Milestone for Marines F-35C Squadron
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The Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 314 at the Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar, CA, achieved full operational capability with its F-35C squadron, reports Military.com. The Black Knights are the first Marine Corps F-35C squadron to achieve this status.
Seventeen sailors recently completed the 37-week training course to become Naval Special Warfare combatant-craft crewmen, reports AP. Among them is the first of 18 women who have tried out for a job as a SWCC or a Navy SEAL to succeed. The service has not identified the sailor.
President Joe Biden’s nominee to be the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer, Defense Innovation Unit director Mike Brown, withdrew from consideration on Tuesday, Defense News confirmed. Brown withdrew because an inspector general investigation into hiring practices at DIU was expected to delay consideration of his nomination by up to a year.
Army veteran Donald Remy has been named to the second-highest post in the Department of Veterans Affairs, reports Military Times, after two months of political drama surrounding his nomination. Remy will be only the second Black veteran ever to serve in the VA deputy secretary role.
MAJ GEN Michael Guetlein, deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office, is the nominee for deputy director of the agency in charge of the nation’s spy satellites to run the US Space Force’s new acquisitions command, reports C4ISRNET. Guetlein would be in charge of procuring billions of dollars worth of satellites and supporting technologies.
Biden said he would nominate Andrew Hunter, a defense industry expert, to serve as the Air Force’s next acquisition boss, reports Defense News.
A Government Accounting Office survey finds the number of serious accidents involving Army and Marine Corps tactical vehicles, such as tanks and trucks, and the number of resulting deaths, fluctuated from fiscal years 2010 through 2019, reports Military.com. Driver inattentiveness, lapses in supervision, and lack of training were among the most common causes of these accidents, according to GAO analysis of Army and Marine Corps data.
Poland will purchase 250 M1A2 Abrams SEPv3 tanks from the US to counter Russian military capabilities, reports Defense News.
Lockheed Martin has opened the Spacecraft Test Assembly and Resource Center (STAR Center), a new Florida-based facility modernized using a $20 million investment and designed to speed up the production of lunar spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis missions, reports Executivebiz.com.
The Hubble Space Telescope appears to have been resurrected again after a shutdown of more than a month following a computer glitch, reports Science Magazine. Hubble’s operators have re-established communications with all the telescope’s instruments and have returned them to normal operations.
Blue Origin’s suborbital flight will feature the youngest and oldest people to fly in space, reports Space.com. Oliver Daemen, 18, will become the first paying customer to fly on the New Shepard spacecraft. Wally Funk, 82, a lifelong aspiring astronaut, also will be onboard.
The Blue Origin rocket is scheduled to lift off from a launch site in Texas at around 9 am ET on Tuesday. Watch it on the Blue Origin website.
The switch of a satellite tracking station from the Air Force to the new US Space Force is complete in New Boston, NH, reports Air Force Times.
UPI reports that South Korean President Moon Jae-in requested Vietnam play a role in restarting North Korea dialogue.
A survey taken in South Korea finds that more than nine in 10 South Koreans don’t believe North Korea is willing to give up its nuclear weapons, reports UPI.
Russia is expected to unveil its newest fighter jet, possibly to be name Checkmate, this week, reports The Drive. A preliminary analysis was offered ahead of the MAKS international air show.
The White House said there are no plans to send troops to Haiti following the assassination of that country’s president, reports The Hill.
Peace talks were conducted over the weekend between high-ranking officials of the Afghan government and Taliban forces amid ongoing military clashes in that country, reports UPI.
The town of Leonardtown was taken offline before the Fourth of July weekend during the ransomware attack on Miami-based technology firm Kaseya, reports The Hill. Virginia Tech says it was targeted in two recent cyberattacks but feels confident no data was stolen, reports The Associated Press.
The speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates said she will support a referendum on the 2022 ballot to decide whether marijuana should be legalized in the state, reports Maryland Matters. Adrienne Jones also announced a cannabis workgroup to create a plan for a legal marijuana industry in Maryland should it be approved by voters.
Buy Local Week in Maryland runs through Sunday, reports Patch.com. Marylanders are encouraged to participate in the Buy Local Challenge by incorporating at least one locally grown, produced, or harvested product into their meals each day.
Contracts:
Raytheon Missiles & Defense, Marlborough, Massachusetts, was awarded a $67,723,503 cost-plus fixed-fee modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-19-C-5501 for AN/SPY-6(V) integration and production support efforts. This modification includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this modification to $781,000,000. Work will be performed in Marlborough, Massachusetts (54%); Pascagoula, Mississippi (11%); Moorestown, New Jersey (10%); Newport News, Virginia (6%)’ Kauai, Hawaii (5%); Wallops Island, Virginia (4%); Fair Lakes, Virginia (4%); Chesapeake, Virginia (2%); Bath, Maine (2%); Portsmouth, Rhode Island (1%); and San Diego, California (1%), and is expected to be completed by December 2021. If all options are exercised, work will continue through November 2024. Fiscal 2021 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $16,126,410 (44%); fiscal 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $6,941,141 (19%); fiscal 2017 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $6,147,355 (17%); fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $3,885,854 (10%); fiscal 2016 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,325,767 (6%); and fiscal 2021 shipbuilding and conversions (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,390,814 (4%) will be obligated at time of award, of which funds in the amount of $3,885,854 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington DC, is the contracting activity. (Awarded July 13, 2021)
Aptim Federal Services LLC, Baton Rouge, Louisiana (N62470-21-D-0018); CDM, a Joint Venture, Fairfax, Virginia (N62470-21-D-0019); ECC Contingency Constructors LLC, Virginia Beach, Virginia (N62470-21-D-0020); Gilbane Federal, Concord, California (N62470-21-D-0021); Jacobs Project Management Co., Dallas, Texas (N62470-21-D-0022); and Perini Management Services Inc., Framingham, Massachusetts (N62470-21-D-0023), are awarded a combined maximum-value $5,000,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple-award global contingency construction contract with provisions to issue cost-plus-award-fee or firm-fixed-price task orders for global contingency construction projects worldwide. These six contractors may compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the awarded contract. The work to be performed provides for supervision, equipment, materials, labor, travel, and all means necessary to provide the Navy, the Department of Defense, or other federal agencies, when authorized, an immediate response for civilian construction contract capability. The contract will provide construction and related engineering services in response to natural disaster response, humanitarian efforts, conflict, emergent mission-critical requirements, or projects with similar characteristics. The work also includes the capability to set up and operate material liaison offices at deployed sites in support of naval construction force operations worldwide. Work may include occasional projects to ensure readiness to perform under emergency situations. Work will be performed worldwide and is expected to be completed by July 2029. Each awardee will be awarded $25,000 (minimum contract guarantee per awardee) at time of award. Fiscal 2021 supervision, inspection, and overhead funds in the amount of $150,000 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by military construction; and operation and maintenance (Navy) funds. This contract was competitively procured via the beta.sam.gov website, with nine offers received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity.
Huntington Ingalls Industries Fleet Support Group, Newport News, Virginia, is competitively awarded a $272,977,437 cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide US Navy aircraft carrier (CVN), carrier engineering maintenance assist team and surface engineering maintenance assist team in support of maintenance and planning for the overhaul and repair of equipment and systems associated with Navy aircraft carriers and West Coast Navy surface ships. Work will be performed aboard Navy CVNs within the continental US; outside the continental US; and forward deployed locations according to individual task orders as issued and is expected to be completed by June 2026. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was competitively procured and solicited via the Beta System for Award Management website. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity (N00024-21-D-4114).
Bluestone-InterSpec JV, Malvern, Pennsylvania, is awarded a maximum-value $30,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for multi-media compliance support with an emphasis on fuel storage tanks/spill, air, and waste/materials in the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Washington area of responsibility and other US territories. Work will be performed in Washington, DC, and in other US territories, and is expected to be completed by January 2027. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $10,000 for guaranteed minimum award will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the beta.sam.gov website, with three offers received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Washington, DC, is the contracting activity (N40080-21-D-0010).
L-3 Unidyne Inc., Norfolk, Virginia, is awarded a $9,912,777 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract containing firm-fixed-price provisions for production of copper sonar assemblies. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia, and the ordering period will be completed June 2026 (with the latest possible delivery taking place 14 months thereafter). Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance, Navy funds in the amount of $1,304,214 will be obligated at time of award on the first delivery order and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured using full and open competition via the beta.sam.gov website with three offers received. The Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Newport, Newport, Rhode Island, is the contracting activity (N66604-21-D-G100).
Atlantic Diving Supply Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia, has been awarded a maximum $14,809,518 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity contract for SIG Sauer M17 and M18 military service pistol holster assemblies. 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 base contract with two one-year option periods. Location of performance is Virginia, with a July 14, 2024, performance completion date. Using military services are Army and Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2024 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Columbus, Ohio (SPE7LX-21-D-0130).
