Carrier Reagan Heads Back to South China Sea

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 aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan has returned to the South China Sea, reports Navy Times, as tensions with China continue to rise. The strike group is joined by the guided-missile cruiser Antietam and the guided-missile destroyers John S. McCain and Halsey.

Taiwanese leaders say they want to have a “meaningful dialogue” with China, reports Reuters, as that country comes under increasing pressure from Beijing, which has ramped up air force activity in the past few weeks, including crossing the Taiwan Strait’s mid line that normally serves as an unofficial buffer zone.

Late last week, China dispatched ships and aircraft to monitor the US’s Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Barry as it sailed near the Taiwan Strait, where China accused the US of “seriously undermining the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait,” reports Newsweek.

Chief of Naval Operations ADM Mike Gilday has tasked a former surface warfare officer turned engineering duty officer to create an all-connecting network service — called Project Overmatch — leaders believe they will need to fight and win against a high-end foe such as China, reports C4ISRNET.

The F-15E Strike Eagle is the first aircraft cleared to use the Small Diameter Bomb II Stormbreaker, while the F-35 Lightning II and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet are next in line to be equipped with the precision-guided weapon, reports The National Interest. A decision for the F/A-18 is expected later this year; deployment aboard the F-35 isn’t expected until the new fighter gets additional software in 2022, reports tucson.com.

Military Times partnered with several veterans organizations to ask the major party candidates about their views on key issues facing the veterans community. They have provided a look at President Donald Trump’s and former Vice President Joe Biden’s plans for veterans mental health care, education and employment policy, community care programs and pandemic support efforts for veterans.

Count Every Hero believes that military absentee ballots could have a substantial impact on the presidential election, reports Military Times. The group is issuing a call to resist efforts to declare election winners until all military absentee ballots are counted.

Americans’ rush to vote is leading election experts to predict that a record 150 million votes may be cast and turnout rates could be higher than in any presidential election since 1908, reports Patch.com.

 

 

After last week’s “non-debate” by the two presidential candidates, The Associated Press revisited some of the rhetoric Thursday night compared with the facts in the prime-time events and a day of campaigning for President Trump and Mr. Biden. Politico offers its takeaways from the “dueling town halls.” Despite airing in the same time slot, the competing events weren’t evenly matched, says New York Post.

The Army-Navy rivalry continues. Both services recently announced plans for their respective museums, reports Military Times. The Army’s museum is expected to open Nov. 11 at Fort Belvoir, VA. The Navy unveiled plans this week for its own new National Museum of the US Navy in the nation’s capital, set to be completed by 2025.

A life-size bronze sculpture called “The Pledge” has been placed at the Women In Military Service For America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery’s entrance, reports The Associated Press. The sculpture shows a female servicemember kneeling to meet her working dog.

Romania will purchase Naval Strike Missiles from the US, reports UPI. The State Department approved the $300 million sale of two coastal defense systems and related equipment.

The Defense Department condemned a test by Turkey on Friday of its Russian-made S-400 air defense system, reports The Hill. The US says an operational Russian system is not consistent with Turkey’s commitments to the US and NATO.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket fired 60 more Starlink satellites into orbit Sunday from the Kennedy Space Center with another set awaiting launch Wednesday, reports CBS News.

Federal Employees Health Benefits Program participants will pay more toward their premiums in 2021, reports Federal News network, though the increases aren’t quite as high as the previous year. Federal employees and retirees will pay, on average, 4.9% more toward their health premiums next year.

First-time unemployment claims in Maryland dropped slightly last week to 28,388, down from 30,060 the previous week, according to the state’s Labor Department, reports Patch.com. The latest figure pushes the total number of filing since early March to more than 1.24 million.

Gov. Larry Hogan has announced that Maryland’s college and professional football teams will be allowed to welcome more fans into their stands for future games, reports The Baltimore Sun.

The St. Mary’s County Director of Emergency Management Steve Walker said contract medics will be hired to help rescue squads throughout the county answer calls for service during the daytime hours, reports County Times. This comes after response times for calls have increased significantly and the county’s all-volunteer system has been relying on mutual aid from other counties.

Contracts:

BAE Systems Technology Solutions and Services Inc., Rockville, Maryland, is awarded a $65,704,035 cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost-reimbursable, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract provides for air traffic control platform integration technical and engineering services, including systems production, development, test, evaluation and improvement; operational software development and maintenance; field change programs; test beds; overhaul and restoration; and fleet and supply support in support of the Air Traffic Control and Landing Systems Division systems and subsystems. Work will be performed St. Inigoes, Maryland (60%); and Lexington Park, Maryland (40%), and is expected to be completed in December 2025. No funds will be obligated at the time of award; funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposal and two offers were received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00421-21-D-0002).

Redhorse Corp., San Diego, California (FA701420A0020); Cyber Point International LLC, Baltimore, Maryland (FA701420A0021); Elder Research Inc., Charlottesville, Virginia (FA701420A0019); Barbaricum LLC, Washington, DC (FA701420A0018); and Enterprise Resource Performance Inc., Fairfax, Virginia (FA701420A0022), were awarded five-year competitive blanket purchase agreements (BPAs), each with a $100,000,000 ceiling, to provide services to the Department of Defense Joint Artificial Intelligence Center Missions Directorate. The services include software development, machine learning, cognitive and systems engineering, operations research, and user experience design. Work on the contract will occur in Arlington, Virginia. The ordering period is from Sept. 25, 2020, through Sept. 24, 2025. The contracting activity is the Air Force District Washington, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.

Construction Outfitters International Inc., Boerne, Texas (W9128F-21-D-0001); Fluor Federal Services LLC, Reston, Virginia (W9128F-21-D-0002); Weston Solutions Inc., West Chester, Pennsylvania (W9128F-21-D-0003); Greenway Enterprises Inc., Helena, Montana (W9128F-21-D-0004); and Amentum Services Inc., Germantown, Maryland (W9128F-21-D-0005), will compete for each order of the $95,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for facility renovations and repair requirements for Defense Intelligence Agency defense attache offices in US diplomatic facilities worldwide. Bids were solicited via the internet with nine received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 14, 2027. The US Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha, Nebraska, is the contracting activity.

Aegis Defense Services LLC, McLean, Virginia, was awarded a $15,974,994 firm-fixed-price contract to provide US Forces Afghanistan with private security service protection. Bids were solicited via the internet with seven received. Work will be performed in Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 29, 2023. Fiscal 2021 Afghanistan Security Forces Fund (Army) funds in the amount of $15,974,994 were obligated at the time of the award. The US Army Contracting Command, Afghanistan, is the contracting activity (W91B4N-21-C-2000).

Barbaricum LLC, Washington, DC (H92401-21-D-0001); iGov Technologies Inc., Reston, Virginia (H92401-21-D-0002); and NexTech Solutions LLC, Orange Park, Florida (H92401-21-D-0003), were awarded three indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts with a maximum combined ceiling of $780,000,000 under the Targeted Requirement Execution multiple award contract for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance related equipment solutions as well as related incidental development and/or other services in the following four categories: system integration, hardware and modifications, specialized communications solutions, and networks and signal processing capabilities. Fiscal 2020 procurement funds in the amount of $2,500 are being obligated for each contract at the time of award. The majority of the work will be performed at the contractors’ facilities and is expected to be completed by October 2025. The contracts were competitively awarded using Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 15 procedures. US Special Operations Command, Tampa, Florida, is the contracting activity.