Deteriorating Propeller Blades Ground C-130s

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 Air Force grounded 60 C-130H Hercules aircraft after a review found their pre-1971 propeller blades could be susceptible to dangerous cracking, reports Air Force Times. Five of those C-130s have had their blades replaced and returned to flying status.

US Navy P-8A Poseidons and C-40 Clippers are based on Boeing 737 designs, but are not affected by the grounding of civilian 737 Max planes, reports Stars and Stripes. The Federal Aviation Administration issued an emergency order last week grounding 737 Max planes following a crash Sunday in Africa that killed 157 people.

Military Times reports about 21,000 nondeployable troops have been forced out of the ranks since the Defense Department’s “deploy or get out” policy began last summer.

Veterans Affairs chief Robert Wilkie is reportedly lobbying to be the next defense secretary, Task & Purpose reports. But Defense News reports Pentagon sources say the appointment of Acting DefSec Patrick Shanahan is possibly days away.

Air Force Gen. Tod Wolters has been nominated to be NATO’s supreme allied commander, reports Air Force Times. The Pentagon says that NATO has also agreed to appoint Wolters to the position.

The Air Force last week completed the first test flight of its new stealth fighter drone, the XQ-58A Valkyrie, reports Digital Trends. The Valkyrie lifted off at Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona on March 5 and was in the air for 76 minutes.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-OK) is not convinced that the Pentagon’s plans to cut costs by decommissioning the Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier is a good idea, reports Defense News. He said he was “a little disturbed” by that scenario.

Defense officials want $304 million to fund research into space-based lasers and particle beams, and other new forms of missile defense, reports Defense One.

The Pentagon has OK’d combining Army, Air Force, Marine and Navy military exchange stores and commissaries with the Defense Commissary Agency, reports Stars and Stripes. The measure still requires congressional approval.

A former secretary at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia was sentenced to four years in prison for bilking the government out of nearly $1.5 million over 17 years, reports The Associated Press. Most of the money came from nearly 43,000 faked overtime hours.

Maryland’s 57th governor, Harry R. Hughes, died last week at the age of 92. His political career in the state spanned 32 years, reports Maryland Matters. Several political leaders noted Gov. Hughes’ environmental work in their statements of tribute. “He made ‘Save the Bay’ a reality; he did something about it …,” former Gov. Parris N. Glendening said.

Contracts:

SourceAmerica, Vienna, Virginia, was awarded a $24,969,056 firm-fixed-price contract to re-purpose legacy body armor vests into the newly designed Modular Scalable Vest configuration. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work will be performed in Lansing, Michigan; Miami, Florida; and Austin, Texas, with an estimated completion date of June, 30, 2020. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $24,969,056 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W911QY-19-C-0043).

Sentient Digital Inc., doing business as Entrust Government Solutions, of New Orleans, Louisiana, is being awarded a $49,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for information technology (IT) engineering support services. IT services in this contract will assist Military Sealift Command’s (MSC) Command, Control, Communications, And Computer Systems (C4S) Division (N6) in providing and sustaining Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of the Navy (DoN) compliant technical C4S solutions. Additionally, this contract will satisfy emerging requirements, enhance and develop IT capabilities in support of MSC’s mission, and assist in the development of governance to ensure IT capabilities align to MSC N6’s strategic business support plan, MSC N6’s technical architecture road maps, DoD, and DoN mandates. The solutions primarily satisfy emergent cyber security mandates and technical refreshes for end of life hardware and software. Work will be performed at Norfolk, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by April 2024. This contract includes a five-year ordering period. Fiscal 2019 Navy Working Capital funding in the amount of $10,000 will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was a small business set-aside, with more than 10 companies solicited via the Federal Business Opportunities website, and 10 offers received. The US Navy’s Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N3220519D1003).

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Bethpage, New York, is being awarded a $45,529,117 cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-only modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-17-C-6311) for engineering services to support the Littoral Combat Ship Mission Modules Program. Engineering services will be provided to support the existing efforts of the Littoral Combat Ships Mission Modules Program. Incidental other direct cost items are also provided in support of said engineering services. Work will be performed Bethpage, New York (34 percent); Mayport, Florida (19 percent); San Diego, California (17 percent); Port Hueneme, California (14 percent); Pittsfield, Massachusetts (8 percent); Panama City, Florida (3 percent); Washington, District of Columbia (1 percent); Dahlgren, Virginia (1 percent); Newport, Rhode Island (1 percent); Baltimore, Maryland (1 percent); and various other locations less than one percent (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by March 2020. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy); fiscal 2019 other procurement (Navy); and fiscal 2019 research, development, test, and evaluation (Navy); and weapons procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $24,194,392 will be obligated at time of award, and funds in the amount of $19,575,683 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.

Ultra Electronics Ocean Systems, Braintree, Massachusetts, is being awarded a $27,978,119 cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost contract for the development and production of Next Generation Surface Search Radar qualification systems (NGSSR). The primary objective of NGSSR is to find a replacement for legacy systems due to current military threats and obsolescence issues. The contract aims to outline the requirements and approach for NGSSR development, production, integration, test, demonstration, product support, and systems engineering. The new NGSSR system will then replace all variants of the current AN/SPS-67, AN/SPS-73, BridgeMaster E series, and commercial-of-the-shelf radar systems. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $34,563,961. The primary objective of NGSSR is to find a replacement for legacy systems due to current military threats and obsolescence issues. The contract aims to outline the requirements and approach for NGSSR development, production, integration, test, demonstration, product support, and systems engineering. The new NGSSR system will then replace all variants of the current AN/SPS-67, AN/SPS-73, BridgeMaster E series, and commercial-of-the-shelf RADAR systems. Work will be performed in Chantilly, Virginia (58 percent); Wake Forest, North Carolina (39 percent); Braintree, Massachusetts (3 percent); and is expected to be complete by July 2021. Fiscal 2018 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $5,500,000 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 15 US Code 638(r)(4) (under the SBIR Phase III program/2018 National Defense Authorization Act). The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division, Port Hueneme, California, is the contracting activity (N6339419C0007).

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Linthicum Heights, Maryland, is being awarded an $8,542,569 modification to the cost-plus-fixed-fee portion of a previously awarded contract (M67854-16-C-0211) for software release and advanced electronic protection required to support ongoing Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar (G/ATOR) Gallium Nitride (GaN) efforts in support of Program Executive Office Land Systems, Quantico, Virginia. Work will be performed in Linthicum Heights, Maryland (65 percent); East Syracuse, New York (20 percent); Farmingdale, New York. (14 percent); and New Brighton, Minnesota (one percent), and is expected to be completed by April 22, 2021. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $6,124,095 will be obligated at the time of award and will not expire at the end of the current year. The contract was not competitively procured, in accordance with 10 US Code 2304(c)(1)(B), with only one proposal solicited and one proposal received. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting activity.

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Information Systems, Chantilly, Virginia; and Redondo Beach, California, has been awarded a $16,271,270 cost-plus-incentive-fee modification (P00079) to previously awarded contract FA8808-13-C-0001 for post operational support for the Enhanced Polar System Control and Planning Segment. This modification provides for factory expertise/support to ongoing operations, support transition from development to sustainment activities, and the delivery and installation of two software updates. Work will be performed in Redondo Beach, California, and is expected to be complete by January 2020. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test, and evaluation funds in the full amount are being obligated at the time of award. This modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $221,970,679. The Space and Missile Systems Center, Military Satellite Communications Directorate, Los Angeles Air Force Base, California, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Jan. 31, 2019).

Siemens Government Technologies Inc., Arlington, Virginia (HC1028-19-C0006), was awarded a competitive, single award, firm-fixed-price contract on March 15, 2019 for commercially available off-the-shelf brand-name Siemens software licenses and support in support of the Navy. The face value (and total cumulative face value) of this action is $8,324,661 funded by fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funds. Performance will be at a Navy facility in Norfolk, Virginia. Proposals were solicited via Federal Business Opportunities, and two proposals were received. The period of performance is March 15, 2019, through March 14, 2020. The Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity (HC1028-19-C0006).

Agile Defense Inc., Reston, Virginia, has been awarded a $7,157,890 modification (P00042) to previously awarded task order HR0011-15-F-0002 for unclassified information technology services. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the task order to $139,054,004 from $131,896,114. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia, with an expected completion date of June 2019. Fiscal 2019 research and development funds in the amount of $7,157,890 are being obligated at time of award. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity.

AECOM Management Services Inc., Germantown, Maryland, was awarded a $21,842,000 labor hours contract for repair or recap efforts of aircraft structures, engines, transmissions, blades, and components for various rotary wing aircraft. Three bids were solicited with two bids received. Work will be performed in Corpus Christi, Texas, with an estimated completion date of March 31, 2022. Fiscal 2019 Army working capital funds in the amount of $21,842,000 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-19-F-0301).

AECOM Management Services Inc., Germantown, Maryland, was awarded an $11,938,722 labor hours contract for support functions of the depot in facilities maintenance, supply logistics, and administrative duties. Three bids were solicited via the internet with two bids received. Work will be performed in Corpus Christi, Texas, with an estimated completion date of March 31, 2022. Fiscal 2019 Army working capital funds in the amount of $11,938,722 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-19-F-0304).

Technica Corp., Sterling, Virginia, has been awarded a $9,454,403 modification (P00008) to previously awarded contract FA8732-14-D-0015-SJ03 for Blanket Operations and Security Sustainment support. This modification provides for the exercise of an additional option period available under the basic contract. Work will be performed at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, and is expected to be complete by April 30, 2020. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the full amount are being obligated and the time of award. This modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $26,217,981. Acquisition Management and Integration Center, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, is the contracting activity.

UPDATE: Maryland Industrial Trucks Inc., Linthicum Heights, Maryland (SPE8EC-19-D-0032), has been added as an awardee to the multiple-award contract for commercial sweeper and scrubbers, issued against solicitation SPE8EC-17-R-0003 and announced Jan. 31, 2017.