Week in review (12/16 to 12/29)

The weekly Perspectives column will return Jan. 5, 2019.

Week in review (12/9 to 12/15)

The December issue of the Gulf Coast Aerospace Corridor Newsletter will publish next week. This issue will fill you in on the Aerospace Alliance Summit that was held last month in Point Clear, Ala.

The two-day summit took a look at education and workforce training on the first day, then explored what's to come in the future for the industry. There is also an article on the Airbus-Lockheed plan to team up on an aerial tanker that it will market to the U.S. military, and a story about the plan to base F-35s at Tyndall Air Force Base, which was heavily damaged by Hurricane Michael in October.

The eight-page newsletter will be available for download at the Gulf Coast Aerospace Corridor website Tuesday. Subscribers, of course, will receive the PDF in their inbox. If you want to subscribe, it's free. Just drop me an email.

Now for your week in review:

Airbus

Airbus delivered its 100th aircraft from its U.S. Manufacturing Facility at the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley. The A320neo was delivered to Frontier Airlines. Airbus in Mobile is delivering four A320 series aircraft per month and has delivered to eight U.S.-based customers so far. Airbus has three other A320 production facilities in Hamburg, Germany; Tianjin, China; and Toulouse, France. (Post)

Bases

The Air Force is recommending that three squadrons of F-35A fighters be based at Tyndall Air Force Base. The service is recommending that Congress use supplemental funding for rebuilding the base that was severely damaged by Hurricane Michael in October. The preliminary evaluation shows the operational squadrons of F-22 Raptors, formerly at Tyndall, can be accommodated at bases in Alaska, Hawaii and Virginia. If funded, F-35s could be based at Tyndall in 2023. (Post)

Airports

The Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport notched its millionth passenger for the calendar year when a Delta flight from Atlanta landed during the week. It’s the first time it’s had that many passengers. The airport had 300,000 passengers when it started in 2010. (Post)

Contracts - NASA

NASA has selected Four Inc. of Herndon, Va., to provide new products, renewals and cloud services to NASA customers for purchase when needed. The total value of the contract is about $9.6 million. The performance period consisting of a one-year base period with two one-year option periods. The contract will be administered by the NASA Shared Services Center (NSSC) at Stennis Space Center (SSC). The NSSC performs selected business activities for all NASA centers.

Contracts - Military

The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., was awarded a $92.4 million contract for Phase 1 integrated logistics support for 22 F/A-18E and 6 F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft in support of the government of Kuwait under the Foreign Military Sales program. Work will be performed in St. Louis (85 percent); Fort Walton Beach, Fla. (8 percent); New Orleans (5.5 percent); China Lake, Calif. (.5 percent); Patuxent River, Md. (.5 percent); and Gulfport, Miss. (.5 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2020. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, is the contracting activity. … The Boeing Co., Fort Walton Beach, Fla., has been awarded an $11.7 million modification to exercise Option Three of a contract for the integrated sustainment support of the AC-130U gunships. Work will be performed at Fort Walton Beach and deployed locations in Afghanistan and Kuwait, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Robins Air Force Base, Ga., is the contracting activity. … Aretè Associates Inc., Northridge, Calif., was awarded a $17 million modification to a previously awarded contract to exercise an option for coastal battlefield reconnaissance and analysis (COBRA) systems. Work will be performed in Tucson, Ariz. (35 percent); Destin, Fla. (35 percent); and Santa Rosa, Calif. (30 percent), and is expected to be completed by July 2021. The Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division, Panama City, Fla., is the contracting activity. … Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Orlando, Fla., was awarded a $10.3 million modification to a contract for Lot Two production of three Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles. Work will be performed in Orlando and is expected to be completed by Feb. 28, 2020. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity.

Week in review (12/2 to 12/8)

It’s usually fairly slow during the holiday season for aerospace news in the Gulf Coast region, but there’s always something that will pop up.

During the week, we learned that Europe's Airbus is teaming with U.S.-based Lockheed Martin to develop tankers to meet the U.S. military's growing demand. The two aerospace and defense giants signed a memorandum of agreement to work together to land the next aerial refueling tanker order for the U.S. military.

The U.S. Air Force, which wants to ultimately replace its entire fleet of over 400 tankers, is examining ways to meet growing demand for aerial refueling with possible fee-for-service arrangements, purchases of hundreds of additional aircraft, and the future development of a stealthy tanker.

This all comes eight years after Airbus lost an Air Force tanker battle to Boeing, which is building 179 767-based tankers, called the KC-46A, under a contract awarded in 2011. Meanwhile, Airbus has sold its A330-based Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) to 12 countries.

Although Airbus lost the tanker competition, it built a plant in Mobile to assemble the popular A320 series of jetliners. Nearly 100 jetliners built in Mobile have been delivered. Mobile will also be getting a second assembly line to build A220 passenger jets. (Post)

Contracts

L3 Communications Vertex Aerospace LLC., Madison, Miss., was awarded a $21.8 million modification to a previously awarded contract. This modification increases the ceiling and extends the period of performance to provide contractor logistics services and materials for organizational and depot-level services required to support and maintain the TH-57 fleet. Work will be performed in Milton, Fla., and is expected to be completed in January 2019. The Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, Orlando, Fla., is the contracting activity.

Week in review (11/25 to 12/1)

Air Lease Corporation late in the week took delivery of its first U.S.-produced A321 at the Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility in Mobile. It will be leased to Denver-based Frontier Airlines and features Xavier the Mountain Goat on its vertical tail and sharklets.

The aircraft is also the first U.S.-made A321ceo to enter Frontier’s fleet. The airline has previously taken direct delivery of six A320neos from Airbus’s Mobile production facility. ALC is the eighth U.S.-based customer to receive aircraft from Mobile. (Post)

Corporate

United Technologies is splitting into three independent companies after sealing its $23 billion acquisition of aviation electronics maker Rockwell Collins.

The three companies will be United Technologies, which will house its aerospace and defense industry supplier businesses of Pratt and Whitney and Collins Aerospace Systems; Otis, the maker of elevators, escalators and moving walkways; and the Carrier air conditioning and building systems business.

The separation is expected to be completed in 2020. UTC has an operation in Foley, Ala. (Post)

Contracts – F-35

Pratt and Whitney Military Engines, East Hartford, Conn., was awarded a $399.8 million modification to a previously awarded contract. This modification provides for performance based logistics sustainment in support of the F-35 Lightning II F135 propulsion system for the U.S Navy; U.S Air Force; U.S. Marine Corps; Non-U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) participants, and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. Work will be performed in East Hartford (73 percent); Oklahoma City, Okla. (18 percent); Camari, Italy (3 percent); Eglin Air Force Base (AFB), Fla. (2 percent); Edwards AFB, Calif. (1 percent); Hill AFB, Utah (1 percent); Luke AFB, Ariz. (1 percent); and Marine Corps Air Station, Beaufort, S.C. (1 percent), and is expected to be completed in November 2019. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. … Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded an $18.5 million modification to a previously awarded contract. This modification exercises the ordering period for the first option year and provides for emerging capabilities and analysis systems engineering activities to include programmatic and logistics tasks that will analyze the F-35 air system's ability to meet future operational requirements, investigating cost and weight reduction program options, and conducting modeling and simulation activities. Work will be performed in Fort Worth and is expected to be completed in December 2019. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.


Other contracts

Raytheon Co. Missile Systems Division, Tucson, Ariz., was awarded an $18.7 million contract for High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile targeting system contractor logistics support services. Work will be performed in Tucson and is expected to be completed by Nov. 30, 2019. 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 $97.5 million contract for contractor operated and maintained base supply of the Air Education and Training Command fleet of 178 T-1A trainer aircraft. Work will be performed at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas; Laughlin AFB, Texas; Vance AFB, Okla.; Columbus AFB, Miss.; and Pensacola Naval Air Station, Fla., with an expected completion date of Nov. 30, 2019. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Tinker AFB, Okla., is the contracting activity. … Scientific Research Corp., Atlanta, was awarded a $12 million contract to exercise option one in a previously awarded contract for T-6A aircraft kit production and installation. Work will be performed at Columbus Air Force Base, Miss.; Vance AFB, Okla.; Laughlin AFB, Texas; Sheppard AFB, Texas; Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., and Joint Base San Antonio – Randolph, Texas, and is expected to be completed by Jan. 1, 2020. Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., is the contracting activity. … Bell-Boeing Joint Project Office, Amarillo, Texas, was awarded a $20.5 million modification to increase the ceiling of a previously awarded contract for additional Joint Performance Based Logistics support for the Marine Corps MV-22 and the Air Force and Special Forces Operations Command CV-22 aircraft. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (46.6 percent); Philadelphia, Pa. (41.4 percent); Fort Walton Beach, Fla. 6.1 percent); Oklahoma City, Okla. (4.3 percent); and St. Louis, Mo. (1.6 percent), and is expected to be completed in January 2019. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.