Ukraine: Biggest NAVWAR Ever
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NAVWAR is the use of space and cyberspace to disrupt a military’s positioning, navigation, and timing. “What we’re seeing in Ukraine now is the largest NAVWAR confrontation ever seen,” says LTGEN John Shaw, Space Command’s deputy commander. Shaw said the US is learning space and cyber lessons from the confrontations and also from Russian cyberattacks that caused a satcom outage in central and western Europe and satcom jamming causing communications interference between satellites, reports The Hill.
The US has agreed in principle to provide Turkey with additional Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters, shortly after a pledge by Ankara to support Sweden’s entrance into the NATO military alliance, reports Flight Global.com. The development came as heads of state from the 31-member Euro-Atlantic military bloc met in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Turkey’s prime minister agreed to send the necessary documents to the Turkish Parliament for approval, for Sweden to join the UN, reports Military Times. Turkey wants the Nordic nations to crack down on groups it views as security threats before becoming NATO allies. Hungary has given no reason, but holds close ties with Russia and Prime Minister Viktor Orban has refused to provide weapons for Ukraine and argued against European Union sanctions on Moscow.
Also at the summit, NATO leaders said Ukraine should be able to join the military alliance at some point in the future but dashed Kyiv’s hopes for an immediate invitation, reports Reuters. The guarded statement irked Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. But NATO did reduce hurdles on Kyiv’s path into the alliance and pledged support for Ukraine for “as long as it takes.”
Japan and NATO are to agree on a new partnership program at the NATO Vilnius summit, according to Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, reports Reuters.
This week the House began work on the FY24 National Defense Authorization Act. On Monday the White House announced its opposition to the NDAA’s provisions for a new special inspector general for Ukraine aid and also provisions related to the US nuclear arsenal. The announcement also addressed the Pentagon’s cost assessment office drawn into a debate over Navy ship procurement, reports Defense News.
It’s unlikely the National Defense Administration Act will be brought to the House floor this week. When the House Rules Committee considered the bill on Tuesday, over 1,500 amendments were already filed for consideration, reports The Hill. And GOP leaders, who have a very small majority in the house, need more time to deal with GOP divisions over the bill. The committee reconvened late Tuesday night with a rule that clears 290 NDAA amendments for floor votes and leaves the other controversial amendments to be dealt with later.
Nearly 50,000 Russian men have died in the war in Ukraine, according to the first independent statistical analysis of Russia’s war dead. AP News reports, two independent Russian media outlets, Mediazona and Meduza, working with a data scientist from Germany’s Tübingen University, used Russian government data to shed light on one of Moscow’s closest-held secrets — its true human cost of its invasion of Ukraine.
President Vladimir Putin should worry, reports 19forty-five, Russia is becoming surrounded by F-35s. The latest country to join the F-35 community is the Czech Republic, joining Finland, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. And Greece has requested a squadron of 20 F-35Aswith the option to buy another 20.
Hackers suspected of working for Russia’s foreign intelligence agency targeted dozens of diplomats at embassies in Ukraine with a fake used car advertisement in a bid to break into their computers, according to a cybersecurity firm report published on Wednesday, reports Reuters.
Cuba’s government has decried the presence of a nuclear-powered submarine at the United States naval base in Guantanamo Bay, calling it a “provocative escalation,” reports Aljazeera. In a statement released on Tuesday, the Caribbean nation’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the sub had relocated to Guantanamo Bay on Wednesday and stayed until Saturday.
The Navy wants to contract out its first dismantling of a nuclear-powered ship, the aircraft carrier Enterprise (CVN-65), reports Breaking Defense. The Navy has published the final draft of its environmental impact statement assessing how it should go about dismantling the carrier. Preferring the commercial industry dispose of the nuclear components, the service says the other two alternatives, which would rely heavily on employing one of the public shipyards, would negatively impact the Navy’s ability to conduct maintenance on the operational fleet.
DEFSEC Lloyd J. Austin III begged lawmakers to end the months-long delay in confirming senior military leaders, in comments as former CMDR GEN. David H. Berger retired on July 10 without a confirmed successor. Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr.’s confirmation hearing to Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff began July 11. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) has stalled 200 general officer appointments to protest Pentagon policies retaining full reproductive health services for women wherever they’re posted.
Navy and Marine engineers successfully 3D-printed a medical cast aboard an airborne Marine Corps Osprey in June ― a technical innovation the Corps says could help save lives and limbs if widely deployed in combat zones, reports Marine Corps Times.
The Navy is developing a new “Iron Man” diving suit that aims to enhance diver safety and allow them to work longer and in deeper waters, reports Navy Times.
The Navy has identified the wreck of the WWII aircraft carrier USS Ommaney Bay hit by a Japanese kamikaze plane and destroyed near the Philippines in 1945. It is the latest in a series of recent discoveries, aided by technology, of sunken World War II warships, reports The Washington Post. Last year, the wreck of the destroyer USS Samuel B. Roberts was found in over 22,000 feet of water off the Philippine island of Samar.
Reuters reports, just in time for government chip subsidies, Applied Materials’ has updated manufacturing equipment and aims to boost chip production while reducing energy use. The US is poised to deploy tens of billions of dollars in subsidies on chip factories and European Union lawmakers are set to enact similar legislation.
Japanese automaker Toyota is shifting focus from passenger cars in the N American market to focus on selling hydrogen-powered trucks and cars in Europe and China. Reuters reports the switch is part of a push to sell 200,000 of these vehicles by 2030, executives said on Tuesday.
The interest rate on the most popular US home loan leapt back over 7% last week for the first time since last fall, reports Reuters. The average contract rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage jumped 22 basis points to 7.07% in the week ended July 7, the highest since November and within 10 basis points of last October’s two-decade high in home loan borrowing costs.
Contracts:
Structural Preservation Systems LLC, Columbia, Maryland, was awarded a $22,522,854 firm-fixed-price contract for Washington Aqueduct repair and cleaning. Bids were solicited via the web with four received. Work will be performed in Washington, D.C., with an estimated completion date of Oct. 2, 2024. Fiscal 2010 Washington Aqueduct Capital Improvement funds in the amount of $22,522,854 were obligated at the time of award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W912DR-23-C-0010).
Amentum Services Inc., Chantilly, Virginia, was awarded a $50,128,249 firm-fixed-price contract for fixed-wing aircraft life cycle services. Bids were solicited via the internet with five received. Work will be performed in Chantilly, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of July 11, 2029. Fiscal 2023 operation and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $50,128,249 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-23-C-0029).
Bay Marine JV LLC,* Chesapeake, Virginia, is awarded a $10,288,970 firm-fixed-price contract (N3220523C4029) for a 95-calendar day shipyard availability for the mid term availability of Military Sealift Command’s fleet replenishment oiler USNS Joshua Humphreys (T-AO 188). This contract includes a base period and three unexercised options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $10,746,650. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia, beginning Sept. 1, 2023, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 5, 2023. Working capital funds (Navy) in the amount of $10,288,970 are obligated for fiscal year 2023 and will not expire at the end of the fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the sam.gov website and six offers received. Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity.
The Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $19,030,955 firm-fixed-price, cost-reimbursable contract for B-52H software engineering services. This contract provides engineering expertise for the software on the B-52 aircraft. Work will be performed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and is expected to be completed by July 10, 2028. This award is the result of a sole source acquisition. Fiscal 2023 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $3,653,918 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity (FA8107-23-F-0003).
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Connecticut, was awarded a $21,832,566 modification (P00003) to a firm-fixed-price order (N6134022F7009) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N0001919G0029). This modification exercises an option to procure one CH53K containerized flight training device (2F243-2) and associated technical data based on low rate initial production Lot 4 configuration in support of CH-53K Phase II training system efforts. Work will be performed in Chantilly, Virginia (67%); Stratford, Connecticut (18%); and Orlando, Florida (15%), and is expected to be completed in September 2025. Fiscal 2023 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $21,832,566 will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity. (Awarded July 3, 2023)
Rockwell Collins Simulation and Training Solutions, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was awarded a $35,907,185 firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P00014) to a previously awarded contract (N6134021C0017). This modification adds scope to procure software integration lab Windows 11 upgrade; CORE simulation applications; E-2D distributed readiness trainer device 15F17 S/N 7; Delta Software System Configuration (DSSC)-5; aircrew software development; and the DSSC concurrency gap effort in support of the E-2D Hawkeye Integrated Training Systems (HITS) flight, tactics, and maintenance devices. Additionally, this modification provides for associated technical data, computer software and computer software documentation, and initial spares. Work will be performed in Sterling, Virginia (60%); Orlando, Florida (25%), Point Mugu, California (10%), and Norfolk, Virginia (5%), and is expected to be completed in July 2026. Fiscal 2023 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $20,878,979; and fiscal 2023 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $15,028,206 will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity. (Awarded July 6, 2023)
Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Moorestown, New Jersey, is awarded an $18,599,431 firm-fixed-price modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-23-C-5325 to exercise options for the MK 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) Production in support of MK 41 VLS production requirements. This modification combines purchases for the Navy (65%); and the governments of Korea (27%), Australia (7%), and Canada (1%), under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. Work will be performed in Moorestown, New Jersey (31%); Indianapolis, Indiana (27%); Saginaw, Michigan (7%); Farmingdale, New York (6%); St. Peters, Missouri (3%); San Jose, California (2%); Radford, Virginia (1%); and various other locations (23%), and is expected to be completed by June 2027. Fiscal 2023 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $12,143,716 (65%); FMS (Korea) funds in the amount $4,894,205 (27%); FMS (Australia) funds in the amount $1,343,546 (7%); and FMS (Canada) funds in the amount $217,964 (1%) will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-23-C-5325).
