NAS Pax River Is Draw for Tech Jobs

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 reflect opinions of the Leader’s owners or staff.

NerdWallet analyzed 381 metropolitan areas in the US with populations of more than 50,000 to identify the regions of the country that balance opportunity for tech workers with the cost of living. See where the California-Lexington Park area ranks on its list of the Best Places for Tech Jobs.

The Marine Corps suspends flight operations for CH-53E Super Stallions on Okinawa, reports Marine Corps Times. The 96-hour pause, which started Thursday, came after a helicopter caught fire and made an emergency landing.

The guided-missile cruiser Monterey will deploy to the Pacific as the Navy shuffles ships around to ensure there are enough ballistic-missile defense ships in that region in the wake of the accidents that damaged the destroyers McCain and Fitzgerald, reports Navy Times.

North Korea leader Kim Jung Un aims his latest barb Sunday at President Donald Trump, calling him a “war merchant and strangler of peace,” reports CNN. This comes a day before a US-South Korea military exercise is scheduled to begin in the Korean peninsula region.

John Rood has been selected by President Donald Trump to be the under secretary of defense for policy at the Department of Defense, reports IHS Jane’s 360. Mr. Rood is senior vice president of Lockheed Martin International.

DoD wants to persuade lawmakers that it has the tools and the expertise to resume responsibility for processing security clearances for its own personnel, Federal News Radio reports.

Congress might want the Navy to pursue carriers that cost less, but a new report concludes the Navy cannot build cheaper, more modest carriers without significantly limiting capability or overhauling its current air acquisition plan, DoD Buzz reports.

President Trump said he will not certify the Iran nuclear deal and has threatened to cancel it if Congress and the allies don’t fix it, Breaking Defense reports.

ExecutiveGov.com reports US Cyber Command has started to use its new acquisition authority to accelerate contract awards for cyber technology products and services.

Lockheed Martin conducted another Army Tactical Missile System modernization flight test at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, reports Aerotech News reports. “This was our seventh consecutive successful test in the ATACMS modernization program,” said Matt Berger, Precision Fires program manager at the company.

Australia’s defense industry ministry says sensitive information about that country’s F-35 stealth fighter and other military hardware was stolen during a cyberattack last year, reports Sky News. About 30 gigabytes of data was stolen, including details of the Joint Strike Fighter and P-8 Poseidon. BBC reports an incident response manager called the hack “extensive and extreme.”

House lawmakers have taken the first steps toward shutting down hundreds of Veterans Affairs facilities through a process similar to military base closure rounds, Army Times reports, saying the move is critical to keep the department from wasting millions of dollars on underused, aging buildings.

Contracts:

IOIE – EQM JV, San Diego, California (W9128F-18-D-0011); Relyant Global LLC, Maryville, Tennessee (W9128F-18-D-0012); LRS EMR JV LLC, Pasadena, Maryland (W9128F-18-D-0013); and Iron Mike – Bristol JVB LLC, Centennial, Colorado (W9128F-18-D-0014), will share in a $95,000,000 hybrid (cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price) contract for flood recovery, infrastructure recovery, emergency management, and military support. Bids were solicited via the Internet with 10 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 11, 2022. US Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha, Nebraska, is the contracting activity.

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Herndon, Virginia, was awarded a $13,399,673 modification (P00034) to contract W15QKN-13-C-0065 for low-rate initial production of the Spider Increment I A remote control unit. Work will be performed in Madison, Alabama; and Melbourne, Florida, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 13, 2019. Fiscal 2016 and 2017 other procurement (Army) funds in the amount of $13,399,673 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command New Jersey is the contracting activity.

Core Services Group, Virginia Beach, Virginia (N00189-17-D-0036); AVW Technologies Inc., Chesapeake, Virginia (N00189-17-D-0037); Klett Consulting Group Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia (N00189-17-D-0038); Hamilton Consulting Solutions Corp., Chesapeake, Virginia (N00189-17-D-0039); AERMOR LLC, Virginia Beach, Virginia (N00189-17-D-0040); and Tekla Research, Dumfries, Virginia (N00189-17-D-0041), was awarded an estimated $83,131,904 multiple award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, resulting from solicitation N00189-17-R-0017, that will include terms and conditions for the placement of firm-fixed-price task orders to provide operational test and evaluation analytical support services that include document review, test planning support, operational test design, test analysis and reporting, test operations support, modeling and simulation support, program management support, and psychometric evaluation for multiple Chief of Naval Operations projects in support of Commander, Operational Test and Evaluation Force. The contracts will run concurrently and will include a three-year base ordering period with an option to extend services for a six-month ordering period pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.217-8. If the option period is exercised, the total estimated value of the contracts combined will be $97,365,974. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia, and work is expected to be completed November 2020; if all options are exercised, the ordering period will be completed by May 2021. Fiscal 2017 research, test and development (Navy) funds in the amount of $15,000 will be obligated ($2,500 on each of the three contracts to fund the contracts’ minimum amounts) and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured as a small business set-aside for multiple awardees pursuant to the authority set forth in FAR 16.504. The solicitation was posted to the Federal Business Opportunities website, with eight offers received. Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Norfolk, Contracting Department Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity.  (Awarded Oct. 12, 2017)

Huntington Ingalls Inc., Newport News, Virginia, is being awarded a $65,146,016 cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-16-C-4316) to accomplish the repair, maintenance, upgrades, and modernization efforts on USS Helena (SSN 725) dry-docking selected restricted availability. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by April 2018. Fiscal 2018 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $62,700,000 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.

Huntington Ingalls Inc., Newport News, Virginia, is being awarded a $7,008,313 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-17-C-2103) to exercise options for planning and design yard functions for standard Navy valves in support of nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by September 2018. Fiscal 2018 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $1,400,000 will be obligated at time of award, and funds in the amount of $1,400,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.