From Ukraine to Arizona. The Arizona Defense and Industry Coalition (AZDIC) says that it “looks forward to welcoming Ukrainian pilots to coach on F-16s at Morris Air National Guard Base in Tucson” next month. Within the presence of Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy, AZDIC President Lynndy Smith and Ukraine Minister of Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 21. “The MoU will facilitate the event of joint ventures and production opportunities, with AZDIC forging vital connections between Ukraine and defense and mining entities in Arizona and other targeted U.S. states,” the coalition said. Zelenskyy was in D.C. for meetings with President Biden and congressional lawmakers to induce their continued support for Ukrainian efforts to expel Russia from Ukraine.
…”Essential Defense Technologies.”
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and personnel from the office of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and international law firm, Squire Patton and Boggs, were also present for the MoU signing between Ukraine and AZDIC on Sept. 21. “We’ve worked diligently to discover firms and universities in Arizona that need to assist our partners in Ukraine,” Rick Stilgenbauer, an AZDIC advisory board member and senior policy adviser at Squire Patton Boggs, said within the coalition’s statement. “AZDIC is already working on its second series of proposals for Ukraine.” Kamyshin said within the AZDIC statement that the coalition’s “dedication and role in facilitating conversations with essential defense technologies is not going to only ensure our success within the war but in addition contribute significantly to our long-term resilience and progress.”
Wexton. Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.), a member of the House Appropriations and Budget Committees, announced on September 18 she’s going to not seek reelection in 2024, noting her recent diagnosis of a rare neurological disorder called progressive supranuclear palsy. “After I made the choice to run for Congress, this was clearly not the best way I anticipated it coming to an in depth — but nonetheless, just about nothing about my time serving here has quite been typical or as expected. I’ll ceaselessly cherish the people from our communities and throughout the country I’ve come to know, the challenges we’ve faced together, and the ways each big and small that my team and I actually have made a difference within the lives of our neighbors,” Wexton said in an announcement. Wexton plans to serve out the remaining of her term. The race for Wexton’s Northern Virginia district seat is more likely to be competitive. Wexton beat out Republican incumbent Barbara Comstock for the Virginia tenth District seat in 2018.
Saudi Arabia FMS. The State Department said on September 21 it has approved a possible $500 million foreign military sale with Saudi Arabia for common spare and repair parts for a variety of capabilities under the Cooperative Logistics Supply Support Arrangement (CLSSA) Program. The deal specifically covers parts for the Royal Saudi Land Forces’ fleet of fleet of Abrams tanks, M-60 tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, mortar carriers, Combat Engineer Vehicles, Humvees, MRAP vehicles, Light Armored Vehicles, howitzers, support vehicles, pistols, rifles, crew-served weapons, mortars, vehicle periscopes, night vision devices, TOW missile launchers and missile parts, computer units, radar sets, generators and communication equipment. “The proposed sale will maintain Saudi Arabia’s capability to fulfill current and future threats by allowing the RSLF to proceed to buy needed spare/repair parts, through their current CLSSA program, to replenish in-country stocks required for general maintenance and sustain the operability of RSLF equipment,” the Defense Cooperation Security Agency said in an announcement, noting Saudi Arabia has participated within the CLSSA program since 1965.
Kuwait FMS. The State Department has also approved a possible $150 million FMS case with Kuwait for repair and recertification of PAC-3 missile interceptors. “Kuwait has requested the alternative of expiring limited life components and certifications testing with a purpose to support an operational lifetime of 30 years for PAC-3 missiles,” the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in an announcement. The deal to repair and recertify Kuwait’s Lockheed Martin-built PAC-3 interceptors specifically includes test and repair of PAC-3 missiles, stockpile reliability testing, repair and return of classified and unclassified PAC-3 missile items and component parts for ground support equipment, replenishment of classified and unclassified missile spares, and “tools to enhance the turnaround time of the repair and recertification efforts,” in accordance with the DSCA.
Recent Leader for Northrop Grumman Space Systems. Northrop Grumman said on Sept. 21 that its board of directors has named Robert Fleming as the brand new president of the corporate’s Space Systems Sector, effective Oct. 9, as the present president, Tom Wilson “has chosen to take a brand new role in the corporate for private reasons.” Fleming is the vp and general manager of the Strategic Space Systems division in the corporate’s Space Systems Sector and has also headed Space Systems’ strategy and business development. Fleming, an aerospace systems engineer and a U.S. Navy Reservist, has been with Northrop Grumman nearly 18 years and is a graduate of Harvard Business School and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, Northrop Grumman said.
T-AO 213. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro on Sept. 17 announced the long run ninth John Lewis-class oiler, T-AO 213, will probably be the long run USNS Harriet Tubman. This will probably be the second vessel named in her honor, after a Liberty ship built during World War II. Within the years after escaping slavery in 1849, she spent years helping liberate dozens of individuals escape slavery within the south as a part of the Underground Railroad. In the course of the Civil War she was the primary African American woman to formally serve within the U.S. military as a spy, scout, nurse and cook. In June 1863 she helped plan and lead a raid on South Carolina that liberated over 750 people. These oilers are designed to assist supply the Navy’s carrier strike groups, able to carrying as much as 162,000 barrels of oil and significant dry cargo.
Sub Parts. Naval Sea Systems Command awarded General Dynamics’ Electric Boat an undefinitized delivery order price as much as a maximum of $517 million on Sept. 15 to supply “unique parts and specialized material, including initial spares,” for Virginia-class attack submarines. Electric Boat in Groton, Conn., co-builds these submarines with HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia. Work for this contract order is predicted to largely occur in Groton (90 percent) and be finished by September 2028.Of this award total, $496 million will expire at the tip of this fiscal yr. This order was not competitively procured.
…Maintenance Help. Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.), rating member of the House Armed Services Committee’s Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee, said this contract funding will help the corporate “construct a surplus of parts and materials required for submarine maintenance, in order that our public shipyards have more spare parts available even before maintenance is required.” Courtney said this funding was authorized within the FY ‘23 defense authorization act he pushed for. His district includes GD’s shipyard in Groton, Conn. Courtney argued this award “demonstrates that the Navy and Congress are serious about achieving an 80 percent availability rate for the attack submarine fleet.”
LHA-9 Keel. HII held a keel laying and authentication ceremony for the long run USS Fallujah (LHA-9) America-class amphibious assault ship on Sept. 20 at its Pascagoula, Miss., shipyard. The ship’s name commemorates the First and Second Battles of Fallujah through the Iraq War. LHA-9 will probably be the second Flight 1 LHA and fourth in its class overall. HII’s shipyard there’s also in production on the long run USS Bougainville (LHA-8) in addition to the amphibious transport dock ships future USS Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD 29) and USS Harrisburg (LPD 30), and USS Pittsburgh (LPD-31).
Canadian Ship Test Site. The U.S. Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a $64 million contract on Sept. 18 to ascertain the AEGIS Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) land-based test site in Recent Jersey. The work is funded via the Foreign Military Sales account with work expected to be finished by November 2026. A lot of the work will probably be focused at the corporate’s facility in Moorestown, N.J. In 2018, Canada chosen Lockheed Martin’s team to deliver 15 CSCs to exchange its Iroquois-class destroyers and Halifax-class multirole frigates. This program is valued at about $42 to 46 billion. The ships will ultimately be built by Irving Shipbuilding, which is a component of Lockheed Martin’s team.
Risk Management. Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) have introduced a brand new bill geared toward strengthening defense of critical infrastructure sectors by requiring the the Department of Homeland Security to ascertain a National Risk Management Cycle. “Our adversaries proceed to launch cyber attacks against us that cripple our infrastructure, steal our mental property and harm our economy,” Gallagher said in an announcement. “Establishing a National Risk Management Cycle is basic cyber security hygiene and a common sense step we are able to take to make sure our businesses and significant infrastructure are hard targets.” The 2 lawmakers said the National Risk Management Act of 2023 will look to ascertain a recurring process for identifying “risks to critical infrastructure and the associated likelihoods, vulnerabilities, and consequences of every identified risk.”
Leidos/CJADC2. Leidos has received a possible $74 million deal to supply combined joint all-domain command and control (CJADC2) evaluation and support to DoD’s Joint Staff J6 Joint Assessment Division (JAD), the corporate said on September 21. “We’re pleased to deepen our 31 years of experience collaborating with the Joint Staff and other DoD organizations through this recent contract,” Will Johnson, senior vp of Leidos Defense Group said in an announcement. “Our team was purpose-built with unique domain expertise and analytical capabilities to assist JAD accomplish its mission. We stay up for accelerating decision-making advantage for our warfighters within the era of CJADC2.” Leidos said its work on the brand new contract includes “demonstration, experimentation and assessment of each emerging and fielded command and control information systems and procedures.”
Homeland Security Appropriations. Because the House’s Homeland Security appropriations laws for fiscal yr 2024 moves toward floor consideration, the White House has said it “strongly opposes” the bill and that President Biden would veto it. “House Republicans had a chance to have interaction in a productive, bipartisan appropriations process, but as a substitute, with lower than two weeks before the tip of the fiscal yr, are wasting time with partisan bills that cut domestic spending to levels well below the [debt limit] agreement and endanger critical services for the American people. These levels would end in deep cuts to climate change and clean energy programs, essential nutrition services, law enforcement, consumer safety, education, and healthcare,” the administration wrote in its statement of administration policy. “The draft bills also include quite a few recent, partisan policy provisions with devastating consequences including harming access to reproductive healthcare, threatening the health and safety of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex (LGBTQI+) Americans, endangering marriage equality, hindering critical climate change initiatives, and stopping the Administration from promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.”