F-35 Crashed in Alaska, Pilot Safe
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A USAF pilot was reported to be safe after a single-seat F-35 fighter jet crashed Tuesday during the landing phase of a training exercise at Eielson Air Force Base, about 25 miles south of Fairbanks, AK. AP News reports the pilot experienced an “inflight malfunction” but was able to eject from the aircraft and was in stable condition and being evaluated at a medical facility. The crash caused significant damage to the aircraft.
The Pentagon’s fleet of F-35 fighter jets may not receive the full, combat-ready version of the TR-3 upgrade this year, Lockheed executives acknowledged this week. Defense One reports the upgrade, to have been ready in April 2023, has been delayed multiple times due to software-development problems. Those delays drove the Pentagon to halt acceptance of new F-35s for a year, a pause that ended in July.
Lockheed Martin shares fell about 4% in premarket trading on Tuesday, missing Wall Street’s 2025 profit expectations, as the defense giant grapples with the delayed rollout of the tech upgrade on the F-35, underscoring a cautious tone for the year amid rising global tensions, according to Reuters.
Boeing reported on Tuesday an annual loss of $11.83 billion, its largest since 2020, as it grappled with problems at its commercial and defense units and the fallout from a crippling strike by US West Coast factory workers, reports Reuters.
The initial wave of 1,600 troops deployed to the US-Mexico border this week. Military.com provides a list of all units now deployed, except from the Air Force, which has declined to specify which units are involved. Most come from the Army, primarily military police; roughly 500 Marines specializing in engineering are repairing and reinforcing physical barriers; and the Air Force, with a major assist from the Coast Guard, are flying undocumented migrants back to their countries of origin. They join some 2,500 National Guard and Army Reserve troops who were already there.
Although not all scheduled, with a new defense secretary confirmed, Senate officials can consider President Donald Trump’s picks to lead the individual military services, reports Military Times. Planned hearings for Army Secretary nominee Daniel Driscoll and Veterans Affairs Secretary nominee Doug Collins were postponed by delays in FBI background checks. Hearings have not been scheduled for John Phelan to lead the Navy and Marine Corps, or Troy Meink to lead the Air Force.
Army Secretary nominee Driscoll, a Yale Law School classmate of Vice President JD Vance, heads into his Senate confirmation hearing today, Thursday, as a largely unknown figure both inside and outside the Pentagon, reports Military.com. The relatively obscure financier and political adviser, who is also a veteran, is set to lead the Pentagon’s largest branch despite a resume that some Army officials behind the scenes are concerned lacks the depth for such a pivotal role.
The Trump administration on Wednesday rolled back its sweeping freeze of federal assistance, which roiled Washington and caused widespread confusion, according to a copy of an Office of Management and Budget memo, reports POLITICO. The new, two-sentence memo rescinds the original memo published by the office two days earlier. A federal judge had already put a temporary block on the Trump administration’s actions Tuesday night.
Google will rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America on Google Maps in the US. The company posted on X, “We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government.” Trump renamed the gulf in an executive order, reports The Guardian. It will remain the Gulf of Mexico in Mexico, while users outside of the US and Mexico will see both names on Google Maps. The Alaskan peak Denali, the tallest mountain in North America and also renamed in the executive order, will change to Mount McKinley.
Trump has said Microsoft is in discussions to acquire TikTok and that he would like to see a “bidding war” over the sale of the social media app, adding that there was “great interest in TikTok” from several companies, reports BBC. A spokesperson for Microsoft said the company had “nothing to share at this time.”
Denmark has said it will spend $2.05 billion to boost security in the Arctic region, in partnership with its autonomous territories Greenland and the Faroe Islands. BBC reports the deal includes three new Arctic ships, more long-range drones with advanced image acquisition capacity and stronger satellite capacity. The move follows Trump saying he wants to acquire Greenland, an island which has wide-ranging autonomy but remains part of Denmark.
Task & Purpose reports military service members charged at least $500,000 on gambling, drinking, nightclubs, and online games to their government travel charge cards in 2023 without triggering alarms among finance officials, an inspector general report found. One Air Force cardholder, investigators found, managed to use his card for a five-month gambling spree that went undetected by their base finance office or their commander.
DoD will likely benefit from OpenAI’s announcement this week that it would invest half a trillion dollars to build new artificial intelligence data centers around the country, reports Defense News. But Pentagon officials warned that the US lacks the energy resources and computing power to support the new infrastructure. Dubbed Stargate, the project’s early funders include Softbank, OpenAI, Oracle, and MGX — a technology investment firm based in the United Arab Emirates — and OpenAI will partner with Oracle, Microsoft, Arm, and NVIDIA on technology development.
US tech stocks were steady on Tuesday after they slumped on Monday following the sudden rise of Chinese-made artificial intelligence app DeepSeek. BBC reports shares in chip giant Nvidia were up over 6% by mid-day trade having sank on Monday, as experts said the US AI sell-off may have been an over-reaction. The market hit came as investors rapidly adjusted bets on AI, after DeepSeek’s claim that its model was made at a fraction of the cost of those of its rivals.
Liang Wenfeng is the 39-year-old founder of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, the open-source model challenging US tech dominance that shook US tech markets this week, reports Reuters. Liang says China’s AI industry cannot forever follow the United States.
Nayuta Space, one of China’s latest commercial launch companies, has secured early funding to develop a launcher featuring first and second stage reuse. The company announced it had secured “tens of millions of yuan” from Quanxin Investment (10 million yuan = $1.38 million), Space News reports. The company said the financing will be used to improve the team. The company previously announced a similar level of funding in January 2024 for development of its rockets.
Swedish prosecutors announced on Sunday they had opened a preliminary investigation into suspected aggravated “sabotage” and detained a vessel in the Baltic Sea suspected of damaging an underwater fiber optic cable connecting Latvia and the Swedish island of Gotland earlier that day, reports AP News. Identified as the Malta-flagged Vezhen, at anchor near the port of Karlskrona, the vessel had departed from the Russian port of Ust-Luga several days earlier and was navigating between Gotland and Latvia at the time the damage was suspected of having occurred.
The Air Force is resuming its boot camp lessons about the Tuskegee Airmen, the historic Black aviators, and the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs, reports Military.com. The material was flagged for review following Trump’s order to cancel all diversity efforts in the military and federal government, but was reinstated after a public backlash.
The Friends Meeting in Sandy Spring, MD, and in Adelphi, MD, were among five Quaker groups who sued the Department of Homeland Security over its new guidance to allow immigration enforcement in sensitive locations that include places of worship, reports Maryland Matters.
According to the American Immigration Council, there are roughly 50,000 undocumented immigrants younger than 18 in Maryland. With federal immigration agencies enforcing activities now permitted at previously restricted places, including churches and schools, the state’s school districts and education officials are considering how to respond if ICE officials unexpectedly show up at a school seeking student information, reports The Baltimore Sun.
In addition to $2 billion in cuts to address a looming $3 billion deficit, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore also shifts about $144 million in costs from the state onto local governments, reports The Baltimore Sun. The largest shifts would require local governments to pay a larger share of public school and community college teachers’ retirement costs and increase local contributions to the cost of educating children with disabilities in nonpublic school programs.
Contracts:
Booz Allen Hamilton, McLean, Virginia is being awarded a modification (P00014) to the previously awarded task order HQ042323F0088 in the amount of $17,564,755. This provides for enterprise local area network support, which includes application, server, storage, network, security, network management, information assurance, and voice and video teleconferencing engineering support. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the order from $21,550,329 to $39,115,084. Work will be performed at various Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS)locations with an expected completion date of Jan. 31, 2026. Fiscal 2025 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $17,564,754 are being obligated at the time of award. DFAS Contract Services Directorate in Columbus, Ohio, is the contracting activity.
Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Manassas, Virginia, is awarded a $502,188,416 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed fee, cost-plus-incentive-fee, fixed-price-incentive-fee, firm-fixed-price, and cost only contract for Hypervisor Technology Zero Surface Ship Undersea Warfare combat systems and spares, engineering labor, program management, and engineering other direct costs, travel, and material in support of AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 combat system development, integration, manufacturing, production, and testing. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $1,033,395,002. Work will be performed in Syracuse, New York (27%); Manassas, Virginia (26%); Lemont Furnace, Pennsylvania (23%); Clearwater, Florida (22%); and Owego, New York (2%), and is expected to be completed by January 2029. If all options are exercised, work will continue through January 2033. Fiscal 2024 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,205,366 (36%); fiscal 2025 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $711,697 (21%); fiscal 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $543,877 (16%); fiscal 2021 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $383,711 (11%); fiscal 2023 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $374,700 (11%); fiscal 2022 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $121,776 (4%); fiscal 2016 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $23,304 (1%) will be obligated at the time of award to satisfy the minimum guarantee and will not at expire the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) website, with 1 offer received. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity.
DNI Emerging Technologies LLC, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was awarded a maximum $99,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for cyberspace operations support services. This contract provides for non-core, non-personal IT support for Air Force Material Command Systems Center for cyberspace operations and information functions. Work will be performed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio; Hanscom AFB, Massachusetts; Robins AFB, Georgia; Tinker AFB, Oklahoma; Hill AFB, Utah; Eglin AFB, Florida; Joint Base San Antonio, Texas; Maxwell AFB, Gunter Annex, Alabama; and Crystal City, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by Feb. 28, 2029. This contract was a sole source acquisition. Fiscal 2023 aircraft procurement funds in the amount of $2,743,365; fiscal 2023 procurement (US Special Operations Command) funds in the amount of $12,486; fiscal 2024 aircraft procurement funds in the amount of $1,079,341; fiscal 2024 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $554,731; fiscal 2025 aircraft procurement funds in the amount of $327,262; and fiscal 2025 operations and maintenance (U.S. Special Operations Command) funds in the amount of $225,221, are being obligated at time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8604-25-D-B001).
Rockwell Collins Inc., Government Systems, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was awarded a $23,992,398 fixed-price-incentive-fee, firm-fixed-price modification (P00064) to a previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract (N6134017C0007). This modification exercises options to procure 68 airborne subsystem pods, three fixed ground subsystems, nine remote range units, three portable support equipment subsystems, and delivery of contract data requirements lists in support of full rate production three for the Navy’s Tactical Combat Training System (TCTS) II program. Additionally, this modification exercises an option to provide on-site training requirements via one training iteration for the TCTS II program. Work will be performed at Cedar Rapids, Iowa (30%); Richardson, Texas (30%); Virginia Beach, Virginia (15%); Lemoore, California (10%); Jacksonville, Florida (10%) and Cherry Point, North Carolina (5%), and is expected to be completed January 2027. Fiscal 2025 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $21,336,952; fiscal 2025 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,583,816; and operation and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $71,630, will be obligated at the time of award, $71,630 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity. (Awarded on 23 Jan. 23, 2025)
L3Harris Technology Inc., Chantilly, Virginia, has been awarded an $89,996,615 cost-plus-fixed fee, cost delivery order for Advanced Tracking and Launch Analysis System (ATLAS) with a base plus two option periods. This delivery order provides for developing, integrating and delivering mission thread software within ATLAS to meet ATLAS initial operational capability and to achieve software stability. Work will be performed at Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Chantilly, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2027, if all options are exercised. This delivery order was a sole source acquisition. Fiscal 2025, research, development, test, and evaluation funds in the amount of $5,436,602 is being obligated at time of award. Space Systems Command, Los Angeles Air Force Base, El Segundo, California, is the contracting activity (FA8806-25-F-B003). (Awarded Jan. 28, 2025)
Valneva USA Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, has been awarded a maximum $49,297,248 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the Japanese encephalitis virus vaccine. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 US Code 3204 (a)(1), as stated in the Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a one-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Scotland, with a Jan. 28, 2026, ordering period end date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2025 through 2026 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2DP-25-D-0002).
Cheroenhaka Nottoway Enterprises LLC, Courtland, Virginia, is awarded a $30,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for construction of facilities within the Public Works Department Maine area of responsibility. Work will be performed in Maine and is expected to be completed by March 2026. Fiscal 2024 military construction funds in the amount of $7,347,435 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by operation and maintenance (Navy) funds. This contract was sole sourced under the 8(a) program to a certified tribally owned company. The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Mid-Atlantic, Kittery, Maine, is the contracting activity (N40085-25-D-2512).
