Canada Is Reconsidering F-35A Contract

(US Air Force photo by Senior Airman Julius Delos Reyes)

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.

Canada has committed to buying at least 16 Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning IIs, but is weighing whether to purchase 72 more, reports The Hill. Trade tensions between the US and its northern neighbor have Canada considering looking elsewhere for its military hardware. Canada in 2022 had agreed to purchase 88 F-35 fighter planes. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is being pressured to cancel the contracts with the US, reports The Independent on MSN. Canada is also considering buying Swedish Gripen 4.5-generation fighter jets, reports 19fortyfive.com.

Congressional lawmakers and federal employee union leaders announced last week the launch of the Federal Workforce Caucus to protect federal workers and strengthen the merit-based federal civil service, reports Federal News Network. “What you’re seeing here is even more of a collective effort at this particular moment in time,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), a co-chairman of the new caucus. “This caucus is going to help respond to the ongoing, clear and present danger posed by this administration.”

The Trump administration is advancing a plan to strip job protections from career federal employees, reports Federal News Network. An estimated 50,000 career federal employees will soon be easier to fire and will lose their ability to appeal disciplinary actions, in this latest step by President Donald Trump to overhaul the federal workforce. While the Trump administration labels the Office of Personnel Management change as an “accountability” measure, worker advocates see the new Schedule Policy/Career rule as a way to make nonpartisan employees easier to fire and replace, reports FedScoop.

Trump is calling for a new nuclear pact as the US-Russia treaty expired Feb. 5, reports Military Times. The Kremlin said Thursday it regretted the expiration of the last nuclear arms pact between the two countries, while Trump said he was against keeping its limits and wants a better deal. The US said it has agreed with Moscow to restart high-level military-to-military dialogue that was suspended shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, reports The Week US.

From Jan. 27 to Feb. 2, US aircraft targeted five Islamic State sites in Syria as part of Operation Hawkeye Strike, reports Air & Space Forces Magazine. Aircraft, drones, and attack helicopters launched significant airstrikes as part of the renewed air campaign against remnants of the group.

Iran seized two foreign oil tankers in the Persian Gulf on Thursday, reports AP News. The nationality of the tankers was unknown Friday. Iran claims the vessels were smuggling fuel.

The US military struck another alleged drug boat Thursday in the Eastern Pacific, killing two people aboard, reports The Hill. The strike is the second such operation the military has disclosed this year and the first since Jan. 23.

The unit insignia of US Navy Air and Test Evaluation Squadron 9, based out of Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in California, was spotted on a US Air Force F-35A Lightning II variant on Jan. 23 by aviation enthusiasts on social media reports Navy Times. This is part of an exchange between the two services.

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) wants the chief executives of Google and its cybersecurity firm Mandiant to testify before Congress for preventing the release of documents tied to Salt Typhoon, a Chinese cyber collective that infiltrated US telecom networks and other communications systems around the world, at some point before the breaches were discovered in 2024, reports NextGov/FCW.

NASA moved to March the launch of its new moon rocket after running into fuel leaks during a make-or-break test a day earlier, reports Military.com. The leaks are reminiscent of the rocket’s delayed debut three years ago, occurring a couple hours into the daylong fueling operation last week at Kennedy Space Center.

USNI reports the Coast Guard has committed $323 million to modernize its Seattle, WA, base, which will be home to future Polar Security Cutter icebreakers critical to far-flung frozen Arctic and Antarctic missions, commandant ADM Kevin Lunday confirmed last week.

The US has begun a $70 million upgrade to a Kenyan airfield used as part of counterterrorism operations against al-Shabab and ISIS-Somalia. Task & Purpose reports the overhaul includes expanding the runway at Manda Bay.

The Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit is interested in commercially available missile-tracing sensors or seekers, reports Air & Space Forces Magazine. The DIU technology hub plans to demonstrate low-cost, commercially derived missile defense sensors on orbit within the next two years. DIU wants the prototypes to be tested in a lab within nine months of a contract award and demonstrated on orbit within 12 or 24 months.

Lockheed Martin will launch a new facility in Saudi Arabia that will introduce the company’s advanced software development ecosystem to the Kingdom, reports Breaking Defense. This will enable the rapid development of sovereign software applications and support their integration into Lockheed platforms and systems. Joseph Rank, chief executive for Lockheed in Saudi Arabia and Africa, described the facility as a “long-term development platform” that “creates a structured pathway for Saudi engineers and companies to design, develop and integrate software into Lockheed Martin systems in a way that supports shared security and interoperability.”

L3Harris has landed a $86.2 million contract to deliver the US Marine Corps’ Precision Attack Strike Munition program, providing a new weapon for use on the AH-1Z helicopter, reports Breaking Defense. The contract will cover delivery of an unspecified number of L3Harris’ “Red Wolf” weapon by end of fiscal 2027.

The US has stood up the Army Rotational Force-Philippines in response to Chinese actions in the South China Sea and aspirations over Taiwan, according to USNI.

Service members, veterans, and their families have free access to the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics coverage, reports Army Times, through a partnership with the US Army and Air Force Exchange Service and NBCUniversal. The opening ceremony for the Olympics was held Friday.

The US delegation competing in Italy includes at least 10 athletes who are active-duty service members, reports We Are the Mighty.

It is estimated that 127.7 million people watched last year’s Super Bowl. Joe Foss, a former military aviator and Medal of Honor recipient, understood the popularity of the sport back in 1963 when he proposed the idea of a national championship game, reports We Are the Mighty. At that time, he was serving as the first commissioner of the American Football League. He proposed the idea to NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle in December 1963, who ignored him. It would take a few more years for the idea to catch on.

Amazon’s planned closure of all Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go locations and convert them into Whole Foods Market stores is meant to compete with a Walmart or Costco, signaling a changing strategy, Reuters reports.

Contracts awarded in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., Feb. 5 and 6, 2026:

NV5 Geospatial Inc., St. Petersburg, Florida (W912P9-26-D-A019); Woolpert Inc., Beavercreek, Ohio (W912P9-26-D-A020); Dewberry Engineers Inc., Fairfax, Virginia (W912P9-26-D-A021); Aero-Graphics Inc., South Salt Lake, Utah (W912P9-26-D-A022); Fugro USA Land Inc., Houston, Texas (W912P9-26-D-A023); Bowman Consulting Group Ltd., Reston, Virginia (W912P9-26-D-A024); Surveying and Mapping LLC, Austin, Texas (W912P9-26-D-A025); and Towill Inc., Concord, California (W912P9-26-D-A026), will compete for each order of the $249,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for professional photogrammetric mapping, related surveying work, and photo interpretation services. Bids were solicited via the internet with eight received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 4, 2031. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis District, is the contracting activity.

Agile Defense Inc., Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $12,497,947 modification (P00010) to contract W9124P-22-F-0036 technology support services. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of July 31, 2027. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity.

General Atomics, San Diego, California, is awarded a $43,349,633 modification (P00002) to a firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee order (N0001925F0028) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N0001921G0014). This modification exercises options to provide continued advancement of the design and development of the future French carrier configuration of the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System and Advanced Arresting Gear through the critical design review, resulting in a configuration baseline being established as well as procures technical data to support the configuration. Work will be performed in San Diego, California (89%); Lakehurst, New Jersey (5.5%); Tupelo, Mississippi (3.5%); Boston, Massachusetts (1%); and Patuxent River, Maryland (1%), and is expected to be completed in January 2028. Foreign Military Sales customer funds in the amount of $43,349,633 will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This order was not competed. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

Serco Inc., Herndon, Virginia, has been awarded a $15,629,422 modification (P00007) to previously awarded (FA489024F0002) to exercise Option Year Two for organizational planning, program management & technical consulting supporting United States Air Forces Central.  This modification brings the cumulative face value of the contract to $44,334,763 from $28,705,341. Work will be performed at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina; and the Central Command area of responsibility and is expected to be completed Feb. 28, 2029.  Fiscal 2026 operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $15,629,422 are being obligated at the time of award. Headquarters Air Combat Command, Acquisition Management and Integration Center, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, is the contracting activity.