March 29, 2024

GAO vs DoD on F-35 Parts Purchases

F-35

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 Government Accountability Office warns lawmakers against authorizing the F-35 joint program office to procure bulk quantities of parts in its report on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, DoD Needs to Complete Developmental Testing Before Making Significant New Investments. The DoD sees bulk purchasing critical to driving down the cost of the F-35 aircraft and contests the findings of the full report.

A recent leak from Edward Snowden’s trove of stolen NSA data says the NSA floated a spy balloon off Solomons Island, probably NAS Pax River, reports The Baltimore Sun.

President Donald Trump and the Navy want a 355-ship fleet, double shipbuilding budgets and the Congressional Budget Office says it can happen in 2032. The 355-ship fleet, a hike of five ships from Trump’s campaign promise of 350, comes out of the long-anticipated Force Structure Assessment, reports Breaking Defense.

A well-armed US submarine has arrived in Korea, reports Defense News.com. The Ohio-class guided-missile submarine Michigan pulled in to the South Korean port of Busan on Tuesday for what the Navy called a “routine visit” so sailors can experience the local culture.

President Trump and his aides fear they are running out of time as North Korea speeds up its nuclear program, reports The New York Times.

Somali pirates return to waters off East Africa. DoD warns commercial ships to again, after five years of calm, shore up their defenses against forced boardings, reports The New York Times. The Voice of America reports that famine could be the cause of an uptick in piracy.

The front end of a Black Hawk helicopter becomes an immersive flight trainer able to simulate threats and emergencies and at half the cost of a helicopter, reports Army Times.

The commander of the Pacific Fleet, ADM Scott Swift, will lead a month-long review of the recent physiological episodes experienced by pilots flying in the T-45 and F/A-18 aircraft, reports Navy Times. Incidents of breathing troubles in pilots in flight had dozens of Navy flight instructors refusing to fly the aircraft. The Navy grounded the T-45 trainer aircraft in early April.

The Coast Guard says one person has died and three others are injured after an explosion occurred on an international cargo carrier 1,300 miles off the coast of Cape Cod. The Coast Guard says the ship’s last port of call was Baltimore, reports CBS.

Contracts:

Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $109,563,735 modification to cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order 5503 issued previously against basic ordering agreement N00019-14-G-0020. This modification provides for the procurement of 567 modification kits for offboard system hardware and turnaround assets, and also recurring labor for the completion of hardware and software upgrades in support of the F-35 Lighting III Block 3F upgrade for Air Force ($62,663,062; 57.19 percent); Marine Corps ($43,453,490; 39.67 percent); Navy $3,060,885; 2.79 percent); and international partners ($386,297; 0.35 percent).  Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (41 percent); Nashua, New Hampshire (12 percent); Baltimore, Maryland (12 percent); San Diego, California (12 percent); Owego, New York (12 percent); Orlando, Florida (7 percent); and Evendale, Ohio (4 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2021.  Fiscal 2015 aircraft procurement (Air Force, Marine Corps); fiscal 2016 aircraft procurement (Marine Corps and Navy); fiscal 2017 research, development, test and evaluation (Air Force); and international partner funds in the amount of $109,563,735 are being obligated at time of award, $101,788,101 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

G-W Management Services LLC, Rockville, Maryland (N40080-17-D-0022); Desbuild Inc., Hyattsville, Maryland (N40080-17-D-0023); CFM/Severn JV, Millersville, Maryland (N40080-17-D-0025); Ocean Construction Services Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia (N40080-17-D-0026); C.E.R. Inc., Baltimore, Maryland (N40080-17-D-0027); and Tidewater Inc., Elkridge, Maryland (N40080-17-D-0028), are each being awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple award construction contract for construction projects located primarily within the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Washington Integrated Product Team (IPT) Gold area of responsibility (AOR). The maximum dollar value including the base period and two option years for all six contracts combined is $99,000,000. G-W Management Services LLC is being awarded task order 0001 at $2,575,000 for Building 1001 repairs and interior improvements at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Quantico, Virginia. Work for this task order is expected to be completed by April 2018.  All work on this contract will be performed primarily within the NAVFAC Washington IPT Gold AOR to include District of Columbia (40 percent), Virginia (40 percent), and Maryland (20 percent). The term of the contract is not to exceed 36 months, with an expected completion date of April 2020.  Fiscal 2017 supervision, inspection, and overhead; and fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance (Marine Corps) in the amount of $2,625,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by military construction (Navy); operations and maintenance (Navy); and Navy working capital funds. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with 28 proposals received. These six contractors may compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the awarded contract.  he Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Rolling Meadows, Illinois, is being awarded $99,518,631 for modification P00002 to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00019-16-C-0026) to exercise an option for procurement of hardware and technical support to integrate the Department of Navy Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (DoN LAIRCM) on combat aircraft for the Navy and Air Force. Hardware for this procurement includes weapon replaceable assemblies and support equipment, 302 advanced threat warning sensors, 41 control indicator units, 41 – 2103 signal processors, 82 guardian laser transmitter assemblies (GLTA), 82 GLTA shipping containers, 16 multi-role electro-optical end-to-end test sets, and 14 smart connector assemblies.  Work will be performed in Rolling Meadows, Illinois (34 percent); Goleta, California (30 percent); Longmont, Colorado (11 percent); Colombia, Maryland (3 percent); various locations within the US (19 percent); and various locations outside the continental US (3 percent), and is expected to be completed in April 2019. Fiscal 2017 aircraft procurement (Navy, Air Force) funds in the amount of $99,518,631 are being obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This modification combines purchases for the Navy ($89,435,909; 90 percent); and the Air Force ($10,082,722; 10 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

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