Tax Bill Benefits Contractors, Maybe Not VA
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.
Washington Technology reports the rate cut and change to the tax system model in the GOP tax bill heading to the president this week should bode well for federal contractors and especially the large, publicly traded government IT and professional services firms.
The House passed the Republican tax reform bill Wednesday afternoon and will send the tax bill to President Donald Trump for signature, reports Politico.
The tax reform bill’s fight through Congress could dash plans for VA health care reform work, reports Military Times. Hopes for a bipartisan plan to overhaul the Veterans Affairs community care health programs derailed in the House, in part by the Republican tax reform plan.
A flying, flapping drone could be the future scarecrow protecting runways from avian trespass, reports Aviation Week.
The administration is considering a request from South Korea to postpone joint military exercises until after the Winter Olympics as an olive branch to North Korea, reports NBC News.
VOA reports the US asked the UN to blacklist 10 ships that carried banned items from North Korea. The US accused the vessels, including two Hong Kong-flagged ships and two North Korean tankers, of “conducting illegal ship-to-ship transfers of refined petroleum products to North Korean vessels, or illegally transporting North Korean coal to other countries for exports.” If none of the UN’s 15 Security Council member states reject the proposal by today, Dec. 21, 2017, blacklist will be approved.
China condemns the “Cold War mentality” of the new US national security policy, which labels China and Russia as “rival powers,” reports the BBC. “We urge the US side to stop intentionally distorting China’s strategic intentions,” said a Chinese government official, “and to abandon outdated ideas of Cold War mentality and the zero-sum game.”
Navy Times reports to boost end strength, the Navy has raised the up-or-out caps, which require sailors to advance within a certain timeline or face discharge.
The upcoming contract award for the future aircraft carrier Enterprise (CVN-80) will be part of DoD’s six pilot programs seeking to award major contracts faster, reports USNI. The pilots seek contracts signed within 210 days of issuance of the RFP, the ultimate goal 180 days. The other five pilots are the Missile Defense Agency’s Standard Missile program, the Air Force’s C-130-J retrofit kits, the Japanese Global Hawk foreign military sales program, and two classified programs.
During a nine-hour Hack the Air Force event in New York City, Air Force Times reports 25 civilian hackers from seven countries, along with seven airmen, uncovered 55 vulnerabilities in the Air Force’s networks. The ethical hackers collected $26,883 from the Air Force for the loopholes discovered.
Boeing releases a photo of its MQ-25 tanker drone, reports Defense News. The aircraft is scheduled for engine runs by the end of the year at its St. Louis, Missouri, facility before moving on to deck-handling demos early next year.
Former Navy pilot describes UFO encounter studied by secret Pentagon program, reports The Washington Post. The Pentagon acknowledged last week a recent program studying unidentified flying objects.
Yemen rebels fire a second ballistic missile at the Saudi capital, reports The New York Times. Saudi officials said that the missile had been intercepted and that there were no casualties. A Saudi-led coalition has been bombing Yemen rebels known as the Houthis for two and a half years. UN officials consider the resulting humanitarian crisis among the worst in the world.
This will be the last Morning Coffee news compilation posting through the holidays. The morning news posts will resume Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018. Holiday photos from our troops around the globe will fill the Morning Coffee slot through the holiday. To start that off, here is Aviation Week’s photo gallery of combat ready aircraft from its 2017 photo contest.
Contracts:
JPATS Logistics Services LLC, Cape Canaveral, Florida, has been awarded a single award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a five-year ordering period and a maximum value of $2,200,000,000 for the Joint Primary Aircraft Training System T-6 contractor operated and maintained base supply (COMBS) services, which will provide a full spectrum of transparent supply chain management services to support safe, flyable T-6 aircraft to meet users’ daily flight schedules, consistent with Department of Defense and commercial sector best practices in procuring, producing and delivering products and services to customers. These supply chain management activities include, but are not limited to, managing supply and demand, sourcing parts, assembly, disposal, warehousing and inventory tracking, order entry and order management, distribution across all channels, and delivery to the customer. This effort is required in support of COMBS for the Air Force, Navy, and Army T-6A/B/D Texan II aircraft program. Work will be performed at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi; Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas; Randolph Air Force Base, Texas; Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas; Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma; Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida; Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Florida; Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas; Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland; and US Army Aviation Flight Test Directorate, Redstone, Alabama. Work is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2022. The award is the result of a competitive acquisition, and four offers were received. Fiscal 2018 operations and maintenance; operations and maintenance (Navy), and operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $10,510,542 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8617-18-D-6213).
Antech Systems Inc., Chesapeake, Virginia, is being awarded a $48,579,373 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence (C4I) operational maintenance and engineering training services to the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division. Services to be provided include technical, engineering, and training support related to in-service product design and development; standards based operations and maintenance data archives; safety improvement tools; analysis of data processes; policy implementation; standards compliance; performance aids and product tools; and project estimating and scheduling. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia (80 percent); and St. Inigoes, Maryland (20 percent), and is expected to be completed in March 2023. No funds will be obligated at time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposal; one offeror was received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland is the contracting activity (N00421-18-D-0010).
Truston Technologies Inc., Annapolis, Maryland (N39430-14-D-1497); Sound & Sea Technology Inc., Lynnwood, Washington (N39430-14-D-1498); GPA Technologies Inc., Ventura, California (N39430-14-D-1499); PCCI Inc., Alexandria, Virginia (N39430-14-D-1500); and Oasis LLC, Lexington, Massachusetts (N39430-14-D-1501), is being awarded a $13,500,000 firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to increase the maximum dollar value of a multiple award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide worldwide ocean engineering services. The work to be performed provides for ocean engineering services in support of projects involving ocean cable systems and ocean work systems, such as shipboard load handling systems and undersea work systems. Contractors will also provide waterfront facilities, offshore structures, moorings and ocean construction equipment. The work will be performed in environments ranging from arctic to tropic and at all water depths where construction, installation, maintenance, inspection, repair, and salvage operations may be needed. After award of this modification, the total cumulative contract value will be $112,500,000. Work will be performed at various Navy and Marine Corps facilities worldwide, and is expected to be completed by March 2018. No funds will be obligated at time of award; funds will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued. Task orders will be primarily funded by fiscal 2018 working capital funds (Navy). The Naval Facilities and Engineering Expeditionary Warfare Center, Port Hueneme, California, is the contracting activity.
Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services, Indianapolis, Indiana, is being awarded a $9,530,272 cost-plus-fixed-fee basic ordering agreement (BOA) task order N6339418F0014 under a previously awarded contract (N00024-16-G-5437) for engineering services, overhaul, repair and upgrade in support of the NATO Sea Sparrow Surface Missile System. This task order is to provide all necessary personnel, materials and services required to overhaul, repair, modify, upgrade and/or maintain parts, items and components of the NATO Sea Sparrow Surface Missile System, equipment and all other associated test, ancillary and support equipment as furnished to the contractor by the government. Performance of such overhaul/repair services shall be in accordance with the requirements described and set forth in each applicable technical repair standard. Work will be performed in Yorktown, Virginia (90 percent); and various places below one percent (10 percent), and is expected to be completed by December 2018. iscal 2018 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $50,000 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This BOA order was not competitively procured, in accordance with 10 US Code 2304(c)(1) as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1 – only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Naval Surface Warfare Center Port Hueneme Division, Port Hueneme, California, is the contracting activity.
Thales Defense and Security Inc., Clarksburg, Maryland, is being awarded $7,723,840 for undefinitized contract action delivery order N00383-18-F-AQ01 under previously awarded basic ordering agreement N00383-18-F-AQ01 for repair of one weapon repairable assembly on the airborne low frequency sonar system Sonar Dome, which is required to support the H-60 helicopter. Work will be performed in Clarksburg, Maryland (50 percent); and Valbonne, France (50 percent). The work is expected to be completed by December 2019. Fiscal 2018 working capital funds (Navy) in the amount of $3,784,682 will be obligated at the time of award. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This sole-source contract was not competitively procured in accordance with statutory authority 10 US Code 2304(c)(5)(1). NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity.
Enterprise Services LLC, Herndon, Virginia, was awarded a $10,042,723 modification (BA0242) to contract W91QUZ-06-D-0013 for system development integration support services, in support of Program Executive Office Enterprise Information Services Product Director Army Human Resource Systems. Work will be performed in Herndon, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 24, 2018. Fiscal 2018 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $819,240 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, New Jersey, is the contracting activity.
CAE USA Inc. was awarded a $7,487,966 firm-fixed-price contract for the upgrade of the existing Abrams M1A1 engine diagnostic and troubleshooting trainers (ED/TT) at Ft. Benning, Georgia; Ft. Lee, Virginia; and Gowen Field, Idaho, to the M1A2 SEPv2 configuration over a three-year period. Bids were solicited via the Internet with three received. Work will be performed in Tampa, Florida, with an estimated completion date of July 12, 2019. Fiscal 2017 other procurement (Army) funds in the amount of $7,487,966 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, New Jersey, is the contracting activity (W900KK-18-C-0016).
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Herndon, Virginia was awarded a $7,436,344 modification (P00007) to contract W15QKN-17-F-0006 for continued Army Knowledge Online Enterprise services operations and maintenance services. Work will be performed in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of June 16, 2019. Fiscal 2018 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $7,436,344 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, New Jersey, is the contracting activity.
