The Marine Corps is strapping armored vehicles to the top of Navy ships to fend off small boats and other threats, reports Business Insider. While innovative, questions remain regarding security and the reliablity of aging Marine assets to protect large Navy and transport ships operating in dangerous waters.

In a rare speech, MI6 chief says cyber brings “potentially existential challenge,” reports Fifth Domain, quoting  Alex Younger, chief of the Secret Intelligence Service: “We and our allies face a battle to make sure technology works to our advantage, not to that of our opponents. There will be a dividing line between those intelligence services that grasp this, as the UK agencies have, and those services that don’t.”

UK seeks US industry partner on a new global navigation satellite system, following London being frozen out of the Galileo spacecraft program by the European Union, reports Defense News.

SpaceX launched its mission to orbit, re-landed a rocket booster for the third time, reports Business Insider, and deployed all 64 satellites this week. The aerospace company founded by Elon Musk made history by launching more satellites at once from the US than any company before it.

After a two-year chase, a NASA spacecraft arrived Monday at the ancient asteroid Bennu, its first visitor in billions of years, reports AP News. The robotic explorer Osiris-Rex pulled within 12 miles of the diamond-shaped space rock. It will get even closer in the days ahead and go into orbit around Bennu on Dec. 31. No spacecraft has ever orbited such a small cosmic body. It is the first US attempt to gather asteroid samples for return to Earth, something only Japan has accomplished so far.

A hot job market and dwindling pool of qualified 17- to 24-year-olds poses a recruitment challenge for the US Army, reports Foreign Policy. Poor physical fitness and drug use are among the factors providing only one in eight with the propensity to join the military.

US manufacturers struggling to find workers turn to high schools. UPI reports an estimated 2.4 million manufacturing jobs will go unfilled in the next decade, particularly skilled digital positions and advanced production. Some Midwestern school districts are training high schoolers in these new, basic operations, helping  students gain real-world experience and sometimes a job.

USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: Dec. 3, 2018

Contracts:

AAI Corp., doing business as Textron, Hunt Valley, Maryland, was awarded a $152,707,618 modification (P00080) to contract W911QY-17-C-0013 for logistics services. Work will be performed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with an estimated completion date of May 29, 2020. Fiscal 2019 other procurement, Army; and operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $27,935,533 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

General Electric (GE) Aviation, Cincinnati, Ohio, has been awarded an $11,116,525 firm-fixed-price contract for engineering and technical services in support of the following engines: F-16 F110-GE-100, A-10 TF-34, KC-135 F-108, B-1 F118, E-6B F108, T700-401C, J85-21B, F110, F16 C/D, F/A-18 and F110-GE-129. This contract provides for on-site proficiency training and advice to elevate the technical skill and abilities of personnel responsible for the operation and maintenance of the GE Aviation equipment/systems to the level of self-sufficiency. Work will be performed at Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado; Baltimore, Maryland; Springfield, Illinois; Tinker AFB, Oklahoma; Naval Air Station North Island, California; Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California; Isa Air Base, Bahrain; Cairo West AB, Egypt; Engine Depot, Israel; Ahmed al Jaber AB; Kuwait and Daegu AB, South Korea, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2020. This contract is the result of a sole-source acquisition. This contract involves 41.6 percent foreign military sales (FMS) to Israel; Egypt; Bahrain; South Korea, and Kuwait. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $5,000,000; and fiscal 2019 FMS funds in the amount of $1,000,000 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8604-19-D-8004).

NetCentrics Corp., Herndon, Virginia, was awarded an $8,156,810 time and material, labor-hours, and firm-fixed-price contract modification. The contract was to obtain Joint Service Provider information technology service delivery support services for Washington Headquarters Services (WHS); the Office of the Secretary of Defense; Pentagon Force Protection Agency; and the WHS-supported organizations. Work performance will take place in the National Capital Region, including the Pentagon, Mark Center and Crystal City, Virginia. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $8,156,810 are being obligated on this award. The expected completion date is May 30, 2019. Washington Headquarters Services, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HQ0034-19-C-0008). (Awarded Nov. 29, 2018)