Morning Coffee: Federal Contracting Competition Stiffens
Morning Coffee is a robust blend of links to news around the internet concerning the Naval Air Station Patuxent River economic community. The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the Leader’s owners or staff.
As federal spending limits are curtailed, competition for government contracts is becoming fierce, reports the Washington Post. Federal contract spending, driven by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, peaked in 2008 at about $541 billion. Sequestration budget cuts dropped that number to $461 billion in 2013. Contracting opportunities are, therefore, attracting many more bidders who are making aggressive offers with smaller profit margins and losers are much more likely to protest awards. Large companies are pursuing opportunities they would have ignored in the past which is compromising small businesses who rely on smaller contracts for survival. The increased competition could be good news for taxpayers. Defense industry analyst Loren Thompson clarified, “This is a potential windfall for the government in that it gets a lot of choice and has the opportunity to book at remarkably low prices.”
Government Executive charts the reduction of federal employment for the past 24 months, reporting the federal government lost 10,000 jobs last month. Sequestration and other budget cuts have forced civilian agencies to cut back or freeze hiring.
The Maryland Senate voted Saturday to place a 13 month moratorium on the development of an Eastern Shore wind farm that some believe would negatively affect NAS Pax River flight testing, reports the Washington Post. The Senate voted to delay construction in order to evaluate study results on how wind turbines could affect radar use around the base. The Senate vote sends the bill back to the House of Delegates because it amended the House bill and requires House approval to send the bill to Governor Martin O’Malley, who has expressed concern about the legislation, for his signature.
Computer science remains a man’s world, according to the New York Times. Women are significantly underrepresented in information technology and those who enter the field feel they are made unwelcome with 56 percent leaving in mid-career, twice as many as men. The IT future for women looks bleak with women representing just 18 percent of computer-science college graduates in 2012, down from 37 percent in 1985. The solution to making the culture more welcoming is much debated with many tech professionals saying it’s important to hire women as engineers at the founding of a company and include women in management and in all job interviews.
Lockheed Martin added CyberPoint International into its Cyber Security Alliance to address the advanced threats faced by global governments and commercial organizations, according to IT Business Net. The Lockheed Alliance brings together cyber security capabilities and technologies from market leading companies into a collaborative environment.
Daily Finance provides an analysis on how drones could have helped the intensive search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Drones that are currently in development could have been deployed in massive numbers to make the search process faster, more efficient, and cheaper. They are designed for surveillance and search and rescue and will be able to fly for days, or even weeks at a time. “Drones are a huge opportunity for investors and as the industry finds more and more utility for drones the traction will only grow.”
Northrop Grumman won a $43.8 million contract to deliver five MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned helicopters to the US Navy, according to FlightGlobal. The new orders bring to 19 the number of Fire Scout Cs in development and testing by Northrop as part of a rapid acquisition effort by the Navy. Northrop says that two MQ-8Cs are in flight testing and the remaining aircraft are in development.
