Air Force to accelerate deployment of anti-jam satellite communications equipment

On the same subject

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  January 12, 2021 | International, Aerospace

  PARROT ÉQUIPERA L'ARMÉE FRANÇAISE DE SES MICRO-DRONES DE RECONNAISSANCE ET DE RENSEIGNEMENTS

  Pascal Samama Le 12/01/2021 à 15:08 Les armées commandent des centaines de micro-drones au fabricant français Parrot. La DGA a passé une première commande de 300 micro-drones qui seront livrés en juin prochain. C'est finalement Parrot qui fournira aux trois armées (terre, air, mer) des micro-drones de reconnaissance et de surveillance. La DGA (direction général de l'armement) vient d'annoncer qu'elle a sélectionné le modèle Anafi. Conçu en France, il est fabriqué aux Etats-Unis, mais "aucun composant ne provient de Chine", précise Parrot dans un communiqué. Parrot est une société historique de la French Tech. Elle a été fondé en 1994 par Henri Seydoux. Parrot est aujourd'hui le premier groupe de drone Européen. Une première commande de 300 appareils a été passée et seront livrés dès le mois de juin. Le contrat, qui comprend aussi des équipements complémentaires et la formation de pilotes, s'étend sur 5 ans a indiqué le ministère des Armées sans préciser le nombre total de la commande, ni le nombre de livraison annuelle, ni le montant du contrat. Il a seulement précisé que 60% de la commande ira à l'armée de Terre, 28% pour la Marine nationale et 12% pour l'armée de l'Air et de l'Espace. Un véritable espion volant L'Anafi ne pèse que 500 grammes ce qui permet de le transporter facilement dans un paquetage. Il est équipé de deux caméras 4K de 21 mégapixels avec un zoom 32x. Cette puissance optique lui permet de détecter de jour comme de nuit des cibles de taille humaine jusqu'à deux kilomètres de distance. Son point fort est aussi la sécurité des informations recueillies et de la liaison. Une signature numérique protège son logiciel de modification malveillante. De plus, l'enregistrement est réalisé au sol par une connexion sécurisée. Le drone permet d'enregistrer les données de la mission uniquement sur le segment sol, et non dans le vecteur aérien, puis de les extraire pour analyse, par connexion physique. Le drone dispose d'une connexion WPA2 sécurisée et de protocoles ouverts qui garantissent la confiance dans l'interopérabilité des données enregistrées pour des missions sensibles. https://www.bfmtv.com/economie/parrot-equipera-l-armee-francaise-de-ses-micro-drones-de-reconnaissance-et-de-renseignements_AN-202101120234.html

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  April 30, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Boeing Defense to Surpass Commercial Side For First Time In More Than a Decade

  But that's no cakewalk as new Air Force One and KC-46 tanker eat into the company's cash. Updated, April 30, 2020, with a U.S. Air Force statement. For the first time in 12 years, Boeing executives expect the company's defense and space unit to outperform its commercial airplane business, which is reeling from coronavirus and 737 Max losses. Boeing's defense business has not outperformed its commercial side since 2008, when the commercial market was still recovering from post-9/11 declines and U.S. defense spending spiked during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The prediction comes on the back of pre-existing problems in the Boeing Defense, Space & Security division. The company's defense unit took a $1 billion hit in the first quarter of 2020, adding to the growing list of financial woes for the company trying to dig itself out of a massive hole. “This year ... the defense business will probably be bigger than the commercial business,” Boeing CEO David Calhoun said during a call with Wall Street analysts. “That will probably hold for a while.” MOST READ 1Artificial Intelligence Outperforms Human Intel Analysts In a Key Area 2Pentagon's ‘Willingness to Kiss the President's Ass' Worries Top Lawmaker 3Boeing Defense to Surpass Commercial Side For First Time In More Than a Decade SUBSCRIBE Receive daily email updates: Subscribe to the Defense One daily. Be the first to receive updates. ADVERTISEMENT Additionally, executives said Wednesday that Boeing would lose $827 million on its work building KC-46 aerial refueling tankers and $168 million on the new Air Force One 747s that will fly the president, according to executives and regulatory filings. It's the latest black eye for the tanker project, which has cost the planemaker more than $4 billion over the past nine years. However, it is the first cost increase on the high-profile Air Force One project, which President Donald Trump personally negotiated with former Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg. Boeing began work converting two 747 jetliners into the unique Air Force One configuration in January before the coronavirus pandemic forced many workers out of the office. “As we've had folks working virtually, and particularly on the engineering side — as well as that's gone — it's certainly experienced some inefficiencies that has caused us to reevaluate our estimate to complete those efforts,” Boeing CFO Greg Smith, said of the Air Force One project during a Wednesday afternoon call with reporters. “The team has been doing a great job managing the program and executing very well on many fronts, but this we could not offset in the quarter as a result of COVID,” he said. “The program remains on schedule and ... continuing to execute, but we're looking for opportunities obviously to mitigate any further risk that we may have as a result of COVID.” The terms of the Air Force One contract require Boeing, not taxpayers, to pay for any cost increases during the development of the plane, which the military calls a VC-25B. Despite the coronavirus-related issues, Ann Stefanek, an Air Force spokeswoman, said the project remains on track. “As planned in the baseline schedule, the next phase of modification is on course to begin in June 2020,” Stefanek said in an emailed statement. “To maintain current schedule, Boeing and the VC-25B program office adopted maximum use of virtual tools, most notably to close Critical Design Review in March 2020 and conduct a modification readiness review in April 2020.” As for the tanker, $551 million in cost increases stem from a deal reached between the Air Force and Boeing requiring the company to fix the complicated camera system used when refueling other aircraft. Most of the remaining $276 million is the result of coronavirus-related factory closures in Washington state where the tanker is built, and a “cost shift” resulting from slowing production of other commercial manufacturing. “I do believe that that program now is exactly where it needs to be,” Calhoun said of the KC-46. “We're going to finish well. Importantly our customer is going to feel like we have finished well and we've delivered a product that is second to none. I do believe that even the tanker future is significantly brighter than the one we've experienced up until now.” Calhoun also touted the company's development work. Although he did not mention any projects by name, Boeing is in the early stages of testing two new aircraft — the T-7A pilot training jet and MQ-25 refueling drone. “Our development programs at the early stages are all looking quite good. We're really not off plan on anything and usually by now we have a snip that we might be. I feel pretty good about the risk profile of our defense business despite the difficulties that we've attempted to overcome in just the last couple of years.” The same can't be said of the company's commercial airliner and aircraft repair businesses. Boeing is planning to cut 10 percent of its 160,000 employees through voluntary layoffs, attrition and involuntary layoffs. The coronavirus has driven a substantial blow to the storied 104-year-old aerospace and defense company, which had already been reeling from the fallout of deadly 737 Max crashes in October 2018 and March 2019. Passenger air travel has fallen to record lows prompting airlines to cancel flights, ground aircraft, and defer buying new planes. Boeing in late March temporarily stopped making commercial and military aircraft — including the tanker and the Navy's P-8 submarine hunter — in the Seattle-area, a COVID-19 hotbed. It also shut down its military assembly lines in Philadelphia for the Chinook and MH-139 Grey Wolf helicopters, and the tilt-rotor Osprey. Those factories have since reopened. A shuttered 787 Dreamliner factory in Charleston, South Carolina, is expected to reopen next week. Now all eyes — including at the Pentagon — are watching to see how Boeing manages tens of thousands of employees on its complex assembly lines with new social distancing procedures in place. If successful, the model could become a blueprint for other U.S. manufacturers. “They have allowed me to share their practices more broadly with industry to make sure that anything that is working for them to either be safer or get back to work, that that's something that can be shared with all,” Will Roper, head of Air Force acquisition, said Wednesday. Boeing began the year with hopes of fixing its troubled 737 Max and restoring public confidence in the world's largest planemaker. Unable to deliver the unflyable Max to the airlines, it stopped building them in early January as it began running out of places to park them. Photos showed planes carefully aligned next to one another on tarmacs and even in employee parking lots. There's still no formal timetable for getting the Max flying again, although executives are hopeful regulators will approve a number of fixes in the coming months and that it can begin delivering 737 Max aircraft to airlines in the third quarter. https://www.defenseone.com/business/2020/04/boeing-defense-surpass-commercial-side-first-time-more-decade/165020/

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  December 17, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - December 16, 2019

  DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, has been awarded a maximum $835,737,596 modification (P00105) exercising the five-year option period of a five-year base contract (SPRPA1-14-D-002U) with one five-year option period for performance-based support of consumable items for various aviation platforms. This is a fixed-price-incentive firm contract. Location of performance is Missouri, with a Sept. 16, 2024, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2024 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Sysco Hampton Roads, Suffolk, Virginia, has been awarded a maximum $90,716,317 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-quantity contract for perishable and semi-perishable subsistence supplies. This was a sole-source acquisition in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a 363-day bridge contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Virginia, with a Dec. 11, 2020, performance completion date. Using military service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 and 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting agency is Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE300-20-D-3241). (Awarded Dec. 12, 2019) Pomp's Tire Service Inc., New Berlin, Wisconsin, has been awarded a maximum $15,046,656 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for pneumatic tire and wheel assemblies. This was a competitive acquisition with one offer received. This is a three-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Wisconsin, with a Dec. 16, 2022, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2022 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Warren, Michigan (SPRDL1-20-D-0014). Puerto Rico Industries for the Blind Corp.,** Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, has been awarded a maximum $11,036,311 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for flame resistant jackets. This was a competitive acquisition with three responses received. This is a one-year base contract with four one-year option periods. Location of performance is Puerto Rico, with a Dec. 15, 2020, performance completion date. Using military service is Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE1C1-20-D-1219). UPDATE: Atlantic Diving Supply Inc., doing business as ADS Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia (SPE8EC-20-D-0052), has been added as an awardee to the multiple award contract issued against solicitation SPE8EC-17-R-0005 announced April 5, 2017. ARMY Johnson Controls Building Automation Systems LLC, Huntsville, Alabama, was awarded a $400,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for utility monitoring and control systems. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 19, 2024. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntsville, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W912DY-20-D-0041). Lockheed Martin Corp., Orlando, Florida, was awarded a $64,736,518 modification (P00031) to contract W58RGZ-16-C-0008 for the Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight Pilot Night Vision Sensor Performance Based Logistics program sustainment, support elements, system components, test equipment and the supply retrograde infrastructure. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2020. Fiscal 2020 Army working capital funds in the amount of $64,736,518 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Attain LLC,* McLean, Virginia, was awarded a $30,492,418 modification (BA07 27) to contract W91QUZ-11-D-0016 to acquire and retain contractor employees with technical experience. Work will be performed in Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2020. Fiscal 2020 cost-plus-fixed-fee funds in the amount of $ 8,174,474 other procurement, Army funds were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity. MGS Construction Services Inc.,* Sallisaw, Oklahoma (W911SA-20-D-2000); Ryan Herring Construction Inc.,* Lawton, Oklahoma (W911SA-20-D-2001); and A&J Construction Management LLC,* Springdale, Arizona (W911SA-20-D-2002) will compete for each order of the $15,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for parts, labor, tools, equipment, materials, transportation and supervision necessary to perform design-build projects. 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 Dec. 15, 2024. U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command, Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, is the contracting activity. NAVY General Dynamics Mission Systems, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, is awarded a $299,886,600 cost-plus-incentive-fee and cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00030-20-C-0005) for fiscal 2020 through 2023 U.S. and United Kingdom Trident II (D-5) Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarines Fire Control System, Guided Missile Submarines Attack Weapon Control System, and Support Equipment Rework Facility support. Work will be performed in Pittsfield, Massachusetts (90%); Kings Bay, Georgia (3.0%); Bangor, Washington (2.0%); Dahlgren, Virginia (2.0%); Cape Canaveral, Florida (1.0%); Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Washington (1.0%); and Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Virginia (1.0%). Work is expected to be completed Dec. 30, 2024. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $9,061,163, fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $14,907,880, fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,006,230, and United Kingdom funds in the amount of $8,890,232 are being obligated on this award. Of this amount, $10,067,393 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract is being awarded to the contractor on a sole source basis in accordance to 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) and (4) and was previously synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities website. Strategic Systems Programs, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin, Manassas, Virginia, is awarded a $27,681,322 cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-only modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-19-C-6400 to exercise options for systems engineering and integration on Navy submarines. This option exercise is for engineering and technical services and includes all material travel, subsistence and incidental material in support of those services. Work will be performed in Manassas, Virginia (68%); Groton, Connecticut (10%); Waterford, Connecticut (10%); Middletown, Rhode Island (7%); and Newport, Rhode Island (5%), and is expected to be completed by December 2020. Fiscal 2018 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) and fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funding in the amount of $7,198,430 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Motorola Solutions Inc., Chicago, Illinois, is awarded a $23,803,734 firm-fixed-price contract for lifecycle sustainment of the enterprise land mobile radio system for Naval Facilities Engineering Command anti-terrorism/force protection ashore program systems at various Navy installations worldwide. The work to be performed provides for preventive maintenance of hardware and software; response and resolution of service calls for corrective maintenance to include equipment repair, overhaul, or replacement, asset and configuration management, password management and software upgrade installation. The contract also contains four unexercised options, which if exercised would increase cumulative contract value to $93,614,301. Work will be performed worldwide, and is expected to be completed by December 2020. If all options are exercised, work will continue through June 2023. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $23,803,734 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was solicited on a sole-source basis. Statutory authority for the use of other than full and open competition is found at 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1) as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1(iii), only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center, Port Hueneme, California, is the contracting activity (N39430-20-C-2214). AIR FORCE ViaSat Inc., Carlsbad, California, has been awarded a $93,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide AN/PRC-161 Handheld Link 16 radios, ancillaries and associated training to special warfare operators. Work will be performed at Carlsbad, California, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2023. This contract is awarded on a non-competitive basis. Fiscal 2020 other procurement funds are being used and no funds are being obligated at the time of the award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8629-20-D-5000). Able Aerospace Services Inc., Mesa, Arizona, has been awarded a $9,405,053 requirements contract for the overhaul of the dynamic components on the TH-1H helicopter. This contract provides for the overhaul of the dynamic components associated with the TH-1H helicopter which is used to train and develop pilot skills. The dynamic components provide power-train and aerodynamic functionality to the flight characteristics of the aircraft. Work will be performed at Mesa, Arizona, and is expected to be completed by Dec 15, 2024. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and one offer was received. Fiscal 2020 defense working capital funds are being used and no funds are being obligated at the time of the award. The Air Force Sustainment Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity (FA8524-20-D-0004). Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., McLean, Virginia, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $9,111,111 predominantly firm-fixed-price undefinitized contract to provide technical security team support services in support of the Pakistan F-16 program. Work will be performed in Pakistan and is expected to be complete by June 18, 2020. This contract involves 100% foreign military sales to Pakistan. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Foreign military sales funds of $4,464,444 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Air Force Security Assistance and Cooperation Directorate, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8630-20-C-5020). DEFENSE HEALTH AGENCY Cape Fox Facilities Services LLC, Manassas, Virginia, was awarded a three-year contract (one-year base and two option periods) with an estimated value of $19,500,300. This contract supports the Defense Health Agency, Deputy Assistant Director for Information Operations, Solutions Delivery Division. The contractor shall perform all activities within the scope of this contract under the construct of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), specifically the service operation and service transition domains. This initiative supports all operations and maintenance activities for the applications listed below under the ITIL construct. The seven applications are as follows: MHS Management Analysis and Reporting Tool, Patient Encounter Processing and Reporting, Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-based Epidemics, Protected Health Information Management Tool, Business Objects Common Services, Defense Medical Human Resources System - Internet and the Expense Assignment System. The contract was awarded on a sole source basis as authorized and in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S. Code 637(a)(1)). The location of performance is inside the U.S. The base year is funded with fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funding in the amount of $8,065,200. The Defense Health Agency, Professional Services Contracting Division, Falls Church, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HT0011-20-C-0001). MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY The Boeing Co., Huntsville, Alabama, is being issued a $15,800,000 modification (P00024) to a previously awarded contract, HQ0277-18-C-0003. The value of this contract is increased from $62,361,210 to $78,161,210. Under this modification, the contractor will demonstrate a successful transition of fiber combined laser technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology–Lincoln Laboratory. The work will be performed in Huntington Beach, California. The period of performance is extended from March 31, 2020, until March 31, 2021. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $3,000,000 are being obligated at the time of award. The Missile Defense Agency, Albuquerque, New Mexico, is the contracting activity. *Small Business **Small business in historically underutilized business zones https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2041268/source/GovDelivery/