Though Under Scrutiny, F-35 Here to Stay

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.

Lockheed’s F-35 stealth fighter is here to stay, reports Bloomberg.com. President Trump assailed the jet’s cost, but only a modest order by the US Navy is really in question.

US Pacific Command leader Navy ADM Harry Harris Jr., attending the West 2017 meeting of top brass and security experts, says the US must retain credible combat power with its partners and allies, The San Diego Union-Tribune reports, “to preserve unimpeded access to all the shared domains — sea, air, land, space, and cyber. And the time to act is now, for I believe we’re approaching an inflection point in history.”

C4ISRNET.com reports, the No. 1 mission of the Navy’s Cyber Command is defense to enable commanders at all levels and in all domains to trust the data at hand. The Navy maintains 20 cyber protection teams.

Newly sworn-in VA Secretary David Shulkin promises to crack down on underperforming Veterans Affairs employees, Military Times reports. He also promised to work with Congress on new accountability legislation and to also be an advocate for VA workers.

The Trump administration seeks to allay growing fears among immigrant communities, insisting they do not intend “mass deportations,” reports The Washington Post. In a conference call with reporters, a senior Department of Homeland Security official moved to avert what he called a “sense of panic” among immigrant communities.

Wells Fargo & Co has fired four mid-level executives and stripped them of bonuses and stock awards as a result of an investigation into improper sales practices in its retail bank. The board of directors voted unanimously to fire them for cause as part of its investigation into employees opening as many as 2 million deposit and credit card accounts without customers’ permission.

Defense One reports, Trump’s new national security advisor, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster is not a fan of committing troops to action if they, or their allies, can’t hold the territory they seize — in his terms, “consolidate their gains.” His previous comments suggest that he’s skeptical of surgical special operations raids and drone strikes absent a realistic plan to change political realities on the ground.

China nears completion of almost two dozen structures on artificial islands in the South China Sea that appear designed to hold long-range surface-to-air missiles, reports Reuters. The development could prove an an early test of Trump, the US has vowed to take a tough line on China in the South China Sea. Navy Times reports the carrier Carl Vinson arrived in the South China Sea Saturday with a patrol mission as the Trump administration works out its policy in the region.

The SpaceX Dragon cargo ship launched Sunday aborted its rendezvous with the International Space Station, reports CBS News. A GPS uproblem is blamed as the culprit and a re-rendezvous attempt is scheduled today, Thursday. At the time of the abort, the Dragon was less than a mile below the station, beginning the to allow European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet to  capture the craft with the station’s robot arm.

The Washington Examiner reports on why military base closures could actually happen this time.

A majority of Americans are concerned that the US will be embroiled in another major war over the course of Trump’s term, The Hill reports on an NBC News/Survey Monkey online poll.

Contracts:

General Dynamics – Mission Systems, Scottsdale, Arizona (FA8307-17-D-0006); Harris Corp., Rochester, New York (FA8307-17-D-0007); L-3 Systems Corp., Camden, New Jersey (FA8307-17-D-0008); Leidos Inc., Columbia, Maryland (FA8307-17-D-0009); Raytheon, El Segundo, California (FA8307-17-D-0010); Sypris Electronics LLC, Tampa, Florida (FA8307-17-D-0011); ViaSat Inc., Carlsbad, California (FA8307-17-D-0012) have been awarded a combined, not-to-exceed $875,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Contractor will provide total lifecycle support of cryptographic and information assurance related products and will include contracted activities during materiel solutions analysis, technology maturation and risk reduction, engineering and manufacturing development, production, and product support. Work will be performed primarily at contractor’s location. The work expected to be complete by Dec. 15, 2026.  This award is the result of a competitive acquisition with seven offers received. Fiscal 2016 research, development, test, and evaluation funds in the amount of $5,000 are being obligated to each company at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Joint Base San Antonio- Lackland, Texas, is the contracting activity.

Arkham Technology Ltd., Irvine, California (FA8307-17-D-0001); Innoflight Inc., San Diego, California (FA8307-17-D-0002); Innove LLC, Boerne, Texas (FA8307-17-D-0003); P E Systems Inc., Fairfax, Virginia (FA8307-17-D-0004); X Technologies Inc., San Antonio, Texas (FA8307-17-D-0005), have been awarded a combined, not-to-exceed $50,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Contractor will provide the Cryptologic and Cyber Systems Division materiel solution analysis and related efforts for cryptographic and information assurance products. Work will be performed primarily at contractor’s location. The work expected to be complete by Dec. 15, 2026.  This award is the result of a competitive acquisition with five offers received. Fiscal 2016 research, development, test, and evaluation funds in the amount of $5,000 are being obligated to each company at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Joint Base San Antonio- Lackland, Texas, is the contracting activity.