March 28, 2024

Navy & Marines: Hybrid Fleet Needed

hybrid fleet
Image: Boeing

Morning Coffee is a robust blend of links to news around the internet concerning the Naval Air Station Patuxent River Morning Coffee logoeconomic community. The opinions expressed here do not reflect opinions of the Leader’s owners or staff.

A hybrid fleet is on its way, reports USNI News. A third of the Navy’s fleet and half of Marine Corps aviation could be unmanned. A just-released Navy Unmanned Campaign Framework argues the need for robotic systems to stay ahead of adversary capabilities without breaking the bank. The framework stresses capabilities over platforms, reports National Defense, declaring robotic systems vital for military operations going forward on land, sea, and underwater.

Custom and Border Protection and Homeland Security officials want DoD to continue its National Guard support of surveillance along the US and Mexico border, reports Military Times. There are currently 3,500 National Guard troops from 22 states assisting CBP along the southern border.

The growing number of cyber breaches has lawmakers and outside experts pushing to increase the role of the National Guard and National Reserve if a catastrophic cyberattack were to occur, reports C4ISRNET. The idea is to create a special cyber reserve force for crises, and to do a better job of using the cyber expertise of Guard members.

Discussion of the Navy’s 1991 Tailhook scandal returned to the House Armed Services Committee this week as testimony was taken regarding the Army Criminal Investigation Division’s responses assaults at Fort Hood, TX, reports Army Times. A report on the Army Criminal Investigation Division revealed problems were not limited to Fort Hood. How Navy Criminal Investigation Command changed to an all-civilian board after Tailhook was discussed. The impacts of Tailhook were assessed in a Retro Report in 2013 by The New York Times.

The US and China are setting vastly different expectations for their first high-level meeting under the Biden administration, casting a chill on the talks set to begin in Alaska today, reports Politico. The US characterizes the meeting as a one-off event to confront the Chinese on security and human rights issues. The Chinese spin is the meeting will begin a reset of the relationship between two world powers.

North Korea might begin flight testing an improved design for its inter-continental ballistic missiles “in the near future,” according to the head of the US military’s Northern Command, reports Reuters. The move would sharply increase tensions between Pyongyang and Washington.

DefSec Lloyd Austin tells DoD to “rescind any directives, orders, regulations, policies, or guidance” that do not align with President Joe Biden’s charge that the US government champion and safeguard human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex individuals by April 15, reports Air Force Magazine.

 

 

Astroscale will launch a demonstration mission this weekend using commercial technology to remove orbital debris, such as a defunct satellite, adding to space clutter, reports BBC.com.

Rising sea levels threaten Pu’uloa Range Training Facility on Marine Corps Base Hawaii of going underwater, reports Marine Times. Three sea level scenarios project the lowest sea level rise over the next 14 years at 0.25 feet, resulting in the loss of between 1.4 feet and 2.1 feet of shoreline, the highest at 2.03 feet, with a potential loss of 11.8 feet to 19 feet of the shoreline.

The Naval Academy has established penalties for midshipmen who violate its COVID-19 restrictions, a move that comes after a proposal to have the mids police themselves failed, reports Navy Times.

Essential federal employees in DC will be eligible for COVID vaccines next month, reports FCW, but this latest expansion won’t include the more than 80% of federal employees who work in-person, but not in Washington, DC.

On Fox News, former president Donald Trump urged his supporters to get the COVID-19 vaccine as he and his wife Melania did before he left office in January, reports USA Today.

The Federal Aviation Administration will extend its “zero-tolerance” policy for bad behavior as long as a federal mask mandate for transportation remains in force, reports The Washington Post. The FAA is reviewing some 450 cases of passengers behaving badly on airline flights and has opened 20 formal enforcement cases.

Russia and Iran undertook campaigns to influence the 2020 US election, for different results — Russia, to promote Trump, while Iran went against him, reports The Hill. The report, declassified this week, found no foreign actor interfered in the 2020 voting process. A classified version of the report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence was presented to Trump, congressional leadership, and committees with oversight over intelligence operations on Jan. 7.

The Navy Exchange’s online shopping/store pickup program has added 20 more locations, reports Military Times, bringing the option to 28 locations with the goal of 94 Navy Exchanges offering the service by the end of 2021, about a third of the stores.

Team New Zealand retained the America’s Cup on Wednesday, reports Yachting World, successfully defended the title in the 36th America’s Cup, speeding away from its Italian challenger Luna Rossa and winning its fourth America’s Cup after victories in 1994, 2000, 2017, and now 2021.

Contracts:

ID Technologies LLC, Ashburn, Virginia, was awarded a $49,373,940 modification (P00005) to contract W52P1J-16-D-0020 for the purchase of information technology equipment and accessories. Work will be performed in Ashburn, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of March 24, 2022. Fiscal 2021 revolving funds in the amount of $49,373,940 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Corps of Engineers, Huntsville, Alabama, is the contracting activity.

Raytheon Missiles and Defense, Tucson, Arizona, is awarded a $28,764,014 modification (P00004) to previously awarded, firm-fixed-price, fixed-price incentive (firm target) contract N00019-20-C-0030. This modification adds scope to procure full rate production Lot 17 Block Five Tactical Tomahawk all-up round vertical launch system missiles and associated warranties for the Navy. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona (41.6%); Pontiac, Michigan (11.4%); El Segundo, California (10.6%); Gainesville, Virginia (9.7%); Berryville, Arkansas (3.5%); Clearwater, Florida (3.3%); Middletown, Connecticut (3.2%); Glenrothes, Scotland (3.1%); Spanish Fork, Utah (3%); Midland, Ontario, Canada (2.4%); Vergennes, Vermont (1.7%); Camden, Arkansas (1.5% ); Anniston, Alabama (1.2%); and various locations within the continental U.S. (3.8%), and is expected to be completed in December 2023. Fiscal 2021 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $28,764,014 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.

AB International Services, Vienna, Virginia, has been awarded a $177,655,292 firm-fixed-price contract for operation of the Air Force Primary Standards Laboratory. Work will be performed in Heath, Ohio, and is expected to be completed Oct. 31, 2031. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and five offers were received. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $45,742 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Heath, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA2263-21-C-0003).

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