Contract: Navistar, $38.4M

Navistar Defense, LLC, Lisle, Ill., (W56HZV-14-C-0102) was awarded a $38,423,006 contract for vehicle reset, which will include replacement of mandatory parts and labor for maintenance repairs to bring the vehicles to a condition code-A standard. The upgrades consist of bringing the vehicles to a common configuration of low rate initial production as outlined as incoming configuration of M1235 Maxx Pro Dash, M1235 A1 Maxx Pro Dash with Independent Suspension System, M1235 A2 Maxx Pro dash Ambulance will be converted to a final configuration of M1235A4. Work will be performed in West Point, Miss., with an estimated completion date of June 30, 2016. Bids were solicited with one received. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $25,832,822 and fiscal 2014 procurement funds in the amount of $12,590,184 are being obligated at the time of the award. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 08/27/14)

‘Launching’ expo in Jackson

Representatives from NASA centers will be on hand Aug. 27 in Jackson, Miss., for the business-to-business expo "Launching Connections." Companies and industry groups will be able to connect with representatives from Stennis Space Center, Miss.; Kennedy Space Center, Fla.; Johnson Space Center, Texas; Marshall Space Flight Center, Ala.; Michoud Assembly Center, La.; and the Shared Services Center at SSC. Businesses and contractors will learn through networking about opportunities in NASA programs like rocket propulsion testing, ground system development and operations, Orion and the Space Launch System. There are also moderated panel discussions. The Aug. 27 expo is from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Jackson Convention Complex, 105 E. Pascagoula St. (Source: Mississippi Cvent, 08/25/14)

Lakotas bound for Ft. Rucker

Lawmakers have approved the Army's request to reprogram $111 million to pay for 21 more UH-72A Lakota light utility helicopters for training at Fort Rucker, Ala., according to multiple sources. (Source: InsideDefense, 08/22/14). The helicopters are made by Airbus Helicopters in Columbus, Miss., which earlier this month signed an contract to lease office space in the former main location at the Army Aviation Center Federal Credit Union in Daleville, Ala., not far from Fort Rucker. The space will be occupied Sept. 1. (Source: WTVY-TV, 08/22/14) The Lakotas will replace the Bell TH-67 as the Army’s primary training helicopter at Fort Rucker. The plan is part of a broader plan to streamline the Army’s helicopter force from seven helicopter types to four. (Source: Dothan Eagle, 08/13/14)

Contract: OroconCarothers, $28.4M

OroconCarothers, JV1, Oxford, Miss., is being awarded $28,370,000 for firm-fixed-price task order 0002 under a multiple award construction contract (N69450-14-D-0755) for renovation and repairs of Building 603, Saufley Field, at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla. The work to be performed provides for renovation of administrative space and compliance with current life safety and fire codes, which includes, but is not limited to, reconfigure non-load bearing interior walls, replace suspended ceilings and floor coverings, renovate fire suppression system, paint walls, replace windows with new windows, hurricane and energy reduction standards, resurface existing parking, replace energy inefficient direct expansion and chilled water air conditioning systems with central chilled water system, remove and dispose of abandoned furniture, fixtures and equipment, and replace east and west side elevators within existing shafts. Work will be performed in Pensacola and is expected to be completed by August 2016. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southeast, Jacksonville, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 08/22/14)

DPS adds imaging for helos

The Mississippi Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Highway Air Operations has had a UTC Aerospace Systems-built Cloud Cap Technology TASE 400HD airborne imaging system installed on its new Airbus AS350 B3e helicopters. The imaging system delivers day and night thermal imagery to support police patrols, hurricane support operations and drug enforcement missions. The Mississippi Highway Patrol’s Air Wing took delivery of the Columbus-built Airbus Helicopters. Cloud Cap Technology is a subsidiary of UTC Aerospace Systems. (Source: Rotor & Wing 08/21/14)

1st ever ROTC cadets at Miss. JC

ELLISVILLE – Ten cadets will become the inaugural class of a 2-year Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program here at Jones County Junior College. JCJC President Jesse Smith and Maj. Gen. Augustus Collins, adjutant general of the Mississippi National Guard, signed agreements Aug. 18 allowing the National Guard to offer accredited military classes. JCJC is the only community college in Mississippi to have an ROTC program on campus, but it won’t be the last. There are plans to start similar programs at Pearl River, Hinds, Holmes, East Mississippi and Northeast Mississippi community colleges next January. After graduation from JCJC, cadets can transition into a third-year ROTC program. There are some 800 ROTC cadets at the University of Southern Mississippi, Jackson State, Alcorn State, Mississippi State and Ole Miss. (Source: Hattiesburg American 08/18/14) Golden Triangle Note: Hinds Community College offers academic instruction in aviation maintenance and technology; and Holmes CC offers aviation management course work.

Contract: L-3 Vertex, $13.7M

L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace LLC, Madison, Miss., is being awarded a $13,744,643 modification to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery requirements contract (N00019-13-D-0007) to provide logistics services for aircraft availability of 96 TH-57 aircraft. Services to be provided include pre-flighting and fueling of the aircraft, as well as safe for flight release for designated missions. Work will be performed at the Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Milton, Fla., and is expected to be completed in May 2015. No funds are being obligated at time of award. Funds will be obligated against individual delivery orders as they are issued. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 08/18/14)

MANG squad travels the globe

The Mississippi Air National Guard’s 286th Air Component Operations Squadron (ACOS) at Key Field in Meridian augments Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, Fla., in the event of domestic threats or natural disasters. Some of the 144 members of the 286th ACOS drive an average 483 miles round trip for drill weekends with the 186th Air Refueling Wing at Key Field. In a recent squadron survey, the 286th discovered that its service members travel from nine states logging 22,259 miles round trip during a drill period, nearly equivalent to one revolution of the Earth. (Source: Meridian Star 08/14/14)

Contract: Exelis, $18.2M

Exelis Systems Corp., Colorado Springs, Colo., was awarded an $18,170,444 fixed-price-incentive contract, with options, for information management/information technology enterprise services for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Work will be performed in Vicksburg, Miss., with an estimated completion date of Aug. 14, 2019. Bids were solicited via the Internet with six received. Fiscal 2014 other procurement funds in the amount of $18,170,444 are being obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg, Miss., is the contracting activity (W91WMC-14-C-0001). (Source: DoD, 08/15/14)

Drones over Mississippi

RAYMOND, Miss. - Unmanned Aerial Systems, also known as drones, are becoming more popular with consumers which is leading the Federal Aviation Administration to create more rules and regulations. No public institution can train students to fly unmanned aircraft, says Dennis Lott, Program Director for Hinds Community College UAS Training Program. HCC uses flight simulators instead to train students to operate drones. "We're not saying don't regulate this industry. We're saying hurry up and regulate the industry.” Anyone can fly drones as a hobby without FAA certification. Mississippi State University is conducting research with UAS. Camp Shelby has the nation's first training center for drones. (Source: WTVA 08/14/14) Golden Triangle Note: MSU's Bagley School of Engineering and the Army’s Redstone Arsenal in Alabama have a working agreement to facilitate collaborative research opportunities related to UAS. MSU's Raspet Flight Research Laboratory is developing an ultra-light, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle.

MSU climbs super-computer ranks

STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State University ranks among the leading academic super-computing sites, according to the TOP 500 website. MSU’s "SHADOW" super computer is the 11th fastest academic system in the U.S. The Starkville school’s computer system is used for shared research at the university. MSU ranks 185 on the ‘Top 500 Supercomputer Site List.’ MSU has made the list 19 times since 1996. (Source: WTVA 08/14/14) Golden Triangle Note: Four other systems within Mississippi made the list - two at the Army Corps of Engineers Research and Development Center in Vicksburg; and two Navy systems at Stennis Space Center.

MSU earns 2 NASA projects

Mississippi State University has been selected for two of three Marshall Space Flight Center (of Huntsville, Ala.) Cooperative Agreements geared to aid development of advanced technologies vital to the achievement of NASA's goals in space; and the enhancement of commercial partnerships and technology innovations. The first of MSU’s selected proposals was for “Improving Interlaminar Shear Strength of Out-of-Autoclave Composites." It was submitted by a school partnership between Mechanical Engineering and the Raspet Flight Research Lab. The second selection was for "Additive Manufacturing Processes for Fabrication of Large Aerospace Structures." MSU’s Mechanical Engineering will partner with Marshall's Combustion Devices Design & Development Branch and Nonmetallic Manufacturing Branch to develop fabrication process parameters and validation data needed for large-scale additive manufacturing using the gas metal arc welding process. The third recipient of an FY 2014 CA was The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc., of Cambridge, Mass. (Source: Marshall Space Flight Center 08/11/14)

Ex L-3 prez fired from DI

Gordon Walsh, the former division president for L-3 Vertex Aerospace in Madison, Miss., who left that job three weeks ago to become CEO of the competing firm DynCorp International (DI), has been fired. The move comes eight days after L-3 announced in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that sales revenue related to a single contract had been inflated. DynCorp’s board of directors, a Virginia-based military contractor, terminated Walsh on Aug. 8. Interim DynCorp CEO Jim Geisler, quoted in a media release, that Walsh’s departure was “not related in any way to (DI’s) operational or financial performance." Before leaving for DynCorp., Walsh was president of the logistics solutions business of L-3's aerospace segment, which included the company's Madison office. (Source: Jackson Clarion Ledger 08/08/14)

Contract: L-3, $15.8M

L-3 Communications Corp., SFS, Madison, Miss., was awarded a $15,832,848 modification (P00124) to contract W58RGZ-10-C-0107 to add eight C-12s to the life cycle contractor support maintenance contract for the Army's fleet of C-12/RC-12/UC-35 aircraft. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $15,832,848 were obligated at the time of the award. Estimated completion date is Jan. 31, 2015. Work will be performed in Madison. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 08/07/14)

UAVs becoming new farming tool

STARKVILLE – It’s hard to compare Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines, unless you’re Dr. Robert Moorhead, director of Mississippi State University’s Geosystems Research Institute. “The plant is the patient, the agronomists are the doctors and I am the guy that works on the MRI machine,” he explained. UAVs are the newest instrument being used in the prescription of precision agriculture. He’s also the Billie J. Ball Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at MSU’s Bagley College of Engineering. MSU holds certificates of authorization from the FAA to operate UAVs for research purposes only. Scientists here at the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station have been using UAVs in their agricultural investigations. UAVs have only been approved to date for commercial use in a limited capacity in the Arctic. FAA is developing regulations for their commercial use and tentatively plans to issue them in September 2015. GRI colleagues are working with agronomists to incorporate the use of UAVs in site-specific agricultural research. MSU scientists are using them in the research of plant growth, nutrient management, irrigation and herbicide application. (Source: Mississippi Business Journal 08/06/14)

L-3 launches misconduct review

L-3 Communications Holdings, an international aerospace firm with a business segment in Madison, Miss., launched a review into "accounting matters" resulting from errors and misconduct across its entire aerospace system division. L-3 revealed the review in a July 31 earnings filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Madison office does business as L-3 Vertex Aerospace. Contract cost overruns that were inappropriately deferred and overstatements of net sales were the primary cause for some $50 million in adjustments, the company said. CEO Michael Strianese was “extremely disappointed” with the violations to company policies, ethical conduct and controls. It “does not represent the way we do business,” he said. It is not clear if the misconduct mentioned was limited to the Madison office. (Source: Jackson Clarion Ledger 05/07/14)

Airports: $2.5B econ activity

JACKSON - A study by the Mississippi Department of Transportation shows that state’s 73 airports generate more than $2.5 billion annually in economic activity; provides more than 20,000 aviation direct and indirect jobs; and about $722 million in total wages. The Golden Triangle Regional Airport’s economic impact is about $272,548,000, says the GTRA’s executive director. The state has eight commercial service airports – GTR, Greenville, Gulfport-Biloxi, Hattiesburg-Laurel, Jackson, Meridian’s Key Field, Tunica Municipal and Tupelo - accommodate more than 1.1 million passengers a year. GTRA has more than 85,000 travelers annually and directly or indirectly employs 1,668 people. There are 65 smaller, general aviation airports across Mississippi. (The Associated Press 08/04/14)

Jackson airport CEO sought

A Jacksonville, Fla.-based executive search firm was hired July 28 to find a skilled economic development professional to be the new CEO of the Jackson (Miss.) Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport. Current airport CEO Dirk Vanderleest is retiring after 25 years. The Jackson airport has ample property available that can be used to offset revenue from airlines that have left the market. Southwest Airlines halted service to and from Jackson in June taking about $800,000 a year in revenue. “You need someone who can make that happen,” said Doug Kuelpman, founder of the ADK Executive Search firm hired by the Airport Authority. (Source: Mississippi Business Journal 08/01/14)