August 23, 2023 | International, Aerospace
Brazil to double air fleet as part of $10.6 billion investment
For the Brazilian Air Force, the plan involves the production and acquisition of 34 F-39 Gripen fighters.
May 11, 2020 | International, C4ISR
Amazon challenges the Pentagon’s revised JEDI solicitation directly to the department
Andrew Eversden
Amazon Web Services filed a bid protest directly to the Department of Defense challenging “ambiguous aspects” of the Pentagon's revised solicitation for its embattled enterprise cloud contract.
AWS' challenge is in response to a revised solicitation from DoD regarding a specific technical requirement of the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud contract that AWS had challenged. Back in mid-April, a Court of Federal Claims judge granted the department's motion allowing DoD to “reconsider certain aspects” of the JEDI award.
“AWS is committed to ensuring it receives a fair and objective review on an award decision that the court found to be flawed," an AWS spokesperson said. "AWS repeatedly sought clarity from the DoD around ambiguous aspects of the amended solicitation and the DoD refused to answer our questions. We simply want to ensure a common understanding of the DoD's requirements and eliminate ambiguity that could impact a fair evaluation.”
The JEDI cloud, potentially worth $10 billion over 10 years, was awarded to Microsoft in October last year. Amazon protested the award in the Court of Federal Claims in December and won a temporary restraining order in March preventing the DoD and Microsoft from building out the cloud infrastructure after the court decided that AWS was likely to show that DoD erred in its technical evaluation.
AWS also opposed the DoD's motion to reconsider specific aspects of the JEDI award because the DoD's request didn't account for all six technical errors Amazon alleged were made during the contract's evaluation process.
"Even if taken at face value, DoD's proposed corrective action fails to address in any meaningful way how it would resolve the technical issues AWS has raised, or which specific technical challenges it intends to address,” Amazon lawyers wrote in a March 24 court filing.
In response to Amazon's protest, the content of which is not publicly available, Microsoft spokesperson Frank Shaw wrote in a blog post that the filing by AWS was “disappointing but not surprising.”
“The only thing that's certain about Amazon's new complaint is that it will force American war fighters to wait even longer for the 21st-century technology they need – perpetuating Amazon's record of putting its own interests ahead of theirs,” Shaw wrote May 7.
A spokesperson for AWS called Shaw's post “not surprising," and touted AWS' cloud computing capabilities.
“We're eager to see the full array of mistakes considered and assessed,” the spokesperson said.
Lt. Col. Robert Carver, Department of Defense spokesman, said in a statement that the department is trying to get the JEDI capability to war fighters quickly.
“DoD continues to execute the procedures outlined in the Motion for Voluntary Remand granted last month with the intent of delivering this critically-needed capability to our warfighters as quickly as possible,” Carver said.
This story has been updated with a comment from the Department of Defense.
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August 24, 2021 | International, Aerospace
Chinese J-20, Russian Su-57 Racing To Develop World's 1st Stealth Fighter Jet With 'Super Capabilities'
Russia & China may be considering a twin-seat variant for its Su-57 and J-20 fighter jet just like the French Dassault Rafale B or F-15E.
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September 17, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR
France wonders: Can we always count on American support?
By: Pierre Tran PARIS — The U.S. is a close and valued ally to France, but the European country seeks continentwide strategic autonomy in defense and security, with a stronger and more cooperative industrial base, said French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly. “The United States is our ally and our friend, and it will remain so,” she said Sept. 11 at the Summer defense university, a gathering of parliamentarians, officers and foreign guests. “Our cooperation in defense and security is intense and highly valued.” Parly had planned to pass on that message when she saw U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in Washington on Thursday, but that trip to the U.S. — which included a presentation at the Atlantic Council — was canceled due to Hurricane Florence hitting the East Coast. “Can we always count, in every place and in every circumstance, on American support?" she said. “Listen to the statements of the U.S. president, read his tweets: The message sent is clear and without ambiguity,” she added. “We have to count on ourselves ... build a European strategic autonomy.” But Robbin Laird, an analyst with U.S.- and France-based consultancy ICSA, said the U.S. is very present in Europe. “Despite the president's comments on NATO and Article 5, his administration has committed significant resources in Europe,” he said, referring to the alliance's charter that calls for a united response should a member nation come under attack. Mattis was recently “very visible in Finland,” attending a trilateral meeting with Finnish and Swedish senior officials, Laird said, noting the upcoming NATO Trident Juncture exercise in Norway in October and November. “It is clear Trump would welcome a more European capability; a real defense capability is what he is looking for, not just words,” he said. On the industrial front, Parly said France and Germany have signed up for projects for a Future Combat Air System — centered on a new fighter jet— and a new tank. This is a “historic step for Europe, for the future of our equipment and the strength of our industry,” she said. These were long-term commitments, open to other nations, she added. Full article: https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2018/09/14/france-wonders-can-we-always-count-on-american-support/