March 29, 2024

Soldiers Seek Fighter-Pilot Goggles

fighter-pilot goggles

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 Army’s FY21 budget calls for fighter pilot-like, situational awareness, augmented reality, do-it-all goggles for nearly half of all close combat forces, from infantry to scouts and engineers, starting next year, reports Army Times. The Army is requesting 40,219 Integrated Visual Augmentation Systems. The IVAS is championed by top Army brass as a way to deliver fighter pilot-like situational awareness to the individual soldier in an infantry squad.

The CIA called it the intelligence coup of the century in a classified account of a crypto-scam it launched after World War II in collaboration with the West German intelligence agency, reports The Washington Post. The spy agencies owned a front company that built and sold code-making machines to nations around the globe that were rigged to remain readable by the spy agencies who built them.

A Military Times poll indicates white nationalism and extremism in the ranks is a serious threat, prompting lawmakers to question why the Pentagon has spent little time tracking the issue, reports Military Times.

The administration’s fiscal 2021 budget includes a major increase in nuclear weapons spending, reports Defense News, from both the DoD and the agency in charge of managing nuclear warheads. Nuclear modernization spending by the Pentagon sits at $28.9 billion in the request, while funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration comes in at $19.8 billion, a nearly 20 percent increase from FY20 for the semiautonomous agency within the Department of Energy. Of the NNSA funding, $15.6 billion is for weapons.

For many who cleaned up a nuclear mess, a key ruling comes too late, reports The New York Times. Air Force veterans who dealt with a Cold War-era atomic accident in Spain won the right to sue collectively for health benefits — but not before many had lost battles with cancer.

A mysterious radio signal from space is repeating every 16 days, reports CNN. Mysterious radio signals from space have been known to repeat, but for the first time, researchers have noticed a pattern in a series of bursts coming from a single source half a billion light-years from Earth.

There are 100 from the Army and up to 6,000 from the Air Force slated to transfer into the new Space Force, reports Defense One. The Navy hasn’t announced the number of sailors to transfer.

The Philippines has notified the US of its intent to end a major security pact that allows American forces to train in the country, reports Defense News. The termination would take effect after 180 days unless both sides agree to keep it. DefSec Mark Esper calls it “unfortunate,” reports CNN.

Defense News reports projections in the Navy’s FY21 budget documents note the direct influence of an expanding China navy, including the stockpiling ship-killing missiles over the next five years.

 

 

T-Mobile and Sprint are cleared to merge, reports The New York Times. Combining the third- and fourth-largest wireless carriers creates a telecommunications giant able to take on AT&T and Verizon. The new company, to be called T-Mobile, would have about 100 million customers.

After years of planning, bronze statues of abolitionists and former Maryland slaves Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman were unveiled this week in Annapolis to members of the General Assembly and other dignitaries, reports Maryland Matters. “A mark of true greatness is shining light on a system of oppression and having the courage to change it,” said House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) at the unveiling.

The first group of US coronavirus evacuees from China are leaving quarantine after two weeks at the March Air Reserve Base in Southern California, reports Military Times. Nearly 200 people were sequestered, one is heading to Disneyland and another to search out an In and Out Burger.

In Afghanistan,the US and Taliban might be close to a “reduction in violence” agreement, reports The Associated Press. President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, said he is cautiously optimistic that there could be a US agreement with the Taliban over the next days or weeks, but a withdrawal of American forces is not “imminent.”

Contracts:

The Victor Group, San Antonio, Texas, has been awarded a $10,564,430 modification (P00016) to previously awarded contract FA8052-18-C-0010 for Healthcare Aseptic Management Services to exercise Option Year One for medical aseptic housekeeping, waste management and linen management. Work will be performed at Dover Air Force Base (AFB), Delaware; Hanscom AFB, Massachusetts; Andrews AFB, Maryland; Bolling AFB, Washington, District of Columbia; Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio; Langley AFB, Virginia; Scott AFB, Illinois; Whiteman AFB, Missouri; Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina; Minot AFB, North Dakota; and Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota, and is expected to be completed Feb. 13 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $10,564,430 will be obligated at the time of award. The total cumulative value of this contract including Option One is $24,234,322. The 773rd Enterprise Sourcing Squadron, Air Force Installation Contracting Center, Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, is the contracting activity.

Marine Solutions Inc., Nicholasville, Kentucky, is awarded as a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, architect-engineering contract with a maximum amount of $15,000,000 for underwater and above water inspection, material condition assessment, engineering and design services in support of sustainment, restoration and modernization and military construction projects at Department of Defense waterfront and ocean facilities at various locations. The work to be performed provides for architect-engineer services to include, but not limited to: field investigations, underwater inspections; engineering analysis of waterfront and ocean facility structural, mechanical and electrical systems and component conditions in comparison to design requirements, previous inspection reports and/or existing drawings of the facilities; review of construction plans and specifications of engineering features and related work associated with waterfront and ocean facility construction and repair; engineering calculations for structural analysis with or without previous design calculations; failure analysis and forensic engineering; waterfront and ocean facility engineering feasibility studies; design of facility repairs; preparation of design/build requests for proposals and invitation for bid contract plans and specifications; environmental studies in support of permit applications to federal, state, and local regulatory agencies; preparation of required permit documentation; design of underwater instrument and cable arrays, associated power and data cable installation and termination, including fiber optic elements; design of underwater instrument support structures and assemblies; design of termination junction boxes and support structures; design of underwater cable installation using horizontal direction drilling technology, including the establishment of directional drilling monitoring and response criteria to minimize environmental effects of directional drilling; documentation of findings and report preparation; cost estimation for waterfront and ocean facility rehabilitation; construction and installation schedules, development of maintenance action plans, underwater geotechnical and above water surveying. All work on this contract will be performed at various Navy and Marine Corps facilities and other government facilities in mid-Atlantic region including Maryland (40%); Virginia (40%); and Washington, District of Columbia (20%). The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months with an expected completion date of February 2025. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, Navy (O&M, N) contract funds in the amount of $10,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by O&M, N funds. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website and Federal Business Opportunities website with five proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center, Port Hueneme, California, is the contracting activity (N39430-20-D-2208).

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