Week in review (8/16 to 8/22)

The Pegasus barge, which was used to transport Space Shuttle External Tanks from Louisiana to Florida, has been refitted in Louisiana for its new role in NASA's Space Launch System program.

The barge will be used to transport the 213-foot core stage of the SLS rocket from its production facility at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans various NASA centers, including Stennis Space Center, Miss.

Pegasus was last used to transport ground support equipment from the Space Shuttle program from Kennedy Space Center, Fla., to Stennis Space Center. From 2011 to 2014 it was mothballed at SSC while work continued on the new SLS program.

Because the SLS is larger, NASA contracted with Conrad Shipyard in Morgan City, La., to beef up Pegasus so it could be used for its new task. For a complete story on this $8.5 million refurbishing, read the item in NASA Spaceflight.


F-35
Lockheed Martin Aerospace has contracted with Cubic Global Defense to produce and enhance the Air Combat Training System in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Work includes the addition of an internally mounted subsystem of the P5 Combat Training System, or P5CTS, that enables the F-35 to maintain its stealth characteristics while training.

The P5 training system is an encrypted system interoperable with the P5CTS/Tactical Combat Training System used by the U.S. Air Force, Air National Guard, Navy, Marines and international partners. The training systems are used throughout the Gulf Coast region. (Post)


Airbus
India's largest domestic airline by market share, IndiGo, firmed up last year's commitment and ordered 250 A320neo family aircraft. With this order the A320neo order backlog is now over 4,100 aircraft.

That just underscores why Airbus opted to build another A320 assembly line. The new $600 million manufacturing plant in  plant in Mobile, Ala., will help Airbus fill its huge list of orders for the popular aircraft. The plant has its official opening Sept. 14. (Post)


Airports
The Mobile Regional Airport's concourse has been named in honor of Matthew S. "Matt" Metcalfe, who served for 35 years at the Mobile Airport Authority. Metcalfe, who retired in 2014 from MAA, now serves as director emeritus.

Among other things, Metcalfe played key roles in developing the Mobile Regional Airport and with the redevelopment of the former U.S. Air Force Base at Brookley Field in downtown Mobile into a general aviation facility and industrial park. (Post)


Bases
The Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape aircrew program at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., was inactivated during the week and will be consolidated with water survival at Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash.

The 66th Training Squadron's Detachment 2 was inactivated in a ceremony at the National Naval Aviation Museum. The survival school has prepared aircrews from the Air Force, Army, Navy and NASA with training on how to prepare for survival after bailing out of an aircraft. (Post)


Contract
Potomac River Group LLC, Ashburn, Va., was awarded a $35.3 million contract to obtain certified contractor support to administer polygraph examinations for Naval Criminal Investigative Service counterintelligence scope polygraph examinations in support of the Navy Insider Threat program. Eleven percent of the work will be done in Pensacola, Fla. Work also will be done in Washington, D.C., California, Virginia, Hawaii, Maryland and Texas. … General Dynamics of Niceville, Fla., was among a host of companies awarded a ceiling $490 million contract for the Agile Acquisition program. Contractors will provide for pre-program activities, technology development activities, engineering and manufacturing activities, and production activities for development of new systems or modification of existing systems. The location of performance is Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Air Force Lifecycle Management Center, Rapid Acquisition Cell, Eglin Air Force Base, is the contracting activity. … Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems, Inc., Bethesda, Md., was awarded an $82.8 million contract for next generation technical services. Work will be performed at Stennis Space Center, Miss., Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio; Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.; Vicksburg, Miss.; Lorton, Va.; and Bethesda with an estimated completion date of June 19, 2016. … Roy Anderson Corp., Gulfport, Miss., was awarded a $38.3 million contract for construction of the Bolden Elementary-Middle School at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, S.C., and is expected to be completed by June 2018.