Contract: UTC, $214.8M

United Technologies Corp., Pratt & Whitney Military Engines, East Hartford, Conn., is being awarded a $214,843,107 modification to the previously awarded F-35 Lot VI low rate initial production advance acquisition contract. This modification provides for initial spare modules, initial spare parts, replenishment spare parts, and production non-recurring efforts, including tooling, for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force, the United Kingdom, Italy, The Netherlands, Turkey, Canada, Australia, Denmark, and Norway. Work will be performed in East Hartford, Conn. (67 percent); Bristol, United Kingdom (16.5 percent); and Indianapolis, Ind. (16.5 percent), and is expected to be completed in April 2016. This contract combines purchases for the Navy and Marine Corps (51 percent); Air Force (34 percent); Italy (4 percent); the United Kingdom (3 percent); Australia (3 percent); The Netherlands; Turkey; Canada; Denmark; and Norway (each 1 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 09/23/13) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 training center.

Food fight starts at airport

PENSACOLA, Fla. – A fight is brewing over what group will land a 10-year food concession contract at Pensacola International Airport. On one side is a group that wants to bring five national brands to the airport, and on the other a team that wants local eateries represented. The issue boils down to money, but there's even a disagreement between the two sides over that. The issue goes before the Pensacola city council Thursday. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 09/21/13)

Economic symposium nears

The 2013 Gulf Power Economic Symposium, "Building the Future," will be held Sept. 29 to Oct. 1 at the Sandestin Resort in Destin, Fla. While the focus includes a range of economic development issues, aerospace is one area of high interest. On the agenda is "Airbus – Building Today for Tomorrow's Future.” Airbus is building an A320 final assembly line in Mobile, Ala., and it will have an impact on an area well beyond Mobile. Michelle Hurdle, director of economic and community development for Airbus Americas Inc., and Larry Sassano, president of Florida's Great Northwest, will discuss Airbus and its impact. Other talks during the event include creating a culture of innovation, the role of the state in economic development and Northwest Florida talent development initiatives. (Source: GCAC, 09/22/13) Agenda and registration

Space observation plan working

Changes to the existing U.S. space-object tracking network, adopted to replace the recently shuttered Air Force Space Surveillance System, appears to be working. That's what Gen. William Shelton, commander of Air Force Space Command, said at a conference in Hawaii earlier this month. The Air Force expects to save about $14 million a year by shutting down Space Fence, a line of radars stretching across the southern United States and a key part of the overall U.S. Space Surveillance Networks. To compensate for the loss, the Space Command modified operating modes for some of its other space tracking assets, specifically the Perimeter Acquisition Radar Characterization System at Cavalier Air Force Station in North Dakota and the space surveillance radar at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Shelton said the Air Force has retained certain tracking capabilities that were thought to be unique to the AFSSS. He said that at Eglin there was one day during which the number of observations of space objects doubled. (Source: Space News, 09/20/13) Previous: Space Fence shutting down?; Eglin radar fills gap

Contract: L3 Vertex, $11.8M

L3 Communications Vertex Aerospace LLC, Madison Miss., has been awarded an $11,781,299 modification to previously awarded FA3002-11-C-0001 for trainer maintenance services. Work will be performed at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas and Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., with an expected completion date of Sept. 30, 2014. The 82nd Contracting Squadron, Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 09/20/13)

Contract: Lockheed, $24.9M

Lockheed Martin Corp., Fort Worth, Texas, has been awarded a $24,851,082 modification to previously awarded FA8611-08-C-2897 for technology upgrades to facilitate a new operating system. Effort includes technology refresh for F-22 training systems at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., as well as Sheppard, Langley, Nellis, Hickam, and Elmendorf Air Force bases. Work will be performed at Lockheed Martin Corp., Fort Worth, Texas, with an expected completion date of March 30, 2018. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 09/20/13)

Contract: Lockheed, $10.8M

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $10,774,083 modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract to provide initial non-prime mission equipment and interim technical support for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter United States Reprogramming Laboratory. Work will be performed at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. (70 percent) and in Fort Worth, Texas (30 percent), and is expected to be completed in August 2015. Fiscal 2012 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $10,774,083 will be obligated at time of award, all of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 09/20/13)

Contract: Lockheed, $20.5M

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $20,461,696 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement and delivery of electronic components needed to support F-35 production and sustainment requirements due to current diminishing manufacturing sources. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in December 2013. This contract combines purchases for the U.S. Air Force ($9,252,671); U.S. Navy and Marine Corps ($23,752,211); and international partners ($6,775,872). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 09/20/13) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 training center.

Contract: Lockheed, $46M

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $46,018,410 modification to the previously awarded F-35 low rate initial production Lot VI advance acquisition contract. This modification provides for the non-recurring technical efforts for manufacturing technology transfer and planning tasks required to ensure a manufacturing base with sufficient technical knowledge is established to support F-35 production requirements. Work will be performed in California, Texas, United Kingdom, New Hampshire, Georgia, Florida, New York, and Canada and is expected to be completed in June 2013. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 09/20/13) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 training center.

Engine partnership dropped

Rolls-Royce and United Technologies Corp. have agreed not to proceed with a joint venture to develop an engine to power future mid-size aircraft. A press release from Rolls-Royce said it was because of the current regulatory environment. The partnership between Rolls-Royce and UTC unit Pratt & Whitney was first announced in the fall of 2011. At the time the prediction was that there would be a need for nearly 45,000 engines over the next 20 years. In addition to the joint-venture agreement in 2011, Rolls-Royce agreed to sell its stake in the International Aero Engines venture to Pratt & Whitney. That $1.5 billion deal closed in June 2012. (Source: Rolls-Royce, Wall Street Journal, Aviation Week, 09/19/13) Gulf Coast note: Rolls-Royce tests engines at Stennis Space Center, Miss.; UTC operates a service center in Foley, Ala. Previous; related

Lufthansa picks XWB engines

Lufthansa selected Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines worth $1.5 billion, including service support, to power 25 Airbus A350-900 aircraft. The airline also has options for a further 30 of the aircraft. The Trent XWB is the fastest-selling member of the Trent engine family, with more than1,400 ordered prior to its entry into service next year. Lufthansa has 60 Trent-powered Airbus A380s, A330s and A340s either in service or on order. (Source: Rolls-Royce, 09/19/13) Gulf Coast note: Rolls-Royce tests its Trent engines, including the XWB, at its outdoor test stand at Stennis Space Center, Miss. Previous

Third AEHF takes off

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The third in a series of secure U.S. military communications satellites successfully launched today aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The Advanced Extremely High Frequency-3 satellite faces 110 days of orbit-raising operations and 60 days of testing, according to a U.S. Air Force press release. Lockheed Martin Space Systems of Sunnyvale, Calif., is building six AEHF satellites under a contract worth some $9 billion. When fully deployed, the AEHF constellation will consist of four satellites in geostationary orbit and secure communications payloads hosted aboard classified satellites in polar orbit. (Source: Spacenews, 09/18/13) Gulf Coast note: Core propulsion system work on the AEHF satellite is done at Stennis Space Center, Miss. Previous

Cygnus heads toward ISS

WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. – After a one-day delay, Orbital Science's Cygnus spacecraft took off today atop an Antares rocket from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. The commercial spacecraft is heading for the International Space Station with about 1,500 pounds of clothes, food, water and other items. The spacecraft is due to arrive early Sunday, when it will be captured by astronauts using the outpost's robotic arm. If everything goes as planned, Cygnus will be the second commercial spacecraft to dock with ISS. SpaceX's Dragon capsule was the first. (Sources: multiple, including Space.com, Washington Post, 09/18/13) Gulf Coast note: The Antares engines were tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss. Previous

Contract: Lockheed, $99M

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $99,010,000 modification to a previously awarded advance acquisition contract to provide long lead-time parts, material and components required for the delivery of 19 conventional take off and landing F-35 aircraft for the U.S. Air Force. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in June 2014. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting authority. (Source: DoD, 09/18/13) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 training center.

Dutch agree to F-35 buy

The Netherlands will buy 37 F-35s to replace its fleet of F-16s, the Dutch defense ministry said Tuesday. The new aircraft will enter service from 2019. The number of jets the Netherlands agreed to buy is sharply lower than the 85 it had initially sought to purchase, but the purchase has long been anticipated since the Netherlands has participated in the F-35 development. But the Netherlands’ defense minister said the government chose the plane purely for operational reasons. (Source: Financial Times, 09/17/13) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 training center. Previous: 2nd Dutch F-35 rolls out; First Dutch F-35 rolls out; Dutch waffle on F-35 purchase

F-35 tires wear out too soon

Landing-gear tires made by the UK's Dunlop Aircraft Tyres Ltd. for the Marine Corps version of the F-35 have "been experiencing an unacceptable wear rate when operating as a conventional aircraft," according to Joe DellaVedova, spokesman for the Defense Department's F-35 program office. He said the $1,500 tire demonstrates adequate wear when the aircraft performs short takeoffs and vertical landings intended for amphibious warfare vessels and improvised runways. The Pentagon is working with Lockheed Martin and Birmingham, UK-based Dunlop Tyres on a new design that will be introduced next year. (Source: Bloomberg, 09/17/13) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 training center.

Eglin slates POW/MIA event

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- In recognition of National POW/MIA Day, Eglin Air Force Base will honor America's former prisoners of war and missing in action with a ceremony Sept. 20 at 9 a.m. Retired Col. John Steit, a Korean War POW, will be the guest speaker at the event at the Air Force Armament Museum, outside the main gate. (Source: Eglin Public Affairs, 09/16/13)

Contract: EMR, $11.4M

Environmental Management Resources Inc., Lawrence, Kan., is being awarded $11,444,076 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract for renovation and repair of Corry "A" School Bachelor Quarters 3707 and 3708 at Corry Station, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla. Work is expected to be completed by March 2015. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southeast, Jacksonville, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 09/16/13)

Contract: MS DRS, $6.8M

The Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services, Madison, Miss., has been awarded a $6,827,220 modification to previously awarded contract for full food services. The contract modification exercises the first option for full food services being procured under the base contract. Work will be performed at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., with an expected completion date of Sept. 30, 2017. The 81st Contracting Squadron, Keesler Air Force Base, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 09/16/13)

Fire station to serve base, airport

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- A Federal Aviation Administration grant of $2.74 million will be used to build a new $3 million rescue and fire station on military land south of the Northwest Florida Regional Airport terminal. Okaloosa County will contribute $154.8 million and the state Department of Transportation will provide $150,000. County Airports Director Sunil Harman said the station will serve the airport and base. Both have seen an increase in operations. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 09/14/13)