DoD Plans $10B in Cuts to Weapons Programs
DoD plans to cut several weapons programs in its 2025 budget, including an attack submarine and F-35 fighter jets. (US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Rex Nelson/Released)
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The US Department of Defense plans cuts to some of its weapons programs — F-35 fighter jets, an attack submarine, Army helicopters and drones, and Air Force overhead — to stay under congressionally mandated spending caps, reports Politico. The department will make $10 billion in cuts to its 2025 budget, after the Biden administration struck a deal with congressional leaders last year to limit defense spending.
The cuts to the Pentagon’s F-35 buy in its fiscal 2025 budget request would not be mitigated by recent foreign military sales and are likely to drive prices higher, reports Air & Space Forces Magazine. DoD outlined plans to buy 83 F-35s in 2025 in its latest future years defense plan, but now the Air Force expects to cut six F-35As and the Navy eight F-35Cs.
The US Army has announced a massive overhaul of its aviation programs, including shelving major helicopter and drone projects and putting that money toward aircraft the Army believes are most necessary on the modern battlefield, reports Politico.
Congressional leaders are racing to secure a deal on government spending as the negotiation window nears and the fears of a shutdown grow, reports The Hill. A pair of funding deadlines loom — March 1 for a handful of agencies and March 8 for the rest.
Houston, TX-based Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lander touched down on the moon Thursday after a historic descent following a last-minute navigation sensor malfunction, reports CBS News on MSN. Odysseus is the first US-built spacecraft to stick a moon landing in more than 50 years and the first ever by a private company.
The Odysseus mission, called IM-1, was the second of a series of lunar ventures planned as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, a public-private initiative NASA hopes will develop the space economy, bring down costs, and make two lunar deliveries each year, reports Forbes.
The US Navy’s new robotics warfare rating — the Robotics Warfare Specialist — was unveiled last week to oversee robotic and autonomous system operations, reports Navy Times. The rating will focus on both offensive and defensive cyberspace operations, and initially will draw from Information Warfare Officers and sailors serving in the Cryptologic Technician-Networks rating, who currently carry the bulk of the Navy’s cyber role.
The Navy has ordered Louisiana-based shipbuilder Swiftships to stop work on the service’s Landing Craft Utility 1700 program, reports Defense News. The Navy is also moving to terminate the contract, following years of challenges and disagreements on the program.
US Central Command said that US forces recently struck an unmanned underwater drone in the Middle East, reports Military Times, marking the first observed employment of an underwater drone by the Houthi militants since they began their attacks in October. The Defense Department said that an American MQ-9 Reaper drone went down Feb. 19 in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen.
The US Department of Justice has charged four foreign nationals with shipping Iranian-made weapon parts to the Houthi rebels in Yemen, reports The Hill. The shipment that was seized by Navy SEALS in a raid last month off the coast of Somalia. The men are accused of providing false information to US Coast Guard officers after their arrest.
The Japanese Defense Ministry and 14 Japanese companies attended this year’s Singapore Airshow, the first non-Japanese airshow the government has displayed arms at since loosening export controls, reports Breaking Defense.
The first day of the Singapore air show was marked by an impressive showing from China, reports Breaking Defense, including the first appearance at a non-Chinese air show of the Z-10ME heavily armed rotorcraft and a fly-by from its new domestic commercial plane and plenty of exhibition space. The air show was held Feb. 20-25. More than 1,000 companies from more than 50 countries participated, reports Reuters, led by Western industry giants such as Airbus, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin and Chinese competitors COMAC and AVIC.
Israel’s defense industry made its return to the Singapore Airshow last week after being largely absent from the Dubai air show in November in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war, reports Reuters.
AT&T said Sunday that a nationwide outage earlier in the day was not caused by a cyberattack, reports The Hill. “Based on our initial review, we believe the outage was caused by the application & execution of an incorrect process used as we were expanding our network, not a cyber attack,” reads a company post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
A cyberattack on the United States’ largest commercial prescription processor, Change Healthcare, has slowed prescription processing at military pharmacies, reports Military Times. Military clinics and hospitals worldwide have been affected by the cyberattack. Until the issue is resolved, military pharmacies will use a manual procedure to fill outpatient prescriptions. Several national pharmacy chains said the outage was also affecting their business, reports The Hill.
The US Department of Veterans Affairs said it now has the overall personnel it needs, reports Federal Times, and the pace of hiring will ease. The VA reached more than 400,000 staff for the first time in history last year and brought in more than 61,000 external hires.
Veterans advocates are pushing for another increase in the Veterans Affairs budget next fiscal year, reports Marine Corps Times, saying the funding is needed to keep pace with increased medical care demands and upgrades to department facilities.
More veterans could be headed to DoD medical sites to get VA health care as the two departments are finding ways to move VA staff into unused military medical space to provide more health care options for local veterans, reports Army Times. It’s been done at Fort Campbell in Tennessee and Naval Hospital Pensacola in Florida. Other partnerships are under discussion.
US Navy Chief Petty Officer Fire Controlman Bryce Steven Pedicini has been charged with espionage and related offenses for allegedly providing classified information to an unnamed foreign government, reports Task & Purpose. Pedicini is assigned to the destroyer USS Higgins. He has been held in pretrial confinement since last May. Prosecutors accuse Pedicini of giving an employee of the foreign government “information relating to the national defense” on seven separate occasions.
Contracts:
BAE Systems Technology Solutions and Services Inc., Rockville, Maryland, is awarded a $7,767,473 modification (P00071) to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N0042120C0003). This modification exercises an option to provide continued engineering and technical support in support of the research, development, design, integration, testing, installation, training, and certification of shipboard command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence integrated communications and information systems radio communications for Navy ships. Work will be performed in St. Inigoes, Maryland, and is expected to be completed in February 2025. Fiscal 2024 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $4,584,203 will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
Blind Industries & Services of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, has been awarded a maximum $9,606,000 modification (P00008) exercising the third one-year option period of a one-year base contract (SPE1C1-21-D-B107) with four one-year option periods for cold weather wind jackets. This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. The ordering period end date is Feb. 23, 2025. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2024 through 2025 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Marine Hydraulics International LLC, Norfolk, Virginia, is awarded a not-to-exceed $91,632,639 firm-fixed-price, undefinitized contract action for the repair, maintenance, and modernization included in USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19) Chief of Naval Operations fiscal 2024 Selected Restricted Availability. The scope of this procurement includes all labor, supervision, facilities, equipment, production, testing, and quality assurance necessary to prepare for and accomplish the USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19) fiscal 2024 Selected Restricted Availability. This contract includes options, which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $147,248,303. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by August 2025. Fiscal 2024 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $41,403,567 (92.3%); fiscal 2024 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,750,682 (3.9%); and fiscal 2023 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,722,353 (3.8%), will be obligated at the time of award, of which funding in the amount of $1,750,682 will expire at the end of the fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 US Code 3204(a)(3) (Industrial Mobilization). The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity (N0002424C4406).
CACI Inc., Federal, Chantilly, Virginia, was awarded a $38,536,643 single award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, utilizing cost-plus-fixed-fee for the acquisition of systems engineering and technical assistance services to support the Program Executive Office for Command, Control and Communications Tactical, Project Manager Mission Command in the areas of technical/engineering management, logistics and readiness management, business management, and overall program management. This is a one-year contract with four 12-month option periods. Performance will be at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. Proposals were solicited via SAM.gov, and three proposals were received. The Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity (HC1084-24-C-0003).
Amentum Services Inc., Chantilly, Virginia, was awarded an $8,626,048 modification (P00335) to contract W58RGZ-19-C-0025 for aviation maintenance services. Work will be performed at Fort Liberty, North Carolina; Fort Campbell, Kentucky; and Iraq, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 30, 2024. Fiscal 2024 operation and maintenance, Army funds and fiscal 2024 aircraft procurement, Army funds in the amount of $8,626,048 were obligated at the time of the award. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity.
General Dynamics Electric Boat Corp., Groton, Connecticut, is awarded a not-to-exceed $150,984,000 undefinitized contract action modification to previously awarded contract N00024-24-C-2110 for long lead time material associated with the Virginia Class submarines SSN 814, SSN 815, SSN 816, and SSN 817. Work will be performed in Sunnyvale, California (36%); Minneapolis, Minnesota (17%); Spring Grove, Illinois (13%); York, Pennsylvania (4%); Annapolis, Maryland (4%); Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (3%); Windsor Locks, Connecticut (3%); Cleveland, Ohio (1%); and other locations less than 1% (19%) and is expected to be completed by September 2035. Fiscal 2024 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $150,984,000 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The statutory authority for this sole source award is in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii) – Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity.
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Annapolis, Maryland, is awarded a $15,166,055 modification to previously awarded, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity requirements contract N61331-22-D-0001 to exercise an option for depot level repair, maintenance and modifications supporting the AN/AQS-24 Sonar Mine Detecting Set (all variants). This will allow Common Post Mission Analysis and Intermediate Level Test Equipment to support the Navy for the currently deployed airborne mine countermeasures legacy systems. Work will be performed in Annapolis, Maryland, and is expected to be completed by March 2025. There will be no funding assigned at the time of this modification. The Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division, Panama City, Florida, is the contracting activity.
Huntington Ingalls Industries, Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia, is awarded a $1,173,178,011 cost-plus-incentive-fee modification to previously awarded contract N00024-18-C-4314 for completion of USS Boise (SSN 764) engineered overhaul. This contract modification includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract modification to $1,238,312,189. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by September 2029. Fiscal 2023 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $29,559,482 (81%); and fiscal 2024 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $6,948,094 (19%), will be obligated at the time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity.
Huntington Ingalls Inc., Newport News, Virginia, is awarded an $80,000,000 cost-plus-incentive-fee modification to previously awarded contract N00024-21-C-2106 for the USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) refueling complex overhaul for emergent supplemental work. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia. Fiscal 2022 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $25,000,000 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This supplemental work will be accomplished by Huntington Ingalls Inc., in accordance with 10 US Code 3204(a)(1). Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity.
Pacific Defense Strategies Inc., El Segundo, California, is awarded a $17,438,854 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the Common Sensor Platform for Strategic and Distributed Autonomous Cyber-Electronic Warfare (EW) effort. The Department of Defense is currently developing an open standard hardware/software platform (command, control, computers, communications, cyber, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C5ISR)/EW Modular Open Suite of Standards (CMOSS)) for converged EW, communications, signals intelligence, and position, navigation and timing to respond to peer-on-peer advancements in EW and electromagnetic spectrum operation. The work to be performed provides for an artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML)-enabled common EW sensor-effectuator effort that will lead to a whole new field of tactical AI/ML and cyber-EW at the tactical edge, and for theater level superiority. Research and demonstration of distributed AI capabilities, including autonomous cyber-EW effects, on these prototypes will facilitate use in multiple vehicles to enable: Multi-mission, multi-platform capabilities for distributed-denied, intermittent and limited RF environment, cooperative distributed EW, Web-based smart user interface for multi-mission, multi-platform planning, command and control, and situational awareness to reduce cognitive overload, build and deliver marine electromagnetic warfare ground family of systems-enabled CMOSS/Sensor Open Systems Architecture sensor nodes, including small unmanned aerial vehicle and small form factor sensor for persistent unmanned team effort. Work will be performed in El Segundo, California (68%); Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (23%); and Fairfax, Virginia (9%). Work is expected to be completed in March 2026. The total cumulative value of this contract, including a 24-month base period and one 12-month option period, is $17,438,854. Fiscal 2023 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $15,907,056 are obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured under N00014-23-S-B001 entitled “Long Range Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for Navy and Marine Corps Science and Technology.” Since proposals are received throughout the year under the Long-Range BAA, the number of proposals received in response to the solicitation is unknown. The Office of Naval Research, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N00014-24-C-1114).
