March 29, 2024

What’s Key to F-35’s Future?

Morning Coffee is a robust blend of links to news around the Internet concerning the Naval Air Station Patuxent River Morning Coffee logoeconomic community. The opinions expressed here do not reflect opinions of the Leader’s owners or staff.

Key factors in the future of the F-35: Federal News Radio reports that lower costs and international buyers for the F-35 fighter jet are most important. Already the most expensive military program in history, the number of aircraft the Pentagon can buy each year will be determined by the cost per unit, the report states. The Pentagon announced Friday that Lockheed Martin would receive a $3.7 billion interim payment for 50 F-35 jet fighters earmarked for non-US customers, reports Reuters.

Analysis suggests that the US needs a lot more fighter bombers than the Air Force has asked for, Defense One reports.

ADM John Richardson, chief of naval operations, told the audience at the 2017 Future Naval Force S&T Expo that combat networks were key to giving the Navy an advantage, reports Defense Systems. He said the Navy is modernizing shipboard IT systems and networks to provide real time, combat-relevant information across the fleet.

What will it take to win wars in the future? Gen. Mark Milley, the Army chief of staff, shared five myths that America must face with a group gathered at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, reports Army Times.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill passed a series of veterans-themed legislation, Army Times reports, including an emergency funding measure to keep the Veterans Affairs Choice program afloat for another six months.

President Donald Trump’s intent to reverse the Pentagon policy that allows transgender troops to serve in the military is likely to end up in a legal battle between the Defense Department and those troops at risk of involuntary separation, reports Military Times. In a Military Times/Institute for Veterans and Military Families poll conducted last year, 57 percent of active-duty military personnel expressed a negative opinion of the decision to allowing transgender troops to serve openly.

Mark Esper is expected to be President Trump’s nominee to be secretary of the Army, The Washington Examiner reports. Esper is a West Point grad, former aide to Sens. Chuck Hagel and Bill Frist, and a Raytheon executive.

The Marine Corps has grounded 12 KC-130Ts “out of an abundance of caution” following a deadly crash earlier this month, reports Defense News. On July 10, a KC-130T crashed in Mississippi, killing 15 Marines and one sailor.

India is on the hunt for jets, Defense News reports, and preference will be given to overseas companies able to provide custom, Indian-built electronic warfare equipment. “The requirement is for aircraft to carry out a unique list of missions centered around a two-front threat from China and Pakistan,” an Indian Air Force official said.

The Nicolet Basketball Association 2017 Summer League is approaching the season’s end, smnewsnet.com reports. John Duckett took time to reflect on the positive results the NBA has had at Nicolet Park in Lexington Park. “We came together as a community and showed the world, via Facebook Live and other social media sites, how a city can come together as one for the love of the game,” Mr. Duckett writes.

Contracts:

ABM Government Services LLC, Hopkinsville, Kentucky (W91278-17-D-0054); ESA South Inc., Cantonment, Florida (W91278-17-D-0048); Global Engineering and Construction LLC, Renton, Washington (W91278-17-D-0046); GBD JV, Aberdeen, Maryland (W91278-17-D-0061); Herman Construction Group Inc., Escondido, California (W91278-17-D-0049); J&J Maintenance Inc., Austin, Texas (W91278-17-D-0045); Kirlin Builders LLC, Rockville, Maryland (W91278-17-D-0052); The Robins and Morton Group, Birmingham, Alabama (W91278-17-D-0050); Patriot Construction LLC, Dunkirk, Maryland (W91278-17-D-0055); Royce Construction Services LLC, Reston, Virginia (W91278-17-D-0056); Sauer Incorporated, Jacksonville, Florida (W91278-17-D-0058); SES Construction and Fuel Services LLC, Oak Ridge, Tennessee (W91278-17-D-0047); United Excel Corp., Shawnee Mission, Kansas (W91278-17-D-0053); Washington Patriot Construction LLC, Gig Harbor, Washington (W91278-17-D-0062); Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., Baltimore, Maryland (W91278-17-D-0057); and Zieson Construction Co. LLC, Kansas City, Missouri (W91278-17-D-0051), will share in a $200,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for repair and minor construction in support of Army Medical Command. Bids were solicited via the Internet with 19 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 26, 2021. US Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile, Alabama, is the contracting activity.

Norfolk Dredging Co., Chesapeake, Virginia, was awarded a $50,273,355 firm-fixed-price contract for Delaware River main channel deepening, upper reach B. Bids were solicited via the Internet with three received. Work will be performed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with an estimated completion date of July 27, 2018. Fiscal 2017 other funds in the amount of $50,273,355 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity (W912BU-17-C-0020).

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., McLean, Virginia, was awarded a $16,149,721 modification (P0005) to contract W91RUS-14-D-0002 for non-personal information technology support services for the Army Regional Cyber Center – Europe. Work will be performed in Germany, with an estimated completion date of July 18, 2018. Fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $5,926,200 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Fort Huachuca, Arizona, is the contracting activity.

CGI Federal Inc., Fairfax, Virginia, was awarded a $12,126,120 modification (P00025) to contract W52P1J-15-C-0068 for maintenance and sustainment of software systems in support of Army Sustainment Command’s Integrated Materiel Management Operation System. Work will be performed in Fairfax, Virginia; Rock Island, Illinois; Germany; Qatar; Kuwait; Republic of Korea; Japan; Afghanistan; Belgium; Herlong, California; Charleston, South Carolina; Huntsville, Alabama; Italy; and the Netherlands, with an estimated completion date of July 31, 2020. Fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $12,126,120 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity.

SAIC, McLean, Virginia, was awarded an $11,228,678 modification (P0033GJ) to contract W31P4Q-05-A-0031 for performance of outside the continental US.terrain survey for sensor placement, system engineering and performance analysis of Integrated Base Defense systems in support to product manager, Force Protection Systems to provide a deployed Integrated Base Defense systems performance report. Work will be performed in Kuwait; Iraq; Jordan; Syrian Arab Republic; Turkey; and Huntsville, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of April 30, 2018. Fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $11,228,678 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity.

Kapsuun Group LLC, Lorton, Virginia, has been awarded a $69,992,808, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for linguist and analyst support services. The contractor will provide linguist and analyst support services for 25th Air Force’s 55th Wing, 70th and 480th Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) Wings, the 361st ISR Group and the 24th Air Force’s 67th and 688th Cyberspace Wings, to support the warfighter by providing near real-time intelligence and cyberspace intelligence to national decision makers, theater and combatant commanders with 1N3 ground linguists and 1A8 airborne linguists. Work will be performed at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, United Kingdom; Fort Meade, Maryland; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Gordon, Georgia; Hurlburt Field, Florida; Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas; National Security Agency, Texas; Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas; Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska; Utah Air National Guard, Salt Lake City, Utah; Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico; Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona; Joint Base Kunia, Hawaii; Kadena Air Base, Japan; Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. Work is expected to be complete by July 31, 2021. This award is the result of a competitive 8(a) acquisition, and four offers were received. Acquisition Management and Integration Center, Detachment 2, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, is the contracting activity  (FA7037-17-D-0002).

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Herndon, Virginia, has been awarded an undefinitized modification (P00054) with a not-to-exceed price of $10,222,000 to a previously awarded contract in support of Battlefield Airborne Communications Node platform maintenance. Work will be performed in San Diego, California; Herndon, Virginia; and multiple international locations, and is expected to be completed Jan. 23, 2018. Fiscal 2017 overseas contingency operations and operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $5,000,000 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Space, Aerial and Nuclear Networks Division Contracting Branch, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity (FA8726-13-C-0001).

Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $3,693,062,124 undefinitized not-to-exceed modification to the previously awarded low-rate initial production Lot 11 F-35 Lightning II advance acquisition contract (N00019-16-C-0033). This modification provides for the procurement of 50 aircraft for non-Department of Defense participants and foreign military sales (FMS) customers comprised of one F-35B aircraft for the UK; one F-35A aircraft for Italy; eight F-35A aircraft for Australia; eight F-35A aircraft for the Netherlands; four F-35A aircraft for Turkey; six F-35A aircraft for Norway; and 22 F-35A aircraft for FMS customers. In addition, this modification adds scope for mission equipment and chase maintenance activity for the above mentioned participants, as well as the Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (50 percent); El Segundo, California (15 percent); Warton, UK (10 percent); Cameri, Italy (6 percent); Nashua, New Hampshire (4 percent); Baltimore, Maryland (4 percent); Orlando, Florida (3 percent); San Diego, California (3 percent); Nagoya, Japan (2 percent); and other international locations (3 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2020. Funding in the amount of $2,180,872,005 is being obligated on this award, $118,183 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract combines purchases for the Air Force ($21,849,430; 0.6 percent); Navy ($2,213,825; 0.1 percent); Marine Corps ($3,879,316; 0.1 percent); international partner nations ($2,072,714,031; 56.1 percent); and FMS countries ($1,592,405,522; 43.1 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

General Dynamics Mission Systems Inc., Fairfax, Virginia, is being awarded a $36,740,150 cost-plus-incentive-fee modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-09-C-6250) to exercise option year eight for the AN/BYG-1 Tactical Control System Technology Insertion and Advanced Processing Build software modernization. Work will be performed in Fairfax, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by July 2018. Fiscal 2017 research, development, test, and evaluation (Navy) funding of $9,030,551; Armament Cooperative program (Commonwealth of Australia) funding of $880,054; and 2017 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $90,005 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.

PAE Aviation and Technical Services LLC, Arlington, Virginia, is being awarded $13,185,514 for modification P00084 to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee, labor hour, cost reimbursable contract (N00421-11-C-0031) to exercise an option for up to 200,600 man-hours of aircraft maintenance and modification support services for the Naval Test Wing Pacific. Work will be performed in China Lake, California (50 percent); Point Mugu, California (40 percent); and various locations in the US (10 percent), and is expected to be completed in October 2017. Working capital funds (Navy) in the amount of $11,854,000 are being obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, China Lake, California, is the contracting activity.

Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $60,968,920 modification (P00013) to contract W911QX-16-C-0012 for operations and sustainment services in support of the Saturn Arch quick reaction capability continued operations, sustainment, and integration program. Work will be performed in Afghanistan, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 16, 2018. Fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $29,164,037 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Contracting Command, Adelphi, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

AAK-De Los Santos Construction LLC, Tempe, Arizona (W91278-17-D-0069); D-Square Construction LLC, Tucson, Arizona (W91278-17-D-0070); Global Engineering and Construction LLC, Renton, Washington (W91278-17-D-0071); Hawaii Pacific JV2 LLC, Kaneohe, Hawaii (W91278-17-D-0072); Hawk-Niking LLC, Wahiawa, Hawaii (W91278-17-D-0073); KJS MP JV LLC, Fort Worth, Texas (W91278-17-D-0074); Patriot Construction LLC, Dunkirk, Maryland (W91278-17-D-0075); Pioneer Contracting Co. Ltd., Wahiawa, Hawaii (W91278-17-D-0076); Royce Construction Services LLC, Reston, Virginia (W91278-17-D-0077); and Synergy Kirlin JV II, El Paso, Texas (W91278-17-D-0078), will share in a $49,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for repair and minor construction in support of Army Medical Command, Southern Region. Bids were solicited via the Internet with 13 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of July 27, 2022. US Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile, Alabama, is the contracting activity.

American International Contractors Inc., Arlington, Virginia was awarded an $11,968,000 firm-fixed-price foreign military sales (Egypt) contract for construction of Peace Vector VII facilities at Cairo West Air Base, Egypt. Bids were solicited via the Internet with three received. Work will be performed in Egypt with an estimated completion date of Feb. 3, 2019. Fiscal 2017 other funds in the amount of $11,968,000 were obligated at the time of the award. US Army Corps of Engineers, Winchester, Virginia, is the contracting activity (W912ER-17-C-0011).

TransLang Ltd., Waynesboro, Virginia, was awarded a $10,960,063 firm-fixed-price foreign military sales (United Arab Emirates) contract for an in-country Security Assistance Team that will provide qualified instructors to train faculty, develop curriculum as well as provide technical and administrative support for the continued sustainment and development of the UAE’s National Defense College. One bid was solicited and one bid was received. Work will be performed in United Arab Emirates, with an estimated completion date of July 31, 2018. Fiscal 2017 other funds in the amount of $10,960,063 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity (W900KK-17-C-0046).

Science Applications International Corp., McLean, Virginia, has been awarded a maximum $48,000,000 modification (P00044) exercising a two-year option period of a three-year base contract (SPE5EY-14-D-0562)  with two two-year, and one three-year, option periods for integrated product support. This is a firm-fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-quantity contract. Locations of performance are Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, and California, with a Sept. 30, 2019, performance completion date. Using military service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2017 through 2019 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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