December 9, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
NAVY
Lockheed Martin Rotary Mission Systems, Orlando, Florida, is awarded an $89,246,355 modification (P00016) to previously awarded firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost reimbursable contract N68335-18-C-0681. This modification exercises an option to procure 35 electronic Consolidated Automated Support System (eCASS) full rate production units and related equipment. This modification provides for the procurement of four self-maintenance and test/calibration operational test program sets, five calibration equipment suites/kits, 36 rack rail kits, 44 shore installation kits and 28 ship installation kits. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida, and is expected to be completed in December 2023. Fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $9,102,737; and fiscal 2021 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $80,143,618 will be obligated at time of award, of which $9,102,737 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity.
L3 Technologies Inc., Salt Lake City, Utah, is awarded a $15,399,324 modification (P00025) to previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract N00019-18-C-1030. This modification exercises an option to procure 12 AN/SRQ-4 kits and associated components for the MH-60 Common Data Link system. Work will be performed in Salt Lake City, Utah, and is expected to be completed in February 2023. Fiscal 2021 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $15,399,324 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
Progeny Systems Corp.,* Manassas, Virginia, is awarded a $10,179,429 firm-fixed-price modification to previously awarded contract N00024-18-C-6410 for the procurement of MK54 MOD 1 Lightweight and MK48 Heavyweight torpedo components. This modification is in support of the MK54 MOD 1 Lightweight and MK48 Heavyweight torpedo programs. Work will be performed in Towcester, United Kingdom (98%); Charleroi, Pennsylvania (1%); and Manassas, Virginia (1%), and is expected to be completed by January 2023. Fiscal 2020 weapons procurement (Navy) ($6,688,666; 66%); 2019 weapons procurement (Navy) ($2,433,593; 24%); and 2021 weapons procurement (Navy) ($1,057,170; 10%) funding will be obligated at time of award, of which funds in the amount of $2,433,593 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.
WASHINGTON HEADQUARTERS SERVICES
Hunter Strategy LLC, Washington, D.C. (HQ0034-21-C-0011), was awarded a $20,954,134 firm-fixed-price, level-of-effort contract to provide support to the Enterprise Account Tracking and Automation Tool (ATAT) for the Cloud Computing Program Office. ATAT will provide Department of Defense organizations with the ability to manage cloud accounts, manage authorized organizational users, access billing information and policies and apply and enforce cloud security policies. Proposals were solicited via the beta.sam.gov website with two received. This contract award includes one base period ending on Dec. 20, 2021, with four one-year option periods potentially extending performance through Dec. 20, 2025. Work will be performed in Crystal City, Virginia. Washington Headquarters Services, Alexandria, Virginia, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Dec. 7, 2020)
AIR FORCE
Raytheon Co., Woburn, Massachusetts, has been awarded a $13,648,819 firm-fixed-price modification (P00034) to contract FA8730-17-C-0010 for Qatar Early Warning Radar (QEWR). This modification is for the procurement, manufacture and storage of spares in support of sustainment for the QEWR. Work will be performed in Andover, Massachusetts, and is expected to be completed by December 2025. This modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $1,137,800,144. This modification involves 100% Foreign Military Sales (FMS) to the country of Qatar. FMS funds in the full amount are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity.
ARMY
L3 Technologies Inc., Londonderry, New Hampshire, was awarded a $13,148,618 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of binocular night vision devices and accessories. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Londonderry, New Hampshire, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 8, 2021. Fiscal 2010 Foreign Military Sales (United Arab Emirates) funds in the amount of $13,148,618 were obligated at the time of the award. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W91CRB-21-C-5004).
*Small business
https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2439885/source/GovDelivery/
March 30, 2021 | International, Naval
Austal broke ground in March on a new facility that could make it a contender as a second shipyard for the Navy's new Constellation-class frigate program.
May 25, 2020 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR
Published: 23 May 2020 by Mike Ball Leidos has been awarded a contract by the U.S. government's General Services Administration (GSA) to provide software upgrades for the U.S. Army's Unmanned Aircraft System Ground Control Station – Version 4 (UASGCS-V4). The upgraded software solution will be compatible with the existing common baseline and will maximize reusable efficiencies for the existing UAS, as well as U.S. Army, Department of Defense and commercially-available software. This will result in a simplified, efficient and integrated system that will make both training and operation simpler as well as providing commanders with maximum concept of operations (CONOP) flexibility. The new solution will improve the ability of unmanned aircraft ground control station operators to see where they need to go, locate enemies and execute their mission. As part of the contract, Leidos will provide engineering services for technical and logistics support, including software development. Leidos will also support integration of the new design solution into the Army's Universal Ground Control Station (UGCS) as well as system qualification, certification and operational testing for multiple UAS platforms. Michael Hile, Leidos division manager, Airborne Solutions, commented: “We look forward to supporting the U.S Army's UASGCS-V4 through this next-generation software solution. Our team's expertise in software programming and development, along with their deep mission knowledge, will help ensure the success of this critical mission.” https://www.unmannedsystemstechnology.com/2020/05/u-s-army-upgrades-uas-ground-control-station/
October 30, 2019 | International, Aerospace
By Jen DiMascio The U.S. Air Force's plan for acquiring future fighter aircraft may crimp the service's ability to grow in the future, a study of the USAF's force structure plans indicates. The study, “The Air Force of the Future,” compares the service's force structure plans during times of peak budgets—in fiscal 2020 and fiscal 1985. In fiscal 2020, a budget of $205 billion could support 5,300 aircraft. This is a little more than half of the number that the same amount of money, adjusted for inflation, could support in 1985—9,400. The same holds true for the number of personnel, the report says. It was released Oct. 29 by Todd Harrison, director of the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which examined three different studies of the size of the future force. As part of the report, Harrison drills further into the Air Force's spending habits to find that one factor underlying the inability to afford a larger force is the increase over time in operation and maintenance costs. “The average O&M cost per plane is 74% higher today in real terms than in fiscal 2001,” the report says. Looking more closely at maintenance costs, he finds that the most expensive aircraft to operate are the smallest fleets, such as the Boeing E-4 Advanced Airborne Command Post aircraft, the Northrop Grumman E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System and Northrop's B-2 bomber. “This is because the fixed costs of operating the fleet are distributed across more aircraft in large fleets, which brings down the overall ownership cost per plane,” the report says. “The data suggest that the Air Force could reduce operating costs by divesting aircraft that are maintained in small numbers in the current inventory and consolidating the capabilities they provide into common multimission platforms.” Air Force acquisition chief Will Roper is recommending an acquisition strategy dubbed the “digital century series.” It aims to build new fighter aircraft designed to last 3,500 flight hours in batches of hundreds, rather than the current model of pursuing advanced technology for an aircraft type that will last for decades. But Harrison estimates that the operation and sustainment cost of sustaining five different aircraft types of 72 aircraft, or 360 total aircraft, would cost about the same as sustaining 1,800 aircraft of the same type. “That's something the Air Force has got to consider,” Harrison said. “With the digital century series approach, they may end up with a bunch of small fleets and may limit the ability of the Air Force to grow in the future.” https://aviationweek.com/defense/usaf-s-future-fighter-plan-may-limit-growth-study-says