March 29, 2024

US Downplays N. Korean Missile Tests

N. Korean Missile Tests

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President Donald Trump is downplaying a series of recent missile launches by North Korea, saying he doesn’t consider the tests a setback amid stalled nuclear talks, reports Politico. “They’re short-range and I don’t consider that a breach of trust at all,” the president said. Former DefSec Robert Gates said the North Koreans have come to see some modest nuclear capabilities as “essential to their national survival,” reports Politico. “I believe that North Koreans will never completely denuclearize,” Mr. Gates said. To South Korean President Moon Jae-in, the launches seem like a protest over the failed summit, while North Korea defends the tests as routine and self-defensive, reports Reuters.

Two Saudi Arabian oil tankers were attacked near the Persian Gulf, The Washington Post reports, further heightening tensions with Iran. Saudi Arabia did not say who was responsible for the attack.

The US Air Force deploys F-15C Eagle fighter jets to the Middle East, reports The Drive, sending them on their way carrying live missiles. This follows the arrival of four B-52H Stratofortress bombers. Reuters reports the planes were sent to the region over what Washington describes as threats from Iran.

President Trump defends his escalating trade war with China as good economic policy, reports ABC News, as China announces plans to retaliate against the latest US move to hike the tariff rate on Chinese goods.

DoD needs alternate suppliers for F-35 Lightning II parts that are now provided by Turkish companies, reports USNI News, as Turkey continues to pursue a Russian air defense system.

A Marine F/A-18 Hornet was forced to make an emergency landing at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho earlier this month after an engine bay fire, reports Marine Corps Times.

Nearly 4,400 troops remain at the US-Mexico border to support the border patrol, Acting DefSec Patrick Shanahan told Congress. He said he intends to accelerate planning to secure the border and bolster the administration’s ability to accomplish that without the Pentagon’s continuous help, reports Military Times. “We’re not going to leave until the border is secure,” he assured lawmakers.

Tuskegee airman and radiologist Dr. Granville Coggs has died at age 93, reports the San Antonio Express-News. World War II-era Navajo code talker Fleming Begaye Sr. has died, reports Marine Corps Times. He was 97.

World War II veteran John Frey will turn 101 in June and his family is hoping to make it more special, reports Army Times. They are asking for people to send birthday cards to him. They hope he gets at least 101 of them.

NASA’s Mars helicopter, a small, autonomous rotorcraft, will travel with the Mars 2020 rover, scheduled to launch in July 2020, to demonstrate the potential of heavier-than-air vehicles on the Red Planet, reports The Virginian-Pilot. The project is being led at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, but it requires some expertise from Langley Research Center in Virginia.

Elon Musk offered a glimpse of SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites ahead of their trip in a Falcon 9 rocket, reports CNET. The company is hoping to launch today, May 14, or Thursday.

Contracts:

C.E.R. Inc., Baltimore, Maryland (N40080-19-D-0011); Repaintex Co., Leesburg, Virginia (N40080-19-D-0012); Veterans Construction Coalition LLC, Norfolk, Virginia (N40080-19-D-0013); Belt Built-CFM JV, Crofton, Maryland (N40080-19-D-0014); G-W Management Services LLC, Rockville, Maryland (N40080-19-D-0015); EGI-HSU JV LLC, Gaithersburg, Maryland (N40080-19-D-0016); Desbuild Inc., Hyattsville, Maryland (N40080-19-D-0017); Tuckman-Barbee Construction Co. Inc., Upper Marlboro, Maryland (N40080-19-D-0018); Tidewater Inc., Elkridge, Maryland (N40080-19-D-0019); and Donley Construction LLC, Aberdeen, Maryland (N40080-19-D-0020), are awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple award construction contract for construction projects located primarily within the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Washington area of operations (AO). The maximum dollar value including the base period and one option year for all 10 contracts combined is $240,000,000. C.E.R. Inc. is being awarded the initial task order at $4,338,999 for the renovation of Rooms A143A through 162, Building 209 at Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, District of Columbia. Work for this task order is expected to be completed by December 2020. All work on this contract will be performed primarily within the NAVFAC Washington AO to include Washington, District of Columbia (40 percent); Virginia (40 percent); and Maryland (20 percent). The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months, with an expected completion date of May 2024. Fiscal 2019 supervision, inspection, and overhead; and fiscal 2019 Navy working capital funds (NWCF) in the amount of $4,338,999 are obligated on this award, of which $10,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by military construction (Navy); operations and maintenance (Navy and Marine Corps); and NWCF. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with 50 proposals received. These 10 contractors may compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the awarded contract. NAVFAC Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.

Serco Inc., Reston, Virginia, has been awarded a maximum $21,113,749 modification (P00011) exercising the second one-year option period of a one-year base contract (SP3300-17-C-5003) with four one-year option periods for chemical management services. This is a firm-fixed-price contract with cost-reimbursement and cost-plus-fixed-fee line items. Locations of performance are Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, and California with a May 15, 2020, performance completion date. Using customer is Defense Logistics Agency Aviation. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is Defense Logistics Agency Distribution, New Cumberland, Pennsylvania.

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