Army leaders see Latin America as backyard test bed for military tech

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  July 22, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  New Air Force Arctic Strategy May Update Planes For Polar Ops

  "Historically the Arctic, like space, was characterized as a predominantly peaceful domain," the Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett said. "This is changing." By THERESA HITCHENSon July 21, 2020 at 4:58 PM WASHINGTON: As part of its new Arctic Strategy released today, the Air Force is eyeing how to modernize mobility aircraft capable of polar operations, improve existing bases, and expand allied cooperation as it gears up to face increased challenges in the region from Russia and China — as well as the changing environment. “Historically the Arctic, like space, was characterized as a predominantly peaceful domain,” Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett told the Atlantic Council Tuesday afternoon. “This is changing with expanded maritime access, newly discovered resources, and competing sovereign interests.” The new Air Force strategy document, which follows from Department of Defense's 2019 Arctic strategy, touts the service's extensive northern network of airbases and radar stations. The study even says that the service is responsible for “close to 80% of DoD resourcing to the Arctic region.” Now, that surprising figure is sourced to a single DoD paper from 2016, and the Navy submarine force, which regularly sails under the ice and holds an annual ICEX, might challenge that contention. As Breaking Defense readers are well aware, the Navy has been ramping up efforts in the Arctic over the past year, and new Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite is a former ambassador to key regional ally Norway. In Tuesday's event, the Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen. David Goldfein, was politic enough to emphasize that the service is working closely with the other services, especially the Navy, and with the joint Combatant Commanders to ensure “seamless” joint operations in the region. In particular, he referred to the ongoing series of Global Integration Exercises — launched by former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford — that are designed to allow more fluid operations across and between Combatant Commands. Indo-Pacific Command, European Command, and Northern Command (which covers North America) all have jurisdiction over pieces of the Arctic. Sec. Barrett cited DoD's familiar litany of concern with Russian and Chinese aspirations and activities in the far north. “No other country has a permanent military presence above the Arctic Circle comparable to Russia's. Recent Russian investments in the Arctic include a network of offensive air assets and coastal missile systems,” she said. (Of course, no country has as long an Arctic coastline as Russia, either, and Russian leaders remember the US and other Western powers staged a desultory intervention in Siberia in 1918-1920). China, she added, is setting potentially “predatory” eyes on newly opened access to natural resources, including oil. “China is not an Arctic nation by geography, but through its One Belt, One Road initiative It has laid the claim to an Arctic role, and has become an observer to the Arctic Council,” she said. “We're perfectly prepared to accept fair and benevolent action there and having China as a participant, but we will be attentive to overreaching.” The strategy, signed by Barrett, Goldfein, and Space Force/Space Command head Gen. Jay Raymond, lays out four lines of effort along with the sub-elements of each: “Vigilance in All Domains; Projecting Power through a Combat-Credible Force; Cooperation with Allies & Partners; and, Preparation for Arctic Operations.” Barrett said that the “vigilance encompasses everything from weather forecasting and consistent communications to threat detection and tracking.” The strategy document further notes that missile defense and space capabilities — including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and all-domain awareness — also are key to the mission. As for power projection in the region, Barrett mentioned in particular the Air Force's deployment of F-35 stealth fighters to Alaska as critical in enhancing capabilities. The service is in the process of moving some 54 F-35s to Eielson AFB in Fairbanks. “When the full complement of planned F-35s arrive at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska's unparalleled concentration of fifth-generation fighters will project unmistakable influence,” Barrett said. She also noted that the service is looking at recapitalization of Lockheed Martin's LC-130, the ski-equipped polar version of the C-130 Hercules transport plane. The Air National Guard currently has 10 operational LC-130H aircraft, according to the service's 2021 budget documents. “The LC-130s have been pivotal to getting access to terrain that otherwise would be inaccessible,” Barrett said. “So the LC-130 is very important, and recapitalizing is a significant issue to us.” “The Air Force will advance recapitalization and explore modernization of existing and emergent polar mobility platforms that are critical for reaching remote areas,” the new strategy says. In addition, the strategy emphasizes efforts to sustain and modernize bases in Alaska and at Thule, Greenland to allow regional power projection. As Breaking D readers know, Gen. Terrence O'Shaughnessy, head of Northern Command, is particularly interested in upgrading command, control and communications (C3) capabilities in the Arctic. Raymond told the Atlantic Council webinar that one of the new challenges for Arctic infrastructure is dealing with new challenges cropping up due to the warming climate. “What has changed is the thawing and the melting of the permafrost,” he said. “It can have significant challenges on our infrastructure. It can cause foundations of buildings and equipment to shift. It can impact the structural integrity of those facilities .. for example cause increase runway maintenance,” he said. Goldfein stressed the strategy's high priority to enhance operations with NATO and regional allies, including Canada, Denmark and Norway. “You know only through cooperation with our allies will be be strong in Arctic or any other location in the globe,” he said. But he also said DoD and the Air Force should be making an effort to establish rules of the road and norms of behavior in the Arctic, and reaching out to Russia to identify mutual interests. “So, the question is: are there areas of common interest we can find above the 66th parallel that perhaps we're not able to find below?” Goldfein said. “There has to be a few areas of common interest that we can find where we can be better together than we are separately.” https://breakingdefense.com/2020/07/new-air-force-arctic-strategy-may-update-planes-for-polar-ops

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  May 13, 2020 | International, Naval, C4ISR

  Failure to communicate: US Navy seeks faster data transfers amid Arctic ice

  Andrew Eversden WASHINGTON — Research in the Arctic Ocean is no small feat. The area can prove inaccessible at times, and sensors can fail to communicate data from under the ice or get crushed by slabs of ice. But with the Arctic getting warmer and ice melting at an accelerated rate, the U.S. Navy is preparing to operate in newly available waterways. To do that effectively, the service knows it will take intense research to create durable, innovative solutions that can withstand harsh conditions, while also relaying data to researchers. “If the Navy's thinking about having to run operations up there with submarines, surface vessels and aircraft, you really need to understand that operational environment,” Scott Harper, the Office of Naval Research's program manager for Arctic and global prediction, told Defense News in a May 4 interview. “Where is that sea ice and how quickly is it retreating? And what is it doing to the upper water column in the ocean? "To really understand all that, you need to have a lot of observations.” Navy and academic researchers are working together to improve the service's forecasting models in the Arctic. The Navy currently has research buoys, sensors and other technology floating in the water to track a variety of metrics: waves, atmospheric and water circulation, sea ice thickness and cover, speed at which the ice moves, and several other factors. All those metrics factor into Arctic forecasting. In order to improve its forecasting capabilities, the Navy needs to improve its numerical models, or complex equations used in predictions. But to do that, the service needs more up-to-date data. “These numerical models are kind of like balancing your checkbook,” Harper said. “You need to start with what your current checking account balances [to[ if you're going to predict what it's going to be at the end of the month. And so even if you had a perfect numerical model that you could use to make a forecast, if you don't know what the conditions are right now, you're not going to be able to forecast what the future state is going to be.” To do this, the Navy wants to more quickly collect data through an effort called the Arctic Mobile Observing System, or AMOS. The program aims to create near-real-time data transmission of the sea condition under the ice, and communicate that information to the Navy via satellite. “You have satellites that can look down at the surface of the Arctic Ocean and the sea ice conditions,” Harper said. “But what we don't have [is] the ability to look under the ice and understand what the ocean conditions are, and that's what we're really trying to enable with Arctic Mobile Observing System prototype.” The AMOS program has deployed gliders underneath the sea that are collecting and storing data about the oceanic conditions under the ice, and tracking the location of frozen water using acoustics. In a few months, Harper said, researchers will send an icebreaker to the Arctic and gather the data collected by the gliders. The Office of Naval Resarch, however, would like to bypass the multi-month delay involved in collected the data. To do so, the office plans to enable two-way communication so underwater sensors can communicate data via floating buoys in the ice that, in turn, communicate the data via satellites back to the Naval Oceanographic Office. The project is currently two years into the five-year project. According to the project website, it's slated to end in fiscal 2023 with the recovery and evaluation of the initial prototype in the late summer of 2023. Harper said the project's biggest success has been the navigation system that's currently working underneath the ocean surface. “The fact that we can put sensors out that will know where they are without having to come to the surface to get a GPS fix — because they can't come to the surface because there's sea ice there for nine months out of the year," he said. "That's a big win.” Another critical component to the real-time data collection are the buoys that ultimately must be able to survive the cruel nature of Arctic ice. The AMOS team has deployed prototypes of “ice-hardened” buoys that survived “multiple months” in the Arctic environment, Harper said, paving the way for a fully equipped communications buoy that can talk with underwater sensors. “You can go out there and you can put your sensors in the ice, but a lot of times they'll fail,” Harper said. “And they'll fail because they'll get crushed in the ice or tipped over or toppled by changing ice conditions. And so the ability to deploy a buoy that is robust enough to survive the sea ice is one of the technological hurdles to doing this.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/smr/frozen-pathways/2020/05/11/failure-to-communicate-us-navy-seeks-faster-data-transfers-amid-arctic-ice/

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  November 20, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - November 19, 2020

  WASHINGTON HEADQUARTERS SERVICES American Systems Corp., Chantilly, Virginia (HQ0034-21-D-0003); Applied Research Associates Inc., Alexandria, Virginia (HQ0034-21-D-0004); and Modern Technology Solutions Inc., Alexandria, Virginia (HQ0034-21-D-0002), have been awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinitely-quantify contract with a maximum amount of $496,000,000. This requirement will provide the range of research, development, test and evaluation technical and engineering services required to assist the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering in accomplishing its mission to create innovative warfighting technologies and advanced capabilities required to maintain U.S. technological superiority. Work performance will take place in the Northern Capital Region, including Alexandria, Virginia; and Chantilly, Virginia. No funds will be obligated at time of the award. The expected completion date is Nov. 18, 2025. Washington Headquarters Services, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Vermilion Valley Produce Co.,* Danville, Illinois, has been awarded a maximum $265,500,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for fresh fruits and vegetables. This was a competitive acquisition with one response received. This is a four-year six-month contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Illinois, with a May 18, 2025, ordering period end date. Using customers are Army, Air Force, and Department of Agriculture schools. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2025 defense working capital funds. The contracting agency is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE300-21-D-P359). Hill-Rom Co. Inc., Batesville, Indiana, has been awarded a maximum $48,000,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for medical equipment and accessories for the Defense Logistics Agency electronic catalog. This was a competitive acquisition with 135 responses received. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Indiana, with a Nov. 16, 2025, ordering period end date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2026 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2DH-21-D-0052). AIR FORCE Journey Construction Inc., Taylor, Texas (FA4661-21-D-0001); Pace-Amtex JV LLC, Boerne, Texas (FA4661-21-D-0002); GMA Construction Group, Chicago, Illinois (FA4661-21-D-0003); Pro-Mark Services Inc., Rapid City, South Dakota (FA4661-21-D-0004); and Sea Pac Engineering Inc., Los Angeles, California (FA4661-21-D-0005), have collectively been awarded a ceiling $150,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple award construction contract for $150,000,000. Work will be performed at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, and is expected to be completed Nov. 18, 2027. Current fiscal operation and maintenance funds will be used per individual task order. The 7th Contracting Squadron, Dyess AFB, Texas, is the contracting activity. Siemens Industry Inc., Buffalo Grove, Illinois, has been awarded a $54,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price, supply/install contract for the switchgear replacement effort program. This contract will provide for a streamlined means to provide supply and installation of gas insulated switchgear. Work will be performed at Arnold Air Force Base, Tennessee; Mountain View, California; Eglin AFB, Florida; Holloman AFB, New Mexico; Kirtland AFB, New Mexico; and Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, and is expected to be completed Nov. 16, 2025. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $8,365,562 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Test Center, Arnold AFB, Tennessee, is the contracting activity (FA9101-21-D-0003). L-3 Technologies, Greenville, Texas, has been awarded an $18,796,399 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification (P00009) to contract FA8620-18-F-4801 for an additional engineering effort. This modification provides for additional non-recurring and recurring engineering required to develop and install structural reinforcements to the aircraft. Work will be performed in Greenville, Texas, and is expected to be completed Dec. 24, 2022. This contract involves 100% Foreign Military Sales (FMS) and is the result of a sole-source acquisition. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $273,945,200. FMS funds in the full amount are being obligated at the time of the award. The 645th Aeronautical Systems Group, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. Siemens Healthineers, Flanders, New Jersey, has been awarded a $12,381,645 firm-fixed-price contract for an industrial base expansion. The contract provides building modifications, equipment purchases, installation and qualification testing to expand U.S. domestic production capacity for SARS-CoV-2 antigen assays. Work will be performed in Walpole, Massachusetts, and is expected to be completed Aug. 31, 2021. This contract award is part of the ongoing collaboration between the Department of Defense and the Department of Health and Human Services and is funded through the Health Care Enhancement Act. The Air Force Lifecycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity (FA8730-21-C-0006). BAE Systems Technology Solutions & Services Inc., Rockville, Maryland, has been awarded a $12,342,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages support. This contract provides support for Air Force (AF) and non-AF users, supporting the AF, to proactively reduce mission capability impacts to improve logistics support and weapon system sustainability. Work will be performed at Hill Air Force Base, Utah; Robins AFB, Georgia; Tinker AFB, Oklahoma; and Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, with some work performed at Fort Walton Beach, Florida. The work is expected to be complete by June 20, 2025. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition resulting in receipt of one offer. Fiscal 2021 Consolidated Sustainment Activity Group engineering funds in the amount of $10,285,000 are being obligated in the first task order at the time of award. The Air Force Sustainment Center, Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity (FA8109-21-D-0001). Hardwood Products Co. LP, Guilford, Maine, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $11,640,270 firm-fixed-price, undefinitized contract action as a modification (P00003) to contract FA8730-20-C-0056 for industrial base expansion for U.S. domestic production capacity for medical flock tip swabs. This contract modification funds the design, procurement and expedited implementation of facility upgrades, enabling an early, interim production capability of flock tip swabs. Work will be performed in Pittsfield, Maine, and is expected to be completed March 30, 2021. Fiscal 2021 other procurement funds in the amount of $5,078,350 are being obligated at the time of award. The cumulative face value of the contract is $62,599,861. The Air Force Life Cycle Management, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity. FCN Inc., Rockville, Maryland, has been awarded a $7,846,260 firm-fixed-price modification to exercise the first option period for the Endgame Endpoint Security program software subscription to maintain the weapon system components and weapon system baseline to meet Air Force Space Command authority to operate configurations. Work will be performed in Rockville, Maryland, and is expected to be completed Nov. 29, 2024. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and four offers were received. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance; and Air National Guard procurement funds in the full amount are being obligated at the time of modification to exercise the first option period. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Joint-Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, is the contracting activity (FA8307-20-F-0005). NAVY IAP-ECC LLC, Burlingame, California, is awarded firm-fixed-price task order N62742-21-F-4000 for $84,547,765 under a multiple award contingency contract for construction and maintenance of a contractor berthing camp at Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS), China Lake, California. The work to be performed provides for incidental temporary facilities and facility services for a berthing camp in support of the China Lake Earthquake Recovery project at NAWS, China Lake. Incidental temporary facilities include fencing, living/sleeping units, operational center and a security station. Facility services include management and administration, unaccompanied housing, facility investment, custodial, pest control, integrated solid waste management, grounds maintenance and landscaping, pavement clearance, wastewater and water. The need for the berthing camp to support 11 military construction (MILCON) project contractors is an emergency response to the earthquakes that affected the China Lake area in July 2019. The task order also contains four unexercised options, which if exercised, would increase the cumulative task order value to $138,743,035. Work will be performed in Ridgecrest, California, and is expected to be completed by March 2025. Fiscal 2020 MILCON (Navy) funds; and fiscal 2021 working capital (Navy) funds in the amount of $84,547,765 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One proposal was received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Pacific, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is the contracting activity (N62742-16-D-3553). Cherokee Nation Management and Consulting LLC, * Catoosa, Oklahoma, is awarded an $80,943,352 firm-fixed-price, time-and-materials contract for a two-month phase-in period and a 10-month base period with two 12-month option periods for logistics services to manage, support and operate the Marine Corps Consolidated Storage Program warehouse network. Work will be performed in Barstow, California (23%); Camp Lejeune, North Carolina (18%); Camp Pendleton, California (13%); Okinawa, Japan (10%); Miramar, California (9%); Camp Geiger, North Carolina (7%); Twenty-nine Palms, California (4%); Cherry Point, North Carolina (4%); Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii (3%); Yuma, Arizona (2%); Beaufort, South Carolina (2%); Iwakuni, Japan (2%); New River, North Carolina (2%); and Bridgeport, California (1%). Work is expected to be completed January 2024. No funding will be obligated at time of award and the award will be made contingent to the availability of funds. This contract was competitively solicited via beta.sam.gov with seven proposals received. The Marine Corps Logistics Command, Albany, Georgia, is the contracting activity (M67004-21-C-0001). Marine Group Boat Works LLC,* Chula Vista, California, is awarded a $48,717,886 firm-fixed-price modification to previously awarded contract N00024-18-C-2223 in support of the government of Jordan for two 37-meter patrol boats, communications equipment and other technical assistance. Work will be performed in Chula Vista, California, and is expected to be completed by September 2023. Foreign Military Sales (Jordan) in the amount of $48,717,886 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. In accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c) (4), this contract was not competitively procured: International Agreement. This contract is for two 37-meter Patrol Boats, communications equipment and other technical assistance for the Royal Jordanian Navy. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. Kings Bay Support Services LLC, Alexandria, Virginia, is awarded a $24,085,883 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity modification for a bridge contract to extend services for base operating support services at Naval Submarine Base, Kings Bay, Georgia. The work to be performed provides for all labor, facilities management, supervision, tools, materials, equipment, incidental engineering, environmental services and transportation to effectively execute base operations support services. All work will be performed in St. Mary's, Georgia. After award of this option, the total cumulative contract value will be $392,424,567. This option period is from December 2020 to May 2021. No funds will be obligated at time of award. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $16,213,566 for recurring work will be obligated on individual task orders issued during the option period. The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Southeast, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity (N69450-11-D-7578). Insitu Inc., Bingen, Washington, is awarded a $9,769,387 modification (P00009) to firm-fixed-price order N68335-19-F-0434 against previously issued basic ordering agreement N68335-16-G-0046. This modification definitizes pricing and exercises options for the procurement of 15 ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicles, nine ScanEagle payloads, and three spares lots needed to provide the Afghanistan National Army (ANA) intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, and support current ANA ScanEagle efforts. Work will be performed in Bingen, Washington (100%), and is expected to be completed in July 2021. Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $9,769,387 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity. I.E. Pacific Inc.,* Escondido, California, is awarded firm-fixed-price task order N62473-20-F-5102 for $8,123,000 under a multiple award construction contract for repair of a bachelors enlisted quarters (BEQ) and repair of water channel at Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, Virginia. The work to be performed provides for the repair of BEQ Building 53451 with 64 units and the existing open channel/swale and culvert system through this corridor. BEQ Building 53451 requires work to bring it up to current building code and life safety standards. The channel is undersized and needs to be upgraded to provide higher flow rates without spilling over the channel. The renovation project includes replacement of the existing built-up roof with a standing seam metal roof and the replacement of exterior hollow metal doors, windows, window screens, shades, hollow metal doors/frames and door locks with an electronic card reading lock system; the patching, repairing, and repainting of all existing interior walls and ceilings, exterior walls/façade, balcony, stair panels, handrails and guardrails, and other surfaces; and the installation of new ceiling fans in each billeting room, the duty room and the lounge. Work will be performed in Oceanside, California, and is expected to be completed by May 2022. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Marine Corps) contract funds in the amount of $8,123,000 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Four proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Southwest, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N62473-17-D-4628). ARMY Franconia Real Estate Services Inc., doing business as Franconia Allegiance Government Relocation, Woodbridge, Virginia, was awarded a $65,000,000 blanket purchase agreement (W912DR-21-A-0001) for the Defense National Relocation Program. Bids were solicited via the internet with 11 received. Work will be performed in Baltimore, Maryland, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 30, 2025. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Reliance Relocation Services Inc., doing business as Relo Direct, Chicago, Illinois, was awarded a $65,000,000 blanket purchase agreement (W912DR-21-A-0002) for the Defense National Relocation Program. Bids were solicited via the internet with 11 received. Work will be performed in Baltimore, Maryland, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 30, 2025. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Attain LLC, McLean, Virginia, was awarded a $19,125,495 modification (BA0733) to contract W91QUZ-11-D-0016 for contractor resources to support the Army Shared Services Center. 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 April 30, 2022. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity. *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2421845/source/GovDelivery/