Last of Block II Super Hornets Delivered

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.

The US Navy took delivery of the final Block II Super Hornet earlier this month, reports Navy Recognition, closing out a run of 322 one-seater F/A-18Es and 286 two-seater F/A-18Fs. Boeing is expected to deliver the Block III test jets to the Navy as early as late spring.

The region’s leaders have asked the Trump administration to continue allowing federal employees to telework as they combat the coronavirus outbreak in the region, reports Politico.

DoD has ordered expanded coronavirus testing for select groups of service members considered the most essential to national security, reports Military Times. A tiered testing plan was unveiled last week.

The US Navy has finished testing the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, reports Business Insider. The number of crewmembers testing positive for the novel coronavirus is 840.

The first in a group of F-35A fighter jets are ready to transfer to Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska, reports Anchorage Daily News. Eielson expects to receive 54 jets and an additional 1,300 personnel by December 2021.

US officials in Europe and at the Defense Department say that pilots’ close calls with Russian aircraft are likely to continue, reports Military.com. The Russian military “feels as if it’s necessary to let everybody know that they’re still on the world stage, that they’re still on the scene, and that they have pretty good military power,” said retired Gen. Frank Gorenc, the former commander of US Air Forces in Europe. CBS News has video of a Russian fighter jet flying within 25 feet of a P-8A aircraft last week.

The UK Express reports that Russia is bragging about the capabilities of its missile defense systems in the Arctic, an indication of Moscow’s determination to press ahead with its expansionist foreign policy regardless of the ongoing health crisis.

North Korea leader Kim Jong Un’s absence and that country’s silence keep the rumor mill churning, reports The New York Times.

The US Army will proceed with this year’s graduation ceremony at West Point, NY, amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with President Donald Trump giving the 2020 commencement speech for cadets, reports CNN. The ceremony is set to be held June 13.

Personnel at NAS Pax River are making cloth face coverings for distribution to personnel within naval air station commands and departments across the installation, reports dcmilitary.com. Also, the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division is answering the call for production of personal protection equipment including face shields, masks, and mask assembly kits in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Army doctors working at hospitals within the Defense Health Agency have prototyped an isolation chamber that can be placed over the head and chest of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 that can help protect medical staff, reports EurekAlert!

Egyptian service members deliver medical supplies to Joint Base Andrews on April 21, 2020, to support COVID-19 response efforts. US Air Force photo

With the selection of Chase Young with the second overall pick Thursday night, the Washington Redskins get a “game-changing” type of edge-rushing prospect that a number of “experts” have as the best prospect in the NFL draft, reports WTOP News. Mr. Young grew up in Prince George’s County and attended DeMatha High School in Hyattsville.

The Maryland unemployment benefits system was not ready for volume of users on Friday, WTOP News reports. Within minutes of the 7 am April 24 launch, the state Department of Labor said its new site was overwhelmed.

Contracts:

Avian LLC, Lexington Park, Maryland, is awarded a $13,342,932 modification (P00068) to exercise an option on a previously-awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00421-17-C-0049) to provide support for the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division’s Integrated System Evaluation Experimentation and Test Department. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Maryland, and services will include flight test engineering, programmatic, administrative, design, execution, analysis, evaluation and reporting of tests and experiments of aircraft, unmanned air systems, weapons and weapons systems. Work is expected to be completed in April 2021. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) in the amount of $3,783,077; fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) in the amount of $90,000; fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,549,886; fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $28,732; fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $19,816; fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $144,756; and Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $310,238 will be obligated at time of award, $254,572 of which will expire at the end of the fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Baltimore, Maryland, was awarded a $147,639,775 undefinitized contract action modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-20-C-5310 for the procurement of MK 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) vertical launcher module electronic components. Work will be performed in Baltimore, Maryland (44%); Fort Walton Beach, Florida (39%); Waverly, Iowa (3%); Hampstead, Maryland (2%); Dover, Pennsylvania (2%); Chaska, Minnesota (1%); St. Peters, Missouri (1%); Wooddale, Illinois (1%); Plainview, New York (1%); Irvine, California (1%); Roebling, New Jersey (1%); Forest Hill, Maryland (1%); Millersville, Maryland (1%); Sterling Heights, Michigan (1%); and Red Lion, Pennsylvania (1%). This modification provides the electronic components for MK 41 VLS, which is installed onboard Navy surface combatants (CG-47 and DDG-51 class ships) and multiple allied Navy platforms. MK 41 VLS stores, selects, prepares and launches standard missiles, Tomahawk, Vertical Launch Anti-Submarine Rocket and Evolved Sea Sparrow missiles. Work is expected to be completed by March 2025. This contract combines purchases for the Navy (65%); and the governments of South Korea, Finland and Germany (35%) under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. Fiscal 2018 and 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); and FMS funding in the amount of $29,527,952 was obligated at the 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. (Awarded April 17, 2020)

ECS Federal LLC, Fairfax, Virginia, was awarded an $83,099,372 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for to create combined artificial intelligence (AI)-platform prototypes enhance. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Fairfax, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of March 26, 2023. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test, and evaluation, Army funds in the amount of $83,099,372 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Aberdeen, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W911QX-20-C-0023).

Thales Defense & Security Inc., Clarksburg, Maryland, has been awarded a maximum $19,317,824 firm-fixed-price contract for airborne low frequency sonar spare parts. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 US Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a three-year four-month contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Maryland, with an Aug. 30, 2023, performance completion date. Using military service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2023 Navy working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPRPA1-20-C-Y025).

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Fairfax, Virginia, and Des Moines, Iowa, has been awarded a $64,076,424 contract for Air National Guard operational training support. This contract provides for support of the Distributed Training Operations Center (DTOC). The primary mission of the DTOC is to provide expertise and staffing for the execution of Distributed Mission Operations (DMO) events and tests, and to provide technical and analytical expertise in support of networked operations. This effort includes technical and program management, scenario development, DMO mission execution, data collection, data reduction and analysis, technical and analytical support of networked operations, cybersecurity, test planning and reporting, requirements definition, system engineering, system software quality assurance/configuration control tasks and verification, validation and accreditation tasks. Work will be performed in Des Moines, Iowa, and is expected to be complete by April 30, 2025. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition under the Training Systems Acquisition III multiple award indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract where two offers were received in response to the Fair Opportunity Proposal Request. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $8,119,379 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 (FA8621-20-F-6258).