Saturday, November 30, 2019

Week in review (11/24 to 11/30)

Airbus celebrated the 100th A220 aircraft produced for a customer during a ceremony at Mirabel, Canada. The A220-300 is destined for Latvia-based airBaltic, and features a new cabin layout with 149 seats.

The A220 series is assembled at the main final assembly line in Mirabel, and more recently a second assembly line in Mobile, Ala. The world’s first A220, formerly called the CSeries, was delivered in June 2016.

Close to 100 A220s are in operation with six companies on four continents. At the end of October 2019, the aircraft had received 530 firm orders from over 20 customers worldwide. (press release)

In another item during the week, the Orion spacecraft left Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Fla., Nov. 24 aboard a Super Guppy aircraft for testing at the world’s largest thermal vacuum chamber. The Super Guppy landed at Mansfield, Ohio and the Orion was transfer to NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio.

In two phases of testing at NASA’s Glenn Test Center, engineers and technicians from Airbus, the European Space Agency (ESA), Lockheed Martin and NASA will put the spacecraft through simulations of extreme space conditions.

In the two-month thermal test Orion's electrical systems will be switched on and operated under vacuum and in temperatures which simulate the environmental conditions in space. The second phase is an electromagnetic compatibility test, which lasts about 14 days.

In recent months the Orion crew module and the service module were mated at KSC. If the Ohio tests are successful, Orion will return to KSC, where further tests and preparations for integration with the Space Launch System (SLS) will start before the launch of Artemis I at the end of 2020. The plan for Artemis I is to have the uncrewed spacecraft travel once around the Moon and back to Earth.

Airbus in Bremen, Germany, is already building the second Orion Service Module, with which astronauts will fly to the Moon and back to Earth. ESA's European Service Module will provide propulsion, power, air and water for the astronauts, as well as thermal control of the entire spacecraft. (press release)

Contract – engineering services
Schmidt-Prime Group LLC, Pensacola, Fla., was awarded a $30 million contract for professional architectural and engineering services in the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southeast area of operations (AO).

The work to be performed provides for preparation of professional architectural and engineering services for preparation of design-bid-build documents and design-build request for proposals for various project types at Department of Defense (DoD) and non-DoD activities in the NAVFAC Southeast AO.

Initial task order is being awarded at $441,467 to provide engineering services to update the installation DD Form 1391 project documentation and prepare the region team final DD Form 1391 for the Advanced Helicopter Training System at Naval Air Station, Whiting Field, Milton, Fla.

Work for this task order is expected to be completed by March 2020. All work on this contract will be performed at various Navy and Marine Corps installations in the NAVFAC Southeast AO including, but not limited to, Florida (20%); Georgia (17%); South Carolina (15%); Louisiana (10%); Mississippi (10%); Texas (10%); Andros Island, Bahamas (5%); Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (5%); Tennessee (3%); Alabama (1%); Arkansas (1%); Kansas (1%); Missouri (1%); and Oklahoma (1%), and is expected to be completed by November 2024.

NAVFAC Southeast, Jacksonville, Fla., is the contracting activity.

Contract – F-35
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded an $831 million modification to a previously awarded contract. This modification provides for the production and delivery of 15 lot 14 F-35A aircraft and associated red gear in support of the government of Australia. Work will be performed in Texas, California, Florida, New Hampshire, Maryland, the United Kingdom, and Italy, and various locations outside the continental U.S., and is expected to be completed in March 2023. … Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, also was awarded a $328 million contract to procure long lead material, parts and components in support of the Lot 15 production and delivery of 48 F-35A Lightning II aircraft for the Air Force. Work will be performed in Texas, California, Florida, New Hampshire, Maryland, and the United Kingdom, and is expected to be completed in June 2023. … Pratt & Whitney Military Engines, East Hartford, Conn., was awarded a $522 million contract modification. This modification provides performance based logistics sustainment in support of the F-35 Lightning II F135 propulsion system for the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, non-Department of Defense (DoD) participants and foreign military sales (FMS) customers. Two percent of the work will be done at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Other work locations are Connecticut, Oklahoma, California, Utah, Arizona, South Carolina, and Italy, and is expected to be completed in November 2020. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity for all three contracts.

Contracts: Munitions/trainers
The Raytheon Co., Tucson, Ariz., was awarded a $386 million modification to a previously awarded contract for the total package approach (TPA) to the Paveway Family of Weapons. The contract action provides a TPA for Paveway-specific activities including, but not limited to: studies, production, certification, integration and sustainment. Work will be performed at Tucson and Air Force test ranges. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Direct Attack Branch, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. … L3 Communications Vertex Aerospace LLC, Madison, Miss., was awarded a $77 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., and is expected to be completed by Nov. 30, 2020. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., is the contracting activity.

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