Navy Faces Most Maritime Hostilities Since WWII
The guided-missile destroyer USS Gravely (DDG 107) launches Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles in response to increased Iranian-backed Houthi malign behavior in the Red Sea Jan. 12, 2024. As a part of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, Gravely is deployed to the US 5th Fleet area of operations to support maritime security and stability in the Middle East. (US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jonathan Word)
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.
Troops aboard American destroyers in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden are facing a level of maritime hostility that the US Navy hasn’t encountered since World War II. The US Navy, says Military Times, is in a proxy war with the Yemen-based Houthis and lists more than 50 Houthi-Navy incidents since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October.
Roughly 186 troops have been injured or killed in attacks on US personnel in the Middle East since mid-October. Of those, 130 — 70% of total casualties — have been traumatic brain injuries, reports Military Times.
Thousands of veterans exposed to Agent Orange while serving in the United States will for the first time be eligible for fast-track disability benefits. The benefits mark another expansion of of toxic exposure benefits for veterans, this time for individuals suffering from illnesses dating back to the Vietnam War era, reports Military Times.
Midomafetamine, or MDMA, a form of molly or ecstasy that has increasingly been coupled with patient therapy to treat post-traumatic stress disorder, was approved recently for a fast-track review by the US Food and Drug Administration, according to a Feb. 9 announcement from Lykos Therapeutics, reports Military Times.
The prototype of a deployable voting machine, funded the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, was unveiled last week, reports Stars and Stripes. The DARPA project seeks to make voting easier for troops stationed away from their districts.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) accused Israel of a “textbook war crime” in remarks on the Senate floor on Monday. The Hill reports Van Hollen spoke about a recent analysis from the World Food Program and the United Nations Children’s Fund detailing a lack of access to food in Gaza amid Israel’s retaliatory siege against Hamas. “That is a war crime. It is a textbook war crime. And that makes those who orchestrate it war criminals.”
The Dutch State will appeal a decision barring the Netherlands from delivering F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel, reports NL Times. A ruling on Monday from the Appeals Court of The Hague ordered the Netherlands government to stop delivering the parts to Israel stating, “there is a clear risk that serious violations of humanitarian law of war are committed in the Gaza Strip with Israel’s F-35 fighter planes,” reports Breaking Defense. The Hague decision overturned a December 2023 district court’s denial of the ban sought by humanitarian organizations.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Monday made a thinly veiled call on the US to cut arms supplies to Israel due to high civilian casualties in its war in Gaza, reports Reuters. The US gives Israel $3.8 billion in military aid annually and has rejected requests to reduce the aid.
The China Export and Import Corporation of Defense has announced that the Chinese-made drone WING LOONG-10B will soon enter service with the Royal Saudi Air Force, reports Israel Defense. The drone was showcased at the WDS Defense Exhibition in Riyadh Feb. 4-8.
Russian forces appear to be using SpaceX’s Starlink communications service inside Ukraine is now also aiding the invaders, says Defense One. Elon Musk has denied selling his Starlink internet service to Russia after Ukraine claimed the terminals were being used by Russian troops on the front lines of the war, reports Aljazeera.
The head of the NATO military alliance warned that Donald Trump was putting the safety of US troops and their allies at risk after the Republican presidential front-runner said Russia should be able to do “whatever the hell they want” to NATO members who don’t meet their defense spending targets, reports AP News. US President Joe Biden called the idea destabilizing and dangerous for Trump to suggest letting Russia attack fellow NATO countries without any US response, reports Military Times.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley calls Trump “disgusting” over his comments on veterans, reports USA Today. Haley’s criticism comes in response to Trump ridiculing her deployed husband. In an interview on Fox News, Haley said, “What he did is disgusting. And anybody that agrees with it or says it’s okay is disgusting along with him.”
A visibly incensed Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall took lawmakers to task last week for failing to pass a budget for the 2024 fiscal year and warned that Congress is hampering DoD to meet the pacing challenge of China, reports Breaking Defense.
The Army is canceling its next generation reconnaissance aircraft after spending $2 billion and two decades trying to replace its current helicopters, reports Defense News. The Army also plans to end production on the UH-60 V Black Hawk in fiscal 2025, reports Breaking Defense.
The Marine Corps now has its first F-35B squadron on the East Coast that has achieved initial operational capability, reports Marine Corps Times.
A key design review for the F-35 fighter jet’s engine upgrade will take place several months later than originally predicted, reports Defense News, as the government adds another level of review to the process. An executive for Pratt & Whitney, the RTX-owned company that makes the jet’s F135 engines, told reporters Tuesday that the Engine Core Upgrade program’s preliminary design review is expected to take place in May 2024.
UN experts say they are investigating 58 suspected North Korean cyberattacks between 2017 and 2023 valued at approximately $3 billion, with the money reportedly being used to help fund its development of weapons of mass destruction, reports AP News.
To commemorate Presidents Day on Monday, the Doughboy Foundation will recognize the 1,000th sounding of taps at the 3-year-old World War I Memorial. Buglers wear replica uniforms of the ones that US soldiers wore in World War I, reports Stars and Stripes, and stream the daily bugle call live on the Doughboy Foundation’s YouTube channel.
Sailors experiencing sexual harassment will now have a confidential reporting option when they are seeking to report such wrongdoing, reports Navy Times.
The Navy fired the commanding officer of Destroyer Squadron 2 on Saturday. Navy Times reports CAPT William Harkin became commodore of the unit nearly a year ago, on Feb. 17, 2023.
Leonard Glenn Francis, the defense contractor behind the worst bribery and corruption scandal in US Navy history, was supposed to have a new attorney when he showed up to court Thursday, which would have allowed a judge to schedule his long-awaited sentencing. Instead, reports The San Diego Union-Tribune, the man known as ” Fat Leonard,” who was returned to San Diego earlier this year after fleeing house arrest in 2022 and then spending some 15 months in a Venezuelan prison, asked for 60 more days to find a lawyer.
DefSec Lloyd Austin resumed full duties Tuesday after his release from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, ending his second stay since surgery to treat prostate cancer, reports Military Times.
Austin was taken to the medical center Sunday with symptoms of an “emergent bladder issue” and transferred the functions and duties of the office of the Deputy DefSec Kathleen Hicks reports Military Times.
Contracts:
America Electronic Warfare Associates, Inc., California, Maryland, is awarded an $8,872,127 modification (P00015) to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N0042119D0076). This modification adds scope and increases the contract ceiling to provide ongoing technical support services for the Aircraft Prototype Systems Division infrastructure, engineering, technical shops and aircraft modification/ installation teams in support of aircraft research, development, experimentation and test and evaluation programs for the Navy. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Maryland (80%); and California, Maryland (20%), and is expected to be completed in August 2024. No funds will be obligated at the time of award; funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland is the contracting activity.
Hawkins Glass Wholesalers LLC, Lorton, Virginia (SPE7L3-24-C-0017, $11,985,000); and Underground Pipeline Inc., doing business as UPI Manufacturing, Eagle, Wisconsin (SPE7L3-24-C0018, $8,064,378), have each been awarded a firm-fixed-price purchase order under solicitation SPE7L3-24-R-0029 for HMMWV windshield installation kits. This was a competitive acquisition with six responses received. These are one-time buy contracts, with an Oct. 6, 2025, delivery order end date. Using military services are Army, Navy, and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2024 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Columbus, Ohio.
Burns & McDonnell Engineering Co. Inc., Kansas City, Missouri (W912WJ-24-D-0001); AECOM Technical Services Inc., Los Angeles, California (W912WJ-24-D-0002); Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Arlington, Virginia (W912WJ-24-D-0003); HDR Architecture Inc., Boston, Massachusetts (W912WJ-24-D-0004); and CDM Federal Programs Corp., Fairfax, Virginia (W912WJ-24-D-0005), will compete for each order of the $49,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for engineering and design services. Bids were solicited via the internet with 13 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 13, 2029. US Army Corps of Engineers, Concord, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity.
Amentum Services Inc., Chantilly, Virginia, was awarded a $10,723,680 modification (000188) to contract W52P1J-17-G-0091 for maintenance, supply and transportation requirements at Fort Campbell. Work will be performed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, with an estimated completion date of June 13, 2024. Fiscal 2024 operation and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $3,392,127 were obligated at the time of the award. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity. CORRECTION: The $10,723,680 modification to contract W52P1J-17-G-0091, announced on Feb. 13, 2024, for Amentum Services Inc., Chantilly, Virginia, to provide maintenance, supply and transportation requirements at Fort Campbell had an incorrect modification number. The correct number is (88).
L3 Technologies, Inc., Camden, Virginia, is awarded a $7,897,444 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N66001-24-C-0018) for enhancements to communications networks. Work will be performed in Camden, New Jersey (50%); Salt Lake City, Utah (40%); and San Diego, California (10%). Work is expected to be completed in February 2025. Funds from Naval Information Warfare Systems Command other procurement, Navy in the amount of $499,000; and the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command research, development, test, and evaluation in the amount of $1,990,000, will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was awarded as a sole-source acquisition pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 3204(a)(1). Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific in San Diego, California, is the contracting activity.
DKW Communications Inc., Washington, DC, is awarded a $72,734,022 cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract provides for corrective, adaptive, perfective and preventative software maintenance and associated minor support tasks, to include operation, maintenance, and repair of information technology; limited modification of hardware, as well as operation, maintenance, and repair of hardware for aviation, surface, and undersea fielded training systems, to include operator training systems, weapons training systems, training environments, use of sensors, and communications network systems in support of ensuring the fielded training systems are operational and training objectives are met for the Navy. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia (22%); Cherry Point, North Carolina (20%); Jacksonville, Florida (16%); Pensacola, Florida (9%); Newport, Rhode Island (6%); San Diego, California (5%); North Island, California (4%); Whidbey Island, Washington (2%); Miramar, California (2%); Camp Pendleton, California (2%); Point Mugu, California (2%); Kingsville, Texas (2%); Iwakuni, Japan (2%); Mayport, Florida (1%); Orlando, Florida (1%); Beaufort, South Carolina (1%); Fallon, Nevada (1%); Corpus Christi, Texas (1%); and Fort Worth, Texas (1%), and is expected to be completed in February 2029. No funds will be obligated at the time of award; funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposal; seven offers were received. Naval Air Warfare Training Systems Division, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity (N6134024D0003).
Deloitte Consulting LLP, Arlington, Virginia, is awarded a $15,074,215 hybrid, cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-only contract line-item numbers contract (N0003924C0004), for Order to Payment Process and Navy/Marine Corps Intranet Enterprise Services Tools support for Program Executive Office Digital and Enterprise Services. This is a contract for efforts that are currently being performed under contract number N0003920C0011. This contract contains a base period of performance of one year with three one-year option periods. The total cumulative value of this contract, if all options are exercised, is an estimated $55,747,949. Work will be performed in various locations within the US. Work is expected to be completed by February 2028. Operation and maintenance (Navy); and research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,750,000 will be obligated at award, of which $1,750,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured because it is a sole source acquisition pursuant to the authority of 10 US Code 3204(a)(1) – Only One Responsible Source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements (Federal Acquisition Regulation subpart 6.302-1). Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity.
