Trump Reviewing Drone Export Policy

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.

President Donald Trump’s administration has launched a review of the US’s drone export policy, Military Times reports, with expectations in industry that the administration will make it easier to export US-manufactured systems.

The search for three Marines missing after a mishap Saturday near the east coast of Australia has been called off, reports USA Today. The three were among 26 personnel aboard an Osprey aircraft participating in a joint military training exercise held by the US and Australia.

The flight deck crews on the USS Gerald R. Ford, fresh from the success of four successful recoveries and launches July 28 are itching to get another go at flight ops in the near future, Military Times reports.

The US Navy has plans to develop a new supersonic aerial target to replace its AQM-37s, the latest supersonic target effort following the cancellation of the Multi-Stage Supersonic Target GQM-173, reports Flight Global.

With the US minimizing efforts to topple the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iraq expressing weariness of the US’s extended presence in its country, Russia has become an increasingly important power broker in the region, reports Newsweek.

Military Times reports President Trump is withholding approval of a long-delayed Afghanistan war strategy and is considering a shakeup in his national security team as he searches for a “game changer” after 16 years of conflict.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) last week criticized the Trump administration’s handling of the Afghanistan war, The Hill reports, saying the White House has failed to provide strategic guidance since President Trump took office.

The HOOK3, General Dynamics’ new combat survival radio, provides direct line-of-sight voice and encrypted two-way data communications for downed pilots, C4ISRNET reports. It also automatically activates and then transmits location data when it detects specific G-forces or the presence of salt water.

Speaking before an audience at the Air Force Association’s Mitchell Institute, Gen. Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, discusses what the standards and actions are governing the event of a nuclear war, reports Breaking Defense.

Approval has been granted for a $593 million foreign military sale to Nigeria, Defense News reports, as that country continues its campaign against the militant group Boko Haram. That deal will include 12 A-29 Super Tucano light-attack aircraft.

Col. Denise Donnell will be the first woman to command a wing of the New York Air National Guard, Daily Freeman reports. She served as an evaluator pilot, a mission commander, a quality assurance officer, and eventually as operational test director for Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 1 at NAS Pax River.

Cadet Simone Askew of Fairfax, Virginia, has been selected first captain of the West Point Corps of Cadets for the upcoming academic year, Army Times reports. This is the first time in the academy’s history an African-American woman will take the top position in West Point’s cadet chain of command.

Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, Ohio (W911NF-17-D-0011); CACI Inc.-Federal, Chantilly, Virginia (W911NF-17-D-0013); Envistacom LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (W911NF-17-D-0014); Fulcrum IT Services LLC, Centreville, Virginia (W911NF-17-D-0015); Harris Corp., Herndon, Virginia (W911NF-17-D-0016); Janus Research Group Inc., Appling, Georgia (W911NF-17-D-0017); Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia (W911NF-17-D-0018); Manufacturing Techniques Inc., Kilmarnock, Virginia (W911NF-17-D-0019); and WinTec Arrowmaker, Fort Washington, Maryland (W911NF-17-D-0020), will share in a $480,000,000 order-dependent contract to provide technical development, technical and operational integration. Bids were solicited via the Internet with 15 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 3, 2022. US Army Contracting Command, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, is the contracting activity.

Veterans Construction Enterprises LLC, Norfolk, Virginia, has been awarded a $45,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for multi-disciplinary maintenance, repair and minor construction work in support of Joint Base Lewis-McChord Public Works and other customers supported by the Seattle District US Army Corps of Engineers. Bids were solicited via the Internet with 21 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 3, 2020. US Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle, Washington, is the contracting activity (W912DW-17-D-1008).

Rockwell Collins, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been awarded a $7,441,246 contract for contractor logistics support for the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) aircrew training device. This contract provides simulation and training for JSTARS aircrew training device. Work will be performed in Sterling, Virginia, and Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, and is expected to be completed by Feb. 4, 2020. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2017 Air National Guard funds in the amount of $7,441,246 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Robins AFB, Georgia, is the contracting activity (FA8529-17-C-0003).

Huntington Ingalls Inc., Newport News Shipbuilding Division (HII-NNS), Newport News, Virginia, is being awarded a $36,447,717 cost-plus-fixed fee, cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for maintenance and modernization onboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) during the fiscal 2017 planned incremental availability at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. Work will be performed in Portsmouth, Virginia (88 percent); and Newport News, Virginia (12 percent), and is expected to be completed by March 2018. Fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance (Navy); and fiscal 2017 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $29,188,324 and $7,000,000, respectively, will be obligated at time of award, and $29,188,324 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 US Code 2304 (c)(1) – only one responsible source, Huntington Ingalls Inc., Newport News Shipbuilding Division, will satisfy the Navy’s requirement to support certain nuclear ship alterations and propulsion plant maintenance during the planned incremental availability. The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N42158-17-C-0002).

Six 3 Advanced Systems Inc., doing business as BIT Systems Inc., Dulles, Virginia, is being awarded a $29,848,193 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, performance based contract (N65236-17-D-8009) with provisions for cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price task orders.  This contract is for life cycle support for the Red Falcon systems installed on Navy ships and shore stations to include engineering, technical support services, software upgrades and maintenance, and depot level repair in support of Ship’s Signal Exploitation Equipment Increment F and Cryptologic Carry On Program. The work includes providing quick reaction responses to modifications and upgrades to enhance capabilities against agile and evolutionary threats including engineering analysis and recommendations for technical refresh that will help the war fighter and the critical Foreign Instrumentation Signals Intelligence sensors be active and ready for all Navy activities. The contract includes a single five-year ordering period. Funds in the amount of $1,130,400 will be placed on the first delivery order and obligated at the time of award. Work will be performed in Dulles, Virginia, and is expected to be complete by August 2022. Fiscal 2015 other procurement (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $1,130,400 will be obligated at the time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured because it is a sole source acquisition pursuant to the authority of 10 US Code 2304(c)(1) – only one responsible source (Federal Acquisition Regulation Subpart 6.302-1). Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Atlantic, Charleston, South Carolina, is the contracting activity.

Geodesicx Inc., Chesapeake, Virginia, is being awarded an $11,472,892 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for test and evaluation support, independent verification and validation, configuration management, software quality assurance, web site maintenance, and other support services for Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific (SSC Pacific). This is one of seven multiple award contracts. All awardees will have the opportunity to compete for task orders during the ordering period. This two-year contract includes three one-year option which, if exercised, would bring the potential value of this contract to an estimated $59,618,564. Work will be performed in San Diego (90 percent); and at the contractor’s facilities in Virginia (10 percent), and is expected to be completed Aug. 2, 2019. No funds will be obligated at the time of award.  Funds will be obligated as task orders are issued using research, development, test and evaluation (Navy); and operations and maintenance (Navy) funding. This contract was competitively procured via request for proposal N6601-16-R-0019 published on the Federal Business Opportunities website and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command e-Commerce Central website. Nine offers were received and seven were selected for award. SSC Pacific, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N66001-17-D-0206).

Leidos Innovations Corp., Gaithersburg, Maryland, is being awarded a $7,161,834 cost-only modification to previously awarded contract N00024-16-C-5202 to exercise the option for spares and hardware in support of the Navy’s AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 surface ship undersea warfare systems. The AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 is a surface ship undersea warfare combat system with the capabilities to search, detect, classify, localize and track undersea contacts, and to engage and evade submarines, mine-like small objects and torpedo threats. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by July 2018. Foreign military sales; fiscal 2015, 2016, and 2017 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy ); and fiscal 2017 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $7,161,834 will be obligated at the time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.

Z Systems Corp., Greenbelt, Maryland, was awarded a $20,165,030 modification (0001) to contract W52P1J-12-G-0036 for maintenance, supply, and transportation services. Work will be performed in Fort Hood, Texas, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 7, 2018. Fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $20,165,030 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Rock Island, Illinois, is the contracting activity.

URS Federal Services Inc., Germantown, Maryland, was awarded a $14,157,454 modification (0003) to contract W52P1J-12-G-0028 for maintenance, supply and transportation logistics support services associated with Army Prepositioned Stock-5. Work will be performed in Kuwait, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 2, 2018. Fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $14,157,454 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity.

URS Federal Services Inc., Germantown, Maryland, was awarded a $12,138,173 modification (000214) to contract W52P1J-12-G-0028 for maintenance, supply and transportation logistics support services associated with Army Prepositioned Stock-2. Work will be performed in Germany, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 20, 2021. Fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $12,138,173 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity.