March 28, 2024

Navy Salvage Team Joins Search for Crashed F-35A

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.

The Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-35A Lightning II that crashed into the Pacific Ocean about three weeks ago is believed to be lying on the ocean floor, reports Business Insider. The jet disappeared from radar April 9. The pilot did not send out a distress signal before the plane vanished roughly 85 miles east of Misawa Air Base. The US 7th Fleet has sent a Navy salvage team with a commercial deep-sea submersible, unspecified unmanned underwater vehicles, and a TPL-25 “black box detector” to help find the F-35A, reports USNI News.

The US Navy sent two warships through the Taiwan Strait over the weekend as the US continues to increase its visible presence in the region, reports Reuters. “The ships’ transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Commander Clay Doss said.

Two Navy warships stationed in Japan with the 7th Fleet — the Stethem and the Wasp — will heading back to the states, reports Navy Times.

Former President Lyndon B. Johnson’s daughters christened a stealthy warship bearing his name Saturday, reports The Associated Press.

China unveiled the first of its new class of guided missile destroyers, reports Defense News. The Type 055 destroyer, the Nanchang, was among several ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy that took part in a recent naval review.

A first-of-its-kind drone authorization from the FAA is spurring local research and has the potential to bring hundreds of new jobs to the Dayton-Springfield region in Ohio, reports Springfield News-Sun. The Federal Aviation Administration has granted a certificate of waiver to the Air Force Research Laboratory for beyond-visual-line-of-sight flight of UAS at the local airport.

Breaking Defense reports a growing number of satellite owners and operators want to see the US Commerce Department develop new on-orbit safety rules, particularly for the increasingly congested Low Earth Orbit. However, industry officials say, there remain strong pockets of resistance to any new regulations especially among aggressive space startups.

More than 100 elite members of the US military spent 60 grueling hours competing as two-member teams for the Best Ranger title at Fort Benning, GA., reports Stars and Stripes.

In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, US Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) said he would “strongly consider” being the Air Force secretary if President Trump made the offer, reports Defense News.

DoD documents reveal the number of security contractors the military employs in Afghanistan is higher now than at any time since President Obama declared an end to combat operations in that country in 2014, reports US News & World Report.

Field radios used by US troops and those of its NATO allies can’t talk to each other, reports Military.com. It’s years from being fielded, and significant cybersecurity problems remain to be solved, but the Air Force is making progress on the next-generation Software Defined Radio, an engineer at the Air Force Research Lab said.

The Pentagon might be sending about 300 more troops to the US-Mexico border in roles that could put them in contact with migrants, reports Military Times.

Contracts:

AAI Corp., doing business as Textron Systems, Hunt Valley, Maryland, has been awarded a $19,592,850 firm-fixed-price non-commercial requirements contract for the Joint Service Electronic Combat Systems Tester (JSECST). This contract provides for the production of the base JSECST, the laboratory JSECST and retrofit kits used on many aircraft, such as F-15, F-16, A-10, CV-22, C-130, UH-47, UH-60, F/A-18 and AV-8B. Work will be performed in Hunt Valley, Maryland, and is expected to be complete by April 28, 2021. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. No funds are being obligated at time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Automated Test Sets Contracting Division, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity (FA8533-19-D-0005).

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Aerospace Systems, Melbourne, Florida, is awarded $38,775,625 for cost-plus-fixed-fee modification P00007 to a previously awarded contract (N00019-18-C-1037) to procure the product support and software support activity efforts for the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye full-rate production Lot 7. Work will be performed in Melbourne, Florida (72 percent); Liverpool, New York (14 percent); St. Augustine, Florida (5 percent); Norfolk, Virginia (5 percent); Greenlawn, New York (2 percent); Woodland Hills; California (1 percent); and Indianapolis, Indiana (1 percent), and is expected to be completed in April 2020. Fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $38,775,625 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.

Mancon LLC, Virginia Beach, Virginia, is awarded $30,000,000 for an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, fixed-price contract that includes provisions for economic price adjustment to acquire supplies and provide related store operation services required by Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Norfolk for two commercial retail stores on the Naval Support Activity, Crane, Indiana, for materials needed by the Naval Facilities Command Public Works Department. The contract includes a five-year base ordering period with an option to extend services for a six-month ordering period pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.217-8 which if exercised, the total value of this contract will be $33,263,944. All work will be performed in Crane, Indiana. The ordering period is expected to be completed by April 2024; if the option is exercised, work will be completed by October 2024. Fiscal 2018 working capital funds (Defense) in the amount of $100,000 will be obligated to fund the contract’s minimum amount, and funds will expire at the end of fiscal 2019. This contract was competitively procured with the solicitation posted to the Federal Business Opportunities website, with five offers received. Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Norfolk, Contracting Department, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N00189-19-D-0008).

Bell Boeing Joint Project Office, Amarillo, Texas, is awarded $29,772,039 for cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to order N61340-18-F-0001 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-17-G-0002). This order provides software and hardware upgrades for 13 flight training devices to modernize critical system components in the MV-22 simulator to increase training fidelity for aircrew and maximize training capability. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, North Carolina (42 percent); Miramar, California (24 percent); Quantico, Virginia (13 percent); Okinawa, Japan (13 percent); Chantilly, Virginia (5 percent); Fort Worth, Texas (2 percent); and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2024. Fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $29,772,039 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity.

Raytheon Co., Dulles, Virginia, was awarded a $663,060,634 firm-fixed-price contract for Troposcatter Transmission System, spares, repairs, warranty, system engineering, field support, training and sustainment. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of April 25, 2029. US.Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W15P7T-19-D-0218). (Awarded April 26, 2019)

PAE Government Systems Inc., Arlington, Virginia, was awarded an $8,153,796 modification (P00011) to Foreign Military Sales (Afghanistan) contract for the National Maintenance Strategy Ground Vehicle Support effort. Work will be performed in Kabul, Afghanistan, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 30, 2022. Fiscal 2019 other procurement, Army funds in the amount of $8,153,796 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, is the contracting activity. (Awarded April 26, 2019)

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