Drones in Restricted Airspace Face $1.9M Fine

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 necessarily reflect those of the Leader’s owners or staff.

The FAA proposes a $1.9 million fine on SkyPan International Inc., a small Chicago-based aerial-photography firm, for 65 flights of drones in restricted airspace above New York and Chicago including 43 flights near New York’s large airports, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Defense Systems reports on underwater drones demonstrations held last month at NAS Patuxent River.

Lockheed Martin to eliminate 500 positions by mid-November in its Information Systems and Global Solutions segment, reports the Washington Post. Morning Coffee presented yesterday, Reuters’ report of Lockheed in talks with CACI , SAIC, BAH, and Leidos Holdings to merge its $4 billion IT and services business with another defense contractor.

Northrop Grumman Corp. completes the center fuselage for the first F-35 Lightning II aircraft to be assembled in Japan, reports Nasdaq.com.

Navy test pilots from Pax River land F-35C test aircraft aboard the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower, marking the start of the second phase of Developmental Testing. The Aviationist has video.

NASA works with the Navy submarine force to research the effects of a manned voyage to Mars, reports Military.com.

Europe’s top court invalidates 15-year-old Safe Harbor rules that allowed US firms to handle Europeans’ digital data. The ruling creates difficulties for tech companies such as Amazon, Facebook and Google to operate overseas, reports USA Today. As with the US Supreme Court, there is no option for appeal.

The two major fantasy sports sources, FanDuel and DraftKings, are into serious damage control as concerns grow that insider trading means fantasy players are not participating in fair contests, reports International Business Times.

The Russian military threat is fleshed out by Breaking Defense, which suggests US assessments view the Russian threat as a larger concern than either China or terrorism.

Michelle Obama will christen Illinois, the Navy’s most advanced nuclear submarine Oct. 10, reports UPI.