Behind Europe’s ammo pledge to Ukraine, some manufacturers grow leery

On the same subject

• 

  October 25, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - October 22, 2018

  DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Loffredo Fresh Produce Co. Inc.,* Des Moines, Iowa (SPE300-19-DP-341; $9,000,000); and Greenberg Fruit Co.,* Omaha, Nebraska (SPE300-19-DS-731; $27,000,000), have each been awarded a firm-fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quality contract under solicitation SPE300-16-R-0042 for fresh fruits and vegetables. This was a competitive acquisition with two responses received. These are 54-month contracts with no option periods. Locations of performance are Iowa and Nebraska, with an April 22, 2023, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and non-DoD schools and tribes. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2023 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Contitech USA Inc., Fairlawn, Ohio, has been awarded a maximum $20,151,800 firm-fixed-price contract for M109 vehicle tracks. This is a one-year base contract with one-year option that is being exercised at time of award. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. Location of performance is Ohio, with a July 8, 2021, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Warren, Michigan (SPRDL1-19-C-0022). Synergy Logistics Services LLC,** North Kansas City, Missouri, has been awarded a $17,754,019 hybrid fixed-price-incentive-firm, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for government-owned/contractor-operated warehouse and distribution operation services. This is a five-year task order contract with no option periods, inclusive of a three-month transition period. This is a small business set-aside with two responses received. Location of performance is Guam, with an Oct. 31, 2023, performance completion date. Using customer is Defense Logistics Agency. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2023 defense working capital funds. In this ordering period, $2,864,945 will be obligated using fiscal 2019 funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Distribution, New Cumberland, Pennsylvania (SP3300-19-D-5001). National Industries for the Blind,*** Alexandria, Virginia, has been awarded a $13,144,298 modification (P00008) exercising the second option period of a one-year base contract (SPE1C1-17-D-B003) with four one-year option periods for the advanced combat helmet pad suspension system. This is a firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Locations of performance are Virginia, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, with an Oct. 26, 2019, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NAVY Alliant Techsystems Operations (ATK), Northridge, California, is awarded $12,792,480 for modification P00007 to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N68936-15-D-0019). This modification provides additional funding for the design and development studies and engineering services for rapid technology development of Orbital ATK products. Work will be performed in China Lake, California, and is expected to be completed in June 2020. No funds will be obligated at time of award; funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, China Lake, California, is the contracting activity. Railroad Construction Co. Inc., Paterson, New Jersey, is awarded a $9,095,206 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for maintenance and repair of railroad trackage services at the Naval Weapon Station, Earle and Naval Station Activity, Mechanicsburg. The work to be performed provides for, but is not limited to, all labor, management, supervision, tools, material, and equipment required to provide maintenance, repair, alteration, demolition and minor construction for installation trackage. The maximum dollar value including the base period and four option years is $48,933,014. Work will be performed in Colts Neck, New Jersey (63 percent); and Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania (37 percent). The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months, with an expected completion date of October 2023. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $1,770,200 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with two proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N40085-19-D-9024). Colonna's Shipyard Inc.,* Norfolk, Virginia, is awarded a $7,966,158 firm-fixed-price contract for a 67-calendar day shipyard availability for the regular overhaul and dry docking of USNS Spearhead (T-EPF 1). Work will include furnishing general services for the ship; physical security at private contractor's facility; clean and gas-free tanks, voids, cofferdams and spaces, heater exchangers; structural inspection and weld repair; aluminum hull repair and structural repairs; support for main propulsion engine overhauls and support for generator overhauls; reduction gear maintenance; annual stern ramp maintenance; communication and navigation annuals; lifesaving equipment annuals; annual ride control maintenance; stern ramp control system and extension swap; tunnel paint expansion and underwater hull paint touch up; and docking and undocking of the vessel. The contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $9,162,956. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by Jan. 10, 2019. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $9,162,956 are obligated at the time of award. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured as a small business set-aside, with more than two companies solicited via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with three offers received, with two found to be in the competitive range. The U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N3220519C6700). * Small business ** Woman-owned small business *** Mandatory source https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1668500/

• 

  August 28, 2018 | International, C4ISR

  Army expects to spend up to $50 billion a year on Futures Command

  By ROSE L. THAYER AUSTIN, Texas – It could cost between $30 and $50 billion annually for the Army's Futures Command to work towards modernizing the service, Gen. Mark Milley, the Army's chief of staff, said Friday. In Milley's formal remarks during an activation ceremony for the command at its new headquarters in downtown Austin, he said most of the Army is involved in today's military operations. Futures Command instead will think about tomorrow's fight. “The only thing that is more expensive than preventing war is fighting a war,” Milley said. “The only thing more expensive than fighting a war, is fighting and losing a war. This command is all about setting the United States Army up to not only win on the battlefield, but to be decisive and absolutely dominate on the battlefield so that we inflict punishment and destroy the enemy at the least cost to ourselves.” Futures Command hopes to help do that by working with technology companies, startups, academia and businesses of all sizes with ideas on how to modernize the Army and be prepared to fight forces of similar strength. The mission is to provide soldiers with the weapons and equipment they need, when they need them and ensure success on future battlefields – all at a much faster rate than the Defense Department's acquisitions process allows now. Milley said Futures Command would not have been formed if not for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who announced Friday that he is discontinuing treatment for his brain cancer. The general said he and McCain discussed the challenges of procurement about three years ago as Milley awaited confirmation as chief of staff. “[McCain] said, ‘I want you to think about how you're going to reform the Army',” Milley recalled. “He planted that seed that we had significant challenges.” They continued the dialogue for several months and slowly their talks developed into Futures Command. On Friday, Gen. John “Mike” Murray took the helm of the new command with the support of its highest ranking noncommissioned officer Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Crosby. Together, the men unveiled the command's flag on the 17th floor of an University of Texas System office building. It is the first time that the Army has established a command in the middle of an urban center. The space's still unfinished walls and ceilings showed the work ahead to get the Futures Command operational. With the expectation of employing about 100 soldiers and about 400 civilians, the cost of managing just the headquarters is expected to be about $80 to $100 million, or on par with the other four-star commands. The new command is included in the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act. Milley said Murray has six months to get settled, and another six to start showing results. https://www.stripes.com/news/army-expects-to-spend-up-to-50-billion-a-year-on-futures-command-1.544234

• 

  November 25, 2024 | International, Land

  New Marine Corps sniper rifle is officially operational

  The new weapon has three calibers that can be accessed via quick change barrels.