Japan Keeps Flying Ospreys, Aware of US Restrictions
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Japan’s defense chief has no plans to restrict flights of the V-22 Ospreys operated in his country. The US military has imposed restrictions and expects to continue safety and performance assessments until next year, reports Military Times. Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said Japanese and US military officials have closely communicated over technical issues involving the safety of Ospreys.
“While the ultimate root cause has not yet been verified, the HCE team has narrowed down the scope of the investigation to a leading theory,” said Neil Lobeda, a spokesman for the Osprey’s Joint Program Office, according to Military.com. More than a dozen MV-22 Osprey incidents have involved what is called a hard clutch engagement (HCE), which military officials continue to investigate.
In a provision of the National Defense Authorization Act, the Senate Armed Services Committee would allow the Air Force to bypass state governors in transferring certain space-focused National Guard units into the active-duty Space Force, but “shall not reduce the end strength for the affected state Air National Guard organizations,” reports Military.com.
The Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group airlifted the crew of a sinking merchant vessel on Saturday after an attack by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, reports Military Times. The Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned, bulk cargo carrier M/V Tutor, struck by a Houthi surface drone on Wednesday, was “slowly taking on water” at the time of the rescue, according to the US Navy. AP News reports the Tutor sunk within days of the attack which is believed to have killed one mariner on board. This is the second ship sunk in the rebels’ campaign. The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center warned sailors in the region of the sunken vessel.
As Iran-backed Houthi rebel groups continue to use attack drones to target ships in the Red Sea, the US Navy and the Defense Innovation Unit are partnering to prototype a counter uncrewed aircraft system that can disable or shoot them down, reports C4ISRNET.
The Pentagon’s fast-track pathway for buying equipment often doesn’t move any faster than the normal process, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office’s annual report on the DoD’s buying practices, reports Defense News.
Northrop Grumman plans to produce medium caliber ammunition inside Ukraine under a project bankrolled by Ukrainian dollars, reports Breaking Defense. Several European defense firms have committed to plants inside Ukraine, but this is the first publicly acknowledged US defense prime to commit to large-scale manufacturing programs inside Ukraine’s borders.
The Biden administration on Tuesday approved a new $360 million weapons sale to Taiwan, sending the island hundreds of armed drones, missile equipment, and related support material. The announcement was not unexpected but it comes at a time of high tension between Washington and Beijing, which regards Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to consolidate by force if necessary, according to AP News.
The Senate’s proposed National Defense Authorization Act leaves unchanged the military’s planned purchases of 68 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters in fiscal 2025, reports Defense News. The chamber’s draft NDAA, which members of the Senate Armed Services Committee unveiled late last week, represents the latest of three different approaches lawmakers are taking to F-35 purchases for next year.
Both the Senate and House defense policy bills lay the groundwork to restore nuclear weapon capabilities on roughly 30 B-52H Stratofortress bombers nearly a decade after converted them to conventional munitions only, as part of the New START arms control treaty with Russia, reports Defense News. The current treaty is set to expire in February 2026.
House lawmakers want the NDAA to tighten restrictions on telework for federal workers. Federal Times reports the $833 billion bill approved in a 217-199 vote, would bar the DoD from paying for the costs of telework or remote work for any employee or contractor on a regular or recurring basis.
A House amendment to the annual defense bill to return a Confederate memorial recently removed from Arlington National Cemetery failed to advance, reports Military Times.
The Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center in Aurora, CO, cannot identify a residue that has forced the hospital to postpone or move hundreds of surgeries since April. The Denver Post first reported the surgery halts due to the mysterious residue on May 10 and reviewed emails showing it had cropped up as early as April. VA officials previously have described the residue as black flecks found on the hospital’s reusable surgical instruments. Early lab results indicated the material was plastic, not biological.
Europe’s largest defense show kicked off in Paris this week, reflecting feedback from two years of war in Ukraine, reports Defense News. European governments have raised their defense budgets “so the business is there,” said Charles Beaudouin, the retired major general running the show. Events and military planners attending the show focused on drones, anti-drone systems, air defense, long-range fires, and mine clearing.
Britain’s approval of arms export licenses to Israel fell 95% to a 13-year low after the start of the war in Gaza, according to Reuters and data from the Department for Business and Trade’s Export Control unit.
A decade of declining recruitment numbers for the Army is attributable to a significant drop in male recruiting while female enlistments remained relatively flat, reports Military.com. Since 2013, male enlistments have dropped 35%, from 58,000 in 2013 to 37,700 in 2023, according to the service data. Meanwhile, female recruitment hovered around 10,000 recruits each year.
Military.com reports the Pentagon stands by its clandestine disinformation campaign in the Philippines in 2020 to sow doubt about China’s COVID-19 vaccine during the height of the global pandemic — a campaign that was first revealed in a bombshell report by Reuters.
The US-built pier to bring food to Gaza is still waiting for the UN to decide if it can safely and ethically keep delivering supplies to starving Palestinians. The UN stopped deliveries after Israeli security forces rescued four hostages and killed more than 270 Palestinians on June 8. Rough seas have also forced the pier to be detached again to prevent it breaking apart as it did in bad weather last month, reports Military Times. On top of all that, reports Military.com, the Biden administration’s flagship effort to aid Palestinian civilians, now faces the House, where a pair of bills advanced last week seeking an end the mission, reports Military.com.
Boeing’s $3.9 billion contract to deliver two new presidential jets this year has been delayed, first flight for the VC-25Bs has been pushed to 2026, reports Flight Global. The heavily modified versions of Boeing’s 747-8 passenger aircraft are meant to replace the Air Force’s two 747-200-based VC-25, now serving as Air Force One. Both those jets entered service in 1991.
Navy civilian James Soriano, 63, pleaded guilty in federal court last week to accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of meals, sporting event tickets, and other perks for helping defense contractors win government work, reports Military Times. Soriano faces more than a decade in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of fines on multiple bribery conspiracy charges, and an additional charge for filing a false tax return in 2018.
The California National Guard is doubling the number of its troops deployed statewide to combat the spread of illegal drugs, reports Military Times, including at ports of entry along the southern border. The Guard’s counter-drug task force is increasing from 155 troops to nearly 400 service members, said the June 13 release.
Contracts:
Istari Federal LLC, Charleston, South Carolina, has been awarded a $9,100,386 firm-fixed-price contract for Air Force Battle Network support. This contract provides for the creation of an ‘Internet of Models’ for the Department of the Air Force. This effort is aimed at linking the Department of the Air Force enterprise’s existing digital engineering silos to facilitate secure collaboration across environments to drive rapid decision making. The locations of performance are Arlington, Virginia; and Cambridge, Massachusetts. The work is expected to be complete by June 17, 2026. This award is the result of a sole source acquisition. Fiscal 2024 research, development, test, and evaluation funds in the amount of $9,100,386 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8612-24-C-B004).
Clark Construction Group LLC, Bethesda, Maryland, was awarded a $124,824,386 modification (P00003) to contract W912DR-23-C-0006 for construction services. Work will be performed at Fort Meade, Maryland, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 3, 2027. Fiscal 2024 military construction, defense-wide funds in the amount of $25,000,000 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
KPH Construction Corp., Milwaukee, Wisconsin (W911SA-24-D-2019); MDM Construction Supply LLC, Rockford, Illinois (W911SA-24-D-2020); Miller Electric Co. Inc., Reno, Nevada (W911SA-24-D-2021); R. J. Jurowski Construction Inc., Whitehall, Wisconsin (W911SA-24-D-2022); RHI LLC, Marriot-Slaterville, Utah (W911SA-24-D-2023); 2A LLC, Aberdeen, Maryland (W911SA-24-D-2014); Bruce Kreofsky and Sons Inc., Plainview, Minnesota (W911SA-24-D-2015); Huot Construction and Services Inc., South Saint Paul, Minnesota (W911SA-24-D-2016); JMJ Construction Co. Inc., New Lisbon, Wisconsin (W911SA-24-D-2017); and Kaiyuh Services LLC, Anchorage, Alaska (W911SA-24-D-2018), will compete for each order of the $25,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for general construction services. Bids were solicited via the internet with 12 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of June 24, 2029. 419th Contracting Support Brigade, Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, is the contracting activity.
Guidehouse Inc., McLean, Virginia, was awarded a $22,692,403 modification (P0006) to contract W91CRB-23-C-0004 for audit support and financial management services. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of July 22, 2028. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $63,534,667 modification (P00032) to a previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract (N0001922C0041). This modification extends services to provide continued infrastructure support, to include engineering, maintenance, logistics, manpower, and material for F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) laboratory facilities and F-35 developmental flight test activities in support of the F-35 JSF program for the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and F-35 cooperative program partners. Work will be performed Fort Worth, Texas (81%); Orlando, Florida (7%); Linthicum, Maryland (3%); Nashua, New Hampshire (3%); San Diego, California (2%); El Segundo, California (2%); Samlesbury, United Kingdom (1%); and various locations within the continental US (1%) and is expected to be completed in August 2024. Fiscal 2024 research, development, test and evaluation (Air Force) funds in the amount of $19,282,467; fiscal 2024 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $19,282,467; fiscal 2024 operations and maintenance (Air Force) funds in the amount of $6,698,415; fiscal 2024 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $6,698,415; and F-35 cooperative program partners funds in the amount of $11,572,902, will be obligated at the time of award, $13,396,830 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
Jacobs/B&M JV, Arlington, Virginia, is awarded a $46,000,000 firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity architect-engineer services modification to previously awarded contract N62742-20-D-0002 for design, engineering, specification writing, cost estimating, and related services. This award brings the total cumulative value of the contract to $145,000,000. Work will be performed in Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands (75%); Australia (15%); Hawaii (5%); and Diego Garcia (5%), and will be completed by July 2025. No funds will be obligated at time of award; funds will be obligated on individual task orders and task order modifications as they are issued. Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Pacific, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, is the contracting activity.
Progeny Systems Corp., Manassas, Virginia, is awarded an $11,996,038 cost-plus fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-19-C-6118) to exercise options to provide engineering and technical support including modernizing Virginia Class Block I/II submarines to include the common weapon launcher. Work will be performed in Manassas, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by July 2026. Fiscal 2024 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $10,535,000 (97%); fiscal 2024 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $200,086 (2%); and Royal Australian Navy funds in the amount of $147,833 (1%), will be obligated at the time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity.
General Dynamics Mission Systems, Fairfax, Virginia, is awarded a $20,740,804 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-21-C-6425) to exercise an option for Hammerhead units. Work will be performed in Taunton, Massachusetts, and is expected to complete by June 2026. Fiscal 2024 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $20,740,804 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity.
