Morning Coffee: House Says No BRAC Until 2013

Welcome to Morning Coffee, a robust blend of links to news around the Internet concerning Naval Air Station Patuxent River, NAVAIR, the Pentagon and beyond. The Leader provides this link feature as a survey of the news and announcements affecting the local military economy. The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the Leader’s owners or staff.

The House defense bill would prevent BRAC operations until 2013, safely past the election year, Aviation Week reports.

The GOP’s defense bill would also ban alternative fuel buys (subscription required), Inside Defense reports. Airlines for America and the National Farm Bureau Federation are lobbying for alternative fuels (subscription required), Janes Defence Weekly reports.

Boeing says job cuts could be coming, even before sequestration kicks in AOL Defense reports. Conservatives are not happy about the GOP’s bill to take the sting out of sequestration, the Hill reports, and adds that the Dems have a sequestration plan of their own.

The Pentagon says the next Joint Strike Fighter contracts will be tied to testing progress, the Fort Worth Star Telegram reports. The House wants initial operating capability dates set by the end of the year for the F-35, Defense News reports, but killed a measure that would have included a funding freeze as punishment for failure.

Marines extend the Afghanistan deployment of the KMAX unmanned helicopter, tested at Pax River, until Sept. 30, Defense News reports. DoD Buzz reads this as a positive sign for the program.

The Navy wants an ultraviolet light cloak for its jets, Wired reports.

Lockheed is teaming with Hewlitt-Packard on a bid to build the Navy’s NEXTGEN computer network (subscription required), Inside Defense reports. Competition is now down to two competitors with HP being the incumbent, Washington Technology reports.

The U.S. military is embracing robots with greater autonomy, Reuters reports.