Contract: HX5, $7.3M

HX5 LLC, Fort Walton Beach, Fla., was awarded a $7,328,152 modification (P00019) to contract W9133L-11-C-0033 for a six-month extension providing for the entire spectrum of mission planning support for 98 Army National Guard flying units. The contractor is responsible for keeping mission planning software up to date, keeping threat warning date up to date, maintaining airspace and de-confliction data up to date, as well as a myriad of other services vital to real-world and training missions. The contract provides staff who are skilled in flight operations and intelligence information systems. These personnel require skill sets that not only support information technology systems, but must also possess experience in the management of flight operations. Work will be performed in Arlington, Va.,, with an estimated completion date of April 30, 2017. Army National Guard Bureau, Arlington, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 10/31/16)

Contract: Northrop, $10.4M

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., San Diego, Calif., is being issued a $10,362,211 modification (P00001) to a previously awarded fixed-price-incentive-firm target contract (N00019-16-C-0055) for production of one MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned air system. Work will be performed in San Diego (33 percent); Ozark, Ala. (27 percent); Fort Worth, Texas (18 percent); Moss Point, Miss. (16 percent); and various locations within the U.S. (6 percent), and is expected to be completed in August 2019. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 10/28/16)

Hangar construction begins Monday

PENSACOLA, Fla. – About 100 invited guests were on hand Friday for the groundbreaking of the VT MAE maintenance, repair and overhaul hangar at Pensacola International Airport. Construction of the four-acre building will begin Monday and is scheduled to be finished by February 2018. Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward said the project was five years in the making. While he admitted being an impatient man, he said he's learned that some things are worth the wait. The hangar will be larger than the Pensacola airport terminal. VT Mobile Aerospace Engineering is part of ST Engineering of Singapore. VT MAE, which has more than 1,000 workers at its MRO in Mobile, Ala., will have about 400 workers in Pensacola. (Source: GCAC, 10/28/16)

Job fair set for Friday

PENSACOLA, Fla. - Sixty companies will be on hand to take applications from job-seekers Friday at the 8th annual CareerSource Escarosa job fair at Pensacola State College's Jean and Paul Amos Performance Studio, Building 23, at 1000 College Blvd. Among the companies are VT Mobile Aerospace Engineering, Eastridge Workforce Solutions, and Navy Federal Credit Union. EWS is hiring people to build solar energy farms that are part of a partnership between regional military bases and Gulf Power. The job fair is from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Source: WEAR-TV 10/26/16)

VT MAE breaking ground

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Ground will be broken Friday for a new VT Mobile Aerospace Engineering maintenance, repair and overhaul hangar at Pensacola International Airport. The invitation-only event will be at 11 a.m. Singapore-owned VT MAE will eventually employ 300 to 500 workers at the Pensacola operation. The $46 million project allows the company, which has had an more than 1,000-employee operation in Mobile, Ala., since 1991, to expand into Pensacola with what has been called a “ninth hangar.” (Source: GCAC, 10/27/16) Previous; related story about VT MAE's Mobile operation in October issue of the Gulf Coast Aerospace Corridor Newsletter, page 7

Thales joins Mobile Aeroplex

MOBILE, Ala. – Thales has joined the aerospace companies that have set up operations at the Mobile Aeroplex, according to a news release from the Mobile Airport Authority. Thales, of France, is involved in avionics, in-flight entertainment, aircraft connectivity and aircraft electrical systems. “Our relationship with Thales spans more than a decade and when it requested a flexible and scalable location to meet their current business case needs, we were more than happy to get to work,” said Roger Wehner, executive director of the Mobile Airport Authority. (Source: MAA, 10/26/16) The Aeroplex is also the location of the Airbus A320 series manufacturing facility and a dozen other aircraft-related operations.

Contract: PAE, $14.9M

PAE Aviation and Technical Services LLC, Marlton, N.J., was awarded a $14,938,540 modification (P00014) to previously awarded contract FA4890-15-C-0018. Contractor will provide maintenance of aerial targets, and operations and maintenance of range instrumentation systems at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla.; and maintenance of full-scale aerial targets at Holloman AFB, N.M., for Air Combat Command Acquisition Management and Integration Center contracting and program management oversight. This includes functional and quality assurance support for the Aerial Targets Program, which directly supports live-fire weapons system testing and enables the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group in the developmental and operational weapons testing for all air-to-air missiles and for the F-22, F-35, F-16, and F-15 aircraft. Work will be performed at Tyndall and Holloman and is expected to be complete by Sept. 30, 2017. Headquarters Air Combat Command, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., is the contracting activity. (Awarded on Oct. 6, 2016). (Source: DoD, 10/25/16)

U.S.-built Delta painted

Delta jetliner leaves paint shop in Alabama.
Airbus photo

MOBILE, Ala. – The first U.S.-built Delta Air Lines Airbus A321 has been painted with the company’s colors and has left the paint shop at the Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility in Mobile. It will soon enter the flight test phase. The jetliner is the 15th A321 to be produced by Airbus in Mobile since the start of operations in July 2015. Twelve aircraft have been delivered to customers thus far. MAAS Aviation completed the painting in its facility located on the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley within the Airbus manufacturing facility campus. (Source: Airbus, 10/25/16)

Meridian picked for T-100 assembly

MERIDIAN, Miss. – Raytheon said Monday that the final assembly facility for the T-100 training system will be in Mississippi if the company wins the Air Force’s T-X competition. The trainer, a modified Aermacchi M-346, is powered by two Honeywell F124 engines. The 130-acre site near the Meridian airport will employ about 450 workers. Raytheon has manufactured products in Mississippi for more than three decades. The company makes Active Electronically Scanned Array radars at its facility in the city of Forest. Leonardo-Finmeccanica, CAE USA and Honeywell Aerospace have partnered with Raytheon to offer the T-100. At least 70 percent of the T-100 training system, including ground-based systems, will be built in the United States while structural assembly will be in Italy. Also competing for the contract are Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman. (Sources: Multiple, including Raytheon, Defense News, Jackson Clarion-Ledger, Meridian Star, 10/24/16) Meridian is east of Jackson, about 140 miles from Gulfport, Miss.

Contract: Multiple, $50M

G&RK Consulting Associates LLC, Littleton, Colo. (W912EP-17-D-0001); Energy and Environment LLC, Fort Walton Beach, Fla. (W912EP-17-D-0002); FPM Remediations Inc, Oneida, N.Y. (W912EP-17-D-0003); and Trihydro Corp., Laramie, Wy. (W912EP-17-D-0004) were awarded a $ 50,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for environmental remediation services for the Army Corps of Engineers, South Atlantic Division. Bids were solicited on the internet with 16 received, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 18, 2021. Funding and work locations will be determined with each order. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 10/21/16)

Contract: DynCorp Int, $63.3M

DynCorp International, Fort Worth, Texas, has been awarded a $63,332,000 firm-fixed-price modification (P00065) to previously awarded contract FA8617-12-C-6208 for continued contractor operated and maintained base supply support. Work will be performed at Columbus Air Force Base, Ga.; Laughlin Air Force Base, Randolph Air Force Base and Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas; Vance Air Force Base, Okla.; Naval Air Stations Pensacola and Whiting Field, Fla.; Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md.; and Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas. Work is expected to be completed by April 30, 2017. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 10/21/16)

Contract: IMIA, $21.5M

International Marine and Industrial Applicators LLC, Spanish Fort, Ala., is being awarded a $21,463,020 firm-fixed-price contract for the accomplishment of preservation and non-submarine safety structural repairs and maintenance on USS Maine (SSBN 741). This contract will provide preservation; hull and structural repair; anode removal, repair and replacement; lead bin repair and fabrication; de-ballasting and re-ballasting; and safety track repair requirements. Work will be performed in Bremerton, Wash., and expected to be completed by December 2017. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with two offers received. The Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Bremerton, is the contracting activity (N4523A-17-C-0001). (Source: DoD, 10/21/16)

Contract: SURVICE, $15.2M

SURVICE Engineering Co., Belcamp, Md., has been awarded an $15,227,012 cost-plus-fixed-fee with a performance incentive modification (P0004) to previously awarded contract FA2486-16-C-0051 for SEEK EAGLE program modeling, analysis, and tools support. SEEK EAGLE program is the Air Force standard process for aircraft stores certification, and designated the AF SEEK EAGLE office as the cognizant engineering agency. Work will be performed at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and is expected to be complete by Oct. 22, 2017. Fiscal 2017 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $7,235,767 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Test Center, Eglin Air Force Base, is the contracting activity (FA2486-16-C-0051). (Source: DoD 10/18/16)

Contract: Lockheed, $20.4M

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, has been awarded a $20,444,111 modification (P00771) to previously awarded contract FA8611-08-C-2897. The contractor will provide touch labor & installs at the Ogden Depot as well as at F-22 operational bases. Work will be performed at Hill Air Force Base, Utah; Langley Air Force Base, Va.; Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.; Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla.; Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska; and Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii and is expected to be complete by Dec. 31, 2016. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 10/20/16)

36th AES now at Keesler

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- The 36th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron moved from Pope Army Airfield, N.C., to Keesler Oct. 15 to become part of the Air Force Reserve's 403rd Wing. The move allows the unit to have access to the 403rd's training missions and 20 C-130Js. The 36th AES currently has 30 personnel, but is scheduled to have 40 officers and 83 enlisted personnel. The day before the redesignation ceremony, the 36th AES it took part in a training mission with the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron at Keesler. (Sources: 403rd Wing Public Affairs, 10/18/16)

Contract: Lockheed, $743.2M

Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $743,169,377 fixed-price-incentive, firm target and cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to the previously awarded low-rate initial production Lot 9 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter advance acquisition contract (N00019-14-C-0002). This modification provides additional funding and will establish not-to-exceed (NTE) prices for diminishing manufacturing and material shortages redesign and development, estimated post production concurrency changes and country unique requirements. In addition, this modification will establish NTE prices for one F-35A aircraft and one F-35B aircraft for a non-U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) participant in the F-35 program. Work will be performed in Fort Worth (30 percent); El Segundo, Calif. (25 percent); Warton, United Kingdom (20 percent); Orlando, Fla. (10 percent); Nashua, N.H. (5 percent); Nagoya, Japan (5 percent); and Baltimore, Md. (5 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2019. This modification combines purchases for the Air Force $207,389,821 (27.9 percent), Navy $85,533,666 (11.5 percent), and Marine Corps $91,923,008 (12.4 percent), non-U.S. DoD participants $332,940,791 (44.8 percent); and Foreign Military Sales $25,382,091 (3.4 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 10/17/16) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 integrated training center.

Potential for MQ-8C cracks explored

The Navy awarded Bell Helicopter a $3.3 million contract to look into the potential for future flight strain, fatigue, and tail boom might cracking on the Northrop Grumman MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned aircraft system. The concern is whether those issues might arise because the Naval Air Systems Command is flying the MQ-8C at higher weights and altitudes than those for the civilian version of the Bell 407, the airframe on which the MQ-8C is based. (Source: IHS Janes 360, 10/07/16) Gulf Coast note: Final assembly of the MQ-8C is done in Moss Point, Miss.

Carlisle buys Star Aviation

MOBILE, Ala. – Star Aviation, a design and engineering company that specializes in in-flight entertainment systems, has been acquired by Carlisle Companies Inc. A Carlisle executive said Star will add "significant engineering resources and technology" to Carlisle's portfolio. Based in Scottsdale, Ariz., Carlisle designs, manufactures and markets a range of products to a range of niche markets, according to the company’s website. That includes commercial roofing, agriculture and mining to aerospace and defense electronics. Star, founded in 1999, anticipates continued growth in Mobile. It also has an operation in Seattle. (Source: al.com, 10/06/16)

Latest newsletter available

The October issue of the Gulf Coast Reporters' League Aerospace Newsletter is now available. There's a story about the upcoming Aerospace Alliance Summit in Gulfport, Miss., and a story about areas that are attractive to aerospace manufacturers. There are also stories about NASA's unique camera that captures detail never before seen, and about new collaborative opportunities at the Mobile Aeroplex. (Source: GCRL, 10/04/16)

Contract: COLSA, $44.9M

The COLSA Corp., Huntsville, Ala., has been awarded a $44,888,533 modification (P00005) to exercise the option on previously awarded contract FA2486-16-F-0031 for technical and management advisory services including command, control, communications, computer, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR); and cyber support. Contractor will provide additional research, development, test and evaluation; and acquisition support services being provided under the basic task order. Work will be performed at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.; Hanscom AFB, Mass.; Gunter Annex, Ala.; Patrick AFB, Fla.; Edwards AFB, Calif.: and San Antonio, Texas, and is expected to be complete by Sept. 30, 2017. Air Force Test Center, Eglin AFB, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 10/03/16)

Contract: Bevilacqua, $25.9M

Bevilacqua Research Corp., Huntsville, Ala., has been awarded a $25,876,919 modification (P00006) to exercise an option on previously awarded contract FA2486-16-F-0033 for technical and management advisory services. Contractor will provide additional diverse research, development, test and evaluation, and acquisition support services. Work will be performed at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.; Hurlburt Field, Fla.; Nellis AFB, Nev.; Joint Base Lewis McChord, Washington; and Edwards AFB, Calif., and is expected to be complete by Sept. 30, 2017. Air Force Test Center, Eglin AFB, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 10/03/16)

Contract: QuantiTech, $25.7M

QuantiTech Inc., Huntsville, Ala., has been awarded a $25,716,024 modification (P00008) to exercise an option on previously awarded contract FA2486-16-F-0034 for technical and management advisory services for range support. Contractor will provide additional research, development, test and evaluation, and acquisition support services being provided under the basic task order. Work will be performed at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.; Arnold AFB, Tenn., Hickam AFB, Hawaii, Holloman AFB, N.M.; and Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, and is expected to be complete by Sept. 30, 2017. Air Force Test Center, Eglin AFB, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 10/03/16)

Contract: Torch, $24.3M

The Torch Technologies Inc., Huntsville, Ala., has been awarded a $24,323,545 modification (P00006) to exercise an option on previously awarded contract FA2486-16-F-0030 for technical and management advisory services for armament support. Contractor will provide diverse research, development, technical, test and evaluation, and acquisition support services being provided under the basic contract. Work will be performed at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.; and Kirkland AFB, N.M., and is expected to be complete by Sept. 30, 2017. Air Force Test Center, Eglin AFB, is the contracting activity (FA2486-16-F-0030). (Source: DoD, 10/03/16)

Contract: M1, $10.5M

M1 Support Services, Denton, Texas, has been awarded a $10,498,529 modification (A00015) to exercise an option on previously awarded contract FA3002-15-C-0006 for ground instructional training aircraft, historical static display aircraft, trainers, support equipment, aerospace ground equipment, and munitions trainer maintenance services. Work will be performed at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas; and Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., and is expected to be complete by Sept. 30, 2017. The 82d Contracting Squadron, Sheppard AFB, Texas, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 10/03/16)