Army plans to stop building newest CH-47 variant in FY20, except for special ops

On the same subject

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  November 14, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - November 13, 2018

  ARMY Barnard Construction Company Inc., Bozeman, Montana, was awarded a $324,422,299 firm-fixed-price contract for design and build of a pedestrian fence replacement project. Three bids were solicited via the internet with three bids received. Work will be performed in Yuma, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of April 1, 2020. Fiscal 2018 omnibus funds in the amount of $172,157,017 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth, Texas, is the contracting activity (W9126G-19-C-0007). SLSCO, Galveston, Texas, was awarded a $167,460,000 firm-fixed-price contract for border infrastructure design and build. Three bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed in Mission, Texas, with an estimated completion date of May 4, 2020. Fiscal 2018 omnibus funds in the amount of $167,460,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth, Texas, is the contracting activity (W9126G-19-C-0006). NAVY BAE Systems Jacksonville Ship Repair, Jacksonville, Florida (N00024-17-D-1007); Colonna Shipyards Inc., Norfolk, Virginia (N40027-17-D-1008); and Metro Machine Corp., Jacksonville, Florida (N40027-17-D-1009), are each awarded a $212,967,725 firm-fixed-price modification to their respective previously awarded multiple award contracts to exercise Option Year Two for the accomplishment of fixed priced delivery orders for docking and non-docking Chief of Naval Operations scheduled ship repair availabilities. Work will be performed in Mayport, Florida, and is expected to be completed by November 2019. No funding will be obligated at time of modification. The Southeast Regional Maintenance Center, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity. BAE Systems Jacksonville Ship Repair, Jacksonville, Florida (N40027-17-D-1001); Colonna Shipyards Inc., Norfolk, Virginia (N40027-17-D-1002); East Coast Repair and Fabrication LLC, Norfolk, Virginia (N40027-17-D-1003); Metro Machine Corp., Jacksonville, Florida (N40027-17-D-1004); North Florida Shipyards, Jacksonville, Florida (N40027-17-D-1005); and Tecnico Corp., Chesapeake, Virginia (N40027-17-D-1006), are each awarded a $42,641,520 firm-fixed-price modification to their respective previously awarded multiple award contracts to exercise Option Year Two for the accomplishment of fixed priced delivery orders for emergent and continuous maintenance availabilities. Work will be performed in Mayport, Florida, and is expected to be completed by November 2019. No funding will be obligated at time of the modification award. The Southeast Regional Maintenance Center, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity. Saifa Phommarine, doing business as Precision Dynamic,* Hayward, California (N6893619D0002); United Support Solutions – LMT Inc.,* Cedar Grove, New Jersey (N6893619D0003); ZYCI LLC,* Atlanta, Georgia (N6893619D0004); Modern Machine Co.,* Tehachapi, California (N6893619D0005); and Wutzler Machine Corp.,* Hemet, California (N6893619D0006), are each being awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts. The estimated aggregate ceiling for all contracts is $11,500,000, with the companies having an opportunity to compete for individual orders. These contracts provide for commercially available products manufactured from several different materials in different forms, shapes, sizes, complexity; specialty services for rapid processing, ranging from heat treating of manufactured items to paint and coating of manufactured items, and grinding services. These services are in support of the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD), China Lake's Applied Manufacturing Technology Division. Work will be performed at NAWCWD, China Lake, California; and at various awardee's facility sites in Hayward, California; Cedar Grove, New Jersey; Atlanta, Georgia; Tehachapi, California; and Hemet, California; and various customer sites to be determined on individual orders, and is expected to be completed in November 2023. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. These contracts were competitively procured via an electronic request for proposals as a 100 percent small business set-aside; five offers were received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, China Lake, California, is the contracting activity. Detyens Shipyards Inc., North Charleston, South Carolina, is awarded a $10,046,484 firm-fixed-price contract for a 60-calendar day shipyard availability for the regular overhaul dry docking of USNS Joshua Humphreys (T-AO 188). Work will include general services; clean and gas free tanks; 01 level and tank deck hydro-blast and recoat; flight deck preservation and non-skid; stability test; main engine turbo charger overhaul; ship's service diesel engine overhaul; life boat davit blocks; recertify lifeboats and winches; fire and smoke damper service; dry-docking and undocking the vessel; propeller system maintenance; overhauling sea valves; underwater hull cleaning and painting; ground tackle inspection and preservation; simplex stern tube seals; cargo ballast system tanks overhaul; ram tensioner preservation; and repair and preservation of saddle winches. The contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the total contract value to $11,054,691. Work will be performed in North Charleston, South Carolina, and is expected to be completed by March 17, 2019. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount $10,046,484 will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured, with proposals solicited via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with two offers received. The Navy's Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N3220519C4013). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Stern Produce Co. Inc.,* Phoenix, Arizona, has been awarded a maximum $99,850,000 firm-fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for fresh fruits and vegetables. This is a 48-month contract with no option periods. This was a competitive acquisition with one response received. Location of performance is Arizona, with a Nov. 12, 2022, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps; and Department of Agriculture schools and reservations. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2022 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE300-19-D-P343). AIR FORCE The Boeing Co., Layton, Utah, has been awarded a $70,500,000 cost-plus-incentive-fee request for equitable adjustment contract modification to contract FA8214-15-C-0001 for the Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Flight Test, Telemetry, and Termination program. This modification changes the specifications for the parts management plan, flight termination receiver, electromagnetic interference, cable qualification requirements, and antenna testing requirements. Most of the work is being performed in Huntington Beach, California; and work is expected to be completed by Jan. 29, 2021. No funds are being obligated at time of award. Air Force Nuclear Weapon Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contract activity. *Small business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1689528/

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  November 22, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  Lockheed contracts for two solid state radar SPY-7 sets for Aegis Ashore Japan

  By Christen McCurdy Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin announced Wednesday that it has contracted with the Japanese Ministry of Defense to produce two solid state radar antenna sets for Aegis Ashore Japan. The Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System is a U.S. program designed to provide missile defense against short to intermediate-range ballistic missiles. The system is designed to detect, track and engage ballistic missile threats and engage multiple targets simultaneously. The Aegis system was recently designated by the federal government as AN/SPY-7(V)1, and provides several times the detection range and sensitivity of previous Aegis systems. Japan decided to deploy its own Aegis missile defense system in June 2017 and spent $2.15 billion to purchase two Aegis systems at the beginning of this year. Japan's defense minister, Takeshi Iwaya, has argued Japan needs Aegis Ashore for national security. But the program has been controversial. In June, Japan's defense minister admitted the government's decision to deploy the missile defense program, and its chosen locations, had been based on faulty data. Japanese lawmakers and residents of the Akita prefecture, where the interceptors are set to be deployed, have also expressed concerns about the effects of the program's radar on the health of the city's 330,000 residents. Variants of the SPY-7 radar will also be utilized through partnerships with the U.S. Government, Spain and Canada. To date, the technology has been selected for a total of 24 systems. https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2019/11/21/Lockheed-contracts-for-two-solid-state-radar-SPY-7-sets-for-Aegis-Ashore-Japan/5151574361029/

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  September 20, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Security

  Drones are now a permanent part of the LAPD’s arsenal

  By CINDY CHANG Drones became a permanent part of the Los Angeles Police Department's crime-fighting arsenal Tuesday, despite opposition from privacy advocates who fear the remote-controlled aircraft will be used to spy on people. In a yearlong trial, the LAPD's SWAT team deployed drones four times, mostly when suspects were barricaded and the device provided a bird's eye view of the property's nooks and crannies. On Tuesday, the five-member civilian Police Commission unanimously approved new regulations that enshrine the drones' use in specific situations, including active shooters, barricaded suspects and search warrants. The drones will not be equipped with weapons or facial recognition software, according to the regulations, which are similar to those governing the trial program. In July, at Chief Michel Moore's recommendation, the use of drones was expanded beyond SWAT to include the bomb squad in neutralizing explosives and sweeping large public events for radioactive devices. Drones “provide invaluable information to decision makers while decreasing the risk to human life,” Moore wrote in a July 3 report, noting that everyone is safer when the devices check out a dangerous situation instead of officers going in blind. The LAPD joins about 600 other law enforcement agencies around the country that use drones, according to a 2018 report by Bard College's Center For the Study of the Drone. The new regulations will ensure that the drones are not “being used in a flippant manner,” Asst. Chief Horace Frank, who runs the department's counter-terrorism and special operations bureau, told the Police Commission on Tuesday. The LAPD's drone regulations are more restrictive than those of many other agencies, Frank said. Each drone deployment must be approved by a commander and a deputy chief, and the Police Commission will receive an annual report. Asked by Commissioner Eileen Decker whether drones can help de-escalate volatile situations, Frank cited a June 15 incident when a drone flew near a man who had barricaded himself in a trucking yard. “The minute we deployed the device at the entrance to the trailer and he saw it, he gave up,” Frank said. Activists said the LAPD and Police Commission have disregarded citizens who expressed reservations about the drones in community meetings and online surveys. One activist, Michael Novick, predicted that the LAPD would expand drone usage and infringe on civil liberties. “We're witnessing the exact definition of mission creep,” Novick said. “Now you're upgrading. You approved a temporary pilot project. You're going to normalize it with this step. ... The next step will be they'll come back and say, ‘We actually need the ability to have facial recognition.'” The LAPD's drone fleet will remain at four strong, Frank said. But the DJI Spark devices used in the pilot program will be replaced by DJI Mavics, which have better indoor flying capabilities, extended flight time and lights for navigating in the dark. The models are similar to those used by hobbyists. The Police Commission accepted a $6,645 donation from the Los Angeles Police Foundation to purchase the Mavics, as well as a donation of drone flight tracking software from Measure Aerial Intelligence. As the commission approved the drone regulations and donations, the audience broke into chants of “Shame! Shame!” Moore said he is mindful of “concerns of Big Brother and invasion of privacy and civil liberties.” “We're committed to striking the right balance that ... protects all of our community — their rights of privacy but also their public safety and their right to exist without threats of dangers that this tool can be used in some instances to mitigate,” he told reporters after the meeting. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-09-10/drones-are-now-a-permanent-part-of-the-lapds-arsenal