‘Lightning Carrier’ Deployed to Pacific
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The US Navy says the security situation in the Pacific demands that it shifts its most capable ships into the area, reports Business Insider. Amphibious assault ship USS America is on its way to the region. It can be outfitted with a heavy configuration of F-35Bs and repurposed to function as a so-called “lightning carrier.” The “lightning carrier” concept, named after the F-35B Lightning II, allows an America-class ship to carry about 40 percent of the firepower of a Nimitz-class carrier, reports Yahoo!
A US military assessment of China’s armed forces says that deepening Chinese activities in the Arctic region could pave the way for a strengthened military presence, including the deployment of submarines to act as deterrents against nuclear attack, reports Reuters. The report also notes that China’s military has made modernizing its submarine fleet a high priority.
A light scout helicopter and a mid-size transport remain Army aviation’s top two priorities, Army Secretary Mark Esper said, but the industry needs to start thinking about the next heavy-lift aircraft and stop fighting against cuts to the CH-47 Chinook, reports Breaking Defense.
The US Navy-owned research vessel Roger Revelle is undergoing an upgrade that the service hopes will extend its working life and enhance its operating systems, reports Naval Technology.
In an advancement in human medicine and aviation technology, a University of Maryland unmanned aircraft delivered a donor kidney to surgeons at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore for successful transplantation into a patient with kidney failure, UMD Right Now reports.
President Donald Trump has nominated US Ambassador to Canada Kelly Craft to be his next United Nations ambassador, reports Politico. Ms. Craft would replace former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who left the UN post at the end of 2018.
A DoD report reveals that US military operations killed 120 civilians in 2018, reports The Hill. Forty-two civilians were killed in Iraq and Syria, 76 in Afghanistan, and two in Somalia. Sixty-five people were injured in those countries.
Acting DefSec Patrick Shanahan says the DoD’s decision to make sexual harassment a criminal offense is a necessary step to combat the “scourge” of sexual assault and abuse in the ranks, reports Military Times.
The House Veterans’ Affairs Committee launched a new task force on women veterans, with the goal of “advancing equity in access to resources, benefits, and health care” for the group, reports Military Times. “Women veterans are too often overlooked, forgotten or feel invisible,” said Rep. Julia Brownley (D-CA) “Women have served in uniform since this country’s earliest days … but for far too long their issues have been unnoticed or ignored.”
The 2019 White House Historical Association Christmas ornament is celebrating President Dwight D. Eisenhower, reports The Washington Post. It’s a gilded helicopter. For the first time, the official White House ornament has a corporate sponsor: Sikorsky, a division of Lockheed Martin. The ornaments have traditionally highlighted a little-known, nonpolitical factoid. Eisenhower was the first president to ride in a helicopter.
An Army contract specialist and contractor liaison at Picatinny Arsenal and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey is headed to prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy, reports Army Times. Officials say he took bribes in a scheme involving construction projects.
Lockheed Martin announced that a former NASA acting administrator, Robert Lightfoot, will join the company, reports WashingtonExec. Mr. Lightfoot will lead strategic planning, advanced technology concepts, and new business strategy for the company’s space business area.
A 1,110-foot-wide asteroid named for the Egyptian god of chaos (and possibly a Stargate SG-1 character) will fly past Earth in 2029 within the distance of some orbiting spacecraft, Fox News reports.
Contracts:
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. Mission Systems, Chantilly, Virginia, has been awarded an $82,320,000 cost contract for Enhanced Polar System Recapitalization (EPS-R) Control and Planning Segment (CAPS). This contract provides for the development of software to address international host accommodations for new out of band link functions, cyber architecture, orbit planning, and the capability for controlling four EPS Payloads simultaneously on a single software baseline. Work will be performed in Redondo Beach, California, and is expected to be complete by Sept. 30, 2023. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2019 research and development funds in the amount of $14,700,000 are being obligated at the time of award. The Space and Missile Systems Center, Military Satellite Communications Directorate, Los Angeles Air Force Base, California, is the contracting activity (FA8808-19-C-0001).
AAI Corp., Hunt Valley, Maryland, is awarded a $20,452,716 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract N00024-14-C-6322 for engineering and technical services for the Unmanned Influence Sweep System (UISS) Unmanned Surface Vehicle program. The UISS is the system which will allow the Littoral Combat Ship to perform its mine warfare sweep mission. UISS will target acoustic, magnetic, and magnetic/acoustic combination mine types. The UISS program will satisfy the Navy’s need for a rapid, wide-area coverage mine clearance capability, required to neutralize magnetic/acoustic influence mines. UISS seeks to provide a high area coverage rate in a small, lightweight package with minimal impact on the host platform. Work will be performed in Hunt Valley, Maryland (70 percent); and Slidell, Louisiana (30 percent), and is expected to be complete by September 2019. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funding in the amount of $7,670,225 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.
National Industries For The Blind, has been awarded a maximum $15,036,000 modification (P00007) exercising the second one-year option period of a one-year base contract (SPE1C1-17-D-B022) with two one-year option periods for Army Physical Fitness Uniform (APFU) jackets. This is an indefinite-delivery contract. Locations of performance are North Carolina and Maryland, with a May 10, 2020, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Valiant Global Defense Services Inc., San Diego, California, is awarded $15,913,990 for firm-fixed-price task order M67854-19-F-7884 under previously award contract M67854-19-D-7876 to provide support services for the Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Training Support Service (MTSS), MAGTF Staff Training Program (MSTP). Services will include pre-deployment training programs to Marine Corps operating forces, as well as command, control, communications, and computer mobile training team training at the functional and executive level to commanders and battle staffs, and technical training for operators and information managers. Work will be performed in Quantico, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by November 2020. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $5,380,849 will be obligated at the time of award and these funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This order was competitively awarded under a multiple award task order contract. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Virginia, is the contract activity.
Federal Prison Industries, Inc., doing business as UNICOR, Washington, District of Columbia, has been awarded a maximum $9,558,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for parkas. This is a one-year base contract with two one-year option periods. Locations of performance are Washington, District of Columbia; and Kentucky, with a May 2, 2020, performance completion date. Using military service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE1C1-19-D-F024).
