Wind Farm Debate Continues
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 necessarily reflect those of the Leader’s owners or staff.
The debate over the Somerset County wind farm project continues after a 2-2 vote last week by county commissioners allowed proposed turbine provisions to move forward, but not necessarily to a final vote, reports delmarvanow.com. Dr. Mary Fleury, chairwoman of the Planning and Zoning Commission, quit recently over the panel’s earlier passage of provisions she warned posed potential “health hazards connected with turbines . . .” County Commissioners President Rex Simpkins voted to delay the turbine measure and said he prefers cancelling the project because he believes the FAA will side with DoD objections based on possible turbine interference with NAS: Pax River flight testing radar.
Stalled legislation called the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act may finally be passed by a united Republican Congress, reports The Hill. The bill passed the House in July and would allow the government and private sector to share cyber threat indicators protected from certain disclosures and lawsuits.
The Navy and Lockheed delivered a third Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) spacecraft to Cape Canaveral where it will be prepared for a January 2015 launch, according to Aerospace. MUOS operates like a smart phone cell tower in space, improving current secure mobile satellite communications for service members on the move.
The F-35C made its first catapult takeoffs from the USS Nimitz last week and Breaking Defense has posted video and photos of the historic event.
An updated cloud computing policy will be released by the DoD within the next two weeks, reports FederalTimes. The re-write of the 2012 policy is intended to speed up the procurement process by giving more purchasing authority to individual agencies.
More federal employees may be fired in 2015 if the Republican-controlled Senate approves the Senior Executive Service Accountability Act, according to Government Executive. The bill, which eases the process of firing of federal workers, cleared the House in July but has not yet been addressed by the Senate.
Contracts were awarded by British and French procurement agencies for a joint Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS), according to UPI. The UCAS, also known as the Future Air Combat System, will be a system that provides surveillance, marks targets, gathers intelligence, deters enemies and carries out strikes in hostile territory.
FP provides an in depth interview with an unmanned, remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) combat pilot. “In my opinion, a lot of the most significant work is being done in the RPA community and that’s drawing in the top-tier guys. There’s pride associated with flying RPAs,” he states.
Lockheed Martin and the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) announced a multi-million dollar, multi-year grant to support the expansion of college and career-focused science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs for all DCPS schools, reports IT Business Net. The STEM curriculum is offered through Project Lead The Way, the nation’s leading provider of K-12 STEM programs.
The Navy is pleased with the Boeing P-8A Poseidon multi-mission anti-submarine warfare aircraft’s efficiency both in its acquisition price and its early operational performance, according to IHS Jane’s 360.
The Pentagon released an RFI for new technologies “countering” commercial UAVs that are armed with chemical, biological, or other weapons, reports Defense One. The request asks for ideas on “emerging technologies, technical applications and their potential to counter a low-cost, small/man portable, commercial off-the-shelf unmanned aerial system (UAS) carrying a chemical and/or biological WMD payload.”
