Contract: Leebcor, $7.8M

Leebcor Services LLC, Williamsburg, Va., is being awarded $7,100,622 for firm-fixed-price task order 0002 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N69450-14-D-0759) for renovation and repairs to buildings 3701 and 3706 at Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Fla. Building 3701 is an existing three story bachelor enlisted quarters (BEQ) structure and 3706 is an existing one story laundry facility and mechanical room. The renovations will provide the 2+0 Unit configuration to building 3701 to allow 49 units for a total of 98 berths and will upgrade the laundry facility in Building 3706 to a commercial laundry facility for BEQ housekeeping staff. The contract also contains one unexercised option, which if exercised would increase cumulative contract value to $7,788,880. Work will be performed in Pensacola and is expected to be completed by May 2017. Three proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southeast, Jacksonville, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 05/14/15)

Contract: M7 Aerospace, $13.4M

M7 Aerospace LLC, San Antonio, Texas, is being awarded a $13,354,491 modification to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery requirements contract (N00019-11-D-0002) to exercise an option for logistics support for 12 Navy/Marine Corps UC-35 aircraft and seven Navy C-26 aircraft at nine global locations. Services to be provided include organizational and depot level maintenance, parts, support equipment maintenance, and engineering support. Work will be performed at the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands, Hawaii (15 percent); Marine Corp Air Station (MCAS) Futenma, Japan (15 percent); Andrews Air Force Base, Md. (10 percent); Fleet Marine Reserve Detachment, Belle Chase, La. (10 percent); Naval Air Station Sigonella, Italy (10 percent); Naval Support Activity, Naples, Italy (10 percent); MCAS Miramar, Calif. (10 percent); MCAS Cherry Point, N.C. (5 percent); San Antonio, Texas (5 percent); Al Udeid, Qatar (5 percent); and Moron, Spain (5 percent), and is expected to be completed by February 2016. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 05/14/15)

Contract: Multiple, $634M

Alion Science and Technology Corp., Burr Ridge, Ill. (W56HZV-15-D-RD01); Booz Allen Hamilton, McLean, Va. (W56HZV-15-D-RD02); DCS Corp., Alexandria, Va. (W56HZV-15-D-RD03); Jacobs Technology Inc., Fort Walton Beach, Fla. (W56HZV-15-D-RD04); Raytheon Co., McKinney, Texas (W56HZV-15-D-RD05); SAIC, McLean, Va. (W56HZV-15-D-RD06); VSE Corp., Alexandria, Va. (W56HZV-15-D-RD07); CDQ JV, Goleta, Calif. (W56HZV-15-D-RD08); FEDITC LLC, Rockville, Md. (W56HZV-15-D-RD09); Hodges Transportation Inc., Silver Springs, Nev. (W56HZV-15-D-RD10); Loc Performance Products Inc., Plymouth, Mich. (W56HZV-15-D-RD11); Middle Bay Solutions LLC, Huntsville, Ala. (W56HZV-15-D-RD12); Northwind-Jacobs JV, Shelocta, Pa., (W56HZV-15-D-RD13); PD Systems Inc., Alexandria, Va. (W56HZV-15-D-RD14); Quantum Research International Inc., Huntsville, Ala. (W56HZV-15-D-RD15); Select Engineering Services, doing business as Mark. G. Miller Inc., Layton, Utah (W56HZV-15-D-RD16); The Service Engineering Co. LLC, Belcamp, Md. (W56HZV-15-D-RD17); Waltonen Engineering Inc., Warren, Mich. (W56HZV-15-D-RD18); WestWind Aerospace Inc., Huntsville, Ala. (W56HZV-15-D-RD19) were awarded a $634,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for research and development services to include services for the purpose of creating and developing new processes or products. Only for task order requirements to directly perform work that is an integral part of R&D services for the creation of new processes or products. Funding and work location will be determined with each order with an estimated completion date of May 13, 2023. Bids were solicited via the Internet with 22 received. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 05/14/15)

Contract: Multiple, $1.1B

Army Fleet Support LLC, Fort Rucker, Ala. (W56HZV-15-D-ER01); BAE Systems Land & Armaments LP, York, Pa. (W56HZV-15-D-ER02); Baum, Romstedt Technology Research Corp., Vienna, Va. (W56HZV-15-D-ER03); Booz Allen Hamilton Engineering Services LLC, Linthicum, Md. (W56HZV-15-D-ER04); DUCOM Inc., Silver Spring, Md. (W56HZV-15-D-ER05); DynCorp International LLC, McLean, Va. (W56HZV-15-D-ER06); Vectrus Systems Corp., Colorado Springs, Colo. (W56HZV-15-D-ER07); Honeywell Technology Solutions Inc., Columbia, Md. (W56HZV-15-D-ER08); Jacobs Technology Inc., Fort Walton Beach, Fla. (W56HZV-15-D-ER09); Lockheed Martin Corp., Orlando, Fla. (W56HZV-15-D-ER10); Mantech Advanced Systems International Inc., Fairfax, Va. (W56HZV-15-D-ER11); PD Systems Inc., Alexandria, Va. (W56HZV-15-D-ER12); Qualis Corp., Huntsville, Ala. (W56HZV-15-D-ER13); SAIC, McLean, Va. (W56HZV-15-D-ER14); Strategic Resources Inc., McLean, Va. (W56HZV-15-D-ER15); Systems Products and Solutions Inc., Huntsville, Ala. (W56HZV-15-D-ER16URS Federal Services Inc. Germantown, Md. (W56HZV-15-D-ER17); VSE Corp., Alexandria, Va. (W56HZV-15-D-ER18); Integrated Logistics Solutions Inc., Huntsville, Ala. (W56HZV-15-D-ER19); and SFS Global/Tiburon JV, Susanville, Calif. (W56HZV-15-D-ER20) were awarded a $1,100,000,000 order-dependent multiple award task order contract indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for equipment related services. Funding and work location will be determined with each order with an estimated completion date of May 13, 2023. Bids were solicited via the Internet with 24 received. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 05/14/15)

Contract: Multiple, $1.8B

BAE Systems Land & Armaments LP, York, Pa. (W56HZV-15-D-KB01); Baum, Romstedt Technology Research Corp., Vienna, Va. (W56HZV-15-D-KB02); Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., McLean, Va. (W56HZV-15-D-KB03); CALIBRE Systems Inc., Alexandria, Va. (W56HZV-15-D-KB04); Camber Corp., Huntsville, Ala. (W56HZV-15-D-KB05); D & S Consultants Inc., Eatontown, N.J. (W56HZV-15-D-KB06); DCS Corp., Alexandria, Va. (W56HZV-15-D-KB07); IBM, Reston, Va. (W56HZV-15-D-KB09); Jacobs Technology Inc., Fort Walton Beach, Fla. (W56HZV-15-D-KB10); Mantech Advanced Systems International Inc., Fairfax, Va. (W56HZV-15-D-KB11); PD Systems Inc., Alexandria, Va. (W56HZV-15-D-KB12); SAIC, McLean, Va. (W56HZV-15-D-KB13); Strategic Resources Inc., McLean, Va. (W56HZV-15-D-KB14); URS Federal Services Inc., Germantown, Md. (W56HZV-15-D-KB15); Vencore Services and Solutions Inc., Reston, Va. (W56HZV-15-D-KB16); Wyle Laboratories Inc., Huntsville, Ala. (W56HZV-15-D-KB17); Accent Controls Inc., Riverside, Mo. (W56HZV-15-D-KB18); C2D JV, Goleta, Calif. (W56HZV-15-D-KB19); DS3 Solutions LLC, Layton, Utah (W56HZV-15-D-KB20); DUCOM Inc., Silver Spring, Md. (W56HZV-15-D-KB21); FEDITC LLC, Rockville, Md. (W56HZV-15-D-KB22); Middle Bay Solutions LLC, Huntsville, Ala. (W56HZV-15-D-KB23); Northwind-Jacobs JV, Shelocta, Pa. (W56HZV-15-D-KB24); Tecmasters Inc., Huntsville, Ala. (W56HZV-15-D-KB25); United Support Services LLC, Lawrence, Mass. (W56HZV-15-D-KB26); and WS3 LLC, Warren, Mich. (W56HZV-15-D-KB27) were awarded a $1,800,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, order dependent contract for knowledge based service-type requirements. Funding and work location will be determined with each order with an estimated completion date of May 13, 2023. Bids were solicited via the Internet with 35 received. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 05/14/15)

Welding begins on Orion pathfinder

NEW ORLEANS -- Engineers at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility began welding together the first pieces of the structure of the Orion crew module pathfinder. This pathfinder is a full-scale version of the current spacecraft design. It's used to demonstrate the manufacturing and assembly procedures that will be used to produce the actual flight hardware. Using a pathfinder allows engineers to make sure those procedures work correctly and to improve the process before producing the flight article. This pathfinder will help NASA prepare for Orion's next mission to deep space atop the agency's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. (Source: SpaceDaily, 05/12/15)

Hurricane Hunters hit skies early

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. – The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron Hurricane Hunters flew WC-130J Hercules aircraft to check out the first storm of the 2015 hurricane season, Tropical Storm Ana. Ana made landfall May 11 near Myrtle Beach, S.C., and was quickly downgraded to a tropical depression. The Hurricane Hunters flew six sorties into the storm. Hurricane season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30. It's not uncommon for a storm to form before the season begins, according to Maj. Douglas Gautrau, a 53rd WRS aerial reconnaissance weather officer. (Source: AFNS, 05/11/15)

NASA picks proposals

NASA has selected research and technology proposals from 254 small businesses and 39 research institutions in the United States for grants to develop new technologies that will further NASA's journey to Mars. Proposals were solicited through NASA's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. Proposals that lead to the successful development of ideas and products could result in contracts with a combined approximate value of $47.7 million. NASA is funding proposals that will enable space transportation for human and robotic missions, new ways to protect astronauts in space, and innovative ways to keep spacecraft systems operational. A dozen selected proposals involve technology being administered by the Office of the Chief Technologist at NASA’s Stennis Space Center, Miss., each worth up to $125,000 in the Phase 1 period. (Source: NASA, 05/08/15)

Contract: General Atomics, $38M

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., Poway, Calif., has been awarded a not-to-exceed $37,962,062 undefinitized contract action modification (0140) to previously awarded contract FA8620-10-G-3038. Contractor will provide 64 MQ-9 Electrical Safety Improvement Program retrofit kits on 64 Air Force Special Operations Command, Air Combat Command, and Air National Guard Block 1 aircraft. Work will be performed at Poway and is expected to be complete by April 30, 2017. Air Force Lifecycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 05/08/15)

MSU team named COE UAS

The Federal Aviation Administration has chosen the Mississippi State University team as the FAA's Center of Excellence for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (COE UAS). The center will focus on research, education and training in areas critical to integration of unmanned systems into the nation's airspace. The team includes 15 leading UAS and aviation universities. The research areas will include detect and avoid technology, low-altitude operations safety, control and communications, spectrum management, human factors, compatibility with air traffic control operations, and training and certification. In addition to MSU, other team members are Drexel University, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, Kansas State University, Kansas University, Montana State University, New Mexico State University, North Carolina State University, Oregon State University, University of Alabama in Huntsville, University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of North Dakota, and Wichita State University. The COE will be able to begin research by September 2015 and be fully operational by January 2016. Once the team develops detailed research plans, the FAA will determine the relationship between the new COE and the six UAS sites the FAA announced last year. The FAA expects COE flight testing to occur at one or more of the existing test sites. (Source: FAA, 05/08/15) Gulf Coast note: The Gulf Coast region is heavily involved in unmanned systems, including work on the Northrop Grumman Fire Scout and Global Hawk systems.

Contract: Airbus D&S, $24M

Airbus Defense and Space Inc., Herndon, Va., was awarded a $24,012,980 modification (P00878) to multi-year contract W58RGZ-06-C-0194 for mission equipment packages to be cut into the Lakota Helicopter production line as part of the Army Aviation Restructure Initiative for training aircraft. Work will be performed in Columbus, Miss., with an estimated completion date of July 31, 2017. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 05/07/15)

Female F-35 pilots begins training

Lt. Col. Mau readies for sortie.
Air Force photo

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The first female F-35 pilot has started training. Lt. Col. Christine Mau, 33rd Fighter Wing Operations Group deputy commander, completed her first training flight in the single-seat fifth-generation fighter following 14 virtual training missions in the full mission simulator at the F-35 Academic Training Center. She's formerly an F-15E Strike Eagle pilot. She joins 87 other F-35A pilots trained over the last four years here. (Source: 33rd Fighter Wing, 05/06/15)

Contract: UTC, $7.6M

United Technologies Corp., Pratt and Whitney Military Engines, East Hartford, Conn., is being awarded a $7,643,131 fixed-price-incentive firm target modification to a previously awarded F135 advanced acquisition contract (N00019-13-C-0016) for long-lead items for low-rate initial production (LRIP) Lot X. The long-lead items include group hardware supporting the LRIP Lot X delivery of conventional take off and landing (CTOL) propulsion systems for the Air Force, group hardware supporting the LRIP Lot X delivery of CTOL, carrier variant propulsion systems for the Navy/Marine Corps, and group hardware supporting the LRIP Lot X delivery of short take-off and vertical landing propulsion systems for the Marine Corps. Work will be performed in East Hartford (67 percent); Indianapolis, Ind. (26.5 percent); and Bristol, United Kingdom (6.5 percent), and is expected to be completed in February 2017. This contract combines purchases for the Navy (97.4 percent), and the Air Force (2.6 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 05/06/15) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 integrated training center.

Emerald Warrior concludes

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. - More than 2,100 personnel from across the Gulf Cost and New Mexico on May 1 completed the two-week-long Air Force Special Operations Command training exercise Emerald Warrior 2015. The exercise was designed to provide realistic and relevant pre-deployment training encompassing multiple joint operating areas. Among the training sites were Hurlburt Field, Eglin Air Force Base and Apalachicola in Florida; Camp Shelby and Stennis Space Center in Mississippi; Pelham Range in Alabama; and Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico. (Source: Air Force Special Operations Command, 05/05/15)

Contract: Applied Research, $18.8M

Applied Research Associates Inc., Albuquerque, N.M., has been awarded an $18,845,422 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide research and development for the Air Force Civil Engineer Center in the development and evaluation of enhanced and emerging technologies under robotics and automation. Work will be performed at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., and is expected to be complete by April 30, 2020. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition with seven offers received. Fiscal 2015 research and development funds in the amount of $450,000 are being obligated at the time of award. The 325th Contracting Squadron, Tyndall Air Force Base, is the contracting activity (FA4819-15-C-0002). (Source: DoD, 05/05/15)

Blue Angels name new CO

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- The Navy's Blue Angels announced a new commanding officer for the precision flying team's 2016-17 season. Navy Cmdr. Ryan Bernacchi, a California native and experience F/A-18 pilot, will take command after the final show of the 2014-15 season in November at Naval Air Station Pensacola. Bernacchi will succeed Capt. Tom Frosch. A change-of-command is scheduled for Nov. 8 at the National Naval Aviation Museum aboard NAS Pensacola. (Source: NNS, 05/05/15)

Aero academy ribbon cut

FAIRHOPE, Ala. -- Educators, politicians, students and residents gathered here Saturday to dedicate a new aviation training academy at H.L. "Sonny" Callahan Airport. Gov. Robert Bentley was joined by officials with the Fairhope Airport Authority, Baldwin County Public Schools, the two-year college system and others to cut the ribbon outside the academy. It first opened to students in January and teaches aviation, industrial maintenance and welding to adult and high school students for college credit. (Source: al.com, 05/02/15)

Walton County site certified

DeFUNIAK SPRINGS, Fla. -- DeFuniak Springs Municipal Airport has become the first certified industrial park in Walton County through Gulf Power's Florida First Sites program. Florida First Sites was created in 2013 to help communities prepare sites to attract new industries and new jobs to the region. This is the seventh site to be certified in Northwest Florida under the program. This industrial park, owned by the city of DeFuniak Springs, has two parcels within the airport property that have become certified, one 22.32 acres and one 34 acres. (Source: Gulf Power, 05/01/15) Previous

Aero workers furloughed

CANTONMENT, Fla. – Defense company Marianna Airmotive on Friday furloughed a large part of its workforce because of a slowdown in work for the government. The company, which overhauls and fabricates parts for Air Force C-5 aircraft, has not closed and some staffers are still working. The company expects to bring workers back when the situation changes. The company, established in 1968 in Marianna, moved to its current location in 1989. (Source: North Escambia.com, 05/01/15) In the most recent figures available, the company had 125 workers. Background story

Union OKs agreement

MILTON, Fla. -- Union members of local 2777 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) who work at Naval Air Station Whiting Field ratified a three-year agreement with L-3 Vertex Aerospace. The agreement includes a three percent general wage increase for each year of the contract, increases employer pension contributions and raises safety standards. L-3 Vertex Aerospace in May 2014 was awarded a modified $55 million logistics and maintenance support contract for TH-57 aircraft at Whiting Field. (Source: IAM, 04/30/15)