Guard Short of Funds as Role Grows
Even as the National Guard faces drastic cost-cutting measures awaiting its $520 million reimbursement from its months-long mission securing the US Capitol — even grounding aircraft — its top general expects the Pentagon to lean even more heavily on the Guard moving forward.
Army Testing Pan-Coronavirus Vaccine
Walter Reed’s infectious diseases branch is closing in on a “pan-coronavirus” vaccine and on synthetic antibodies that could protect a population before spread. The vaccine is now in the early stages of human trials.
Navy Conducts Shock Trials for New Carrier
During full ship shock trials Friday in the Atlantic Ocean , the US Navy triggered an explosion near the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier with a 40,000-pound bomb. The blast registered as a 3.9 magnitude earthquake.
F-35 Office Eyes More Pilot Simulator Training
US Navy CAPT Robert Betts of the F-35 training management office said the program is looking at reducing live training hours for the fighter jets’ pilots and moving to simulators as a way to cut sustainment costs.
’22 Budget Will ‘Shrink’ the Fleet
CNO ADM Mike Gilday told Congress this week that flat or declining Navy budgets ‘will definitely shrink’ the fleet, reports USNI. The Navy has for years been building toward a goal of 355 ships, but only has enough money for 300 vessels with its current budget.
Military Firearms Keep Disappearing
An investigation has found that at least 1,900 US military firearms were lost or stolen during the 2010s, with some resurfacing in violent crimes.
IG Report: P-8A Readiness Rates Drop
An evaluation of the readiness of the US Navy’s P-8A Poseidon says the aircraft’s mission capable rates have fallen below the targets set by Naval Air Forces. The May 19 report was released by the DoD’s Office of the Inspector General.
Pax Pilots Aid Efforts to Collect Ocean Sciences Data
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. US Navy squadron VXS-1 flies NP-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft — a RC-12M King Air and a UV-18 Twin Otter — to help scientists collect data for airborne research, reports Seapower Magazine. The US Naval Research Laboratory’s Scientific Development Squadron One is based at NAS Pax River and logs more than 400 flight hours each year. NRL oceanographer Damien Josset, who participated in the…
Anti-Drone System Shoots Streamers Into Propellers
DARPA has finished work on an anti-drone system that can shoot strings of streamers into the propellers of threatening drones, causing them to fall from the sky. The Mobile Force Protection program is designed to defeat drone intrusions over military installations and convoys using small unmanned aircraft.
Attitudes Shifting Re: F-35
It used to be funds holding back the F-35 program, but increasingly the Pentagon and Congress have begun questioning the costs of operating and sustaining the platform.
