March 29, 2024

DefSec Mattis Cleared to Begin Work

DefSec Mattis

Morning Coffee is a robust blend of links to news around the Internet concerning the Naval Air Station Patuxent River Morning Coffee logoeconomic community. The opinions expressed here do not reflect opinions of the Leader’s owners or staff.

Newly sworn in DefSec James Mattis held what the Defense Department called a “Top 4″ meeting Saturday that included Gen. Joseph F. Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Deputy Defense Secretary Robert O. Work; and Air Force Gen. Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, The Washington Post reports. No policy changes were announced and the Pentagon was mum on what happened at the meeting. Mattis was confirmed Friday by a 98-1 vote in the Senate, DoD reports.

Shortly after Donald Trump’s inauguration Friday,  the White House posted two documents, one declaring a boost in the size of the Navy and Air Force to increase our offensive and defensive cyber capabilities and another to end sequestration, Breaking Defense reports. In the first document, Making Our Military Strong Again, the Trump administration declares that the US “cannot allow other nations to surpass our military capability” and will “pursue the highest level of military readiness.” The second, America First Foreign Policy, states “peace through strength will be at the center of that foreign policy.”

Lockheed Martin could be nearing a $9 billion deal with the Pentagon for its 10th delivery of F-35 fighter jets, Washington Business Journal reports. It remains to be seen if this rumored $9B contract will be at a price that is favorable to Lockheed, or if it’s the result of a weakened bargaining position. In November, Lockheed closed a $6.1B F-35 deal with the Pentagon that the company argued was “not a mutually agreed upon contract.”

In 2001, the Department of Defense announced that Lockheed Martin’s X-35 had won the Joint Strike Fighter contest over Boeing’s X-32. The National Interest asks: would Boeing have done any better?

The DoD wants a missile capable of releasing a cluster of drones during flight in order to hit multiple targets, Defense News reports. After being released from the missile, the payload of “quad-copters” would decelerate, identify targets, land on the targets, and detonate attached munitions, which the solicitation calls “explosively formed penetrators,” according to the DoD request.

The Air Force is interested in developing an advanced network cyber deception technology, Fifth Domain reports. “This topic seeks to provide new and novel approaches to delaying, disrupting, and deceiving adversaries engaged in active network reconnaissance,” the Air Force’s three-phased Small Business Innovation Research proposal stated. “There is a need for secure, infrastructure agnostic, solutions designed for cyber agility and anti-reconnaissance.”

The RQ-21A Blackjack unmanned aircraft system flew for the first time from NAS Patuxent River Webster Outlying Field in December, somdnewsnet.com reports. Before flying at Webster Field, the system conducted testing in Oregon, as well as at Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadrons on both coasts. C4ISRNET reports Insitu has been awarded a $70.8 million contract modification for additional RQ-21As.

The Navy plans to award more than $10 million in funds to projects that will be selected under the Avionics Component Improvement Program for fiscal 2018, ExecutiveGov.com reports. AvCIP seeks to address problems related to avionics systems such as obsolescence issues and decreased readiness and reliability.

Navy Times reports the Pentagon disagrees with Republicans in North Carolina who claim a $400 million clean energy project slated to power data centers for Amazon.com poses a threat to national security. State legislative leaders have asked the incoming Trump administration to either kill or require major changes to the nearly completed wind farm, which they said will interfere with the operation of a military radar installation.

Sig Sauer wins a contract worth $580 million to make the next service pistol for the Army. The pistol is based on the company’s P320 handgun. Sig Sauer beat out Glock, FN America, and Beretta USA, Military.com reports.

Contracts:

URS Federal Services, Germantown, Maryland, was awarded a $9,009,645 modification (P000205) to contract W52P1J-12-G-0028 for Army Prepositioned Stock 2, and for logistics support services, including maintenance, supply and transportation support. Work will be performed in Germany with an estimated completion date of Nov. 20, 2017. Fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $9,009,645 were obligated at the time of the award. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island, Illinois, is the contracting activity.

Northrop Grumman Corp., Melbourne, Florida, is being awarded $8,121,653 for ceiling price repair delivery order 7000 under previously awarded basic ordering agreement N00383-17-G-AB01 for the repair of 103 power amplifier modules in support of the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft. Work will be performed in Baltimore, Maryland, and is expected to be completed by January 2018. Fiscal 2017 working capital funds (Navy) in the amount of $3,979,610 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was a sole-source pursuant to the authority set forth in 10 US.Code 2304(c)(1) and Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.320-1. Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity.

BAE Systems, Ordnance Systems Inc., Radford, Virginia, was awarded a $177,837,003 modification (P000210) to contract W52P1J-11-G-0002 for construction and commissioning of the new nitrocellulose facility at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant. Work will be performed in Radford, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2018. Fiscal 2015, 2016, and 2017 other funds in the amount of $171,837,003 were obligated at the time of the award.  Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, is the contracting activity.

CSRA LLC, Falls Church, Virginia, is being awarded a $39,140,945 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price contract for information technology (IT) services to support the Navy’s out of the continental U.S. (OCONUS) Naval Enterprise Network (ONE-Net). This contract will provide a bridge for continuing IT services during the transition from the ONE-Net contract to the proposed Next Generation Enterprise Network Re-compete family of contracts in support of the Naval Enterprise Networks Program Office. ONE-Net provides OCONUS Navy commands and claimants core IT services such as: Non-Classified Internet Protocol Router Network and Secret Internet Protocol Router Network access, network connectivity and security, mobile access and desktop support.  This contract includes two six-month options which, if exercised, would bring the total contract value to $80,331,784. Work will be performed at Navy and Marine Corp locations in Bahrain, Greece, Guam, Italy, Japan, Poland, Republic of Korea, Romania, Singapore, Spain, and United Arab Emirates. Work is expected to be completed January 2018. If options are exercised, work will continue through January 2019. No funding will be obligated at the time of award. This sole-source contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 US Code 2304(c)(1). The Space and Naval Warfare System Command, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N00039-17-D-0002).

American Water Operations and Maintenance Inc., Voorhees, New Jersey, has been awarded a $32,553,864 modification (P00095) to a 50-year contract (SP0600-07-C-8254) incorporating an increase to the operations and maintenance; and renewal and replacement charges. This modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $182,820,788 from $150,266,924. This is a fixed-price with prospective price redetermination contract. Locations of performance are New Jersey and Virginia, with a Dec. 20, 2057, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is Army operations and maintenance funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

Akira Technologies Inc., Washington, District of Columbia, has been awarded a maximum $14,890,090 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for laser wide-format plotters/printers and toner. This was a competitive acquisition with five responses received. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Locations of performance are within the contiguous US and non-foreign outside of the contiguous US, with a Jan. 18, 2022, performance completion date. Using customer is Defense Logistics Agency. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2017 through fiscal 2022 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Contracting Services Office, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania (SP7000-17-D-0001).

Bernard Cap Co., Hialeah, Florida (SPE1C1-17-D-1021); and Federal Prison Industries, Washington, District of Columbia (SPE1C1-17-D-F004), have each been awarded a maximum $13,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery contract under solicitation SPE1C1-16-R-0100 for Navy jumpers. These were competitive acquisitions with three offers received. These are one-year base contracts with two one-year option periods. Maximum dollar amount is for the life of the contracts. Locations of performance are Florida, Arizona, and Washington, District of Columbia, with a Jan. 19, 2020, performance completion date. Using military service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2017 through fiscal 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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