March 29, 2024

IG Report: P-8A Readiness Rates Drop

P-8A

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.

An evaluation of the readiness of the US Navy’s P-8A Poseidon says the aircraft’s mission capable rates have fallen below the targets set by Naval Air Forces, Navy Times reports. The May 19 report was released by the Defense Department’s Office of the Inspector General.

Carlos Del Toro is the Biden administration’s nominee to be the next US Navy secretary, reports Defense News. Del Toro is a retired US Navy commander and a business leader, and if confirmed he would be the second-ever Hispanic Navy secretary. The first Hispanic NavSec was Eduardo Hildago, appointed by President Jimmy Carter. He died in 1995, according to The Maritime Executive.

US and NATO networks will be challenged in the Baltic Operations exercise, which kicked off Sunday and runs through June 18, reports Navy Times. Marine Corps BRIG GEN Marcus Annibale, chief of staff for Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO, said BALTOPS includes defensive cyber warfare tactics, techniques, and procedures for the first time.

President Joe Biden on Monday touted the importance of the NATO alliance upon his arrival at the organization’s summit in Belgium, reports The Hill. “NATO is critically important for US interests in and of itself. If there weren’t one, we’d have to invent one,” Biden said, calling the Article 5 clause that outlines how allies will consider an attack on one an attack on all a “sacred obligation.” The summit is expected to focus on updating the alliance’s defense strategy, cybersecurity, climate change, and the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

A bill introduced in the US Senate on Friday is aimed at bulking up a visa program for Afghans who helped US troops amid increasingly urgent warnings about their safety as the US military withdraws, reports The Hill. It would add 20,000 visas to what’s known as the Special Immigrant Visa program, nearly doubling the number of visas Congress has authorized since 2014.

NATO allies are expected to oppose the alliance deploying ground-based nuclear missiles in Europe, reports Defense News, following Biden’s meeting on Tuesday in Brussels with other heads of state.

DoD will undertake a missile defense review in the coming months to correlate its needs against rising nuclear powers, reports UPI.

The Nomad joins a growing fleet of autonomous, artificial intelligence-piloted Navy surface ships in San Diego, reports The San Diego Union-Tribune, part of an ambitious effort to find out how the emerging technology might be used to expand the Navy’s reach.

China said the US and Australia were “flexing their muscles” with recent naval drills in the South China Sea, reports AP, underscoring Beijing’s sensitivity over the strategic waterway it claims as its own.

 

 

C4IRSNAT reports the US Space Command wants an additional $67 million to reach full operational capability and develop interim capabilities that will allow it to accomplish its mission.

NASA and the space industry will conduct several missions to test more efficient, environmentally friendly spacecraft, including a non-toxic propellant and solar power, reports UPI.

NATO leaders on Monday expanded the use of their all for one, one for all, mutual defense clause to include a collective response to attacks in space, reports AP.

The first of 32 operational TH-73A training helicopters was delivered to the US Navy last week, reports UPI. The service plans to acquire 130 single-engine TH-73As through 2024.

The US Air Force will set up a 3D printed supply chain at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma, reports Breaking Defense. “The program is committed to pushing the bounds of this game changing technology to improve warfighter capabilities and tackle material readiness challenges,” reads an email from the service’s Pacer edge team at Tinker.

Department of Veterans Affairs officials will name nine people to serve on the department’s Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission, a congressionally mandated panel that will recommend “actions to modernize or realign a facility of the Veterans Health Administration,” reports Military Times. Officials are calling it a “BRAC” for the VA.

The National Museum of the US Army at Fort Belvoir, VA, reopened its doors Monday after being shuttered late last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, reports WTOP News. Free, timed-entry tickets are now available, reports WJLA ABC7.

Now that more Americans have gotten COVID-19 vaccines and infection rates are down, workplaces across the country are taking stock of the what was lost over the past year, and what’s worth bringing back, reports NPR. Many employers are making hybrid work options permanent, allowing employees to split their time between home and office. But others are eyeing a future that looks much more like the past.

Maryland State Parks Superintendent Nita Settina said the state’s parks are on track to come close to last year’s record-breaking numbers of visitors, reports WTOP News.

A commercial lobster diver suffered a broken leg and other injuries last week when he got trapped in a humpback whale’s mouth off the coast of Cape Cod, MA, reports Patch.com.

Contracts:

Comcast Government Services LLC, Reston, Virginia, was awarded a competitive firm-fixed-price, single-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the Commercial Ethernet Gateway Region 4 to provide mission partner access, via ethernet connections, to the Department of Defense Information Network and to enable the replacement of legacy, time division multiplexing-based circuits. The contract ceiling value is $84,162,000 with the $500 minimum guarantee funded by fiscal 2021 operations and maintenance funds. Primary performance will be at the contractor’s above-identified facility in Reston, Virginia. Proposals were solicited via the beta.sam.gov website, and six proposals were received. The period of performance, which consists of a six-year base period and two two-year option periods, is June 23, 2021, to June 22, 2031. The Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity (HC1013-21-D-0004).

Colonna’s Shipyard Inc., Norfolk, Virginia, is awarded a $9,405,299 firm-fixed-price contract for a 90-calendar day shipyard availability for the regularly scheduled overhaul and dry-docking of the expeditionary fast transport ship USNS Fall River (T-EPF 4). This contract contains 17 unexercised options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative contract value to $11,955,991. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by Oct. 11, 2021. Fiscal 2021 working capital funds (Navy) in the amount of $9,405,299 are obligated for this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the beta.sam.gov website, with four proposals received. The Navy’s Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N3220521C2081).

East Coast Repair & Fabrication, Chesapeake, Virginia, is awarded an $8,941,404 firm-fixed-price contract (N3220521C4028) for a 60-calendar day shipyard availability for the mid-term availability on the USNS Arctic (T-AOE 8). The contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the total contract value to $9,062,371. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by Oct. 2, 2021. Contract funds in the amount of $8,941,404 are obligated in fiscal 2021 using working capital funds (Navy). This contract was competitively procured with proposals solicited via the sam.gov website and seven offers were received. The Navy’s Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N3220521C4028).

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