Trump: ‘Discombobulator’ Mystery Weapon Used in Raid

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.

US President Donald Trump said that a secret weapon was a key part of Operation Absolute Resolve, the strike to capture former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, reports New York Post. He said the mystery weapon, which he called “The Discombobulator,” “made [enemy] equipment not work” during the Jan. 3 raid in Caracas. “The Discombobulator. I’m not allowed to talk about it,” he said

The 747 Qatari jet accepted by the US government is expected to be ready this summer roughly a year after modifications began, reports Breaking Defense. The jet will serve as the new Air Force One.  Last year, Air Force Sec Troy Meink estimated a price tag of “less than $400 million” to modify the jet.

In the wake of Trump’s executive order on Jan. 7 limiting Pentagon contractors’ spending, data from eight defense firms’ stock buybacks and dividends was compiled by defense consulting firm McAleese and Associates and shared with Breaking Defense. The data sheds light on the veracity of Trump’s claim for companies RTX, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems, L3Harris, and Huntington-Ingalls Industries.

Coherent Technical Services, John H. Northrop & Associates, and EXPANSIA Group have merged form a new national defense technology company supporting warfighters, operators, and program offices through expertise in digital engineering, full-spectrum modeling and simulation, and advanced fabrication, reports Yahoo!Finance. The merger establishes the foundation for a new Falfurrias Management Partners defense technology platform.

X-Bow Systems announced that it has successfully completed the preliminary design review for its Mk 72 booster and Mk 104 dual-thrust SRM development contracts for the US Navy’s Standard Missile program, according to PR Newswire. This milestone represents a crucial step in demonstrating the design maturity and reducing risk for critical technologies within the program, the company said.

Maryland ranks third in the nation for data-first hiring, according to analysis by research firm DoubleTrack, with companies advertising 39% more data infrastructure roles than AI positions. Maryland’s proximity to federal government contracts (where data security and compliance are paramount) likely boosts its data infrastructure focus.

With STEM jobs projected to grow 8.1% between 2024 and 2034, compared to 2.7% for other occupations, the personal-finance company WalletHub followed up on its 2026’s Best Cities for Jobs report with an analysis of 2026’s Best & Worst Metro Areas for STEM Professionals.

A deal for Singapore to buy four Boeing P-8A Poseidons for $2.3 billion has been approved, reports Breaking Defense. The P-8As will replace five Fokker 50 maritime patrol aircraft currently operated by the Republic of Singapore Air Force.

US Southern Command says a US military strike Friday on an alleged drug boat killed two people and left one survivor in the Eastern Pacific, reports The Hill.

Instead of a specially trained remote pilot, the Pentagon wants any service member able to give orders in plain English all drones, reports Breaking Defense. Up to $100 million in prizes is being offered for companies to prototype new control software for unmanned air, ground, and water vehicles. Submissions are due by Jan. 25 and awardees “must be able to begin Sprint 1 testing within 10 days of selection notification,” says the detailed guidance for interested companies, with successively more complex stages following fast over the next six months.

Saildrone will equip its unmanned surface vessels with strike missiles made by Lockheed Martin, reports Defense News. The collaboration comes in response to a call by global navies for more armed naval drones, according to Saildrone.

Denmark has fast-tracked the purchase of Lockheed Martin air surveillance radars, reports Defense News. The price tag is $610 million for three TPY-4 fixed radars, with the option to procure a fourth one. The radars will be stationed across Danish territory.

The Pentagon’s push to reshape Stars and Stripes has ignited a high-stakes fight over whether the military’s historic newspaper can remain independent while operating inside the DoD, says Military.com. A Pentagon social media post and Daily Wire story last week “came as a surprise,” said Erik Slavin, Stars and Stripes editor in chief. “We are seeking further details on the Pentagon’s intentions. We continue to provide accurate and balanced journalism tailored to the military community, and particularly those serving overseas.”

The US Coast Guard is facing scrutiny after a recent Government Accountability Office report cited ongoing failures in how the service has reported cases of sexual assault and harassment to Congress since 2022, reports Navy Times. The Coast Guard submitted the 2022 report a year late and it contained only five of the 11 required reporting elements, partially included four, and did not include two, the GAO said. Reports covering fiscal years 2023 and 2024 have not been filed.

USNI fleet tracker weekly reports the approximate positions of the US Navy’s deployed carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups throughout the world. Here is the Jan. 20, 2026, Fleet and Marine Tracker. 

The USS Gerald R. Ford is experiencing difficulties with its bathrooms, reports Navy Times. The aircraft carrier, which cost roughly $13 billion to manufacture, is facing consistent plumbing issues with the nearly 650 toilets aboard the vessel.

Army MAJ GEN Brian Gibson has been nominated for promotion to three-star general as the No. 2 officer in charge of the Golden Dome missile defense shield, and Air Force MAJ GEN Mark Pye has been selected for a similar promotion as deputy chief of major Air Force programs at the Pentagon, reports Air & Space Forces Magazine.

GEN Shawn Bratton, the US Space Force vice chief of space operations, said the service could double in size within the next decade as the Pentagon increasingly treats space as a contested military domain, reports SpaceNews. He said the Space Force is being pressed by the Army, Navy, and Air Force to move faster and deliver capabilities that did not previously exist. Bratton was speaking at an event hosted Wednesday by the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center and SpaceNews.

Some students in Minnesota are being told by a National Guard recruiter about an enlistment program that could lead to Green Cards for their parents, reports Task & Purpose. The Parole in Place program allows undocumented members of military families to temporarily remain in the United States in one-year increments, though eligibility restrictions apply to citizens of certain countries.

Earlier this month, the St. Mary’s County Planning Commission voted 4–3 to reject the proposed Bradley Brooke residential development, turning down both a concept site plan and a related major subdivision, reports The BayNet. The decision followed a public hearing that focused on traffic safety, housing needs, and compatibility with Naval Air Station Patuxent River. The project had called for a mix of townhouses and single-family homes along Bradley Boulevard within the Lexington Park Development District.

“Hidden Figure” Gladys Mae West, GPS pioneer and Navy civilian, has died, reports Navy Times. She was 95. Her mathematical work became the integral foundation for modern Global Positioning Systems. One of the few female students to graduate Virginia State University with a degree in mathematics, West’s genius secured her a position in 1956 at the Naval Support Facility Dahlgren, then known as the Naval Proving Ground.

Contracts awarded in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., Jan. 22 and Jan. 23, 2026:

Corvid Technologies LLC, Mooresville, North Carolina, is awarded a $21,152,050 modification to previously awarded contract (N6339425C0003) for the design, manufacture, and delivery of short/medium range sub-orbital vehicles, including provision of ground test hardware, special test equipment, and materials and engineering and launch support services. This contract combines purchases for the Navy (70%); and the government of Japan (30%), under the foreign military sales program. Work will be performed in Moorestown, North Carolina (37%); White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico (24%); Glen Burnie, Maryland (20%); Benbecula, Scotland (6%), Las Cruces, New Mexico (4%); Woomera, Australia (3%); Conroe, Texas (2%); Huntsville, Alabama (1%); San Nicolas Island, California (1%); Kekaha, Hawaii (1%); and Wallops Island, Virginia (1%), and is expected to be completed by January 2027. Fiscal 2026 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $3,105,020 (70%); and fiscal 2026 Foreign Military Sales (Japan) funds in the amount of $1,351,992 (30%), will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme, White Sands Detachment, Port Hueneme, California, is the contracting activity.

Lockheed Martin Corp., Rotary and Mission Systems, Moorestown, New Jersey, is awarded a $9,582,053 cost-plus-incentive-fee, and cost-only modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-21-C-5105) to exercise options for combat system ship integration and testing on littoral combat ships and unmanned surface vessels. Work will be performed in Seattle, Washington (45%); Moorestown, New Jersey (32%); San Diego, California (7%); Camden, New Jersey (6%); Pascagoula, Mississippi (4%); Jacksonville, Florida (3%); Washington, D.C. (1%); Virginia Beach, Virginia (1%); and Marinette, Wisconsin (1%), and work is expected to be completed by February 2027. Fiscal 2026 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,500,000 (88%); and fiscal 2025 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $195,057 (12%), will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.

CORRECTION: The $400,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract awarded to AECOM + Tetra Tech JV, Boston, Massachusetts (W912DY-26-D-A008); Black & Veatch Special Projects Corp., Overland Park, Kansas (W912DY-26-D-A009); Burns & McDonnell Engineering Co. Inc., Kansas City, Missouri (W912DY-26-D-A010); Dewberry & Power Engineers MDA JV, Fairfax, Virginia (W912DY-26-D-A011); HDR Architecture Inc., Omaha, Nebraska (W912DY-26-D-A013); Jacobs Government Services Co., Arlington, Virginia (W912DY-26-D-A014); and Michael Baker-Cardno JV, Coraopolis, Pennsylvania (W912DY-26-D-A015), for full spectrum facility engineering and architectural services was announced with the wrong date.  The correct date is Jan. 21, 2026.

Bryce Space and Technology LLC, Alexandria, Virginia, was awarded a $79,192,056 cost-no-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee, and firm-fixed-price contract for services including human capital, intelligence and security documentation processing, strategic planning, business development, operations, project management, acquisition development, financial management, safety and risk management, and related mission support in chemical and biological detection, protection, decontamination, testing, sciences, toxicology, aerosol science, target defeat, veterinary services, and computational methods. Bids were solicited via the internet with 16 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 1, 2031. Army Contracting Command – Aberdeen Proving Ground, Edgewood Division, is the contracting activity (W911SR-26-D-A001).

BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc., Nashua, New Hampshire, is awarded a $73,798,992 modification (P00006) to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N0001924C0003). This modification exercises the option to procure 1,248 radio frequency countermeasures in support of the U.S. and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) fighter aircraft. Work will be performed in Nashua, New Hampshire (40%); Elkton, Maryland (16%); Chatsworth, California (7%); Rosamond, California (4%); Dover, New Hampshire (4%); Rochester, New York (4%); Topsfield, Massachusetts (3%); Poughkeepsie, New York (1%); and other various locations within the continental U.S. (21%), and is expected to be completed in February 2029. Fiscal 2025 procurement of ammunition (Navy and Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $3,551,657; fiscal 2026 procurement of ammunition (Navy and Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $9,441,486; fiscal 2026 aircraft procurement (Air Force) funds in the amount of $19,355,045; and FMS funds in the amount of $41,450,803, will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract modification was not competed. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

Systems Planning and Analysis Inc., Alexandria, Virginia, is being awarded a $67,519,083 cost-plus-fixed-fee term (including option years) task order (N00030-26-F-3021) to support the Trident II Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile Strategic Weapons System (SWS). Tasks to be performed include systems engineering and analysis support, technical assessments and future studies, arms control and treaty support, risk assessment and high consequence event prevention framework, nuclear deterrence mission oversight counsel technical support, program integration support, strategic deterrent industrial base studies, technical studies, technical assessment and systems engineering analysis support, program assistance and analytic support, strategic partner technical studies, enterprise data management, alteration support, and SWS United Kingdom (U.K.) unique systems engineering and program support. This contract benefits a Foreign Military Sale to the U.K. Work will be performed in Alexandria, Virginia (50%); Washington, D.C. (35%); Arlington, Virginia (5%); Silverdale, Washington (4%); Kings Bay, Georgia (2%); Cape Canaveral, Florida (2%); and the U.K. (2%). Work is expected to be completed on September 30, 2030. Fiscal 2026 operations and maintenance, Navy funds in the amount of $3,406,963, and Fiscal 2026 weapons procurement, Navy funds in the amount of $942,040 will be obligated on this award. Funds in the amount of $3,406,963 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  This Task Order will be awarded as a sole source acquisition with the authority of 15 U.S. Code 638 Research and Development and was previously synopsized on the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) online portal. Strategic Systems Programs, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. 

Oceanetics Inc., Annapolis, Maryland, is awarded $20,000,000 for a firm-fixed price, cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to a previously awarded contract (N39430-23-D-4050). This modification provides for an increase in contract capacity. Work will be performed within the Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center (NAVFAC EXWC) area of operations and is expected to be completed by May 2028. This award brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $149,989,368. No funds will be obligated at time of award. Future task orders will be primarily funded by operations and maintenance, (Navy); Navy working capital fund; research, development, test and evaluation; and other procurement, (Navy) funds. NAVFAC EXWC, Port Hueneme, California, is the contracting activity.

Accenture Federal Services LLC, Arlington, Virginia, has been awarded $38,480,659 not-to-exceed, undefinitized contract action, for Enterprise Resource Planning Common Services support. This contract provides information technology services to the Enterprise Resource Planning Common Services program management office. Work will be performed at Arlington, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by Jan. 23, 2027. This contract is the result of a sole source selection acquisition. Fiscal 2026 operation and maintenance appropriations funds in the amount of $11,412,568; and fiscal 2026 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $2,509,935, are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center is the contracting activity at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio (FA877126C0001).

Omni Fed, Gainesville, Virgina, was awarded a $9,911,506 firm-fixed-price contract for modeling and simulation. This contract provides enhancement and deployment of the Command-and-Control Simulated Environment Training modeling and simulation platform to improve automation, resilience, and usability across operational environments. Work will be performed at Orlando, Florida, and is expected to be completed by July 28, 2026. This contract is a sole source award. Fiscal 2026 research, development, test, and evaluation funds in the amount of $3,000,000 are being obligated at the time of award. Kessel Run, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts is the contracting activity (FA873026CB002).