Boeing wants to boost KC-46 defenses as Air Force weighs tanker path

On the same subject

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  October 27, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense – October 26, 2020

  NAVY Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., a Lockheed Martin company, Stratford, Connecticut, is awarded a $550,372,323 modification (P00043) to previously awarded fixed-price-incentive (firm target), firm-fixed-price contract N00019-16-C-0048. This modification is for Lot IV low rate initial production and delivery of six CH-53K aircraft and associated aircraft, programmatic and logistics support, rate tooling and physical configuration audits. Work will be performed in Stratford, Connecticut (33.17%); Wichita, Kansas (11.51%); Salt Lake City, Utah (7.18%); Hazelwood, Missouri (6.28%); Bridgeport, West Virginia (3.22%); Redmond, Washington (2.12%); Windsor Lock, Connecticut (1.84%); Kent, Washington (1.54%); Fort Worth, Texas (1.44%); Quebec, Canada (1.35%); Cudahy, Wisconsin (1.29%); Rochester, United Kingdom (1.27%); Fort Walton Beach, Florida (1.11%); various locations within the continental U.S. (24.68%); and various locations outside the continental U.S. (2%), and is expected to be completed in July 2024. Fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $519,899,846; and fiscal 2021 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $30,472,477 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Corp., Owego, New York, is awarded a $193,980,348 contract modification (P00019) to previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract N00019-19-C-0013. This modification adds a $180,000,000 not-to-exceed, undefinitized line item for the production and delivery of four MH-60R aircraft, and exercises a $13,980,348 option to procure three airborne low frequency sonars in support of the government of Greece. Work will be performed in Owego, New York (49%); Stratford, Connecticut (37%); Troy, Alabama (7%); Brest, France (6%); and Portsmouth, Rhode Island (1%), and is expected to be completed in February 2025. Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $43,980,348 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, is awarded a $101,353,724 cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for research, development, engineering and test and evaluation for programs throughout the Department of Defense (DOD) within its approved core competency areas including: (1) experimental oceanography; (2) acoustic propagation; (3) underwater instrumentation and equipment; (4) marine corrosion; (5) acoustic and related systems; (6) simulations and signal processing; and (7) mission related and public service oriented research and development. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $218,818,971. Work will be performed in Seattle, Washington, and is expected to be completed by October 2025. If all options are exercised, work will continue through October 2030. No funds will be obligated at contract award. Funds of multiple different appropriation types and years from program offices and agencies throughout the DOD may be obligated on individual task orders for efforts that fall within the core competency areas. This sole-source award was made pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c) (3), as implemented in Federal Acquisition Regulations 6.302-3; industrial mobilization; engineering, developmental, or research capability; or expert services. The capabilities developed and provided by Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, within the DOD approved core competencies are determined to be essential to support a variety of DOD programs managed by different technical sponsor organizations. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-21-D-6400). Smartronix LLC, Hollywood, Maryland, is awarded a $78,281,152 cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost-reimbursable, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract provides airborne capabilities integration support, including development, design, coding, integration, demonstration and validation of software for embedded systems, real time operating systems and hardware and software systems in support of various Navy, Department of Defense and other government new and legacy weapons systems, platforms and networks. Work will be performed in Hollywood, Maryland (30%); St. Inigoes, Maryland (28%); Huntsville, Alabama (28%); Patuxent River, Maryland (12%); Bowie, Maryland (1%); and California, Maryland (1%), and is expected to be completed in November 2025. No funds will be obligated at the time of award; funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposal; three offers were received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00421-21-D-0007). AIR FORCE Tecan US Inc., Morrisville, North Carolina, has been awarded a $32,862,500 firm-fixed-price contract for robotic pipette tips. The scope of this contract effort includes the expansion of the U.S. domestic production capacity for robotic pipette tips by standing up infrastructure and increasing production capacity with Tecan US Inc. The COVID-19 pandemic has created a requirement for additional near term diagnostic testing capability which significantly exceeds manufacturing capacity of sample collection and processing consumables. This project will create Tecan's capacity to produce up to 40 million pipette tips per month domestically. Work will be completed in Morrisville, North Carolina, and is expected to be completed November 2022. This award is the result of a Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) request issued by the Joint Rapid Acquisition Cell (JRAC) and is a full and open competition. The solicitation was published by Department of Health and Human Services and JRAC in the CSO in August 2020. Fiscal other procurement funds are being used on this contract. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity (FA8730-20-S-0003). *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2394545/source/GovDelivery/

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  July 28, 2023 | International, Land

  TEXTRON Systems Team Lynx OMFV manufacturer moves ahead to program Phase 3 and 4

  Slidell, Louisiana, July 26, 2023 – Textron Systems Corporation, a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company, announced today that the company will move ahead into Phases 3 and 4 of the U.S....

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  August 7, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  Here’s why Boeing is getting $55.5M to fix a problem with the Air Force’s new tanker

  By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — The Air Force will pay up to $55.5 million for Boeing to redesign the KC-46's boom, but it will cost more than that to field a fix to the problem. According to a Aug. 2 contract announcement, the award will pay for a “system level hardware and software critical design review of the boom telescope actuator redesign,” and Boeing will receive $21 million of the proposed award value immediately. But because the contract has yet to be definitized, Boeing could receive up to $55.5 million once terms of the deal are cemented. And since initial award only covers the redesign of the boom — not the costs of testing, fabricating and retrofitting the new booms on existing aircraft — it stands to reason that the Air Force will owe additional money to Boeing to completely fix the issue. Unlike the other remaining critical deficiencies on the KC-46 program, the Air Force has agreed to foot the cost of fixing the boom problem, as it is a change in the service's initial requirements. Boeing's current boom design meets international standards for thrust resistance, and the Air Force accepted that design at Milestone C in 2016, when the KC-46 was cleared for production. But later flight tests demonstrated that the boom produces too much thrust resistance to refuel the A-10, necessitating a change in design. In January, an Air Force official told Defense News the process of redesigning and manufacturing the new booms could take about two years. The Air Force plans to buy 179 KC-46s over the life of the program. After years of delays due to technical issues, the service signed off to accept the first tanker in January, which was then delivered to McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., later that month. The KC-46 made its first flight for the initial operational test and evaluation phase on June 4 at McConnell AFB. Boeing is on the hook to pay for the other major critical deficiency: a redesign of the Remote Vision System, a collection of cameras and sensors that allow the boom operator to steer the boom into the fuel receptacle of the receiving aircraft. The service became aware of this problem after pilots experienced difficulties directing the boom during refueling, sometimes scraping the surface of the receiver aircraft — a mistake that could compromise the low observable coating of stealth aircraft. Despite this issue, the Air Force has decided to accept KC-46 tankers so that pilots can begin training with the new aircraft. However, the service is withholding up $28 million per plane in order to incentivize Boeing to move quickly on a redesigned RVS. About $360 million has been withheld so far, according to Defense One. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2019/08/06/heres-why-boeing-is-getting-555m-to-fix-a-problem-with-the-air-forces-new-tanker/