Next Gen Jammer Passes Review at Pax

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 Navy’s AN/ALQ-249 Next Generation Jammer Increment 1 mid-band program has completed a design review at NAS Pax River, aviationtoday.com reports. Defense Update says the NGJ, once fielded, will transform the way the service conducts electronic warfare.

A new drone runway opened at Wallops Island last week, delmarvanow.com reports. With the new, longer airstrip, the flight facility could host up to 1,040 drone flights a year. NASA and the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority collaborated on the project.

North Korea fired a ballistic missile Sunday, CBS News reports, a week after it tested an intermediate-range missile. The missile launched Sunday flew about 310 miles and landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone. No damage to ships or airplanes was reported.

President Donald Trump began his eight-day trip abroad Saturday by signing a $110 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia, reports UPI News. The deal could total up to $350 billion over the next decade.

President Trump is expected to propose a $603 billion defense budget that would add one warship but no more F-35 and Super Hornet jets than the Obama administration had projected, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.

The German Air Force has sent the US military a written request for classified data regarding the F-35 stealth fighter jet, TheStreet.com reports, as Germany looks to replace its fleet of warplanes.

DefSec James Mattis has laid out a more aggressive plan to defeat the Islamic State, Military Times reports. Mr. Mattis said the U.S.-led coalition will bring greater force to bear on ISIS in Syria and Iraq and, it is hoped, will disrupt the group’s ability to gain a foothold elsewhere.

The military is always looking at ways to make equipment lighter, but that’s not easy to do. So if you can’t lighten the soldier’s load, and you can’t take it off him, can you make him stronger, asks Breaking Defense? The answer these days is yes. Lockheed Martin has developed an exoskeleton that uses robotics and artificial intelligence. The iron leg is a device that can take the load off.

Economists in the Washington, DC, area say the slowdown in hiring in the region is almost certainly caused by uncertainty related to the federal budgetary process and the Trump administration’s plans to draw down the federal workforce, The Washington Post reports.

“Unprofessional” was how US officials described the incident last week where two Chinese Su-30 fighters intercepted an Air Force Boeing WC-135 Constant Phoenix aircraft over the East China Sea. Chinese jets came within 150 feet of the US plane, according to reports.

Heather Wilson was sworn in last week as the 24th secretary of the Air Force in a ceremony at the Pentagon, KMVT News reports.

Contracts:

Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $137,834,819 modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract (N00019-14-C-0002) to provide additional funding for affordability-based cost reduction initiatives in support of low-rate initial production Lot 9 F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (30 percent); El Segundo, California (25 percent); Warton, United Kingdom (20 percent); Orlando, Florida (10 percent); Nashua, New Hampshire (5 percent); Nagoya, Japan (5 percent); and Baltimore, Maryland (5 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2020. Fiscal 2016 aircraft procurement (Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy) funds in the amount of $137,834,819 are being obligated on this award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This modification combines purchases for the Air Force ($110,267,856; 80 percent); Marine Corps ($22,554,788; 16.4 percent); and the Navy ($5,012,175 (3.6 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

General Dynamics Electric Boat Corp., Groton, Connecticut, is being awarded a $32,700,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification under a previously awarded contract (N00024-13-C-2128) for continued design support requirements for Columbia Class Submarine (formerly known as the Ohio Replacement). This contract includes shipbuilder and vendor technology development; engineering integration; concept design studies; cost reduction initiatives using a design for affordability process; and full scale prototype manufacturing and assembly. Additionally, this contract provides for engineering analysis, should-cost evaluations, and technology development and integration efforts. Work will be performed in Groton, Connecticut (91 percent); Newport News, Virginia (7 percent); Quonset, Rhode Island (1 percent); and Bath, Maine (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by June 2017. Fiscal 2017 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $32,700,000 will be obligated at time of award and contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.

L3 Computer Sciences Corp., Millersville, Maryland, is being awarded a $13,592,178 fixed-price-incentive firm undefinitized contract action modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-15-C-6275) to exercise an option for the procurement of six TB-29A compact towed array production representative units. Work will be performed in Millersville, Maryland (41 percent); Liverpool, New York (38 percent); and Ashaway, Rhode Island (21 percent), and is expected to be completed by September 2018. Fiscal 2016 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $13,592,178 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.

Lockheed Martin Corp., Rotary and Mission Systems, Manassas, Virginia, is being awarded an $11,029,399 cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-11-C-6294) for the accomplishment of engineering services under the Acoustic Rapid Commercial-Off-The-Shelf Insertion System program. This contract involves foreign military sales (FMS) to Canada (100 percent). Work will be performed in Manassas, Virginia (80 percent); and Dartmouth, Canada (20 percent), and is expected to be completed by December 2017. FMS funding in the amount $2,066,150 will be obligated at the time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.

Accenture Federal Services, Arlington, Virginia, was awarded a $59,459,062 modification (D00397) to contract N00104-04-A-ZF12 for maintenance and operations of the General Fund Enterprise Business System year-end activities, baseline delivery, and release delivery. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of July 31, 2017. Fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $3,096,426 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity.

Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Manassas, Virginia, is being awarded a $33,687,911 cost-plus-incentive-fee and cost-only modification to a previously-awarded contract (N00024-13-C-5225) to exercise options for engineering services supporting the continued development, integration and production of the Navy’s AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 Surface Ship Undersea Warfare Systems. The AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 is a surface ship undersea warfare (USW) combat system with the capabilities to search, detect, classify, localize, and track undersea contacts and to engage and evade submarines, mine-like small objects and torpedo threats. The contract is for development, integration and production of future advanced capability build and technical insertion baselines of the AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 USW systems. Work will be performed in Lemont Furnace, Pennsylvania (37 percent); Syracuse, New York (24 percent); Manassas, Virginia (17 percent); Clearwater, Florida (9 percent); Oswego, New York (5 percent); Hauppauge, New York (5 percent); and Tewksbury, Massachusetts (3 percent), and is expected to be completed by May 2018. Foreign military sales; fiscal 2013, 2014, and 2015 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance (Navy); fiscal 2017 other procurement (Navy); and fiscal 2017 research, development, test and evaluation funding in the amount of $12,963,526 will be obligated at the time of award. Funds in the amount of $40,662 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.

Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $21,121,384 modification (P00009) to contract W911QX-16-C-0012 to design, build, test, and deliver one Saturn Arch configured aircraft in support of the ongoing continued operations, sustainment, and Integration Quick Reaction Capability program. Work will be performed in Bridgewater, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of June 17, 2018. Fiscal 2016 other procurement (Army) funds in the amount of $8,731,074 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Adelphi, Maryland, is the contracting activity.