US Issues Alert About Cyber Attacks

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 reflect opinions of the Leader’s owners or staff.

The FBI and Homeland Security issue a technical alert about cyber attacks sponsored by the North Korea using a malware known as FALLCHILL that has targeted the aerospace, telecommunications, and financial industries since 2016, reports Reuters.

A DHS official tells Congress 96 of 102 federal agencies have removed Kaspersky Lab products, in compliance with a government-wide directive, reports FCW. The software was found on 15 percent of the agencies’ networks.

Saudi-based Patriots have intercepted over 100 tactical ballistic missiles since 2015, reports Defense News.

The VA’s most recent veteran suicide statistics show female veterans’ risk for committing suicide is more than double that of American women who have not served in the military, reports The Washington Post, and couples the finding with a 2015 study finding only 58 percent of female service members surveyed reported feeling “respected and valued” as service members.

The fifth biannual scorecard presented to Congress reporting on the progress on the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act reports lagging progress under the Trump administration, reports FCW.

Defense News reports a top Emirati official warned US government, military, and business leaders that Iranian-sponsored terror, while “similar” to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, “has greater potential” for impacting negatively on the region and the world.

The post-9/11 wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere have been fought with borrowed money, enough to require up to $8 trillion in interest payments in coming decades, reports Military News. Unlike America’s previous wars, its 21st-century conflicts have been paired not with a tax hike or massive sale of US bonds, but a tax cut, explains The Washington Post. The federal government has been operating at a deficit since 2002, which according to the accruing a national debt that now totals $20 trillion and counting, shows the US Debt Clock.

Ultra-compact antenna technology could mean wearable, bio-implantable, and bio-injectable antennas for tomorrow’s airmen, reports Connected Warrior.

DoD considers a plan to end its longtime operation of schools for military children on dozens of stateside military bases, reports Military Times, as part of efforts to cut costs and reduce the size of the federal workforce. The military currently operates 47 schools on military installations in seven states in the continental US, serving a total of about 20,000 students.

To help pay for the GOP tax bill, Republican Senate leaders plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that Americans maintain health coverage, reports NBC News. President Donald Trump has urged senators to eliminate the Obamacare mandate and use the savings to reduce the top income tax rate to 35 percent, a move that would exclusively benefit individuals earning more than $500,000 and couples earning over $1 million under the current Senate bill.

All lawmakers, their staff, and congressional employees must undergo sexual harassment prevention training, reports Vox. This is the first major policy change in Congress since the legislative branch came under heightened scrutiny as a breeding ground for workplace harassment.

NASA moved up to April 2019 a key safety system on its Orion spacecraft, reports Space.com. The agency is aiming for a launch of its first Exploratory Mission, without crew,  in December 2019, although a recent report suggests it could easily be pushed back to June 2020.

Senators seeking to restrain a commander in chief from launching an unprovoked nuclear attack are stymied after hearing warnings from a panel of experts in a Foreign Relations Committee hearing, reports The Washington Post. “I do not see a legislative solution today,” Committee Chair Bob Corker (R-TN) said after the hearing.

Business Insider reports 1 percent now own a staggering amount of the world’s wealth — and the Paradise Papers detailing offshore tax holdings of the super wealthy further displays the worsening of it is proof inequality is worsening.

Contracts:

Booz Allen Hamilton, Lexington Park, Maryland, is being awarded $20,955,983 for modification P00038 to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00421-16-C-0034) to exercise an option for an estimated 250,592 hours of technical services in support of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aviation Division’s Special Communications Mission Solutions Division, St. Inigoes, Maryland. Work will be performed at St. Inigoes, Maryland (49 percent); Lexington Park, Maryland (48 percent); San Diego, California (2 percent); and Fayetteville, North Carolina (1 percent), and is expected to be completed in June 2018. Fiscal 2017 working capital funds (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,600,000 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

General Dynamics Information Technology Inc., Fairfax, Virginia (W900KK-18-D-0001); Northrup Grumman Systems Corp., Herndon, Virginia (W900KK-18-D-0002); Cubic Global Defense, San Diego, California (W900KK-18-D-0003); Applied Training Solutions LLC, Leesburg, Virginia (W900KK-18-D-0004); Trideum Corp., Huntsville, Alabama (W900KK-18-D-0005); Yorktown Systems Group Inc., Huntsville, Alabama (W900KK-18-D-0006); and Capstone Corp., Alexandria, Virginia (W900KK-18-D-0007), will share in a $150,000,000 hybrid (cost, firm-fixed-price, and time and materials) contract for mission training complex capabilities support. Bids were solicited via the Internet with 18 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 14, 2022. US Army Contracting Command, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity.

Raytheon Co., Dulles, Virginia, has been awarded a $24,416,360 modification (P00007) to contract W52P1J-16-C-0046 for a wide range of Combined Enterprise Regional Information Exchange System services to support the operational and strategic use of Department of Defense and subsidiary networks and capabilities within the US Central Command area of responsibility. Work will be performed in Kuwait; Qatar; Jordan; Iraq, and Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 15, 2018. Fiscal 2018 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $5,900,000 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Rock Island, Illinois, is the contracting activity.

Deloitte Consulting LLP, Arlington, Virginia, has been awarded a $62,430,981 firm-fixed-price contract (HT0011-18-C-0002)to provide program management support services to the Defense Health Agency’s Requirements Managers’ for Governance, Requirements, and Architecture Management Support. This support includes, but is not limited to requirements development and management processes; Military Health System (MHS) information management and information technology (IM/IT) investment and sustainment portfolio capabilities activities; functional requirements submissions and management; development and management of MHS IM/IT functional requirements; Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System process and documentation; post implementation reviews; requirements reviews during IT life-cycle acquisition phases; business process strategies and guidelines; business process and data management products; business process and standards analysis; business process improvement; federal and external partners architectural analyses and alignment; Health Information Technology standards; health data management; modeling and simulation; and requirements tools. Work will be performed in Virginia, with an estimated completion date, if the government exercises all contract options, of Nov. 27, 2022. This contract was competitively solicited, with six offers received. Fiscal 2018 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $8,431,300 will be obligated at time of award. The Defense Health Agency Contracting Office, Falls Church, Virginia, is the contracting activity.

Motorola Solutions Inc., Linthicum Heights, Maryland, is being awarded a $17,238,365 modification under a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N39430-16-C-1812) to exercise second option period for lifecycle sustainment of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command’s enterprise land mobile radio system at various Navy installations worldwide. The work to be performed provides for preventive maintenance of hardware and software; response and resolution of service calls for corrective maintenance to include equipment repair, overhaul, or replacement; asset and configuration management; password management; and software upgrade installation.  After award of this option, the total cumulative contract value will be $59,241,418. Work will be performed at various Navy installations worldwide, and this option period is expected to be completed December 2018.  Fiscal 2018 operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $17,238,365 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center, Port Hueneme, California, is the contracting activity.