6th EDITION GULF COAST AEROSPACE CORRIDOR 2017-2018 June 2017 gulfcoastaerospacecorridor.com Gulf Coast Aerospace Corridor 2017-2018 – 1 Researched, written and prepared by the Gulf Coast Reporters’ League, an independent team of current and former journalists. Support for this project was provided by our underwriters. Findings detailed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect views of the organizations or agencies that appear in this publication or provide support. This book is available as a free PDF download. Printed versions (color or black-and-white) are available from Lulu.com, a print-on-demand service. All rights reserved. Cover photos, from top left: MQ-4C Fire Scout unmanned helicopter (Northrop Grumman); Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility (Gulf Coast Reporters’ League); F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (U.S. Air Force); Space Launch System (NASA illustration) Version 06/06/2017 Copyright © 2017-2018 by Tortorano Commissioned Publications/Gulf Coast Reporters’ League Gulf Coast Aerospace Corridor 2017-2018 – 2 Acknowledgements Support for the research and compilation of this report was provided by the following organizations (alphabetical order): Aerospace Alliance Airbus Bay Economic Development Alliance Economic Development Council of Okaloosa County Florida’s Great Northwest FloridaWest Gulf Power Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission Mississippi Enterprise for Technology Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce PowerSouth Santa Rosa County Economic Development Walton County Economic Development Alliance Gulf Coast Aerospace Corridor 2017-2018 – 3 About us The Gulf Coast Reporters’ League was established in 2011 by four current and former journalists to provide research on aerospace activities along the Gulf Coast Interstate 10 region. First published in June 2011, the 2017 edition provides information from this ongoing research. Information on the region’s aerospace activities is tracked throughout the year by the Gulf Coast Aerospace Corridor news digest (www.gcacnews.blogspot.com). League founders David Tortorano , owner of Tortorano Commissioned Publications of Gulf Breeze, Fla., has 40 years of newspaper experience. In the Gulf Coast he’s worked for UPI , the Pensacola News Journal , Northwest Florida Daily News , Mobile Press-Register and Sun Herald , where he was part of the team that won a Pulitzer Gold Medal for Public Service in 2006. Individual awards include a 1992 first- place for in-depth reporting from the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. Duwayne Escobedo , a freelance journalist, has worked nearly two dozen years as an editor, investigative reporter and columnist. His experience includes covering Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., and a range of news, business and feature stories in Northwest Florida. His work has appeared in the New York Times , Associated Press , Bloomberg and Time magazine. He won the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors award for Investigative Reporting in 1997. Tom McLaughlin covers courts and politics and is an investigative reporter for the Northwest Florida Daily News . He’s an award winning reporter with 30 years of newspaper experience in the Southeast. He won the national Best of Freedom Award and Florida's Gold Medal for Public Service award, along with three investigative reporting awards and awards for court reporting, beat reporting, explanatory writing, deadline reporting and column writing. George Talbot , former political editor of the Press-Register in Mobile, Ala., is an award-winning reporter/columnist with more than 18 years experience on daily newspapers. His coverage of the tanker competition received national recognition and multiple first-place awards, including the Alabama Press Association and the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. He’s communications chief for the mayor of Mobile on hiatus from the League. Gulf Coast Aerospace Corridor 2017-2018 – 4 Contents Executive summary 7 For corridor, the beat goes on A steady stream of new projects and expansions indicate the region has the elements that make it attractive to aerospace and aviation activities Chapter I: Aerospace products 14 Jetliners add to production mix Jetliners, drones, propulsion systems from rockets to small engines, satellites, aerial weapons and more are made, tested or managed in the region Chapter II: Space activities 33 The dawning space economy The new space economy is growing, and the region, long a site for NASA, is now attracting new players that hope to cash in on the space frontier Chapter III: Military aviation 44 A bastion of military aviation The military, particularly aviation, has a major impact on the region through the dollars they bring in, their wealth of talent and the education they provide Chapter IV: R&D/innovation 54 Innovation centers on the rise R&D played a role in creating the nation’s high-tech hot spots, and the Gulf Coast has more innovators than some might think Chapter V: Education pipeline 69 Filling the aviation pipeline Educators across the region have heard the call and are gearing up to help fill the expected need for workers in aerospace and aviation Chapter VI: Aerospace/tech parks 79 When birds of a feather... Aviation and tech parks are talent magnets for the region, providing the infrastructure for multiple technology clusters Library/research 89 Previous book chapters, sidebars, newsletters and articles Gulf Coast Aerospace Corridor 2017-2018 – 5 Tables/information boxes/lists • U.S. aerospace industry, p7 • Aviation bases replacement values 2015, p51 • Aerospace activities at a glance, p8 • Outlying fields replacement values 2015, p52 • Chapter I highlights, p15 • Chapter IV highlights, p55 • Advanced manufacturing, p27 • Innovative muscle, p57 • 3D growth trajectory, p28 • Tech transfer glossary, p67 • The Fablabs, p30 • Chapter V highlights, p70 • Eglin weapon systems list, pp31-32 • Nations STEM problem, p73 • Chapter II highlights, p34 • Mississippi aero academy, p75 • Launch sites, p37 • Chapter VI highlights, p80 • NASA rocket test facilities, p41 • The rise of technology parks, p81 • Chapter III highlights, p45 • Certification programs seeking advantage, p82 • The aviation seed planted, p45 • Florida First Sites, p83 • Military activities at a glance, p46 • County at heart of the cluster, p85 • Defense contracts, p50 • Project Ready sites, p87 Photos/maps/illustrations • Gulf Coast I-10 region, p7 • SLS core stage, p42 • Gulf Coast I-10 cities, p9 • Phased array radar, p43 • Airbus A321, p14 • F-35, p44 • Fire Scout, p16 • Boeing Model C, p45 • Global Haw, p16 • F-35 refueling, p47 • Safari 500, p17 • AC-130, p47 • Orion, p17 • Keesler Hurricane Hunter, p48 • SLS core stage, p18 • Whiting training helicopters, p48 • Dream Chaser, p18 • HC-144 simulator, p49 • SBIRS core satellite, p19 • Fort Rucker helicopters, p49 • RS-25, p20 • Stennis Space Center riverine training, 51 • CZMIL lidar, p20 • CV-22, p53 • L3 Crestview, p21 • Aviation bases/activities, p53 • UTC Foley, p21 • IHMC’s Running Man, 54 • Avalex display, p22 • Planar Elliptical Runner, p55 • Three photos Airbus manufacturing, p23 • Mina v2, p56 • Three photos Airbus manufacturing, p24 • AFRL/RW control room, p58 • Three photos Airbus manufacturing, p25 • NVision touch screen, p59 • A321 post flight, p26 • Two robots, p61 • Juno at Jupiter, p27 • A2IRc (three), pp63-64 • 3D-made maintenance port cover, p28 • Proposed unmanned systems center (two), p65 • 3D-made fuel nozzle, p29 • Aviation Training Center, p69 • F-16 bomb drop, p31 • Pensacola State College, p71 • Space Launch System on launch pad, p33 • National Flight Academy, p78 • SLS core stage shipped by barge, p35 • Helicopters in hangar, p79 • SpaceX Falcon 9 launch, p36 • Bob Sikes Airport sign, p82 • Orion, p38 • Okaloosa Industrial Park, p83 • AR1 test, p39 • Pensacola Airport sign, p84 • B-2 test stand, p40 • Northwest Florida Beaches Airport sign, p86 • RS-25, p41 Gulf Coast Aerospace Corridor 2017-2018 – 6 Executive summary Alabama Florida Mississippi Louisiana GCAC illustration, Google Earth map For corridor, the beat goes on he announcement in May 2017 was U.S. aerospace & defense industry important enough that the governor of Mississippi, Phil Bryant, was given Sales (2015) $604.7 billion the honor. Work force (2015) 1,700,000 T It was at a lunch in South Mississippi that the Source: Aerospace Industries Association , The State of governor told attendees that the Northrop the U.S. Aerospace & Defense Industry, December 2016 Grumman Unmanned Systems Center in Moss Point, opened in 2006, would expand and work company GKN Aerospace said it would open a not only on the Fire Scout and Global Hawk manufacturing center in Panama City, Fla. unmanned systems, but add other work, in- And the beat goes on. cluding subsystems for the F-35. The announcement followed just days after In the two years since the last Gulf Coast Aerojet Rocketdyne said it would assemble and Aerospace Corridor book was last published, test at Stennis Space Center, Miss., two AR-22 new announcements and expansions have in- engines for the reusable DARPA/Boeing XS-1 creased the aerospace and aviation footprint hypersonic spacecraft. along the Gulf Coast Interstate 10 corridor. Those announcements came two months Since the last book, Mobile began producing after Continental Motors said it was expanding A320 series jetliners and continued to attract its operation in Mobile, Ala., into a larger build- suppliers to the Mobile Aeroplex, including ing, and three months after aviation supply Messier-Bugatti-Dowty,