March 29, 2024

Morning Coffee: Hornet Tests IRST Sensor Pod

Morning Coffee is a robust blend of links to news around the internet concerning the Naval Air Station Patuxent River economic community. The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the Leader’s owners or staff.Morning Coffee logo

The F/A-18F Super Hornet had its first successful test flight using its new Infrared Search and Track (IRST) sensor pod this month at Edwards AFB, California, reports USNI News, transforming air-to-air operations, according to Capt. Frank Morley, NAVAIR’s F/A-18 and EA-18G program manager.

The crew of the F/A-18 Super Hornet carrying the Navy’s Infrared Search and Track (IRST), a long-wave infrared sensor system that searches for and detects heat sources within its field of regard, inspects the aircraft Feb. 11 before the maiden flight with the pod at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. (Photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin)

The crew of the F/A-18 Super Hornet carrying the Navy’s Infrared Search and Track (IRST), a long-wave infrared sensor system that searches for and detects heat sources within its field of regard, inspects the aircraft Feb. 11 before the maiden flight with the pod at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. (Photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin)

Seapower Magazine reports the Naval Aviation Center for Rotorcraft Advancement (NACRA) at NAS:Pax will be closing, citing a source saying Naval Air Warfare Center had made the decision but not yet announced it.

Once it was high land, but today the real estate needed to win a war is upon the electromagnetic spectrum, according to the US military, and room on the wireless spectrum is running out. With a push from the White House to release federally held spectrum space for commercial development, the DoD is looking at sharing available spectrum space with users to assure access when needed “for modern military operations,” National Defense magazines quotes from the DoD electromagnetic spectrum strategy, released last week by Defense.gov.

Military.com reports that the commission seeking to pull military compensation, including pensions and benefits, into a cost-effective model for the future is looking at cash up-front as a potential replacement of deferred benefits, says Alphonso Maldon, Jr., the head of the Military Retirement and Compensation Modernization Commission. The commission is not seeking cost savings but efficiencies, Mr. Maldon explains, meaning cost savings may occur but the goal of the commission is to provide better value to the troops with the money spent.

NAVAIR charts the future through Second Life fireside chats bringing participants from around the US to NAS:Pax River, virtually and regularly, reports DCMilitary.

BAE share prices fall as the British-based contractor announced last week its US business was down  in 2013 and will continue a slump into 2014. A successfully negotiated price increase for weapons sold to the Saudi government helped offset the 2013 losses but will not bolster 2014 revenues, reports Defense News.

Veterans and legislators are looking to institute one-year advance funding of the Veterans Administration to buffer against what nearly happened last year, a failure to get veterans’ benefits checks to their recipients, reports USA Today. When Congress failed to pass a budget and closed government in October 2013, vets were seven days away from failing to receive their next benefit check.

Commissaries are seeing increasing numbers of military families using food stamps, reports Defense One.  Military families’ use of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has increased by more than 300 percent since 2007 to reach a total of nearly $104 million in SNAP use from October 2012 through September 2013, up $5 million from the same period the prior year.

Almost 1 million troops received a mental health diagnosis between 2000 and 2011, says the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center. DoD programs attempting to psychologically inoculate fighters against the emotional toll of combat stress do not produce evidence that they do help, according to a report DoD requested of an influential scientific panel. Some programs may help, according to the panel, but there are insufficient evaluations in place to assess that.

Engility, Chantilly, Va., is being awarded a $24,882,608, cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity, multiple-award contract for engineering and technical support at the Indian Head Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division.  The contractor will advise and assist with various tasks in support of engineering support, system engineering and technical analysis, development of programs and improvised explosive device defeat technology.  Work will be performed in Indian Head, Md., and is expected to be completed by February 2017.  Fiscal 2014 defense business operations funds in the amount of $10,000 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with three offers received. Indian Head Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division, Indian Head, Md., is the contracting activity. (N00174-14-D-0005)

A-T Solutions, Fredricksburg, Va., is being awarded a $23,538,703 cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple-award contract for engineering and technical support at the Indian Head Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division.  The contractor will advise and assist with various tasks in support of engineering support, system engineering and technical analysis, development of programs and improvised explosive device defeat technology.  Work will be performed in Indian Head, Md., and is expected to be completed by February 2017.  Fiscal 2014 Defense business operations funds in the amount of $10,000 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with three offers received.  Indian Head Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division, Indian Head, Md., is the contracting activity (N00174-14-D-0004).

 

 

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