Trump Says F-35 JSF Deal Cut by $600M

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 said on Monday his administration had been able to cut $600 million from the latest deal to buy about 90 Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, Reuters reports. The president has criticized the stealth jet program for cost overruns. Business Insider reports that Lockheed did not clarify how exactly Trump aided the process.

The Air Force is excited that the F-35A will join the Red Flag war games in Nevada, The National Interest reports. It is the first time the single-engine stealth fighter jet has participated in the exercise since it was declared operational last summer. “Our airmen are excited to bring the F-35 to a full-spectrum combat exercise,” said AF Col. David Lyons.

The first F-35C fighter jets to be based at Lemoore Naval Air Station in California were flown in last week, making Lemoore the first naval air base in the country to get the new generation of fighter jets, The Fresno Bee reports.

VADM Paul Grosklags, commander of the Naval Air Systems Command, paid a visit to Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in China Lake, California, ridgecrestca.com reports. The vice admiral met with workers about filling capability gaps for the warfighter. “What I encourage you all to do is think about applying critical thinking to your activities on a day-by-day, if not hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute basis,” he said. “We’re trying to change the culture of NAVAIR as an organization to accelerate how we get new products and capabilities to our sailors and Marines.”

Steve Bannon, President Trump’s top adviser, has been named to the National Security Council, ABC News reports. This comes after the president removed the director of national intelligence and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from the council.

Fifth Domain reports that a draft executive order from President Trump provides a three-pronged approach toward addressing cyberspace in the form of reviews, plus an additional report on how to encourage cybersecurity in the private sector. “Cyberwarfare is an emerging battlefield, and we must take every measure to safeguard our national security secrets and systems. We will make it a priority to develop defensive and offensive cyber capabilities at our US Cyber Command, and recruit the best and brightest Americans to serve in this crucial area,” reads a White House statement.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has asked the US not to store weapons in local camps under a defense pact, Military Times reports. Duterte said his country doesn’t want to get entangled if fighting erupts between China and the US.

A senior member of the European Parliament has endorsed President Trump’s call for an urgent reform of NATO, Defense News reports, saying the Western alliance needs revitalizing. The president has expressed skepticism toward NATO, calling it obsolete.

A member of the US military was killed Sunday during a raid against al-Qaida militants in central Yemen that also left nearly 30 others dead, the Associated Press reports. This is the first-known combat death of a member of the US military under President Trump.

Veterans Affairs officials have released a breakdown of what positions will be exempt from the recently enacted government-wide hiring freeze, Military Times reports, detailing a host of medical and psychological specialties. Exemptions were laid out in a VA memorandum.

Contracts:

Smartronix Inc., Hollywood, Maryland, is being awarded a $26,701,654 cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost reimbursable contract for services in support of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division’s Special Communications Mission Solutions Division. These services will support implementation of telecommunication and related communications-electronics (C-E) systems to enable efficient information exchange of voice, video and data.  Services to be provided include engineering, design, analysis, development, prototyping, modification, integration, verification, installation, training, testing, evaluation, logistics and hardware tracking support of telecommunication and related C-E systems, subsystems, and components. Work will be performed in Hollywood, Maryland (39 percent); St. Inigoes, Maryland (38 percent); San Diego, California (22 percent); and Boeblingen, Germany (1 percent), and is expected to be completed in January 2018. Fiscal 2017 working capital funds (Navy) in the amount of $1,497,040 will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 US Code 2304(c)(1). The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00421-17-C-0001).

St. Michael’s Inc., Woodbridge, Virginia, was awarded a $150,000,000 maximum ceiling, $2,500 minimum guarantee, cost-plus-fixed-fee, single-award, indefinite–delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Special Operations Command wide mission support services. Services include the following areas: engineering and technical, management support, program management, administrative, and professional services. The place of performance is multiple locations worldwide, both within the US and locations overseas, with an expected completion date of Jan. 30, 2022. The anticipated period of performance is  five years. Fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $2,500 are being obligated at time of award. 16 proposals were received in response to the solicitation. This is not a multi-year contract. U.S. Special Operations Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity (H92222-17-D-0004).

Q.E.D. Systems Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia, is being awarded a $33,469,116 cost modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-15-C-4400) to exercise options for third party advanced planning services in support of chief of naval operations availabilities, continuous maintenance availabilities (CMAVs), inactivation CMAVs, sustainment availabilities, phased modernization availabilities, re-commissioning availabilities, continuous maintenance and emergent maintenance window of opportunity for Navy surface combatant ship classes (CG 47/DDG 51). This contract includes modification contains options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $102,469,761. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia (66 percent); and San Diego, California (34 percent), and is expected to be completed by February 2018. Fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $1,756,300 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.