Blackhawk Down in Leonardtown
Photo courtesy of The BayNet.com
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.
CNN along with multiple news organizations reported Monday from Leonardtown, Maryland, a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter crashed on Breton Bay Golf Course during a routine training exercise from Davison Airfield at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, killing one crew member and injuring two others.
An online survey posing a series of questions on the US defense budget found that 54 percent of those polled wanted to end production of the F-35, Madison.com reports. Voice of the People’s poll showed that Americans generally favor cutting defense spending on the Air Force, Army, Navy, nuclear weapons, and missile defense.
Reuters reports President Donald Trump is planning to increase defense spending by $54 billion next year. But a series of recent reports by the DoD inspector general and the Government Accountability Office say Pentagon accounting systems will struggle to track how the money is spent.
The White House has dropped plans for a 14 percent cut to the Coast Guard, Breaking Defense reports, instead promising a budget that sustains current funding levels. But USCG officials say the current funding levels are already too low.
The Air Force is deploying a few F-35A fighter jets to Europe for several weeks of training with other US and NATO military aircraft, News18.com reports. The Pentagon said that the deployment would allow the AF to “further demonstrate the operational capabilities” of the stealthy fighter jet. It did not name the countries where the aircraft were being deployed.
On Saturday, the Navy said it will allow a fleet of its training jets to fly again under modified conditions while it determines what’s causing a lack of oxygen in some cockpits, San Francisco Chronicle reports. VADM Mike Shoemaker said that its nearly 200 T-45C aircraft would resume flights as early as yesterday, April 17, after being grounded for more than a week.
China and Russia are dispatching vessels to shadow the US aircraft carrier group heading to North Korean waters, The Telegraph reports. China sought help from Russia in averting a crisis over North Korea last week, as concerns grow in China that President Trump is seeking to confront North Korea over its weapons program.
Former CIA acting Director Mike Morrell said President Trump would be best served to simply ignore the provocations of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, Politico reports. Mr. Morrell said the president is “making it worse” by replying with a show of force.
More US troops might be needed to fight ISIS in Syria, CNN reports, after an interview with the US general commanding the coalition fight against the terrorist group.
The White House is sending National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster to Afghanistan where he will evaluate options, including whether to deploy more military personnel to confront that country’s security crisis, Military Times reports.
VASec David Shulkin said he hopes to have a replacement for the controversial Choice Card program before Congress by fall, Military Times reports, a move that would give lawmakers just a few months of debate before the current program runs out.
University of Maryland, Baltimore County defeated nine other finalist teams to win the 2017 National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition, PRNewswire reports. The championship was held in San Antonio, Texas, April 13-15, with the top 10 college and university teams from across the nation facing off to protect a network against constant cyber attacks.
Military Times has air strike footage here of MOAB, the Mother of All Bombs, directed late last week to an ISIS tunnel complex in Afghanistan, Breaking Defense reports. It’s the first time the bomb — weighing 27,100 pounds or so –has been used. MOAB is the largest non-nuclear weapon in the US arsenal. The White House describes the bomb as “a large, powerful and accurately delivered weapon,” Air Force Times reports.
Contracts:
Bell Boeing Joint Program Office, California, Maryland, is being awarded $38,801,700 for modification of delivery order 0006 under a previously awarded contract (N00019-09-D-0008) for repair of various parts on the V-22 aircraft. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (80 percent); and Ridley Park, Pennsylvania (20 percent). Work is expected to be completed by December 2017. Fiscal 2017 working capital funds (Navy) in the amount of $38,801,700 will be obligated to fund the delivery order and funds will not expire. One company was solicited for this non-competitive requirement in accordance with 10 US Code 2304(c)(1) and one offer was received. This contract does not involve a foreign military sale. Naval Supply Systems Command Weapons Systems Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity.
Zieson Construction Co. LLC, Kansas City, Missouri (W912DQ-17-D-4000); Patriot Construction LLC, Dunkirk, Maryland (W912DQ-17-D-4001); Relyant Global LLC, Maryville, Tennessee (W912DQ-17-D-4002); and Herman Construction Group Inc., Escondido, California (W912DQ-17-D-4003), will share in a $95,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract to provide design-build and design-bid-build construction work for military construction in support of the northwestern division Kansas City District. Bids were solicited via the Internet with 18 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order; with an estimated completion date of April 12, 2020. US Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City, Missouri, is the contracting activity.
URS Federal Services Inc., Germantown, Maryland, has been awarded a maximum $74,999,999 hybrid fixed-price incentive firm target, cost reimbursement no fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price contract for warehousing and distribution support services. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. This was a competitive contract with three responses received. Locations of performance are Maryland and Utah, with an April 30, 2022, performance completion date. Using customer is Defense Logistics Agency. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2017 through 2022 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Distribution, New Cumberland, Pennsylvania (SP3300-17-D-5001).
Prism Maritime LLC, Chesapeake, Virginia, is being awarded a $49,551,799 cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the procurement of shipboard installation and associated services, including installation of electro-optic systems for Navy and Coast Guard ships. Ships include the Military Sealift Command T-AO, T-AOE, and T-AKE class ships, Navy aircraft carriers, and Coast Guard cutters. Electro-optic systems to be installed include the Situational Awareness System and Maritime Forward Looking Infrared II. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia (20 percent); Panama City, Florida (20 percent); San Diego, California (20 percent); Charleston, South Carolina (20 percent); Crane, Indiana (10 percent), and outside the continental US (10 percent). The work is expected to be complete by April 2022. Fiscal 2017 Coast Guard funding in the amount of $20,000 will be obligated at time of award. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with four offers received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane, Indiana, is the contracting activity (N0016417DJQ22).
SAIC, McLean, Virginia, was awarded a $13,423,506 modification (P00039) to Foreign Military Sales (Jordan) contract W31P4Q-15-F-0007 for engineering and software support services. Work will be performed in McLean, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of May 14, 2018. Fiscal 2017 other funds in the amount of $13,423,506 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity.
Parsons Brinckerhoff, Virginia Beach, Virginia, was awarded a $10,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for multi-discipline architect-engineer services in support of the Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Bids were solicited via the Internet with 32 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of April 6, 2021. US Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (W91236-17-D-0001).
Waller, Todd and Sadler Architects Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia, was awarded a $10,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for multi-discipline architect-engineer services in support of the Norfolk District, US Army Corps of Engineers. Bids were solicited via the Internet with 32 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of April 6, 2021. US Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (W91236-17-D-0002).
Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia, is being awarded a $12,416,137 sole-source bridge contract to provide continuity of logistics, operations, and maintenance services in support of Navy and Marine signature silencing programs. The services under this contract support Navy and Marine signature silencing programs for naval ships and undersea systems; and provide engineering and program management support for the scheduling and planning of the Southeast Alaska Acoustic Measurement Facility array repair; the repair and installation of the west and east arrays; and the array health assessment and the array validation trials for the final installation/certification report. Work will be performed in Ketchikan, Alaska (66 percent); Long Beach, Mississippi (24 percent); and Poulsbo, Washington (10 percent), and is expected to complete by January 2018. Fiscal 2017 service cost center and fiscal 2017 overhead funding in the amounts of $2,540,000 and $270,000 respectively will be obligated at the time of award and not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $2,200,000 will be obligated at time of award and expire at the end of the fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 US Code 2304(c)(1) – only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division, West Bethesda, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N0016717C0002).
Asturian Group Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia, is being awarded a $7,463,837 firm-fixed-price contract for repair and renovation of the Navy Gateway Inn and Suites (NGIS) Building A-125 at Naval Station Norfolk. Under this contract, the contractor will be required to renovate and make upgrades such that all major building systems meet current code requirements and anti-terrorism/force-protection standards including additional upgrades to the WiFi access points, handrails/guardrails, industrial washer/dryer installation, and the main entrance canopy. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by August 2018. Fiscal 2017 non-appropriated funds (Navy) in the amount of $7,463,837 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via a select bidders list in accordance with Naval Facilities Acquisition Standards 36.2102, non-appropriated funded contracts waiving Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 6, with six proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N40085-17-C-0303).
