Canadian military sets stage for purchase of drones and Hellfire missiles; program could cost up to $5 billion

On the same subject

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  January 8, 2019 | International, C4ISR

  Why Microsoft (Not Amazon) Could Win The Pentagon Contract

  Beth Kindig Summary The majority of forecasts favor Amazon for the Pentagon contract while overlooking the partnerships that MS has made with the DoD since Nadella became CEO in 2014. By the first quarter of 2019, Azure Government Secret will support "Secret U.S. classified data or Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) level 6" which is on par with Amazon. The question that remains is if the Pentagon will want to use Amazon for cloud infrastructure while using Microsoft for operating systems and software. In 2019, the biggest cloud customer in the world will be the United States Department of Defense. The DoD is currently reviewing bids to award a single cloud provider a multi-year contract. Obviously, this isn't your typical enterprise IT department, transferring from on-premise servers, or a startup who needs the flexibility of cloud infrastructure to scale. The program is called the Joint Enterprise Defense Initiative, or JEDI, and its purpose is to move the DoD's massive computing systems into the cloud. This one contract is worth $10 billion, or 25% of the current market, which currently stands at $40 billion in annual revenue. Many prognosticators and reporters unanimously believe the contract will go to Amazon Web Services. This belief is so strong that vendors, such as Oracle and IBM, made a rebuttal to Congress, believing the terms of the proposal favored Amazon. However, the majority of these forecasts overlook Microsoft's strength in security and IT, and the alliances Microsoft has been forming with the DoD since Satya Nadella became CEO in 2014. Admittedly, guessing a company other than Amazon will win the Pentagon contract is a pure gamble, however, there are strong indicators for Microsoft that should not be overlooked. Background on JEDI Contract The Pentagon contract will move 3.4 million users and 4 million devices off private servers and into the cloud. The security risks of using servers outside the Pentagon's domain are offset by physically separated government regions and hybrid solutions that extend on-premise servers by adding the cloud where necessary. The benefits of artificial intelligence, deep learning, and other technologies like virtual reality are essential for modern warfare as real-time data will inform missions when soldiers are in the field and also help to prepare them for combat. https://seekingalpha.com/article/4231824-microsoft-amazon-win-pentagon-contract

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  May 10, 2023 | International, Naval

  Marine Innovation Unit tackles some remaining Force Design tech needs

  The unit aims to leverage reservists' contacts in the business and tech worlds to quickly solve modernization problems.

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  September 11, 2018 | International, C4ISR

  SAIC to buy rival government services contractor Engility for $1.5 billion

  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Science Applications International Corp (SAIC) (SAIC.N) said on Monday it will acquire Engility Holdings Inc (EGL.N) for $1.5 billion in stock, a deal that will turn it into the second-largest independent U.S. government services contractor. The acquisition is the latest example of how increased defense spending under President Donald Trump and the Republican-led Congress is driving contractors to pursue mergers so they have more scale to bid on bigger projects, spanning everything from outdated computer systems to space exploration. Engility shareholders will receive $40.44 in SAIC stock for each of their shares, an 11.5 percent premium to Engility's closing price of $36.24 on Friday, the companies said. SAIC will assume $900 million in Engility debt, giving the deal a total value of about $2.5 billion. On completion of the deal early next year, SAIC's board will expand to 11 seats from nine, and SAIC shareholders will own about 72 percent of the combined company. Engility, based in Chantilly, Virginia, provides skilled personnel to the U.S. departments of defense, homeland security and justice, among others. The acquisition will boost SAIC's offerings to its space customers and expand its customer base in the intelligence community, SAIC Chief Executive Tony Moraco said in an interview. The increased U.S. defense budget and a two-year budget deal reached earlier this year that lifted caps on defense spending also emboldened SAIC to pursue the deal, Moraco added. Full article: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-engilityholdings-m-a-saic/saic-to-buy-rival-government-services-contractor-engility-for-1-5-billion-idUSKCN1LQ1CG