Primes Key to DoD Supply Chain Vulnerabilities

Photo by Monika Flueckiger, licensed by Creative Commons.

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.

A House Armed Services Committee task force finds that prime contractors may hold the key to the Pentagon’s supply chain vulnerabilities, reports Federal News Network. A  2018 report found the manufacturing and defense industrial base held “a surprising level of foreign dependence on competitor nations,” said Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI). The legislators specifically debated to what extent prime contractors should be required to share information with DoD about their supply chains.

Defense News reports that the state of the Pentagon’s supply chain, the lack of spare parts, in particular, has created a crisis in readiness. A key driver for the scarcity of components and parts is that many are sole-sourced. Sole-source differs from single-source in that the former has no competition and thus has a de facto monopoly on a single node in the supply chain.

The US will try using lasers to send data from space to drones, reports American Military News. Early next year, the military’s Space Development Agency will test whether low-earth orbit satellites can communicate with an MQ-9 Reaper drone via optical links or lasers. If the experiment is successful, it will pave the way for a less hackable means of communication among drones, jets, other weapon, commanders, and operators from afar.

A study out of the Air Force Research Lab has found a jolt to the brain could increase alertness better than caffeine, reports Military Times. The study investigated a noninvasive, handheld,  electrical neuromodulation device originally approved to treat cluster headaches and migraines. It has also been used to treat drug-resistant epilepsy and depression.

Moderate Democrats rebuke defense budget cuts, reports Defense News, and are trying to set a floor for 2022 defense spending before progressive Democrats try to push it lower. The lawmakers oppose calls to fund below the $753 billion national defense budget for fiscal 2022.

“This may be the ‘Saigon moment’,” Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), a member of the HASC, criticized President Joe Biden’s self-imposed Sept. 11 date for withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan. Politico reports that with more than half the US troop gone the Taliban have seized dozens of Afghan districts amid warnings that the government in Kabul could fall in a matter of months once the US leaves.

Fox News reports that a US Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters aircraft sent on Monday to investigate the then-brewing tropical storm along the Georgia and South Carolina coastlines took measurements inside the storm validating the predicted strengthening, allowing the National Hurricane Center to upgrade it to Tropical Storm Danny.

 

 

The US partners with Ukraine to co-host the annual exercise Sea Breeze 21, which began on Monday the Black Sea days after Russia threatened to fire on “intruding” warships, reports Navy Times. The multinational maritime exercise includes 32 countries from six continents which involves 5,000 troops, 32 ships, 40 aircraft, and 18 special operations and dive teams in the exercise which runs until July 10.

A drill by the US Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard near Hawaii, emphasizing its use of the three service branches as a single unified force, coincided with a Russian navy exercise 400 miles to the west, reports UPI. The Russian drills involved over 20 warships, submarines, and support vessels.

Northrop Grumman delivered a bus for Space Force’s experimental navigation satellite, an initiative expected to deliver transformational technologies to the war fighter, reports C4ISRNET. The satellite NTS-3 is being developed to demonstrate new positioning, navigation, and timing capabilities to improve  GPS satellites.

Government-wide travel limits have been lifted for federal employees fully vaccinated against COVID-19, reports FCW.

Biden introduces sweeping diversity initiative amid race-training controversy, reports Federal Times.

No injuries in a Monday rocket attack on US troops in Syria, reports Military Times. The attack came less than 24 hours after the US launched airstrikes on facilities used by Iran-backed militias on the Iraq-Syria border. Vice.com reports Iraq condemned the US airstrikes targeting Iran-backed militias, forced to balance the interests of its two major allies, the US and Iran.

When tens of millions of Americans hit the road this holiday weekend, they’re going to find the highest prices for gasoline in nearly seven years, reports CNN. And many will also find stations that don’t have any gas at all as a growing number of stations report they’re unable to get gas delivered at any price It’s the shortage of tank truck drivers coupled with rising demand causing supply chain bottlenecks and shortages.

More than half of stateside commissaries will have curbside pickup within a month, reports Military Times. More than 70 additional commissaries are scheduled to start the online ordering/curbside pickup service at their stores by the end of July, a larger than six-fold increase.

Six Littoral Combat Ships are to deploy by year’s end, a record for the program, reports USNI. Later this year, two Independence-class LCS will join USS Tulsa (LCS-16) and USS Charleston (LCS-18) in the Western Pacific and two more LCS will deploy to US Southern Command.

The Air Force has activated 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing, a first of its kind wing aimed at the increasing importance of the electromagnetic spectrum. The group hopes to optimize EMS capabilities to provide a sustainable and competitive advantage in the non-physical realm.

Contracts:

American Systems Corp., Chantilly, Virginia (N64498-21-D-0031); Delphinus Engineering Inc., Eddystone, Pennsylvania (N64498-21-D-0032); EHS Technologies Corp., Moorestown, New Jersey (N64498-21-D-0033); Advanced Internet Marketing Inc. doing business as The GBS Group, Virginia Beach, Virginia (N64498-21-D-0034); General Dynamics Information Technology Inc., Falls Church, Virginia (N64498-21-D-0035); Green Expert Technology Inc., Haddonfield, New Jersey (N64498-21-D-0036); McKean Defense Group LLC., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (N64498-21-D-0037); and TDI Technologies Inc., King of Prussia, Pennsylvania (N64498-21-D-0038), is awarded a cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the procurement of modernization-engineering, life-cycle and in- service engineering to support DDG-51 FLTI (flight), FLTII, FLTIIA (legacy, modernization and new ship construction), FLTIII & HED (hybrid electric drive), modernization and obsolescence machinery control systems DDG 51 class ships, cybersecurity and information assurance, DDG-51 integrated bridge controls systems and fuel control system. The maximum dollar value for all eight contracts is $72,667,301. Each awardee will be awarded $100,000 at time of initial contract award. These contracts all have an ordering period of five-years. The period of performance will be from the date of award through 72 months thereafter. Work will be performed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is expected to be completed by April 2027. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy); other procurement navy (Navy); and shipbuilding conversion (Navy), funding in the amount of $800,000 will be obligated at the time of award, of which $200,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. All other funding will be made available at the task order level as contracting actions occur. This contract was competitively procured via the beta.SAM.gov website, with eight offers received. The Naval Sea Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity.