What High-Tech Helmet Brings to Fleet

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 advancements featured in the F-35’s Generation III helmet have also been undergoing testing while the F-35 Lightning II is in its shipboard phase on the USS America. A vital element of the F-35’s unprecedented warfighter capability, the helmet’s ground-breaking technology equips the pilot with mission-critical information on the helmet’s visor, among other features, aerotechnews.com reports.

National Military Families Association, a military advocacy group, has called on President-elect Donald Trump to work with Congress to end sequestration and focus on issues directly affecting military personnel and their loved ones. The association reminded Trump that budget cuts caused by sequestration have “closed commissaries, furloughed medical clinics, put health care benefits in jeopardy, and taken valuable dollars from critical readiness training for service members,” Federal News Radio reports.

Trump wants an active-duty Army with another 60,000 soldiers in the ranks, an unspecified number of additional sailors to man the 78 ships and submarines he intends to see built in coming years, Military Times reports. He wants up to 12,000 more Marines to serve in infantry and tank battalions, and at least another 100 combat aircraft for the Air Force. Now, he just has to find the money. And The National Interest asks, “is Congress going to let him revolutionize the military?”

Trump adds some diversity to his cabinet, The New York Times reports. South Carolina’s Gov. Nikki Haley and GOP fundraiser Betsy DeVos were tapped by US ambassador to the United Nations and secretary of the Department of Education, respectively.

Trump is now backing off his support for waterboarding, Military Times reports. Lawmakers say waterboarding is an illegal form of torture, including key Republicans such as Sen. John McCain, who say they would never vote to re-authorize the practice.

The Defense Department has launched a new program to provide legal authorization for hackers to find and disclose vulnerabilities in any of DoD’s public websites, reports FCW.

The commission charged with developing a plan to secure cyberspace in the next decade will recommend six long- and short-term fixes to the Obama administration by Dec. 1, reports FCW.

Canada will enter negotiations with Boeing to explore the acquisition of 18 Super Hornet fighter jets, Hartford Courant reports.

Chief of staff of the US Strategic Command, Maj. Gen. James Dickinson, has been nominated as head of the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command, ExecutiveGov. com reports. He will succeed the retiring Lt. Gen. David Mann.

Army Times reports that the Army Training and Doctrine Command will host a Mad Scientist Science Fiction Writing Contest. The topic for the competition is “Warfare in 2030 to 2050.” Participants are asked to consider trends in science, technology, society, the global economy, and other aspects, and how these trends will affect how the Army operates in future conflicts.

Norway is about to purchase five P8-A Poseidon aircraft. The Independent Barents Observer reports, “The introduction of Poseidon aircrafts is crucial for Norway to maintain a leading position and expertise on strategic issues in northern areas.”