Biden Wants to Scale Back F-35 Orders

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.

The US Department of Defense’s order for the F-35 will drop to below 70, down from an expected 83 – an estimated $1.6 billion drop in spending on jets, reports The National Interest. The Pentagon had previously said it would buy 83 F-35s from Lockheed Martin next year for $9.8 billion.

Reports that the Biden administration wants to scale back its order of Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets has raised concerns among some Fort Worth political leaders, reports Fort Worth Star-Telegram via Yahoo!News. The administration is considering an 18% cut to meet spending caps agreed to as part of a 2023 debt ceiling deal.

NavSec Carlos Del Toro has a message for government contractors: Ask not what you can do for your shareholders, ask what you can do for your country, reports Defense News. He said that the US needs companies to deliver weapons, warships, aircraft, and more on time, on budget, and without excuses, especially during a time of war abroad and political uncertainty at home. He said the service would hold accountable contractors with poor performance.

Lockheed Martin announced Thursday that the company is on track to raise production of its weapons systems to meet increased demand amid escalating security concerns, reports Reuters. The Russia-Ukraine war, the Middle East crisis, and the specter of Chinese aggression are driving demand for weapons systems made by US defense companies.

US Navy sailors have been put to the test during the past four months of constant Red Sea threats, reports Navy Times.  Servicemembers aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and its accompanying warships have been defending against ballistic missiles and flying attack drones fired by Iranian-backed Houthis. Now there’s a new threat — fast unmanned vessels fired at them through the water. Since early January, the Navy has had to intercept and destroy multiple USVs.

Here’s a running list from Navy Times of every instance where a US ship or jet has shot down a Houthi attack, and every instance where the US and its allies have hit back at Houthi sites in Yemen, since October.

ADM Samuel Paparo, commander of US Pacific Fleet, said a modernized military and industrial base relationship with Japan is one outcome of the US’s Indo-Pacific Strategy released two years ago, reports Defense News. The strategy noted the “intensifying American focus” in the region was partly due to mounting challenges, particularly from China. Paparo said last week that “the integration of our defense industrial bases, the integration of our concepts of operations, the combinations and integrations of our headquarters, and our combining on a common mission, reflects that modernizing [of] the US-Japan relationship,” which accounts for the international security environment currently being experienced.

The Navy plans to establish a second unmanned surface drone squadron in May, reports C4ISRNET. “This is not a contractor-owned, contractor-operated capability, but this is a uniformed capability that we’ll be able to own [and] operate unmanned capabilities that can be employed within particular spaces,” Paparo told attendees at the West 2024 conference in San Diego, CA, last week.

RADM Doug Small, head of the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, said more US Navy ships are getting Project Overmatch networking following tests with the USS Carl Vinson, reports Defense News. Project Overmatch capabilities have been upgraded and rolled out to an additional number of ships following testing last year with the carrier strike group. Project Overmatch is part of a DoD connect-everything-everywhere campaign known as Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control, or CJADC2.

Should hospital ships of the future be armed? The 1949 Geneva Convention specifies that hospital ships must not participate in combat activities of any kind. But three scholars with expertise in military medicine have suggested that in the world of hybrid warfare, the rules that govern military hospital ships may put them at risk, reports Navy Times.

The US Space Force mulls requiring prospective guardians to enlist for an initial term of eight years on active duty, reports C4ISRNET. That’s twice as long as first-term troops usually sign up for. The change aims to build a more stable workforce in the coming decades.

The Space Force wants to launch a new Futures Command, reports Breaking Defense. GEN Chance Saltzman, chief of Space Operations, said the new command will not just be looking at what new capabilities the Space Force should build, own, and operate, but also at how commercial tech, systems, and services can fill some needs.

Xwing, an autonomous flight startup, recently transported cargo for the US Air Force as part of a military exercise, reports Flying. The service’s AFWERX awarded Xwing military airworthiness for its self-flying Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, allowing it to perform cargo missions for the Air Force in unrestricted airspace.

Among the Navy’s latest uniform and personnel appearance policy changes are reinstating the female bucket cover and allowing sailors to place their hands in their pockets, reports Navy Times.

Michael Roberts has been selected as Fleet Readiness Center Mid-Atlantic Detachment Pax River’s 2023 Civilian of the Year, reports dvidshub.net. Mr. Roberts, a quality assurance specialist at FRCMA Det Pax, has been with the command since 2014 and is responsible for liaison between active-duty military and civilian personnel.

A US House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs subcommittee questioned VA officials on how to better employ artificial intelligence technology to ensure faster and more equitable health care and benefits for veterans, reports Military Times.

The Department of Justice said it has disrupted a Russian hacking campaign that infiltrated the routers of homes and small business, reports The Hill. The targets of interest to the Russian government included the US and foreign governments, military and security targets, and corporate organizations.

The Maryland Aviation Administration is set to receive just over $15 million for projects at two airports, reports Maryland Matters. The federal government is sending $14,574,160 to the aviation administration to replace up to 14 boarding bridges at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport. Martin State Airport in Middle River will receive $5.4 million toward a new air traffic control tower.

Baltimore County delegates are urging the US Air Force to keep the 175th Wing of the Maryland Air National Guard at Martin State Airport, reports WBAL News Radio. In a letter sent to AFSec Frank Kendall, the delegates asked him to reconsider an initiative to eliminate the 175th Wing. “We implore you to reconsider this decision and ensure the future of this historic and high-performing unit. Our congressional partners have also asked you to keep a flying mission at Warfield Air National Guard Base for the Maryland Air National Guard,” the letter said in part. Maryland would be the only state in the nation without a National Guard flying wing if the initiative is approved.

Maryland’s federal lawmakers said they are having conversations “at the highest levels of the Pentagon” to try to convince the Air Force to preserve the flight mission at Martin State Airport, reports The Baltimore Sun. The Air Force is phasing out its A-10 Warthog. No aircraft has been designated to replace them, leaving hundreds of the A-10 program’s pilots and other workers in limbo.

Contracts:

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., Poway, California, is awarded a $43,131,929 cost-plus-fixed-fee order (N0001924F0008) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N0001922G0006). This order provides for engineering and logistics and support services, capability development and sustainment in support of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force Unmanned Aircraft System Expeditionary/Medium Altitude Long Endurance MQ-9A for the Marine Corps. Work will be performed in Poway, California (42%); Indo-Pacific Command Theater (20%); Yuma, Arizona (13%); Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii (11%); Patuxent River, Maryland (7%); Cherry Point, North Carolina (7%); and Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania (1%), and is expected to be completed in February 2025. Fiscal 2024 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $9,000,000; and fiscal 2024 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $8,485,345 will be obligated at the time of award, $9,000,000 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

Gilbane Federal, Concord, California (N69450-21-D-0056); Hensel Phelps Construction Co., Orlando, Florida (N69450-21-D-0057); The Korte Co., St. Louis, Missouri (N69450-21-D-0058); M. A. Mortenson Co., doing business as Mortenson Construction, Minneapolis, Minnesota (N69450-21-D-0059); RQ Construction LLC, Carlsbad, California (N69450-21-D-0060); Sauer Construction LLC, Jacksonville, Florida (N69450-21-D-0061); Walsh Federal LLC, Chicago, Illinois (N69450-21-D-0062); B.L. Harbert International LLC, Birmingham, Alabama (N69450-22-D-0011); Balfour Beatty Construction LLC, Charlotte, North Carolina (N69450-22-D-0012); and The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., Baltimore, Maryland (N69450-22-D-0013), are awarded a combined-maximum-value $60,000,000 firm-fixed-price modification to increase the capacity of their respective previously-awarded contracts for general building type projects. Award of this modification brings the total cumulative value for all 10 contracts combined to $1,010,000,000. Work will be performed in Florida (15%), Georgia (15%), Louisiana (14%), Mississippi (14%), South Carolina (14%), Tennessee (14%) and Texas (14%), and is expected to be completed by September 2026. No funds will be obligated at time of award. The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Southeast, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity.

Tigua Technology Services Inc., El Paso, Texas, is awarded a $35,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for technical and analytical services support. This contract provides for a wide spectrum of services supporting the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Program and specific support for the Joint Intermediate Force Capabilities Office. Work will be performed at Quantico, Virginia, with an expected completion date of Feb. 14, 2029. The maximum dollar value is $35,000,000. No funds are obligated at time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued. This contract was a sole source acquisition in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 19.8. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting activity (M67854-24-D-7203).

Prism Maritime LLC, Chesapeake, Virginia, is awarded a $7,939,991 cost-plus-fixed-fee, completion-type modification to previously awarded contract N0016422CJQ86 to exercise options for shipboard and facility installations of Special Warfare and Expeditionary Systems Department technology systems, to be installed on Navy, Coast Guard, US Allies Naval, and other U.S. military-affiliated platforms and facilities; and various other customers and/or maritime and ashore platforms pierside. Work will be performed in Crane, Indiana (40%); San Diego, California (20%); Portsmouth, Virginia (20%); Norfolk, Virginia (15%); Bangor, Washington (3%); and Kings Bay, Georgia (2%), and is expected to be completed by February 2027 if all options are exercised. This effort will be incrementally funded. Fiscal 2022 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,421,344 (73%); Navy working capital funds in the amount of $254,489 (13%); fiscal 2023 operations and maintenance (defense-wide) funds in the amount of $225,000 (12%); fiscal 2024 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $49,684 (3%); and fiscal 2023 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $4,144 (0.2%) will be obligated at time of award, of which funds in the amount of $1,696,027 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division, Crane, Indiana, is the contracting activity.

System High Corp., Chantilly, Virginia, has been awarded a $34,436,914 modification (P00011) to previously awarded contract HR001122C0073 for program security services. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $89,033,704 from $54,596,790. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of March 2025. Fiscal 2024 research and development funds in the amount of $5,213,361 are being obligated at the time of award. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity.