Contract: Lockheed, $1B

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $1,059,239,124 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for recurring logistics support and sustainment services for F-35 aircraft in support of the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, non-Department of Defense (DoD) participants; and foreign military sales (FMS) customers. Sustainment services to be provided include ground maintenance, action request resolution, depot activation, Automatic Logistics Information System, operations and maintenance, reliability, maintainability and health management implementation and support, supply chain management, and activities to provide and support pilot and maintainer initial training. Work will be performed in Fort Worth (46 percent); Orlando, Fla. (32 percent); Warton, United Kingdom (9 percent); El Segundo, Calif. (7 percent); and Greenville, S.C. (6 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2017. Fiscal 2017 aircraft procurement (Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps); fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance (Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps); non-DoD participant; and FMS funds in the amount of $211,847,835, will be obligated at time of award, $100,076,889 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract combines purchases for the Air Force (48 percent); Marine Corps (19 percent); Navy (13 percent); non-DoD participants (16 percent); and FMS customers (4 percent) under the FMS program. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00019-17-C-0045). (Source: DoD, 02/28/17) Note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 integrated training center and reprogramming labs.

Blue Angels nearing opener

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- Halfway through their winter training in El Centro, Calif., the Blue Angels are getting ready to begin their 2017 season March 11 with their annual start-of-season performance at Naval Air Facility El Centro. The Navy flight demonstration team arrived in El Centro Jan. 5 following a brief holiday break after the 2016 end-of-season show Nov. 11 at Pensacola Naval Air Station. This year marks the 50th year the Pensacola Naval Air Station-based team has conducted winter training at El Centro in Southern California. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 02/28/17)

Plan for region unveiled

NICEVILLE, Fla. — Northwest Florida as a region must commit to economic diversification if it wants the $1.2 billion in BP money to create the change its business leaders envision. That was the message from Jon Roberts for more than 100 people who showed up at Northwest Florida State College Monday for a preview of the "blueprint" for successful regional diversification drawn up by TIP Strategies, where Roberts is a managing director. The plan is called Northwest Florida Forward. One key is training a workforce capable of stepping in to fill positions as new industry locates in the area, he said. Another is taking advantage of existing regional "industry clusters" such as aerospace and defense and advanced manufacturing, as well as addressing infrastructure needs, developing "entrepreneurial hubs" and building vibrant downtown areas. "We designed this regional strategy to be a framework for prioritizing projects so everyone in Northwest Florida benefits," said Rick Byars, the chairman of the board of Florida's Great Northwest. "This plan underscores the importance of a regional approach to build a diverse and vibrant regional economy now and for generations to come." (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 02/27/17)

Eglin and India's PSLV

Eglin's AN/FPS-85 radar. Air Force photo

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The 20th Space Control Squadron's Charlie Crew successfully tracked India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle Feb. 15. Loaded with 104 satellites, the Indian PSLV set the record for the most spacecraft launched by a single rocket. "This launch is important because we want to ensure our national assets aren't impacted," said Lt. Col. Raj Agrawal, 20th SPCS commander. Using the world's most powerful phased-array radar, the space surveillance squadron uses an integrated team of military and civilian airmen to track an estimated 23,000 near-Earth and deep-space objects each day. The AN/FPS-85 is the only phased array radar capable of tracking objects 40,000 kilometers away. (Source: Eglin Public Affairs, 02/27/17)

Boat dedication slated

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – A boat dedication will be held Feb. 24, at 2:30 p.m., in memory of Senior Airman Nathan Sartain, a Pensacola native who died Oct. 2, 2015 when a C-130J Super Hercules aircraft crashed shortly after take-off from Jalalabad Airfield, Afghanistan. He was a member of the 66th Security Forces Squadron, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass. Col. David M. Willcox, the 96th Mission Support Group commander, will be the guest speaker at the dedication. (Source: Eglin Air Force Base, 02/23/17)

Askew Terminal dedication set

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Mayor Ashton Hayward will formally dedicate the Reubin O’Donovan Askew Terminal at Pensacola International Airport on March 13. Hayward will issue a proclamation to members of the Askew family and unveil a plaque. The terminal is named in honor of the late Reubin O’Donovan Askew, a popular former Florida governor and Pensacolian. The dedication is at 2 p.m. (Source: City of Pensacola, 02/23/17)

Contract: Raytheon, $45.5M

Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems, McKinney, Texas, was awarded an estimated $45,500,000 modification for an existing indefinite–delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with firm-fixed-price and cost-plus-fixed-fee line items, for low-rate initial production (LRIP) and full-Rate production of the Silent Knight Radar system in support of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). This action is an order for LRIP II radars. This modification increases the contract ceiling to $200,000,000. The work will be performed in McKinney; and Forest, Miss., and is expected to be completed by June 2019. Headquarters, USSOCOM, MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity (H92222-16-D-0033). (Source: DoD, 02/22/17) Note: The U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command, part of USSOCOM, is headquartered at Hurlburt Field, in Okaloosa County, Fla.

Santa Rosa's pitch to aerospace

MILTON, Fla. -- Sitting in the middle of a highly active aerospace neighborhood, Santa Rosa County in Northwest Florida has launched a program pointing out why it’s a good choice as a home for aviation-focused companies. It's doing so with a new brochure and a planned addition to its website that will highlight what it has to offer. (Source: Gulf Coast Aerospace Newsletter, 02/14/17)

Spin chair helps aviators

MILTON, Fla. – Some of the more than 1,400 military flight students who go through Naval Air Station Whiting Field each year have to make a stop along the way to earning their Wings of Gold. It’s the “spin-and-puke chair.” Manned by an aerospace physiologist, it’s used to correct motion sickness by helping the body’s vestibular system adjust to certain movements. Last year 100 flight students were sent for the treatment, and after the chair only one was unable to continue with flight school. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 02/19/17)

Controlling the skies

MILTON, Fla. -- With nearly 1.2 million takeoffs, landings and other operations a year, the airspace surrounding Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Northwest Florida is busier than the airspace above the airport in Atlanta. It all happens under the watchful eyes of veteran flight instructors and experienced military air traffic controllers. A feature story. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 02/17/17)