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May 19, 2023 | International, Aerospace

A Shift by Biden Brings F-16s Closer for Ukraine

U.S. officials said the president was prepared to let other countries train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s and also send the U.S.-made warplanes to Kyiv. President Zelensky was expected to attend a G7 meeting in Japan.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/05/19/world/russia-ukraine-news?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur#the-us-will-support-training-ukrainians-to-fly-f-16s

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  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - October 01, 2019

    October 2, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - October 01, 2019

    AIR FORCE Faxon Machining Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio (FA8681-20-D-0001); and Major Tool & Machine Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana (FA8681-20-D-0002), have been awarded a $600,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for BLU-136/B next generation area attack warhead case production. This contract provides for the procurement of 15,000 BLU-136/B next generation area attack warhead cases. Work will be performed at Cincinnati, Ohio; and Indianapolis, Indiana, and is expected to be complete by Sept. 30, 2026. This award is the result of a competitive small business set-aside acquisition. Fiscal 2019 ammunition production funds in the amount of $109,500 is being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Direct Attack Division, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity. United Launch Services, Centennial, Colorado, has been awarded a $98,549,235 firm-fixed-price contract for Atlas V Completion launch services. This contract provides launch service completion for three National Security Space Launch Atlas V missions (two Air Force and one National Reconnaissance Office) previously ordered under contract FA8811-13-C-0003. Work will be performed at Centennial, Colorado; Decatur, Alabama; and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, and is expected to be completed by Nov. 30, 2020. This award is the result of a sole source acquisition. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 procurement funds are being obligated at the time of award. The Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, California, is the contracting activity (FA8811-20-C-0001). Tunista Logistics Solutions LLC, Honolulu, Hawaii, has been awarded a $90,000,000 contract for Barry M. Goldwater Range operations and maintenance services. This contract provides for operation and maintenance services of the government-owned, contractor-operated facilities at Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Field, Gila Bend, Arizona, and support services for operation of the Barry M. Goldwater Range in support of training missions for the F-35, F-16 and A-10 aircraft pilots for Air Force and other Department of Defense agencies. Ranges are broadly categorized as either primary training ranges or major range and test facility bases. The Barry M. Goldwater Range is considered a primary training range. Services include airfield management, target and range maintenance, civil engineering, fire and emergency services, security, logistics, air traffic control, custodial, trash and refuse, environmental engineering, biological and environmental monitoring. Work will be performed at Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Field, and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2026. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and three offers were received. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of approximately $13,000,000 are being obligated at the time of award. The 56th Contracting Squadron, Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, is the contracting activity (FA4887-20-D-0001). Teletronics Technology Corp., Newtown, Pennsylvania, has been awarded a $90,000,000 indefinite-quantity contract, for high speed data acquisition systems (HSDAS) and support. This contract provides the 59th Test and Evaluation Squadron with HSDAS and ancillary support services. The contract provides for configured systems, signal conditioning, data acquisition, multiplexing, recording and radio frequency telemetry functionality primarily used for flight and ground test. The contractor shall provide HSDAS commercial-off-the-shelf products and associated HSDAS services. Work will be performed at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, and is expected to be complete by March 2025. This award is the result of a sole source acquisition. Fiscal 2019 research and development funds in the amount of $58,967 are being obligated at the time of award. The 99th Contracting Squadron, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, is the contracting activity (FA4861-19-D-A006). Intelligent Waves LLC, Reston, Virginia, has been awarded an $89,200,000 indefinite-quantity contract for crowd sourced data support services. This contract provides the 59th Test and Evaluation Squadron with crowd support data support services. The contractor shall provide flight test mission instrumentation modifications, improvements and operations for 53rd Wing test aircraft test instrumentation packages at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, and other operational flight-testing locations. The contractor shall evaluate, upgrade, modify and operate instrumentation systems before, during, and after test missions. This work may include design, integration, functional checkouts and mission data capture activities for each period of performance. Work will be performed at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada; Yuma, Arizona; Patuxent River, Maryland; Norfolk, Virginia; Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio; and Hill Air Force Base, Utah, and is expected to be completed by March 2025. This award is the result of a sole source acquisition. Fiscal 2019 research and development funds in the amount of $1,600,000 are being obligated at the time of award. The 99th Contracting Squadron, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, is the contracting activity (FA4861-19-D-A005). DynCorp International LLC, Fort Worth, Texas, has been awarded a $68,400,284 modification (P00033) to previously awarded contract FA4890-17-C-0005 for Air Force Central Command war reserve materiel. The contract modification provides for the exercise of Option Year Three period of performance for services being provided under the basic contract. The location of performance is Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina; Kuwait; Oman; Qatar; and United Arab Emirates, and work is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2020. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $255,195,955. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $68,379,284 are being obligated at the time of award. The Acquisition Management and Integration Center, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Hampton, Virginia, is the contracting activity. ASRC Communications Ltd., Beltsville, Maryland, has been awarded a $66,954,742 firm-fixe-price single contract modification (P00039) to previously awarded contract FA3002-16-C-0004 for acquisition of base operations support services. Work will be performed at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma, and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2020. This award is the result of a competitive source acquisition and six offers were received. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds are being used and no funds are being obligated at the time of the award. The Air Force Installation Contracting Center, the 338th Specialized Contracting Squadron, Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, is the contracting activity. Reliance Test & Technology, Crestview, Florida, has been awarded a $49,032,036 modification (P00056) to previously awarded contract FA2486-16-C-0002 for Eglin Operation and Maintenance Support Service. This contract modification increases the value of cost-type contract line item numbers for Option Period One. Work will be performed at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and is expected to be completed by March 31, 2020. The total cumulative face value of the contract to $1,266,287,845. Fiscal 2019 research and development funds in the amount of $6,200,000 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Test Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity. Crew Training International Inc., Memphis, Tennessee, has been awarded a $42,279,639 firm-fixed-price modification (P00009) to previously awarded contract FA4890-19-C-0003 for the MQ9 Aircrew Training and Courseware Development contract. The contract modification is for the exercise of option year one. Work will be performed at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada; Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico; March Air Reserve Base, California; and Hancock Air National Guard Base, New York, and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2020. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $223,630,953. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $30,376,922 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Combat Command Acquisition Management and Integration Center, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, is the contracting activity. L-3 Communications Integrated Systems, Greenville, Texas, has been awarded a $17,518,309 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification for aircraft engineering, procurement and fabrication. Work will be performed in Greenville, Texas, and is expected to be completed by December 2022. This contract involves 100% foreign military sales. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $17,518,309 are being obligated at the time of award. The 645th Aeronautical Systems Group, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8620-18-F-4802 P00006). SES Electrical LLC, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, has been awarded an $11,298,386 firm-fixed-price contract to repair main perimeter fence. As the result of Hurricane Michael, the contract is comprised of the removal and disposal of old damaged fence, removal and disposal of previously installed temporary fencing and replacement with new approved fencing materials at specific locations identified on Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. Work will be performed at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2020. This award is the result of a sole source 8(a) Alaska Native Corporation acquisition. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funding in the amount of $11,298,386 are being obligated at the time of award. The 325th Contracting Squadron, Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity (FA4819-19-C-A033). U.S. TRANSPORTATION COMMAND Twelve companies have been awarded task orders under the following International Charter Airlift Services in Support of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet contracts: HTC71118DCC37 -- Atlas Air Inc., Purchase, New York (HTC71120F1025, HTC71120F1026; $287,285,594); Federal Express, Memphis, Tennessee (HTC71120F1027; $38,903,491); Amerijet International, Fort Lauderdale, Florida (HTC71120F1041; $2,496,649); HTC71118DCC38 -- Miami Air International, Miami, Florida (HTC71120F1028; $7,084,737); Sun Country Airlines, Eagan, Minnesota (HTC71120F1029; $3,025,704); HTC71118DCC39 -- ABX Air, Wilmington, Ohio (HTC71120F1030; $9,394,053), Air Transport International Inc., Wilmington, Ohio (HTC71120F1031; $17,450,997); Kalitta Air LLC, Ypsilanti, Michigan (HTC71120F1032; $159,942,597); Omni Air International Inc., Tulsa, Oklahoma (HTC71120F1033; $77,654,435); United Parcel Service Co., Louisville, Kentucky (HTC71120F1034; $13,710,325); Western Global Airlines, Estero, Florida (HTC71120F1035; $17,812,110); and HTC71118DCC40 -- National Airlines, Orlando, Florida (HTC71120F1036; $12,464,771). The task orders provide international long-range and short-range charter airlift services for the Department of Defense. Work will be performed globally. The task order period of performance is from Oct. 1, 2019, to Sept. 30, 2020. Type of appropriation is Fiscal 2020 transportation working capital funds. U.S. Transportation Command, Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity. Air Transport International, Wilmington, Ohio, has been awarded task order (HTC71120F1037) on contract HTC71118DCC16 in the estimated amount of $86,633,164. This contract provides global air charter transportation services utilizing part 121 aircraft configured to simultaneously transport both passengers and cargo. Services required include full planeload port to port airlift transportation services, commercial equivalent economy passenger services, 463L pallet cargo services, and mission coordination. Work will be performed globally. Task order period of performance is Oct. 1, 2019, to Sept. 30, 2020. Fiscal 2020 transportation working capital funds were obligated at time of award. This task order will bring the total cumulative face value of the contract to $212,167,393 from $125,534,229. U.S. Transportation Command, Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity. Jacobs Technology Inc., Tampa, Florida, has been awarded a contract modification (P00029) on contract HTC71117CD001 obligating funds in the amount of $22,360,471. This modification provides continued information technology service management enterprise support to the U.S. Transportation Command. Work will be performed primarily on-site at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, and other locations: Defense Information Systems Agency Defense Enterprise Computing Center, St. Louis, Missouri; U.S. TRANSCOM Office, Washington, District of Columbia; Joint Enabling Capabilities Command, Norfolk, Virginia; and the Pentagon. The option period of performance is from Oct. 1, 2019, to Sept. 30, 2020. Fiscal 2020 transportation working capital funds, operations; and operations and maintenance funds were obligated at award. This modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $74,346,425 from $51,985,954. U.S. TRANSCOM, Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Rolls-Royce Corp., Indianapolis, Indiana, has been awarded a maximum $109,252,327 requirements contract for supplies related to the support of the T56 family of aircraft engines. This was a sole source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a five-year base contract with one five-year option period. Location of performance is Indiana, with a Sept. 30, 2024, performance completion date. Using military services are Air Force and Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2024 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Richmond, Virginia (SPE4AX-20-D-9400). Woodward Inc., Loves Park, Illinois, has been awarded a maximum $113,429,656 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for aviation turbine engine main fuel controls. This was a competitive acquisition with one offer received. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Illinois, with a Sept. 20, 2025, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2024 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (SPRRA1-19-D-0133). (Awarded Sept. 28, 2019) NAVY Progeny Systems,* Manassas, Virginia, was awarded a $25,689,916 cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost-plus-incentive-fee, and cost only contract for the procurement of Navy systems engineering. This contract includes options, which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $98,044,894. Work will be performed in Middletown, Rhode Island (70%); and Manassas, Virginia (30%), and is expected to be completed by September 2021. If all options are exercised, work will continue through September 2027. Fiscal 2019 research, development test and evaluation (Navy) funding in the amount of $800,000 will be obligated at time of award. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with one offer received. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N00024-19-C-6201). (Awarded Sept. 30, 2019) Systems Application and Technologies Inc.,* Oxnard, California, is awarded a $25,275,828 modification (P00016) to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee/cost contract (N68936-18-C-0046) to maintain and operate aerial and seaborne assets and associated equipment for the Pacific Targets and Marine Operations Division of the Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Division (NAWCWD), Point Mugu, California. Work will be performed at Naval Base Ventura County, California (85%); China Lake, California (6%); and Las Cruces, New Mexico (3%); Kauai, Hawaii (2%); Salt Lake City, Utah (2%); Lompoc, California (1%); and various locations outside the continental U.S. (1%), and is expected to be completed in September 2020. Major range and test facility base; and working capital (Navy) funds in the amount of $11,690,000 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The NAWCWD, Point Mugu, California, is the contracting activity. Life Cycle Engineering Inc., North Charleston, South Carolina, was awarded an $8,696,376 firm-fixed-price task order (N32253-19-F-3000) off of the SeaPort-e multiple-award contract N00178-07-D-4077 for the procurement of technical, engineering, management, programmatic, logistics, and education (TEMPLE) services at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Hawaii. This procurement of TEMPLE services will provide advisory and assistance services to various departments (C135 Quality Assurance, C200 Engineering, C300 Operations, C710 Lifting and Handling, C900T Resource and Training, and C2300 Nuclear Engineering Planning Department) at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. This task order includes one option period which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this task order to $17,563,077. Work will be performed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and is expected to be completed by September 2020. If the option period is exercised, work will continue through September 2021. Fiscal 2019 operation and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $8,696,376 was obligated at time of award and would have expired at the end of fiscal year 2019. This task order was competitively procured via SeaPort-e, with one offer received. The Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Sept. 28, 2019) CORRECTION: The Sept. 30, 2019, announcement of a $43,889,245 delivery order (N0002419F5637) under previously awarded contract N00024-15-D-5217 to Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Manassas, Virginia, for 281 Technical Insertion Sixteen (TI-16) Common Display System Variant A water-cooled and air-cooled production consoles, included the incorrect completion month. The work is expected to be complete by September 2020. All other information in the announcement is correct. CORRECTION: The Sept. 30, 2019, announcement of an $8,004,622 modification (P00006) to a previously awarded contract (N00019-19-C-0004) to Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, included an incorrect work location. The correct location is Edwards Air Force Base, California. All other information in the announcement is correct. CORRECTION: The $67,371,583 contract awarded to EMCube Inc., Alexandria, Virginia (N00030-20-C-0009), to provide services for the U.S. and United Kingdom Trident II D5 Strategic Weapon System programs and the United Kingdom Dreadnought program, was incorrectly announced on Sept. 30, 2019. The contract is being awarded Oct. 1, 2019. All other information in the announcement is correct. DEFENSE HEALTH AGENCY Alutiiq Solutions LLC, Anchorage, Alaska, has been awarded a $11,910,439 firm-fixed-price contract, HT0014-19-C-0012. This contract provides support to the Defense Health Agency for continuation of information management and information technology services at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, and other joint medical facilities and components within the National Capital Region. The work includes, but is not limited to, project management, application and web development, clinical informatics, information assurance, help desk, data center and network operations, system architecture and engineering, and telecommunications support. Work will be performed in Maryland and Virginia, beginning Sept. 30, 2019, with an estimated completion date of March 29, 2020. The contract includes a six-month base period. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $11,910,439 are obligated on this award. This was an 8(a) direct award. The Defense Health Agency, Falls Church, Virginia, is the contracting activity. *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/1976774/source/GovDelivery/

  • Six things on the Pentagon’s 2019 acquisition reform checklist

    December 31, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

    Six things on the Pentagon’s 2019 acquisition reform checklist

    By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — Under the purview of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, reform has become a buzzword inside the Department of Defense, with every office trying to find ways to be more efficient, whether through cost savings or changes to bureaucracy. The department's Acquisition and Sustainment office, headed by Ellen Lord, manages billions of dollars in materiel; and by Lord's own belief, it is ripe for changes that could net the department big savings. On Dec. 17, Lord sat down with reporters and outlined a series of goals for 2019 that she hopes will help transform how the Pentagon buys equipment. Here, then, are six key items to watch for in the coming year. 1. Rework the department's key acquisition rules: The DoD Instruction 5000.02 is a key bedrock that forms the basis of how the defense acquisition system works, guiding acquisition professionals in their day-to-day program execution. And if Lord gets her way, she'll largely rip it up and start over. “In 2019, one of my key objectives is to rewrite 5000.02. We have, right now, this huge, complicated acquisition process that we encourage our acquisition professionals to tailor to their needs,” Lord said. “We are going to invert that approach and take a clean sheet of paper and write the absolute bare minimum to be compliant in 5000.02, and encourage program managers and contracting officers to add to that as they need for specific programs.” Lord envisions taking the massive, unwieldy 5000.02 guidance and getting it down to “a couple page outline of what you need to do,” with “simple” contract language and an easy-to-follow checklist “so that this isn't an onerous process.” “I'm encouraging what I call creative compliance. I want everyone to be compliant, but I want people to be very thoughtful and only use what they need,” she said. “This is literally starting with a clean sheet of paper, looking at the law and the intent, and working to vastly simplify this.” Andrew Hunter, a former Pentagon acquisition official now with the Center for International and Strategic Studies, notes that the instruction is supposed to be rewritten every five years to keep it fresh, and now is probably the right time to start looking into that. But, he added, “a lot of what she says she wants to do are things that sound very similar to my ear to what [Lord's predecessor] Frank Kendall was trying to do in the last rewrite. He tossed stuff out left and right, worked very hard to create the different models, put in extended discussions of different potential models of programs so that it would be obvious to people there's not one single way to do a program.” Hunter is cautious when it comes to a massive shift in the 5000.02 system. “If you literally tell the system, ‘All the rules are repealed, go do everything you want,' the reaction won't be a sudden flood of creativity that astounds you with the amazing talent at the department, even though there is a lot of talent there," he said. “What's more likely to happen is you have total paralysis because everyone is sitting around going: ‘Oh no, the rules are gone. How do we know what we can do? What do we do now?' But over time that might shake out.” If Congress needs to get involved, Lord said, she's prepared to go to Capitol Hill “because I know they are partnering with us and they want to make sure we do things in a simpler, most cost-effective manner.” 2. Intellectual property rules: A long-standing fight between the department and industry is over who should own the intellectual property used by the American military. Before fully taking on 5000.02, Lord hopes to write a departmentwide intellectual property policy. Lord pointed to the “very good job” done by the Army on creating an IP policy and said her goal is to build on that to create a standard across the DoD. “From an industry perspective, we are trying to be consistent across all the services and agencies, so that we don't have different requirements for similar needs,” Lord said. “So intellectual property is a good example. We'd like to have the same kind of contract language that can be tailored to individual needs, but basically have consistent language.” David Berteau, a former Pentagon official who is now the president and CEO of the Professional Services Council, noted it is hard to read the tea leaves for what Lord may be planning based on her public comments. But he pointed out the long-standing challenge for the Pentagon — that nearly 70 percent of all program costs are life-cycle sustainment and maintenance costs — as a sign that something needs to change so the department can avoid major issues in the future. Depending on how new rules are implemented, the use of IP might drive down costs — or, he warned, it might lead to companies unable to compete, forcing the Pentagon to pay more or be less prepared for challenges. Put plainly, Berteau said, “it's complicated.” He hopes Lord will begin interacting with industry on this issue in ways similar to the current “listening tour” on changes to progress payments. 3. Better software development: It's become almost cliché that the department needs to do better at developing software, but in this case it's a cliché that experts, including Lord, agree with. The Defense Innovation Board, a group of tech experts from outside the department, is working on a series of studies on software, including one focused on how to drive agile development techniques inside the building. Lord said to expect that report before the end of March, adding: “I think that will be important in terms of capturing a road map forward on how to do this correctly.” 4. Increase use of OTAs: In 2018, Lord's office released a handbook on when and how to use other transaction authorities — legal standards designed to speed acquisition that critics say are underutilized by the department. Lord called it “sort of a warmup” for creating more useful handbooks for the acquisition community, but said that the goal for 2019 is to get people to correctly employ OTAs. “Usually they should be used when you don't have a clear requirement. So, true prototyping when you don't know what you're going to get,” Lord said. “Prototyping early on, probably before you get to the middle-tier acquisition.” 5. Greater use of prototyping: Speaking of which, Lord said the department has about 10 projects underway for rapid prototyping at the mid-tier level, with the goal of growing to about 50 in the next year. The goal is to take the systems into the field, test them out and then grow the next iteration of the capability based on what is learned. “We're taking systems that are commercially available and perhaps need a little modification, or defense systems that need a modicum of modification to make them appropriate for the war fighter,” Lord said. “That's one of the authorities we are very appreciative for, and we will continue to refine the policy. I signed out very broad policy on that this year. We'll write the detailed policy coming up early next year.” 6. Making the Selected Acquisition Reports public again: Until recently, the department publicly released annual Selected Acquisition Reports for each of the major defense programs. Those reports can inform the public of where programs stand and the costs associated. However, under the Trump administration, those reports have been largely classified as “For Official Use Only,” or FOUO, a higher level of security. Critics, including incoming House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., have argued there is no need for those once-public reports to be listed as FOUO. It appears Lord is working to open those back up. “We're going to try to minimize the FOUO on that,” Lord said in response to a question about it. “There are certain information [issues] that we have to protect, but [we] understand the need, the requirement, and I will put our guidance to make everything open to the public to the degree we can.” https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2018/12/27/six-things-on-the-pentagons-2019-acquisition-reform-checklist/

  • Following industry trend, Airbus dives into data

    July 18, 2018 | International, C4ISR

    Following industry trend, Airbus dives into data

    By: Andrew C. Jarocki WASHINGTON — Airbus has created a new advanced data analytics system for the defense market, gathering data from vehicles to better plan maintenance and study mission performance. The firm announced the program, SmartForce, at the 2018 Farnborough Airshow. The program is meant to “enable substantially more efficient maintenance by drilling into the wealth of data acquired by new generation helicopters and aircraft,” according to a company news release. The company added it will “more rapidly perform root-cause analysis and faster trouble shooting.” The use of artificial intelligence to make sense of data has become a growing focus for the defense and intelligence community, as has cloud computing for handling the massive volumes of data. “Our digital analytics services support the goal of enhanced mission readiness of our operators' aircraft," said Stephan Miegel, head of military aircraft services at Airbus Defence and Space, “and they provide predictive solutions which all contribute to reduced workload and costs.” https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/farnborough/2018/07/17/following-industry-trend-airbus-dives-into-data/

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