NDAA benefits for Mississippi

U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) played a key role in the passage of the FY 2024 National Defense Authorization Act that is headed to the president's desk for signature. Among the provisions directly impacting Mississippi are $1B for construction of LPD 33 at Ingalls in Pascagoula. In a thumbnail listing, here are some other authorizations for Mississippi: 

• $72M for the procurement of another APL-67 class of berthing barge, which would be constructed at Bollinger Shipyards in Pascagoula.
• Boosts Columbia-class submarine full-scale shaft procurement at Seemann Composites in Gulfport.
• $2M for planning and design to build a new air traffic control tower at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi.
• $8M to construct a fire and crash rescue site for the 172nd Air Wing at the Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers airport in Jackson.
• $3M in funding to support research on pavement repair materials for military missions, affecting the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) in Vicksburg.
• $30M to begin work on a ground-based training system facility for T-7A aircraft at Columbus Air Force Base.
• $5M to support artificial intelligence and machine learning applications to tactical warfare, supporting work being done in Starkville, in consultation with Mississippi State University.
• And, it mandates a DoD report evaluating the long-term sustainment, research and development, and procurement plan for (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected) MRAP vehicles, which are built by Navistar Defense in West Point. (Magnolia Tribune 12/15/23) See more at Mississippi to benefit from passage of National Defense Authorization Act - Magnolia Tribune