Morning Coffee: Navy Expands Plane Search
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.
A second US Navy destroyer has been deployed to aid the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 that disappeared somewhere over the ocean between Malaysia and Vietnam early Saturday, reports Stars and Stripes. The USS Kidd, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, has now joined the USS Pinckney in the search effort. Both destroyers are equipped with MH-60R Seahawk helicopters, which have the capability to conduct night searches using Forward Looking Infra-red cameras. A P-3C Orion aircraft is also providing search assistance.
A Pentagon investigation initiated after the discovery of Chinese-made F-35 fighter jet components has confirmed that Chinese materials are used in the Boeing B-1B bomber and some Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters, reports Reuters. Chinese titanium may have been used in the construction of the Standard Missile-3 IIA currently being developed by Raytheon and Japan. The utilization of raw material from China in US weapon systems is prohibited by a law designed to avoid a dependency on foreign suppliers which could halt delivery in times of war or other conflicts. DOD executives say the findings emphasize the need for US defense contractors to make sure their supply chains comply with regulations.
Pending VA benefit claims have dropped by almost 50 percent from this time last year when the claims backlog garnered national headlines, reports the Military Times. The Senate VA Backlog Working Group is seeking to eliminate delays through new legislation designed to maintain attention on the improving, but still ongoing, problem. The 21st Century Veterans Benefits Delivery Act would improve customer service for veterans with pending claims, offer more money to veterans who file “fully developed” claims and mandate stricter oversight of claims personnel. Sen. Dean Heller, (R-Nev.), sponsor of the legislation, said, “Right now, the system we have is designed for World War II veterans. We’re trying to drag this system into the 21st century.”
Almost 30 percent of new federal government hires are military veterans but many of these vets have negative workplace opinions and are more likely to feel “disengaged” from their supervisors, according to Federal News Radio. Current and former federal employees, who are also veterans, believe the difficult transition to civilian life and federal manager misconceptions about veteran employees contribute to the problem.
“Drones will cause an upheaval of society like we haven’t seen in 700 years,” according to an analysis in Quartz. that someday soon, autonomous drone militaries [will] become cheaper than infantry at any scale.”
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert confirmed that the Boeing EA-16G electronic attack plane is included on the Navy’s list of “unfunded” priorities, according to Reuters. Adm. Greenert indicated that the service would like more “Growlers” to help the Navy execute future electronic attack missions. The Navy did not include funding for additional EA-18G Growlers or Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets in its fiscal 2015 budget request.
Real Clear Defense offers their opinion on the need for the US Navy to operate 12 aircraft carriers and 3 hubs to support them. The latest defense budget would reduce the US Navy’s fleet from 11 aircraft carriers by one and the “two hub US Navy” has been in existence since the fall of the USSR.
The Navy is recognizing Women’s History Month with a theme of “Celebrating Women of Character, Courage and Commitment”, reports dcmilitary.com. Women have served in the Navy since 1811 and the service has authorized the enlistment of women since 1917. Today, approximately 18 percent of sailors and officers and almost 25 percent of NAVAIR civilian employees are women.
Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing’s Chief Operating Officer, said the defense budget released last week was “about what we expected” but believes that the industry still faces the full effects of budget sequestration in years ahead, according to the Chicago Tribune. However, Boeing is continuing to finance technical advancements of the F/A-18 Super Hornet and EA-18 Growler and forecasts international and domestic interest in the jets. The recent Pentagon budget request did not include new funding for the planes.
