At Pax, a Scaled-Back 245th Celebration

US Navy photo

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.

Pax River’s Navy Birthday celebration will take place from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm today, Oct. 13, outside at the Parade Field onboard NAS Patuxent River, reports The Tester. Guest of honor and speaker at the event will be retired CAPT Glen Ives, a former commanding officer at Pax from 2006 to 2008. The pandemic is forcing a scaled-back celebration this year at Pax. Expect to see most ceremonies go virtual, reports kyma.com. The 2020 birthday theme is “Victory at Sea.”  Test your knowledge of Navy history with the Military.com quiz.

On Monday, Oct. 12, the Navy observed the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the USS Cole, reports Navy Times. Seventeen service members were killed and 37 were wounded in the attack.

Marine Deputy Commandant for Aviation Lt. Gen. Mark Wise told attendees at the virtual Vertical Flight Society’s 76th Annual Forum last week that the Marine Corps is “very, very happy” with the progress of the Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion, reports Vertical magazine. “If you look at what it did on the [USS] Wasp and how it’s been advancing through its test points, it’s actually been meeting or exceeding in all cases. It’s hard not to be happy with that,” he said.

Iraqi militias backed by Iran have agreed to temporarily halt attacks targeting the American presence in Iraq on the condition that US-led coalition troops withdraw from the country in line with a parliamentary resolution, reports The Associated Press.

President Donald Trump’s promise to abruptly pull all US troops from Afghanistan caused some confusion late last week, reports The Washington Post, as the Pentagon indicated it had received no orders to alter plans for a conditions-based withdrawal and Afghan negotiators voiced concern that a hasty exit would intensify challenges to peace talks. The Associated Press reports that the military officials were “blindsided” by comments and a Twitter post by the president. He wrote, “We should have the small remaining number of our BRAVE Men and Women serving in Afghanistan home by Christmas!” reports Military Times.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Army GEN Mark Milley has not endorsed the White House’s plan on troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. He does not see it as a done deal, reports Military Times.

 

 

Chief of Naval Operations ADM Mike Gilday said that more than 190 Navy ships have suffered a COVID-19 outbreak this year, reports Navy Times.

The US Labor Department’s inspector general says that an estimated $8 billion has been stolen by criminal cyber networks, reports Politico. Antiquated state systems have been unable to stop much of the fraud, according to the report.

The new guided-missile frigate class of ships will be called the Constellation, reports Navy Times. That will make it the fifth ship in US Navy history to carry the name.

Littoral Combat Ship USS Gabrielle Giffords completed its rotational deployment in the Indo-Pacific region, reports USNI News, and is now assigned to the US Navy’s 3rd Fleet.

Finland has added the F-35 and F/A-18 to the list of fighter jets it is considering purchasing, reports Breaking Defense. These US aircraft are also competing with European-made planes.

NASA.gov will livestream today, Tuesday, Oct. 13’s launch of Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket with NASA precision lunar landing technology aboard, reports NASA. The launch is scheduled at 9:05 am (EDT); it had been scrubbed Sept. 24 due to weather.

The launch of a private commercial airlock to the International Space Station in November will accelerate NASA’s plan to turn the station into a hub of private industry, reports UPI.

L3Harris and SpaceX have been awarded Space Development Agency contracts for new missile tracking satellites, reports Breaking Defense.

China launched its Gaofen-13 satellite into orbit on Monday, kicking off a spree of space missions that will bring a dozen major launches in the next few months, reports South China Morning Post.

Sampling done by the Maryland Department of the Environment detected no PFAS, or per– and polyfluoroalkyl substances, in oysters collected from rivers and creeks near Naval Air Station Patuxent River, reports The Chesapeake Bay Journal. Local environmental activists, however, question the state’s interpretation of the findings.

Singer Jimmy Buffett visited Maryland’s state capital earlier this month, reports Patch.com. Mr. Buffett journeyed out to Thomas Point lighthouse in the Chesapeake Bay and recorded two songs.

The Baltimore Sun featured the five members of the Maryland State Board of Elections. The panel of Republicans and Democrats reached many of its decisions about Maryland’s elections this year unanimously, “a feat in an era when bipartisanship is rare.”

Contracts:

Tekla Research Inc., Fredericksburg, Virginia, is awarded a $24,405,000 commercial firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide test and evaluation support services for Commander, Operational Test and Evaluation Force Expeditionary Warfare Division. The contract will include a 60-month base ordering period with an additional six-month ordering period option pursuant of Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.217-8 – to extend services, which if exercised, will bring the total value to $27,000,000. The base ordering period is expected to begin November 2020, and be completed by November 2025; if the option is exercised, the ordering period will be completed by May 2026. All work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,500 will be obligated to fund the contract’s minimum amount and funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Individual task orders will be subsequently funded with appropriate fiscal year appropriations at the time of their issuance. This contract was competitively procured with the solicitation posted on beta.SAM.gov as a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business set-aside using commercial items procedures, with two offers received. The Naval Supply Systems Command, Fleet Logistics Center Norfolk, Contracting Department, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N00189-21-D-0001).

Electric Boat Corp., Groton, Connecticut, is awarded a $327,822,562 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract N00024-20-C-2120 for lead yard support and development studies and design efforts related to Virginia class submarines. Work will be performed in Groton, Connecticut (92%); Newport News, Virginia (7%); and Newport and Quonset Point, Rhode Island (1%), and is expected to be completed by April 2021. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and engineering (Navy) (41%); and fiscal 2020 (25%); 2019 (12%); 2014 (9%); 2017 (7%); 2015 (3%); and 2018 (3%) shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $134,585,918 will be obligated at time of award. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and engineering (Navy) funds in the amount of $55,000,000; and fiscal 2014 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $11,792,469 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The statutory authority for this sole-source award is in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii); only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity.

McKean Defense Group LLC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is awarded a $12,228,590 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-no-fee pricing to provide engineering support for Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services to include technical and programmatic services for networking, communications and computer systems and associated certification and information assurance for new developments, current operations and planned upgrades. This one-year contract includes four one-year option periods which, if exercised, would bring the overall potential value of this contract to an estimated $69,793,839. Work will be performed in the continental US: San Diego, California (76%); Norfolk, Virginia (4%); Hawaii (4%); Washington, DC (3%); Charleston, South Carolina (3%); and outside continental US: Japan (4%); Guam (2%); Bahrain (2%); and Italy (2%). The period of performance of the base award is from Oct. 8, 2020, through Oct. 7, 2021. If all options are exercised, the period of performance would extend through Oct.7, 2025. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Fiscal 2021 funds will be obligated as task orders are issued using other procurement (Navy); operations and maintenance (Navy); research, development, test and evaluation (Navy); shipbuilding construction (Navy); and other funding, which may include Foreign Military Sales; Program Directive Air; and Navy working capital fund. This contract was competitively procured via Request for Proposal N66001-19-R-0036, which was published on the beta.SAM.gov website. Two offers were received and one selected for award. The Naval Information Warfare Center, Pacific, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N66001-21-D-0008).