March 19, 2024

Flight Hours Cut for Some Squadrons

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.

Budget shortfalls are forcing the US Navy to cut flight hours for several squadrons on the East Coast, reports Defense News. Maritime patrol squadrons, test pilots, and fleet air support units will all see a 10 percent cut. USNI first reported on the budget shortfalls for the current fiscal year.

Reuters reports that Iran is saying it has captured 17 US Central Intelligence Agency spies. Some of them have been sentenced to death, according to reports.

US forces downed an Iranian drone that approached a Navy warship in the Middle East on Thursday, reports Politico, stoking fears that the two countries will fall into a military confrontation. The unmanned aircraft “had closed into a very, very near distance, approximately 1,000 yards” of the USS Boxer, President Trump said last week. The incident occurred weeks after Iran brought down a US drone in the region, reported Military.com.

Although President Trump is “not at all” worried about a possible confrontation with Iran, he cautioned Iran would suffer if it did something “foolish,” reports Military Times.

The first of nine Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime multi-mission aircraft for the UK Royal Air Force made its maiden flight earlier this month, reports IHS Jane’s 360.

DoD wants congressional approval to transfer $6.9 million between accounts to buy an undisclosed number of Hero-120 anti-tank “loitering drones” from Israel, reports UPI.

STRAIT OF HORMUZ (July 18, 2019) A UH-1Y Venom helicopter assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 163 (Reinforced), 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), takes off from the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) during a strait transit. The Boxer Amphibious Ready Group and the 11th MEU are deployed to the US 5th Fleet area of operations in support of naval operations to ensure maritime stability and security in the Central Region, connecting the Mediterranean and the Pacific through the western Indian Ocean and three strategic choke points. (US Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Dalton Swanbeck/Released)

CNN reports US officials say 500 troops will deploy to Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, which the US has eyed as a spot for increased presence because intelligence indicates the desert region would be difficult for Iranian missiles to strike, reports Military Times.

The Blue Angels Navy demonstration team has its first F-35B pilot, but he won’t be flying the Joint Strike Fighter jet in any upcoming air shows, reports Military.com. Marine Maj. Frank Zastoupil is one of eight officers recently selected to join the 2020 team.

As North Macedonia inches closer to joining NATO, the US Army is training with that country’s military in a large-scale exercise known as Decisive Strike, reports Army Times.

An unarmed RQ-7 Shadow crashed during a training exercise in Wisconsin last week, reports WSAU.com. The military drone was operated by the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, based at Volk Field.

David Trachtenberg, deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, is retiring, reports Defense News. The Pentagon’s No. 2 policy official’s resignation leaves another vacancy in the department’s leadership.

A US military exercise in August is still a go with South Korean forces, reports Military.com, even as North Korea threatens to restart its nuclear and missile tests.

Sisters Master Sgt. Lisa Currier and Lt. Col. Lynn Currier, who enlisted together in February 1986, retired together after more than 30 years in the Army National Guard, reports Army Times.

Five Utah sisters are all currently serving in the military with decorated careers spanning the Army, Air Force, and Navy, the Army reports in a news release.

Contracts:

International Business Machines Corp., Reston, Virginia, has been awarded a maximum $7,695,744 modification (P00002) exercising the first one-year option period of a one-year base contract (SP4701-18-C-0048) with four one-year option periods for technical and functional services for the Defense Agency Initiative. This is a firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-incentive-fee contract. Locations of performance are Virginia and other areas in the continental US, with a July 31, 2020, performance completion date. Using customer is Defense Logistics Agency. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2020 operations and maintenance funds, and research, development, test and evaluation funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Contracting Services Office, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., San Diego, California, is awarded $33,755,229 for firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order N00019-19-F-0272 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-15-G-0026) in support of the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system. This order procures material kits and retrofit labor to incorporate the Integrated Functional Capability 4.0 configuration into retrofit aircraft and ground segments. Work will be performed in San Diego, California (41.2%); Palmdale, California (30.7%); Waco, Texas (9.9%); Salt Lake City, Utah (2.9%); Newtown, North Dakota (2.5%) Verona, Wisconsin (1.6%); Sterling, Virginia (1.5%); Irvine, California (1%); San Clemente, California (0.7%); and various locations inside and outside the continental U.S. (7.9% and 0.1%, respectively). Work is expected to be completed in January 2022. Fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy); and fiscal 2018 and 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $33,755,229 are being obligated at time of award, $1,719,061 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

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