Contract: Lockheed, $179.9M

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $179,916,000 fixed-price-incentive, firm-target modification to a previously awarded advance acquisition contract (AAC) N00019-C-16-0033 for the advance procurement of long lead time materials, parts, components, and effort to maintain the planned production schedule for low-rate initial production (LRIP) Lot 11 F-35 aircraft. The effort also increases the quantity of aircraft that the LRIP 11 AAC supports for the Air Force by 15 F-35A variant aircraft, and for the Marine Corps by 10 F-35B variant aircraft. Work will be performed in Fort Worth (55 percent); El Segundo, Calif. (15 percent); Warton, United Kingdom (10 percent); Orlando, Fla. (5 percent); Nashua, N.H. (5 percent); Baltimore, Md. (5 percent); and Cameri, Italy (5 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2019. This contract combines purchase for the Air Force (65.6 percent); Navy (9.2 percent), and Marine Corps (25.2 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 03/24/16)

United adding flight

PANAMA CITY, Fla. -- Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (ECP) today announced additional flights to Houston on United Airlines beginning in June. The new flights to George Bush Intercontinental Airport will begin June 9. United will use a larger EMB 175 during weekends. This announcement comes on the heels of a record-breaking year for ECP, with a total growth year over year of 9.35 percent. The airport is located in West Bay, northwest of Panama City. (Source: Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport, 03/23/16)

First U.S.-built A321 has test flight

A321 built for JetBlue takes off Monday.
Michelle Thomas, Gulf Coast Reporters League

MOBILE, Ala. – The first Airbus jetliner produced in the United States took off today for its first flight. The A321, built for JetBlue at the Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility in Mobile, Ala., lifted from the runway at 9:36 a.m. CDT. More than 300 employees cheered as the plane took off. A test flight is a normal step in aircraft production and takes place prior to the delivery of the aircraft to the customer. The jetliner landed at 1:02 p.m. after a three-hour, 26-minute flight. The single-aisle, twin-engine aircraft will go through a few more weeks of final delivery preparations. (Source: GCRL, 03/21/16)

U.S.-built A321 to fly Monday

MOBILE, Ala. – The first Airbus jetliner produced in the United States is scheduled to fly for the first time next week as part of its testing program. The A321, built for JetBlue at the Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility in Mobile, Ala., is scheduled to fly March 21 at 9:15 a.m. CDT, barring any weather or other pre-flight factors that might delay the flight. A test flight is a normal step in aircraft production and takes place prior to the delivery of the aircraft to the customer. Following the flight, the aircraft will go through a few more weeks of final delivery preparations. (Source: Airbus, 03/18/16)

Contract: Raytheon, $573M

Raytheon Co., Tucson, Ariz., has been awarded a $573,031,316 modification (P00027) to exercise the option on previously awarded contract FA8675-15-C-0022. Contractor will provide Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missile (AMRAAM) production Lot 30 and other AMRAAM system items. Work will be performed at Tucson and is expected to be complete by Feb. 28, 2019. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Air Dominance Contracting Office, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity (FA8675-15-C-0022). (Source: DoD, 03/16/16)

Contract: Lockheed, $14M

Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Grand Prairie, Texas, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $14,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for research, analysis, engineering, development of specialized munitions. Work will be performed at Grand Prairie and is expected to be complete by March 16, 2021. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition with four offers received. The Air Force Research Laboratory, Munitions Directorate, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity (FA8651-16-D-0316). (Source: DoD, 03/16/16)

Funding landed for airport park

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- Mayor Ashton Hayward announced today that the city of Pensacola has been successful in securing $1 million in state funding for the Pensacola International Airport Commerce Park. The mayor said the acquisition of airport property is crucial to the airport's growth. "The acquisition of airport property is crucial to the airport's ongoing growth and focus on economic development. I would like to thank Gov. (Rick) Scott for his continued support of Pensacola, economic development and job growth,"Hayward said in a press release. (Source: City of Pensacola, 03/15/16) The park has more than 350 acres available for development. VT MAE, which has an 1,300-employee MRO operation in Mobile, Ala., plans to open a satellite operation at the park that will employ about 300 workers. It is being put on land that was already owned by the airport and not part of this purchase.

Recaro to open Mobile office

MOBILE, Ala. – The Mobile Airport Authority and Recaro Aircraft Seating Co. have signed an agreement for Recaro to open an office at the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley. Recaro ranks among the world's top three aircraft seat manufacturers. The company operates plants in Germany, Poland, South Africa, the United States and China as well as service centers in Europe, the Middle East, the Americas, Asia and Australia. In Mobile, the Recaro operation will be in the Aerospace Incubator. (Source: Mobile Airport Authority, 03/15/16) Recaro is based in Schwabisch, Germany, and has 1,900 workers worldwide. Recaro is one of more than a dozen suppliers that have opened operations at the Aeroplex since Airbus announced it would build an assembly line for A320 series jetliners in Mobile.

Contract: Lockheed, $66.2M

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $66,222,453 undefinitized contract action against a previously awarded basic ordering agreement (N00019-14-G-0020) for the design, development, fabrication, integration, delivery, installation, and testing of the technical solution to enable full interoperability of the Distributed Mission Training capability for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft. Work will be performed in Orlando, Fla. (90 percent); and Fort Worth, Texas (10 percent), and is expected to be completed in March 2018. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 03/11/16) Gulf Coast note: Eglin is home of the F-35 integrated training center.

NOLF ceremony rescheduled

NAVAL AIR STATION WHITING FIELD, Fla. -- The ceremony to commemorate Naval Air Station Whiting Field's resumption of flight training at NOLF Summerdale, Ala., has been postponed until 10 a.m. March 14 due to the weather. It had been scheduled for today. (Source: NAS Whiting Field, 03/11/16) Previous

RS-25 has 500-second test

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- An RS-25 that will used to power NASA's Space Launch System performed a 500-second flight certification test today on the A-1 test stand at Stennis Space Center. NASA conducted a series of tests on an RS-25 development engine last year, but this Aerojet Rocketdyne engine, No. 2059, will fly. It is one of four, all to be tested at Stennis Space Center, that will power the SLS in Exploration Mission 2, a crewed mission that will carry astronauts into lunar orbit. That will be the first mission beyond low-Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972. The RS-25 that was tested today is a modified versions of the engines used aboard the Space Shuttle. Together the four engines will provide more than 2 million pounds of thrust. (Source: NASA/SSC, 03/10/16)

Contract: Rolls-Royce, $47.5M

Rolls-Royce Corp., Indianapolis, Ind., is being awarded $47,515,467 for modification P00003 to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery, requirements contract (N00019-14-D-0016) to exercise an option to provide an estimated 37,015 flight hours of intermediate, depot-level maintenance, and related logistics support for about 223 in-service T-45 F405-RR-401 Adour engines. Work will be performed at the Naval Air Station Meridian, Miss. (47 percent); NAS Kingsville, Texas (46 percent); NAS Pensacola, Fla. (6 percent); and NAS Patuxent River, Md. (1 percent), and is expected to be completed in September 2016. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 03/08/16)

Flares put to test at Eglin

C-5 ejects flares over Eglin range March 2.
Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Naomi Shipley

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Aircraft countermeasures were put to the test recently when aircrews from two West Coast bases came to the Gulf Coast. Participating in the Air Mobile Command flare effectiveness test were the 62nd Airlift Wing C-17 Globemaster III aircrew from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., and a C-5 crew from Travis Air Force Base, Calif. The aircraft-dispensed flares are used as infrared countermeasures designed to defeat heat seeking surface-to-air or air-to-air missiles. Typically, cargo-carrying aircraft like the C-130, C-5 and C-17 carry flares as countermeasures. The tests began late last month. (Source: 62nd Airlift Wing, 03/07/16)

Contract: Lockheed, $9.2M

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded $9,239,696 for cost-plus-incentive-fee modification PO0007 to a previously awarded contract (N00019-15-C-0114) for the Windows 7 upgrade of the Joint Strike Fighter test product stations. Work will be performed in Nashua, N.H. (19 percent); Cheltenham, United Kingdom (14 percent); San Diego, Calif. (14 percent); Fort Worth, Texas (13 percent); Haifa, Israel (13 percent); Baltimore, Md. (9 percent); Orlando, Fla. (6 percent); Rockford, Ill. (4 percent); Owego, N.Y. (4 percent ); Grand Rapids, Mich. (3 percent); and Alpharetta, Ga. (1 percent), and is expected to be completed in March 2017. This contract combines purchases for the Air Force (50 percent); Marine Corps (25 percent); and the Navy (25 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 03/07/16)

NOLF will be used again

NAVAL AIR STATION WHITING FIELD, Fla. -- Naval Air Station Whiting Field will resume scheduled flight training at Navy Outlying Landing Field Summerdale, Ala., beginning March 14. A first flight is set March 11 to commemorate that occasion, and will include a ceremonial ribbon-cutting between Baldwin County Commissioner Chris Elliott and Whiting commander, Capt. Todd Bahlau. The base hasn’t used NOLF Summerdale regularly since 2005 because of work to extend the runway to handle the T-6B Texan II trainer. NOLF Summerdale is one of five outlying fields Whiting uses for T-6B fixed-wing aviator training. (Source: NAS Whiting Field, 03/07/16)

Contract: Lockheed, $116.8M

Lockheed Martin, Missiles and Fire Control, Orlando, Fla., has been awarded a $116,820,526 modification (P00007) to exercise the option on previously awarded contract FA8682-16-C-0005 for the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) program. Contractor will provide JASSM production, system upgrades, integration, sustainment, management and logistical support. Work will be performed at Troy, Ala., and is expected to be complete by June 29, 2019. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: 03/04/16)

A321 leaves Mobile paintshop

The first U.S.-built A321 has now been painted.
Airbus photo

MOBILE, Ala. – The painting of the first U.S.-built A321 passenger jet has been completed and it has emerged from the paintshop at the Mobile Aeroplex emblazoned with the livery of JetBlue. The company will be the first to take delivery of a U.S.-built Airbus jetliner the spring. MAAS Aviation is responsible for painting aircraft in its new facility at the Aeroplex, located at the Airbus manufacturing facility campus. (Source: Airbus, 03/04/16)

F-35 combat wings mark first

F-35A combat unit drops GBU-12. AF photo

HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah -- Air Force combat wings dropped bombs from the F-35A last week, marking the first time a combat unit has done so. The bombs, dropped at a test range at Hill Air Force Base, were laser-guided GBU-12 Paveways, the bomb type dropped for the first time from an F-35 in October 2013. The F-35 has used a variety of weapons in testing, but this test involved the 388th and 419th fighter wings, the first combat units to use the bombs as the Air Force moves toward declaring the F-35 ready for operations later this year. (Source: AFNS, 02/29/16) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base is home of the F-35 integrated training center. Previous related

Contract: Northrop, $7.3M

Northrop Grumman Corp., Aerospace Systems, San Diego, Calif., is being awarded $7,280,560 for cost-plus-fixed-fee task order 1269 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-15-G-0026) in support of the MQ-8 Fire Scout unmanned aircraft systems. This test support effort for the MQ-8C includes software verification; software regression; cybersecurity; dynamic interface; and other requirements in preparation for, but not including, initial operational test and evaluation. The MQ-8B scope includes providing aircraft maintenance support for two government-owned MQ-8B test aircraft. Work will be performed in Point Mugu, Calif., and is expected to be completed in October 2016. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 03/01/16) Gulf Coast note: Fire Scouts are built in part in Moss Point, Miss.

Airbus eyes shift to A321

Airbus may shift more of its narrrow-body jetliner production toward the largest member of the A320 family, sales chief John Leahy said on Monday. The 185-seat A321neo has been winning more orders than the 178-seat Boeing MAX 9. The A321 and A321neo successor make up 34 percent of Airbus' narrow-body order backlog, but production plans already call for 50 percent of the total to be in that size. Leahy said that proportion could increase even further. (Source: Reuters, 02/29/16) Gulf Coast note: The initial jetliners being assembled at the U.S. Manufacturing Center in Mobile, Ala., are all A321 models.