By By Buddy Bynum / editor
July 30, 2003
Vertex Aerospace, a Mississippi company based in Madison, was awarded a multimillion-dollar contract Tuesday to provide logistical support for about 200 of the U.S. Navy's newest training jets, the T-45.
The one-year, $85.7 million contract with the exercise of four, one-year options could reach a total value of $450 million as Vertex (formerly Raytheon Aerospace) takes over a contract currently held by The Boeing Company at Naval Air Station Meridian and NAS Kingsville, Texas.
Vertex won the contract through the Naval Air Systems Command at NAS Patuxent River, Md., after competitive bidding. Paul Guse, a Boeing spokesman in St. Louis, said his company "is clearly disappointed with the Navy's decision." Boeing had entered a bid in a joint venture with another company and "firmly believed we offered a best value for the Navy."
The T-45 is a Boeing product.
Boeing currently employs about 350 workers in the T-45 support program at NAS Meridian. Vertex said it would employ a total of about 700 personnel in Meridian and Kingsville with responsibility for all aircraft maintenance, parts supply management, engineering services and total systems maintenance management of the T-45 fleet.
Prior to the announcement, Vertex employed about 500 workers in Mississippi, mostly at the Madison home office with a small contingent at Keesler AFB (C21 support) and Columbus AFB (T1A Jayhawk support).