Cape Ray Rigged for Weapon Destruction
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 necessarily reflect those of the Leader’s owners or staff.
The Hill has AP video of the Cape Ray as it prepares to sail for an undisclosed port near Syria to accept stores of chemical weapons and destroy them at sea. The video shows the equipment installed on board and DoD acquisition chief Frank Kendall explains the technology is 10 years old but never has been used aboard ship before, making weather a factor in the process.
Congress still could stumble on its way to finalizing the spending bill to keep government operating, but according to Politico, the price on both parties would be too high to risk it. The $1.1 trillion spending plan to keep government open past a Wednesday deadline rolled out Monday night and is expected to win a three-day extension first thing Tuesday morning. The new deadline will be Saturday Jan. 18, for passage of the 12 bills combined into a single omnibus spending plan for the rest of fiscal year 2014.
Military survivor benefits will be restored, as well as military retirement benefits in the omnibus spending bill due out Friday, reports The Hill, quoting Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.).
China’s military confidence extends beyond the Adiz (Aircraft Defense Identification Zone) it seeks to impose upon the China Sea, to include continued economic growth fueling another year of military spending growth in the 10 percent range, bringing in a 2014 budget estimated at $126 billion. Aviation Week reports the DoD’s adjustments suggest China’s military spending for 2014 could rise to $174-$259 billion.
Jo Ann Rooney won Senate Arms Services Committee approval for appointment as Under Secretary of the Navy despite opposition from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. Ms. Rooney opposes Sen. Gillibrand’s proposed legislation to replace commanders with independent prosecutors from the Judge Advocate General’s corps in sexual assault cases.
Aerial technology, drone delivery and toy drones controllable by your smart phone are flying around this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, reports Defence Talk. Even Made in China flying devices are there, including an aerial system designed for photography and cinematography in hard-to-reach areas.
Once emergency drills were as simple as learning the nearest exit and remembering to walk calmly towards it. In March 2014 there will be a cyber-security drill to be launched on-line into the health care sector. No one knows how complicated it will be or where it will lead. Hospitals, insurers, government health departments and other health-related organizations will rehearse real-time information sharing during a live simulated attack, reports NextGov.
The Russian maker of the AK-47 rifle left an emotional letter of repentance to Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, Izvestia, a pro-Kremlin daily, reported on Monday, according to Defense News. “My spiritual pain is unbearable,” wrote Mikhail Kalashnikov.
Affordable Engineering Services, LLC,* Totowa, N.J., is being awarded a $20,832,874 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to procure support services for the air vehicle modification and instrumentation efforts, to include designing, developing, building, installing, testing and evaluating, calibrating, modifying, operating and maintaining instrumentation on aircraft and engines for the Navy and other Government and commercial customers. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Md. (95 percent), China Lake, Calif. (2.5 percent), and Point Mogu, Calif. (2.5 percent), and is expected to be completed in February 2018. Fiscal 2014 research, development, test and evaluation – Navy contract funds in the amount of $7,000,000 are being obligated on this award, all of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposals; five offers were received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00421-14-C-0007).
