Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - February 04, 2020

On the same subject

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  September 24, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  Présentation du premier F-35 de construction européenne destiné aux Pays-Bas

  Le 1er F-35 (009) qui accueillera les Pays-Bas à partir de cet automne a été présenté aujourd'hui à Cameri, en Italie. L'Italien Leonardo construit là-bas le nouvel avion de chasse du fabricant Lockheed Martin. Le constructeur aéronautique italien dispose d'une chaîne de production d'ailes et d'une chaîne de montage sur laquelle il assemble les aéronefs. La secrétaire d'État Barbara Visser et sa collègue Mona Keijzer d'Effaires économiques et climat étaient présentes à la cérémonie. Visser: «Avec le F-35 et, plus tard, le MQ-9 Reaper, l'armée de l'air obtiendra les plus belles choses que les autres envient. Et ce sera une année merveilleuse pour Leeuwarden. Dans 49 jours, le 31 octobre, l'armée de l'air recevra l'avion à cet endroit. C'est fantastique que nous travaillions ensemble en Europe pour construire cet avion, mais aussi pour le maintenir plus tard. " "Un exemple parfait de la manière dont la sécurité nationale et les affaires économiques vont de pair", répond Keijzer. "Le F-35 apporte aux Pays-Bas la prospérité en matière de défense, de croissance économique et d'innovation dans les entreprises." Vols d'essai Le '009' restera en Italie encore quelques semaines, y compris des vols d'essai. Directeur du matériel de défense, Vice-amiral Arie Jan de Waard. «Nous acceptons l'appareil et le transférons ensuite à l'armée de l'air le plus rapidement possible. Le plus court chez nous, le plus tôt l'utilisateur peut commencer avec elle. " À Cameri, Leonardo construit le F-35A pour ses propres forces aériennes et 29 unités pour les Pays-Bas. Avec la distribution des plus gros contrats il y a une dizaine d'années, il avait été convenu que l'Italie supprimerait progressivement les avions. Les Pays-Bas assurent la maintenance des moteurs des F-35 italien et néerlandais au moins. Cela se passe au centre logistique de Woensdrecht. Il y a aussi «l'entrepôt» européen, le lieu de stockage de pièces du F-35. Fusion de composants Dans Cameri, les 4 composants principaux d'un F-35 sont combinés. Leonardo construit lui-même l'un de ces composants, la section d'aile. Une partie de celle-ci est utilisée pour le processus de construction sur site. Mais la grande majorité va à l'usine Lockheed Martin aux États-Unis. Là, ils sont utilisés pour des appareils provenant, par exemple, d'Amérique, d'Australie, du Danemark, de Norvège et de Corée du Sud. Aux Pays-Bas, d'autres F-35 sont actuellement sur la chaîne de production en Italie à différentes étapes. Le prochain F-010 devrait se rendre aux Pays-Bas cette année encore. La livraison de ce dernier est maintenant prévue pour le milieu de 2023. Les Pays-Bas disposeront alors de 37 avions. https://www.defensie.nl/actueel/nieuws/2019/09/12/1e-europees-gebouwde-f-35-voor-nederland-gepresenteerd

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  September 24, 2018 | International, Naval, Land

  US Marine Corps kills amphibious assault vehicle upgrade program

  By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The U.S. Marine Corps has killed its Amphibious Assault Vehicle survivability upgrade program as it turns focus to the future and aligns with the new National Defense Strategy. The service executed a stop work order Aug. 27 to SAIC, which was under contract to perform survivability upgrades to the 40-plus-year-old AAV fleet to include new tracks to enhance mobility as well as increased underbelly armor, blast-mitigating seats, a new engine and transmission along with an assortment of suspension upgrades. The order “allows [SAIC] to finish the four production control modules that they were building,” Marine Corps spokesman Manny Pacheco said in a statement sent to Defense News. “They have delivered three and we expect the fourth soon. “All other work will be terminated.” SAIC has already delivered 10 AAV Engineering and Manufacturing Development versions of the vehicle to the Marines. The Marine Corps has spent approximately $125 million to date on the AAV Survivability Upgrade, or SU, program and has now identified approximately $96 million in fiscal 2019 funding that the Defense Department and Congress will have to reprioritize, according to Pacheco. The idea was to keep the vehicles alive into 2035 as the Marine Corps begins to bring online its new Amphibious Combat Vehicle, or ACV, that would slowly replace the AAVs over time. But in an effort to “better align programs with the National Defense Strategy and congressional guidance to reduce investment in legacy programs and focus buying power on modernization, the Marine Corps made the decision to divest the AAV SU program,” Pacheco said. The AAV does not “meet the needs of modern Marine amphibious forcible entry operations,” he said. “Rather than continue to invest in that vehicle that, even in upgraded form, will not provide adequate maneuverability, survivability, or ship-to-shore performance, the Marine Corps believes these funds would be better used elsewhere to support modernization initiatives across the force.” The decision was also motivated by the expected mobility and survivability demonstrated by the ACV, along with planned lethality, “which will ensure that our Marines have the firepower and survivability to succeed in the future fight,” Pacheco added. “Reinvestment decisions will be made separately and focus on increasing lethality of the force,” Pacheco explained. “AAV SU divestiture assets may allow us to procure underfunded initiatives in the AAV modification line such as Tactical Communication Modernization and a Remote Weapons Station.” The stop work order serves as another blow to SAIC, which lost in June a head-to-head competition to build the Marines' new ACV. BAE Systems was selected to build 30 low-rate initial production vehicles expected to be delivered by the fall of 2019, valued at $198 million. The total value of the contract with all options exercised is expected to amount to about $1.2 billion. But the AAV isn't likely the only program on the chopping block. Defense leadership has been saying since last year that it can't continue to invest in older systems while also focusing on new programs; they have admitted there will come a time when those legacy systems will have to be scaled back to make way for more a modernized capability. The FY20 budget documents and five-year plans from each service have been submitted to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and it's likely more examples of efforts to reprioritize funds from old to new platforms will emerge. The Army has already terminated the Bradley A5 upgrade program in favor of the new Next-Generation Combat Vehicle. That upgrade would have included improvements like a third-generation FLIR, a cross-platform laser pointer, color day camera and an improved laser range finder. And in the FY19 spending bill conference report, the Bradley A4 program took a $160 million hit due to a “revised acquisition strategy.” While SAIC appears to have lost out both on the ACV program and now the AAV SU effort with the Marine Corps, the company is now setting its sights — building off its experience as an effective platform integrator — on the U.S. Army's Mobile Protected Firepower program. The company, partnered with ST Kinetics and CMI Defence, will integrate CMI's Cockerill 3105 turret onto an ST Kinetics next-generation armored fighting vehicle chassis as its offering in the Mobile Protected Firepower competition that kicked off with the release of a request for proposals in November 2017. And the company is working on some efforts related to the Next-Generation Combat Vehicle as well, SAIC's CEO, Tony Moraco, told Defense News in a recent interview. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2018/09/24/us-marine-corps-kills-amphibious-assault-vehicle-upgrade-program

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  August 7, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  Army Space and Missile Defense Command is getting a new leader

  By: Jen Judson HUNTSVILLE, Alabama — Maj. Gen. Daniel Karbler, who is the chief of staff at U.S. Strategic Command, will depart Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, to take up command at Army Space and Missile Defense Command in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, several sources have confirmed to Defense News. Prior to his job at STRATCOM, Karbler was in charge of U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command and was also the director of joint and integration efforts within the Army G-8. Karbler's nomination appears in the Congressional Record on July 31 but does not state the position for which he is nominated. He would receive his third star if confirmed. The two-star general has an extensive background in air and missile defense stemming back to the beginning of his career. Karbler commanded two different batteries in the 5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command in the European theater. He also commanded the 3rd Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 32nd AAMDC at Fort Bliss, Texas; the 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 32nd AAMDC at Fort Sill, Oklahoma; and the 9th AAMDC at Fort Shafter, Hawaii. Karbler is a U.S. Military Academy graduate. He commissioned as a second lieutenant in the air defense artillery branch. Karbler will take the reigns from Lt. Gen. James Dickinson, who is tapped to become the deputy commander at the newly created U.S. Space Command. Defense News first reported Aug. 6 that Dickinson was nominated for the position while reporting from the Space and Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/smd/2019/08/06/army-space-and-missile-defense-command-is-getting-a-new-leader/