February 11, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
NAVY
Carahsoft Technology Corp., Reston, Virginia, is one of eight companies to be awarded a multiple-award, firm-fixed-price Department of Defense (DoD) Enterprise Software Initiative (ESI) blanket purchase agreement (BPA) in accordance with the firms' General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule contracts. This agreement is being awarded as part of a multi-reseller/multi-software publisher software category management award for commercial-off-the-shelf information technology asset management software; software maintenance support; information technology professional services; and related services in support of DoD ESI and under the direction of Office of Management and Budget, Enterprise Software Category. The software publisher under this agreement is Splunk. The BPA provides for the purchase of Splunk products and services by the DoD, U.S. intelligence community, and the Coast Guard. The overall potential value of this category of BPAs is $820,450,000. The ordering period will be for a maximum of 10 years from Feb. 10, 2020, through July 13, 2029. This BPA is issued under DoD ESI in accordance with the policy and guidelines in the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement, Section 208.74. This BPA will not obligate funds at the time of award. Funds will be obligated as task orders using operations and maintenance (DoD) funds. Requirements will be competed among the awardees in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 8.403-3(c)(2), and the successful contractor will receive firm fixed-price orders. This BPA was competitively procured via the GSA E-Buy web site among 679 vendors. Eight offers were received and eight were selected for award. Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N66001-20-A-0022).
Orion Construction Corp., Vista, California (N62473-18-D-5860); Bilbro Construction Co., Inc.,* Escondido, California (N62473-18-D-5861); Reyes Construction Inc., Pomona, California (N62473-18-D-5862); M. A. Mortenson Co., doing business as Mortenson Construction, Minneapolis, Minnesota (N62473-18-D-5863); Baldi Bros. Inc.,* Beaumont, California (N62473-18-D-5864); Granite Construction Co., Watsonville, California (N62473-18-D-5865); and Hal Hays Construction Inc., Riverside, California (N62473-18-D-5866), are awarded $91,000,000 to increase the aggregate capacity of the previously-awarded suite of firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple award construction contracts. The maximum dollar value including the base year and four option years for all seven contracts combined is increased from $249,000,000 to $340,000,000. The contracts are for new construction, renovation, and repair of various heavy horizontal and civil engineering construction projects at various government installations within the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southwest area of operations. All work will be performed in California (90%); Arizona (6%); Colorado (1%); Nevada (1%); New Mexico (1%); and Utah (1%). No funds are being obligated on this award. No funds will expire. Future task orders will be primarily funded by military construction, Navy; operations and maintenance (O&M), Navy; O&M, Marine Corps; and Navy working capital funds. The original contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with 18 proposals received. The NAVFAC Southwest, San Diego, California is the contracting activity.
The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is awarded $22,200,000 for ceiling-priced delivery order N00383-20-F-0A30 under previously-awarded basic ordering agreement N00383-17-G-A301 for the procurement of trailing edge flaps in support of the F/A-18 C-D aircraft. Work will be performed in Emmen, Switzerland (60%); and St. Louis, Missouri (40%). Work will be completed by February 2023 with no option periods. Switzerland funds in the amount of $10,878,000 will be obligated at the time of award and funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Switzerland (100%) funds will be used under the Foreign Military Sales program. One company was solicited for this sole-sourced requirement under authority 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(4) and in accordance with Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement 206.302-4, with one offer received. Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity.
Doyon Management Services LLC,* Federal Way, Washington, was awarded a $7,898,803 firm-fixed-price contract for the retrofit and upgrade of Substation 1, Building 5100 at Naval Base Kitsap. The work to be performed provides for the retrofit of 15 kV vacuum breakers, installation of new 15 kV vacuum breakers in Substation 1, as well as upgrades, switchgear door replacements, new protective relays, protective device coordination, installation of raceways, wire, fiber optic, cabling systems and battery replacements. Work will be performed in Silverdale, Washington, and is expected to be completed by September 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, Navy contract funds in the amount of $7,898,803 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website with two proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Northwest, Silverdale, Washington, is the contracting activity (N44255-20-C-5001). (Awarded Feb. 7, 2020)
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., Poway, California, is awarded a $7,826,673 modification (P00005) to a previously-awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-18-C-1063). This modification provides for Group 5 unmanned air system intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance services. These services are in support of outside the continental U.S. (OCONUS) Task Force Southwest and U.S. Marine Corps operations utilizing contractor-owned/contractor-operated MQ-9 unmanned air systems. Work will be performed in Yuma, Arizona (35%); Poway, California (15%); and various OCONUS locations (50%), and is expected to be completed in May 2020. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance overseas contingency operations (Navy) funds in the amount of $7,826,673 will be obligated at time of award, all of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
ARMY
Capital Currency Team, Washington, District of Columbia, was awarded a $100,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for multi-discipline architectural engineering services. Bids were solicited via the internet with seven received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 5, 2030. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W912DR-20-D-0007).
ECS Federal LLC, Fairfax, Virginia, was awarded an $85,422,289 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for research and development of artificial intelligence algorithms. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Fairfax, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 26, 2023. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds, Army in the amount of $85,422,289 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W911QX-20-C-0019).
Kentucky Office of Vocational Rehabilitation Division of Blind Services, Frankfort, Kentucky, was awarded a $59,677,871 firm-fixed-price contract for full food services at Fort Knox. Bids were solicited via the internet with five received. Work will be completed at Fort Knox, Kentucky, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 6, 2025. Field Directorate Office Fort Sam Houston, Texas, is the contracting activity (W9124J-20-D-0007).
Accura Engineering and Consulting Services Inc.,* Atlanta, Georgia (W91278-20-D-0012); ACT Services LLC,* Columbia, Maryland (W91278-20-D-0013); Health Facility Solutions Co.,* San Antonio, Texas (W91278-20-D-0014); Moca Systems Inc.,* Boston, Massachusetts (W91278-20-D-0015); Parsons Government Services Inc., Washington, District of Columbia (W91278-20-D-0016); Thompson Engineering Inc., Mobile, Alabama (W91278-20-D-0017); and Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions Inc., Blue Bell, Pennsylvania (W91278-20-D-0018), will compete for each order of the $49,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for architect and engineering services to support the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Construction Management Program. Bids were solicited via the internet with 46 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 10, 2025. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile, Alabama, is the contracting activity.
Cape Fox Facilities Services LLC, Manassas, Virginia, was awarded a $22,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for behavioral health support services. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 9, 2025. U.S. Army Health Contracting Activity, San Antonio, Texas, is the contracting activity (W81K04-20-D-0004).
TSAY/Ferguson-Williams,* San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico, was awarded an $8,903,544 cost-plus-award-fee contract for base operations and maintenance services at Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Air Field. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed at Fort Stewart, Georgia, with an estimated completion date of July 31, 2020. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $8,903,544 were obligated at the time of the award. Mission and Installation Contracting Command, Fort Stewart, Georgia, is the contracting activity (W9124M20C0003). (Awarded Feb. 8, 2020)
AIR FORCE
SigmaTech Corp., Colorado Springs, Colorado, has been awarded a hybrid labor hour and firm-fixed-price with cost reimbursement elements task order under General Services Administration One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS) Small Business Pool 5B indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration (SAF/SP) systems, engineering, and technical assistance (SETA). The base period total award amount is $14,440,691. The total amount for the base period and four one-year periods is $74,386,746. This task order provides SAF/SP technical, acquisition-related, and support advisory and assistance services in support of space activities. This task order shall also be utilized to focus on the following categories: business and staff support, secretariat and fusion, policy and integration, space control, programs and analysis, architectures and space support, and program management. Work will be primarily done in the Washington, District of Columbia, area, specifically the Pentagon and within the National Capitol Region, and is expected to be complete by Feb. 23, 2025. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $9,271,413 are being obligated at time of award. The Air Force District of Washington, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, is the contracting activity (FA7014-20-F-0028).
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Clearfield, Utah, has been awarded a $9,900,000 indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for F-5 aircraft parts. This contract provides F-5 aircraft parts for Foreign Military Sales support. Work will be performed in Clearfield, Utah, and is expected to be complete by Oct. 22, 2023. This award is the result of a sole source acquisition. Fiscal 2020 Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $5,700,000 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8220-20-D-0001).
DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY
Aerojet Rocketdyne Inc., Huntsville, Alabama, was awarded a $12,131,241 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the base period of the Glide Breaker program. Work will be performed in Huntsville, Alabama (46%); Sacramento, California (29%); Orange, Virginia (14%); Healdsburg, California (8%); and Sunnyvale, California (3%), with an expected completion date of February 2021. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funding in the amount of $12,131,241 are being obligated at the time of award. This contract is a competitive acquisition in accordance with the original broad agency announcement, HR001119S0008. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HR001120C0030).
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Aegis Power Systems Inc., Murphy, North Carolina, has been awarded a maximum $7,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the production of the power supply in support of the AN/TSQ-232 family of command post platforms. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 41 U.S. Code 1901(e), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 13.501. This is a five-year base contract with no option periods. Location of performance is North Carolina, with a Feb. 10, 2025, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2025 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland (SPRBL1-20-D-0024).
*Small business
https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2080211/source/GovDelivery/
May 23, 2023 | International, Other Defence
The latest batch of PESCO programs targets sea cable protection, torpedo-killing torpedos, new air-to-air missiles, ground robots and more.
July 22, 2020 | International, C4ISR
Mark Pomerleau One of the clearest examples of how the military wants to defeat adversaries using information warfare is by publicly disclosing what those enemies have been doing and what capabilities they have. Information warfare can be abstract, combining cyber, intelligence, electronic warfare, information operations, psychological operations or military deception as a way to influence the information environment or change the way an adversary think. “At our level, the most important thing we can do is to be able to expose what an adversary is doing that we consider to be malign activity, in a way that allows that to be put in the information environment so that now more scrutiny can be applied to it,” Lt. Gen. Timothy Haugh, commander 16th Air Force, the Air Force's newly established information warfare organization, told reporters during a media round table in late February. One of the first ways the Department of Defense has sought to test this is through U.S. Cyber Command's posting of malware samples to the public resource VirusTotal. Malware samples discovered in the course of operations by the Cyber National Mission Force are posted to the site to inform network owners. It also helps antivirus organizations of the strains build patches against that code and helps identify the enemies' tools being used in ongoing campaigns. Haugh, who most recently led the Cyber National Mission Force, explained how these cyber teams, conducting what Cyber Command calls hunt forward operations, were able to expose Russian tactics. U.S. military teams deploy to other nations to help them defend against malign cyber activity inside their networks. “Those defensive teams then were able to identify tools that were on networks and publicly disclose them, [and] industry later attributed to being Russian tools,” he said. “That was a means for us to use our unique authorities outside the United States to be able to then identify adversary activity and publicly disclose it.” Officials have said this approach changes the calculus of adversaries while also taking their tools off the battlefield. “Disclosure is more than just revealing adversary intent and capabilities. From a cyberspace perspective, disclosure is cost imposing as it removes adversary weapons from the ‘battlefield' and forces them to expend resources to create new weapons,” Col. Brian Russell, the commander of II Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group, told C4ISRNET in June. “Disclosure forces the adversary to ask: ‘How were those capabilities discovered?' It causes them to investigate the cause of the disclosure, forcing them to spend time on something other than attacking us. If I can plant a seed of doubt (messaging) that the disclosure might have been caused by someone working on the inside, it makes them question the system's very nature, perhaps spending more time and resources to fix the system.” The NSA has demonstrated a similar tactic when it created its cybersecurity directorate in late 2019. The entity was formed in part, due to the fact that adversaries were using cyberspace to achieve strategic objectives below the threshold of armed conflict. Now, the directorate uses its intelligence and cyber expertise to issue advisories to the network owners of cybersecurity threats so they can take the necessary steps to defend themselves. One recent advisory had direct bearing on a nation state's malicious activity, according to a senior intelligence official. In late May, the agency issued an advisory regarding a vulnerability in Exim mail transfer agent, which was being widely exploited by a potent entity of Russia's military intelligence arm the GRU called Sandworm. “Quickly thereafter, we saw five cybersecurity companies jumped on it and really used that to deepen and expand and publish information about the GRU's infrastructure that they use to conduct their cyberattacks and further information as well,” the official told reporters in early July. “That was terrific because we felt that that had a direct impact on a major nation state in terms of exposing their infrastructure ... and we saw significant patch rates go up on a vulnerability that we knew they were using. That's the kind of thing that we're looking for.” The military has had to think differently to combat for how adversaries are operating. “A central challenge today is that our adversaries compete below the threshold of armed conflict, without triggering the hostilities for which DoD has traditionally prepared,” Gen. Paul Nakasone, commander of Cyber Command, wrote in prepared testimony before the House Armed Services Committee in early March. “That short-of-war competition features cyber and information operations employed by nations in ways that bypass America's conventional military strengths.” These disclosures or efforts to call out malign behavior have also taken the forms of media interviews and press releases. For example, Gen. Jay Raymond, the head of U.S. Space Command and the commandant of Space Force, said in a February interview in which he detailed what he deemed unacceptable behavior by Russia in space, a surprising charge given how tight lipped the U.S. government typically is about its satellites. “We view this behavior as unusual and disturbing,” he said of Russian satellites creeping up to American ones. “It has the potential to create a dangerous situation in space.” Or consider that leaders from Africa Command on July 15 issued a press release detailing the activities of the Wagner Group, a Russian security company, as acting on behalf of the Russian state to undermine the security situation in Libya. “U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) has clear evidence that Russian employed, state-sponsored Wagner Group laid landmines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in and around Tripoli, further violating the United Nations arms embargo and endangering the lives of innocent Libyans,” the release said. “Verified photographic evidence shows indiscriminately placed booby-traps and minefields around the outskirts of Tripoli down to Sirte since mid-June. These weapons are assessed to have been introduced into Libya by the Wagner Group.” Moreover, Africa Command's director of operations called out Russia, noting that country's leaders have the power to stop the Wagner Group, but not the will. Sixteenth Air Force, at the request of C4ISRNET, provided a vignette of such behavior from Russia in the form of how it covered up the explosion of a radioactive rocket, dubbed Skyfall. According to the service, Russia took extreme steps to curb monitoring of the site where the explosion took place and sought to conceal the true nature of the explosion potentially hindering surrounding civilian populations from receiving adequate medical treatment and guidance. With new forces integrated under a single commander, using unique authorities to collect intelligence and authorities to disclose, 16th Air Force is now better postured to expose this type of malign activity, which previously the U.S. government just didn't do. Top Pentagon leaders have explained that the dynamic information warfare space requires a new way of thinking. “We've got to think differently. We've got to be proactive and not reactive with messaging,” Lt. Gen. Lori Reynolds, the Marine Corps' deputy commandant for information, told C4ISRNET in an interview in March. “We have been very risk averse with regard to the information that we have. You can't deter anybody if you're the only one who knows that you have a capability.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/information-warfare/2020/07/20/the-new-ways-the-military-is-fighting-against-information-warfare-tactics/
July 16, 2020 | International, C4ISR, Security
Teresa Shea With cyber threats constantly evolving and increasing in sophistication, a strong national cybersecurity posture has never been more important. COVID-19 is causing an uncertainty across industry sectors, and criminals as well as adversaries are increasing their cyber-attacks and taking advantage of our increased digital work from home dependence. It is especially important to protect the organizations that comprise the U.S. Defense Industrial Base. Defined as the “worldwide industrial complex that enables research and development, as well as design, production, delivery, and maintenance of military weapons systems, subsystems, and components or parts, to meet U.S. military requirements,” Defense industrial base networks host mission-critical information and operational assets vital to national security. If infiltrated, the ramifications could plague the U.S. national security strategy, hamper our warfighting edge, create chaos within the critical infrastructure and ultimately undermine adversary deterrence. To effectively protect the Defense Industrial Base, the government and private sector must both work to secure the U.S. critical infrastructure. Organizations should prioritize collaboration to bolster the nation's cyber resiliency and collectively defend against malicious cyber actors' intent on doing us harm. Proactively defend networks It's widely known that, in an ideal world, organizations should stop threats before they reach their targets. However, to deter effectively, organizations need to have real-time situational awareness of their network infrastructure and supply chain, which can be a difficult undertaking. Threat intelligence information sharing between the government and the private sector companies that comprise the Defense Industrial Base is essential to achieving a strategic view of an advanced threat actor. Today, targets can only know what is happening to their own assets without insight into the attacker's intent. The Defense Industrial Base Cybersecurity Program allows both the DoD and private companies to share cyber threat information, mitigation and remediation strategies, which helps key players in both sectors increase cyber situational awareness and be more proactive in their security efforts. However, this program is currently voluntary, meaning that the crucial information uncovered within the program is only available to those who proactively join the program. Moving forward, both the public and private sectors must work to enact policies that require collaboration. It is no longer acceptable to rely on incident response protocols, performance assessments of existing systems and one-off reactions to threats without coordination. Increased information sharing is key to staying one step ahead of our adversaries. Follow government-suggested guidelines The U.S. government has dedicated time and resources to help secure the Defense Industrial Base, and organizations must act upon the recommendations provided. Earlier this year, the Cyberspace Solarium Commission released a report on the U.S. government's cyber readiness, which found that “the U.S. is currently not designed to act with the speed and agility necessary to defend the country in cyberspace.” The commission's findings place an emphasis on protecting the Defense Industrial Base's intellectual property, and called on Congress to require that these firms share threat data with the DoD and conduct threat hunting on their networks. Both sharing threat data and conducting threat hunting are proven to result in increased defense of our networks. A secure future As noted in a recent LawFare blog, “Cyber-enabled intellectual property theft from the DIB and adversary penetration of DIB networks and systems pose an existential threat to U.S. national security.” Given the abundance of cyber-attacks focused on Defense Industrial Base networks, penetrating them is high on our adversaries' target list. They're currently zeroing in on the U.S. critical infrastructure, attempting to poach the intellectual property that secures our very nation. Until we are willing to come together across sectors to share threat data, and commit to hiring strong talent, we will remain at a disadvantage. Fundamentally, it is about trust and our ability to put the greater defense above individual interests. If accomplished, the U.S. cybersecurity posture and resiliency will remain strong, deterring malicious cyberattacks against our Defense Industrial Base. https://www.c4isrnet.com/opinion/2020/07/15/the-key-to-securing-the-defense-industrial-base-is-collaboration/