Space Force, Parental Leave & More in NDAA

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.

Congress adopts a $738B defense bill that creates the Space Force in exchange for paid parental leave for federal employees, reports Defense News. The Senate overwhelmingly approved the National Defense Authorization Act 82-8, just days after the House passed it, 377-48. President Donald Trump has signaled he will sign the defense policy measure.

Pay raise, paid leave inch closer to reality, FCW gets into some of the details of the budget. The massive federal funding bill also would require Veterans Affairs leaders to reveal whether they plan to add new diseases to the Agent Orange presumptive conditions list, reports Military Times.

Plan to ban tobacco sales to anyone under 21 will hit the military too, says Military Times. A bipartisan congressional plan to raise the federal minimum age to purchase tobacco from 18 to 21 was included in the sweeping budget bill expected to be passed into law by the end of the week. And contrary to previous comments from lawmakers, there is no exception in the law for members of the military.

Lawmakers are pressuring President Trump to renew the Russia arms control pact, reports Reuters, and extend the last remaining restraints on US and Russian nuclear weapons. It can be renewed for up to five years if both sides agree. Moscow has offered to immediately extend the treaty. Washington still is considering the issue.

The Navy’s next flattop has launched! Navy Times reports six tugboats guided the future John F. Kennedy about a mile down Virginia’s James River from Newport News Shipbuilding’s Dry Dock 12 to the installation’s Pier 3 to be outfitted with berthing and mess spaces and systems. Its catapults and radar will be tested there as well. The Kennedy is the second in the Gerald R. Ford-class of revolutionary flattops, and according to shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries, it is three months ahead of schedule. The next phase of construction is expected to take 2½ years.

The shooter at NAS Pensacola legally purchased his murder weapon, a Glock Model 45 9mm pistol, reports Navy Times. Saudi Air Force 2nd Lt. Mohammed Alshamrani applied for a hunting license earlier this year and bought the weapon nine days after the state granted his hunting permit. Federal law normally would’ve barred him from buying the gun, but he relied on an exemption for those with state-issued hunting permits. Florida lets hunters use pistols to hunt otters, rabbits, wild hogs, raccoons, opossums, skunks, nutrias, beavers, coyotes, and other creatures, depending on the season.

NASA’s first large scale, piloted X-plane in more than three decades is cleared for final assembly and integration of its systems, reports NASA.gov. The clearance represents the last programmatic hurdle for the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) aircraft before officials meet again in late 2020 to approve the airplane’s first flight in 2021. Its shape is designed to reduce the loudness of its sonic boom and it will be flown over select communities for testing. NASA officials call it a “historic research mission for the nation’s air-traveling public.”

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, FL, reports Business Insider, although retrieval was a narrow miss. The rocket’s nose cone was meant to be caught by two drone ships after detaching from the spacecraft, but they narrowly missed, and the nose cone fell into the sea. Having rocket components that can be easily recovered is key to SpaceX’s goal of developing reusable rocket technology.

The US Army Corps of Engineers has halted construction on about 175 miles of border wall after a federal judge last week issued an injunction on $3.6 billion in military construction funds diverted to construction of barriers on the US-Mexico border, reports Military Times.

Seoul and Washington fail to agree on the cost of US troops as their deal is set to expire, reports Reuters. South Korea and the US failed this week to reach an agreement over Seoul’s contribution toward hosting some 28,500 US troops, ending two days of talks that were the last before their existing deal expires Dec. 31, 2019.

 

 

Recruit women into cybersecurity, says CSO, citing a more diverse cyber-security team as a way to address the security skills shortage. With less than one-quarter of the cyber-workforce comprised of women, gender diversity remains a serious problem and missed opportunity.

Steven Walker, the 21st director of DARPA, resigns, moving on to industry, effective Jan. 10, 2020, reports Defense News. A key effort launched under Walker’s tenure at the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency was development and fielding of the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile, which was accomplished in half the time of a normal development program.

Major fix coming for Marine Corps CH-53K, but a two-year delay is expected, reports Marine Corps Times. Engineers have solved or mitigated most of the engine issues that have led to long delays of the operational date of the CH-53 King Stallion ― the corps’ most powerful heavy lift helicopter.

Contracts:

Ace Electronics Defense Systems Inc., Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland (SPRBL1-20-D-0010); CND LLC, Stilwell, Oklahoma (SPRBL1-20-D-0011); DRS Network & Imaging Systems LLC, Melbourne, Florida (SPRBL1-20-D-0012); Joint Venture Interconnection Cable LLC, McLean, Virginia (SPRBL1-20-D-0013); Tabet Manufacturing Co. Inc., Norfolk, Virginia (SPRBL1-20-D-0014); and Tactical & Survival Specialties Inc., Harrisonburg, Virginia (SPRBL1-20-D-0015), are sharing a maximum $808,113,426 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract under solicitation SPRBL1-19-R-0042 for the interconnection equipment contract. This was a competitive acquisition with 10 responses received. These are five-year base contracts with five one-year option periods. Locations of performance are Maryland, Oklahoma, Florida and Virginia, with a Dec. 17, 2024, performance completion date. Using customer is Department of Defense. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2025 Army working capital funds and other procurement funds as necessary. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.

Atlantic Design Group Inc., Columbia, Maryland (W912DY-20-D-0050); APEX NMA JV, Carrollton, Texas (W912DY-20-D-0049); GoldenWolf – EwingCole A Joint Venture LLC, Huntingtown, Maryland (W912DY-20-D-0051); Leo A. Daly Co., Atlanta, Georgia (W912DY-20-D-0052); Rogers Lovelock & Fritz Inc., Orlando, Florida (W912DY-20-D-0053); and Sherlock, Smith & Adams/Pagesoutherlandpage JV, Montgomery, Alabama (W912DY-20-D-0054), will compete for each order of the $160,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for medical architecture, technical reviews, engineering, and planning services for medical facility construction projects and associated studies. Bids were solicited via the internet with 13 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 17, 2024. US Army Corps of Engineers, Huntsville, Alabama, is the contracting activity.

Boeing Aerospace Operations Inc., St. Louis, Missouri, is awarded a not-to-exceed value of $92,280,378 undefinitized contract action. This cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-quantity contract provides engineering technical services in support of Naval Aviation weapon systems and all associated systems and equipment throughout their sustainment life-cycle, to include contractor field services in support of the AV-8B, EA-18G, F/A-18, C-40, and P-8A aircraft for the Navy and the government of Kuwait. Work will be performed in Iwakuni, Japan (17.88%); Oceana, Virginia (8.48%); Whidbey Island, Washington (8.25%); New Orleans, Louisiana (7.26%); Miramar, California (6.85%); Beaufort, South Carolina (5.45%); Kuwait (5.36%); Fort Worth, Texas (5.06%); North Island, California (5.06%); Jacksonville, Florida (4.61%); Pensacola, Florida (3.63%); Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii (3.63%); Patuxent River, Maryland (3.63%); China Lake, California (3.63%); Cherry Point, North Carolina (3.63%); Yuma, Arizona, (3.63%); Fallon, Nevada (1.8%); Lemoore, California (1.8%); various locations within the continental US (.3%); and various locations outside the continental US. (.06%), and is expected to be completed in December 2024. Funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued; fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds (Navy) in the amount of $791,695 will be obligated for the first task order, all of which will expire at the end of the fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to the 10 US Code 2304(c)(1). The Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Division, China Lake, California, is the contracting activity (N68936-20-D-0007).

Bell Textron Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $27,586,695 modification (P00008) to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order (N00019-19-F-2522) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-16-G-0012). This modification provides engineering and logistics services and associated equipment and material in support of AH-1Z aircraft production, and AH-1W, UH-1Y and AH-1Z modifications and sustainment. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (60%); New River, North Carolina (15%); Camp Pendleton, California (15%); and Patuxent River, Maryland (10%), and is expected to be completed in March 2021. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy); and fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $ 21,207,365 will be obligated at time of award, $699,399 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Manassas, Virginia, is awarded a $15,747,242 cost-plus-incentive-fee and cost-only modification to a previously awarded contract N00024-18-C-5218 for program management office and engineering services supporting the AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 Surface Ship Undersea Warfare Systems. This contract combines purchases for the Navy (77%) and the Commonwealth of Australia (23%) under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. Work will be performed in Syracuse, New York (90%); Manassas, Virginia (10%); and is expected to be complete by December 2020. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation; FMS Australia; 2020 other procurement (Navy); and 2019 research development, test and evaluation funding in the amount $10,597,279 will be obligated at the time of award and $1,805,830 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.

Marshall Communications Corp., North Charleston, South Carolina, is awarded a $7,451,921 firm-fixed-price task order (N00421-20-F-1198) under the Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement V indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity government-wide acquisition contract (NNG15SD82B). This order will procure the integrated digital resource node effort in support of the Naval Air Systems Command and also allow for the expansion of existing model Based Definition capabilities and continued integration of digital data at Fleet Readiness Centers (FRCs) by combining the existing team center product lifecycle management instantiations at FRCs into one instantiation while gaining the ability to connect to additional legacy commercial off the shelf and government off the shelf applications to facilitate standardized digital workflows. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Maryland (70%); Cherry Point, North Carolina (10%); Jacksonville, Florida (10%); and North Island, California (10%), and is expected to be completed in December 2020. Fiscal year 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $5,978,000 will be obligated at time of award; none of which will expire at the end of fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

Pivotal Software Inc., San Francisco, California, has been awarded an $18,000,000 fixed base, production other transaction agreement modification (P00014) to previously award contract FA8730-19-9-0002 to support the Kessel Run Experimentation Lab. This modification extends the performance under the basic agreement for a period of 12 months and will utilize the prototyped methodology and the software and services that support them across the entire Air Force enterprise architectures. Work will be performed at Boston, Massachusetts; Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Washington, District of Columbia, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 18, 2020. The total cumulative face value of the agreement is $118,116,589. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $18,000,000 are being obligated at the time of award. This agreement is a follow-on to the prototype agreement between Pivotal Software Inc. and the Army Contracting Command, New Jersey. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity.