Navy ID’s Sailors Killed in Destroyer Collision
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The US Navy has identified the seven sailors who died when the destroyer USS Fitzgerald collided Saturday with a Filipino cargo ship in waters off the coast of Japan, UPI reports. One of the sailors was from Maryland. A Navy admiral said that the Fitzgerald was in danger of sinking after a collision and was saved by the “heroic efforts” of her crew that “had to fight very hard to keep the ship afloat,” reports Navy Times.
A Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet shot down a Syrian SU-22 on Sunday, reports Military Times. This is the latest example of tension between the Russian-backed Syrian regime and US-led coalition forces, who are partnering with Arab and Kurdish forces to destroy ISIS.
Boeing Defense CEO Leanne Caret told Breaking Defense that investigating suspected hypoxia cases in F-18 fighters and T45 trainers is a top priority for the company. She said Boeing is “really focused on a root cause” and is taking a rigorous systemic approach to study the issue.
China and Iran held a joint naval exercise Sunday near the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf amid rising tension in the region, reports South China Morning Post.
Air Force Times reports the pace of airstrikes under Operation Inherent Resolve has grown throughout 2017. The US-led coalition waging the air war against the Islamic State released 4,374 weapons in Iraq and Syria in May, the most of any month since the war began.
DefSec James Mattis, when asked why the US doesn’t just go to war to stop North Korea from developing the capability to hit the US, painted a grim scenario if such a war were to occur, Business Insider reports. “I would suggest that we will win,” DefSec Mattis said. “It will be a war more serious in terms of human suffering than anything we’ve seen since 1953.”
A Secretary of the Navy Innovation Award has been presented to a 3-D scanning team from the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, Defense Systems reports, for its use of Light Detection and Ranging technology to make virtual reality scans a tool for future onboard technological development.
The Air Force is reorganizing how it handles space, reports Defense News, creating a new space operations directorate, which will be known as A-11. It was not immediately clear who would become the first general to become deputy chief of staff for space operations.
Lockheed Martin is negotiating a deal worth more than $37 billion, Reuters reports, to sell 440 F-35 fighter jets to a group of 11 nations.
Breaking Defense reports that US naval aviation today has around 100 fewer aircraft than it needs. Jerry Hendrix of the Center for New American Security explores this issue.
Soldiers in the 10th Mountain Division in New York and Marines with the II Marine Expeditionary Force in North Carolina will be among the first to receive the military’s new Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, Military Times reports.
Contracts:
J.F. Taylor Inc., Lexington Park, Maryland, is being awarded a $47,687,669 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for procurement of the manufacture, maintenance, installation, upgrade, and fabrication of items necessary to support the Naval Air Systems Command Simulation Division teams, facilities, and supported projects for the Navy. Work will be performed in Lexington Park, Maryland, and is expected to be completed June 2022. No funds will be obligated at time of award, funds will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposal, one offer was received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00421-17-D-0040).
FLIR Surveillance Inc., Wilsonville, Oregon, is being awarded a $17,902,335 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the procurement of a maximum of 19 Forward Looking Infra-Red (FLIR) Star SAFIRE 380-High Definition (HD) systems, in support of the Coast Guard HC-27J fleet. This contract includes associated HD FLIR cabling, controller units, software, and mounting hardware, technical engineering services and logistics support. Work will be performed in Wilsonville, Oregon (90 percent); and Patuxent River, Maryland (10 percent), and is expected to be completed in June 2022. No funds will be obligated at time of award. Funds will be obligated on delivery orders as they are issued. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity (N68335-17-D-0027).
DRS Laurel Technologies, Johnstown, Pennsylvania (N00039-17-D-0006); Leidos, Reston, Virginia (N00039-17-D-0007); SAIC, McLean, Virginia (N00039-17-D-0008); and Serco Inc., Reston, Virginia (N00039-17-D-0009), are each being awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee multiple award contract for Automated Digital Network System (ADNS) – Increment III production units. ADNS Increment III production units and supplies support the tactical wide area network (WAN) component of the naval communications system, providing surface ship, submarine, airborne, tactical-shore and shore-based WAN gateway services management. ADNS Increment III increases network capacity by adding the ability to utilize higher bandwidth available with newer satellite communication systems. The estimated cumulative value of the multiple award contracts is $492,400,000. The contracts have an eight-year ordering period up to the contract award amount. There are no option years provided in this contract. Work will be performed in Johnstown, Pennsylvania; Sterling, Virginia; Poway, California; and San Diego, California. Work is expected to be completed by June 2025. $5,000 of fiscal 2017 other procurement (Navy) funding will be applied to each of the four contracts with an initial delivery order issued to each contractor at the time of award. Future contract actions will be issued and funds obligated as individual delivery orders. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The multiple award contracts were competitively procured by full and open competition bids via the Space and Warfare Systems Command e-Commerce Central and the Federal Business Opportunities websites, with four offers received. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity.
Oracle America Inc., Redwood City, California, is being awarded an $11,158,076 six-month, fixed-priced task order under a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to meet mission critical requirements for the Global Combat Support System – Marine Corps Logistics Chain Management. Oracle will provide system sustainment, maintenance and development support services. Work will be performed in Quantico, Virginia (92 percent); and Reston, Virginia (8 percent), and work is expected to be complete Dec. 20, 2017. Fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $11,158,076 will be obligated at the time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting activity (M67854-17-F-7611).
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Annapolis, Maryland, is being awarded a $7,825,905 firm-fixed-price contract modification to a previously awarded contract (N66604-17-C-0204) to exercise an option for the procurement of 45 nose shell assemblies for the Mk48 heavyweight torpedoes. This contract combines purchases for the Navy (54 percent); and the governments of Turkey (24 percent); and Canada (22 percent), under the Foreign Military Sales program. This modification increases the value of the basic contract to a new total value of $17,413,992. Work will be performed in Braintree, Massachusetts (60 percent); and Annapolis, Maryland (40 percent), and is expected to be completed by May 2020. Fiscal 2017 weapons procurement (Navy); and foreign military sales funds in the amount of $7,825,905 will be obligated at the time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Undersea Warfare Center Newport Division, Newport, Rhode Island, is the contracting activity.
