New Helicopters Headed to Andrews

Joint Base Andrews was selected as the fourth location to host the MH-139A Grey Wolf, the Air Force’s newest helicopter. Here, a Grey Wolf lifts off from the flightline for its first combined test flight at Eglin Air Force Base, FL, in February 2020. The MH-139A is set to replace the service’s aging UH-1N Huey fleet. The manpower required to support the mission at JBA will grow from 235 personnel to approximately 310. (US Air Force photo by Samuel King Jr.)

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.

Joint Base Andrews, MD, will be the next location to receive the new MH-139 helicopter, reports Air Force Magazine. The Grey Wolf will replace the aging UH-1N Huey and expand the base’s fleet size. Andrews is slated to receive 25 of the new helicopters. Currently, the base’s 1st Helicopter Squadron has 21 UH-1Ns.

Five Marines were killed when their MV-22B Osprey crashed in southern California on Wednesday, reports Military.com. The aircraft was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Camp Pendleton. The identities of the Marines were released Saturday, reports The Southern Maryland Chronicle. MAJ Mason Englehart, director of Communication Strategy and Operations for the 3d Marine Aircraft Wing, said that at the time of the mishap, the Osprey and crew were conducting routine flight training.

Another military helicopter crashed in the desert near El Centro, CA, less than 48 hours later, reports Los Angeles Times. One person was hurt in the accident.

Washington Technology has ranked the largest government contractors in today’s federal market, based on their prime contracts during fiscal 2021. Leidos tops the 2022 Top 100 list this year, maintaining its No. 1 spot, followed by Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.

Lockheed Martin officials said the company expects to produce its new-build F-16 fighter jets next year and begin deliveries in 2024, reports Reuters. The firm has a list of key US allies including Bahrain, Taiwan, Slovakia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia eager to purchase the jet.

Raytheon Technologies and Lockheed Martin are defending the F-35 fighter jet and its engine following another critical government report that said it too often fails to meet targets for mission capable rates, reports Hartford Courant. A Government Accountability Office report said the F-35 “continues to not meet its targets for mission capable rates, a measure of the readiness of an aircraft fleet, or its reliability and maintainability metrics.”

A US House Armed Services subcommittee has ordered a sustainability review, reports Air Force Magazine. GAO will assess sustainability challenges of the F-35 and report back to Congress by March 2023.

Raytheon Technologies will be moving its new headquarters to Arlington, VA, from Massachusetts, reports Breaking Defense. “The location increases agility in supporting US government and commercial aerospace customers and serves to reinforce partnerships that will progress innovative technologies to advance the industry,” according to a company statement. Boeing announced last month that it will move its headquarters from Chicago to its campus in Arlington, NPR reported at the time.

Lockheed Martin has delivered five new Sentinel A4 radars to the US Army, reports Breaking Defense, a significant milestone for the air and missile defense radar program the Army considers to be a “key enabler” of the Army’s core modernization effort.

The Navy Air Reserve is retiring its P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and upgrading to the P-8A Poseidon, reports Seapower Magazine. Current and former members of Patrol Squadron 62 (VP-62), based at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, FL, gathered last week at the squadron’s hangar to bid farewell to the squadron’s P-3Cs as the squadron begins its transition to the P-8A.

 

 

CMDR Matthew McCormick has been relieved as head of Electronic Attack Squadron 137 due to what the Navy said was a “loss of confidence in his ability to command,” reports Military Times. The squadron is currently deployed to Europe with the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group.

The White House has nominated LT GEN Michael E. Langley to lead US forces in Africa, reports Marine Corps Times. If confirmed, this would make Langley the first Black four-star Marine Corps general.

The White House has given up on Brenda Sue Fulton’s nomination to be the assistant secretary of defense for manpower and reserve affairs and instead moved her to a job that does not require Senate confirmation, reports Military Times. Fulton is now expected to serve as the VA assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs.

A new study by researchers at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences suggests that a brain disease caused by repeated blows to the head and concussions — most notably found in hundreds of former NFL players — is rare in service members, reports Marine Corps Times.

US Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Christopher Hammond, assigned to 3rd Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg, NC, used his job to steal military equipment and sell the items for a profit between 2018 and 2022, according to an indictment issued last week by federal prosecutors, reports Army Times. His wife, Army MAJ Heather Hammond, was also named in the indictment and accused of helping set up the investment accounts and aiding her husband.

The US Naval Academy identified the prior-enlisted student who died while on leave last week, reports Marine Corps Times. Midshipman 1st Class Taylor Connors, 24, of Pleasant View, UT, passed away Tuesday morning. Connors attended the Utah Military Academy and enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2016.

According to data from the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, the median gross rent price in the US is $1,096, reports The Center Square. In the California-Lexington Park, MD area, however, rent prices are far higher, ranking the area in the No. 22 spot.

The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science’s report card for the Chesapeake Bay ticked upward in 2021 but not enough to raise its C grade in the latest report, reports Bay Journal. The bay’s overall ecological health garnered a 50% score, up 5 points from 2020, as some things got better and others worse.

Contracts:

Strategic Alliance Solutions LLC JV, Fairfax, Virginia, is being awarded a competitive cost-plus-fixed-fee level-of-effort contract with a total value of $203,869,911. Under this new contract, the contractor will provide support that includes development, planning, oversight of the facility maintenance, oversight for repair, alteration projects of real property, support of facilities life-cycle management, building operations planning, move coordination, space management and environmental management. The work will be performed in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama; Clear Space Force Station, Alaska; Ft. Greely, Alaska; Vandenberg Space Force Base, California; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii; Pacific Missile Range Facility, Hawaii; Kirkland Air Force Base, New Mexico; Ft. Bliss, Texas; Dahlgren, Virginia; Ft. Belvoir, Virginia; and Wake Island. The performance period is from June 2022 to December 2027. This contract was competitively procured via publication on the SAM.gov website with six proposals received. Fiscal 2022 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $5,961,247 are being obligated on this award. The Missile Defense Agency, Huntsville, Alabama, is the contracting activity (HQ0858-22-C-0004).

Balfour Beatty Construction LLC, Falls Church, Virginia, was awarded a $75,056,068 firm-fixed-price contract for construction of a low observable component repair facility at Langley Air Force Base. Bids were solicited via the internet with four received. Work will be performed in Hampton, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2024. Fiscal 2022 military construction, Air Force funds in the amount of $75,056,068 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (W91236-22-C-2023).

Progeny Systems Corp., Manassas, Virginia, is awarded a $21,103,017 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-19-C-6102) to exercise options for payload control system capabilities for technical insertion advanced processing build. Work will be performed in Manassas, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by September 2023. Fiscal 2022 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,904,516 (40%); fiscal 2022 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,296,185 (31%); and fiscal 2021 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,098,508 (29%) will be obligated at time of award, and $2,098,508 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity.

L3 Technologies Inc., doing business as Integrated Vision Solutions, Tempe, Arizona (SPRBL1-22-D-0003, $11,103,890); and Elbit Systems of America – Night Vision LLC, Roanoke, Virginia (SPRBL1-22-D-0004, $9,733,378), have each been awarded a firm-fixed-price, definite-quantity contract under solicitation SPRBL1-22-R-0007 for Army/Navy Portable Visual Search 14 Monocular Night Vision Device MX-11769 image intensifiers. This was a competitive acquisition with two responses received. These are one-time spot-buy contracts with no option periods. The ordering period end date is April 10, 2023. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2022 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Aberdeen, Maryland.

Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., McLean, Virginia, is awarded a $9,182,160 cost-plus-fixed-fee term contract (N0003922C0009) for program support services. This contract will provide program management, administrative support, acquisition management, contracts management, business and financial management, logistics, cyber and engineering management support services for the Maritime Surveillance Systems program office. Fiscal 2022 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy); fiscal 2022 operation and maintenance (Navy); and Foreign Military Sales funds are being used to fund this award. The contract includes a one-year base period and a four one-year option periods. The option periods, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to an estimated $49,477,627. Work will be performed in San Diego, California. Work is expected to be completed in June 2023. If options are exercised, work could continue until June 2027. This action is a result of a justification and approval that authorizes a sole source award under the authority of 10 US Code 2304(c)(1) — only one responsible source (Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation subpart 6.302-1). The Naval Information Warfare System Command, San Diego, California, awarded the contract on behalf of the Navy Program Executive Office for Undersea Warfare Systems, Maritime Surveillance Systems.

Lyon Shipyard Inc., Norfolk, Virginia, is awarded a $13,489,440 firm-fixed-price contract to provide the management, technical, procurement, production, testing and quality assurance necessary to plan, prepare and execute all maintenance, repair, and alterations required to complete the docking phased maintenance availability onboard the USNS Narragansett (TSV-4). Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by April 2023. Fiscal 2022 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $13,489,440 will be obligated at time of award, of which $13,489,440 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured as a small business set-aside via the beta.sam.gov website with two offers received. The Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity.