NavSec: Navy Needs a Budget Increase

Carlos Del Toro, US Navy secretary, center, speaks to the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Barry crew after awarding the ship the Battle “E” award in Yokosuka, Japan, Oct. 26, 2021. Barry is assigned to Commander, Task Force 71/Destroyer Squadron 15. (US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Askia Collins)

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.

Speaking before the 2021 Aspen Security Forum last week, NavSec Carlos Del Toro said that the US Navy needs a 3% to 5% budget increase, reports Defense One. The increase is necessary if the service is to reach its shipbuilding goals and meet the threat from China, he said.

China is expanding its nuclear arsenal, with likely intentions of possessing 1,000 or more warheads by the year 2030, reports The Washington Post. This is according to the Pentagon’s newly released “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2021” report. USNI News reports that China has the world’s largest Navy with 355 ships.

The US Navy fired last Thursday the two senior officers and a sonar technician on the nuclear-powered attack submarine Connecticut that was damaged in an underwater collision in the South China Sea, reports CBS News. The submarine struck an underwater mountain on October 2, Navy Times reported five days after the incident.

With the submarine’s damage now being assessed in Guam, the issue of the pace and efficacy of the Navy’s 20-year plan to optimize its public shipyards has resurfaced, reports Breaking Defense. For Navy Times, one question comes up. How could this happen?

Spain is looking to replace its EF-18A Hornet fighter jets, reports Defense News, and the competition is heating up between Lockheed Martin’s F-35 and the Eurofighter Typhoon.

The Naval Sustainment System — Aviation plan aims to save the US Navy $300 million annually in future years, reports Breaking Defense. The NSS-A aviation plan has identified methods “to include foreign object debris (FOD) prevention, maintenance reset, a fully integrated supply chain management system, optimized commercial and organic maintenance, and improved pricing postures.” The service published its unclassified version of the “Navy Aviation Vision 2030-2035” late last month, reports USNI News.

The US Marine Corps is redesigning its enlistment process, reports Marine Corps Times, as it looks to recruit fewer but better candidates. USMC commandant GEN David Berger has released the “Talent Management 2030” report. “Transitioning to a talent management focus, and system, is required,” he wrote.

To cultivate a corps of older, more mature Marines who are tech-savvy and cross-trained for a variety of missions, the corps will seek the help of artificial intelligence and data analytics tools, reports Defense News.

The potential sale of Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles to Saudi Arabia has been approved by the US State Department, reports Defense News. The deal is valued at up to $650 million for 280 AIM-120Cs.

Three airports are eligible for Federal Aviation Administration grants to add civilian aviation operations, reports Aerotime. The airports are Kelly Field in San Antonio, TX; Mobile Downtown Airport in Mobile, AL; and Salina Regional Airport in Salina, KS.

 

 

Federal contractors have until January 4 to ensure that their workers are fully vaccinated against COVID or that they will be tested weekly and wear a face covering, reports Maryland Matters. That requirement deadline had originally been set to take effect December 4.

Military health facilities have begun receiving pediatric doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, reports Military.com, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has endorsed vaccinations for children 5 to 11.

Eleven service member COVID-related deaths were reported in October, reports Navy Times, a third month in a row where fatalities numbered in the double-digits.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health last week warned against eating fish from five Cape Cod ponds due to contamination with PFAS chemicals, reports Cape and Islands NPR. The ponds were tested because they are near Joint Base Cape Cod, where contaminated groundwater has been found. Last month, Maryland recommended that people limit their consumption of certain fish caught in a Prince George’s County creek, NBC News reported, due to PFAS contamination.

In what NASA calls its first flight demonstration for planetary defense, the agency plans to launch a spacecraft and crash it into an asteroid next year so scientists can try to understand how to redirect space objects away from potential collisions with Earth, reports UPI.

The St. Mary’s County Defense Community Infrastructure Program team attended the 2021 Association of Defense Communities Installation Innovation Forum last week, reports The BayNet. St. Mary’s Deputy Director for Public Works & Transportation Don Mills shared information about a local project during a best practices session. DCIP grant money will go toward building a crosswalk across Route 235 at NAS Pax River’s Gate 2.

Gloria Arteaga is the new Family Advocacy Program victim advocate and educator at Naval Support Facility Dahlgren and NSF Indian Head, reports The Southern Maryland Chronicle. Arteaga previously served the command and NAS Pax River as the sexual assault response coordinator.

Contracts:

The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is awarded a not-to-exceed $64,179,305 cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract provides non-recurring engineering support to integrate the Next Generation Jammer Low Band Pod System onto the EA-18G platform. These services include design and qualification of platform A-kit provision, aircraft/pod system physical interface analysis, wind tunnel test, ground vibration test, technical directive development and verification, and all logistics product data to support the program life cycle. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri (78%); Patuxent River, Maryland (19%); and China Lake, California (3%), and is expected to be completed in October 2026. No funds will be obligated at time of award; funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N0001922D0001).

General Dynamics Electric Boat Corp., Groton, Connecticut, is awarded a not-to-exceed $66,637,726 undefinitized contract action modification to previously awarded contract N00024-20-C-2120 for lead yard support and development studies and design efforts related to Virginia-class submarines. Work will be performed in McLeansville, North Carolina (34%); Riviera Beach, Florida (26%); Annapolis, Maryland (21%); and Hanover, Maryland (19%), and is expected to be completed by November 2024. Fiscal 2022 research, development, test, and evaluation (Navy) $5,557,989 funding will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The statutory authority for this sole source award is in accordance with Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii) — only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity.

Security 1 Solutions LLC, Gaithersburg, Maryland, was awarded a firm-fixed and labor hours contract (HQ003422C0005). The amount of this action is $119,301,880. The purpose of this contract is to provide the Pentagon Force Protection Agency contracted security personnel to provide protection of its facilities, physical assets, and all other related operational activities for designated locations within the National Capital Region. This responsibility includes security of the buildings; identification passes, anti-terrorism, and force protection; chemical biological, radiological, and nuclear protection and detection, and other key functions. Work will be performed at the Pentagon and the Mark Center. Fiscal 2022 funds will be obligated in the amount of $5,039,736 at the time of award (Building Maintenance Fund, Defense in the amount of $4,427,316; and Pentagon Reservation Maintenance Revolving Fund, Defense in the amount of $612,420. Funds in the amount of $5,039,736 will be obligated at the time of the award. The expected completion date is Nov. 4, 2026. Washington Headquarters Services, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity.

Perspecta Engineering Inc., Chantilly, Virginia, is awarded an $8,515,106 cost-plus-fixed-fee order (N0001922F0899) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N0001921G0010). This order provides for the ongoing design, development, integration and delivery, to include documentation, training, testing, performance analysis and requirements analysis of various theater mission planning center subsystems in support of Tomahawk weapons systems. Work will be performed in Santa Clara, California (72.43%); San Diego, California (6.83%); Meridian, Idaho (2.11%); Honolulu, Hawaii (1.65%); Stafford, Virginia (1.17%); and various locations within the continental US (15.81%), and is expected to be completed in November 2022. Fiscal 2022 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $8,515,106 will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Manassas, Virginia, is awarded a $12,141,538 cost-plus-incentive fee and cost-only modification to previously awarded contract (N0002418C5218) to procure engineering labor and travel, material, and other direct costs and provide incremental funding in support of continued AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 development, integration, manufacture, production, and testing. Work will be performed in Manassas, Virginia (83%); Lemont Furnace, Pennsylvania (10%); Syracuse, New York (6%); and Hauppauge, New York (1%), and is expected to be completed by March 2022. Fiscal 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $3,324,742 (33%); Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Australia funds in the amount of $2,945,580 (29%); fiscal 2022 research, development, test, and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,313,909 (23%); FMS Japan funds in the amount of $515,464 (5%); fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $479,759 (5%); fiscal 2021 research, development, test, and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $317,281 (3%); and fiscal 2021 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $211,413 (2%) will be obligated at time of award, and funds in the amount of $797,040 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity.