Defense

The New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology has opened an electronics testing facility in Socorro, N.M. The MicroElectronics Testing, Technology & Obsolescence Program (METTOP) has now completed and occupied its 6,500-sf laboratory. Funded by $8.5 million in federal appropriations, the laboratory provides space for determining how much radiation the electronics used in military and space applications can withstand. The program also involves testing and consultation for electronic component obsolescence.

Broomfield-based Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. is planning to expand with 105,000 sf in new construction located adjacent to its existing facility in Boulder, Colo. Designed by RNL of Denver, the facility will include cleanrooms, testing facilities, and office space.  

The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Washington has awarded Skanska USA Building a design/build contract for the new Naval Network and Space Operations Command Center at the Dahlgren Naval Surface Warfare Center in Virginia. The construction value is $17 million. The project will include a new 75,000-sf building that will be linked to the existing Building 1700. Also included are 15,000 sf of renovations, site improvements, and a 550-space parking lot.

The Vinnell Corp., a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman, is relocating from 12,000 sf in Baltimore City to over 110,000 sf at the Troy Hill Commerce Center in Elkridge, Md. The Vinnell Corp specializes in logistics and military training and will increase employee count with the move from 15 to 60 to accommodate a $48-million contract to train the core of a new Iraqi army. Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman currently occupies 283,000 sf in the 1.16 million-sf Troy Hill Commerce Center. The park developer is Manekin.

Lockheed Martin will reoccupy a 136,000-sf building in Valley Forge, Pa., that the defense contractor vacated in 2002. The three-story office and laboratory facility will accommodate 300 employees engaged in the development of complex military, defense, and intelligence systems including surveillance, reconnaissance, combat support, and national security assistance.

Defense contractor Northrop Grumman Information Technology has leased 166,477 sf in Independence Center in Chantilly, Va. Northrop Grumman is the lead tenant in the 275,000-sf Westfields Corporate Center facility, which was built for Alcatel in 1999. 

The Boeing Co. will open its new 100,000-sf virtual war simulation center in St. Louis in 2004. The $20 million facility will enable customers to experience how different programs work together, a process that could create more integrated systems business for Boeing. The center will employ 75 workers when it opens, with plans to grow to 150 employees within three or four years.

General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products is relocating its headquarters and light manufacturing operations from Burlington, Vt. to Charlotte, N.C. The $30-million relocation project will create 405 jobs and will enable the company to be operational at the new site by fall of 2004. General Dynamics Armament, a unit of General Dynamics Corp., designs, develops, and manufactures aerospace and defense products. 

Titan, a San Diego-based defense contractor, has selected Hitt Contracting to build out its 280,000-sf lease at Two Freedom Square in Reston, Va. Designed by architect DBI, the project will begin construction at the end of the third quarter of 2003. Occupancy is slated for early 2004.

The Missile Defense Agency, formerly known as Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, will relocate from the Arlington Naval Annex into a 144,000-sf Bailey's Crossroads office building in Falls Church, Va.

The Brooks City-Base conversion project in San Antonio is progressing with the lease of over 26,000-sf by Earth Tech, a global provider of environmental services as well as engineering, architectural, construction, and infrastructure development. Earth Tech, a subsidiary of Tyco International Ltd., will occupy the building that formerly housed the Base Exchange in September of 2003. Earth Tech was recently selected by the Environmental Protection Agency to handle environmental response and remediation work for Region 6, which covers Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas.

Defense contractor BAE Systems will occupy a 161,000-sf facility at Arboretum II in Reston, Va.