Turkey Lobbies for Return to F-35 JSF Program

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 Turkish government has hired a US law firm to lobby its case to be readmitted to the US F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, reports Reuters. Turkey was booted from the program in 2019 after purchasing air missile defense systems from Russia, the BBC reported at the time.

A supply ship headed to the International Space Station was named after Black NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson who was featured in the movie “Hidden Figures,” reports The Associated Press. Johnson died last year. She was 101. The launch took place on Saturday from Wallops Island, VA. The Cygnus cargo ship arrived at the ISS on Monday, reports space.com.

Keep up to date on images from NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover mission. The largest, most advanced rover NASA has sent to another world touched down on Mars last Thursday, after a 203-day journey traveling 293 million miles, reports NASA.

Boeing recommends some 777 planes in its operating fleet be grounded for inspections after an engine failure aboard a United Airlines flight on Saturday in Denver, reports Reuters. This latest incident isn’t the start of another 737 MAX debacle, The Wall Street Journal reports.

DefSec Lloyd Austin says that the Defense Department needs to do more to stop sex crimes in the military, reports The Washington Post. “We have been looking at this for a long time in earnest, but we haven’t gotten it right,” Austin said. The latest DoD report released last year found there was a 3% increase in reports of sexual assaults in the military in 2019, reports Daily News.

During his first news conference as Pentagon chief, Austin said peace in Afghanistan and an end to US military involvement there depends on the Taliban reducing attacks, reports US News & World Report. He also called for more help from NATO in addressing threats posed by China, reports National Defense.

Three rockets fell near the US embassy in Baghdad, reports Politico. The attack Monday, Feb. 22, was the third such attack in Iraq in a week. On Feb. 15, officials reported that three 107 mm rockets struck an Iraqi airbase where US forces are based, Military Times reports. One US-led coalition contractor was killed and a US service member and others were injured.

A Pentagon report found that the Marine Corps has the most hazing reports of the services, reports Marine Corps Times. The 2018 report found that 256 of 291 hazing complaints came from the Marine Corps, while 91 of the 102 substantiated hazing incidents belonged to the corps.

The decision to relocate the US Space Command from Colorado to Alabama is getting a review by the Department of Defense inspector general, reports Military Times. Former President Donald Trump made the decision to move the command in mid-January. Colorado officials have asked President Joe Biden to reconsider the decision.

 

 

The Dwight D. Eisenhower strike group has headed out on its second deployment in a year, reports Navy Times. The deployment also comes after the aging aircraft carrier experienced myriad mechanical problems at sea during its recent pre-deployment exercises.

The USS Tornado, USS Sharmal, and USS Tornado have been retired, reports UPI. By decommissioning these Cyclone-class patrol boats, the US Navy reduces the number of vessels in the class from 13 to zero.

Indonesia is planning to buy eight Boeing F-15EX fighters, reports Air Force Magazine, expecting to take delivery by 2022.

Croatia has shown interest in purchasing F-35 jets, reports Business Insider. Croatia is evaluating US, French, and Swedish offers for fighter jets as it looks to modernize its air force.

Space News reports that Raytheon will challenge Lockheed Martin’s $4.4 billion plan to purchase Aerojet Rocketdyne.

A T-38 Talon crashed late last week at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi, reports Military.com. Two people were killed, an instructor pilot identified as Scot Ames Jr. and an unidentified student pilot. The aircraft belonged to the14th Flying Training Wing at Columbus.

About a quarter of the Navy’s active-duty sailors have received one or two shots of the COVID-19 vaccines, reports Navy Times.

COVID hospitalizations in Maryland have dropped by more than half after hitting a peak in January, reports WTOP.com. It’s the first time since mid-November that coronavirus hospitalizations in the state have been below 1,000.

Defense One Editor in Chief Tom Shoop recalls his father’s time at NAS Pax River. Photographer’s Mate Jim Shoop played baseball in the early 1950s for the Patuxent River Bombers. The elder Shoop met Army draftee Willie Mays on the ballfield when Mays played with the Fort Eustis Wheels.

What started as a base resident at NAS Corpus Christi wanting to save some injured birds during recent storms there, led to an effort to rescue nearly 1,000 cold-stunned sea turtles, reports Navy Times.

Contracts:

The US Transportation Command awarded a firm-fixed-price contract (HTC711-21-DR008) in the amount of $15,408,182 with Virginia International Terminals LLC. The contract’s performance consists of stevedoring and related terminal services at the Ports of Virginia. Specifically, work will be performed at Norfolk International Terminals; Hampton Roads Harbor; Portsmouth Marine Terminal; and Newport News Marine Terminal. The contract period of performance is from Feb. 21, 2021, to Feb. 20, 2026. Fiscal 2021 transportation working capital funds will be obligated at task order award. The US Transportation Command, Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Feb. 19, 2021)