March 29, 2024

Two Killed in Crash of Navy T-6B Texan II

T-6B Texan II

Morning Coffee is a robust blend of links to news around the internet concerning the Naval Air Station Patuxent River Morning Coffee logoeconomic community. The opinions expressed here do not reflect opinions of the Leader’s owners or staff.

An instructor pilot and a student aviator aboard a US Navy T-6B Texan II were killed Friday when the two-seat airplane crashed in Alabama, CNN reports. They were flying out of Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Florida. The student was identified as Ensign Morgan Garrett of North Carolina, reports Navy Times. The T-6B Texan II is a tandem-seat, turboprop trainer whose primary mission is to train Navy and Marine Corps pilots, according to the Navy.

The F-35As at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska now carry Artic survival kits, reports Air Force Magazine. Sleeping bags and other cold-weather gear are now attached to the jets’ ejection seats.

Israel won’t object to the sale of F-35s to the United Arab Emirates, reports Bloomberg. DefSec Mark Esper met last week with Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz. Reuters reports that an Israeli official said that a US sale of F-35s to Qatar could be possible despite Israel’s objections to such a deal given the Gulf state’s links to Iran and Palestinian Hamas.

US allies in Europe and Canada have increased defense spending on NATO for a sixth consecutive year but most of them are still falling short of their targets, reports The Associated Press. France will reach its spending goal, reports Reuters.

An amendment to the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act could put a hold on the removing of troops from Germany, reports Military Times. Plans had been announced during the summer that about 12,000 troops would be repositioned, NPR reported in July.

FBI and Homeland Security officials said that Russian hackers have targeted the networks of dozens of state and local governments in the US in recent days, stealing data from at least two servers, reports The Associated Press. A federal government advisory said the Russian state-sponsored actor involved in the cyberattacks is known variously as Berserk Bear, Energetic Bear, TeamSpy, Dragonfly, Havex, Crouching Yeti, and Koala, reports UPI.

 

 

The Louisiana National Guard has been called in to stem cyberattacks on local government offices there, reports Politico. While there are no indications that the attacks were part of an effort to compromise election systems, officials worry that hackers might be testing the states’ defenses ahead of possible disinformation or sabotage efforts closer to the election.

The Trump administration blacklisted five Iranian entities including its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Crops for meddling in the upcoming US presidential election, reports UPI. This comes a day after US intelligence officials blamed Iran for conducting an email campaign attempting to intimidate Democratic voters.

Early voting begins today, Oct. 26, in Maryland. More than 1.6 Marylanders requested mail-in ballots by the Oct. 13 deadline, and more than 45% have returned them, reports The Baltimore Sun. Find information on St. Mary’s County’s vote centers and drop box locations here.

Gov. Larry Hogan said late last week that the state will double its economic recovery and relief efforts for small businesses by tapping into the state’s rainy day fund, reports WTOP News.

Maryland school systems are making plans for getting students back into the classrooms. Maryland Matters has updates from all 24 school districts on the state of their reopening plans.

Marine Corps MAJ Patrick Richardson flew the last AH-1W Super Cobra flight out of Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans earlier this month, reports We Are the Mighty. After 34 years of service and more than 930,000 flight hours, the Super Cobra attack helicopter has been retired.

South Korea says it has discovered defects on a newly acquired Global Hawk drone from the US, reports UPI. As part of a 2011 $847.2 million deal, South Korea purchased four RQ-4 Block 30 Global Hawk remotely piloted aircraft.

Spain is the latest European country to move to buy more Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets, reports The Drive. The Spanish Air Force is looking to replace its 20 oldest EF-18 Hornets.

DoD civilian employees would be able to shop at military exchanges, under a policy change working its way through the final stages of the approval process, reports Military Times.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has released its 2020 juvenile striped bass index, reports Chesapeake Bay Magazine. The results of the rockfish spawning survey — which tracks the reproductive success of the fish in a given year — aren’t good; they are even worse than last year.

Entomologists in Washington state have found the first “murder hornet” nest in the US, reports The Hill. Inclement weather thwarted plans to destroy the nest, reports the Washington State Department of Agriculture.

Howard County, MD, resident and World War II veteran Millie Bailey celebrated her 102nd birthday by going skydiving, reports CNN. Among her military awards are the Women’s Army Corps Medal, World War II Victory Medal, and American Theater Medal.

Green Berets with 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) practice self-recovery from a glacial crevasse on Oct. 15, 2020, during Valor United 20, an Arctic warfare training exercise in Seward, AK. (US Army photo by Sgt. Kayla Hocker)

Contracts:

Bell Boeing Joint Project Office, California, Maryland, has been awarded an estimated $27,897,619 firm-fixed-price requirements contract for removal, repair and replacement of V-22 spindle bearings. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 US Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a four-year contract with no option periods. Locations of performance are Maryland and Texas, with an Oct. 23, 2024, performance completion date. Using military services are Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2025 Navy and Special Operations Command operations and maintenance funding. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency, Aviation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPRPA1-17-D-009U).

Guidehouse LLP, McLean, Virginia, has been awarded a $15,697,724 firm-fixed-price, labor-hours, and time and material contract. The operation support services contract provides audit and data analytics support to the deputy chief financial officer of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller). Fiscal 2021 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $15,697,724 are being obligated at the time of award. The expected completion date is Oct. 25, 2025. Washington Headquarters Services, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HQ0034-19-A-0017).

Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia, is awarded a $149,238,311 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract containing cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost reimbursement and firm-fixed-price provisions. This contract provides services and supplies for the operation of the Naval Array Technical Support Center facility. Work will be performed in Newport, Rhode Island (99%); and Reston, Virginia; and Virginia Beach, Virginia (each location less than 1%), and is expected to be completed in November 2025. Service Cost Center funding (a type of overhead funding that is not authorized/appropriated in a particular fiscal year) in the amount of $13,837,718 will be obligated on the first task order and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured using full and open competition via the Federal Business Opportunities website with four offers received in response to solicitation no. N66604-19-R-0182. The Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Newport, Rhode Island, is the contracting activity (N66604-21-D-A000).

Raytheon Co., Tewksbury, Massachusetts, is awarded a $12,699,161 ceiling increase and a 21-day period of performance extension modification to previously awarded, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract N65236-18-C-8009 for Cross Domain Maritime Surveillance and Targeting. Work will be performed in Tewksbury, Massachusetts (53%); Cambridge, Massachusetts (24%); San Diego, California (10%); Woburn, Massachusetts (7%); Portsmouth, Rhode Island (5%); and Arlington, Virginia (1%), and is expected to be completed by November 2021. This modification brings the total cumulative value of the contract to $53,456,317. Fiscal 2020 research, development, testing, and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,527,793 will be obligated at time of award. Funds will not expire at the end of the fiscal year. The Naval Information Warfare Center, Atlantic, Charleston, South Carolina, is the contracting activity.

WGL Energy Services Inc., Vienna, Virginia (SPE604-21-D-7500, $35,243,557); Direct Energy Business Marketing LLC, Iselin, New Jersey (SPE604-21-D-7505, $22,671,935); Enspire Energy LLC, Chesapeake, Virginia (SPE604-21-D-7504, $16,476,727); and UGI Energy Services Inc., Wyomissing, Pennsylvania (SPE604-21-D-7502, $12,570,456), have each been awarded a fixed‐price with economic‐price-adjustment contract under solicitation SPE604-20-R-0407 for natural gas. These were competitive acquisitions with seven offers received. These are two-year contracts with no option periods. Locations of performance are Delaware; Maryland; Washington, DC; Virginia; Massachusetts; New York; New Jersey; Pennsylvania; and Maryland, with a March 31, 2023, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, National Guard, Coast Guard, and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2023 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency, Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

National Industries for the Blind, Alexandria, Virginia, has been awarded a maximum $13,676,269 modification (P00014) exercising the fourth one-year option period of a one-year base contract (SPE1C1-17-D-B003) with four one-year option periods for advanced combat helmet pad suspension systems. This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Locations of performance are Virginia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina, with an Oct. 26, 2021, ordering period end date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2022 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Perspecta Engineering Inc., Chantilly, Virginia, is awarded a $17,890,322 task order on an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide mission system engineering and integration support for the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 0 capabilities. The awardee will provide overall technical leadership for integrating Tranche 0 elements and executing on-orbit tests and experiments, culminating in a Capstone event which demonstrates potential capabilities to the warfighter. Work will be performed in Chantilly, Virginia; Valley Forge, Pennsylvania; Blossom Point, Maryland; Colorado Springs, Colorado; El Segundo, California; Huntsville, Alabama; Melbourne, Florida; and Space Development Agency, Washington, DC. This award was made based on specifications in the Tranche 0 Mission Systems Engineering and Integration request for proposal HQ0850-20-R-0004. Funds obligated at the time of award are defense-wide fiscal 2021 research, development, test and evaluation funds. Space Development Agency, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity (HQ0850-21-F-0001).

General Dynamics Mission Systems Inc., San Antonio, Texas, has been awarded a $7,869,884 modification (P00053) to previously awarded contract HR0011-16-C-0001 for classified information technology services. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $167,187,910 from $159,318,026. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia, with an expected completion date of February 2021. Fiscal 2020 research and development funds in the amount of $7,428,876 are being obligated at time of award. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity.

Leave A Comment