Navy Conducts Shock Trials for New Carrier

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.

During full ship shock trials Friday in the Atlantic Ocean, the US Navy triggered an explosion near the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier with a 40,000-pound bomb, reports Military.com. The blast registered as a 3.9 magnitude earthquake, USNI News reports, citing US Geological Survey data.

The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group is holding drills in the Pacific near Hawaii this week as it prepares for an upcoming deployment this summer, reports USNI. The USS Carl Vinson was recently updated so it could accommodate the F-35C and the CMV-22B Osprey.

The third F-35B assembled in Italy carried out its maiden flight last week, reports The Aviationist. The first two aircraft are currently at Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort, SC, where the Italian pilots are trained.

Denmark celebrated the beginning of construction of a new F-35 campus at Skrydstrup, reports Royal Central. The new air base will house operational and logistical functions for the aircraft and consist of 22 hangars, workshops, maintenance docks, offices, and training facilities that will  house 27 new F-35As.

Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith, AK, is one of the preferred locations to host the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s F-16 training detachment and its future F-35B training unit, reports janes.com.

At a ceremony last week, the keel was laid on Littoral Combat Ship 31, the USS Cleveland, reports WKYC3. The ship will be built at Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Marinette, WI, and expected to be delivered to the US Navy in 2023.

Japan is considering scrapping its plan to procure US-made long-range anti-ship missiles, or LRASMs, with standoff capabilities for the country’s Air Self-Defense Force’s F-15 fighter jets, reports The Japan Times.

A rocket fell close to the perimeter of the Ain al-Asad air base that hosts US troops in northern Iraq over the weekend, The Associated Press reports. No injuries were reported.

The chairman of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee said lawmakers will likely fully fund the Space Force and Space Command 2022 budget wish lists — nearly $900 million — on top of the official DoD request of $17.4 billion, reports Breaking Defense.

The Drive reports that a Chinese-run media outlet reported that People’s Liberation Army Air Force pilots are losing often in their simulated artificial intelligence-driven dogfights. “The AI has shown adept flight control skills and errorless tactical decisions, making it a valuable opponent to hone our capabilities,” a commander of an unspecified PLAAF brigade said.

 

 

Chief of Naval Personnel VADM John Nowell said that while the COVID vaccine remains voluntary for now sailors should expect them to become mandatory soon, reports Navy Times.

Maryland reported on Sunday no new deaths from COVID for the first time since 2020, marking a major steps in the state’s fights to control the virus, reports WTOP News.

In a series of efforts to improve cybersecurity technology, NATO plans to procure new cyber defense systems to replace its aging platforms, reports C4ISRNET.

The Marine Corps is shutting down its Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Southern Command at Soto Cano air base in Honduras as the corps looks to save money, reports Marine Corps Times.

A Rand Corp. study names the top US Army installations where women are at the highest risk for sexual assault, reports Army Times. They are Fort Hood and Fort Bliss, TX; Fort Riley, KS; Fort Campbell, KY; and Fort Carson, CO. One of the study’s key findings: Sexual harassment is more common than sexual assault in the Army, but results also showed that the risk of sexual harassment is highly correlated with the risk of sexual assault.

COL Constance Jenkins has assumed leadership of the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, MD, reports The Frederick News Post. She is the first female commander of the institute during its 52-year history.

Crystal Ricks, coordinator of advanced learning for Calvert County Public Schools, was honored for her work with the Artificial Intelligence Primer eBook Program and This Girl STEAMs, reports The Southern Maryland Chronicle.

The Biden administration is preparing to impose additional sanctions on Russia over the poisoning of imprisoned opposition leader Alexey Navalny, reports CNN.

The National Association of Realtors has compiled a list of top vacation home counties, and two are in Maryland: Garrett and Worcester counties, reports WTOP News.

DoD has awarded Verizon a $495 million contract to deliver the network that connects 200 research labs and supercomputer locations, reports C4ISRNET.

Contracts:

Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a not-to-exceed $472,469,642 undefinitized contract modification (P00041) to previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract N00019-19-C-0010. This modification adds scope to further develop and integrate three unique weapons capabilities through system functional review to development test complete on the F-35A and F-35B aircraft for the governments of the United Kingdom and Italy. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (39%); Stevenage, United Kingdom (36%); Samlesbury, United Kingdom (12%); El Segundo, California (4%); Baltimore, Maryland (3%); Harlow, United Kingdom (2%); Tucson, Arizona (2%); Orlando, Florida (1%); and Amityville, New York (1%), and is expected to be completed in March 2026. Non-Department of Defense participant funds in the amount of $116,462,707 will be obligated at 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. (Awarded June 18, 2021)

Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Manassas, Virginia, is awarded an $85,563,849 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price contract line item numbers for systems engineering and technical services for hardware and software interfaces. Work will be performed in Manassas, Virginia (50%); West Bethesda, Maryland (43%); San Diego, California (1%); Bangor, Washington (1%); Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (1%); Kings Bay, Georgia (1%); Norfolk, Virginia (1%); Dahlgren, Virginia (1%); and New London, Connecticut (1%), and is expected to be completed by June 2027. Fiscal 2021 other procurement (Navy) (72%) funds in the amount of $10,326,201; 2020 other procurement (Navy) (13%) funds in the amount of $1,856,497; 2021 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) (6%) funds in the amount of $866,000; 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) (6%) funds in the amount of $800,000; and 2018 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) (3%) funds in the amount of $400,000 will be obligated at time of award, of which, funds in the amount of $800,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 US Code 2304(c)(1) — only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division, West Bethesda, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00167-21-D-0007). (Awarded June 18, 2021)

The Buffalo Group, Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $14,291,076 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for biometric and identity intelligence analytical support. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Charlottesville, Virginia; Quantico, Virginia; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; and Bethesda, Maryland, with an estimated completion date of March 22, 2023. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $14,291,076 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W50NH9-21-C-0012). (Awarded June 18, 2021)

Dell Marketing L.P., Round Rock, Texas (N66001-21-A-0084) is being awarded an estimated $155,300,000; and Insight Public Sector Inc., Herndon, Virginia (N66001-21-A-0085) is being awarded an estimated $161,500,000, short-term, single-award, firm-fixed-price blanket purchase agreement under the Department of Defense Enterprise Software Initiative (DoD ESI) in accordance with Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation System (DFAR) 208.74. The DoD ESI streamlines software licensing acquisition and provides information technology products that are compliant with DoD technical standards and represent the best value for the DoD. This agreement will provide commercially available perpetual licenses, software assurance, user-based subscription licenses to include Microsoft 365, Microsoft Azure and client access licenses among others. This agreement will be used by the Department of Navy to include the Marine Corp and Coast Guard when authorized under the provisions of 14 US Code (U.S.C.) Section 3 and Section 145; 10 USC Section 2571; and 31 USC Section 1535. The total value of this award is $316,800,000. The ordering period will be for a total of six months from June 17, 2021, through Dec. 16, 2021. This agreement will not obligate funds at the time of award. Funds will be obligated via delivery orders using operation and maintenance (Navy) funds. Future requirements will be procured in accordance with DFAR 8.405-3(c)(1). This action was sole-sourced under the authority of DFAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(a) urgent and compelling. Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity. (Awarded June 16, 2021)

Benaka Inc., New Brunswick, New Jersey (N40085-21-D-0052); CCI Utility and Construction Services LLC, Anchorage, Alaska (N40085-21-D-0053); Kunj Construction Corp., Northvale, New Jersey (N40085-21-D-0054); Ocean Construction Services, Virginia Beach, Virginia (N40085-21-D-0055); PEM-Harkins JV, Columbus, Ohio (N40085-21-D-0056) and Tantara Corp., Worcester, Massachusetts (N40085-21-D-0057), were each awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple award construction contract for facilities within the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Mid-Atlantic area of responsibility (AOR). The maximum dollar value including the base period and four option years for all five contracts combined is $249,000,000. Types of projects include construction, demolition, repair, alteration and renovation of buildings, systems and infrastructure. All work on these contracts will be performed primarily in the NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic AOR to include Connecticut (15%); Delaware (1%); Maine (10%); Massachusetts (1%); New Hampshire (5%); New Jersey (10%); New York (2%); Pennsylvania (40%); Rhodes Island (15%); and Vermont (1%). Fiscal 2021 contract funds in the amount of $30,000 are obligated on the six minimum guarantee task order awards and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The term of the contract is not-to-exceed 60 months, with an expected completion of June 2026. Future task orders will be primarily funded by operation and maintenance (Navy); and military construction (Navy) funds. This contract was competitively procured via the beta.SAM.gov website with 10 proposals received. These six contractors may compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the awarded contract. NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity. (Awarded June 17, 2021)