Vicksburg Mayor Laurence Leyens says he is working with U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson to attract a $60 million security technology testing facility to Mississippi.

Leyens said the facility would be called the National Security Experimentation and Response Capability and it would be housed at both the Vicksburg Municipal Airport and U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center.

Thompson, D-Miss., is working to secure federal funds for the project. Officials should know around February or March if the funds are secured and the facility will come to Vicksburg.

The project is headed by the ARES Systems Group, a Bassville company specializing in security technology testing and development for the U.S. Department of Defense.