Military, Vets & Contractors Face Trump’s Budget

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 reflect opinions of the Leader’s owners or staff.

Program eliminations proposed in President Donald Trump’s budget threaten the push to end homelessness among veterans, reports Military Times.

The Washington Examiner reports Navy and Marine Corps leaders, telling House members they needed more “metal on the flight lines,” did not dispute one lawmaker’s estimate of a shortfall of about 100 strike fighter aircraft.

Trump’s vow to save billions on military purchases is taking hold at the Pentagon, spurring officials to pursue new cost-saving measures in their dealings with defense companies, reports The Hill, including a  “deep dive” into the F-35 costs at Lockheed Martin and the “20 to 25 major subsystems that are underneath it,” said the Defense Department’s pricing director, Shay Assad.

The US Air Force installed a two-star general to oversee Boeing’s fledgling Air Force One replacement, adding a new level of scrutiny to the high-profile program just months after Trump criticized its excessive cost, reports Aviation Week.

Congress sent legislation to the president to wipe out recently enacted online privacy protections, reports The Washington Post. The deregulatory measure and the party-line vote that passed it, suggests a significant reworking of the rules governing Internet access.

The Virginian-Pilot reports William Hutsenpiller, former comptroller of Norfolk Ship Support Activity, is expected to plead guilty to taking more than $38,000 in gifts from North Carolina-based defense contractor Global Services Corp. The contractor is under federal investigation in a $13.6 million fraud case.

China to construct a facility in Saudi Arabia to produce unmanned aerial vehicles in Saudi Arabia, reports Defense News.

A new torpedo upgrade to fundamentally change how Navy airmen hunt submarines could begin low-rate initial production later this year, reports Flight Global.

Space X set to launch another satellite into orbit Thursday with a re-used rocket, reports The Verge, a feat the company has been working toward for five years.

Poland welcomed a US-led, multinational NATO battalion to Poland made up of troops from the US, Britain, and Romania to improve the region’s security given the “threat from the East,” Navy Times quotes the Polish defense minister.

Trump tweets and scoops Ford’s announcement of its investment $1.2 billion in three Michigan facilities, reports NBC.

Americans’ confidence in the so-called war on terror is higher than it’s been in several years, according to a poll from Rasmussen Reports. The survey found 42 percent believed the US and allies are winning the global war on terrorism, down from the 45 percent high during the week leading up to Trump’s inauguration, but otherwise the highest confidence level since December 2012, reports Military Times.

Video: Cyclone Debbie was the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane when it slammed into Australia on Tuesday afternoon. The storm’s winds gusted to 160 mph and preliminary reports suggest that around 30 inches of rain fell over the course of 24 hours in some locations, reports The Washington Post.

St. Mary’s County gets a new waterfront park on the Patuxent River developed in collaboration with Maryland Department of Natural Resources, St. Mary’s County, and the Navy, reports Conduit Street.

The Democratic National Committee has requested resignation letters from all current staff members, reports NBC News. Chairman Tom Perez is calling for a major overhaul of the organization.

Contracts:

Phoenix International Holdings Inc., Largo, Maryland, being awarded a $14,518,512 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the science and technology research concerning the development of an unmanned underwater vehicle-based sensor system testbed and evaluation of advanced sensor and autonomy modules. There are no option periods. Work will be performed in Largo, Maryland, and work is expected to be completed March 24, 2022. Fiscal 2016 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $148,000 will be obligated at the time of award. The funds will expire at end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured under Office of Naval Research broad agency announcement (BAA) N00014-16-R-BA01. Since proposals will be received throughout the year under the long range BAA, the number of proposals received in response to the solicitation is unknown. The Office of Naval Research, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N00014-17-C-7017).

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Military Aircraft Systems, Melbourne, Florida, is being awarded $11,063,339 for delivery order 0032 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-15-G-0026) to upgrade three E-2C aircraft cockpit navigation systems and displays in compliance with International Civil Aviation Organization regulations for the government of France. Work will be performed in Melbourne, Florida (81 percent); Cuers, France (11 percent); Rolling Meadows, Illinois (4 percent); Millersville, Maryland (2 percent); and Herndon, Virginia (2 percent), and is expected to be completed in July 2019. Foreign military sales funds in the amount of $8,637,900 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Herndon, Virginia, was awarded a $33,671,707 modification (P00016) to contract W31P4Q-15-C-0065 for continued software development, training, maintenance of the Counter-Rocket, Artillery Mortar command and control system. Work will be performed in Redondo Beach, California; and Madison, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of March 31, 2018. Fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $33,671,707 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity.

Raytheon Co., Dulles, Virginia, was awarded a $9,352,501 modification (P00005) to contract W52P1J-16-C-0046 to provide a wide range of Combined Enterprise Regional Information Exchange System services to support the operational and strategic use of Department of Defense and subsidiary networks and capabilities within the US Central Command area of responsibility. Work will be performed in Kuwait; Jordan; Qatar; Iraq; and Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 15, 2017. Fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $9.352.501 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity.