Belgium agrees to send F-16s to Ukraine, but not before 2025

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  June 19, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - June 18, 2019

  DEFENSE INFORMATION SYSTEMS AGENCY Inmarsat Government Inc., Reston, Virginia, was awarded a competitive single-award blanket purchase agreement (BPA), GS-35F-0016X/HC1013-19-A-0005, for commercial satellite communication services. The total cumulative face value of this BPA is $246,000,000 (ceiling amount). The place of performance will be at Inmarsat Government Inc. Quotations were solicited via the General Services Administration's Federal Supply Schedule, Information Technology Schedule 70, and two quotations were received from 28 offerors solicited. The period of performance is five years, consisting of a one year base period of June 19, 2019, through June 18, 2020, and four 12-month option periods. The Defense Information Technology Organization, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity (GS-35F-0016X/HC1013-19-A-0005). CORRECTION: A contract announced on June 17, 2019, for Cisco Systems Inc., San Jose, California (HC1084-19-D-0004), for $724,096,866, has not yet been awarded. AIR FORCE Systems Implementers Inc., Clearfield, Utah, has been awarded a ceiling $54,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, for Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) system implementation and sustainment. This contract provides for implementation and sustainment support. Work will be performed in Hill Air Force Base, Utah, and is expected to be complete by July 9, 2026. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2019 consolidated sustainment activity group maintenance working capital funds in the amount of $4,172,930 are being obligated on the first task order which will be awarded immediately after the basic contract. The Air Force Sustainment Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8224-19-D-A003). Management Services Group Inc., doing business as Global Technical Systems, Virginia Beach, Virginia, has been awarded a $20,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Mid-Size Munitions (MSM) technology effort. This contract provides for the prototyping and demonstration program which focuses on an intermediate weight capable of defeating challenging targets. This program leads to flight test demonstrations, effectiveness assessments, and manufacturing readiness assessments adequate to support weapon system transitions. Work will be performed at Virginia Beach, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by June 17, 2024. This award is the result of a broad agency announcement and one offer was received. Fiscal 2019 research and development funds in the amount of $4,526,000 are being obligated on the first task order which will be awarded immediately with the basic contract. The Air Force Research Laboratory, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity (FA8651-19-D-0073). ARMY Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co., Oak Brook, Illinois, was awarded a $20,967,250 firm-fixed-price contract for hopper dredging with beach placement of dredged material. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work will be performed in Galveston, Texas, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 13, 2020. Fiscal 2019 non-federal and operations and maintenance, civil funds in the amount of $20,967,250 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston, Texas, is the contracting activity (W912HY-19-C-0006). DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Linthicum Heights, Maryland, has been awarded a $9,919,398 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P00007) to previously awarded contract HR0011-18-C-0026 for a research project for undersea systems. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $19,208,634 from $9,289,236. Work will be performed in Linthicum Heights, Maryland (71%); Reston, Virginia (27%); and Cambridge, Massachusetts (2%), with an estimated completion date of May 2020. Fiscal 2019 research and development funds in the amount of $9,919,398 are being obligated at time of award. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity. https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1880092/source/GovDelivery/

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  September 25, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR

  South Korean military to upgrade ‘friend or foe’ ID capability

  By: Jeff Jeong SEOUL — Thousands of South Korean jet fighters, helicopters, warships and missile systems will be fitted with sophisticated identifications technologies by the mid-2020s under a major weapons upgrade program, according to the military and defense companies. For the $2.2 billion deal to switch the decades-old Mode-4 Identification Friend or Foe, or IFF, system to the latest Mode-5, South Korea's arms procurement agency has started issuing a request for proposals. “The number of equipment eligible for the Mode-5 upgrade account approximately 2,000 related to 70 weapons systems,” according to a spokesman for the Defense Acquisition Program Administration. “The request for proposals will continued to be issued separately by the types of weapons systems over the coming weeks.” The upgrade program is in line with the transfer of IFF systems to the Mode-5 version by the U.S military, as the South Korean military conducts key operations with U.S. forces on the Korean Peninsula under the authority of the Combined Forces Command. By 2020, all NATO nations are required to introduce the Mode-5 systems, using advanced cryptographic techniques to secure their systems against electronic deception by adversaries. “This is a huge program as for the numbers and budget, and is strategically important to upgrading the battlefield capability of the South Korean military and its joint operations with allied forces,” said Kim Dae-young, a military analyst at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy. “The new encrypted system will allow South Korean and its allied troops to work safely together, reducing the risk of friendly fire incidents, and it will also offer commanders a better view of the battlefield,” Kim added. IFF works by sending coded signals, with equipment on friendly planes and ships able to receive and instantly decode the encrypted challenge message, then send the appropriate response to identify themselves. Three South Korean defense manufacturers are competing for the IFF upgrade contract by teaming up with foreign IFF developers. They are Hanwha Systems, teaming up with U.S. company Raytheon and Hensoldt of Germany; LIG Nex1, with Italy's Leonardo and Thales of France; and Korea Aerospace Industries, joining hands with BAE Systems of the United Kingdom. Unlike the installation of the Mode-4, the technologies of which belong to foreign IFF makers, domestic companies are involved in the Mode-5 systems development and will locally produce the equipment for cost-effectiveness and sustainable integrated logistics support, according to Defense Acquisition Program Administration officials. Hanwha Systems, a leading defense electronics company formerly known as Samsung Thales, claims it has the advantage of having know-how related to IFF integration and design. “Our company was in charge of almost all Mode-4 upgrade programs in cooperation with foreign partners,” said Yoon Seok-joon, a consultant with Hanwha Systems' avionics business team. “Through the experience, we have much better knowledge of IFF design and functions than other local competitors. This is a clear advantage.” LIG Nex1, a precision missile developer, formed a task force in 2016 for Mode-5 upgrade work to seek related technology for localization. As a result, the company successfully localized a Mode-5 system for its KP-SAM Shin-Gung (or Chiron) shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles with the help of Thales, which is contracted to provide Mode-5 technologies for ground weapons systems. “Based on the successful development of a Mode-5 device for Shin-Gung, we're now able to independently develop Mode-5 equipment for other weapons systems, such as Hybrid Biho air defense system; Chunma short-range surface-to-air missile; and TPS-830K low-altitude radar,” said Park Jung-ho, program manager of LIG Nex1's Mode-5 upgrade team. To help facilitate the certification of its Mode-5 systems by the U.S. Defense Department, LIG Nex1 recently signed an agreement with the U.S. defense system certification contractor KBR. Korea Aerospace Industries is expected to win contracts for Mode-5 devices to be fitted on advanced aircraft, including F-15K fighters, T-50 trainer jets and Surion utility helicopters. KAI develops the Surion platform. “We own thousands of platforms around the world with this product, so we have lots of experiences in the U.S. and other countries as well as with this IFF piece of equipment,” said Rob Peer, president of BAE Systems in Korea. “It's advanced technology with low weight, low power and cost effective. All of those things make it very effective.” Peer stressed that he feels BAE Systems' Mode-5 is the best fit for the systems of the F-35 fighter jet, which South Korea is to deploy in the coming years. https://www.defensenews.com/global/asia-pacific/2018/09/24/south-korean-military-to-upgrade-friend-or-foe-id-capability

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  May 24, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence

  Europe de la défense: entre Paris et Berlin, des ambitions et de la méfiance

  Char, avion de combat du futur: Paris et Berlin travaillent sur d'ambitieux projets industriels communs dans la défense, mais les rapports restent teintés de méfiance et marqués par des divergences de vue autour de la question des exportations d'armement. Face au Brexit, au rel'chement des liens transatlantiques sous l'ère Trump, et malgré une mauvaise passe dans la relation franco-allemande, Emmanuel Macron a fait de l'Europe de la défense l'un de ses grands chevaux de bataille, qui figure en bonne place dans le programme des candidats de son camp aux élections européennes de dimanche. Réunis par un même besoin de renouveler leurs capacités militaires à horizon 2035-2040, Français et Allemands ont convenu à l'été 2017 de développer main dans la main deux programmes d'équipements majeurs: le système de combat aérien du futur (SCAF), sous leadership du français Dassault, pour remplacer les Rafale et les Typhoon, et le char de combat du futur ayant vocation à remplacer les Leclerc et les Lepoard, sous leadership allemand. Concernant le SCAF, dont le premier contrat d'architecture a été notifié à Dassault et Airbus en janvier, Paris et Berlin comptent annoncer "cet été" le lancement des études de recherche et développement destinées à jeter les bases des démonstrateurs, pour un montant de 150 millions d'euros sur deux ans, selon des sources concordantes. - pas d'annonce au Bourget? - Il n'est toutefois pas certain que l'annonce soit faite mi-juin au salon aéronautique du Bourget comme initialement prévu, admet Paris. Objectif: développer un démonstrateur d'ici 2026 -- pour un coût estimé entre 2 et 3 milliards d'euros -- avant une entrée en service en 2040 de ce système associant avion de combat, drones, futurs missiles de croisière et drones évoluant en essaim. Pour le char, "les industriels préparent une offre pour l'étude d'architecture à horizon de l'été", indique-t-on de source gouvernementale française. Pour continuer à avancer, reste à venir à bout des inquiétudes et grincements de dents de part et d'autre du Rhin. Parmi les motifs de friction figure le partage des compétences de pointe censées alimenter ces grands programmes communs d'armement. En France, où le groupe Dassault a conduit seul le programme-phare du Rafale, certains ne cachent pas leur méfiance. "Il ne faudrait pas que les Allemands profitent de cette coopération pour chiper notre savoir-faire stratégique", glisse-t-on de source proche du dossier. En Allemagne, des parlementaires de la coalition au pouvoir reprochent au gouvernement d'Angela Merkel d'avoir mal négocié la répartition industrielle du projet SCAF et critiquent les exigences françaises en matière de propriété intellectuelle, affirme jeudi le quotidien allemand Die Welt. "Au regard des enjeux industriels et économiques du projet, j'attends de Mme Merkel et de Mme von der Leyen (ministre allemande de la Défense) qu'elles prennent en main ce dossier et en fassent une priorité, comme l'a fait le président Macron", déclare au journal le responsable défense du parti social-démocrate allemand (SPD), Thomas Hitschler. - ventes d'armes aux Saoudiens - "Des débats sur le partage des technologies, les questions de propriété intellectuelle peuvent exister mais ils sont en train de se résoudre. C'est normal que ça tiraille, derrière il y a des enjeux financiers et de compétences industrielles", relativise-t-on à Paris, où l'on préfère vanter "la rapidité" avec laquelle un projet de cette ampleur s'est mis en route. Autre obstacle à franchir: la question des conditions d'exportation des armements, objet de frictions ouvertes entre Paris et Berlin. Depuis l'assassinat fin 2018 du journaliste saoudien Jamal Khashoggi à Istanbul, le gouvernement allemand a décidé de geler les exports d?armes à destination de l'Arabie Saoudite, client controversé de l'industrie française de défense. Une décision vertement critiquée par Emmanuel Macron, puis par l'ambassadrice de France en Allemagne, qui a déploré fin mars "la politisation croissante du débat allemand sur les exportations d'armements", susceptible selon elle de "faire peser un risque sur la coopération de défense européenne". "On ne peut pas se mettre d'accord sur des projets d'une telle envergure sans trouver une position commune sur les conditions d'exportation", renchérit un haut responsable français. Or le sujet est politiquement ultra-sensible en Allemagne. "L'opinion publique allemande est vent debout contre les exports d'armement. Quel est l'homme politique allemand qui se risquera à aller contre ça?", souligne Gaëlle Winter, chercheuse associée à la Fondation pour la recherche stratégique (FRS). Paris accuse en outre Berlin de pratiquer un double jeu en feignant d'ignorer la livraison d'armement à Ryad par l'industriel allemand Rheinmetall, via ses filiales à l'étranger. "J'entends dans certaines capitales les protestations de vertus offusquées lorsqu'il s'agit d'exportations françaises, mais j'observe que les mêmes responsables ignorent volontiers ce que font les filiales ou les joint ventures de leurs champions nationaux de l'armement", s'est récemment agacée la ministre française des Armées Florence Parly. Sollicité par l'AFP, le ministère allemand de la Défense n'a pas donné suite. https://www.courrierinternational.com/depeche/europe-de-la-defense-entre-paris-et-berlin-des-ambitions-et-de-la-mefiance.afp.com.20190523.doc.1gt4y7.xml