Aerospace in Alabama

Alabama’s automotive industry may have captured the world’s attention, but aerospace is gaining rapidly.

By a stunning 2-to-1 margin, the aerospace industry eclipsed overall job growth in Alabama from 2002-2008, according to a June 2010 study by the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Meanwhile, the payroll impact of aerospace grew 37 percent during the same period.

Alabama enjoys a who’s who list of marquee aerospace giants: European Aeronautic Defence and Space (EADS), Sikorsky, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, Teledyne Brown, Pratt and Whitney and Raytheon.

Mobile could claim instant international fame in the wake of EADS North America choosing the port city to build the $40 billion KC-45 mid-air refueling tanker jet project under consideration by the U.S. Air Force.

For decades the north Alabama city of Huntsville has been a juggernaut, with 44,000 currently employed in aerospace/defense. Huntsville’s Redstone Arsenal, a major missile defense center in its own right, is home to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, developer of propulsion systems for the Saturn moon program, the Space Shuttle and the next generation of Orion manned spacecraft.

Since the Wright brothers started the nation’s first civilian flying school in Montgomery in 1910, Alabama has continued to blossom as an international aerospace/defense/aviation mecca.

Fast Facts

  • 280 aerospace and defense-related industries called Alabama home in 2008, providing 157,000 direct and indirect jobs.
  • The aerospace industry accounted for 8 percent of the state’s non-farm payroll to the tune of $8 billion in 2008.
  • Exports of aerospace equipment and parts passed the $530 million mark in 2009.
  • Alabama had more than $9 billion in Defense Department prime contracts in 2008.
  • Marshall Space Flight Center’s 2008 budget was $2.6 billion, generating a statewide economic impact of $1 billion.

Space

This sector revolves around Huntsville, providing supply and ancillary services to Redstone Arsenal and the Marshall Space Flight Center. In nearby Decatur, the joint United Launch Alliance of Boeing and Lockheed Martin builds the Atlas V, Delta II and Delta IV rocket launch vehicles.

Aviation

Alabama – with Mobile’s Brookley Industrial Complex leading the way – is fast becoming a hub for all sectors of commercial and military aviation.

One of Mobile’s largest employers (1,300) is ST Aerospace, converting commercial jets to freighters and performing scheduled maintenance for all makes of commercial airliners. The Airbus Americas engineering and design facility added 90 engineers in June 2010 to the 160 already working on interiors of the A350 XWB, the next generation of Airbus commercial airliners.

Teledyne Continental Motors employs 400 in designing and manufacturing new and rebuilt piston engines, ignition systems and other components for general aviation planes.

All three companies are at located at Brookley, a 1,700-acre industrial complex with two runways (9,600 feet and 7,800 feet);  3 miles from the deep-water port of Mobile; adjacent to Interstate 10; and a five-minute drive from downtown Mobile. It is here EADS North America, pending Air Force approval, will build the KC-45 mid-air refueling tanker.

Lockheed Martin manufactures, assembles and tests many of its missile programs on a 3,800-acre facility near the southeast Alabama town of Troy in Pike County. The facility has 340,000 square feet of manufacturing capability and employs 224, supporting multiple production and engineering development for the Hellfire II Missile, Javelin, Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor missile.
The facility previously assembled the Longbow, PAC-2, AGM-142, Predator, and Short Range Assault Weapon (SRAW) missiles.

Other aviation superlatives:

  • Montgomery is headquarters for Kelly Aerospace, a supplier to OEM and aftermarket general aviation customers. Kelly makes new and refurbished engine accessories and cabin heating products and provides piston engine fuel system overhaul services.
  • Sikorsky Aircraft Manufacturing employs 690 to make the Naval Seahawk Helicopter in the southeast Alabama town of Troy.
  • The U.S. Helicopter division of Bell Aerospace Services operates a large facility in Dale County to serve Fort Rucker, home of U.S. Army Aviation.
  • Vector Aerospace repairs Bell and Eurocopter helicopters for civil, corporate and military customers in the south Alabama town of Andalusia.

Major Government Facilities

Redstone Arsenal

Built during World War II to make chemical ammunition – has been the epicenter of the Army’s rocket and missile programs. Dr. Werner von Braun and his German rocket experts developed the first ballistic missile at Redstone, setting the stage for creation of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. Today, Redstone’s 37,000 acres is home to the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM), the Space and Missile Defense Command, numerous Program Executive Offices (PEO), and major components of the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Missile Defense Agency. Numerous tenant and satellite organizations populate the Arsenal.

NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center

Headquartered on 1,800 acres at Redstone Arsenal, Marshall employs 8,600 (2,600 civil service and 6,000 contract) with an annual budget of $2.6 billion. Marshall houses: the Space Shuttle Propulsion Office; Payload Operations Center for the International Space Station; Propulsion Research Laboratory; Space Optics Manufacturing Technology Center; Chandra X-Ray Observatory; and the Engineering Directorate, overseeing R&D for all Marshall engineering functions. The U.S. Space and Rocket Center, drawing more than 300,000 visitors annually, is also located at Marshall.

Maxwell Air Force Base

Located in Montgomery, Maxwell Air Force Base and its Gunter Annex employ more than 11,500 military and civilian personnel with an estimated economic impact of more than $1.5 billion. Maxwell is home to Air University, the intellectual and leadership center of the Air Force. Gunter houses support for Air Force computer systems.

National Space Science and Technology Center (NSSTC)

The Huntsville-based NSSTC is a partnership between the Marshall Space Flight Center, the Alabama Space Science and Technology Alliance, a consortium of Alabama research universities. The laboratory is for cutting-edge research in Earth and space science, optic, IT, and advanced propulsion technologies.

Call us at 1-800-718-2726 or send us an e-mail today to start learn more about amazing Alabama.