March 29, 2024

Esper is Sworn in as DefSec

Esper

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.

Mark Esper was sworn in as US Secretary of Defense during an Oval Office ceremony, reports USNI. Esper, during confirmation hearings, committed to former DefSec Jim Mattis’ National Defense Strategy to maintain preparedness for conflict with capable adversaries like Russia and China.

Boris Johnson is the new British prime minister, in a decisive victory over Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, reports BBC News. Mr. Johnson won in a ballot of Tory members — gaining a 66.4 percent total share of the vote.

Iran tells new Prime Minister Johnson it doesn’t want confrontation, but will protect itself. The New York Times reports Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, offered his congratulations after Johnson won, but also warned the leader-in-waiting that Tehran would protect itself.

Britain wins early European support for Hormuz naval mission, reports Reuters. France, Italy, and Denmark gave initial support for a British plan for a European-led naval mission to ensure safe shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, proposed after Iran’s seizure of a British-flagged tanker.

An Idaho wildfire sparked by a lightning strike Monday burned 90,000 acres in less than 24 hours, reports CNN. It is forcing the partial evacuation of the nation’s leading nuclear energy research laboratory. The Sheep Fire quickly grew after starting in early evening near Idaho Falls, in the southeastern part of the state about 70 miles from Wyoming.

Russians say equipment malfunction led its military aircraft into South Korean airspace Tuesday, CNBC reports out of South Korea’s Yonhap news agency. South Korea fired warning shots at the plane.

Lockheed is confident other customers will buy Turkey’s F-35s, reports USNI. After receiving its first shipment of a Russian-built air-defense system, Turkey was  dropped from the F-35 program. The Russian S-400 system in an F-35 partner nation could expose vulnerabilities to the aircraft’s stealth capabilities, say DoD officials.

US Central Command now says it “engaged” two Iranian drones, not one, reports Military Times. The US military says that when it destroyed an Iranian drone last week over the Strait of Hormuz, it also took aim at a second drone. Officials have said the amphibious ship Boxer used an electronic jamming device on the ship to attack the drones, rather than fire missiles at it, reports C4ISRnet.

Afghans seek clarity on Trump’s talk of wiping the country out, reports The Associated Press. The Afghan government asked for clarification after President Donald Trump said he could win the 18-year war in 10 days but that “Afghanistan would be wiped off the face of the earth.”

The nominee for vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has been accused of sexual assault. Defense News reports Gen. John Hyten’s accuser testifies in private before a Senate panel.

Fewer troops are using tuition assistance benefits, reports Military Times. The decline continued again in fiscal 2018, following the trend in recent years of fewer troops taking college courses.

Contracts:

Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Manassas, Virginia, is awarded a $27,425,442 for firm-fixed-price delivery order N00024-19-F-5632 under previously awarded contract N00024-15-D-5217 for 165 Technical Insertion Sixteen (TI-16) Common Display System (CDS) Variant A water-cooled production consoles. The CDS is a set of watch station consoles designed to support the implementation of Open Architecture in Navy combat systems. The TI 16 CDS is the next evolution in the CDS family and consists of a three-eyed horizontal display console. This delivery order combines purchases for the Navy (85%); and the government of Japan (15%) under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. Work will be performed in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and is expected to be complete by March 2020. Fiscal 2018 other procurement (Navy); fiscal 2014, 2016 and 2017 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); and FMS Japan funding in the amount of $26,935,062 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, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.

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