Heron Systems the Big Dog in Aerial Dogfight Competition

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.

An AI system developed by Heron Systems Inc. beat one of the US Air Force’s top F-16 fighter pilots in DARPA’s simulated aerial AlphaDogfight trials, reports Breaking Defense. Founded in 1993, Heron is a small firm in California, MD, reports Defense Daily. “Team Heron took out the real human Air Force F-16 Pilot 5-0 without taking any damage at all! Huge accomplishment for the team! What a day!” reads the company’s Facebook page.

The US Space Command has a new commander. Gen. James Dickinson is the second-ever leader of the organization and the first Army officer to hold the position, reports Defense News.

A decision is expected soon as to who will be moving to the US Space Force, reports Military.com. “To the 90th percentile, we’ve agreed on most of those transfers and most of those capabilities,” said Lt. Gen. David “DT” Thompson, Space Force vice commander.

The Rim of the Pacific training exercise which began last week was expected to be smaller than usual, being scaled back due to the coronavirus pandemic, reports Navy Times. Just two years ago, 26 nations participated; this year, 10 countries participated.

Japan is putting the breaks on its Aegis Ashore program, reports Breaking Defense, and there are reports its support for the Global Hawk buy may be waning.

US arms sales to partners in 2020 indicate an aggressive offering of air and naval platforms in the Indo-Pacific region, reports Nikkei Asian Review. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency offers a listing of major arms sales.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the US’ sale of F-35s to the United Arab Emirates in return for the UAE opening diplomatic relations with his country, reports Breaking Defense.

President Donald Trump said that American national security interests won’t be compromised in Iraq as he vows that US will be leaving the region “shortly,” reports Military Times.

 

 

Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) wants the House Armed Services Committee to hold a public hearing on the “disturbing rise in deadly training accidents” to pursue military training reforms and prevent further accidents, reports Military.com.

The Air National Guard announced which bases will receive the Air Force’s newest fighter jets, as it retires aging F-15C Eagles, reports Air Force Times.

Robert O’Neill, the former Navy SEAL famous for his role in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, was banned by Delta Air Lines last week for refusing to wear a mask on a flight the day before and tweeted about it, reports Business Insider.

A National Academy of Public Administration report on space traffic management recommends the Commerce Department take over the Pentagon’s responsibility for warnings of potential collisions in space — finding that data needed for space safety is a “public good” the federal government should make available to the public, reports Breaking Defense. Read the report here.

Entities across the DoD, will be able to buy small, American-manufactured drones from five manufacturers, reports C4ISRNET. They are Altavian, Parrot, Skydio, Teal, and Vantage Robotics.

The US Air Force’s 89th Airlift Wing is reviewing a report after people traveling aboard Air Force One last week saw an object that appeared to be a drone as the plane was landing at Joint Base Andrews, reports CNN.

A sixth lawsuit has been filed involving the deaths of patients at the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg, WV, where a former nursing assistant admitted to intentionally killing seven people with fatal doses of insulin, reports The Associated Press.

The new Blue Angels Fat Albert has arrived at Naval Air Station Pensacola, reports The Aviationist. The C-130J is a former Royal Air Force Hercules C5 ZH885.

The Ocean City Air Show 2020 was a success, reports The Aviationist, especially for those starved for air show entertainment.

Military Times features its best pictures of the week of August 16.

Lucid Motors, a competitor of Tesla, says its debut electric car will be able to charge up to 20 miles a minute, touting it as the “the fastest charging electric vehicle ever offered,” reports Business Insider.

Contracts:

KBR Wyle Services LLC, Lexington Park, Maryland, is awarded an $8,740,605 cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost contract to provide technical assistance, program management, engineering, financial and logistics support for the integrated product teams that acquire and sustain F-18 series aircraft for Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers and the governments of Finland and Kuwait. Work will be performed in Lexington Park, Maryland (87.75%); Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (3.6%); Kuwait City, Kuwait (3.6%); North Island, California (2.6%); and Patuxent River, Maryland (2.45%), and is expected to be completed in August 2025. FMS funds in the amount of $8,740,605 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 US Code 2304(f)(2)(E). The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00421-20-C-0032).

Fugro Earthdata Inc., Frederick, Maryland (W912P9-20-D-0024); and Quantum Spatial Inc., St. Petersburg, Florida (W912P9-20-D-0025), will compete for each order of the $22,666,666 firm-fixed-price contract for basic site plan mapping, land-use/land-type classification and/or change-analysis mapping. Bids were solicited via the internet with 38 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 20, 2025. US Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis, Missouri, is the contracting activity.

Cubic Defense Applications Inc., San Diego, California, is awarded an $8,838,026 cost-plus-fixed-fee order (N00019-20-F-0847) against previously issued basic ordering agreement N00421-19-G-0005. This order provides engineering services in support of the Interim Joint Secure Interoperable Live-Virtual-Constructive (JSILS) and Secure Live Virtual Constructive (LVC) Advanced Training Environment (SLATE) – Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) for future consideration as a usable operational LVC training environment capability that will inform service program of record options for support to the warfighter. This order provides design, engineering and test/demonstration services to mature the JSILS and SLATE – ATD technologies. Work will be performed in San Diego, California (80%); China Lake, California (10%); and Patuxent River, Maryland (10%), and is expected to be completed in November 2021. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (defense-wide) funds in the amount of $5,000,000 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, has been awarded a $49,999,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for air warfare systems. This contract provides services for advanced development, acquisition and test and evaluation of aerospace systems, to include munitions, cyber warfare and electronic warfare elements. Work will be performed in Laurel, Maryland, and is expected to be completed July 31, 2026. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $800,000 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity (FA8656-20-D-0005).

ManTech SRS Technologies Inc., Herndon, Virginia, has been awarded a $16,255,475 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P00058) to contract FA8811-10-C-0002 for systems engineering and integration (SE&I) support to the Space and Missile System Launch Enterprise (SMC/ECL). The contract modification is for continued SMC/ECL SE&I supporting National Security Space Launch (NSSL) to include the overarching integration of launch and range programs, which require interfacing with both current and future NSSL launch systems. Work will be performed in Los Angeles Air Force Base, California; Vandenberg AFB, California; Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida; and Peterson AFB, Colorado, and is expected to be completed Dec. 22, 2020. Fiscal 2020 space procurement; operations and maintenance; and research, development, test and evaluation funds in the full amount are being obligated at the time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $285,023,402. Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, California, is the contracting activity.