March 29, 2024

Lockheed Top Dollar Contractor Again

The General Services Administration released FY22’s financial commitments federal agencies made to their top 100 contractors. As in past years, Lockheed won more than anyone else, $47.7 billion – nearly as much as the next two combined: Raytheon scored $27 billion and General Dynamics at $24.7 billion.

Service Academies Exempt in Affirmative Action Ruling

Hoyer Hosts Military Service Academy Forum

Military service academies are exempt from the US Supreme Court’s recent ruling on affirmative action that effectively ends that policy at the country’s colleges and universities.

Global Aviation on Display This Week

Aviation

The 2023 Paris Air Show opens today. Among the US military aircraft on display will be the F-25, F-15E, and F-16. Here, an Air Force F-15 and two F-35s in a training exercise May 17. (US Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Penny Snoozy) 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 Paris Air Show opens this week after a four-year hiatus. At this event, all things global aviation take…

TPP to Present 2023 Defense Summit

F-35

The Patuxent Partnership will present its 2023 Defense Summit on Naval Aviation and National Security on June 21 at the University System of Maryland at Southern Maryland.

Pentagon: No Evidence of Aliens in UFO Cases

UFO

The Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities was told last week that none of the more than 650 unexplained anomalous phenomena, or UAP, incidents under investigation since the Pentagon’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office’s July 2022 inception were of an alien nature.

Reports of Abuse, Neglect Surface at Vets Home

Vets Home

Maryland lawmakers and advocates are concerned about reports of neglect and abuse of residents at the Charlotte Hall Veterans Home, a disclosure that led the state to cancel its contract with HMR Maryland, the company that has managed the facility since 2002.

Retrofit Ordered for F-35 Fleet Worldwide

Retrofit

The F-35 Joint Program Office has ordered that all F-35 jets should be retrofitted with a fix intended to solve a potential engine vibration problem. This includes a global retrofit, not just for US aircraft.

Probe Finds Pilot Error in F-35C Crash

JPALS

Naval Air Forces investigators found that pilot error caused an F-35C Lightning II fighter jet to crash onto the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson before sliding into the South China Sea last year. The error “was not conducted in a reckless manner nor with malicious intent,” according to the Naval Air Forces Command.

DoD End-of-Year Contracts for Dec. 27-30

These end-of-the-year Department of Defense contracts were awarded in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC, from December 27-December 30, 2022.

Contractors Get Half of DoD Budget

$1.3T Budget

More than half of the Pentagon’s yearly budget goes to private contractors. In 2021, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, General Dynamics, and Northrop Grumman received over $116 billion in Pentagon contracts while paying their top two dozen executives a total of $287 million. The CEOs of the top five contractors received compensation ranging from $18 million to $23 million each.