Contract: Raytheon, $25.8M

Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Ariz., was awarded a $25,778,000 contract modification which will procure Radome Phase II Advanced medium range air to air missile. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. 695 ARSS/PK, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 09/10/10)

Contract: Rehabilitation Svc., $8M

Rehabilitation Services Mississippi, Madison, Miss., was awarded a $7,986,886 contract modification which will procure full food services at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., with a period of performance of Oct. 1, 2010 through September 30, 2011. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. 81 CONS, Keesler Air Force Base, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 09/10/10)

Contract: Raytheon, $6.9M

Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Ariz., was awarded a $6,938,105 contract modification which will procure the study for the replacement for the Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missile (AMRAAM) transponder module used in the AMRAAM telemetry section. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. AAC/EBAK, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 09/10/10)

L-3 keeps door open on tanker work

L-3 Communications is open to joining the rematch to build aerial tankers for the Air Force, despite halting talks in April with EADS. Chief Executive Michael Strianese said conditions had not been right at that time. "The door is still open if EADS wants to talk in the future, or Boeing for that matter," Strianese told the Reuters Aerospace and Defense Summit in Washington on Thursday. (Source: Reuters, 09/10/10) Gulf Coast note: EADS and Boeing are competing to build the planes in a contract worth $40 billion. An award is expected in the fall. EADS wants to assemble the planes in Mobile, Ala.

SLAMRAAM test successful

Raytheon's Surface Launched Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile system (SLAMRAAM) successfully participated in a ballistic test vehicle firing at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The test included the firing of multiple AMRAAM missiles from the new family of medium tactical vehicle platform. The new platform provides additional armored capability and is more ruggedized to support the SLAMRAAM mission. (Source: Raytheon via PRNewswire, 09/09/10)

Army eyeing missile test site

Plaquemines Parish, La., officials say the Army is considering building a missile test site at Port Eads. The Army told parish officials that it needs a site from which to launch missiles over the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico for target practice. In a statement, the Army Space and Missile Defense Command in Huntsville, Ala., said it received money for a feasibility study "to consider locations within the Gulf Coast region as potential sites for test and evaluation assets." The Air Force already operates aerial combat ranges in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, including live-fire ranges off the Panhandle involving air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles. (Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 09/08/10)

New tower topped off

GULFPORT, Miss. - The new Federal Aviation Administration control tower at Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport was topped off Wednesday with a 50-foot-tall metal superstructure. That along with the existing concrete structure creates a 148-foot-tall tower that will replace the existing 90-foot-tall tower built in the 1970s. Construction is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2011. (Source: Sun Herald, 09/08/10)

Tanker award date slipping?

The target date to award the U.S. Air Force tanker contract may be slipping, according to military officials. An Air Force spokesman said the decision will be announced in the fall, and possibly as late as Dec. 20. The Air Force previously said it expected to announce a winner by mid-November. Boeing and EADS are competing for the contract. EADS plans to assemble its tankers in Mobile, Ala. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 09/08/10)

Boeing gets AC-130U support contract

FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. - Boeing has received a contract from the U.S. Air Force to provide spare servo-actuators for the AC-130U gunship. The five-year contract, which includes a base year plus four out-year ordering periods, is worth up to $7.2 million. A total of $1.2 million of the first phase has been obligated. Between now and July 2011, Boeing will provide 10 servo-actuators for the Trainable Gun Mount Systems needed to install 40-millimeter guns on four AC-130Us. The work will be performed by Boeing teams in Fort Walton Beach. (Source: Boeing, 09/02/10)

Northrop begins BAMS production

MOSS POINT, Miss. - Northrop Grumman has begun work on the first MQ-4 Broad Area Maritime Surveillance drone at the company's Moss Point facility. The Global Hawk BAMS aircraft is the first of about 40 of the high-altitude spy drones that will serve the Navy. It's designed to work with the Navy's new P-8 maritime patrol planes. The BAMS UAV is a multi-mission maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance system that will support a variety of missions while operating independently or in direct collaboration with fleet assets. The Air Force version of the Global Hawk is the RQ-4. The Unmanned Systems Center at Moss Point does fuselage work on the Global Hawk. (Source: Defense News, Globe Newswire, 09/01/10)

Contract: Tybrin, $38.7M

Tybrin Corp., Fort Walton Beach, Fla., has been awarded a $38,685,530 contract modification which will exercise Option Year Eight for software engineering support of guided weapons evaluations, simulations, and other services supporting research and development for the principals and customers of the Air Armament Center. AAC/PKET, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 08/31/10)

Contract: InDyne, $8.8M

InDyne Inc., Reston, Va., was awarded an $8,809,359 contract modification which will provide photographic services associated with base support and the development, acquisition, testing, deployment, and sustainment of air-developed weapons including research, development, test, and evaluation photography. AAC/PKET, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 08/31/10)

Airport installs body scan system

SAN DIEGO - The Transportation Security Agency at Lindbergh Field plans to debuts its new full-body scanner. The TSA is rolling out 450 of the scanners in U.S. airports this year. According to the machine's maker, California-based Rapiscan Systems, a low energy x-ray beam images the front and back of a person, compiling the data into a computer-generated image that can reveal objects concealed under clothing. (Source: San Diego Union-Tribune, 08/30/10) Gulf Coast note: Rapiscan has a manufacturing facility in Ocean Springs, Miss.

Airport expansion nears completion

PENSACOLA, Fla. - A $35 million terminal expansion project at the city-owned Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport is 98 percent complete. Greenhut Construction Co. was the general contractor for the expansion that began in August 2008 and was financed with airport revenue bonds and federal grants. The 1,400-acre airport offers 76 daily flights on six major air carriers. For the first seven months of this year, the airport handled 1.19 million passengers, up from 1.16 million in 2009. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 08/29/10)

Contract: Regal, $22.8M

Regal Select Services Inc., Abbeville, Ala., is being awarded a $22,755,119 firm-fixed-price contract for facility inmate grounds and public works services at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla. It provides for routine grounds maintenance and other as needed services aboard the air station and surrounding areas. Work will be performed in Pensacola and is expected to be completed by August 2015. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southeast, Jacksonville, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 08/27/10)

Contract: L3, $28.5M

L3 Communications Aerospace, LLC, Madison, Miss., was awarded a $28,476,296 time-and-material contract for aircraft workers. Work is to be performed at Corpus Christi Army Depot, Corpus Christi, Texas, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 28, 2011. One bid was solicited with one received. Corpus Christi Army Depot, Corpus, Christi, Texas, is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 08/26/10)

Braun impressed with SSC

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – NASA's chief technologist says there are a lot of options for getting humans to distant places in space, but with all of them the "pathway to do that will go through Mississippi." Robert Braun was at NASA's Stennis Space Center today as part of a national tour to bring attention to the $5 billion Space Technology Program slated to start next fiscal year. The program will focus on developing transformative new space technologies, from propulsion systems to space habitats and more. This was Braun's first visit to SSC, and he admits he strongly associated it with propulsion testing but found "it's really much more than that." He noted the large number of additional federal agencies, and said he sees a number of partnership opportunities. Braun said that one of the first things that impressed him about Stennis was "how quickly people can do things here," such as taking an innovative idea and doing the testing. While SSC is most noted for test and evaluation, Braun sees it playing a role in the Space Technology Program and working on transformative technologies through the innovative partnership program, which will become a part of his office in 2011. So what will he tell his bosses about Stennis Space Center? "First thing I'm going to say is how cool it is," he said. (Source: Tcp, 08/26/10)

Drone entered restricted DC airspace

Navy operators lost control of a Fire Scout unmanned helicopter earlier this month and didn't regain control before the drone entered restricted airspace around the nation's capital. Once communications were re-established, the Fire Scout returned to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. The Navy is calling the problem a "software" issue. A program that was to have brought the UAV back to base in a communication failure did not work as intended. A software modification has been developed, according to the Navy. All six Fire Scouts were grounded after the incident, but are expected to return to flight status next month. (Sources: New York Times, Navy Times, 08/25/10) Gulf Coast note: Fire Scouts are built in part in Moss Point, Miss.

GE Aviation picks Alabama

GE Aviation will create a $45 million coatings facility for military jet engine components in Alabama, officials announced today. GE Aviation, of Cincinnati, Ohio, is in the final stages of selecting a site for the center. The coatings facility will be involved in the GE Rolls-Royce F136 jet engine being developed for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. GE Aviation's Alabama facility will be 200,000 square feet and is expected to open in the 2011-2012. The facility is expected to employ 300-400 people. Pratt & Whitney makes the primary engine for the F-35, and GE Rolls-Royce is the alternate engine. (Source: Multiple, including Mobile Press-Register, 08/25/10) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the home of the Joint Strike Fighter Training Center; Rolls-Royce tests large commercial jet engines at Stennis Space Center, Miss.

Navy slates runway expansion meeting

Robertsdale, Ala., will hold a public meeting later this month so local residents can provide comments on Navy plans to extend runways at two outlying fields in Baldwin County. The Navy wants to extend runways at the Barin and Summerdale outlying fields and will acquire 200 acres at each site. The outlying fields are used by pilots training at Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Fla. The T-6B Texan, a more powerful aircraft, is scheduled to replace the T-34 Turbo Mentor. The transition is expected to be complete by 2013. The public meeting is Aug. 31 at 6 p.m. in the Central Annex Auditorium in Robertsdale. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 08/25/10)