March 28, 2024

F-35, A-10 to Face Off in Tests

F-35 strike fighter

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.

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will face off in upcoming testing with the Air Force’s aging close-air-support stalwart, the A-10 Thunderbolt II, according to the director of the Defense Department operational test and evaluation office. The battlefield comparison “makes common sense” and will pit the two airframes against each other in a variety of war scenarios this year, Michael Gilmore said during Senate testimony reported by Stars and Stripes. JSF skeptics include infantry troops and members of Congress who believe the A-10 is uniquely capable of saving lives on the battlefield.

Running for his old Senate seat, Wisconsin’s Russ Feingold is proposing to scrap further development of the F-35 and replace it with purchases of existing F-16s and F/A-18s that “would allow our defense needs to be met without wasting money on upgrades that are unlikely to materialize as scheduled,” he said, according to Morning Consult.  On Tuesday, Senator John McCain called the F-35 odyssey “a scandal,”  Military Times reports.

The Marine Corps has not been affected by a software glitch that left the F-35 Joint Strike Fighters with radar resets and other software stability issues, USNI reports. According to congressional testimony by Lt. Gen. Jon Davis, deputy commandant of the Marine Corps for aviation, the Marines are flying both an older 2B software version and the new 3I software. The software problem resides in a 3I software update that the Marines never loaded.

A massive exercise involving many, if not all, of nine US combatant commands will target strategic threats facing the US and its allies, announced the US Strategic Command. Beginning Saturday, the “Global Lightning 2016” drill will integrate “nearly every conceivable strategic threat to our nation to ensure the … survivability of our strategic deterrent forces,” reports DefenceTalk, noting that the announcement did not name specific threats, but DefSec Ash Carter lists lists five targets for deterrence in nearly every public speech: Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and Islamist-inspired terrorist attacks.

Governments in 2015 suffered more data breaches through carelessness and errors than by succumbing to the cleverness of cyberspies. That is the finding from a report compiled by security analysts from Verizon, the Homeland Security Department, and the Pentagon, NextGov reports. Often, accidental breaches were discovered while investigating intentional hacks. The report is here.

The ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee seeks an amendment to the defense policy bill to allow the Pentagon to close bases in the US, The Hill reports. Rep. Adam Smith’s (D-WA) amendment would allow the Pentagon to close military installations to realize efficiencies. The Pentagon recently submitted a report to Congress arguing for another BRAC, saying it will have 22 percent excess capacity by 2019. Currently, a new BRAC round is prohibited.

Along with using more techniques for identifying who commits cyber attacks, DARPA wants technology developers to create ways to share the information and allow the government to publicly identify suspected hackers without “damaging sources and methods,” Tandem NSI reports.

A Chinese national living in Florida is indicted on 18 counts of working as an illegal agent, conspiring to export of items used in unmanned underwater vehicles to Harbin Engineering University and China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy, Defense News reports.

Baby Boomers, you’re no longer the big deal.  Millennials are now the largest living generation in the United States. The generation’s population is expected to peak in 2036 with 81.1 million living members, when the oldest millennial is 56. For context, the baby boomer generation peaked in 1999 with 78.8 million members, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center reported in The Washington Post. Boom!

Contracts:

Herdt Consulting, Chelsea, Alabama (N00189-16-D-0025); PSI Pax, California, MD (N00189-16-D-0026); and SAIC, McLean, VA (N00189-16-D-0027) are being awarded an estimated $147,178,362 multiple award indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price task orders contract to obtain process improvement, reengineering, management and data support services, to include Navy Enterprise Resource Planning sustainment on behalf of Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) Business Systems Center (BSC).  NAVSUP BSC requires process management and data services to support current and future Navy requirements in the areas of data governance and analysis, business process re-engineering and management, and business system engineering and integration.  Each contract includes a 10-month base period, four 12-month option periods, and the option at Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.217-8 – option to extend services.  If all options are exercised, the contract value will reached a ceiling value of $809,480,995.  Work will be performed in Mechanicsburg, PA (81 percent) and Washington, DC (19 percent). Work is expected to be completed by March 2017; if all options are exercised, work will be completed by July 2021. Fiscal 2016 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $10,000 will be obligated on each of the three contracts to fund the contract’s minimum amount and funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  This contract was competitively procured with the solicitation posted to the Federal Business Opportunities website, with 15 offers received.  Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Norfolk, Contracting Department Norfolk, VA, is the contracting activity.

BAE Systems Technology Solutions & Services Inc., Rockville, MD, is being awarded a $51,875,784 cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery-indefinite-quantity contract to provide engineering products and up to 706,560 hours of technical services in support of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division’s Air Traffic Control and Landing Systems (ATC&LS) Division (AIR-4.11.7) for the design, development and test and evaluation of ATC&LS products.  Work will be performed in St. Inigoes, MD (98 percent) and various ship/shore locations inside and outside the US (2 percent), and is expected to be completed in April 2021. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposals; one offer was received.  No funds will be obligated at time of award; funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued.  The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, MD, is the contracting activity (N00421-16-D-0010).

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