F-35: Filling Gaps after Turkey’s Exit

Ongoing construction at the F-35 dorms on RAF Lakenheath, England, June 30, 2023. (US Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Austin Salazar)

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.

A new Germany-based F-35 fuselage factory will allow Lockheed to boost production while replacing a factory previously operated by Turkey Defense One reports, the fuselage factory in Weeze, a suburb of Düsseldorf, is expected to start operations in 2025. It’s expected to build at least 400 fuselages for Germany and other nations. The new factory fills a void in the supply chain resulting from the US removing Turkey and its companies from the F-35 program.

Turkish Aerospace Industries has signed two contracts worth nearly $2 billion with the country’s largest defense company, Aselsan, to upgrade F-16 fighter jets. Defense News reports, the Biden administration has backed Turkey’s desire to buy 40 new F-16s as well as modernization kits.

Saudi Arabia is set to give a boost to Turkey’s struggling economy through a major drone contract negotiated with Turkish firm Baykar, one that the company’s CEO is calling the biggest sale between the two countries in Turkish defense history, reports Defense News.

Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Taiclet, on Tuesday’s quarterly earnings call, said the company expects to fall short by as many as 53 deliveries of F-35s this year in its struggle to certify software on the jets, reports Defense One. Between 100 to 120 F-35s are expected to be delivered this calendar year, down from the planned 147 to 153. The Pentagon will not resume accepting the jets until they can reliably run at least the current TR-2 software. Jay Malave, Lockheed’s chief financial officer, said the delivery delays will cost the firm between $210 million and $350 million this year, depending on how soon the company can start delivering fighters enabled with TR-3, reports Defense News.

Lockheed Martin marked the 80th anniversary of its renowned advanced projects division, Skunk Works, by posting an Instagram story showing a series of silhouettes for some of Skunk Works’ most iconic aircraft and possibly offering a tantalizing glimpse at its enigmatic Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter jet, reports TheDebrief.org.

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger visited Beijing this week to meet with Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu, reports The Hill. Kissinger was key to the Nixon administration establishing diplomatic relations with China in the early 1970s. The Chinese defense ministry described him as a “friend of China.” Li, because he is the subject of US sanctions, refused to sit down with US DEFSEC Lloyd Austin last month. A US State Department spokesman said the White House is aware of Kissinger’s trip and stressed that Kissinger traveled as a private citizen.

The US is sending additional fighter jets and a warship to the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman to increase security in the wake of Iranian attempts to seize commercial ships there, reports Military Times. The destroyer USS Thomas Hudner and F-35 fighter jets joined F-16s deployed to the area over the past weekend. A-10 attack aircraft have been there for nearly two weeks in response to the Iranian activity.

Military Times predicts a long summer for US congressional staffers sorting out the NDAA. Senate lawmakers took up debate this week on the annual defense authorization bill. Democrats are expected to reject abortion, transgender, and diversity restrictions House Republicans advanced on July 14. Senate Republicans haven’t the votes to retain the restrictions, leaving the sorting out to be handled by staffers during Congress’ extended late summer break.

The Senate Armed Services Committee completed its markup of the NDAA in late June, and the full text of the bill was released July 11. A section seeks an evaluation of the advisability of establishing a separate cyber service or refining the existing US Cyber Command approach, reports Air & Space Forces Magazine.

Court-martial convictions and sentences would require unanimous jury verdicts under an amendment added to the House’s version of NDAA. The amendment was not controversial and passed by voice vote. It would change one of the last ways the military justice system differs from civilian courts after a series of reforms Congress mandated in recent years, reports Military.com.

Russia pulled out of a UN-backed deal to let Kyiv export grain on Monday and struck Ukrainian ports on Tuesday, reports Reuters. Moscow also claimed gains on the ground in an area where Ukrainian officials said Russian forces were going back on the offensive. Russia said it hit fuel storage in Odesa and a plant making seaborne drones there, as part of “mass revenge strikes” in retaliation for attacks by Ukraine that knocked out its road bridge to the occupied Crimean Peninsula.

Liberal New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Texas conservative Rep. Dan Crenshaw are teaming up to allow troops to use psychedelic drugs to recover from war inflicted illnesses like post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, reports Military.com.  PTSD cases of those who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan is double Vietnam-era cases. More than 450,000 US war fighters suffered TBI from 2000 to 2021.

On the heels of a Pentagon decision to limit drag shows on bases in response to complaints of alleged adult content,  scantily clad models from Hot Import Nights danced alongside tactical military jets and high performance sports cars at the Joint Base Lewis-McCord air show,  held last weekend near Tacoma, WA. LGBTQ+ advocates are asking what criteria DEFSEC Lloyd Austin is using that stops performances associated with the gay community and allows provocative heterosexual acts.

Gov. Ron DeSantis vowed in 2021 to revive a Florida State Guard to help during emergencies. When it turned militaristic, its leaders started leaving. Key personnel and a defined mission remain elusive, reports Military.com. “The program got hijacked and turned into something that we were trying to stay away from: a militia,” said Brian Newhouse, a retired 20-year Navy veteran who was chosen to lead one of the State Guard’s three divisions. The original leadership team envisioned a disaster response team of veterans and civilians with a variety of practical skills, according to Newhouse. Two other former military veterans also quit due to concerns over a change in the mission.

 USAF showcased this month a Terminator-like future in which deadly AI flying robots fight alongside Top Gun pilots, reports KULR8.com. One AI-controlled wingman, the stealthy Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie experimental vehicle, is designed to escort the F-22 or F-35 during combat missions and to deploy weapons or surveillance systems.

For the first time in decades, a nuclear capable US Navy ballistic missile submarine has made a port call in South Korea, in a move that comes just days after North Korea test-fired what it said was a solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile, reports CNN.

Maryland is one of only three jurisdictions to legislate citizens’ rights regarding the use of AI in the hiring process. The state prohibits an employer from using certain facial recognition services — such as those that might cross-check applicants’ faces against outside databases — during an applicant’s interview process unless the applicant consents, reports Maryland Matters. Only Illinois and New York City also require employers to ask for consent first. A handful of states are considering similar legislation.

China is entering an era of much slower economic growth, raising a daunting prospect: it may never get rich, reports Reuters. “It is unlikely that the Chinese economy will surpass that of the United States within the next decade or two,” said Desmond Lachman, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. He expects growth to slow to 3%, which “will feel like an economic recession” when youth unemployment is already above 20%. “This is not good for the rest of the world economy” either, he added.

Large swathes of southern and eastern Europe were placed on heatwave red alert on Tuesday and the World Meteorological Organization warned of an increased risk of deaths as extreme weather gripped the continent, Asia and the United States, reports Reuters.

 

Contracts:

East Coast Repair & Fabrication LLC,* Newport News, Virginia (N4215823D0001); and Lyon Shipyard Inc.,* Norfolk, Virginia (N4215822D0002), are each awarded a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the procurement of services required to perform a broad range of repairs and alterations, preservation, troubleshooting, maintenance, installation, and removal of hull, mechanical, and electrical (HM&E) equipment and systems aboard Navy vessels. These contracts are additions to the HM&E program resulting in five contractors. The maximum programmatic ceiling for the HM&E program, if all options are exercised, is $70,000,000. East Coast Repair & Fabrication LLC and Lyon Shipyard Inc., are each being awarded $15,000,000, and if all options are exercised, the total value will be $70,000,000. Work will be performed in Portsmouth, Virginia (60%); Norfolk, Virginia (20%); Virginia Beach, Virginia (10%); Charleston, South Carolina (5%); and Kings Bay, Georgia (5%). If all options are exercised, work will continue until September 2027. Fiscal 2023 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,000 will be obligated for the minimum guarantee on each contract, and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the System for Award Management website, with 11 offers received. The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia, is the contracting activity.

Leidos, Inc., Reston, Virginia, is awarded a $36,342,898 modification to previously awarded contract N00024-22-C-6303 to exercise an option for fabrication, test, and delivery of four Medium Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) engineering development models and associated data and equipment. The contract will support the next generation of the Program Executive Office Unmanned and Small Combatants Unmanned Maritime Systems Program Office Razorback UUV program and the Expeditionary Missions Program Office Viperfish Maritime Expeditionary Mine Countermeasures UUV program. Work will be performed in Fall River, Massachusetts (80%); Lynwood, Washington (16%); Arlington, Virginia (3%); and Newport, Rhode Island (1%), and is expected to be completed by April 2026. Fiscal 2023 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $12,000,000 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, D.C., is the contracting activity. 

ADVON Corp.,* Tallahassee, Florida (W912HP-23-D-4000); Boyer Commercial Construction Inc.,* Columbia, South Carolina (W912HP-23-D-4001); Billy W. Jarrett Construction Co. Inc.,* Montgomery, Alabama (W912HP-23-D-4002); MIG WMJ JV1 LLC,* Virginia Beach, Virginia (W912HP-23-D-4003); and Valiant Construction LLC,* Louisville, Kentucky (W912HP-23-D-4004), will compete for each order of the $99,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for general construction. Bids were solicited via the internet with 11 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 18, 2029. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Charleston, South Carolina, is the contracting activity.

Systems Planning and Analysis Inc., Alexandria, Virginia, was awarded an Indefinite-Delivery/Indefinite-Quantity contract (HDTRA1-23-D-0001) with a ceiling of $84,000,000 for advisory and assistance services for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) Strategic Integration Directorate (SI). The principal place of performance is Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Performance is expected to be completed by July 2028. The ordering period of the contract will commence at the date of award through 60 months thereafter (66 months if Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services is exercised). The ceiling is for the life of the contract. Funding will be obligated at the Task Order (TO) level. DTRA operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $416,870; $1,430,343; and $7,151,362, will be obligated to TO 1 for the SI, TO 2 for the Strategic Trends Division, and TO 3 for the SI’s Plans and Exercises Division respectively. These awards is the result of a competitive acquisition. SAM.gov was used to solicit proposals and six proposals were received. DTRA, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, is the contracting activity.

General Atomics, Aeronautical Systems Inc., Poway, California, is awarded a $30,191,431 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P00014) to a previously awarded contract (N0001921C0016). This modification exercises options to provide maintenance, supply chain and spares management, logistics, and sustainment support for the MQ-9 Reaper aircraft, and dual control mobile ground control stations to ensure they are mission capable for the Marine Corps. Work will be performed in Oahu, Hawaii (35%); Yuma, Arizona (20%); Patuxent River, Maryland (15%); Poway, California (10%); and various locations outside the U.S. (20%), and is expected to be completed in January 2024. Fiscal 2023 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $30,191,431 will be obligated at time of award, all of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.