Japan Upgrades F-35’s Strike Capabilities

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.

Rising tensions in northeast Asia has spurred Japan to upgrade its strike capabilities, South China Morning Post reports. The Japanese government wants to fit its next-generation F-35 fighters with advanced air-to-surface missiles.

Hawaii is revisiting its emergency attack plan, Washington Examiner reports. The government is taking steps to protect Hawaii in the event of a strike from North Korea.

A US nuclear expert says that North Korea has the ability to produce a hydrogen bomb, Yonhap News Agency reports. Siegfried Hecker, a professor at Stanford University, says the evidence is quite clear that North Korea is able to produce tritium, which is necessary for an H-bomb to create fusion.

Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio, Texas, is partnering with its local school district to open a new science, technology, engineering, and math magnet school, San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District officials said in a news release. The school will operate as an affiliate of school district but will be located on base through a leasing agreement with the DoD. The school will be open to the children of base personnel and also students in the community. Officials broke ground for the school on Friday.

Military officials are stressing how important developing directed energy is for the US military’s future, Defense News reports. US Army and Raytheon officials say their completed flight test of a high-energy laser system on an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter was successful, Defense News reports.

A cyberattack Tuesday targeted Ukraine, but spread to computer systems of banks and companies in Russia, Britain, and elsewhere, NBC News reports. A Russian security software company said it was “a new ransomware that has never been seen before.”

Veterans with other-than-honorable discharges will be able to access Veterans Affairs emergency rooms for urgent mental health care starting July 5, Military Times reports.

A Rand Corp. study on whether current military education benefits are efficient and effective for the services in its recruitment and retention finds that changes to the Post-9/11 GI Bill and other education benefits may have little impact, Military Times reports.

The Blue Angels are scheduled to headline the 2017 New York Air Show at Stewart International Airport on July 1 and 2, The Highlands Current reports. The Air Force will commemorate its 70th birthday with its F-35 Lightning II and a demonstration of the F-16 Viper.

Information Systems Technician 1st Class Justin Sullivan was selected among hundreds of nominees to be this year’s Navy Times Service Member of the Year. Maj. Christopher Mercado, an infantry officer with the 25th Infantry Division, is the 2017 Army Times Soldier of the Year.

Contracts:

Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Manassas, Virginia, is being awarded a $15,160,178 fixed-price, incentive-firm target modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-15-D-5217) for water-cooled Common Display System (CDS) conversions and production units. CDS is a family of display systems that provides display solutions on Navy surface ships, submarines, and aircraft. The CDS display solutions are designed with compatibility to commercially-available hardware and software; conform to open architecture computing environment technologies and standards; and, incorporate human systems integration design principles. Work will be performed in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and is expected to be completed by April 2018.  Fiscal 2017 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $5,931,314; 2015 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $5,369,224; foreign military sales (Japan) funding in the amount of $2,965,657; and fiscal 2016 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount $893,983, totaling $15,160,178 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, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.

Accenture Federal Services, Arlington, Virginia, was awarded a $22,310,080 modification (D003B2) to contract N00104-04-A-ZF12 for the addition of release delivery activities in support of the General Fund Enterprise Business System. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of July 31, 2018. Fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $1,058,471 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity.

Service Source Inc., Oakton, Virginia, was awarded a $7,805,414 modification (P00006) to contract W911RZ-16-D-0001 for dining facility attendant services. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of June 30, 2020. US Army Contracting Command, Fort Carson, Colorado, is the contracting activity.

Technology Service Corp. (TSC), Silver Spring, Maryland, has been awarded a $16,299,234 cost-plus-fixed-fee, add-work modification (P00007) to an already awarded contract for the rapid reaction technologies and systems/support jammer cueing space-based infrared system III effort. Contractor will provide rapid prototyping processes and modular architectures to deliver mission critical and urgent technological capabilities. Work will be performed at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, and is expected to be complete by March 31, 2018. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8650-16-C-9205).

Verizon Business Network Services Inc., Ashburn, Virginia, was awarded a $20,408,052 modification to previously awarded contract HC1013-14-C-0002 for the Priority Telecommunication Service (PTS) to support the Department of Homeland Security Office of Emergency Communications (OEC). The OEC’s National Security/Emergency Preparedness PTS program provides communications under all circumstances, including crisis or emergency, attack, recovery, and reconstitution, when network congestion or damage renders conventional communications ineffective, by utilizing the surviving assets of the public switched network to provide priorities and routing alternatives. The current action continues the effort on performance work statement, subtask 8.5:  Next Generation Network Wireless Priority Service Voice over Long Term Evolution, Full Operational Capability Phase 1 Implementation. Work performance is throughout the continental US from June 28, 2017, to July 20, 2018. The current action, funded by fiscal 2016, two-year operations and maintenance funds, increases the total contract value from $55,496,495 to $75,904,547. The solicitation was issued as an other than full and open competitive action pursuant to 10 US Code 2304(c)(1) on a sole-source basis. The Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity.