Ukraine Makes Plea for Weapons
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economic community. The opinions expressed here do not reflect opinions of the Leader’s owners or staff.
The list of countries around the globe promising military weapons to Ukraine is growing. The US State Department is sending another $350 million in weapons, reports Army Times. Italy signed off on a measure authorizing the dispatch of Stinger surface-to-air missiles, mortars, and anti-tank weapons, reports Defense News. German officials said they will rush 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger missiles to Ukraine, reports The Washington Post. Canada and Australia pledged more missiles and ammunition, reports UPI.
The US for the first time has approved the direct delivery of Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine as part of a package approved by the White House last week, reports Defense News. During the Cold War, the CIA covertly supplied Stingers to Afghan guerrillas fighting Russian forces. Now Ukrainian forces locked in an intensifying fight to repel Russia will get more of the shoulder-fired weapon, which has a 4-kilometer range.
Casualties mount as Russia continues it advance in Ukraine, reports Military Times. Russian shelling pounded civilian targets in Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv again Tuesday and a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital of Kyiv.
More US troops could head to Europe amid the Russian invasion, reports Military Times. The 14,000 US troops activated in response to the invasion of Ukraine may not be the last, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said. In addition to 80,000 permanently stationed forces, the US has committed 12,000 stateside troops ― and another 2,000 based in Germany, Italy, and Greece ― to be stationed in NATO partner nations along Russia’s western border, along with attack helicopters and strike fighter jets.
Kosovo is asking the US to establish a permanent military base in the country as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine accelerates, reports Yahoo!News. In early February, Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda said he would seek to have the NATO troops in his country permanently remain there, reports The Hill.
Ukraine has received SpaceX Starlink terminals amid Internet disruption, reports UPI. A shipment of SpaceX’s Starlink user terminals arrived in Ukraine on Monday, providing Ukrainians access to the satellite Internet network as traditional service faces interruptions from the Russian forces. Ukraine’s vice prime minister and minister of digital transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, tweeted that boxes of the antennas had arrived after he pleaded with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk for help over the weekend.
Meta, YouTube, and TikTok have blocked Russian state media in Europe, reports Business Insider. “The state-owned Russia Today and Sputnik, and their subsidiaries, will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin’s war,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted.
Turkey has closed Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits to warships, reports USNI News. The strait closures will still allow warships through if they are returning to a home base in the Black Sea. This would include Russian ships in the country’s Black Sea Fleet. The move by Turkey likely means that two of Russia’s Slava-class cruisers currently operating in the Mediterranean couldn’t enter the Black Sea.
USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: February 28, 2022.
The National Guard was placed on standby for State of the Union address Tuesday night, reports The Associated Press. The fencing around the US Capitol was reinstalled for the president’s speech. While there were no specific or credible threats, law enforcement officials took no chances following the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when a violent mob caught the District of Columbia by surprise and successfully stormed the Capitol, briefly disrupting the certification of Biden’s 2020 presidential victory.
The SpaceX Axiom crew nears final training for the first all-private mission to ISS, reports UPI. NASA and Houston-based Axiom Space are in the final stages of preparation to launch the first all-private astronaut mission, Ax-1, to the International Space Station in late March. But don’t call the crew — three billionaires paying $55 million each — space tourists, Michael López-Alegría, former astronaut and Ax-1 mission commander, said during a press conference. “The crewmates have worked very hard,” López-Alegría said. “They’re busy people and they’ve taken a lot of time out of their lives to focus on this. And it’s definitely not a vacation for them.
North Korea fired ballistic missile in resumption of testing, reports Military Times. The missile launch was the eighth of its kind this year. Some experts have said North Korea is trying to perfect its weapons technology and pressure the US into offering concessions like sanctions relief amid long-stalled disarmament talks. North Korea also might view the US preoccupation with the Ukraine conflict as a chance to accelerate testing activity without any serious response from Washington. Defense News reports that North Korea says it tested cameras for a spy satellite.
A US Navy warship damaged a sonar dome while underway, reports Navy Times. An investigation continues into how the guided-missile destroyer Stockdale damaged its sonar dome on January 21. No sailors were injured in the “Class A” mishap, which entails damages exceeding $2.5 million. The ship remains in port in Sasebo, Japan, “while the repair plan is being finalized,” Naval Surface Forces spokesman Cmdr. Nicole Schwegman said.
The US Marine Corps this week will officially stand up its first Marine littoral regiment, a linchpin of its plans to conduct small-unit expeditionary advanced base operations and to move high-end gear into and throughout the Pacific region, reports Military Times. GEN Eric Smith, assistant commandant, said the 3rd Marine Regiment in Hawaii will on March 3 officially be redesignated the 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment.
The US Army posthumously promotes its first Black colonel to one-star general, reports Army Times. The Army awarded the honorary promotion to COL Charles Young, elevating him to brigadier general more than 100 years after his death. Young’s career, which stretched from his West Point graduation in 1889 to his forced medical retirement in 1917 that kept him from fighting in World War I, “broke new ground time and again,” said Army Secretary Christine Wormuth in a statement.
Under a bill passed in the Georgia legislature this week, the state would exempt up to $35,000 a year in military retirement income from state income tax, reports Military.com. A veteran’s first $17,500 in retirement pay would be exempt from Georgia’s state income tax, which has a top rate of 5.75%. Another $17,500 of retirement pay would be exempt, for a total of $35,000, if a veteran earned at least $17,500 from another source.
Contracts:
Smartronix LLC, Hollywood, Maryland, is awarded a $133,627,480 cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract provides sustainment for Tactical and Remote, Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, and Intelligence Edge Systems (TARCES) support for remote edge telecommunications engineering or computer networks to support users or sensors located away from the central core network. TARCES solutions require a mixture of legacy, industry standard, and newly emerging technologies. Specifically, the contractor shall provide inputs to solution engineering and recommendations, network, desktop, and server administration; configuration management; infrastructure and cable plant technology; applications development/operations support; and cybersecurity and information assurance support. Work will be performed in Hollywood, Maryland (59.12%); St. Inigoes, Maryland (27.04%); Panzer Kaserne, Germany (3.07%); Kelly Barracks, Germany (2.13%); Fort Belvoir, Virginia (2.22%); MacDill Air Force Base, Florida (1%); Hurlburt Field, Florida (1%); Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (1%); various locations within the continental US (2.42%); and various locations outside the continental US (1%) and is expected to be completed in May 2027. No funds will be obligated at the time of award; funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposal; one offer was received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N0042122D0005).
The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is awarded a $17,633,492 modification (P00058) to a previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract (N0001916G0032). This modification increases the scope to procure the necessary test and engineering support to complete the development of the Next Generation Jammer – Mid-Band system and the phased replacement of the AN/ALQ-99 Tactical Jamming System currently mounted to the EA-18G aircraft. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri (70%); and Patuxent River, Maryland (30%), and is expected to be completed in February 2023. Fiscal 2022 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $8,000,000 will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
Serco – IPS Corp., Herndon, Virginia, was awarded a $37,352,453 cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-only modification to previously awarded contract (N00174-18-C-0015) to procure professional support services for the Naval Sea System Command’s Deputy Commander for Surface Warfare. Work will be performed in Washington, DC (55%); Norfolk, Virginia (19%); San Diego, California (18%); Mayport, Florida (2%); Yokosuka, Japan (2%); Sasebo, Japan (1%); Manama, Bahrain (1%); Pascagoula, Mississippi (1%); and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (1%), and is expected to be complete by August 2022. Fiscal 2022 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $12,780,007 (91%); fiscal 2021 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $710,971 (5%); and fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $630,508 (4%) will be obligated at time of award, of which, $13,410,515 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC is the contracting activity. (Awarded Feb. 25, 2022)
Management Services Group, Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia, was awarded a $23,219,150 firm-fixed-price modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-20-C-5608) to exercise options and procure additional spares for Network, Processing, and Storage (NPS) Technical Insertion 16, Modification 1 production equipment, spares, and engineering services. Work will be performed in Virginia Beach, Virginia (100%) and is expected to be completed by February 2025. Fiscal 2022 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $8,394,833 (36%); foreign military sales (Australia) funds in the amount of $7,567,597 (33%); and fiscal 2022 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $7,256,720 (31%) 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, DC, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Feb. 25, 2022)
Petromax Refining Co., Houston, Texas (SPE602-22-D-0466, $486,291,968); Phillips 66 Co., Houston, Texas (SPE602-22-D-0473, $336,141,102); Placid Refining Co., LLC, Port Allen, Louisiana (SPE602-22-D-0465, $214,490,632); BPPNA GOT/IST, Chicago, Illinois (SPE602-22-D-0480, $185,146,706); Equilon Enterprises, LLC, Houston, Texas (SPE602-22-D-0468, $175,830,029); ExxonMobil Corp., Spring, Texas (SPE602-22-D-0461, $162,924,573); Lazarus Energy Holdings, LLC, Houston, Texas (SPE602-22-D-0471, $110,513,887); Alon USA LP, Brentwood, Tennessee (SPE602-22-D-0474, $82,291,073); BP Products North America Inc., Chicago, Illinois (SPE602-22-D-0462, $71,602,929); Petromax LLC, Houston, Texas (SPE602-22-D-0472, $71,040,451); Wynnewood Energy Co. LLC, Sugarland, Texas (SPE602-22-D-0469, $66,585,155); Husky Marketing & Supply Co., Dublin, Ohio (SPE602-22-D-0479, $66,238,940); Epic Aviation LLC, Salem, Oregon (SPE602-22-D-0470, $51,700,563); Moffett Oil Co., Natchitoches, Louisiana (SPE602-22-D-047, $46,367,484); Calumet Shreveport Fuels LLC, Indianapolis, Indiana (SPE602-22-D-0469, $40,581,789); Tesoro Refining & Marketing Co., LLC, San Antonio, Texas (SPE602-22-D-0477, $33,559,468); Hermes Consolidated LLC, doing business as Wyoming Refining Co., Rapid City, South Dakota (SPE602-22-D-0464, $22,167,661); Marathon Petroleum Co., LP, Findlay, Ohio (SPE602-22-D-0476, $21,026,746); and Irving Oil Terminals Inc., Portsmouth, New Hampshire (SPE602-22-D-0467, $11,091,997), have each been awarded a fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract under solicitation SPE602-21-R-0708 for various types of fuel. This was a competitive acquisition with 31 offers received. These are one-year contracts with a 30-day carryover. Locations of performance are Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wyoming, with an April 30, 2023, performance completion date. Using customer is Defense Logistics Agency Energy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2022 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
CACI, Inc. – Federal, Chantilly, Virginia, is awarded a $17,053,018 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded task order N3904020F3000 for engineering, technical, administrative and managerial (support) services in support of Ships Availability Planning and Engineering Center, Non-Nuclear Waterfront and Deep Submergence Systems programs at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. Work will be performed in Kittery, Maine, and is expected to be completed by March 2023. Fiscal 2022 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $4,000 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine, is the contracting activity.
Ahtna-Bay West JV LLC, Monterey, California (W912PL-22-D-0002); Paragon-Jacobs Joint Venture, Anchorage, Alaska (W912PL-22-D-0008); FPM-AECOM JV1, Oneida, New York (W912PL-22-D-0006); ERRG-B&V JV, Martinez, California (W912PL-22-D-0005); Cape Weston JV2 LLC, Norcross, Georgia (W912PL-22-D-0004); Bristol Environmental Remediation Services LLC, Anchorage, Alaska (W912PL-22-D-0003); HydroGeoLogic Inc., Reston, Virginia (W912PL-22-D-0007); and PIKA-Insight JV LLC, Stafford, Texas (W912PL-22-D-0009), will compete for each order of the $75,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for environmental remediation and explosives safety management. Bids were solicited via the internet with 12 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 28, 2025. US Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles, California, is the contracting activity.
Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., McLean, Virginia, was awarded a $26,004,843 firm-fixed-price contract for provost marshal protection support services. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work will be performed in Fort Sam Houston, Texas, with an estimated completion date of March 24, 2025. Fiscal 2022 operation and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $6,376,263 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Field Directorate Office, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, is the contracting activity (W9124J-22-F-0036).
Goldbelt Frontier LLC, Alexandria, Virginia, was awarded a $10,044,244 modification (P00008) to contract W81XWH-20-C-0085 for science officer support services for congressionally directed medical research programs. Work will be performed in Fort Detrick, Maryland, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 28, 2026. Fiscal 2022 Defense Health Program, Defense funds in the amount of $10,044,244 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, Fort Detrick, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
