Air Force awards Lockheed $3.2B multiyear missile contract

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  February 25, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - February 22, 2019

  AIR FORCE Aleut Field Services LLC, Colorado Springs, Colorado (FA2550-19-D-A001); MedVolt LLC, Colorado Springs, Colorado (FA2550-19-D-A002); Olgoonik Enterprises LLC, Colorado Springs, Colorado (FA2550-19-D-A003); Site Work Solutions, Denver, Colorado (FA2550-19-D-A004); Sky Blue RME JV LLC (a Joint Venture comprised of Sky Blue Builders, LLC and Rocky Mountain Excavating Inc.), Aurora, Colorado (FA2550-19-D-A005); and T1-Avery JV (a Joint Venture comprised of Tribal One Broadband Technologies LLC and Avery Asphalt Inc.), Centennial, Colorado (FA2550-19-D-A006), have each been awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity firm-fixed-price contracts. The aggregate maximum amount for all six contracts is $200,000,000 with the companies having an opportunity to compete for individual orders. These contracts provide for construction and maintenance of roadways, bridges, sidewalks, parking areas, airfields and runways to include subsequent services which are typical activities that promote safe and efficient transportation. Work will be performed at various locations in Colorado to include Buckley Air Force Base, Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, Fort Carson Army Post (to include Piñon Canyon and the Pueblo Chemical Depot), Peterson Air Force Base, Schriever Air Force Base, and the U.S. Air Force Academy (to include the Farish Memorial Recreation Area, and the Bulls Eye Auxiliary Airfield). Work is expected to be complete by March 2026. No funds are being obligated at time of award. These contracts were the result of a competitive acquisition and fourteen offers were received. The 50th Contracting Squadron, Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado, is the contracting activity. Cyber Systems & Services Solutions, Bellevue, Nebraska, has been awarded a $17,436,173 firm-fixed-price and cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P0007) to contract FA8773-18-D-0002 to exercise Option I for Defensive Cyber Realization, Integration, and Operational Support services. Work will be performed at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, and is expected to be complete by Feb. 29, 2020. This modification is the result of a competitive acquisition and seven offers were received. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $9,244,750 are being obligated at the time of award. The 38th Contracting Squadron, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, is the contracting activity. ARMY Radiance Technologies Inc.,* Huntsville, Alabama, was awarded a $77,376,456 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for system engineering technical and assistance services, space and cyberspace science and technology development support. Twenty-three bids were solicited with two bids received. Work will be performed in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 27, 2024. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $10,349,818 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W9113M-19-F-0016). CK Power, St. Louis, Missouri,* was awarded a $23,426,448 firm-fixed-price contract for auxiliary power unit kits for the assembly of M8E1 Chemical and Biological Protective Shelters at Pine Bluff Arsenal, Arkansas. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 21, 2024. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W52P1J-19-D-3011). ACC Construction Co. Inc., Augusta, Georgia, was awarded a $10,718,591 firm-fixed-price contract for construction of a 12-story flight control tower. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work will be performed in Fort Benning, Georgia, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 25, 2020. Fiscal 2015 and 2018 military construction funds in the amount of $10,718,591 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah, Georgia, is the contracting activity (W912HN-19-C-3003). Weeks Marine Inc., Covington, Louisiana, was awarded a $9,900,000 modification (P00001) to contract W912P8-19-C-0010 for Mississippi River Southwest Pass maintenance cutterhead dredging. Work will be performed in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, with an estimated completion date of May 26, 2019. Fiscal 2018 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $9,900,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans, Louisiana, is the contracting activity. NAVY Archer Western Federal JV, Chicago, Illinois (N69450-19-D-0907); B.L. Harbert International, Birmingham, Alabama (N69450-19-D-0908); The Haskell Co., Jacksonville, Florida (N69450-19-D-0909); The Korte Co., St. Louis, Missouri (N69450-19-D-0910); and Mortenson Construction, Minneapolis, Minnesota (N69450-19-D-0911), are each awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple award design-build construction contract for construction projects located primarily within the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southeast (NAVFAC SE) area of responsibility (AOR). The work to be performed provides for, but is not limited to, general building type projects (new construction, renovation, alteration, demolition, and repair work) including industrial, airfield, aircraft hangar, aircraft traffic control, infrastructure, administrative, training, dormitory, and community support facilities. These five contractors may compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the awarded contract. Archer Western Federal JV is awarded the $24,774,660 initial task order for P427 Littoral Combat Ship Operational Trainer Facility at Naval Station Mayport, Florida. The remaining four contractors will be awarded $1,000 each to satisfy the guaranteed minimum. Work for this task order is expected to be completed by January 2021. All work on this contract will be within the NAVFAC SE AOR, which includes Florida (15 percent); Georgia (15 percent); Louisiana (14 percent); Mississippi (14 percent); South Carolina (14 percent); Tennessee (14 percent); and Texas (14 percent). The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months, with an expected completion date of February 2024. Fiscal 2019 military construction (Navy); and fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $24,778,660 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by military construction (Navy); operations and maintenance (Navy); and Navy working capital funds. The maximum dollar value for the five-year ordering period for all five contracts combined is $240,000,000. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with 19 proposals received. Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southeast, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity. Oracle America Inc., Redwood City, California, is awarded $18,850,000 for fixed-price-level-of-effort task order M67854-19-F-7603 under a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (M67854-17-D-7609) for continued post-deployment system support including, service management, service operations; production and pre-production system sustainment; solution development environment; enterprise training and training devices; product lifecycle support; and service transition for change requests and engineering change proposals. Work will be performed in Stafford, Virginia (50 percent); and Quantico, Virginia (50 percent), and is expected to be completed by Dec. 20, 2019. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $18,850,000 will be obligated at the time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The base was awarded on a sole source in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1- only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting activity. CIRCOR Naval Solutions LLC, Warren, Massachusetts, is awarded an estimated $13,294,404 requirements contract for a broad range of pump parts in support of refurbishment and maintenance of existing pumps installed on various Military Sealift Command vessels. Delivery of parts will occur at various locations on the East and West coast of the U.S., and is expected to be completed by Feb. 24, 2024. No funding will be obligated at the time of award. This contract was sole-sourced, with a proposal solicited via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with one offer received. The U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N3220519D9006). Coastal Enterprises, Jacksonville Inc., Jacksonville, North Carolina, is awarded an $8,260,289 modification under a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N40085-18-D-6113) to exercise Option One for grounds maintenance services at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and other outlying locations. The work to be performed provides for grounds maintenance services that will maintain mowing and trimming grass on road shoulders, ditches, bunkers, firing ranges, wet-lands and tank training sites. After award of this option, the total cumulative contract value will be $16,506.249. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, North Carolina. This option period is from March 2019 to February 2020. No funds will be obligated at time of award. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Marine Corps) contract funds in the amount of $1,882,643 for recurring work will be obligated on an individual task order issued during the option period. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity. * Small Business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1765547/

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  September 25, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Defense industry fighting DoD proposal to change performance payments

  By: Joe Gould WASHINGTON — The Pentagon's proposed plan to lower the rate of progress and performance payments some companies receive on defense contracts is sending shockwaves through the industry and invited a backlash from three large trade associations. To incentivize defense firms to work more quickly and more efficiently for the taxpayer, Pentagon leaders want to create a tiered system that recognizes high performing companies with higher performance-based payments. Contractors, however, are balking at the Pentagon's efforts to make them more accountable. While obscure to the general public, the proposed rule changes have rattled government contractors, which argue they would choke off funding for innovation, shackle them with more bureaucracy, increase the cost of military equipment— and hurt profits. The baseline performance- and progress-based payment rate for larger companies would be reset from 80 percent to 50 percent, with incremental increases or decreases based on new criteria proposed by DoD. If a contractor, for instance, delivers end items on time, hits milestone schedules, or avoids serious corrective action requests, it would win 10 percent bumps for each. (Small businesses would have their own schedule of incentives.) The National Defense Industrial Association is calling on DoD to rescind the regulation and collaborate with industry to create a different rule. One objection it has is the proposed rule would determine payment rates based on companies' overall performance, as opposed to contract by contract. “The marching orders from Congress is we have to be faster, more innovative, to do better for the warfighter,” said NDIA Senior Vice President for Policy Wesley Hallman. But, under the proposed rule, a company that wants to take on a high-risk project that fails, “will later be judged on that thing the following December. They're incentivized to take a low-risk approach.” Though Section 831 of the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act encourages DoD to use performance payments, NDIA argues the rule violate's the law's intent and that lessening companies' cash flow would slow payments to subcontractors and sap funding for independent research and development. “We're doing our best to let them know how this will hurt industry,” said NDIA Director of Regulatory Policy Corbin Evans. The trade group's comments were submitted at a public meeting Sept. 14 to consider changes the Pentagon proposed in August to federal acquisitions rules, the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations Supplement. The Defense Department is holding another public meeting, Oct. 10, before the public comment period ends on Oct. 23. Both the Professional Services Council and the Aerospace Industries Association, which more than 300 companies in the aerospace and defense industry, also offered presentations in opposition. The move toward better stewardship of taxpayer dollars comes amid record Pentagon budget growth and amid a reorganization of the Pentagon's acquisition, technology and logistics office, now due to finish in a few months. The move falls in line with Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord's efforts to halve the timeline of major defense acquisition programs, which are notoriously slow. “I believe the lifeblood of most industry is cash flow, so what we will do is regulate the percentage of payments or the amount of profit that can be achieved through what type of performance they demonstrate by the numbers,” Lord said in a Defense News interview last week. Hence, “we're going to begin to reward companies through profit or through progress or performance payments, as a function of how they manage all of that, as well as quality and delivery and a variety of other things,” Lord said. Though it's unclear whether DoD will formally move ahead with the rule by a Dec. 1 deadline, investors have already responded negatively to a reports on the changes, according to aerospace and defense sector analysts at Cowen and Company. “It will be a scramble for companies and DoD to compile the necessary data to evaluate the rate request. Under the current draft rule, DoD would need to evaluate the rate request in just one month for all its suppliers,” Roman Schweizer, of Cowen and Company, said in a note to investors Friday. “We suspect that will be very hard the first time and suggests this year may be too hard.” Still, Cowen analyst Cai von Rumohr downplayed the near-term effects, especially beyond the major primes. He speculated the proposed rule change will have negligible impact on contractor results in 2019 since it doesn't apply to any current contracts; it's very unlikely to go into effect before 2020, if ever; it will not apply to time and materials and fixed-price commercial terms contracts, and because it will only apply to some cost-plus contracts. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2018/09/24/defense-industry-fighting-dod-proposal-to-change-performance-payments

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  December 2, 2019 | International, C4ISR, Security

  How the Defense Digital Service revamped Army cyber training

  Earlier this year, the Defense Digital Service — the Pentagon's cadre of coders and hackers performing a short stint in government — finished the second phase of a pilot program to streamline cyber training for the Army. The Army wanted to streamline two phases of cyber training: the Joint Cyber Analytics Course, or JCAC, which takes 27 weeks in Pensacola, Florida, and provides basic cyber training for joint forces that have no prior experience in cyber; and the more tactical training that happens at Fort Gordon in Georgia. Combined, the two phases take a minimum of 36 weeks. To accomplish this, the Defense Digital Service, working with the Army Cyber Center of Excellence and a private vendor, built a course to conduct training in three months — everything a cyberwarrior needed to know from JCAC, said Clair Koroma, a bureaucracy hacker at DDS. Phase two — which combines tactics involving hardware, offensive and defensive cyber, and networking — takes seven months. It excluded the classified course, Koroma added. At this point, she said, DDS has transitioned all of its materials to the Cyber School, which will pick up the third phase of the pilot training, though DDS will still be available for assistance. “The plan is that eventually the 17Cs, [who execute offensive and defensive cyberspace operations], will come to Fort Gordon on inception and do their entry and mid-level training at Gordon. They will run this as the course for those soldiers,” she said. Koroma said success of the pilot will be measured from the operational world — evaluating the skill sets of the soldiers that graduate from the pilot program and comparing them to prior classes. Thus far, she added, no graduates from the pilot program have been overwhelmed in operations. Students during the second pilot were also evaluated by senior leaders within the Army cyber community and commands where they might be assigned during their final project and presentation. Students needed to identify issues on the network and conduct an outbrief to these leaders. “Senior leaders then got an opportunity to ask them questions,” Koroma said. “Every single person who was in that presentation said that they were impressed by the delivery of the students and the quality of the presentation that the students gave.” In fact, Koroma said, there are two students she's aware of whose orders were changed at the conclusion of training because leaders who attended the presentation wanted them on their team. https://www.fifthdomain.com/dod/army/2019/11/29/how-defense-digital-service-revamped-army-cyber-training/