Contract: L-3 Vertex, $21M

L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace, LLC, Madison, Miss., is being awarded a $21,098,439 modification to a previously awarded contract to provide logistics services and materials for organizational, intermediate, and depot level maintenance of 14 T39N and 6 T-39G aircraft located at the Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla. In addition, this modification provides for aircraft intermediate maintenance services in support of Chief of Naval Air Training aircraft and transient aircraft at NAS Pensacola, and NAS Corpus Christi, Texas. Work will be performed in Pensacola, Fla. (99 percent), and Corpus Christi, Texas and is expected to be completed in March 2011. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 09/24/10)

Contract: Marianna Airmotive, $20M

Marianna Airmotive Corp., Cantonment, Fla., was awarded a $20,000,000 contract which will procure 18 national stock numbers of structural components, i.e., spoilers, applicable to C-5 aircraft. At this time, $786,450 has been obligated. 409 SCMS/GUMD, Robins Air Force Base, Ga., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 09/24/10) Gulf Coast note: Cantonment is north of Pensacola, Fla.

Commander tapped for promotion

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - Maj. Gen. C. R. Davis, program executive officer for weapons and Air Armament Center commander, was nominated for appointment to lieutenant general. Davis arrived at Eglin in May 2009 and is responsible for the development, acquisition, testing, deployment and sustainment of all air-delivered weapons. AAC plans, directs and conducts test and evaluation of U.S. and allied air armament, navigation and guidance systems, and command and control systems. Once confirmed, Davis will be reassigned to Hanscom AFB, Mass., as Commander, Electronic Systems Center. Plans for a change of command ceremony are pending senate confirmation. (Source: Eglin Air Force Base, 09/22/10)

Shuttle tank on way to Kennedy

NEW ORLEANS - The external fuel tank that will power the last planned space shuttle is expected to arrive Sunday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The tank has been restored to flight configuration at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans after sustaining damage during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The tank, ET-122, was shipped out Tuesday. It will support shuttle Endeavour's flight targeted for launch in February. (Source: Tcp, based on NASA release, 09/20/10)

AF narrows list of airfields

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - The Air Force has narrowed the primary airfields for the Joint Strike Fighter to Eglin Main and Duke Field. In a draft of the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement released this week, the Air Force said the JSF will bed down, be maintained, launched and recovered at one of the two fields. A decision will be made after public hearings and release of the final EIS. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 09/23/10)

Contract: Del-Jen, $23.4M

Del-Jen Inc., Clarksville, Tenn., is being awarded a $23,380,548 modification under a previously awarded contract to exercise Option 3 for base operations support services at Naval Air Station Pensacola and surrounding areas. The work to be performed provides for public works administration including labor, management, supervision, materials, supplies, and tools for facilities management. Work will be performed in Pensacola, Fla., and is expected to be completed by September 2011. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southeast, Jacksonville, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 09/23/10)

Contract awarded for road expansion

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - NPD Resources Inc. of Brookhaven, Miss., has been awarded a $12.46 million contract to expand Highway 607 at Stennis Space Center from two lanes to four lanes. The project is expected to take 18 months. The highway will be expanded to a four-lane divided roadway between Saturn Drive and Texas Flat Road at Stennis Space Center, a distance of about four miles. The improvement will be made by adding two lanes west of the existing roadway from Saturn Drive to the north security gate at Stennis and adding two lanes east of the existing roadway from the gate to Texas Flat Road. A 30-foot median will separate the four lanes. The roadway addition is part of a larger project to expand state Route 607 to four lanes all the way to I-59. The expanded road not only will provide service to Stennis Space Center, but will serve as a hurricane evacuation route. (Source: NASA, 09/22/10)

PW on track for 2011 test at SSC

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne successfully completed the latest round of tests on the gas generator for NASA's J-2X rocket engine. With the first NASA J-2X engine far along in development, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is on track to begin testing in 2011 at John C. Stennis Space Center, Miss. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a United Technologies Corp.company. It has an operation at Stennis Space Center. (Source: PRNewswire, 09/21/10)

Contract: Aerojet, $8M

Aerojet General Corp., Cordova, Calif., was awarded an $8,088,294 contract to manufacture empty warhead cases to support the precision lethality MK82 quick reaction capability program. At this time, $3,963,265 has been obligated. AAC/EBSK, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 09/21/10)

Contract: Roy Anderson, $14.4M

Roy Anderson Corp., Gulfport, Miss., is being awarded $14,430,700 for firm-fixed-price task order #0002 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract for the addition to and alteration of Air Force Central Command Headquarters at Shaw Air Force Base. Work will be performed in Sumter, S.C., and is expected to be completed by September 2012. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southeast, Jacksonville, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 09/21/10)

Work continues toward alternative fuels

ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. - An F-15 Eagle engine is undergoing performance testing using a unique blend of three different fuel types. The F100 engine is being tested with a combination of JP-8 conventional aviation fuel, a biofuel derived from an animal fat and a synthetic fuel derived from coal. The fuels testing is being conducted to ensure the different fuels, in varying combinations, are suitable for an upcoming series of F-15 flight tests tentatively scheduled for October at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. (Source: AFNS, 09/20/10)

Fire Scout flights to resume soon

Flights of the Fire Scout unmanned helicopter the Navy is testing to operate from its warships will resume Sept. 20, the Navy announced late Thursday. The UAVs were grounded after operators lost control of one on Aug. 2 and it entered restricted airspace around Washington. This time they’ll be flying in Yuma, Ariz. The Navy had been flying Fire Scouts from a field near Naval Air Station Patuxent River in southern Maryland. Testing will resume there after engineers validate updated software for the aircraft. New software is scheduled to be installed early next month. (Source: Navy Times, 09/16/10) Gulf Coast note: Fire Scouts are built in part in Moss Point, Miss.

Airport chief gives blunt assessment

NEW ORLEANS - After 100 days in office, the new head of the New Orleans airport said Louis Armstrong International suffers from major management and staffing deficiencies and is headed for more problems if things don't change quickly. Iftikhar Ahmad, former airport administrator in Nashville, Tenn., said the airport is understaffed, lacks an overall business strategy and there are no performance measures. (Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 09/15/10)

Contract: Jacobs, $12M

Jacobs Technology Inc., Fort Walton Beach, Fla., is being awarded $12,058,815 for a task order under a previously awarded contract to provide support of the transition from the Navy/Marine Corps Intranet environment to the next Marine Corps Information Technology environment. This includes financial planning, programming, budgeting and execution of the USMC enterprise budget throughout the Future Year Defense Plan; program management activities; USMC representation and coordination with Navy Next Generation Enterprise Network office, the Secure Operational Network Infrastructure Capability Program of Record activities as well as providing expertise in all other forums related to the delivery of this new IT environment. Work will be performed in Dumfries, Va., Washington, D.C., and Stafford, Va. Work is expected to be completed in September 2011. The Marine Corps System Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 09/16/10)

Contract: EDO, $11.4M

EDO Communications & Countermeasures Systems Inc., Thousand Oaks, Calif., was awarded a $11,400,000 contract modification to provide sustaining engineering services in support of the B-1 and B-52 mission data test laboratories and special test equipment. Work will directly support the maintenance, operation and technical capabilities of the electronic warfare systems mock-ups, special test equipment and mobile test facilities. AAC/PKES, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 09/16/10)

WTO: Boeing received illegal subsidies

The World Trade Organization dispute settlement panel ruled Wednesday that Boeing received U.S. government subsidies to develop aircraft. The interim ruling, reported by numerous media organizations, is confidential and a final ruling is not expected for several months. Three months ago the WTO found that European countries provided illegal subsidies to Boeing rival Airbus. The biggest impact of the ruling could be forcing the United States and European Union to come up with a negotiated settlement on subsidies. (Sources: Multiple, including Reuters, AP, Bloomberg, 09/15/10) Gulf Coast note: Boeing and Airbus parent, EADS, are competing for a $40 billion contract to build tankers for the U.S. Air Force. EADS wants to assemble its tankers in Mobile, Ala.

Squadron gets new commander

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. - Col. Richard McBride Jr. took command of the 81st Diagnostics and Therapeutics Squadron Tuesday. He succeeds Col. Stephanie McCann, who retired Aug. 1. McBride's squadron consists of diagnostic imaging, nutritional medicine, pharmacy and pathology and clinical laboratory flights and is comprised of more than 300 military members and civilians. (Source: 81st Medical Group Public Affairs, 09/15/10)

Testing snow tires in Florida

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - Snow fell and temperatures reached 20 degrees inside the McKinley Climatic Lab in preparation to test snow traction and ice braking capabilities on vehicle tires. Lab engineers had snow falling Sept. 4 to fill the chamber and create the freezing and icy conditions needed for the customer, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. It took two long days to fill the 55,000 foot chamber with snow and reach the conditions required, according to Matt McCarty, test engineer with McKinley Lab. The McKinley Lab has been an Eglin icon since 1947 and is the largest climatic lab in the world. The 46th Test Wing facility is primarily used for military testing, but provides services to commercial companies and even foreign countries. (Source: Eglin Public Affairs, 09/13/10)

Contract: BAE Systems, $38M

BAE Systems of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., was awarded a $38,096,209 contract modification which will manage, operate, maintain and logistically support the solid state phase array radar system at Cape Cod, Air Force Station, Massachusetts; Beale Air Force Base, Calif.; Thule Air Base, Greenland; Clear Air Force Station, Alaska; and Royal Air Force Flyingdales, United Kingdom, for fiscal 2011. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. 21 CONS/LGCZB, Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 09/13/10)

Orion testing continues at Michoud

NEW ORLEANS - The first Orion capsule passed a structural proof pressure test at the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility on Aug. 30. The proof test article will be used for ground and flight evaluations, which will correlate test data with analytical models to validate Orion's flight design engineering. Lockheed Martin is outfitting the test unit with its final configuration of interior and exterior mass and volume simulators. Around December the Orion will be delivered to the company’s Denver, Colo., facility for performance testing in an acoustic chamber. (Source: Aviation Week, 09/10/10)