Hurricane Hunter crew disciplined

BILOXI, Miss. - Members of the Mississippi-based Hurricane Hunters have been disciplined after their plane made an unauthorized stop to pick up a crew member's motorcycle. The five-member crew was spotted briefly stopping in Martha's Vineyard to load a 1970 BMW R75/5 onto their plane before continuing their assignment to California, The Sun Herald reported. The motorcycle belonged to a crew member. A news release said members of the 403rd Wing aircrew responsible for the stop have faced "both administrative and aircrew qualification-related discipline for misuse of a WC-130J Super Hercules aircraft.” The crew left Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi on March 24 and landed at Quonset Air National Guard Base in Rhode Island. The next day the crew made a detour to Martha’s Vineyard before continuing their assigned mission, which was to pick up equipment from Mather, Calif., the news release said. The crew was grounded in Mather and another crew picked up the aircraft and crew. The motorcycle remains in California. (Source: AP via Clarion Ledger, 05/12/22)

Big maritime evaluation executed

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - The 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group conducted the largest maritime Weapons System Evaluation Program April 7-15, 2022. This iteration included air-to-air and air-to-ground and electronic warfare operations. The 74th Fighter Squadron and the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron’s A-10s participated in the combat exercises, and were evaluated on maverick and laser guided weapon capabilities against maritime targets. During the Combat Hammer (air-to-ground) portion of WSEP the 1st Special Operations Wing’s U-28 aircraft assisted with target acquisition. The 34th Bomb Squadron’s B-1 Lancers also participated in the Combat Hammer portion. The 12th and 3rd Special Operations Squadron MQ-9 Reapers were used with the intent to deploy with minimal equipment and personnel to execute operations. All of these aircraft and mission sets used Eglin’s many water ranges, airspace and environments to execute the evaluations. The ranges are the responsibility of the 96th Test Wing’s Range Group. The program management of the event and the airspace belong to the 96th Operations Support Squadron. (Source: Eglin Air Force Base, 05/12/22)

Contract: Lockheed, $397.7M

Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $397,726,298 firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P00003) to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract (N0001921D0001). This modification exercises options to procure initial spares in support of F-35 Lightning II Lot 16 deliveries, as well as procures global spares pool and afloat spares package/deployment spares packages for the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, Foreign Military Sales customers, and non-U.S. Department of Defense participants. Work will be performed in Fort Worth and is expected to be completed in December 2024. No funds will be obligated at the time of award; funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 05/13/22) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of an F-35 training center and reprogramming labs.

Contract: Deloitte, $12.5M

Deloitte Consulting LLP, Arlington, Va., is awarded an estimated $12,500,000 modification to a previously awarded, cost-reimbursable, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00039-19-D-0007) for a training virtual environment (TVE) that will host the Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (CANES) training curriculum and deliver curriculum packages for CANES baselines. The TVE is a virtualized computing environment that fully replicates the functionality of CANES that provides realistic and testable training and scenarios. The TVE provides a centrally located and integrated learning management system that allows for rapid curriculum updates and configuration changes. No funds will be placed on contract or obligated at the time of award. Other procurement, Navy funds will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued upon award of the contract modification. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif. (45%); Phoenix, Ariz. (40%); Pensacola, Fla. (14%); and Virginia Beach, Va. (1%). Work is expected to be completed by December 2023. This sole source contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) — only one responsible source (Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation subpart 6.302-1). Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 05/13/22)
 

Contract: Consolidated, $9.8M

Consolidated Analysis Center Inc., Norfolk, Va., is awarded a $9,813,519 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract action for engineering services for amphibious and auxiliary ships. The contract is structured with an 11-month base period and a six-month option period, which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $15,243,206.  Work is expected to be performed in Washington, D.C. (72%); Philadelphia, Pa. (8%); Glen Burnie, Md. (5%); Arlington, Va. (5%); Mount Laurel, N.J. (4%); Virginia Beach, Va. (4%); and Pascagoula, Miss. (2%), and is expected to be completed by October 2023. Fiscal 2022 operation and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $100,000 will be obligated at time of award, of which $100,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) — only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Corona Division, Norco, Calif., is the contracting activity (N6426722C0010). (Source: DoD, 05/13/22)

Contract: Mike Hooks, $24M

Mike Hooks LLC, Westlake, La., was awarded a $24,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for rental of a cutterhead pipeline dredge. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of July 12, 2023. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile, Ala., is the contracting activity (W91278-22-D-0029). (Source: DoD, 05/13/22)

Tyndall hosting large exercise

TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - Checkered Flag 22-2, one of the largest air-to-air exercises, has kicked off at Tyndall and will run through May 20. It focuses on the integration of the F-22 with fourth-generation aircraft, including the F-15C, F-16, Navy F/A-18E, and others,to improve the capabilities of aviators and maintainers. The twice-yearly exercise supports the Air Combat Command's training of the Immediate Response Force. This Checkered Flag brings more than 1,300 personnel from 11 squadrons to Tyndall in support of 71 aircraft, with eight additional squadrons and almost 40 additional aircraft participating from their home stations across the country. (Source: Panama City News Herald, 05/11/22)

Contract: HII, $58.4M

Huntington Ingalls Inc., Ingalls Shipbuilding Division, Pascagoula, Miss., is awarded a $58,396,917 hybrid cost-plus-award-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee with a special performance incentive, and cost-only modification to previously awarded contract N00024-21-C-4205 to exercise options for planning yard support for LPD 17 amphibious transport dock ships, LHD 1/LHA 6 amphibious assault ships, LSD 41/49 dock landing ships, and LCC 19 amphibious command ship. Work will be performed in Pascagoula with on-site technical support for Chief of Naval Operations availabilities in Mayport, Fla.; Norfolk, Va.; San Diego, Calif.; and Sasebo, Japan. Work is expected to be completed by May 2023. No funding will be obligated at the time of award. The Supervisor of Shipbuilding Gulf Coast, Pascagoula, is the contracting activity (N00024-21-C-4205). (Source: DoD, 05/12/22)

Contract: Lockheed, $43.6M

Lockheed Martin Corp., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $43,643,049 cost-plus-fixed-fee order (N0001922F0001) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N0001919G0008). This order provides for diminishing manufacturing sources non-recurring engineering in support of a redesigned panoramic cockpit display electronic unit video mixer for F-35 Lightning II production aircraft for the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers, and non-U.S Department of Defense (DOD) participants. Work will be performed in Fort Worth and is expected to be completed in January 2029. Fiscal 2022 aircraft procurement (Air Force) funds in the amount of $17,882,438; fiscal 2022 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $17,882,438; and non-U.S. DOD participant funds in the amount of $7,878,172 will be obligated at the time of award, none 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, 05/11/22) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of an F-35 training center and reprogramming labs.

Contract: Hensel Phelps, $531.7M

Hensel Phelps Construction Co., Orlando, Fla., was awarded a $531,737,000 firm-fixed-price contract for the construction of 11 facilities within the flightline area of Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., including utilities, site improvements, pavements, detection/protection features, security enhancements and others. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed at Tyndall AFB with an estimated completion date of Jan. 19, 2026. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 military construction, Air Force funds in the amount of $531,737,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile, Ala., is the contracting activity (W91278-22-C-0008). (Source: DoD, 05/10/22)

Airbus makes new line official

MOBILE, Ala. - Airbus officially announced Monday that it plans to open a second A320 final assembly line in Mobile, where it also has an A220 jetliner assembly line. Groundbreaking is set for later this year or early next year with the first planes due off the new line in 2025. Airbus says it will hire a thousand additional employees, bringing its total workforce at the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley to 2,500 people by 2025. “This is going to make Mobile, when we’re up and running with all the final assembly lines running, the fourth largest aviation center in the world,” said Airbus Americas Chairman and CEO Jeff Knittel. The announcement comes as the aviation industry rebounds after a two-year COVID slowdown. Airbus says the new final assembly line will help the company push out 75 aircraft a month worldwide. Mayor Sandy Stimpson believes this announcement could lead to greater things ahead. “Just the size they’ll be now you’ll really see suppliers seriously considering coming here to this region now whereas in the past maybe it wasn’t quite the production level to warrant that,” he said. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, along with Airbus, Mobile and education leaders, attended the afternoon announcement. Airbus produced the first Alabama-built A320 aircraft in 2015, and it launched production of the A220 single-aisle passenger jet in Mobile during 2019. (Sources: FOX10, Governor's Office, 05/09/22) Previous

Contract: B.L. Harbert, $36.8M

B.L. Harbert International LLC, Birmingham, Ala., was awarded a $36,777,000 firm-fixed-price contract for construction of two gate complexes at the main access points of Tyndall Air Force Base. Fla. Bids were solicited via the internet with seven received. Work will be performed at Tyndall AFB with an estimated completion date of July 14, 2024. Fiscal 2020 military construction, Air Force funds in the amount of $36,777,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile, Ala., is the contracting activity (W91278-22-C-0018). (Source: DoD, 05/06/22)

SSC modifying flame deflector

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - Workers at Stennis Space Center are engaged in a maintenance project to protect the flame deflector on the Fred Haise Test Stand, where RS-25 engines for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are tested. During testing on the stand, an RS-25 engine’s combustion chamber reaches 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Its exhaust plume hits the test stand’s J-shaped flame deflector at temperatures around 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The exhaust is cooled by high-pressure water sprayed into the test stand flame deflector through thousands of 5/32-inch holes. Without the 170,000 gallons of water pumped every minute from the nearby High Pressure Industrial Water Facility, the carbon-steel flame deflector would melt under the superhot exhaust plume. The exhaust hits some parts of the flame deflector more directly and with more heat than others. To offset the effect, the pattern of holes must be precise and uniquely tailored for a particular test project. Crews are now in the process of performing critical modifications on the Fred Haise Test Stand flame deflector. A key part of the work is drilling a new, highly specialized hole pattern to improve water cooling and protect the infrastructure. The hole pattern will be uniquely tailored for the RS-25 testing program. In addition to the spray pattern effort, weld crews also are completing work on the flame deflector manifold structure. Having tested rocket engines and stages dating back to the Apollo missions, the Fred Haise Test Stand has a proven history of bearing the same temperatures and forces produced by a rocket engine during launch. However, testing RS-25 engines for SLS use has presented a new set of challenges. The engines sit at a lower point in the test stand (closer to the flame deflector) and operate at higher power levels than engines from some previous test programs. (Source: NASA/SSC, 05/04/22)

Contract: Lockheed, $372.5M

Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas is awarded a $372,461,030 undefinitized firm-fixed-price modification (P00003) to an order (N0001921F0398) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N0001919G0008). This modification adds scope to procure F-35 Lightning II Lots 15-16 ancillary mission equipment requirements for the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. Additionally, this modification adds scope to procure F-35 Lightning II initial spares for the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers, and non-U.S Department of Defense (DOD) participants. Work will be performed in Fort Worth and is expected to be completed in December 2024. Fiscal 2022 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $116,596,160; fiscal 2021 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of  $49,860,712; fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $11,732,939; fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Air Force) funds in the amount of  $ 90,680,424; FMS funds in the amount of $2,067,174; and non-U.S. DOD participant funds in the amount of $3,483,749 will be obligated at the time of award, $92,413,363 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, 05/05/22) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of an F-35 training center and reprogramming labs.

Boeing moving HQ from Chicago

Boeing plans to move corporate headquarters from Chicago to Northern Virginia, the Wall Street Journal reported and Forbes confirmed Thursday. Boeing could announce its move to Arlington County, Va., across the Potomac River from D.C., next week, the Journal and the Washington Post reported. Boeing’s Defense, Space and Security division is already headquartered in Arlington, Va. Boeing first moved its executives to Chicago in 2001, leaving the Seattle region, which had been Boeing's home for decades and is still where most of its commercial airplanes are produced. (Source: Forbes, 05/05/22) Gulf Coast note: Boeing rival Airbus has headquarters in Herndon, Va., and produces A320 and A220 passenger jets in Mobile, Ala.

Airbus eyes 2nd Mobile A320 line

MOBILE, Ala. - Airbus has confirmed to FOX10 News that it plans to build a second A320 assembly line in Mobile. The company released its first quarter report for 2022 that says it plans to increase its monthly production of the A320 to 75 aircraft a month in 2025, and Mobile is expected to play a major role. “Mobile will play a key role in Airbus’ plans to significantly increase global production rates in coming years,” said James Darcy, vice president of communications for Airbus. The company is expected to announce more details on the expansion in Mobile at a meeting on Monday. (Source: WALA, 05/04/22)  Mobile currently has two aircraft production lines at the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley, one for the A320 and one for the A220.

Contract: multiple, $130M

Ilsi-Arcadis JV, New Orleans, La. (W912EP-22-D-0002); CDM Federal Programs, Jacksonville, Fla. (W912EP-22-D-0004); SAI-WGI KV LLC, Orlando, Fla. (W912EP-22-D-0005); Kimley-Hanson-Bergmann JV, West Palm Beach, Fla. (W912EP-22-D-0006); AECOM-B&V Civil Works JV, Roanoke, Va. (W912EP-22-D-0007); Stanley Consultants-Stantec JV, Minneapolis, Minn. (W912EP-22-D-0008); and Genterra-Freese and Nichols Small Business Mentor-Protege JV, Irvine, Calif. (W912EP-22-D-0009), will compete for each order of the $130,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for engineering and design services for civil works projects. Bids were solicited via the internet with 26 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of May 4, 2027. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 05/04/22)

Contract: Austal USA, $230.5M

Austal USA, Mobile, Ala., is awarded a $230,545,382 fixed–priced incentive (firm target) contract modification to previously awarded contract N00024-19-C-2227 to exercise the option for the detail design and construction of Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) 16. Work will be performed in Mobile (63%); Fairfax, Va. (10%); Novi, Mich. (10%); Houston, Texas (3%); Slidell, La. (2%); Franklin, Mass. (2%); Rhinelander, Wisc. (2%); and Chesapeake, Va. (1%); with other efforts performed at various locations throughout the U.S. (4%), and various locations outside the U.S. (3%). Work is expected to complete by October 2025. Fiscal 2022 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $230,545,382 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 05/03/22)

Contract: L3Harris, $16.5M

L3Harris Technologies Inc., Colorado Springs, Colo., has been awarded a $16,515,647 contract modification (P00100) to previously awarded contract FA8823-20-C-0004 for Space Fence sustainment services. This modification adds depot level maintenance, modification and sustainment services for the Space Fence System. Work will be performed in Colorado Springs; Moorestown, N.J.; Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.; Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands; and Dahlgren, Va., and is expected to be completed by April 30, 2023. Fiscal 2022 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $5,341,637 are being obligated at the time of award. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $517,528,546. The Space Systems Center Directorate of Contracting, Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado Springs, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 05/02/22)

Contract: Vectrus Systems, $18M

Vectrus Systems Corp., Colorado Springs, Colo., has been awarded an $18,046,899 firm-fixed-price modification (A00122) to previously awarded contract FA3002-17-C-0001 for base operations support services at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. Work is expected to be completed by May 31, 2023. Fiscal 2022 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $16,705,668 are being obligated at the time of award. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $125,270,284. The 81st Contracting Squadron, Keesler AFB, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 05/02/22)