March 12, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence

Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - March 6, 2019

ARMY

Ceradyne Inc., Irvine, California (W91CRB-19-D-0012); Leading Technology Composites,* Wichita, Kansas (W91CRB-19-D-0013); and TenCate Advanced Armor USA Inc., Hebron, Ohio (W91CRB-19-D-0014), will compete for each order of the $704,238,806 hybrid (cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price) contract for Enhanced Small Arms Protective Insert and X-Small Arms Protective Insert hard armor plates. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of March 5, 2023. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

Salient Federal Solutions, also known as Salient CRGT, Fairfax, Virginia, was awarded a $21,295,700 firm-fixed-price contract for mission critical information-technology communications infrastructure and services. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work will be performed in Fayetteville, North Carolina; and Bagram, Afghanistan, with an estimated completion date of March 14, 2023. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $21,295,700 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W52P1J-18-C-0020).

Conti Federal Services Inc., Edison, New Jersey, was awarded a $15,346,734 firm-fixed-price Foreign Military Sales (Israel) contract for construction and renovation of an existing kitchen and runway renovations. Six bids were solicited with four bids received. Work will be performed in Tel Aviv, Israel, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 17, 2020. Fiscal 2019 military construction funds in the amount of $15,346,734 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wiesbaden, Germany, is the contracting activity (W912GB-19-F-0027).

Bosch Rexroth Corp., Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was awarded an $11,401,973 firm-fixed-price contract to install replacement hydraulic doors on Building 27496 at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with an estimated completion date of March 31, 2023. Fiscal 2019 military construction funds in the amount of $11,401,973 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Albuquerque, New Mexico, is the contracting activity (W912PP-19-C-0015).

Southern Dredging Co. Inc.,* Charleston, South Carolina, was awarded a $9,773,000 firm-fixed-price contract for maintenance dredging. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work will be performed in Kings Bay, Georgia, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 31, 2020. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $9,773,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity (W912EP-19-C-0013).

AIR FORCE

General Dynamics Information Technology, Falls Church, Virginia, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $217,000,000 task order under General Services Administration Alliant 2 Unrestricted Government-Wide (GWAC) for the 480th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing technical operations support. This task order provides for support of the Distributed Common Ground System network weapon system and all supporting activities, such as the development, integration, maintenance, administration, management, documentation, assessment, disposal and troubleshooting of 480 ISRW information technology assets from the network and enterprise level. Work will be performed at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia; and Beale Air Force Base, California, and is expected to be complete by Jan. 31, 2027. This task order is the result of a competitive acquisition and five offers were received. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $11,589,147 are being obligated at the time of award. Headquarters Air Combat Command, Acquisition Management and Integration Center, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, is the contracting activity (FA4890-19-F-A022).

Assured Information Security Inc.,* Rome, New York, has been awarded a $48,444,066 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for full spectrum cyber capabilities. The objective of this effort is to provide the Air Force with tools and technologies to aid in cyber warfare. This contract provides for research, development, and transition of cyber technologies to enable rapid cyber operations and will result in the accelerated delivery of innovative cyber solutions to the warfighter. Work will be performed in Rome, New York, and is expected to be completed by March 5, 2024. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and two offers were received. Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome, New York, is the contracting activity (FA8750-19-C-0013).

NAVY

Huntington Ingalls Industries, San Diego Shipyard Inc., San Diego, California, is awarded a $118,446,807 firm-fixed-price contract for the execution of USS Rushmore (LSD 47) fiscal 2019 drydock selected restricted availability. This is a “long-term” availability and was competed on a coast-wide (West coast) basis without limiting the place of performance to the vessel's homeport. This availability will include a combination of maintenance, modernization, and repair of USS Rushmore. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $154,235,955. Work will be performed in San Diego, California, and is expected to be complete by May 2020. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy); and 2019 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $118,446,807 will be obligated at time of award, and $108,971,062 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured using full and open competition via the Federal Business Opportunities website with three offers were received in response to solicitation no. N00024-18-R-4410. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N00024-19-C-4410).

Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Arizona, is awarded a $91,872,559 firm-fixed-price option to previously awarded contract N00024-18-C-5425 for fiscal 2019 Navy procurements of Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) Block 2 guided missile round pack and spare replacement components. The RAM Guided Missile Weapon System is co-developed and co-produced under an International Cooperative Program between the U.S.' and Federal Republic of Germany's governments. RAM is a missile system designed to provide anti-ship missile defense for multiple ship platforms. Work will be performed in Ottobrunn, Germany (44 percent); Tucson, Arizona (35 percent); Rocket Center, West Virginia (9 percent); Dallas, Texas (2 percent); Mason, Ohio (2 percent); Glenrothes, Scotland (1 percent); Cincinnati, Ohio (1 percent); Andover, Massachusetts (1 percent); and other U.S. locations (5 percent), and is expected to be completed by November 2021. Fiscal 2019 weapons procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $91,872,559 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.

GHD-COWI JV, San Diego, California, is awarded a maximum amount $30,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity architect-engineer contract for waterfront engineering services located in the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southwest (SW) Area of Responsibility (AOR). The work to be performed provides for the preparation of design-build requests for proposals; design-bid-build construction contract packages; reports/studies including utilities studies; technical reviews of government pre-prepared request for proposal packages for design-build projects and government pre-prepared design documents for design-bid-build projects; site investigations to support new development of facilities on raw land or redevelopment of existing facilities on developed sites; support and coordination of various technical disciplines; preparation of DD Form 1391 or similar planning and programming related documents; and post construction award services. No task orders are being issued at this time. Work will be performed at various Navy and Marine Corps facilities and other government facilities within the NAVFAC SW AOR including, but not limited to California (87 percent); Arizona (5 percent); Nevada (5 percent); Colorado (1 percent); New Mexico (1 percent); and Utah (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by March 2024. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $5,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by operations and maintenance (Navy and Marine Corps). This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website with five proposals received. Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N62473-19-D-2432).

General Dynamics, Electric Boat Corp., Groton, Connecticut, is awarded a $23,689,683 delivery order under a previously awarded, multiple award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract N00024-16-D-4300 for the planning and material procurement requirements associated with repair work for USS John Warner (SSN 785). Work will be performed in Groton, Connecticut, and is expected to be complete by June 2019. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $6,200,000 will be obligated at the time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Supervisor of Shipbuilding Conversion and Repair, Groton, Connecticut, is the contracting activity.

Raytheon Co., El Segundo, California, is awarded a $12,192,816 cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for engineering and test support services for the ALQ-249 Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) currently in development for the Navy EA-18G aircraft. Services to be provided include software support for NGJ pod and integration, including requirements analysis, design, development, integration, testing, training, and tools related to and in support of ALQ-249 and advanced electronic warfare initiatives. Work will be performed in El Segundo, California (75 percent); and Point Mugu, California (25 percent), and is expected to be completed in March 2024. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $349,858 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, Point Mugu, California, is the contracting activity (N68936-19-D-0017).

Optics 1 Inc., Bedford, New Hampshire, is awarded a $12,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract action for production, repair, and engineering support services for the ground based operational surveillance system light optical camera. The primary work is to manufacture and deliver a tripod mounted electro-optical and infrared sensor that provides both daylight and night vision imagery for detecting, classifying, and identifying targets to be mounted on a variant of the ground based operational surveillance system. Work will be performed in Bedford, New Hampshire, and is expected to be complete by March 2024. Fiscal 2019 and 2018 research, development, test, and evaluation (Navy) funding in the amount of $253,413 will be obligated at time of award, and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with two offers received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, Crane, Indiana, is the contracting activity (N0016419DJV28).

SimVentions Inc., Fredericksburg, Virginia, is awarded a $12,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the continued development, extension, and upgrade of the AN/SLQ-32(V)X Tactical Simulator tools and capabilities delivered in support of Navy training and integration and test efforts. Work will be performed in Fredericksburg, Virginia (88 percent); Fairmont, West Virginia (8 percent); and Pensacola, Florida (4 percent), and is expected to be completed by February 2024. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test, and evaluation (Navy); and fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $1,514,452 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1(a)(2)(ii) - only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, Dahlgren, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N00178-19-D-4502).

Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, is awarded a $10,950,758 cost-plus-award-fee modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-18-C-2313 for DDG 51 class lead yard services, including engineering and technical assistance for new-construction DDG 51-class ships. This modification to the contract is for continued lead yard services for the DDG 51 Class Destroyer Program. Lead yard services include liaison for follow ship construction, general class services, class design contractor services, class change design services for follow ships, and ship trials and post-shakedown availability support. Work will be performed in Bath, Maine (96 percent); Brunswick, Maine (3 percent); and other locations below one percent (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by July 2019. Fiscal 2014 and 2015 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $10,379,684 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

Datex-Ohmeda Inc., Madison, Wisconsin, has been awarded a maximum $100,000,000 firm‐fixed‐price, indefinite‐delivery/indefinite‐quantity contract for patient monitoring systems, accessories and training. This was a competitive acquisition with 36 responses received. This is a five-year base contract with one five‐year option period. Location of performance is Wisconsin, with a March 5, 2024, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2024 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2D1-19-D-0013).

Raytheon Co., El Segundo, California, has been awarded an estimated $17,828,176 firm-fixed-priced delivery order (SPRPA1-19-F-C303) against a five-year basic ordering agreement (SPRPA1-17-G-C301) for aircraft radar system spare parts. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a three-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Mississippi, with a Dec. 20, 2021, performance completion date. Using customers are Navy and Canadian Armed Forces. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 Navy working capital funds and Foreign Military Sales. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY

Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Arizona, is being awarded a sole-source cost-plus-fixed-fee modification in the amount of $14,162,806 to previously awarded contract HQ0276-15-C-0005, Contract Line Item Number 3002, to provide continued production support and engineering for the Standard Missile SM-3 Block IB program. This modification increases the total cumulative face value of the contract by $14,162,806 from $1,794,948,196 to $1,809,111,002. The work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona, with an expected completion date of October 2019. Fiscal 2019 Defense Wide Procurement funding in the amount of $14,162,806.00 will be obligated at the time of award. The Missile Defense Agency, Dahlgren, Virginia, is the contracting activity.

*Small business

https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1777799/

On the same subject

January 28, 2021 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

Financement de l'industrie française de la défense : vers un renforcement du rôle de Bpifrance ?
Un doublement des plafonds de financement de la banque publique Bpifrance serait à l'étude, afin de remédier à des difficultés de financement à l'export de l'industrie de défense française, rapportent Les Echos. Selon le quotidien, l'Assemblée nationale devrait diffuser, le 17 février prochain, un rapport sur le financement de l'industrie de défense, et devrait faire plusieurs recommandations. Des pistes telles que la formation de référents bancaires aux sujets stratégiques, le renforcement du rôle de Bpifrance à l'export, la création d'une banque à capitaux mixtes dédiée au secteur de la défense, ou encore le développement de fonds de souveraineté, seraient examinées. « Il y a un réel problème de financement bancaire à l'export et il faut absolument remonter les plafonds de garanties de la BPI », estime le député LR Jean-Louis Thieriot, rapporteur sur le sujet à l'Assemblée nationale. Les Echos du 28 janvier
February 2, 2021 | International, Other Defence

Vital Signs: Second Annual Study Reveals ‘C’ Average for Defense Industrial Base
2/1/2021 By Wesley Hallman and Nick Jones This is part one of a five-part special report on the health of the U.S. defense industrial base. The National Defense Industrial Association's second annual Vital Signs report on the health of the U.S. defense industrial base will be released Feb. 2. To sign up in advance for a copy, please click HERE. In 2018, the Defense Department released “Assessing and Strengthening the Manufacturing and Defense Industrial Base and Supply Chain Resiliency of the United States,” a report focused on the production risks to critical defense industrial supply chains. The report starkly framed the health of the U.S. defense industrial base as key to the readiness of the nation to confront near-term threats and compete in an age of great power competition. Despite the report's high-resolution snapshot of the DIB's “unprecedented set of challenges,” the report did not provide a publicly available summary measurement of the health and readiness of the defense industrial base or a simple way of tracking it over time. To fill this gap, the National Defense Industrial Association in 2020 completed “Vital Signs 2020,” which provided an unclassified summary of the health and readiness of the defense industrial base that was accessible to both the public and the defense policy community. “Vital Signs 2021” is the second installment. In order to provide a comprehensive assessment, our procedure involved standardizing and integrating different elements that impact the performance of the defense industrial base and the overall business environment. Like “Vital Signs 2020,” this report's final grade for the health and readiness of the defense industrial base was a “C.” This year's score was 74, slightly lower than last year's 75. While passing, the “C” grade reflects a business environment that is characterized by contrasting areas of concern and confidence. It also reflects the state in which the defense industrial base entered the COVID-19 pandemic, which dramatically disrupted the daily lives of every American and the flow of U.S. commerce. Continued deterioration in industrial security and the availability of skilled labor and materials emerged from the analysis as areas of clear concern. Favorable conditions for competition in the defense contracting market and a rising demand for defense goods and services reflected growth in the U.S. defense budget and increased overseas sales. NDIA intends Vital Signs 2021 to contribute to the debate about national defense acquisition strategy by offering a common set of indicators — “vital signs” — of the defense industrial base partners that give the men and women in uniform an advantage in all warfare domains. In order to complete this year's Vital Signs, we conducted a months-long study of data related to eight different dimensions that shape the performance capabilities of defense contractors: competition; cost production input; demand for defense goods and services; investment and productivity in the U.S. national innovation system; threats to industrial security; supply chain performance; political and regulatory activity; and industrial surge capacity. We analyzed over 40 publicly available longitudinal statistical indicators, converted each of them into an index score on a scale of 0 to 100, and evaluated three years of scores for each indicator — a running three-year average to control for single-year anomalies. A score of 100 equates to a baseline associated with the Carter-Reagan buildup of 1979-1986 or, if corresponding data is not available, a more recent peak value. With the exception of our Vital Signs 2021 member survey, which was fielded in August 2020, our datasets are lagging indicators collected before the nationwide lockdowns that occurred in March 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. These lagging indicators provide insights into how the defense industrial base entered the pandemic which may give future policymakers a baseline to evaluate the defense industrial base's ability to cope with disruptions due to a national crisis. Vital Signs 2021 reveals a defense industrial base that entered the COVID-19 pandemic in a weakened state. As noted, with the exception of data from our August 2020 Vital Signs 2021 member survey, most data were published before the disruptions caused by the nationwide COVID-19 lockdowns and the concomitant overseas actions impacting certain supply chains. The final “grades” are based solely on data from before the COVID-19 pandemic. Six conditions earned composite scores lower than 80, and four earned scores lower than 70, which we consider failing grades — the same as last year's report. These scores suggest that the defense industrial base is continuing to face multiple challenges to its ability to thrive. Industrial security scored the lowest among the eight dimensions with a 56 for 2020. Industrial security has gained prominence as massive data breaches and brazen acts of economic espionage by state and nonstate actors plagued defense contractors in recent years. To assess industrial security conditions, we analyzed indicators of threats to information security and to intellectual property rights. The score incorporates MITRE's annual average of the threat severity of the new cyber vulnerabilities, which improved slightly from the 2018 score of 17 to a similarly dismal score of 18, in 2020. In contrast, threats to IP rights scored 100 out of 100 for 2019 as the number of new FBI cases into IP rights violations steadily declined since reaching an all-time high in 2011. Defense industry production inputs also scored poorly in 2020 with a score of 68, a steady score since 2018. Major production inputs include skilled labor, intermediate goods and services, and raw materials used to manufacture or develop end-products and services for defense consumption. Our estimate of the size of the defense industry workforce, currently about 1.1 million people, falls substantially below its mid-1980s peak size of 3.2 million. The indicators for security clearance processing also contributed to the low overall score for production inputs as backlogs have improved but continue to persist. The competitive environment and the state of demand for defense goods and services were areas of confidence. Over the past few years, the Defense Department has averaged about 701,000 prime contracts a year and had over $394 billion in prime contract obligations in 2019, according to an analysis conducted by our research partner Govini. Analysis of the top 100 publicly traded defense contract recipients produced a competition score of 91 for 2020. Several high scoring indicators drove the strength of market competition conditions, including the low level of market concentration of total contract award dollars, the relatively low share of total contract award dollars received by foreign contractors, and the high level of capital expenditures in the defense industrial base. Additionally, the DIB earned a score of 77 for profitability for 2020, based on a new methodology for this edition of the report. Demand for defense goods and services received a score of 93 for 2020, which is a 16-point increase over 2018. The high score for demand is a result of the recent increase in contract obligations issued by the department. Total contract obligations grew from $329 billion in fiscal year 2017, to $394 billion in 2019, a 20 percent increase. Foreign military sales also grew by nearly 20 percent over the same time period. Other takeaways: Innovation conditions within the defense industrial base received a score of 71 for 2020, two points down from its 2018 score. Notably, the U.S. share of global investment in research and development was only 28 percent, down from a peak of 38 percent in 2001. In early 2020, before the pandemic took hold, the percentage of Americans that thought the United States was spending “too little” on national defense was nearly half as many as in 2018, the largest two-year drop since 1983, which may indicate a decrease in the American public's appetite for major increases in military spending. Acquisition reform and budget stability, two of NDIA's strategic priorities, continue to be top of mind for the defense industrial base. In the survey, when asked what the most important thing the government can do to help the defense industrial base, respondents said that streamlining the acquisition process (35 percent) and budget stability (nearly 32 percent) were the most important. When asked what conditions would limit their firm's willingness or ability to devote larger amounts of productive capacity to military production, 48 percent of respondents said uncertain prospects of continuing volumes of business was a moderate deterrent and 41.5 percent of respondents said that the burden of government paperwork was a moderate deterrent. Both findings underscore the continued importance of reforming the acquisition process and the need for budget stability. The capacity of the defense industrial base to grow its output and fulfill a surge in military demand stands as a key test of its health and readiness. Productive capacity and surge readiness earned a score of 66 for 2020, a 15-point decrease from 2019. Declines in output efficiency contributed to the declining trend. Productive capacity is baselined against the defense buildup that began under the Carter administration and accelerated through the Reagan administration. The Carter-Reagan Era buildup involved a 31 percent surge in Defense Department expenditures. The health and readiness of the DIB poses a challenge to the acquisition community. With the growing expectation for the defense industrial base to meet the challenges faced during an era of great power competition, Vital Signs 2021 highlights several hurdles that the base must overcome coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. The overall health grade of “C” suggests a satisfactory ability to meet current industrial requirements. Our full report will release to the public at the end of January. We hope that Vital Signs 2021 will drive policy debates in the coming legislative policy cycle and inform the discussions and actions that lead to an improved grade for Vital Signs 2022 and beyond. Wesley Hallman is vice president of strategy and policy, and Nick Jones director of regulatory policy at NDIA. https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2021/2/1/second-annual-study-reveals-c-average-for-defense-industrial-base
April 19, 2021 | International, Aerospace

Programme Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) américain
L'USAF (US Air Force) a dévoilé un art-concept d'un avion de chasse dans le cadre du programme NGAD (Next Generation Air Dominance). Un démonstrateur de 6ème génération aurait également effectué son premier vol. Prévu initialement pour compléter le F-35, le NGAD pourrait succéder au programme JSF. Air et Cosmos, 13 avril

All news