November 14, 2018 | International, Land
In the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union, production of heavy armored vehicles like tanks and troop carriers almost became a lost art in America. The Army and Marine Corps repeatedly deferred development of new vehicles, leaving industry with little work besides upgrading combat systems developed during the Reagan years. As a result, there are only two integrated manufacturing sites left where new heavy vehicles can be produced -- one for tanks, the other for almost everything else.
I wrote about the nation's sole surviving tank plant on November 2. Today's piece is about the plant where almost everything else is produced -- the sprawling BAE Systems manufacturing complex at York, Pennsylvania. BAE Systems is a contributor to my think tank and a consulting client, so I have a fairly detailed understanding of what goes on there. At the moment, York is in the midst of a renaissance, having recently won orders for a new Army troop carrier and a new Marine amphibious vehicle.
It is also upgrading the Army's Bradley fighting vehicle and Paladin self-propelled howitzer. The company is investing heavily in new machining systems and other capital equipment to sustain an expected surge in output, and is hiring hundreds of workers who must be trained to a high level of proficiency in specialized skills such as the welding of aluminum armor. This is all good news for the local economy, but to a large degree what BAE Systems is doing at York involves building back capacity that was lost during the Obama years.
BAE Systems has been highly successful at booking new business in the armored-vehicle segment of the military market as Army and Marine leaders have become increasingly worried about their reliance on Cold War combat vehicles. An industrial-base study released by the White House in September stated that over 80% of new armored-vehicle production for the two services will occur at York. The study speculated that all the new work might stress the production capabilities of the site.
However, that issue was thoroughly analyzed by the Army before it awarded recent contracts for Paladin howitzer upgrades and a new Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle to replace Vietnam-era troop carriers in its armored brigades. The Army found no significant capacity constraints so long as BAE makes suitable investments and hires skilled workers. The findings of the Army's industrial-base analysis are not reflected in the White House report. Here are a few reasons why capacity concerns are overblown.
First, although York is the final assembly point for diverse armored vehicles, it is only one part of a nationwide manufacturing network on which BAE Systems relies to produce combat vehicles. The company operates other manufacturing facilities in Alabama, Oklahoma and South Carolina, including one of the nation's largest integrated forges for producing track components. It also works closely with Army depots (as does the tank plant), and has a supplier network containing over a thousand industrial partners.
Second, preparation of the White House report predated release of some details concerning how BAE Systems plans to invest in robotic welding, advanced machining technology and other cutting-edge capital equipment. The combination of these investments and programs with schools near manufacturing sites to train the necessary workforce will provide BAE Systems with more production capacity than it requires to address projected levels of demand.
Third, the current level of production capacity at York is the inevitable result of uneven demand from U.S. military customers over the last decade. The White House report identifies lack of stable funding as a key factor explaining the fragility of the military supplier base, but fails to explicitly make the connection in explaining why York is facilitized to its current capacity level. BAE Systems is now investing heavily to meet future demand, but it is understandably wary about building capacity much beyond what it expects to need.
The latter factor is critical in understanding why there are only two sites left in America capable of integrating heavy armored vehicles. There were many more in the past when high levels of demand were sustained for decades, but industry can't carry capacity indefinitely if no customer is prepared to fund the resulting costs. The reason the workforce assembling Abrams tanks at the Ohio plant dwindled to less than 100 personnel during the Obama years was that nobody was buying tanks. This is not a hard connection to grasp.
York has some advantages over the tank plant because it produces a diverse array of vehicles for multiple customers, and the industrial skills required are fungible across its portfolio. But if the Army or Marine Corps were to trim their production objectives for ground vehicles as they have repeatedly over the last decade, it is inevitable that production capacity will adjust to match the reduced level of funding. That's how an efficient industrial base works: supply matches demand.
At the moment, the York plant is generating products that satisfy all customer technical standards. There are no outstanding issues -- which is a good thing, because BAE Systems and its legacy enterprises have been the sole providers of Marine amphibious vehicles since World War Two and today manufacture a majority of the combat vehicles in the Army's armored brigades. Company executives do not anticipate problems as they gradually ramp up to two shifts per day at the site.
But the point they stressed to me is that York is the central node of an industrial network scattered across the nation, and there is adequate capacity going forward not only to meet expected demand, but also to cope with potential surges. The company estimates that combined demand from the Army and the Marine Corps will be the equivalent of one-and-a-half armored brigades worth of equipment per year, and that should be easily manageable within the limits imposed by planned capacity.
They are confident the company can deliver what warfighters need, when they need it.
February 3, 2022 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
The strategy will target 14 critical technologies ranging from emerging sciences to commercially available capability.
September 14, 2018 | International, C4ISR
By Lauren C. Williams The Defense Department's newest combatant command is nearly a decade old but still doesn't steer its own acquisitions. That could change in fiscal 2019, however, as U.S. Cyber Command staffs up its contracting office and seeks a bigger acquisition budget. "Acquisition authority is limited at the moment. It's capped at $75 million and has a sunset date, currently, of 2021," said Stephen Schanberger, command acquisition executive for U.S. Cyber Command during a panel at the Billington Cybersecurity Summit Sept. 6. "So the command is actively pursuing getting that increased on the ceiling amount as well as the sunset date." Cyber Command has only had acquisition authority for two fiscal years, but Congress extended that authority through 2025 in the fiscal year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act. That advances the authority four years from the original sunset date of 2021. Cyber Command awarded only one contract in fiscal 2017, Schanberger said, partly because it lacked a contract writing system and technical personnel to get things done. Things improved this year with $40 million in contract awards and Schanberger expects to reach the $75 million cap sometime in 2019. "We are really hamstrung at the moment in relying on the current [contracting] vehicles out there from others," he said. "And in some cases we've had to adjust our scope to match up to the contract versus waiting for them to put another whole contract vehicle or task order onto a contract." Schanberger seeks to more than triple Cyber Command's acquisition to $250 million to allow for multi-year contracts. Congressional scrutiny has been the main impediment to securing additional acquisition funds because the command needs to prove its contracting abilities, but Schanberger said increasing staff and getting things right will help. "Congress would like us to show that we actually can use our authority the way it's supposed to be and start to stand on the backbone of what it takes to be a contracting organization," particularly regarding contract types, use other transaction authorities, competitive bids versus sole source, and partnering with small businesses, he said. Schanberger told FCW he wasn't concerned about additional congressional scrutiny surrounding the Defense Department's use of other transaction authorities because "our efforts are nowhere near the big efforts that they're looking for." But overall, Cyber Command's contracting office is growing. Schanberger now leads a team of about five people, including himself, consisting of a contracting officer, specialist, and supporting contractors. He hopes to double the team's capacity by year's end. "We are in our infancy from an acquisition perspective, we are putting down the foundation of the personnel and the skills," he said, with the goal "to be able to activate, put together solicitation packages, plan our contracting strategy for [multiple] years, and be able to effectively implement and put out RFPs on the street without making a mess out it." Schanberger said they are looking at capabilities that can benefit all of the service components, such as analytic development. Cyber Command released a request for proposals for an analytic support program dubbed Rainfire on Sept. 4. "Once we get the skills in place, I think we'll be able to demonstrate to everyone around us that we can execute the authorities we have and grow them responsibly," he said. https://fcw.com/articles/2018/09/13/cybercom-aquisition-williams.aspx
March 27, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
BETHESDA, Md., March 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- At Lockheed Martin, we recognize that the rapid spread of COVID-19 and its wide-ranging impacts have caused severe disruption across society and tragic loss of life around the world. We also recognize that the global pandemic has created a need for urgent action by government, business, communities and citizens. In response to this crisis, our company will be guided by and operate with three clear priorities. First, we will continue to protect the health and safety of our men and women on the job and their families. Second, we will continue to perform and deliver for our customers because what they do for our national security, global communications, and infrastructure is critical to our nation and our allies. Third, we will do our part to use our know-how, resources, and leadership as a company to assist our communities and our country during this period of national crisis. In this regard, today I am announcing that Lockheed Martin will take the following steps as an initial contribution to the national COVID-19 relief and recovery effort: We will advance more than $50 million to small- and medium-sized business partners in our supply chain to ensure they have the financial means to continue to operate, sustain jobs, and support the economy. We will donate $10 million to non-profit organizations involved in COVID-19 related relief and assistance, with emphasis on veterans and military families. We have activated a $6.5 million employee disaster relief fund to assist Lockheed Martin employees and retirees impacted with COVID-19. These are our initial financial steps to help during this time of national need. In addition: We will offer Lockheed Martin's engineering and technical capabilities to help solve the most pressing challenges faced by federal, state, and local officials. We will donate the use of our corporate aircraft and vehicle fleet for COVID-19 relief logistical support and medical supply delivery. We will donate the use of our facilities for crisis-related activities including critical medical supply storage, distribution, and COVID-19 testing, where needed and practical. Finally, during this time of economic uncertainty, we will continue our planned recruiting and hiring. Given the requirement for social distancing, Lockheed Martin will deploy virtual technology and other techniques to sustain our hiring activity during this crisis period. Lockheed Martin understands that the shared effort to combat COVID-19 and recover from its effects will be a long-term one. We will continue to engage national, state, and local leaders to undertake additional measures as needed. And, throughout this crisis, Lockheed Martin remains committed to continuing to deliver critical capabilities for our nation and our allies, supporting job creation and economic recovery, and helping those in need wherever we operate. Marillyn Hewson Chairman, President and CEO Lockheed Martin Corporation About Lockheed Martin Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 110,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. SOURCE Lockheed Martin https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2020-03-27-Statement-From-Lockheed-Martin-Chairman-President-And-CEO-Marillyn-Hewson-On-COVID-19-Response