March 28, 2024

Female Draft in Congress Again

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.

A proposal for women to register with the Selective Service System as well as men has been revived, reports Military.com. Last year, Congress appeared on the precipice of making women register for a potential military draft. Despite bipartisan support it was dropped from the defense policy bill after closed-door House-Senate negotiations. Back again in the FY23 National Defense Authorization Act and making its way through the Senate, conservatives again vow a fierce fight against “drafting our daughters.”

Defense News reports, Russia will provide nuclear-capable Iskander-M missiles to Belarus and upgrade the country’s fighter jets to allow them to carry tactical atomic weapons, President Vladimir Putin said over the weekend.

While in Europe for a NATO summit with world leaders, President Joe Biden plans to announce an extension of the US troop presence in Poland s well as US deployment changes in several Baltic countries, reports NBC News.

Russia slides into historic debt default as payment period expires, reports CNBC. Interest payments totaling $100 million were due on May 27, subject to a grace period which expired on Sunday night.  Reuters reports, the Kremlin has rejected the claim that Russia is in default, with spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reportedly telling the press that Russia made the bond payments due in May but they have been blocked by Euroclear due to Western sanctions, rendering the non-delivery of payments “not [Russia’s] problem.” Sweeping sanctions imposed by Western powers in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, along with countermeasures from Moscow, have effectively ostracized the country from the global financial system.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky again urged the United States to name Moscow a state sponsor of terrorism, calling the Kremenchuk mall strike a ‘terrorist attack,’ NATO leaders to meet, reports The Washington Post.  A terrorist designation triggers significant penalties. The Russian missile strike on a shopping mall in the central city of Kremenchuk killed at least 18 people. Reuters has photos of the Russian missile hits on the Ukrainian mall.

Saying the process is flawed and unnecessary, a bipartisan group of influential senators plan to derail the veterans Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission’s five years of effort to  significantly reduce the Dept of Veterans’ Affairs footprint across America, reports Military Times. An abandonment of the effort would also throw into question long-term plans identifying what new facilities should be built to provide medical care to veterans.

 

 

USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: June 27, 2022.

Frank Calvelli, the new USAF space buyer says, “fixed-price contracting is not a bad approach for space things,” reports FCW. Using fixed-price contracts to  help keep acquisitions on time is one of many approaches under consideration by Calvelli, assistant secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration. He formerly served  as the principal deputy director and deputy acquisition executive in the National Reconnaissance Office.

Northrop and Raytheon will continue their work on a hypersonic missile interceptor, reports Breaking Defense. The Missile Defense Agency selected teh two defense giants to move to the next phase of the agency’s Glide Phase Interceptor program to beef up US defenses against hypersonic weapons. The firm-fixed price contract modifications are worth more than $41.4 million and runs from June 27 to Feb. 15, 2023.

Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky unit won its 10th five-year contract worth $2.3 billion for 120 H-60 Mike-model Black Hawk utility helicopters with options for an additional 135 aircraft for both the Army and other customers through Foreign Military Sales, reports Defense News. Should all options be exercised, the contract could be worth a total of $4.4 billion

The US Supreme Court backs a high school coach’s praying on field after games, reports AP News, saying on Monday he was protected by the Constitution. Opponents say the 6-3 ruling would open the door to “much more coercive prayer” in public schools. The case was the latest in a line of rulings for religious plaintiffs.

Biden signed two cybersecurity bills into law last week, reports Cyber Exchange. The State and Local Government Cybersecurity Act of 2021 and the Federal Rotational Cyber Workforce Program Act of 2021. The goals of the legislation are to promote security, coordination, and interoperability among all levels of government and to get more cyber-specialists hired and able to rotate through all areas of the federal government, according to the White House press release on the new cyber laws.

The US Coast Guard rescued boaters off the Florida coast after a lightning strike, reports gCaptain. Video captures the strike and the rescue of seven people on Saturday after their 39-foot personal vessel was struck by lightning 100 offshore of Clearwater. There were no injuries or medical concerns.

The US military says it carried out a raid in Syria’s Idlib province and killed a ‘senior leader’ of an al-Qaeda-linked group in Syria, reports Military Times. The attack targeted Abu Hamzah al Yemeni of al-Qaeda-aligned Hurras al-Din, while he was travelling alone on a motorcycle.

South Korea has developed a robot for autonomous tunnel exploration, reports Defense News. Research for the Autonomous Tunnel Exploration Robot was conducted over the past three years in collaboration with the Ground Vehicle System Center of the US Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Command.

Pictures from space! Our image of the day, touts Space.com, offering a great deal more photographs than that. Not only are they showing off their favorite pictures from space, they’re recapping what happened today in space history. And they don’t sugarcoat On This Day in Space video show. Yesterday, for example, June 28, in 2015 was the day  SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded minutes after launching from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Contracts:

Betterup Inc., San Francisco, California, has been awarded an $8,485,871 firm-fixed-price modification (P0002) to contract FA701423C0023 for executive coaching licenses. This modification provides funding that continues support for the Headquarters Air Force Betterup platform access, unlimited 1:1 coaching, and extended network coaching across the Air Force enterprise. Work will be performed in Washington, DC, and if all options are exercised, work is expected to be completed June 28, 2023. This award is the result of Small Business Innovation Research direct award, and one offer was received. Fiscal 2022 operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $5,347,841 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force District of Washington Contracting Directorate, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, is the contracting activity (FA701423C0023).

Maryland State Department of Education Division of Rehabilitation Services, Business Enterprise, Baltimore, Maryland, was awarded a $10,497,672 firm-fixed-price contract for full food services for dining facilities at Fort Meade, Maryland. Bids were solicited via the internet with five received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2027. US Army Field Directorate Office, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, is the contracting activity (W5168W-22-D-0005).

Science Applications International Corp., Reston, Virginia, was awarded an $11,560,128 modification (P00027) to contract W31P4Q-21-F-0095 for engineering services in support of the Software, Simulation, Systems Engineering and Integration Directorate. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of June 27, 2023. US Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity.

Inverness Technologies Inc., Annandale, Virginia, was awarded a $30,108,549 modification (P00004) to contract W9124D-22-C-0010 to extend services for the Soldier for Life Transition Assistance Program. Work will be performed at Fort Knox, Kentucky, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 3, 2023. Fiscal 2022 operation and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $5,018,091 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Field Directorate Office, Fort Knox, Kentucky, is the contracting activity.

General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. (NASSCO), San Diego, California, is awarded a $100,000,000 modification to previously awarded contract N00024-19-C-2235 for the procurement of long-lead-time material in support of Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB) 8. Work will be performed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (31%); Beloit, Wisconsin (25%); San Diego, California (17%); Chesapeake, Virginia (7%); Iron Mountain, Michigan (7%); Hamburg, Germany (3%); Buffalo, New York (3%); Busan, Korea (2%); Chula Vista, California (2%); Houma, Louisiana (2%); and Appleton, Wisconsin (1%), and is expected to be completed by March 2026. Fiscal 2021 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $73,000,000 (73%); and fiscal 2022 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $27,000,000 (27%) 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, DC, is the contracting activity.

General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. (NASSCO), San Diego, California, is awarded a $500,000,000 modification to previously awarded contract N00024-16-C-2229 to award long-lead-time material in support of T-AO 211 and 212. Work will be performed in Iron Mountain, Michigan (27%); San Diego, California (22%); Beloit, Wisconsin (14%); Columbia, South Carolina (8%); Arlington, Virginia (7%); Chelsea, Alabama (4%); Walpole, Massachusetts (4%), New Orleans, Louisiana (2%); and various other locations less than one percent (12%) and is expected to be completed by June 2027. Fiscal 2022 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $500,000,000 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, DC, is the contracting activity.

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