X-47B First Aerial Refueling at PAX
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.
First aerial refueling of the X-47B, the Navy’s carrier-launched, unmanned aircraft, will occur in the next few weeks at NAS Patuxent River, reports Defense Tech.
Aviation Week reports on the status on retrofits to eliminate problems that led to an engine fire last year in the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter. Pratt-Whitney plans to fix the entire fleet by early 2016.
President Obama’s private schedule was infiltrated by way of the Russian hack of the State Department a few months ago, reports CNN. Yesterday’s brief power outage in Southern Maryland coincided with a brief outage at the US Capitol, which Pepco reported as neither criminal nor terrorist related. Pepco, which supplies electricity to the US Capitol complex, attributed the outages to problems with a transformer leading to a voltage dip, reports The Hill.
An AP survey finds men in Special-Ops don’t think women can cut it, and fear political pressure will admit them to Special-Ops units anyway, reports The Hill.
Kevin Cooley, executive director and command information officer for Fleet Cyber Command/10th Fleet, announces the Navy’s intent to take the offensive in cyber warfare, reports CRISR & Networks.
The $2.2 billion Sea-Based X-Band Radar, designed to spot, track and destroy incoming missiles, is a flop. This leaves a crucial hole in national defense, according to an investigation by the LA Times, which found other costly failures as well.
Military suicide numbers continue to drop, reports Defense.gov.
Veterans want their electronic health records to transfer smoothly from the Department of Defense to the Veterans Administration. Current delays leave some veterans suffering because the proper paperwork is not accessible, reports the Washington Times.
Military.com posts a video salute to Military Children.
Military budget cuts, reflecting the tensions of immediate budget debates, may cause significant damage to the weapon systems needed in the future, says Aviation Week. The outcomes could prove self-inflicted.
AP reports on DefSec Ash Carter efforts to re-focus on Asia. The secretary is in Japan and will visit South Korea Thursday, with more upcoming visits to the region planned.
Ecology and Environment Inc., Lancaster, New York, is being awarded a maximum amount $15,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity architect-engineering contract for base development planning and engineering services for Air Installations Compatible Use Zones (AICUZ) and Range Air Installations Compatible Use Zones (RAICUZ) studies for various locations throughout the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic’s responsibility, worldwide. The work to be performed provides for the preparation of various documents to support design and/or engineering services for base development planning and engineering services for AICUZ, RAICUZ and other encroachment-related studies. AICUZ documents including the following: detailed analysis of aircraft noise, accident potential, land use compatibility, operations alternatives and potential solutions to both existing and potential incompatible land use problems. RAICUZ documents include the following: quantify range compatibility zones, aircraft noise zones and blast noise zones, develop strategies for lands affected by potential weapon impacts or noise impacts, and develop a strategy to promote compatible development on land within these areas. Work will be performed in Maryland (25 percent), Virginia (20 percent), North Carolina (20 percent), Florida (20 percent), California (10 percent) and the adjacent waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, including the continental United States, the Caribbean, Europe, North Africa and other areas worldwide (5 percent). The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months with an expected completion date of April 2020. Fiscal 2015 operation and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $10,000 are being obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with two proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N62470-15-D-5010).
