Global Aviation on Display This Week
The 2023 Paris Air Show opens today. Among the US military aircraft on display will be the F-25, F-15E, and F-16. Here, an Air Force F-15 and two F-35s in a training exercise May 17. (US Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Penny Snoozy)
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.
The Paris Air Show opens this week after a four-year hiatus. At this event, all things global aviation take center stage. Manufacturers will show off military and civil aircraft, and executives will tout new technologies, reports Bloomberg. Think flying taxis and electric propulsion. The show will run from today, June 19, until Sunday.
Defense One reports what government officials are Paris Air Show bound — DoD officials such as Jim Hursch, Defense Security Cooperation Agency director, and Air Force acquisition chief Andrew Hunter — and who isn’t expected to attend — top US Air Force leaders such as Secretary Frank Kendall, Gen. CQ Brown, chief of staff and nominee for chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and Bill LaPlante, undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment. Plenty of US military aircraft will be there, including jet fighters F-15E, F-16, and F-35 and Black Hawk, Apache, and Chinook helicopters.
Representatives from the Maryland’s Office of International Investment and Trade regularly attend trade shows around the world, according to the state’s website. The shows offer a chance for the state to show off what it can offer businesses. Several companies will be exhibiting in the Maryland Department of Commerce pavilion at the 2023 Paris Air Show. Click here to view the companies attending and their profiles.
A new French-made drone has emerged in prototype form ahead of the Paris trade exhibition this week, reports The Drive. The Aarok uncrewed aircraft system is a new addition to the medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) segment and is intended to fly intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, as well as strike missions.
The Defense Department announced recommendations last week on how DoD plans to speed up foreign military sales, reports Defense News. Among the recommendations: streamline the processes for reviewing and releasing technology to allies and partner nations; find ways to speed up the approval of non-programs of record cases; and map out a better process for prioritizing and awarding foreign sales.
Northrop Grumman’s MQ-4C Triton flying test bed recently completed a demonstration of persistent long-range targeting during the Northern Edge 2023 military training exercise, reports Naval News.
The House Armed Services Committee said a Quality of Life Panel will be created to focus on issues that impact US service members and their families, the HASC announced last week. Among those issues are compensation, child care, housing, support programs for spouses of service members, and health care. “Our servicemembers and their families make unimaginable sacrifices on behalf of our nation. I created the Quality of Life Panel to specifically focus on issues impacting the quality of life for our servicemembers and their families – there is absolutely no reason why any US servicemember should have to worry about food or unsafe housing,” HASC Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL) said.
GEN Eric Smith, the US Marine Corps’ next commandant, said he will accelerate the service’s transformation, reports Marine Corps Times. Testifying at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committe, he reiterated his commitment to two of the main priorities of the current commandant: reshaping the Marine Corps and building out the military’s amphibious fleet.
Aerospace giant Lockheed Martin is working to establish a college-to-career pipeline for students in the Santa Barbara, CA, region, reports Santa Barbara Independent. The company faces challenges in recruiting skilled employees to the area due to the area’s housing crisis and labor shortage. “I think it does make a big difference being able to recruit and keep people who know what they’re getting into,” a company official said.
A Defense Department’s inspector general reports finds that DoD could be doing more to help dual-military couples, reports Military Times. Couples serving in different branches are less likely to get assignments near each other than same-service couples, according to the IG report.
Veterans Affairs police officers will be required to wear body cameras and use dashboard cameras on their vehicles by the end of this year, reports Military Times. VA aims to provide transparency in officers’ interactions with the public. There are about 4,700 VA officers serving at department medical centers, cemeteries, and offices.
Alex Bornyakov, deputy minister of Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation, predicted Russia’s war with Ukraine would last another 10 years, reports Defense One. “I think when the war is over, probably a decade from now, Ukraine has the perfect chance to become one of the leading countries in the world when it comes to defense equipment,” he said.
The US Air Force has sent F-22 Raptors to the Middle East to make the Russians think twice about harassing US forces in the air and on the ground, reports Task & Purpose. The F-22s from the 94th Fighter Squadron from Langley Air Force Base, VA, were already forward deployed to Europe.
North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters last week, reports Military Times. South Korean officials believe the resumption of weapons tests is in protest of the just-ended South Korean-US live-fire drills. Thousands of South Korean and US troops took part in joint live-fire exercises on Thursday, reports Reuters.
House Republicans want to give US Southern Command authority over military relations with Mexico, reports Federal Times. Currently the authority lies within the jurisdiction of US Northern Command.
Military retirees living in Turkey will no longer have access to US military bases there, reports Military Times. The new restriction will begin in October.
Retired Army Command SGT MAJ Lindsey Streeter was named Military Times’ 2023 Veteran of the Year, reports WSAV.com. Streeter is the Georgia Ambassador for the US Army Reserve and runs his late wife’s nonprofit which provides health care screenings and education to communities in need. He lives in Richmond Hill. GA.
Military retiree cost-of-living adjustments could shrink in 2024, reports Military Times. “Having a low COLA is actually a good thing,” said Dallen Haws, a financial planner for Haws Federal Advisers, in an interview with Federal Times.
Patrick Tate Adamiak, 28, a US Navy sailor, will spend 20 years in prison after being convicted of dealing illegal machine guns, report The Virginian-Pilot. Adamiak was charged in May 2022 after authorities recovered 33 guns in his possession.
The Association of Defense Communities will host an event this week in Washington, DC, to discuss foreign investment nears military installations. “Discussions like the ones we’re having at ADC Connect are critical to ensuring our communities’ economic development activity enhances rather than endangers the important military missions we’re proud to help support,” ADC President Karen Holt said in ADC’s On Base newsletter.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Investment Security was set last month to propose a rule that would give expanded powers to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to require foreign citizens and companies to get US government approval to buy property within 100 miles of eight military bases, reports The Associated Press. This proposed rule change follows a Chinese company’s attempt to build a plant near Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota.
Contracts:
Lyon Shipyard Inc., Norfolk, Virginia (N5005420D0001); BMFT JV, Chesapeake, Virginia (N5005420D0002); Colonna’s Shipyard Inc., Norfolk, Virginia (N5005420D0003); Fairlead Boatworks, Newport News, Virginia (N5005420D0004); and East Coast Repair and Fabrication, Newport News, Virginia (N5005420D0005), are awarded a modification to increase the cumulative ceiling value in the amount of $40,271,481 to the previously awarded multiple award indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contracts. These contracts provide messing and berthing barges support for the Navy. Work will be performed in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia and is expected to be completed by February 2024. Fiscal 2023 operations and maintenance, Navy funding will be utilized through the issuance of delivery orders. The Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity.
The Boeing Co., Huntington Beach, California, is awarded a $16,848,306 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for design agent and technical engineering services for the AN/USQ-82(V) family of systems consisting of the Data Multiplex System (DMS), Fiber Optic Data Multiplex System (FODMS), and Gigabit Ethernet Data Multiplex System (GEDMS). This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value to $99,995,070. This contract involves Foreign Military Sales to Japan, Korea, Australia, and Canada. Work will be performed in Huntington Beach, California (67%); Arlington, Virginia (14%); remote Navy and foreign military shipyards and labs (14%); Annapolis Junction, Maryland (3%); Colorado Springs, Colorado (1%); and Tukwila, Washington (1%). If all options are exercised, work will continue through May 2028. Fiscal 2023 shipbuilding, new construction (Navy) funds in the amount of $8,727,835 (52%); fiscal 2023 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $5,223,244 (31%); fiscal 2023 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,446,527 (8%); research, development, technology and evaluation funds in the amount of $800,000 (5%); and Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $650,700 (4%) will be obligated at time of award, of which $1,446,219 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 USC 3204(a)(1), only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity (N00024-23-C-4103).
MRI Global, Kansas City, Missouri, is awarded a $10,414,755 cost-type contract modification to previously awarded contract N66001-21-C-4048 for research and development services. These services are aimed at developing a flexible detection system consisting of Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)-based assays paired with reconfigurable point-of-need and massively multi-plexed devices for diagnostics and surveillance. Work will be performed in Kansas, Missouri; Gaithersburg, Maryland; Carlsbad, California; Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Salt Lake City, Utah. Work is expected to be completed by November 2024. Funds in the amount of $10,160,551 will be obligated upon award of the contract modification. Contract funds will expire at the end of fiscal 2024. Two-year fiscal 2023-2024 funds will be obligated using research, development, test and evaluation funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity.
Avantus Federal LLC, McLean, Virginia, was awarded an option year (P00003) worth $11,372,323 on a firm-fixed-price, level-of-effort contract (HQ003422F0294) to provide executive-level office management services (OMSS) to all offices in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (OUSD(P)). The contractor will provide consistent OMSS across OUSD(P). Services will include office management, calendar and schedule management, travel planning and processing, correspondence management, human resource management, security support, resource management, and event support. Fiscal 2023 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $11,372,323 were obligated at the time of award. The cumulative total of the contract is $20,573,035. The total value of the contract if all options are exercised is $56,778,640. Work will be performed at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The estimated contract completion date is Jan. 14, 2027. Washington Headquarters Services, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity. (Awarded June 14, 2023)
Amentum Services Inc., Germantown, Maryland, is awarded a $474,961,543 firm-fixed-price, cost reimbursable, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide logistics support for organizational, selected intermediate, and limited depot level maintenance for the Navy’s F-16A/B/C/D aircraft fleet. Work will be performed in Fallon, Nevada (75%); and Lemoore, California (25%), and is expected to be completed in August 2031. No funds will be obligated at the time of award; funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposal, four offers were received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N0042123D0012).
Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., McLean, Virginia, has been awarded a $20,652,990 modification (P00006) to previously awarded FA8630-22-C-5001 for Technical Security Team support services. This contract provides for program management, technology security support, food services support, and facilities management support. Work will be performed in Pakistan, and is expected to be completed by June 18, 2024. This contract involves 100% Foreign Military Sales and was a sole source acquisition. Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $20,652,990 were obligated at time of award. The Air Force Security and Assistance Directorate, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity.
Carahsoft Technology Corp., Reston, Virginia, has been awarded an $8,826,952 modification (P00003) to previously awarded FA8684-21-C-B002 for technology integration. The contract modification extends Lighthouse platform operations and sustainment activities while maturing existing technology partner integrations by making integration enhancements into the Lighthouse Integration Technology Engine platform enabling the Lighthouse Maintenance Digital Ecosystem. This modification will provide critical activities to maintain and support the continued operations of the Lighthouse Maintenance Digital Ecosystem. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract is $30,564,822. The location of the performance is Reston, Virginia. The work is expected to be completed by June 20, 2024. Fiscal 2023, 2023 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $8,826,952 will be obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Rapid Sustainment Office, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio, is the contracting activity.
Federal Prison Industries, Inc., doing business as UNICOR, Washington, DC, has been awarded a maximum $65,000,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for warehouse storage aids and storage systems. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Oklahoma, with a June 15, 2028, performance completion date. Using customer is Defense Logistics Agency. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2023 through 2028 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Distribution, New Cumberland, Pennsylvania (SP3300-23-D-0007).
