F-22s Have a Failure to Communicate

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.

For the F-22 and the F-35 it’s a problem to communicate, reports Bloomberg. The collaboration is critical to war fighting and will take a lot of money to fix. The F-22’s older communication system, a system integral to the stealth capabilities of both fighter jets, can receive information from the F-35s. But the F-22s can’t transmit their accumulated data to the F-35s or to other allied aircraft, such as the F-16 and Eurofighter Typhoon.

The Washington Post reports the Fat Leonard corruption probe derailed one admiral’s shot at leading the Joint Chiefs. ADM Sam Locklear, the highest-ranking officer known to have been investigated in the scandal, was cleared of wrongdoing, but the association dropped him from the short list.

RADM Ronnie Jackson’s confirmation hearings to lead the VA could be the most contentious since the department was founded 30 years ago, reports Military Times. Dr. Jackson retired last week after 23 years of service. He’s an Iraq War vet, served three presidents as the top White House medical officer, but little is known about his familiarity with the department.

PBS NewsHour reports a year after hundreds of Marines were exposed as posting explicit photos of women, including of fellow Marines, along with degrading or abusive comments, that corps leaders vow to punish those involved and end the culture of misogyny revealed by the scandal. “But despite all that,” the report by William Brangham concludes, “… today, it was easy to find numerous other sites online where people are uploading explicit photos of female Marines and posting violent, degrading things about them.”

The US military once claimed, “we own the night,” now the Taliban has equivalent night vision, reports Task and Purpose. The Taliban has much of the same tech, either by seizing it from slain Afghan troops or acquiring it on the black market. While the Pentagon is well aware of the problem, officials don’t have a good way to counter it, reports The New York Times.

The Air Force accelerates 2020 plans to base CV-22 Ospreys in western Tokyo, moving five to Yokota this week, reports Stars and Stripes. The Ospreys will remain at Yokota for a short time before leaving to train around the region over the next few months.

Military members moving off Guam are able to ship their pets on United Airlines through April, reports Military.com, for reservations made prior to March 20. No new reservations will be accepted until a review is completed in early May. United suspended pet shipping after a series of transport disasters, including the death of a dog in an aircraft cabin and animals shipped to wrong locations.

The littoral combat ship Little Rock is on her way to Mayport, Florida, after cold and ice kept the ship in a three month port visit in Montreal, Canada, reports Navy Times

The Enterprise reports the history of how a Navy base at Cedar Point transformed St. Mary’s County.

Contract:

Melwood Horticultural Training Center, Upper Marlboro, Maryland, was awarded a $22,052,441 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for custodial, recycling and grounds maintenance support at federal installations within a 100-mile radius of the National Capitol Region. The work includes, but is not limited to, interior and exterior window cleaning, floor care, restroom cleaning services, and building perimeter services for approximately 262 buildings. The work to be performed also includes recycling services which include collection of recyclable materials, sorting and removal to a recycling plant at 21 different naval activities in and around  Washington, District of Columbia. This requirement also includes grounds maintenance services, including, but not limited to, mowing and trimming, edging, debris removal plant and flower bed maintenance and mulching.  Grounds maintenance is performed at one location. Work will be performed at various installations in and around the National Capitol Region, and is expected to be completed by February 2019. No funds were obligated at time of award. Fiscal 2018 operations and maintenance, (Navy); and fiscal 2018 Navy working capital contract funds in the amount of $11,691,846 for recurring work will be obligated on individual task orders issued during the contract period. This contract is a sole-source procurement under the AbilityOne Program (Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 8.704). The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N40080-18-D-0306). (Awarded Feb. 28, 2018)