DoD, Environmental Interests Partner to Keep Navy Aircraft Flying
Conservation efforts in the Chesapeake Bay area focus, in part, on ensuring continued use of the Atlantic Test Ranges by the Navy at Naval Air Station Patuxent River. Rough outlines of those test ranges are highlighted in green. (NASA photo)
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.
Deputy DefSec Kathleen Hicks made a visit to Maryland’s Eastern Shore late last month as part of a Defense Department land preservation initiative that is part of the Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration Program, reports The Dorchester Star. The Middle Chesapeake Sentinel Landscape was formed in 2015 to protect the Atlantic Test Ranges used by NAS Pax River, in part by acquiring land and funding conservation easements for privately held land. The trip coincided with Earth Day. CAPT. John Brabazon, NAS Pax commander, said REPI and the MCSL partnership keep the base’s mission viable, according to DoD.
ADM John Aquilino is the new commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reports KHON2 Honolulu. The change of command ceremony was held Friday in Pearl Harbor, HI. Aquilino replaced ADM Philip Davidson.
DefSec Lloyd Austin spoke at the April 30 ceremony. He called for a “new vision” as he spoke about how the US military will operate in the Pacific region, reports Military Times. “The way that we fight the next major war is going to look very different from the way that we fought the last ones,” he said. “We all need to drive toward a new vision of what it means to defend our nation.”
On Friday, speaking at the virtual Aspen Defense Forum, Deputy DefSec Hicks stressed the importance of diplomacy in dealing with China, reports UPI. She said a conflict with that country was neither desirable nor inevitable. Breaking Defense reports that Hicks also offered new insight on funding software and munitions programs over more traditional large platforms in the administration’s upcoming 2022 budget request.
The 53rd Wing out of Eglin Air Force Base, FL, said the F-15EX Eagle II will conduct testing while flying in its first major military exercise, reports Business Insider. Exercise Northern Edge 21, a joint Indo-Pacific Command drill, will continue until May 14, according to the Air Force.
NAVAIR issued last week the latest details about an upcoming competition for the US Navy’s next anti-ship missile known as the Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare (OASuW) Increment 2, reports Naval News.
The final phase of ending America’s “forever war” in Afghanistan after 20 years formally began over the weekend, reports Military Times. Withdrawal of the last US and NATO troops is expected by Sept. 11, though GEN Mark Milley said it was possible that the withdrawal could be finished for that date, The Guardian reports. Miley also said he believes that the Afghan government forces face some “bad possible outcomes” against Taliban insurgents.
President Joe Biden will be the commencement speaker at the US Coast Guard Academy graduation, reports Military.com. He spoke at the commencement in 2013 when he was vice president. GEN Miley is scheduled to address the cadets at the US Air Force Academy at their graduation on May 26, the academy reports. It was announced earlier that Vice President Kamala Harris will speak at the US Naval Academy ceremony this month, reports Navy Times.
The US Air Force has ended its Voluntary Retired Return to Active Duty Program, which began in 2017 as an effort to fill flight positions, reports Military.com.
DoD says motorcyclists planning to attended the Memorial Day rally will not be able to use Pentagon parking lots as a staging area, reports Military Times. Officials say the crowd size poses a potential public health threat during the current pandemic. Organizers said they are confident they can still hold a “safe, reasonable demonstration outdoors that incorporates social distancing, masking where appropriate, and sanitation stations” even without the Pentagon’s cooperation.
Biden will leave it up to the Defense Department to decide whether the COVID-19 vaccine should be mandatory for US troops once it receives full approval from the Food and Drug Administration, reports Military.com.
More than 2 million people — 35% of the population — in Maryland are fully vaccinated against COVID, reports The Baltimore Sun.
Luis Elizondo, former head of the Pentagon’s Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, said he had seen “very very compelling” data about technologically advanced UFOs, reports The Daily Mail.
Harry Reid, a former Democratic senator from Nevada, said he believes Lockheed Martin may have once had fragments of a crashed UFO, reports Fox News. Reid said he tried to get approval from the Pentagon to see them, but had no success. The Pentagon said last year that it was launching an investigation into UFO sightings by US military aircraft, CNN reported at the time.
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland is planning to put a new deep-space telescope into operation in October, reports Capital News Service. The James Webb Space Telescope will replace the Hubble Telescope.
China has launched the main module of its first permanent space station that will host astronauts, reports The Associated Press.
A SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying four astronauts returned to Earth on Sunday, reports Space.com, with a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. This completes the company’s first full-fledged crewed mission to the International Space Station. With splashdown, the crew broke the American crewed spacecraft mission duration record of 84 days, 1 hour, 15 minutes, set by the final Skylab crew in February 1974, according to NASA.
With work proceeding on the new Nice/Middleton Bridge over the Potomac River in Charles County, a group of cycling enthusiasts have a suggestion for what to do with the old structure once the new one is complete, reports Maryland Matters. They want to see it converted into a bicycle and pedestrian bridge.
Saturday’s Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit will be headed to Pimlico in Baltimore for the second leg of the Triple Crown. The Baltimore Sun reports the Derby champion could face significant competition from challengers familiar and fresh as he tries to follow up his surprise victory with a similar performance in the May 15 Preakness Stakes.
Contracts:
Systems Application & Technologies Inc., Largo, Maryland, was awarded a $44,297,235 firm-fixed-price contract for aerial target flight services. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work will be performed at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of May 3, 2021. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation, Army in the amount of $7,230,457 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity (W900KK-21-C-0015).
Alliance WSP JV LLC, Alexandria, Virginia (W91278-21-D-0035); HB&A-The Schreifer Group JV, Alexandria, Virginia (W91278-21-D-0036); Marstel-Day/Atkins MP JV LLC, Fredericksburg, Virginia (W91278-21-D-0037); and The Urban Collaborative LLC, Eugene, Oregon (W91278-21-D-0038), will compete for each order of the $9,999,999 firm-fixed-price contract for architect and engineering services. Bids were solicited via the internet with eight received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of April 29, 2026. US Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile, Alabama, is the contracting activity.
Serco – IPS Corp., Herndon, Virginia, is awarded a $37,644,745 cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-only modification to previously awarded contract N00174-18-C-0015 for professional support services in the areas of program management, administrative support, surface ship modernization, inactive ships, surface ships readiness, surface training systems, business and financial management, records management, and information technology support for Naval Sea Systems Command Surface Warfare (SEA 21). Work will be performed in Washington, DC (55%); Norfolk, Virginia (19%); San Diego, California (18%); Mayport, Florida (2%); Yokosuka, Japan (2%); Sasebo, Japan (1%); Manama, Bahrain (1%); Pascagoula, Mississippi (1%); and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (1%), and is expected to be complete by April 2021. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $80,128; fiscal 2021 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,457,333; and fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $21,380,463 will be obligated at time of award, of which $21,460,591 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity.
Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Baltimore, Maryland, is awarded a not-to-exceed $15,560,859 undefinitized modification to previously awarded contract N00024-11-C-2300 for the implementation of configuration management changes on select Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ships (LCS). The LCS new construction contract provides for the design, construction, integration, and testing of the Littoral Combat Ship, which operates with focused-mission packages that deploy manned and unmanned vehicles to execute a variety of missions, including anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare, and mine countermeasures. Work will be performed in Marinette, Wisconsin, and is expected to be completed by May 2022. Fiscal 2016 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $4,426,941 (57%); and fiscal 2015 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $3,353,488 (43%) will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity.