Navy Continues Testing With Biofuels
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.
In tests this month at NAS Pax River, the Navy went all out to experiment using biofuels for aviation, USA Today reports. All Navy ships and aircraft are now certified to run on up to 50-50 blends of conventional and alternative fuels. But NavSec Ray Mabus was a passenger in an EA-18G Growler fighter jet that used 100 percent biofuel.
The Air Force grounds 13 F-35As plus two Norwegian F-35As after “peeling and crumbling” coolant tube insulation is found, reports Defense News.
The Washington Post reports the Blue Angels will drop the maneuver that resulted in a fatal crash in June.
Department of the Navy has prepared its environmental assessment of the proposed home base of the MQ-4C Triton Unmanned Aircraft System on the East Coast, WVTF.org reports. Wallops Island in the Chesapeake Bay is competing for the facility.
Wanted: The best and the brightest in IT. DefSec Ash Carter told those at the TechCrunch conference in San Francisco that he has created the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental and the Defense Digital Service. It’s part of an effort to get the best people in technology to work with or for the Pentagon, Breaking Defense reports.
Military leaders are praising National Guard members as a “huge treasure” in the Defense Department’s cybersecurity efforts because many of them work in the cyber field in their civilian jobs and bring some impressive skills to the service, Defense Systems reports.
Fort Belvoir, VA, will be the home of the National Museum of the US Army. Officials broke ground last week, Army Times reports. The 186,000-square-foot museum will sit on about 80 acres. It is scheduled to be completed in 2019, and is expected to house about 30,000 artifacts, documents, and images, and more than 15,000 pieces of artwork.
A report, “Corruption in Conflict: Lessons from the US Experience in Afghanistan,” suggests the US should have viewed anticorruption as an essential part of its goals after the 2001 US-led invasion that toppled the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, Military Times reports. Widespread corruption in that country has undermined efforts to rebuild.
More than 200 US Army personnel are participating in a two-week joint military exercise with the Indian Army. The 12th edition of the exercise Yudh Abhyas is focusing on anti-insurgency and anti-terrorist operations, xinhuanet.com reports.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee approved legislation that would prohibit the US from making cash payments to Iran and require that Congress be notified before any future claims settlements with Tehran are conducted, The Associated Press reports.
Voice of America takes a look at “Why Do People Join the US Military?” It notes that many countries require young men to serve in the armed forces. But in the US, service is voluntary.
An Ohio congressman wants to force Capitol Hill lawmakers and staff to receive health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure they have incentive to improve the system, Military Times reports. Opponents are dismissing the proposal as nothing more than a publicity stunt.
The Washington Times reports that the first female soldier to participate in the Army’s initial training program for the Green Berets has failed to complete the course. The enlistee is the first woman to attend the Special Forces Assessment and Selection, the first step toward earning the Special Forces tab and the Green Beret.
Senate Armed Service Committee Chairman Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) says he will block efforts to change the current dual-hat leadership structure for the National Security Agency and the US Cyber Command, Defense News reports.
Contracts:
Austal USA, Mobile, Alabama, is being awarded a $248,898,142 fixed-price, incentive firm target modification to previously awarded contract N00024-16-C-2217 to definitize the long lead time material of the undefinitized contract action, and to award the procurement of the detail design and construction of the 11th and 12th Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) vessels (formerly Joint High Speed Vessel). The EPF vessels will provide high-speed, shallow-draft transportation capability to support the intra-theater maneuver of personnel, supplies, and equipment for the Navy, Marine Corps and Army. Work will be performed in Mobile, Alabama (59 percent); Novi, Michigan (8 percent); Fairfax, Virginia (7 percent); Houston, Texas (3 percent); Warminster, Pennsylvania (3 percent); Chesapeake, Virginia (2 percent); Gulfport, Mississippi (2 percent); Milwaukee, Wisconsin (2 percent); overseas (4 percent); and various places below 1 percent (10 percent), and is expected to complete by March 2020. Fiscal 2015 and 2016 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $268,418,939 (which includes the definitized long lead time material of the undefinitized contract action) will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.
Raytheon Co., Dulles, Virginia, is being awarded a $98,090,785 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide cyberspace science, research, engineering, and technology integration. Support includes technology assessment, development and transition; requirements analysis; systems engineering; operational and technical support; experimentation support; hardware and software development and prototyping; modeling and simulation; training; and security engineering/cybersecurity. This is one of seven multiple award contracts; all awardees will have the opportunity to compete for task orders during the ordering period. This three-year contract includes one two-year option ordering period which, if exercised, would bring the potential value of this contract to $165,924,878. Work will be performed in San Diego (90 percent); and other continental US and outside continental US locations (10 percent). Work is expected to be completed Sept. 14, 2019. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funding will be obligated via task orders. The types of funding to be obligated include research, development test and evaluation (Navy); operations and maintenance (Navy); and other procurement (Navy). Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via request for proposal N66001-15-R-0096 published on the Federal Business Opportunities website, and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command e-Commerce Central website; 13 offers were received and seven were selected for award. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N66001-16-D-0442).
Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia, is being awarded an $89,067,852 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide cyberspace science, research, engineering, and technology integration. Support includes technology assessment, development and transition; requirements analysis; systems engineering; operational and technical support; experimentation support; hardware and software development and prototyping; modeling and simulation; training; and security engineering/cybersecurity. This is one of seven multiple award contracts; all awardees will have the opportunity to compete for task orders during the ordering period. This three-year contract includes one two-year option ordering period which, if exercised, would bring the potential value of this contract to $149,988,709. Work will be performed in San Diego (90 percent); and other continental US and outside continental US locations (10 percent). Work is expected to be completed Sept. 14, 2019. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funding will be obligated via task orders. The types of funding to be obligated include research, development test and evaluation (Navy); operations and maintenance (Navy); and other procurement (Navy). Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via request for proposal N66001-15-R-0096 published on the Federal Business Opportunities website, and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command e-Commerce Central website; 13 offers were received and seven were selected for award. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N66001-16-D-0440).
Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., McLean, Virginia, is being awarded an $88,611,546 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide cyberspace science, research, engineering, and technology integration. Support includes technology assessment, development and transition; requirements analysis; systems engineering; operational and technical support; experimentation support; hardware and software development and prototyping; modeling and simulation; training; and security engineering/cybersecurity. This is one of seven multiple award contracts; all awardees will have the opportunity to compete for task orders during the ordering period. This three-year contract includes one two-year option ordering period which, if exercised, would bring the potential value of this contract to $149,850,092. Work will be performed in San Diego, California (90 percent); and other continental US and outside continental US locations (10 percent). Work is expected to be completed Sept. 14, 2019. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funding will be obligated via task orders. The types of funding to be obligated include research, development test and evaluation (Navy); operations and maintenance (Navy); and other procurement (Navy). Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via request for proposal N66001-15-R-0096 published on the Federal Business Opportunities website, and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command e-Commerce Central website; 13 offers were received and seven were selected for award. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N66001-16-D-0439).
Science Applications International Corp., McLean, Virginia, is being awarded an $84,621,509 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide cyberspace science, research, engineering, and technology integration. Support includes technology assessment, development and transition; requirements analysis; systems engineering; operational and technical support; experimentation support; hardware and software development and prototyping; modeling and simulation; training; and security engineering/cybersecurity. This is one of seven multiple award contracts; all awardees will have the opportunity to compete for task orders during the ordering period. This three-year contract includes one two-year option ordering period which, if exercised, would bring the potential value of this contract to $142,252,578. Work will be performed in San Diego, California (90 percent); and other continental US and outside continental US locations (10 percent). Work is expected to be completed Sept. 14, 2019. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funding will be obligated via task orders. The types of funding to be obligated include research, development test and evaluation (Navy); operations and maintenance (Navy); and other procurement (Navy). Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via request for proposal N66001-15-R-0096 published on the Federal Business Opportunities website, and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command e-Commerce Central website; 13 offers were received and seven were selected for award. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N66001-16-D-0443).
