March 28, 2024

LFTE Exercise: Here’s to Your Stealth

Stealth
US Air Force photo by Senior Airman Alexander Cook

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.

The US military is considered the world’s premier fighting force and testing exercises play an important role in sustaining military readiness. A variety of stealthy aircraft participated in a recent exercise at Nellis Air Force Base, including F-35A Joint Strike Fighters, F-22 Raptors, a B-2A Spirit, EA-18G Growlers and at least one RQ-170 Sentinel, reports The Drive. The Large Force Test Event focused on stealthy penetration into denied areas, suppression and destruction of enemy air defenses, and electronic attack tactics, reports the 53rd Wing from the Nevada base. The Sentinel was made famous for helping find and kill Osama Bin Laden, reports The Drive.

US stealth aircraft are one of the chief military threats to China, reports The National Interest, as that country develops its J-20 Mighty Dragon. “While the J-20 would likely remain outclassed by the F-22, it could potentially prove a dangerous adversary to the F-35,” the article states. As tensions between China and the US continue to rise, China’s military aircraft designers are racing to develop their next-generation fighter jet, reports Business Insider.

Russia said it will speed development of its S-70 Okhotnik (Hunter) stealth attack drone, reports Forbes, with deliveries now scheduled for 2024 rather than 2025 as previously planned.

The US Air Force’s 421st Fighter Squadron recently became the first F-35A JSF unit to go on alert status, reports Military.com, during exercises in the United Arab Emirates.

Fort Hood is the subject of an independent command climate review that will attempt to identify causes of the high crime rates at the Texas military base, reports Army Times. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told reporters the review team will look at not only Fort Hood, but also the surrounding community. In 2020, there have been eight soldiers who died on or near Fort Hood, according to Army Times. A soldier died in a boating incident off post Aug. 2, reports Military.com. Spc. Francisco Gilberto Hernandezvargas is the second Hood soldier to die recently at nearby Stillhouse Hollow Lake.

Marine Corps Times writes about the servicemen who died in last week’s fatal amphibious assault vehicle off the coast of Southern California. The oldest was 23; the youngest was 18.

US military forces are delivering aid to the people of Beirut, Lebanon, after a port explosion killed nearly 150 and wounded about 5,000 more last week, reports Air Force Times. Lebanon’s president, Michel Aoun, said there are two possible causes of Tuesday’s explosion – either negligence or “external intervention” by a missile or bomb, reports USA Today.

 

 

A military training team from Fort Eustis, VA, used a week-long stay at Fort Meade to train unit NCOs and officers on the new Army Combat Fitness Test, reports The Baltimore Sun.

Joint Base Andrews hosted the change of command ceremony for Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown on Thursday, ushering in a new era for the service, reports Air Force Times. Gen. Brown is the country’s first Black service chief.

Air Force Gen. David L. Goldfein stepped down as chief of staff of the US Air Force and retired on Thursday, The Washington Post reports. Gen. Goldfein had been passed over last year to become chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The first woman to lead the Delaware National Guard died Aug. 3, reports Air Force Times. Carol Timmons was 62.

A group of volunteers — current and retired NAS Pax River personnel — has been combing the beaches at Pax to learn and document what they can about the base’s Northern Diamondback Terrapin population and their nesting habitat, reports dcmilitary.com.

The Tester reports that NAS Pax’s MWR facilities are open with restrictions. Find new service hours and dates here.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announces that cashless tolling is now permanent throughout the state, including at the Nice/Middleton Bridge over the Potomac River in Newburg, reports WTOP News. This means motorists have two options — register for an E-ZPass or go through without a transponder, have their car’s license plate photographed, and get a bill in the mail, reports Maryland Matters.

First-time unemployment claims​ in Maryland are now at the lowest level since mid-March, reports Patch.com.

On Sunday morning, a 5.1-magnitude earthquake hit about two miles from the town of Sparta, NC, along the state’s border with Virginia, reports WTOP News.

Contracts:

Apogee Research LLC, Arlington, Virginia, has been awarded a $41,663,526 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P00001) to contract FA8750-20-C-1510 for deliverables that include software and technical reports. The contract modification is for the development and testing of technologies to enable the transition of system technology integration tool chain for heterogeneous electronic systems. This will allow capabilities to rapidly integrate into new mission capabilities for interoperability within and across Department of Defense platforms. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia; Menlo Park, California; Woburn, Massachusetts; and Malden, Massachusetts, and is expected to be completed July 31, 2025. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $489,650 are being obligated at the time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $48,250,998. Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome, New York, is the contracting activity.

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Herndon, Virginia, has been awarded a $21,948,817 cost-plus-award-fee task order under the ground subsystems sustainment contract for the Minuteman III Fast Rising B-Plug service life extension. Work will be performed in Layton, Utah, and is expected to be completed Nov. 17, 2022. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $3,356,951 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8204-20-F-0077).

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