July 9, 2020 | International, Land, C4ISR
The Army is awarding delivery orders to three vendors to support equipment for three Expeditionary Signal Battalion-Enhanced (ESB-E) units.
Specifically, the awards will support fielding of satellite baseband equipment, said Paul Mehney, director of public communications at Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications-Tactical.
Expeditionary signal battalions support units that don't have organic communications capabilities. These groups could include military intelligence battalions, chemical battalions, engineering battalions or air defense artillery branches. The ESB-E aims to be more mobile and require less equipment in order to drop in, support units and move more quickly on the battlefield.
Overall, the vendors will be responsible for providing 48 baseband sets of equipment for each ESB-E formation.
“Due to aggressive initial fielding timelines, after the first six ESB-E formations are fielded, the program office intends to open baseband capability competition for future ESB-E needs,” Mehney said.
PacStar was recently awarded a contract to support the ESB-E program to provide its 400-Series modular platform to enhance tactical expeditionary communications, the company said in a July 7 release.
The 400-Series is lightweight allowing these smaller and expeditionary units to maneuver more quickly. It includes 128 GB RAM, virtual routing and the PacStar 463 Radio Gateway.
“Network modernization to meet warfighter needs and defense priorities is a core focus for the Army and across the DoD, and we are proud to support these efforts with PacStar 400-Series for ESB-E,” Peggy J. Miller, chief executive of PacStar, said in a statement. “With these solutions, ESB-E [Scalable Network Node] will get the smallest, lightest, modular tactical communications platform in the industry, which is part of our larger initiative to enable increased reliability and innovation for warfighters.”
The other vendors include Klas and DTECH, with all three supporting one ESB-E.
An additional delivery order for each vendor to a second ESB-E will be issued, meaning in the near future, each vendor will support two units a piece. After that, the Army will open up the contracts to competition.
This approach follows how the Army has been experimenting to date by providing similar, yet comparable equipment to several ESB-E's.
These companies have provided separate equipment to three units allowing the Army to gain useful feedback from units to see what they liked and disliked about the gear. This has allowed the Army to execute rapid prototyping and experimentation on a tighter timeline for making fielding decisions while providing equipment to soldiers in the interim.
The first two ESB-Es fielded include the 57th ESB-E at Fort Hood and the 50th ESB-E at Fort Bragg.
November 12, 2018 | International, C4ISR
New DoD cyber strategies sets clear priorities for the department https://www.fifthdomain.com/newsletters/tv-next-episode/2018/11/12/new-dod-cyber-strategies-sets-clear-priorities-for-the-department
February 1, 2022 | International, Aerospace
Lors des auditions parlementaires de l'automne dernier, le Délégué général pour l'armement s'était montré optimiste après la signature, quelques semaines
July 26, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY GSL Solutions Inc., Vancouver, Washington, has been awarded a maximum $450,000,000 firm‐fixed‐price, indefinite‐delivery/indefinite‐quantity contract for automated pharmaceutical equipment, accessories, maintenance and training under the Patient Monitoring and Capital Equipment Program. This is a five-year base contract with one five‐year option period. This was a competitive acquisition with 36 responses received. Location of performance is Washington, with a July 23, 2024 performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2024 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2D1‐19‐D‐0016). Crown Clothing Co., Vineland, New Jersey, has been awarded a maximum $12,386,162 modification (P00009) exercising the first one-year option period of a one-year base contract (SPE1C1-18-D-1079), with four one-year option periods for men's coats and replacement collars. This is a fixed-price contract. Location of performance is New Jersey, with an Aug. 8, 2020, performance completion date. Using military service is Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. FN America LLC, Columbia, South Carolina, has been awarded a maximum $10,589,029 firm-fixed-price contract for receiver cartridges. This was a competitive acquisition with two responses received. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is South Carolina, with a July 26, 2024, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2024 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Warren, Michigan (SPRDL1-19-D-0112). Communications & Power Industries, Palo Alto, California, has been awarded a maximum $7,050,384 firm-fixed-price contract for electron tubes. 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 California, with a June 23, 2022 performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Columbus, Ohio (SPE7LX-19-D-0169). NAVY Data Link Solutions LLC, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is awarded a maximum potential value $62,300,000 modification to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple award contract (N00039-15-D-0042) for the Block Upgrade II retrofit of Multifunctional Information Distribution System (MIDS) low volume terminals. The terminals provide secure, high-capacity, jam-resistant, digital data and voice communications capability for Navy, Air Force and Army platforms. Work will be performed in Wayne, New Jersey (50%); and Cedar Rapids, Iowa (50%). Work is expected to be completed by December 2026. No funding is being obligated on the contract at the time of award. Contract actions will be issued and funds obligated as individual delivery orders are issued. This contract modification was not competitively procured because it is a sole source acquisition pursuant to the authority of 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) - only one responsible source (Federal Acquisition Regulation, subpart 6.302-1). The Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity and awarded the contract on behalf of the MIDS Program Office. Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Manassas, Virginia, is awarded a $27,425,442 for firm-fixed-price delivery order N00024-19-F-5632 under previously awarded contract N00024-15-D-5217 for 165 Technical Insertion Sixteen (TI-16) Common Display System (CDS) Variant A water-cooled production consoles. The CDS is a set of watch station consoles designed to support the implementation of Open Architecture in Navy combat systems. The TI 16 CDS is the next evolution in the CDS family and consists of a three-eyed horizontal display console. This delivery order combines purchases for the Navy (85%); and the government of Japan (15%) under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. Work will be performed in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and is expected to be complete by March 2020. Fiscal 2018 other procurement (Navy); fiscal 2014, 2016 and 2017 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); and FMS Japan funding in the amount of $26,935,062 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. ARMY Baysinger-Bric JV,* Marion, Illinois (W91248-19-D-0005); Johnson-McAdams Firm P.A.,* Greenwood, Mississippi (W91248-19-D-0004); and American Engineers Inc.,* Glasgow, Kentucky (W91248-19-D-0006), will compete for each order of the $15,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for architect and engineering design services that include preparation of designs, plans, specifications and cost estimates for various projects at Fort Campbell, Kentucky; and Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of July 31, 2024. U.S. Army Mission Installation Contracting Command, Fort Campbell, Kentucky, is the contracting activity. *Small Business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1915574/