August 21, 2018 | International, C4ISR

Army Takes Its Radio Network Commercial

ARLINGTON: As the Army reboots its battlefield radio networks, it's jettisoning exquisitely custom-made military waveforms and moving to simpler — but more capable — commercial radio protocols. The move is underway on three fronts, Maj. Gen. David Bassett, the two-star Program Executive Officer for command, control & communications – Tactical (PEO C3T), says:

The Army's already moving its backpack-mounted tactical radio, the Manpack, from the milspec Soldier Radio Waveform (SRW) to the commercial TSM waveform, with both Harris and Rockwell Collins now integrating TSM in their radios. (Special operators already use TSM).
They're currently selecting vendors to do the same for their handheld Leader Radio, mainly used by junior and non-commissioned officers on foot. Bassett's staff told me to expect an award sometime in September.
They're exploring alternatives to the Wideband Networking Waveform (WNW) as the “backbone” of the Army's tactical network. TSM is one candidate but there are others, including some still in development, Bassett told me in an interview here.

It's all part of a wider effort to rebuild the Army's command, control, and communications (C3) networks for war against a high-tech great power. Speaking at a cyber and networks conference held here Aug. 2 by the Association of the US Army, Bassett said the Army will conduct operational testing of new command systems — including two lower-complexity alternatives to complement the current mainstay, JBC-P — and start fielding them, he said, “this fall.”

Why the rush? Army systems like WIN-T(Warfighter Information Network – Tactical) worked adequately as long as we had big bases in Afghanistan and Iraq, with plenty of time to set up extensive infrastructure and minimal enemy interference. China and Russia, however, have cutting-edge cyber and electronic warfare attackers to hack the network software, powerful electronic warfare units to jam its transmissions, and long-range precision guided missiles that can easily target large, stationary command posts. So last year Army Chief of Staff Mark Milley ordered a crash program of improvements, cancelling planned WIN-T upgrades in favor of new technologies, many from the thriving commercial IT sector.

“It was kind of a shock to the system,” the Army's Chief Information Officer, Lt. Gen. Bruce Crawford, told the AUSA conference. “The Army came forward and said there were some programs it wanted to halt and some things it fundamentally wanted to do differently.”

Appealing To Industry

Gen. Milley's announcement met with initial resistance, including on Capitol Hill, but inspired intense interest from industry. Maj. Gen. Bassett himself had come to the AUSA conference from a meeting in Raleigh, one corner of North Carolina's thriving“research triangle,” where he had briefed 400 representatives from some 126 companies.

“Down in Raleigh, the challenge that I gave them was learn how you fit into our network design. Propose solutions that will fit into our network,” Bassett said. “We want them to become part of that infrastructure rather than competing with it.”

https://breakingdefense.com/2018/08/army-takes-its-radio-network-commercial-can-you-hear-me-now

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June 9, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - June 08, 2020
ARMY CORRECTION: The contract W56KGY-20-D-0008, originally announced on May 29, 2020, has been changed as follows: Canadian Commercial Corp., Ottawa, Canada, was awarded a $380,117,626 hybrid (firm-fixed-price, fixed-price-level-of-effort) contract for MX sensor systems product and system support. 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 May 28, 2028. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W56KGY-20-D-0008). (Awarded June 5, 2020) AIR FORCE L3Harris Technologies Inc., Clifton, New Jersey, has been awarded an estimated $70,000,746 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery requirements contract for AN/ALQ-161A radio frequency surveillance/electronic countermeasures system line replaceable units and shop replaceable units. This contract provides for the repair of 154 national stock numbers applicable to the B1-B aircraft/electronic countermeasures. Work will be performed in Amityville, New York, and is expected to be completed June 5, 2025. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2020 consolidated sustainment activity group-engineering funds will be used to fund individual orders issued against the basic contract. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Air Force Sustainment Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity (FA8522-20-D-0002). NAVY Nova Group Inc., Napa, California, is awarded a $43,771,888 firm-fixed-price contract (N44255-20-C-1002) for Pier 3 and Dry Dock 4 modernization at the Naval Base Kitsap, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the intermediate maintenance facility. All work will be performed in Bremerton, Washington. The work to be performed is to construct seven new electrical substations, demolish four substations, alter Dry Dock 4 and Pier 3 electrical distribution systems, enclose service utility galleries to prevent flooding during docking operations and Pier 3 piles modifications. Work is expected to be complete by August 2023. Fiscal 2020 military construction contract funds in the amount of $43,771,888 are obligated on this award and do not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Five proposals were received for this contract. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Northwest, Bremerton, Washington, is the contracting activity. Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, is awarded a $42,772,449 cost-plus-award-fee modification to previously awarded contract N00024-18-C-2313 to exercise options for the accomplishment of lead yard class services for the DDG 51-class destroyer program. Work will be performed in Bath, Maine (95%); Brunswick, Maine (4%); and other locations collectively totaling less than 1%. This option exercise is for lead yard services (LYS) for the DDG 51-class destroyer program. LYS provides necessary engineering, technical, material procurement and production support; configuration; class flight and baseline upgrades and new technology support; data and logistics management; lessons learned analysis; acceptance trials; post-delivery test and trials; post shakedown availability support; reliability and maintainability; system safety program support; material and fleet turnover support; shipyard engineering team; turnkey; crew indoctrination, design tool/design standardization, detail design development, and other technical and engineering analyses for the purpose of supporting DDG 51-class ship construction and test and trials. In addition, DDG 51-class LYS may provide design, engineering, procurement and manufacturing/production services to support design feasibility studies and analyses that modify DDG 51-class destroyers for Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programs sponsored by the Department of the Navy and the Department of Defense. Work is expected to be complete by June 2021. Fiscal 2015, 2016 and 2017 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $40,438,200 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, D.C., is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Moorestown, New Jersey, is awarded a $37,510,677 cost-plus-fixed fee contract modification to previously awarded contract N00024-16-C-5103 for additional Aegis combat system engineering, computer program maintenance, in-country support, staging support and implementation studies in support of current and future Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Aegis shipbuilding programs in support of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, Republic of Korea Navy, Spanish Armada, Royal Australian Navy and Royal Norwegian Navy, with scope available to support other potential FMS customers. Work will be performed in Moorestown, New Jersey (96%); Tokyo, Japan (1%); Seoul, South Korea (1%); Bergen, Norway (1%); and Adelaide, Australia (1%), and is expected to be complete by September 2020. This modification will provide for additional Aegis combat system engineering, computer program maintenance, in-country support, staging support and implementation studies in support of current and future shipbuilding programs for Japan, Korea, Spain, Australia, Norway and other potential FMS customers. The Aegis FMS programs that will be supported include the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Kongo and Atago class ships, Republic of Korea Navy KDX III class ships, Spanish Armada F-100 and F-110 program, Royal Norwegian Navy F310 class ships and Royal Australian Navy Hunter and Hobart class ships. FMS funding in the amount of $27,957,817 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)(1) and 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(4), this contract was not competitively procured; only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements and International Agreement, respectively. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. Space Ground System Solutions LLC,* Melbourne, Florida, is awarded a $29,596,469 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for research and prototype development of spacecraft electronics and space/airborne electronic systems and maintenance, development, enhancement and testing supporting mission operations of Department of Defense space assets. Work will be performed in Washington, D.C. The Naval Center for Space Technology (NCST), located at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington, D.C., is the designated lead laboratory for Navy space programs. NCST has the primary responsibility to develop space systems, spacecraft payloads, tactical communications and aerospace systems to actively pursue emerging technologies in an effort to advance space, tactical and aerospace system development. This contract will support the continual development and advancement of the software and hardware that provides state of the art solutions to space applications. Work is expected to be complete by June 2024. This contract includes options which will bring the cumulative value of this contract to $155,950,111, if exercised. Working capital funds in the amount of $2,060,000 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was a negotiated acquisition under the authority of Title 10 U.S. Code 2304(b)(2), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.203. This contract was competitively procured with one offer received via FedBizOpps. The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. Rolls-Royce Marine North America Inc., Walpole, Massachusetts, is awarded a $10,980,114 firm-fixed-price, basic ordering agreement order (N64498-20-F-4221) for main propulsion monobloc propellers, propeller hubs, oil distribution boxes, blades and propeller blades for various Navy Ship Classes. Work will be performed in Walpole, Massachusetts, and is expected to be complete by September 2021. The supplies under this order: monobloc propellers, propeller hubs, oil distribution boxes, blades and propeller blades, will be manufactured, machined and fabricated by Rolls-Royce Marine North America (RRMNA) in order to provide this equipment to the Navy. RRMNA is the original designer, developer and sole manufacturer of the items covered in this requirement. Fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $10,980,114 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This order was not competitively procured, in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1), with only one responsible source. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Oshkosh Defense LLC, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, has been awarded a maximum $12,994,546 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for transfer cases with containers. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a three-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Wisconsin, with a June 8, 2023, ordering period end date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2020 through 2023 (Army) working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Warren, Michigan (SPRDL1-20-D-0107). CORRECTION: The modification (P00005) announced May 7, 2020, for Extra Packaging LLC,* Boca Raton, Florida (SPE2DS-19-D-0082), for $7,562,500 was announced with an incorrect award and performance completion date. The correct award date is June 8, 2020, and correct performance completion date is Feb. 8, 2022. DEFENSE HEALTH AGENCY NetImpact Strategies, Chantilly, Virginia, was awarded an $11,766,010 modification under previously awarded firm fixed-price contract HT00-19-F-0017 to fund the first year option period for a Medical Community of Interest with fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds. The congressional notification for the award was issued May 31, 2019. This task provides program and project management – program communication and coordination, coordinate security architecture installation, circuit coordination, internet protocol data collection analysis, processing and validation. Optional tasks include operations cell management, business-to-business Virtual Private Network coordination and data collection effort. This contract was awarded through the Small Business Administration (SBA) program with woman-owned business participating in the U.S. SBA 8(a) Business Development Program using the General Services Administration Streamlined Technology Application Resource for Services II contract. The place of performance is Falls Church, Virginia. The Defense Health Agency, Falls Church, Virginia, is the contracting activity. (Awarded June 3, 2020) *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2212180/source/GovDelivery/
October 9, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

Pentagon announces $600M in 5G experiments
Andrew Eversden WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Defense announced $600 million in contracts for 5G experiments Thursday evening for projects at five military bases across the country. The long-anticipated awards are for a series of 5G experiments, including smart warehouses, advanced radars, and augmented and virtual reality capabilities. The awards are part of a Pentagon effort to work with commercial vendors to advance the 5G capabilities of both the department and industry. “The Department of Defense is at the forefront of cutting edge 5G testing and experimentation, which will strengthen our Nation's warfighting capabilities as well as U.S. economic competitiveness in this critical field," said Michael Kratsios, acting under secretary of defense for research and engineering, in a statement. “Through these test sites, the Department is leveraging its unique authorities to pursue bold innovation at a scale and scope unmatched anywhere else in the world. Importantly, today's announcement demonstrates the Department's commitment to exploring the vast potential applications and dual-use opportunities that can be built upon next-generation networks.” The DoD is setting up test beds at several bases where military leaders, industry and academia will work together on a broad range of experiments. The test beds are Hill Air Force Base, Utah; Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington; Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Georgia; Naval Base San Diego, California; and Nellis Air Force Base, Las Vegas, Nevada. According to Joseph Evans, the DoD's director of 5G, the department plans for the testbeds to be working in a year. “Each of the experiments has some aspect that's really new and exciting to us,” Evans told reporters. “In addition, it also provides an opportunity for industry to experiment and mature their technologies along those parallel tracks.” According to a DoD press release, the bases were chosen because of their access to spectrum, and mature fiber and wireless infrastructure. At Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the Pentagon will work with four vendors to experiment with 5G-enabled augmented and virtual reality goggles for mission planning, training and operations using mid-band spectrum. The vendors are GBL System Corp., AT&T, Oceus Networks and Booz Allen Hamilton. Evans told reporters that in year three of the work at the base the department wants a “brigade-sized deployment of the technology.” The department will also address 5G spectrum sharing challenges with cellular networks through an experiment at Hill Air Force Base. The project, according to a DoD press release, will “develop sharing/coexistence system prototypes and evaluate their effectiveness with real-world, at-scale networks in controlled environments.” The department is seeking to allow sharing or coexistence between airborne radar systems and 5G cellular technology in the 3.1-3.45 GHz band. Vendors for the spectrum sharing test bed include Nokia, General Dynamics Mission Systems, Booz Allen Hamilton, Key Bridge Wireless, Shared Spectrum Company and Ericsson. The Defense Department is also partnering with AT&T at Nellis Air Force Base for a distributed command and control testbed to enhance C2 survivability in combat. The telecom giant will eventually provide a mobile 5G environment with high capacity, low latency communications to meet the needs of a mobile combined air operations center. “We're basically trying to make our forces more survivable by taking command and control functions that have long been housed in single buildings and spread them out and make them make them mobile,” Evans told reporters. “So [we're] really trying to change the way our forces are deployed in the field.” The department will experiment with 5G-enabled smart warehouses at both Naval Base San Diego (NBSD) and Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Ga. The project in San Diego will focus on transshipment between shore facilities and naval units, while the Marines Corps project will center on vehicle storage and maintenance. Both projects will work “to increase the efficiency and fidelity of ... operations, including identification, recording, organization, storage, retrieval, and transportation of materiel and supplies,” a DoD press release said. Industry partners for the San Diego-based project are AT&T, GE Research, Vectrus Mission Solutions Corporation and Deloitte. AT&T will use cullar spectrum in the sub-6 GHz and millimeter wave bands, the DoD press release said. Partners at Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Ga. are Federated Wireless, GE Research, KPMG and Scientific Research Corporation. The Air Force also recently chose AT&T to provide 5G capabilities at three bases. The DoD is also in the process of choosing vendors for 5G experiments at seven more bases. According to Evans, the first solicitation release and industry day for the Navy and Marines Corps bases in that tranche will come in mid-October using the Navy's Information Warfare Research Project consortium. The Air Force and Army solicitations are expected to be rolled out through December through the National Spectrum Consortium, Evans said. https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/it-networks/5g/2020/10/08/pentagon-announced-600-million-in-5g-experimentation-contracts/
October 16, 2020 | International, Naval

Huntington Ingalls delivers Montana sub to dry dock
Christen McCurdy Oct. 15 (UPI) -- Huntington Ingalls announced Thursday that it has transferred the Montana submarine to the floating dry dock at Newport News in advance of the vessel's planned November launch. Earlier this month, the vessel was transported out of Huntington Ingalls' construction industry using a transfer car system, according to the shipbuilder. "Moving Montana to the floating dry dock is an important accomplishment for the 10,000 shipbuilders who, through the teaming agreement with General Dynamics Electric Boat, have collaborated to get us to where we are today," said Jason Ward, Newport News' vice president of Virginia-class submarine construction. "It signifies that the submarine is prepared to start the next and final stage of its construction before going to sea," Ward said. The Montana is the Navy's 21st Virginia-class attack submarine, and was christened by former Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell Sept. 12 in front of a virtual audience. Construction of the 7,800-ton Virginia class sub began in 2015 and is nearly 85% complete. It was previously scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in late 2020, but Huntington Ingalls now expects to deliver the vessel late next year. https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2020/10/15/Huntington-Ingalls-delivers-Montana-sub-to-dry-dock/6311602790820/

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