Morning Coffee 8-4-11

A team from the Navy and Marine Corps Multi-Mission Tactical Unmanned Air Systems program office, PMA-266, welcomes home Fire Scout from its seven-month deployment aboard USS Halyburton in Mayport, Fla., Aug. 3. (U.S. Navy photo)

A robust blend of news from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, NAVAIR, the Pentagon and beyond:

• Fire Scouts return from USS Halyburton deployment.
• Northrop says it has fixed Fire Scout’s data link.
• Mystery “senior defense official” wants Congress to cut social security, not defense.
• Questions remain over size of debt deal defense cuts.
• Lawmakers plot to contain defense cuts.
• Panetta: Cuts would endanger national security.
• Senate’s letter to Ashton Carter questioning JSF lifetime cost estimates.
• JSF’s faulty power system strikes again.
• China constructs “aircraft carrier” on dry land.
• Debt ceiling deal wrecks DoD’s long-term budget plans. (subscription required)