County moves against city over F-35

FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. - Officials in the county where the Air Force plans to locate the Joint Strike Fighter Training Center are taking legal steps to force a city opposed to the center to drop its fight with the Air Force. Okaloosa County commissioners voted Tuesday to initiate the dispute resolution process, the first step for one government agency to sue another in Florida. At issue is Valparaiso’s suit filed Monday against the Air Force seeking to stop the center and its F-35s from locating at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 03/31/09)

City files suit to block F-35

VALPARAISO, Fla. – The Valparaiso City Commission filed suit in U.S. District Court Monday seeking an injunction blocking the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Training Center from coming to Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.. The 58-page suit asks the courts to halt all ground breakings, movement of aircraft and personnel. It claims the Air Force violated federal rules by not considering other locations on Eglin that would have less noise impact on Valparaiso. In two related matters, a lawyer told WEAR-TV that a suit will be filed in state court against Valparaiso, claiming a violation of sunshine laws. And Florida Freedom Newspapers reports that the Bay County commission has sent a letter to Air Force Secretary Michael Donley offering Tyndall Air Force Base near Panama City, Fla., as a good location for the training center. That base is losing two F-15s squadrons by the end of 2010. (Sources: Florida Freedom Newspapers, WEAR-TV, WJHG-TV, 03/30/09)

Air show expects 70,000

BILOXI, Miss. – Officials expect as many as 70,000 spectators Saturday and Sunday for the first air show at Keesler Air Force Base since Hurricane Katrina. Thunder on the Bay will include the Thunderbirds, the Air Force flight demonstration team, returning to the Coast for the first time in 15 years. Other military aircraft and stunt flyers will perform during the two-day show. (Source: The Sun Herald, 03/30/09)

Contract: EDO, $49.5M

EDO Corp., Panama City Operations, Panama City, Fla., is being awarded a $49,545,446 contract to provide services and materials for repair, modification, and overhaul of the Organic Airborne Mine Countermeasures System. This procurement is in support of depot level repair, overhaul, and modification of the MK-105 Magnetic Minesweeping Gear, Precision Navigation System, Organic Airborne and Surface Influence Sweep System, and the MH-53 Airborne Mine Neutralization System components. Work will be performed in Panama City and is expected to be completed by March 2014. The Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 03/27/09)

Contract: Bates, $20M

Bates Engineers/Contractors Inc., Bainbridge, Ga., was awarded a $20,048,601 contract for the design and build of a Joint Communications Support Element Squadron Facility at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. Work is to be performed at MacDill with an estimated completion date of June 10, 2012. Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, Mobile, Ala., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 03/27/09)

Lockheed, UF to develop mini satellites

Lockheed Martin has partnered with the University of Florida to develop and launch five miniature satellites to test innovative space concepts. Lockheed will fund $450,000 of research and development projects at the university this year. The satellites will be used to investigate, among other things, miniaturized, space-hardened GPS electronics and state-of-the-art intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities. The satellites, called CubeSats, are cube-shaped, measuring less than four inches per side and operating on a power output similar to a cell phone. The work will complement work of the UF-led Advanced Space Technologies Research & Engineering Center, ASTREC. (Source: Lockheed Martin, 03/26/09) Gulf Coast note: UF has several engineering-related research programs in Shalimar, near Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.; The Institute for Human and Machine Cognition in Pensacola, Fla., is a participating member of ASTREC.

Special Forces groundbreaking held

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - An indoors groundbreaking was held at Eglin Air Force Base Thursday for the Army’s 7th Special Forces Group. It was the second groundbreaking in a week following last week’s event for the Joint Strike Fighter Training Center. The 600,000-square-foot campus near Duke Field will include a gymnasium, dining facility and two group headquarters on 500 acres. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 03/26/09)

Murtha develops own defense budget

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Absent a 2010 defense budget from the Pentagon, the chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on defense has fashioned his own military spending plan. Key elements of Rep. John Murtha’s plan: A new refueling tanker is the top Air Force priority, and splitting the buy between Boeing and Northrop Grumman is his priority. Murtha also wants a second engine option for the Joint Strike Fighter, even if the Air Force doesn’t. (Source: Defense News, 03/25/09) Gulf Coast note: If Northrop Grumman and partner EADS win some of the tanker competition, planes will be assembled in Mobile, Ala.; The Joint Strike Fighter training center is being built at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

Guard finds support to replace planes

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senate appropriators offered sympathy and support for the Air National Guard in its effort to gain new tactical aircraft. Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye told the director of the Air National Guard that appropriators would do their best to make sure replacement fighters are in the budget. The Guard uses F-16s and F-15s. The Government Accountability Office reported in January that if the planes aren’t replaced by 2020, 11 of 18 domestic air sovereignty alert sites could be without aircraft. (Source: Aviation Week, 03/25/09)

Orion crew module recovery tested

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A full-scale mockup of NASA's Orion crew module is being tested in water under simulated and real landing weather conditions as part of the Constellation Program designed to return astronauts to the moon and beyond. A Navy-built, 18,000-pound Orion mockup is being tested in a pool at the Naval Surface Warfare Center's Carderock Division in West Bethesda, Md. Ocean testing will begin April 6 off the coast of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (Source: NASA, 03/25/09) Gulf Coast note: Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and Stennis Space Center in Mississippi are both involved in the Constellation Program.

Bill designed to protect bases

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The state Senate is taking action to protect the Florida’s 20 military bases and $55 billion economic impact. Legislation introduced by Sens. Don Gaetz and Durell Peaden makes base closure and mission realignment a state issue. The bill establishes the Florida Council on Military Base and Mission Support and work groups to focus on intrastate activities, liaison with the Defense Department, competitive strategies, and public awareness. (Source: WMBB, 03/25/09) Gulf Coast note: Northwest Florida is home to a half-dozen major military bases.

Contract: Lockheed, $320M

Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded $320,000,000 not to exceed modification to a previously awarded advance acquisition contract. This modification provides for long lead materials and efforts associated with the Joint Strike Fighter Air System Low Rate Initial Production Lot III procurement of the required special tooling, special test equipment and technical assistance. Work is expected to be completed in November 2011. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 03/25/09) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is scheduled to become home to the JSF training center

Contract: L-3 Vertex, $15.6M

The Air Force is awarding a firm fixed contract to L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace, Madison, Miss., for $15,563,895. This action will provide fleet maintenance and training support on twelve Cessna 173 aircraft and five Cessna 208B trainer aircraft owned by the Iraqi Government. 727 ACSG/PKB, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 03/25/09)

Lakotas pass milestone

The Army’s fleet of UH-72A Lakota Light Utility Helicopters passed the 10,000 flight-hour milestone. Fifty-eight UH-72As have been delivered by EADS North America to the Army and Army National Guard for missions including homeland security, medical evacuation, logistics and VIP flights. The helicopters are built by in Columbus, Miss. (Source: EADS North America, 03/25/09) Gulf Coast note: EADS also has an Airbus engineering center and EADS CASA operation in Mobile, Ala.

A-3 test stand work awarded

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - Roy Anderson Corp. of Gulfport, Miss., was awarded a five-year contract to work on the A-3 test stand for the Constellation Program. The 300-foot tall stand will be used to test the Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne J-2X engines that will power the upper stage of Ares I and Earth departure stage of Ares V. The contract value is not to exceed $45 million. Contract work includes installation of the general mechanical and electrical support for the A-3 test stand. The first test at the stand is slated for 2012. (Source: NASA, 03/24/09)

V-22s temporarily grounded

Naval Air Systems Command temporarily grounded 84 Navy and Air Force V-22 Ospreys after an inspection of a V-22s in Iraq revealed loose bolts damaging components in the rotor assembly. More than 50 aircraft have now cleared inspections, though four of the 12 V-22s in Iraq required repair. Air Force Special Operations Command, based at Hurlburt Field, Fla., expected all 11 of its CV-22s to be cleared. (Source: InsideDefense, 03/24/09)

Contract: Tybrin, $16.8M

Tybrin Corp., of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., was awarded an Air Force cost plus award fee contract for $16, 799,185. This action provides non-personal advisory and assistance services to fully support Aerospace Research, Development, Test and Evaluation Advisory and Assistance Services program. It focuses on robust systems engineering and technical assistance services. AFFTC/PKTJ, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 03/24/09)

Split tanker buy gains steam

Democratic lawmakers appear determined to push a bill splitting a $35 billion contract for aerial tankers between Boeing and the Northrop Grumman/EADS team. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., and other defense appropriators think it will get the program moving again. Defense Secretary Robert Gates sees the move as an expensive compromise, but defense analyst Loren Thompson says the split contract could save money by more quickly retiring the existing fleet of KC-135 tankers. (Source: Seattle Times, 03/23/09) Gulf Coast note: Northrop Grumman/EADS plans to assemble its tankers in Mobile, Ala.

Homeowners offered compensation

MOBILE, Ala. - Homeowners in the loudest places around Mobile Regional Airport are being offered compensation. A Federal Aviation Administration grant of a little more than $1.6 million will be used for a one-time payment that could equal 10 percent of the home’s fair market value to help in noise abatement. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 03/22/09)

Contract: Lockheed, $49.9M

Lockheed Martin Corp., Maritime Systems and Sensors, Integrated Defense Technologies, Baltimore, Md., is being awarded a fixed price contract not-to-exceed $49,877,689 for FY08 MK 41 Vertical Launching System production and delivery requirements. The MK41 VLS program is integral to the navies of nine allied and friendly foreign nations. This contract combines purchases for the U.S. Navy and the governments of Turkey and Australia under the Foreign Military Sales Program. Fourteen percent of the work will be performed in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., 64 percent in Baltimore, Md., 19 percent in Minneapolis, Minn., 2 percent in Eagan, Minn., and 1 percent in Virginia Beach, Va. Work is expected to be completed by December 2012. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 03/20/09)