Fifth controller tested at SSC

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- NASA engineers closed a summer of successful hot fire testing today for flight controllers on RS-25 engines that will help power the new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket being built to carry astronauts to deep-space destinations, including Mars. The space agency capped off summer testing with a 500-second hot fire of a fifth RS-25 engine flight controller unit on the A-1 Test Stand. The controller serves as the “brain” of the engine, communicating with SLS flight computers to ensure engines are performing at needed levels. NASA tested the first flight controller unit in March. The flight controller tests are critical preparation for upcoming SLS flights to deep space– the uncrewed Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), which will serve as the first flight for the new rocket carrying an uncrewed Orion spacecraft, and EM-2, which will transport a crew of astronauts aboard Orion. (Source: NASA, 08/30/17) Previous

2nd AF gets new commander

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. - Maj. Gen. Timothy Leahy took command of the 2nd Air Force during a change of command ceremony Aug. 23 at Keesler. The 2nd Air Force provides training for more than 265 Air Force specialties for 150,000 Defense Department and international student graduates per year. Leahy will be responsible for the development, oversight and direction of all operational aspects of basic military training, initial skills training, and advanced technical training of all enlisted members and support officers. Leahy comes to the Mississippi Gulf Coast from duty as commander of the LeMay Center for Doctrine Development and Education and vice commander of Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala. (Source: 81st Training Wing 08/24/17)

Spirit gets Mobile-built A320

MOBILE, Ala. – Spirit Airlines took delivery Friday of the first A320 built in the United States. It was the 37th Airbus jetliner built at the Airbus assembly line, but all previous jetliners were the larger A321. It’s the sixth plane delivered to Spirit at the Mobile center. The yellow passenger jet delivered Friday is the 106th jet in its all-Airbus fleet. Major components for the plane arrived in May from Europe. "With this very first A320 assembled, we recognized another key milestone," said Daryl Taylor, general manager of the Mobile facility. The Airbus assembly line can build the A319, A320 and A321. The plant is on track to produce four jetliners every month. (Source: al.com, 08/25/17) Previous

UTC Foley opens new facility

FOLEY, Ala. -- UTC Aerospace Systems today unveiled a new 80,000-square-foot manufacturing and nacelle assembly facility at its campus in Foley. The new facility is in response to rising customer demand for its nacelle systems, according to UTC. The company expects to add up to 260 new jobs at the site, eventually increasing its Foley workforce to more than 1,000. It's expected to be operational by the end of the year. The Foley site assembles nacelles for integration with the Pratt & Whitney Geared Turbofan engine for a number of aircraft platforms, including the Airbus A320neo, Bombardier C Series, Mitsubishi Regional Jet and Embraer E-Jet E2. The campus is part of UTC Aerospace Systems' Aerostructures business unit, which maintains a global footprint of nacelle design, original equipment manufacturing and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) sites. UTC Aerospace Systems is a unit of United Technologies Corp. (Source: UTC, 08/24/17) Background article, Gulf Coast Reporters' League Business Quarterly, April 2016, pages 20-22, UTAS in Foley plays powerful role.

Contract: Lockheed, $900M

Lockheed Martin Corp., Orlando, Fla., has been awarded an approximately $900,000,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the Long Range Standoff weapon's technology maturation and risk reduction acquisition phase. The contract supports replacement of the AGM-86B air-launched cruise missile. Work will be performed in Orlando, Fla., and is expected to be completed by 2022. Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, Air Delivered Capabilities Directorate, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 08/23/17)

Contract: Raytheon, $900M

Raytheon Co., Tucson, Ariz., has been awarded an approximately $900,000,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the Long Range Standoff weapon's technology maturation and risk reduction acquisition phase. The contract supports replacement of the AGM-86B air-launched cruise missile. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona and is expected to be completed by 2022. Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, Air Delivered Capabilities Directorate, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 08/23/17)

Contract: L3 Vertex, $173M

L3 Communications Vertex Aerospace LLC, Madison, Miss., is being awarded $172,984,042 for modification P00017 to exercise an option to a previously awarded firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery, requirements contract (N00019-14-D-0011). This option provides for organizational, intermediate, and depot level maintenance, logistics, and engineering to support and maintain 201 Navy T-45 Goshawk aircraft, aircraft systems, and related support equipment to support flight and test and evaluation operations. Work will be performed at Naval Air Station Kingsville, Texas (45.7 percent); NAS Meridian, Miss. (41.7 percent); Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla. (10.1 percent); and Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. (2.5 percent), and is expected to be completed September 2018. The Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, Orlando, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 08/23/17)

Contract: Multiple, $95M

Ashford Leebcor JV LLC, Williamsburg, Va. (N40085-17-D-0357); Civil Works Contracting LLC, Wilmington, N.C. (N40085-17-D-0358); Green-Simmons Co. Inc., Pensacola, Fla. (N40085-17-D-0359); Rand Enterprises Inc., Newport News, Va. (N40085-17-D-0360); SmartATI-KMK JV, Rochester, N.H. (N40085-17-D-0361); and Tikigaq Construction LLC, Wasilla, Alaska (N40085-17-D-0362), are each being awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple award, design-build, design-bid-build construction contract for construction projects within the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Mid-Atlantic Hampton Roads Integrated Product Team (IPT) area of responsibility (AOR). The maximum dollar value including the base period and four option years for all five contracts combined is $95,000,000. The work to be performed provides for, but is not limited to, new construction, renovation, alteration, and repairs for general construction projects. Types of facilities include, but are not limited to warehouses, training facilities, personnel support and service facilities, housing facilities, etc. These six contractors may compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the awarded contract. Ashford Leebcor JV LLC is being awarded task order 0001 at $594,683 for the track data coordinator trainer space renovation, Building 586 at Naval Air Station Oceana Dam Neck Annex, Virginia Beach, Va.. Work for this task order is expected to be completed by March 2018. All work on this contract will be performed in the NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic Hampton Roads IPT AOR, Va.. The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months, with an expected completion date of August 2022. Fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $619,683 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by operations and maintenance (Navy) funding. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with 19 proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 08/23/17)

Switch flipped on solar facilities

Officials marked the completion of the three largest combined solar facilities on Defense Department property in a ceremonial flipping of the switch Tuesday. Executives of Gulf Power, Coronal Energy, the Air Force and Navy were on hand at Naval Air Station Pensacola’s Naval Outlying Landing Field Saufley for the event. Ground was broken in November 2016 for the project that spans 940 acres across three Navy and Air Force sites in Northwest Florida. Saufley’s solar array site is a 50 megawatt solar-generating facility. The other two sites are at Naval Air Station Whiting Field’s Outlying Landing Field Holley (40 megawatts) and Eglin Air Force Base (30 megawatts). Combined the three sites have about 1.5 million solar panels capable of generating up to 120 megawatts of electricity. The projects became operational earlier this summer. (Source: GCAC, 08/21/17)

First A320 set for delivery

A320 has maiden flight Aug. 15. Airbus photo

MOBILE, Ala. -- A lot of A321 jetliners built in Mobile have been delivered to customers, and now the first A320 made at the Mobile Aeroplex will be delivered Friday. It will be delivered to Spirit Airlines. This U.S.-built A320 had its first flight of four hours August 15. The Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility can produce three members of the A320 series: the A319, A320 and A321. So far 36 aircraft, all A321s, have been delivered since operations began in 2015. The A320 single-aisle jetliners entered airline service in April 1988. (Source: GCAC, 08/22/17) Previous

Contract: Lockheed, $427M

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded not-to-exceed $427,088,637 for undefinitized order N0001917F0027 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-14-G-0020). This order provides for the procurement of ancillary military equipment and pilot flight equipment for low rate initial production Lot 11 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft for the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, non-Department of Defense (DoD) participants and foreign military sales (FMS) customers. Work will be performed in Inglewood, Calif. (60 percent); White Plains, N.Y. (25 percent); St. Petersburg, Fla. (5 percent); Orlando, Fla. (5 percent); and Fort Worth, Texas (5 percent). Work is expected to be completed in December 2020. This order combines purchases for Air Force (36 percent); Marine Corps (20 percent); Navy (12 percent); non-DoD participants (19 percent); and FMS customers (13 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 08/21/17) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 integrated training center.

Contract: Lockheed, $53.5M

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded $53,494,475 for cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order N0001917F0266 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-14-G-0020). This order provides for supplies and services in support of the F-35 Lightning II milestone event capabilities, including retrofit modification kits and installation services for the Marine Corps, Air Force, Navy, and non-Department of Defense (DoD) participants. Work will be performed in Fort Worth and is expected to be completed in July 2021 for DoD customers and September 2025 for non-DoD participants. This order combines purchases for the Marine Corps (50 percent); Air Force (21 percent); Navy (18 percent); and non-DoD participants (11 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 08/18/17) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 integrated training center.

Contract: CACH-INC, $14.9M

CACI-INC, Chantilly, Va., has been awarded a $14,940,526 face value contract for the modification and configuration on new commercial software for NexGen requirements. Fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $7,654,981 will be obligated at time of award. Work will be performed in Panama City, Fla.; Beavercreek, Ohio; San Antonio, Texas; Niceville, Fla.; Raleigh, N.C.; Palm City, Fla.; Fair Haven, N.J., and is expected to be completed March 12, 2019. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Maxwell Air Force Base, Gunter Annex, Montgomery, Ala., is the contracting activity (FA8771-17-F-0024). (Awarded Aug. 16, 2017) (Source: DoD, 08/17/17)

Contract: Raytheon, $104.9M

Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Ariz., has been awarded a $104,860,386 firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Griffin Missiles. This contract provides for delivery of all variants of Griffin standoff precision guided munitions and corresponding production, test and engineering support. Work will be performed in Tucson and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2018. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity (FA8656-17-D-0005). (Source: DoD, 08/17/17)

Mobile gets new Safran facility

MOBILE, Ala. – Safran USA announced it will open a manufacturing operation at Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley and hire 20 employees over the next three years, according to the Mobile Chamber of Commerce. The announcement comes two months after the Mobile team's meeting with Safran USA executives at the Paris Air Show. The company will produce and install aircraft engine nacelles at this facility. Safran is one of the world's two leading integrators of aircraft engine nacelle systems, the housing for an aircraft engine and its related components. To house the facility, the Mobile Airport Authority is building out one of the existing bays at Mobile Aeroplex to 24,500 square feet. In addition, the company is investing about $1 million in equipment with an opening planned for November 2017. (Source: Mobile Chamber of Commerce, 08/17/17) Safran was the first Airbus-related supplier to announce it would open an operation in Mobile, five months after Airbus said it would build A320 series jetliners in Mobile. Safran Engineering Services officially opened its Mobile office with a ribbon-cutting the same day Airbus broke ground on its assembly line. Safran company Messier-Bugatti-Dowty also has an operation at the Mobile Aeroplex. Previous Safran-related post

Contract: Raytheon, $8.5M

Raytheon Co., El Segundo, Calif., is being awarded $8,485,823 for firm-fixed-price delivery order 7007 under a previously awarded basic ordering agreement (N00383-15-G-003H) for the repair of 331 units across 16 assemblies used in support of the F-18 Active Electronically Scanned Array Radar System. Work will be performed in Forest, Miss., and is expected to be completed by December 2019. Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 08/16/17)

Contract: L3 Vertex, $8.9M

L3 Vertex Aerospace LLC, Madison, Miss., is being awarded an $8,889,043 firm-fixed-price contract for organizational and intermediate-level aircraft maintenance on three KC-130J aircraft, logistics and supply functions, limited repair of common support equipment and required support for the government of Kuwait. Work will be performed at Abdullah Al-Mubarak Air Base, Kuwait, and is expected to be completed in August 2022. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00019-17-C-0080). (Source: DoD, 08/16/17)

Airport sets another record

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- Pensacola International Airport has set another all-time monthly record number of passengers in July, with a total of 175,814 individuals arriving and departing the facility. It’s an increase of 13 percent over July 2016. Overall, Pensacola International Airport is up some 4 percent in total passengers for the fiscal year over the same period last year. (Source: City of Pensacola, 08/16/17)

Contract: Lockheed, $8B

Lockheed Martin Corp., Missiles and Fire Control, Lexington, Ky., has been awarded an $8,000,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the Special Operations Forces Global Logistics Support Services (SOF GLSS) requirement. The SOF GLSS contract shall provide non-personal, global logistics support services and expertise to maintain program support and Enterprise management functions for Program Executive Office of the Special Operations Forces Support Activity. Work will be performed at Bluegrass Station, Lexington; Bluegrass Army Depot, Richmond, Ky; Fort Walton Beach, Fla.; and Crestview, Fla., as well as multiple customer locations both inside and outside the continental U.S. U.S. Special Operations Command Contracting office, Tampa, Fla., is the contracting activity (H92254-17-D-0001). (Source: DoD, 08/11/17)

SSC has another controller test

RS-25 controller test. NASA/SSC photo

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- Just two weeks after the third test of a new RS-25 engine flight controller, NASA recorded its fourth full-duration controller test Aug. 9. Engineers conducted a 500-second test of the “brain” of RS-25 engine on the A-1 Test Stand. The test involved installing the controller on an RS-25 development engine and firing it in the same manner, and for the same length of time, as needed during an actual SLS launch. It marked another milestone toward launch of the first integrated flight of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew vehicle. Exploration Mission-1 will be an uncrewed mission into lunar orbit, designed to provide a final check-out test of rocket and Orion capabilities before astronauts are returned to deep space. The SLS rocket will be powered at launch by four RS-25 engines, providing a combined 2 million pounds of thrust, and with a pair of solid rocket boosters, providing more than 8 million pounds of total thrust. (Source: NASA/SSC, 08/09/17) Previous

Contract: Lockheed, $9.4M

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $9,419,067 cost-plus-fixed-fee, undefinitized order (N00019-17-F-1633) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-14-G-0020) for the F-35 fighter program milestone event capabilities, including retrofit modification kits and installation services. Work will be performed in Fort Worth and is expected to be completed in April 2019. This order combines purchases for Navy (49 percent); non-DoD participants (24 percent); Air Force (14 percent); and Marine Corps (13 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 08/08/17) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 integrated training center.

Contract: Lockheed, $28.8M

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded $28,784,100 for cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order 5523 issued against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-14-G-0020). This order provides for supplies and services in support of the F-35 Lightning II milestone event capabilities, including retrofit modification kits and installation services for the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, and non-U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) participants. Work will be performed in Fort Worth and is expected to be completed in July 2020. This order combines purchases for the Air Force (45 percent), Marine Corps (30 percent); Navy (18 percent); and non-U.S. DoD participants (7 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 08/07/17) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 integrated training center.

Contract: Lockheed, $11.9M

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Fort Worth, Texas, has been awarded an $11,893,495 modification (P00859) for F-22 sustainment. This modification is for the exercise of options for F-22 sustainment activities. Work will be performed at Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 16, 2020. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8611-08-C-2897). (Source: DoD, 08/01/17) Gulf Coast note: Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., trains F-22 pilots and has an operational squadron.

Contract: Northrop, $19.9M

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded $19,894,544 for cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order 0003 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-15-G-0026) for engineering and analysis efforts to develop solutions for near-term emergent obsolescence issues identified for the MQ-4C Triton. This effort includes associated program management, qualification tests, qualification test plans and reports, product support analysis, spares and repairs analysis, and configuration management requirements. Work will be performed in Baltimore, Md. (80 percent); and Rancho Bernardo, Calif. (20 percent), and is expected to be completed in May 2020. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 08/01/17) Gulf Coast note: Triton fuselage work is done in Moss Point, Miss.

Raytheon STEM exhibit arrives

FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. – An interactive traveling exhibit that helps children have fun with math – MathAlive! – opens Saturday at the Emerald Coast Science Center. Presented by Raytheon to military family communities nationwide, the exhibit is designed to show the connection of math to many of the things they love, including music, sports, movies, games and more. The hope is to inspire young people in science, technology, engineering and math fields. The U.S. continues to fall short in ensuring there are enough future workers to fill the demand. MathAlive! will be presented at the Emerald Coast Science Center through Sept. 10 and is included with general admission. The museum is offering free admittance to active duty military and their families. (Source: PRNewswire, 08/01/17)