US & China Developing Next Stealth Bombers

(Aug. 20, 2015) Navy chief petty officers and chief petty officer selects stand at parade rest during a Pearl Harbor honors and heritage “morning colors” ceremony at the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument Visitor Center on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. The ceremony was the 70th anniversary of the end of the war in the Pacific. Photo by: Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Johans Chavarro/USN

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 necessarily reflect those of the Leader’s owners or staff.

The Washington Examiners reports on the price and competition for stealth as the Air Force nears its choice of Northrop or a Boeing/Lockheed team to build its deeply classified, next stealth bombers; China leaks news that it, too, has a long-range, strike-bomber in the works.

The Navy’s carrier variant of the JSF enters second phase of sea-trials in October with the USS Eisenhower, reports Defense News. Initial sea trials of the JSF a year ago were so successful the testing schedule moved ahead six months. The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower is currently on the East Coast, emerging from nearly two years in dry dock in Norfolk. It returns this week to sea duty, reports Commanding Officer CAPT Steve Koehler, from the ship’s Facebook page.

General Atomics, maker of the Predator and Reaper drones, was hired by the DoD to fly intelligence missions, beginning this month, reports Defense One.

Stars and Stripes introduces the Army’s first female Rangers.

SECNAV Ray Mabus signs a solar agreement capable of generating one-third the energy needed for 14 Navy and Marine Corps installations across California, reports USNI. The Navy’s goal is to replace half the electric needs of shore facilities with renewable energy in 2016, several years ahead of the Air Force and Army.

Intelligence officials compiling situation assessments find governments using “trolls” – robotic feeds or paid commentators – to sway social media trends, reports Defense One.

Zacks advises: buy Harris Corp. stock, based upon its recent $70 million Navy contract award followed by a $97 million contract with NAVAIR.

Wreckage of the last Navy airship is to be studied by archaeologists, historians, and NOAA, reports USNI. It’s 80 years since the USS Macon sunk, ending the Navy’s quest to use airships as long-range scouts for the fleet

More exceptional photos from around the services, including the feature photo above from the US Navy, are spotlighted in We Are The Mighty.

DRS Technical Services Inc., Herndon, Virginia, is being awarded a $54,168,789 firm-fixed-priced and cost-reimbursable contract for logistics support for maintaining and supporting the E-6B aircraft, and its associated support equipment.  Work will be performed at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (70 percent); Offutt Air Force Base, Bellevue, Nebraska (10 percent); Travis Air Force Base, Fairfield, California (10 percent); and the Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, Maryland (10 percent), and is expected to be completed in October 2016.  No funding will be obligated at time of award.  This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposals, and three offers were received.   The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00019-15-C-0120).