Hagel’s Out – Might a Marine Be In?

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 necessarily reflect those of the Leader’s owners or staff.

Michele Flournoy and Ashton Carter are names floating to replace DefSec Chuck Hagel who is leaving his job. Ms. Flournoy would be the first woman nominated to head the DoD. She and Mr. Carter have held  senior roles at the Pentagon in the Clinton and Obama administrations. Mr. Carter left the Pentagon last year after helping Mr. Hagel transition into the Pentagon, reports GovExec. The Hill adds a few more names to the potential list, including Robert Work, a retired Marine Corps colonel and former Navy undersecretary. Regardless who comes in, USA Today calls Mr. Hagel’s exit a signal the nation is returning to a war footing.

Could you wait until the missile was 35 miles away from your ship before taking defensive action? That’s going to be the hardest part, claims a new report on selecting the right interceptors and tactics. Large, long-ranged interceptors give “false confidence,” Breaking Defense quotes from the report written by a former top Navy adviser Bryan Clark. Navy commanders would have to allow enemy missiles within 30 nautical miles of their ships before shooting them down, “The pucker factor’s going to be higher,” Mr. Clark said.

The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a Washington D.C. think tank, also says the Navy must use weapons differently and embrace a more offensive strategy called anti-access/area-denial, reports the DOD Buzz.

An unprecedented reversal out of the Israeli cabinet reduced its Air Force’s order of 50 F-35s down to a total of 32. Aviation Week reports, the Israeli Defense Minister is asking the US to maintain the same contract rate for the smaller number, but the US has not indicated yet whether it will extend the same credits and offset procurement totals.

ADM Michael Rogers, commander of the U.S. Cyber Command and National Security Agency, warned the House Intelligence Committee that a partnership among government, private industry and academia must be forged to confront intensifying cyber-threats from hackers in Russia and China, reports Defense Systems.

No confirmation yet on the source of the Delmarva sonic booms last week, reports DemarvaNow. Quoting Connie Hempel, spokeswoman for Naval Air Station Patuxent River, there were “… visiting aircraft, not from Pax, capable of supersonic speeds in the airspace at the time and location of the reported sonic boom.” The boom was heard and/or felt in various communities on Maryland’s Eastern Shore late Thursday afternoon.

Flight tests of a prototype Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) pod were successful at NAS Point Mugu, CA. Mounted beneath the fuselage of a Calspan-operated Gulfstream business jet, the tests conducted against radar representing enemy systems.