March 29, 2024

‘Largest Ever’ R&D, T&E Budget Hike Sought

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.

Eyeing China, the administration’s defense budget boosts research and cuts procurement, reports Defense News. President Joe Biden’s first DoD budget request slashes procurement by $8 billion, whacking scores of legacy weapons and systems as a way to deliver a $5.5 billion boost for the development and testing of cutting-edge technologies that could deter China. A big chunk is what DefSec Lloyd Austin has called the “largest ever” request for research, development, test and evaluation funding. The White House has proposed $112 billion in that area, a 5% increase.

After years of flat cybersecurity budgets, the DoD got $10.4 billion for its cyber mission in the Biden administration budget proposal for next year to add significantly to the cyber mission force responsible for cyberspace national security. C4ISRNET reports that the request is 6% more than the $9.8 billion sought for DoD cybersecurity in the previous administration’s last budget plan.

Pay is up, end strength is down and more from the Pentagon’s latest budget proposal, as reported by Military Times. The Defense Department wants to sink more than $5 billion into personnel next year, with a 2.7% pay raise and an extra $200 million in family support programs, according to the fiscal 2022 budget request just released.

The feds could add 50,000 new workers under Biden’s 2022 budget, reports Federal Times, as part of concerted efforts to attract young and expert workers to federal service. The largest portion of that increase will go to the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is anticipated to see a 19,100-employee increase over the number of employees on the books for 2021.

This Memorial Day saw the lowest US military fatalities overseas since 9/11, reports Military Times. Since  Memorial Day 2020, 18 service members have died while supporting overseas operations. None of the deaths were caused by hostile forces. In 2001, 11 service members died, but by 2003, numbers had soared to more than 500 deaths. The death toll peaked in 2007 at 1,020. And, as of May 27, there have been three deaths in 2021.

Another cyber attack has hit the meat producer JBS USA affecting its servers in North America and Australia, reports CNN. JBS USA is part of JBS Foods, which describes itself as one of the world’s largest food companies with operations in 15 countries and customers in about 100 countries. Its brands include Pilgrim’s, Great Southern, and Aberdeen Black.

Amazon will be helping during hurricane season with quick delivery of disaster relief supplies, reports CNN. Amazon announced the opening of its Disaster Relief Hub in Georgia to quickly help respond to natural disasters, and its partnership with six global humanitarian aid organizations, including the Red Cross. The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season officially began June 1.

 

 

A new Alzheimer’s drug sparks an emotional battle as the FDA nears a June deadline on whether to approve it, reports The Washington Post. The drug is for mild cognitive impairment or early-stage dementia caused by Alzheimer’s. It would be the first treatment ever sold to slow the deterioration in brain function caused by the disease, not just to ease symptoms. And it would be the first new Alzheimer’s treatment since 2003 and controversy abounds over approval.

Dogs are on the front lines in detecting COVID-19 in people, reports The New York Times. Labradors, operating out of a university clinic in Bangkok, are part of a global corps of dogs being trained to sniff out COVID-19 in people. Preliminary studies, conducted in multiple countries, suggest that their detection rate may surpass that of the rapid antigen testing often used in airports and other public places.

The Pentagon wants a new “reg” for prosecuting extremism, reports Military Times, and its next budget request hopes to throw some money behind the effort. The proposal released Friday includes $30.8 million to enhance technology and manpower for training, screening, and policy updates, including a big one: “The development of a punitive regulation on extremist activities.”

To stem suicide and sexual assault, the Air Force dons headsets, reports The New York Times, hoping an immersive virtual reality experience will succeed where years of traditional training have failed. Military officials are encouraged by the early self-reported responses to the new virtual reality program training.

A ballistic missile defense-configured Aegis ship designed to detect, track, engage, and intercept a medium range ballistic missile target — with a salvo of two Standard Missile-6 Dual II missiles — failed to intercept its target last week, reports The Associated Press.  The weapon system test was conducted by the US Missile Defense Agency in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii.

The Navy wants to cut four littoral combat ships to save $186 million in the FY 22 budget, reports USNI News. This could net the service $186 million in cost savings, according to the service’s latest budget request.

The Navy also wants to ditch its very young Mk VI Patrol Boats in new budget request, reports The Drive, divesting itself of all 12 in its budget proposal for FY22.

Contracts:

APEX Construction, Ocean City, Maryland, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $225,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple-award construction contract for multidiscipline construction. Work will be performed at Moody Air Force Base, Grand Bay Range, Georgia; Valdosta Regional Airport, Valdosta, Georgia; and Avon Park Range, Sebring, Florida, and is expected to be completed Aug. 12, 2024. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and 40 offers were received. Funds will be applied to individual task orders as needed via operations and maintenance funds. The 23rd Contracting Squadron, Moody AFB, Georgia, is the contracting activity (FA4830-21-D-0002). 

NISGAA TEK LLC, Chantilly, Virginia, has been awarded an $18,794,450 (P00003) modification to contract FA8689-20-C-2011 for the delivery of hardware and software for the 2021 Remote Piloted Aircraft Special Operations Center second quarter buy. This contract modification is for procurement of hardware and software to be consumed in the creation of an end-product deliverable. Work will be performed at Warner Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, and is expected to be completed March 22, 2022. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2019, 2020 and 2021 other procurement funds; fiscal 2021 research, development, test and evaluation funds; and fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance funds in the full amount are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Dec. 30, 2020)

DCS Corp., Alexandria, Virginia, has been awarded a $11,330,717 time and materials contract for the Agile Global Mobility (AGM) bridge contract. This contract provides continuous maintenance and development of its newly fielded, unit-level mission planning software to support real-world global flight operations for Air Mobility Command (AMC) aircraft (KC-46, KC-10, KC-135, C-130J, C-130J, C-130 AMP, C-17, and C-5) in support of U.S. military missions as well as mission planning for Foreign Military Sales (FMS) variants of the AMC Aircraft. Work will be performed at various locations globally and is expected to be completed Sept. 6, 2022. This contract involves FMS to United Arab Emirates, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Iraq, Israel, Japan, the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), Korea, Oman, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Poland, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 operations and maintenance funds and (FY) 2022 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $2,512,799 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity (FA8730-21-C-0031).

Four Tribes Enterprises LLC, Gaithersburg, Maryland, has been awarded a $7,840,230 firm-fixed-price contract to repair heating, ventilation, and air conditioning and fire protection equipment shelter. Work will be performed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, and is expected to be completed June 2022. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2021 other procurement funds in the full amount are being obligated at the time of award. The 355th Contracting Squadron, Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, is the contracting activity (FA4877-21C-0021).

Conveyor Handling Co., Inc., Elkridge, Maryland (SP3300-21-D-0008, $150,000,000); Unity Technologies Corp., Myersville, Maryland (SP3300-21-D-0010, $150,000,000); and Werres Corp., Frederick, Maryland (SP3300-21-D-0009, $150,000,000) have each been awarded a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract under solicitation SP3300-20-R-5002 for logistics modernization integration support and material handling. These were competitive acquisitions with seven responses received. These are five-year contracts with no option periods. Locations of performance are Maryland and inside and outside the continental US, with a June 10, 2026, ordering period end date. Using customer is Defense Logistics Agency. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2026 non-automated data process capital equipment funds; sustainment, restoration, and modernization capital facilities funds; automated data process capital funds; and working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Distribution, New Cumberland, Pennsylvania.

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia, is awarded a $12,986,545 cost plus-fixed-fee modification to the previously awarded delivery order N62793-20-F-2012 off of contract N00024-19-D-4306 to continue full ship shock trials planning and execution for CVN 78. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by May 2022. Fiscal 2021 research, development, test, and evaluation funding in the amount of $2,200,000 will be obligated at time of award. This funding will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair, USN, Newport News, Virginia, is the contracting activity.

NAL Research Corp., Manassas, Virginia, is awarded an $7,831,374 cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a five-year ordering period for integrating existing, new, or modified Iridium devices and Iridium network capabilities for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance requirements at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division. Work will be performed in Manassas, Virginia, and is expected to be complete by June 2026. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $10,000; and working capital funds (Navy) in the amount of $10,000 will be obligated at the time of award, of which, funds in the amount of $10,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source award in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulations 6.302-1(a) (2) (iii) – only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N00178-21-D-4402).

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