Saturday, November 17, 2018

Week in review (11/11 to 11/17)

It's going to be a long haul for Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla.

The Air Force says it will take up to five years to repair the damage caused by Hurricane Michael in October. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said at the Nov. 15 Defense One Summit that the hurricane damaged 95 percent of the base's buildings.

Missions will return to the base over the next three months, including the Air Operations Center. Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., some 60 miles west of Tyndall, has taken Tyndall's F-22 flying training unit, including T-38 trainers. The F-22 schoolhouse for pilots in training has also be moved to Eglin.

All the F-22 Raptors left behind during the storm because they were in various states of maintenance and repair have moved to the other bases until their future destination is determined. (Post)


Airbus
Airbus during the week named HPM as its program manager for planning, design and construction of its new A220 assembly line at the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley. HPM also will be responsible for the expansion of Airbus' current facilities to accommodate the expected increase in A320 series production.

Construction on facilities for the A320 expansion and new A220 production has begun, and construction for a main A220 flow line building is expected to begin next year. A220 jetliner assembly is planned to start in 2019, using a combination of the existing and expanded Airbus facilities at Brookley to enable the first A220 delivery from Mobile to take place in 2020.

HPM, with offices in Birmingham, Huntsville, Auburn and Mobile, Ala., Atlanta, Dallas and Tampa, worked with Airbus in Mobile more than a decade ago with the Airbus Engineering Center. It was also program manager for the A320 series production facility, which was completed in 2015, and the ST Engineering Aerospace maintenance, repair and overhaul facility in Pensacola, Fla. (Post)


Space
NASA during the week conducted a full-power, full-duration 650-second RS-25 engine test on the A-1 Test Stand at Stennis Space Center, Miss. Operators fired development engine No. 0525 to a 113 percent thrust level for 60 seconds during the test, the second time they have achieved the highest RS-25 power level. Engineers first fired development engine No. 0528 to that level during a February test at Stennis Space Center.

Four RS-25 engines will help power NASA's Space Launch System, supplying a combined 2 million pounds of thrust and working in conjunction with a pair of solid rocket boosters to provide more than 8 million pounds of thrust. RS-25 tests at Stennis are conducted by a combined team of NASA, Aerojet Rocketdyne and Syncom Space Services operators. Aerojet Rocketdyne is the RS-25 prime contractor. Syncom Space Services is the prime contractor for Stennis facilities and operations. (Post)


Airports
The Northwest Beaches International Airport soon will have a new addition when The St. Joe Company breaks ground in early 2019 on a 110- to 125-room hotel on the airport grounds.

The hotel, including a restaurant, bar and meeting rooms, will be built adjacent to the now-closed covered parking facility on the north side of West Bay Parkway, St. Joe President and CEO Jorge Gonzalez said.

The airport’s passenger traffic was cited as the reason behind the hotel. In 2017, passenger traffic with the airport’s four operating airlines surpassed 900,000 passengers for the first time at the eight-year-old airport. The company hopes to open the new hotel in early 2020. (Post)


Contracts – F-35
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded three contracts during the week in connection with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, is the contracting activity for all three contracts.

The largest was a $22.7 billion contract modification to a previously awarded advanced acquisition contract for 255 aircraft. This modification provides for the production and delivery of 106 F-35 aircraft for the U.S. services (64 F-35As Air Force; 26 F-35Bs Marine Corps; 16 F-35Cs Navy); 89 F-35s for non-Department of Defense (DoD) participants (71 F-35As, 18 F-35 Bs); and 60 F-35s for Foreign Military Sales customers (60 F-35As). Work will be performed in Texas, California, Florida, New Hampshire, Maryland, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, and various locations outside the continental U.S., and is expected to be completed in March 2023.

The next largest was a $348.8 million contract for infrastructure to support developmental laboratory facilities and flight test activities in support of F-35 development, production and sustainment. Work will be performed in California, Maryland, and Texas and is expected to be completed in March 2020. This contract combines purchases for the Air Force (40 percent); Marine Corps (20 percent); Navy (20 percent) and non-DOD participants (20 percent).

The other contract is an $83.1 million contract action that provides for the development, integration, certification, and testing of dual capable aircraft capability to include hardware and software into the Air Force F-35A. Work will be performed in Texas, California and Missouri and is expected to be completed in February 2024.

Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 integrated training center.


Other contracts
Lockheed Martin Corp., Owego, N.Y., was awarded a $382 million contract that provides for the production and delivery of eight MH-60R aircraft as well as associated systems engineering and program management support. Eight percent of the work will be done in Troy, Ala. Other work sites are in New York and Connecticut. Work is expected to be completed in September 2020. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. … Lockheed Martin Corp., Orlando, Fla., was awarded a $172.1 million contract for long range anti-ship missiles (LRASMs) Lot 2 production. The contract allows for the production of 50 LRASMs. Work will be performed in Orlando and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2021. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. … Kaman Precision Products Inc., Orlando, Fla., and Middletown, Conn., was awarded a $52 million contract modification for the Joint Programmable Fuzes. The contract modification is for the purchase of an additional 15,000 fuzes being produced under the basic contract. Work will be performed in Orlando and Middletown and is expected to be completed by June 1, 2020. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $225.4 million. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. … L3 Communications Vertex Aerospace LLC, Madison, Miss., was awarded a $35 million contract modification for contractor logistic support of the Air Force C-12 fleet. Work will be performed in Mississippi, Texas, Oklahoma, Maryland, California, New Mexico, Alaska, Argentina, Botswana, Brazil, Columbia, Egypt, Ghana, Honduras, Hungary, Kenya, Morocco, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Turkey and Japan. Work is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2018. Air Force Lifecycle Management Center, Tinker AFB, Okla., is the contracting activity. … EMR Inc., Niceville, Fla., was awarded a $16.9 million task order under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract for renovations to Colmer Dining Facility Building 367 at Naval Construction Battalion Center Gulfport, Miss. Work will be performed in Gulfport and is expected to be completed by Nov. 2021. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southeast, Jacksonville, Fla., is the contracting activity.

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