team with EADS North
America, the parent company to Airbus, to offer the A330. Chicago-based Boeing is
offering the 767. If Northrop wins the competition, the planes would be built in Mobile, Ala. (
Source: Multiple, 02/08/07)

EADS ramps up helicopter production
EADS North America Inc. is ramping up production of UH-72A light utility helicopters at its
plant in Columbus, Miss., to meet its delivery schedule for the U.S. Army EADS, a
subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., won a potential $2 billion
contract in June to supply up to 322 Lakota helicopters over time. Under the contract’s
initial phase, the Army has ordered 42 Lakotas to be delivered by late 2008, including 16
this year. The Army contract is important for EADS as the company works to expand its
share of the U.S. defense market. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 02/07/07)

Studies concerned about aerospace workforce
The aerospace and defense industry is not attracting nearly enough skilled workers,
particularly engineers, to replace those getting ready to retire, according to two workforce
studies done for Aviation Week & Space Technology by Bain & Co. and Deloitte
Consulting. That threatens to sap the industry’s vitality and could make it harder for the U.
S. military to maintain its technological edge over the long run. The problem is industry
wide, from scientists to pilots to maintenance, repair and overhaul technicians, but it’s
most acute in engineering. This study reinforces similar ones in the past that voiced the
same concern. (Source: Aviation Week & Space Technology, 02/05/07)

Bids submitted for cargo contract
Raytheon and EADS CASA North America Inc. submitted their final bid Tuesday for the
Joint Cargo Aircraft contract, while a rival team led by L-3 Communications, Alenia
Aeronautica and Boeing Co. turned in a bid Wednesday. The contract could reach $6
billion and include 145 planes to be delivered over the next 10 years. If Raytheon-
EADS wins it would build the C-295 cargo planes in a new plant at Mobile Regional
Airport. If the winner is the L-3 team, plans are to assemble the C-27J in a new plant in
Jacksonville, Fla. But some parts supply work would go to Crestview Aerospace Corp. in
Fairhope. L-3 acquired CAC last year. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 02/02/07)

Northrop-EADS venture to develop Euro Hawk
EuroHawk GmbH, a joint-venture company of Northrop Grumman and EADS, was awarded
a $559 million contract by the German Ministry of Defense to develop, test and support
the Euro Hawk unmanned signals intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance system.
With an endurance projected at up to 30 hours, the Euro Hawk unmanned aerial system
will serve as the German Air Force’s high altitude long endurance SIGINT system. The
Euro Hawk is a derivative of the U.S. Air Force RQ-4 Block 20 Global Hawk built by
Northrop Grumman, equipped with a new SIGINT mission system developed by EADS.
Delivery of the first demonstrator is scheduled for 2010, with the following four systems
scheduled tentatively between 2011 and 2014. The Euro Hawk system will replace the
aging fleet of Breguet Atlantic aircraft, which have been in service since 1972. The
Northrop Grumman Unmanned Systems Center at Moss Point will build portions of the
Euro Hawk fuselage. (Source: Northrop Grumman, 02/01/07)


JANUARY 2007

Tanker final terms released
The Air Force on Tuesday released final terms of the competition to build the next
generation of aerial refueling tankers. Northrop Grumman and Boeing, the two expected
competitors, said Tuesday they are still digesting the request for proposals. Northrop has
previously said it would not enter a bid if it feels the final terms favor the smaller plane
being offered by Boeing. The Northrop plane, a variation of the EADS-built Airbus, is also
capable of carrying cargo and Northrop wants that additional capability to be considered.
The Air Force said it modified the terms in order to promote competition, but whether it’s
enough to keep Northrop in the contest is unclear. The Air Force wants to replace its
aging fleet of about 530 KC-135 tankers. The Air Force has said the tanker is its top
acquisition priority. The initial order to be awarded late this year will replace 179 tankers
at a cost of up to $40 billion. If Northrop wins, the planes would be built in Mobile, Ala.
(Source: Multiple, 01/31/07)

Boeing officials eye Michoud
NEW ORLEANS, La. – Boeing officials are taking a close look at NASA’s Michoud facility
and talking to state officials in preparation for an upcoming contest with Lockheed Martin.
Lockheed Martin currently builds external launch tanks for the space shuttle, but that work
will be phased out in 2008. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., is the
administrator of a new program to build Ares upper-stage rockets that will return manned
missions to the moon and possibly extend them to Mars in the Constellation program that
will succeed the space shuttle. Much of that work will be at Michoud. NASA will seek bids in
a Feb. 23 request for proposals that will be due sometime in late spring. A winner will be
announced in August. Lockheed Martin also is bidding to continue work at Michoud and is
expected to be Boeing’s leading competition. The Lockheed Martin bid likely will include
Alliant Techsystems Thiokol and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne as partners. (Source:
Baton Rouge Advocate, 01/30/07)

Air Armament Center gets new leader
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – The Air Armament Center has a new leader. Brig. Gen.
David Eidsaune took the reins from Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Riemer. Eidsaune comes to Eglin
from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, where he was the commander of the Air
Force Security Assistance Center. Before that assignment, he served a year in Iraq as the
director of the Air Component Coordination Element for Multi-National Force-Iraq.
The Air Force Academy graduate is a command pilot with more than 2,600 flying hours,
primarily in the F-111, F-4, F-15 and F-16 aircraft. Riemer leaves Eglin for Washington D.
C.m where he will be the program executive officer for the F-22. (Source: EmeraldCoast.
com, 01/25/07)

Mississippi in running for Rolls-Royce site
Rolls-Royce is looking at Mississippi as one of several possible locations to expand its civil
aerospace, defense aerospace, marine and energy businesses. A company
spokeswoman said Rolls-Royce is looking for locations to build one or several
manufacturing and testing facilities to manage growth across all four sectors. The
company is also looking at seven other states: Georgia, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio,
South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. It has asked all to put together a business package
called a Request for Qualifications that the company will use to decide where it will place
its new facility. The package is due by the end of January. The Mississippi Development
Authority is working on the package that will include employee training and incentives,
based on what Rolls-Royce needs for its expansion, said MDA director Gray Swoope. A
Rolls-Royce news release said its power systems and services are used on land, at sea
and in the air. Rolls-Royce broke ground on a new jet engine testing facility at Stennis
Space Center in June 2006. It also owns a foundry in Pascagoula that manufactures Navy
and commercial ship propellers. (Source: The Sun Herald, 01/24/07)

Bug sized UAVs, robots on the way
If you feel something crawling on your neck, it might be a wasp or a bee. Or it might be
something more dangerous. Israel is developing a robot the size of a hornet to attack
terrorists. British Special Forces already use 6-inch micro air vehicle called WASPs for
reconnaissance in Afghanistan. The $3,000 WASP is operated with a Gameboy-style
controller and is nearly silent. A new development will reportedly see the WASP fitted with
a C4 explosive warhead for kamikaze attacks on snipers. Fred Davis, technical director of
the Assessment and Demonstrations Division of the Air Force Research Laboratory
Munitions Directorate at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, confirmed that the United States
has ambitious plans for future micro-munitions. They are designed to prevent the target
from carrying out its mission, rather than destroying it. A truck, for example, can be put
out of action by destroying its tires; a MAV can do this by squirting them with few milliliters
of a catalytic de-polymerization agent, causing them to disintegrate rapidly. Davis sees
future MAVs landing and hopping or crawling on the ground like insects, enabling them to
get inside buildings. Once inside, an entire command center can be disabled by targeting
the power supply. The tiny vehicle itself might be the warhead. “You can make the
structure of the craft out of reactive (explosive) material,” Davis says. Any unused fuel can
add to the blast, a technique already used in some surface-to-air missiles, and the
explosion would convert the rest of the MAV into lethal shrapnel. (Source: WIRED,
01/23/07)

Will Northrop Grumman stay in tanker competition?
The competition for the lucrative, multibillion-dollar Air Force contract to build the next
generation of aerial refueling tankers has boiled down to this: Will Los Angeles-based
Northrop Grumman bid on the project or decline because of what it perceives as a
stacked deck? The Air Force has indicated it will not change the request for proposals,
making it all but certain Chicago-based Boeing will be the only bidder. At the heart of the
matter is Northrop’s insistence that the RFP include a way to gauge the cost-versus-
capabilities of the two competing aircraft, the Boeing 767 and the Airbus KC-30. The
Boeing plane is smaller and less expensive, while the Airbus is also capable of carrying
cargo. If the Northrop team wins a piece of the project, the tankers will be built in Mobile,
Ala. That would be a boon to a large stretch of the Gulf Coast, which in recent years has
become a growing aerospace corridor. (Source: multiple, 01/20/07)

Airplane deal to bring 200 new jobs
MOBILE, Ala. – ST Mobile Aerospace Engineering Inc. signed a $470 million contract to
convert 87 passenger jets into air freighters for FedEx Corp., a deal expected to bring
200 jobs to Mobile. MAE, Mobile County's largest private employer, has about 1,200
workers at its aircraft maintenance and repair hub at the Brookley Field Industrial
Complex. The contract calls for MAE to convert 87 Boeing 757-200 passenger planes
over a seven-year period beginning in May. FedEx wants the new freighters to replace its
aging fleet of about 110 Boeing 727s, a twin-engine workhorse that first hit the skies in
1963. The Memphis-based courier is one of MAE's top customers for aircraft maintenance
work. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 01/19/07)

Northrop Grumman, UNO team up on composite structures
NEW ORLEANS, La. – Northrop Grumman has teamed up with the University of New
Orleans’ National Center for Advanced Manufacturing to develop and test new ways to
produce large composite structures for future space transportation systems. In late
December, the team took the first step in that collaboration by conducting a series of
composite processing trials at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The
trials centered on the use of a state-of-the-art automated fiber placement machine to
characterize and evaluate the relationships between the physical and mechanical
properties of laminates and various fiber placement and processing approaches. Large,
lightweight composite structures, estimated to be 10 to 25 percent lighter than
comparable aluminum structures, have potential application in several future elements of
NASA's Constellation program, including the Ares V Earth Departure Stage, other launch
vehicle components and the Lunar Surface Access Module. The lower mass will enable
larger payloads. (Source: Northrop Grumman, 01/16/07)

Eglin hopes to use land for industry, university technology park
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – The Air Force is ready to develop 100 acres near Eglin
Air Force Base and adding new industrial contractors and university research centers.
Military officials say the additions would help secure the future of local bases, because of
additional military research and development. The Air Force would like to see this land
between Fort Walton Beach and the main gate at Eglin transformed into a large research
and education center. Base leaders think it would strengthen the mission at Eglin. The
base would also benefit from the leasing of the land to contractors and universities. The
only development currently on the property is the University of Florida’s research
engineering facility. The Air Force envisions a research park with military contractors and
university researchers, all working on advancing military technologies. Larry Sassano,
Economic Development Council president, says the park has the potential to attract high-
tech companies and university researchers who would work with Eglin Air Force Base,
which develops conventional weapons for the Air Force. Military officials say they hope to
have contracts in place by August, with construction starting soon after. (Source: WEAR-
TV, 01/11/07)

New identification system tested
NASHUA, N.H. – BAE Systems has successfully demonstrated a passive geo-location
capability that enables aircraft to quickly and accurately identify enemy positions in
crowded radio frequency environments. The equipment can be deployed on any type of
military aircraft. The new capability, demonstrated at the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center
Weapons Division, China Lake, Calif., enables aircraft to calculate geo-location with any
radio frequency signal. The Department of Defense's Joint Strike Fighter program office
supported the flight testing, which was accomplished with a single T-39 aircraft and a
ground station performing as a "virtual" aircraft. The demonstration follows BAE Systems'
demonstration, in November 2004, of how a single aircraft can passively detect and locate
threat radars. The flights were conducted at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., using an F-15
fighter. (Source: Military & Aerospace Electronics, 01/05/07)