Navy Settles Lawsuit Over Potomac Testing
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.
The Potomac Riverkeepers announced last week that the group’s lawsuits against the US Navy and the city of Alexandria had been settled. The Navy will be required to obtain a Clean Water Act permit to minimize the pollution impacts from its weapons testing in the Potomac, and Alexandria will have to clean up decades-long coal tar residue pollution fouling the river and begin an environmental project restoring freshwater mussels to the Potomac along the Alexandria waterfront. In June 2023, Navy weapons tests at the Naval Surface Warfare Center at Dahlgren, VA, sparked a lawsuit, alleging the testing didn’t abide by the Clean Water Act. Last year, the Navy had said it wanted to expand the 50-mile test range in the Potomac River, moving it closer to the Maryland shore.
Two US Navy SEALs are missing after conducting a nighttime boarding mission Thursday off the coast of Somalia, reports AP. The SEALs were climbing up a vessel when one got knocked off by high waves. Protocol dictates that when one SEAL is overtaken the next jumps in after them.
VADM Yvette Davids has been confirmed as the next superintendent of the US Naval Academy, reports Navy Times. Davids, a 1989 graduate of the academy, is the first woman to hold the post.
Chief of Naval Operations ADM Lisa Franchetti, speaking at the Surface Navy Association’s conference last week, said she is focused on improving the Navy’s readiness, reports Navy Times. The service must “get more players on the field” as international crises demand more of the naval force, she said. Improvements include the necessary logistics, better integrating the service with the joint force, and working with Congress and industry to address naval needs.
The US Navy has picked four Flight IIA destroyers to be outfitted with a package of upgrades to their sensors, radars, combat system, and cooling systems before moving on to the rest of the fleet, reports Breaking Defense. CAPT Tim Moore told attendees at the Surface Navy Association symposium that his office, DDG-51 Mod 2.0, was established last fall and charged with overseeing the modernization efforts.
The US Navy is still short of its readiness goal of 75 combat-credible surface ships at any given time, reports Defense News. Naval Surface Forces commander VADM Brendan McLane said the surface fleet has been able to get up to more than 60, but now “it’s kind of hovering between 50 and 60 ships on any given day.”
Pentagon Inspector General Inspector General Robert Storch said last week he will review the secrecy surrounding DefSec Lloyd Austin’s hospitalization and why the Defense Department waited days to inform the White House that he had transferred authority to his deputy, reports Navy Times. The incident led the White House and Pentagon to formalize policies regarding which officials will be notified anytime a Cabinet member transfers authority to one of their deputies because they will be indisposed for any reason.
Senate Republicans also are calling for a congressional hearing into Austin’s secretive hospitalization as lawmakers express growing concerns about the failure to notify key officials of his absence, reports The Hill.
The Pentagon inspector general found that the Defense Department fell short in tracking $1 billion in Ukraine aid, reports Defense News. DoD has not fully complied with enhanced tracking requirements for roughly $1B worth of equipment sent to Ukraine, according to the report.
The Government Accountability Office will review the safety history of the US military’s V-22 Osprey fleet following a crash that killed eight airmen off the coast of Japan late last year, reports Navy Times.
The US Air Force has called off a weekslong search effort that failed to recover the remains of the eighth and final special operations airman killed in a CV-22 Osprey crash, reports Air Force Times.
All six crewmembers aboard a US Navy MH-60R Seahawk helicopter survived a crash into San Diego Bay in California during a training exercise Thursday night, reports AP. “Due to the nature of the training, a safety boat was on location,” according to a Navy statement.
The Federal Aviation Administration will investigate whether Boeing failed to ensure its planes were safe for flights, reports The Hill. This comes after a midair blowout of a panel on one of the company’s aircraft earlier this month. The FAA on Jan. 6 temporarily grounded the estimated 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft models operated by US airlines or in US territories to allow for safety inspections.
Lockheed Martin has hit a milestone in its F-35 Joint Strike Fighter production. It’s built the 1,000th F-35, reports The Drive.
Lai Ching-te has won Taiwan’s presidential election, reports The Hill. “The United States congratulates Dr. Lai Ching-te on his victory …,” StateSec Antony Blinken said. “We also congratulate the Taiwan people for once again demonstrating the strength of their robust democratic system and electoral process.” The election result will decide the country’s relations with China for the next several years.
The US Army announced Bombardier was awarded a contract to supply up to three Global 6500 business jets for conversion into a spy plane prototype, reports BNN Bloomberg. In November, the Canadian government rejected Bombardier’s pitch for an open bid to replace the air force’s aging patrol planes, with the contract going to Boeing for its P-8A Poseidon planes.
Apple TV+ has released the opening title sequence for the upcoming “Masters of the Air,” a limited series based on the World War II air war over Europe and the flyers in the 100th Bomb Group, reports Task & Purpose. See the opening here. The series is set to start streaming Jan. 26.
Military Times lists 15 military movies and television shows it’s excited to watch in 2024.
A Texas woman faces nearly 150 years in prison after she defrauded the US Army out of $100 million, reports New York Post. According to the US Department of Justice, Janet Yamanaka Mello, 57, who worked as a civilian financial program manager at Fort Sam Houston, hatched a plan to create a business titled “Child Health and Youth Lifelong Development” so she would siphon funds she received from the Army to herself. Court records say she used the money to fund a luxury lifestyle, reports Army Times. Some of the luxury listings include a roughly $3.1 million, eight-bedroom, 55-car garage, 58-acre estate on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and an approximately $1.1 million home in San Antonio, TX.
Contracts:
Bell Boeing Joint Project Office, Amarillo, Texas, is awarded a $23,305,660 cost-plus-fixed-fee, level of effort modification (P00016) to an order (N0001921F0008) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N0001917G0002). This modification exercises an option to provide continued flight test support for the V-22 Osprey aircraft for the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and the government of Japan. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Maryland (70%); Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (15%); Fort Worth, Texas (10%); and Hurlburt Field, Florida (5%), and is expected to be completed in January 2025. Fiscal 2024 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $3,220,000; fiscal 2024 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,891,225; fiscal 2024 aircraft procurement (Air Force) funds in the amount of $1,831,520; fiscal 2024 research, development, test and evaluation (Air Force) funds in the amount of $1,505,934; fiscal 2024 procurement (Defense-wide) funds in the amount of $532,000; fiscal 2024 research, development, test and evaluation (Defense-wide) funds in the amount of $392,000; and Foreign Military Sales customer funds in the amount of $943,202 will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
ASRC Federal Facilities Logistics LLC, as successor-in-interest to Science Applications International Corp., Beltsville, Maryland, has been awarded a maximum $90,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for facilities maintenance, repair and operations supplies. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 US Code 2304 (a)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a 388-day bridge contract with no option periods. Locations of performance are Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Arkansas, with a Feb. 6, 2025, ordering period end date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2024 through 2025 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE8E3-24-D-0007).
Nationwide IT Services Inc., Fairfax, Virginia, has been awarded a $23,603,264 firm-fixed-price task order for support services to the Assistant Secretary for the Air Force for Acquisitions (SAF/AQ). This task order provides for specialized expertise to complement the organization’s inherent resources for effective and efficient mission accomplishment and continuity, introduction of innovation, and enhancement of technical competence supporting the entire spectrum of acquisition and sustainment efforts of SAF/AQ and the organizations they support. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this task order to $149,608,577. Work will be performed at the Pentagon and is expected to be completed by Jan. 11, 2025. If all options are exercised, work will continue through Jan. 11, 2029. This contract was a competitive acquisition, and seven offers were received. Fiscal 2024 operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $2,077,208 are being obligated at time of award. The Air Force District of Washington Contracting Directorate, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, is the contracting activity (FA7014-24-F-0054).
Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a modification (P00004) to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost-plus-incentive-fee, not-to-exceed $97,357,812 undefinitized contract (N0001923C0009). This modification exercises options to provide for the early development of AGM-88G High Speed Anti-Radiation Missile integration on the F-35A/B/C aircraft, to include procuring associated incidental hardware for the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers, and non-Department of Defense (DOD) participants. Additionally, this modification provides for Lot 17 U.S. Reprograming Lab development; Lot 17 Australia, Canada, and United Kingdom Reprogramming Lab development; Lot 17 Norway and Italy Reprogramming Lab development; and Lot 17 mission data files updates for the governments of Denmark, the Netherlands and FMS customers. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (60%); Nashua, New Hampshire (16%); Baltimore, Maryland (9%); Orlando, Florida (5.5%); Torrance, California (2%); San Diego, California (2%); El Segundo, California (2%); Northridge, California (1%); Clearwater, Florida (1%); Buffalo, New York (1%); and Tucson, Arizona (0.5%), and is expected to be completed in March 2026. Fiscal 2024 research, development, test, and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $5,336,306; fiscal 2024 research, development, test, and evaluation (Air Force) funds in the amount of $836,307; FMS customer funds in the amount of $772,892; and non-DOD participants funds in the amount of $11,822,289, will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
Progeny Systems LLC, Manassas, Virginia, is awarded a $30,944,470 cost-plus-incentive-fee and cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for engineering design development, Navy equipment, and supporting material and travel procurements. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $82,880,849. Work will be performed in Manassas, Virginia (85%); and Charleroi, Pennsylvania (15%), and is expected to be completed by July 2026. If all options are exercised, work will continue through January 2031. Fiscal 2024 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds, in the amount of $4,972,107 (37%); fiscal 2021 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds, in the amount of $4,177,588 (31%); fiscal 2022 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds, in the amount of $2,088,795 (16%); and fiscal 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount $2,088,794(16%), will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 US Code 2304(c)(1) (only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements). Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity (N00024-24-C-6101).
Pololei Solutions LLC, Orlando, Florida, is awarded a $8,408,656 firm-fixed-price contract to provide operations, administrative, and programmatic support. Support services will include programmatic planning, investment planning, life cycle planning, operations and maintenance support planning, and conducting assessments. Work will be performed at Orlando, Florida (99%); and Quantico, Virginia (1%), with an expected completion date of Jan. 14, 2025. The maximum dollar value, including the base period and four option years, is $44,456,301. Fiscal 2024 operation and maintenance, (Marine Corps) contract funds in the amount of $8,206,428 are being obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Contract funds in the amount of $202,228 will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was procured as a direct sole-source award under the auspices of the Small Business Administration 8(a) Program. Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting activity (M67854-24-C-8009).
