Moran Chosen as Next Chief of Naval Operations

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ADM William Francis “Bill” Moran has been nominated to replace ADM John Richardson as the Navy’s chief of naval operations, reports Navy Times. He is a Cold War aviator who helped reinvent the sea service as its top personnel officer.

Assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology, and logistics, Will Roper, says the future Air Force programs must look less like the Joint Strike Fighter and more like the iconic Century Series from the 1950s, when the newly independent Air Force fielded six new fighters from five different manufacturers in just five years, reports Break Defense. Mr. Roper was speaking at the Space Symposium in Colorado.

The missing pilot in the Japanese F-35A crash last week has been identified. He is Japan Air Self-Defense Force Maj. Akinori Hosomi, 41, an experienced pilot with around 3,200 flying hours, of which 60 were in the F-35A, reports AINonline.com. A major search continues to locate the pilot and the aircraft.

The US Navy has sent the USS Wasp into the South China Sea loaded with an unusually heavy configuration of Marine Corps F-35B Lightning IIs, reports Business Insider. “I think the Marine Corps may be realizing that this is the best use of their large amphibious assault ships,” said Bryan Clark, former special assistant to the chief of naval operations.

US-Russian chilly relations are stirring concern that Washington and Moscow are in danger of finding themselves in an armed confrontation that could lead to nuclear war, reports The Washington Post.

Also speaking at the Space Symposium last week, Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, said Virgin’s LauncherOne can be a key contributor to US and allied space resiliency providing rapid launch and replenishment of satellites stricken in a conflict, reports Breaking Defense.

The US Marine Corps plans to retrofit its two Kaman K-Max helicopters with additional autonomous capabilities to further cargo delivery experimentation with the aircraft, reports FlightGlobal.

Bell’s prototype V-280 tiltrotor keeps hitting new milestones as it moves into its second year of test flights, reports Breaking Defense, but the race to replace the UH-60 Black Hawk is far from over.

The Army is looking at a variety of camouflage being developed that is aimed at hiding electronic signals and concealing soldiers and their equipment, reports Army Times, masking them to the eye and hiding them from sensors.

The world’s largest plane took off over the Mojave Desert in California on Saturday, the first flight for the carbon-composite plane built by Stratolaunch Systems Corp., reports Reuters.

Maj. Gen. Matthew Beevers of the California National Guard’s said that the gender identity of his soldiers “is the least of our concerns,” shortly after the Trump administration’s policy barring most transgender people from serving in the military took effect Friday, reports The Hill.

A US Navy travel clerk was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for defrauding the US government of nearly $365,000, reports Navy Times.

Contracts:

Alion Science and Technology Corp., McLean, Virginia (N00189-19-D-0002); and Booz Allen Hamilton, Norfolk, Virginia (N00189-19-D-0003), are awarded a $50,000,000 multiple award of cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts that will include terms and conditions for the placement of both cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price task orders to provide subject matter expertise required to support the development and integration of innovative solutions to complex naval warfare challenges and the enhancement of current and future warfighting capabilities in support of Navy Warfare Development Command. The contracts will run concurrently and will include a 60-month base ordering period and an option for a six-month ordering period which if exercised, the total value of this contract will be $55,100,000. The base ordering period of the contract is expected to be completed by April 2024; if the option is exercised, the ordering period will be completed by October 2024. All work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $14,000 will be obligated ($7,000 on each of the two contracts to fund the contracts’ minimum amounts), and those funds will expire at the end of fiscal 2020. This contract was competitively procured for the award of multiple contracts pursuant to the authority set forth in Federal Acquisition Regulation 16.504. The requirement was solicited through the Federal Business Opportunities website, with two offers received. Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Norfolk, Contracting Department Norfolk, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity.

Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia, has been awarded a $51,593,787 predominantly firm-fixed-price contract for specialized personnel. This contract provides for highly qualified and specialized personnel with requisite technical expertise and knowledge in their respective functional areas to support the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. Work will be performed at various locations around the world. Work is expected to be complete by April 15, 2024. This contract is the result of a competitive acquisition and one offer was received. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $7,573,414 are being obligated at the time of award. Headquarters Air Combat Command Acquisition Management and Integration Center, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, is the contracting activity (FA4890-19-F-A007)