October 11, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
ARMY
CDM-Alberici JV, Boston, Massachusetts (W9128F-20-D-0002); Aptim Federal Services, Alexandria, Virginia (W9128F-20-D-0003); Wood-Cape, Blue Bell, Pennsylvania (W9128F-20-D-0004); Weston Solutions Inc., West Chester, Pennsylvania (W9128F-20-D-0005); ECC Environmental LLC, Burlingame, California (W9128F-20-D-0006); Conti Federal Services LLC, Edison, New Jersey (W9128F-20-D-0007); and AECOM Technical Services Inc., Los Angeles, California (W9128F-20-D-0008), will compete for each order of the $999,000,000 hybrid (cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price) contract for rapid disaster infrastructure construction. 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 April 9, 2028. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha, Nebraska, is the contracting activity.
Adams & Associates LLC,* Fort Collins, Colorado (W9128F-20-D-0015); RHA LLC,* Glendale, Arizona (W9128F-20-D-0016); Strategic Value Solutions Inc.,* Independence, Missouri (W9128F-20-D-0017); and Value Management Strategies Inc.,* San Marcos, California (W9128F-20-D-0018), will compete for each order of the $9,900,000 firm-fixed-price contract for architect and engineer services for an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with services consisting of value engineering studies and related technical review and design analysis of civil works, military and other projects. 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 Oct. 9, 2024. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha, Nebraska, is the contracting activity.
Coastline Consulting & Development LLC,* Branford, Connecticut, was awarded a $7,845,150 firm-fixed-price contract for Annisquam River maintenance dredging. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work will be performed in Gloucester, Massachusetts, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 22, 2020. Fiscal 2010 civil construction funds in the amount of $7,845,150 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Concord, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity (W912WJ-20-C-0001).
AIR FORCE
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., Hawthorne, California (FA8818-20-D-0001); Xbow Launch Systems Inc., Auburn, California (FA8818-20-D-0002); Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems, Chandler, Arizona (FA8818-20-D-0003); Firefly Black LLC, Cedar Park, Texas (FA8818-20-D-0004); United Launch Alliance, Centennial, Colorado (FA8818-20-D-0005); Aevum Inc., Huntsville, Alabama (FA8818-20-D-0006); VOX Space LLC., El Segundo, California (FA8818-20-D-0007); and Rocket Lab USA Inc., Huntington Beach, California (FA8818-20-D-0008), have been awarded a combined ceiling $986,000,000 multiple-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price contract with a nine year ordering period. The contract seeks to capitalize on the emerging small launch providers while providing dedicated and primary launch services to the Department of Defense and other government agencies. The program allows for the rapid acquisition of launch services to meet mission requirements for payloads greater than 400 pounds, enabling launch to any orbit within 12-24 months from task order award. Work will be performed at the contractor facilities and a variety of government launch sites, depending on mission requirements. This award is the result of a competitive source acquisition and nine offers were received. Fiscal 2019 space procurement funds in the amount of $50,000 are being obligated at time of award. The Space and Missile Systems Center, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, is the contracting activity.
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
US Foods Inc., Los Angeles, California, has been awarded a maximum $85,950,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-quantity contract for full-line food distribution for Department of Defense customers in the Southern California region. 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 237 day bridge contract with no option periods. Location of performance is California, with a June 6, 2020, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Air Force and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting agency is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE300-20-D-3242).
The Gorman-Rupp Co.,* Mansfield, Ohio, has been awarded a maximum $7,245,900 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for hydraulic pump units for heavy expanded mobility tactical truck vehicles. 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 five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Ohio, with an Oct. 8, 2024, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Warren, Michigan (SPRDL1-20-D-0006).
NAVY
Brandes Associates Inc.,* Lone Tree, Colorado, is awarded a $78,227,293 cost-plus-fixed-fee indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract provides developmental and engineering support to include development, integration and test of mission planning products such as Naval Mission Planning Systems, Navy Tactical Aircraft, Joint Mission Planning Systems - Marine, Expeditionary, and legacy variants, emerging technology mission management capabilities, defensive electronic warfare libraries and all associated mission planning and control systems and subsystems. Work will be performed in Point Mugu, California (95%); and China Lake, California (5%), and is expected to be completed in November 2024. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was a small business set aside competitively procured via an electronic request for proposal; one offer was received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, China Lake, California, is the contracting activity (N68936-20-D-0001).
ImSAR LLC,* Springville, Utah, is awarded a $7,287,309 cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order (N68335-20-F-0008) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N68335-18-G-0015). This order is in support of a Phase III Small Business Innovation Research effort (AF112-144) titled, "Advanced Radar Concepts for Small Remotely Piloted Aircraft." This order provides for the research, development, procurement and sustainment of the AN/DPY-2 split aces payload systems and communications relay package for the RQ-21A Blackjack unmanned aerial system. Work will be performed in Springville, Utah, and is expected to be completed in October 2020. Fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement; and research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $7,287,309 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity.
Huntington Ingalls Industries, Newport News, Virginia, is awarded a $7,150,019 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-17-C-2103 to exercise an option for the accomplishment of planning and design yard functions for standard Navy valves of nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers. This option exercise is for engineering and design support, including material support and the standard Navy valve planning and design yard for in-service nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by September 2020. Fiscal 2020 operation and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $1,700,000 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.
*Small Business
https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/1986937/source/GovDelivery/
January 9, 2024 | International, C4ISR
The fleet, struggling to reach its goal of 75 mission capable surface ships, is looking beyond the basics of ship maintenance for ways to boost readiness.
August 10, 2020 | International, Land
By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army grappled with the challenge of incorporating heavy robotic combat vehicles into its formations during a monthlong experiment at Fort Carson, Colorado, coming away with a clearer path to bringing robots into the fold. Still, the service is years away from ground robots seamlessly fitting in with units. The Army has been evaluating the performance and possible utility of heavy RCVs for more than a year through the use of robotic versions of M113 armored personnel carriers, but the experiment at Camp Red Devil on Fort Carson is the most complex to date. “We're taking a lot of technology, we're experimenting and this experiment was 100 percent successful,” Brig. Gen. Ross Coffman, who is in charge of the Army's combat vehicle modernization efforts, told reporters in an Aug. 6 briefing. “The whole purpose was to learn where the technology is now and how we think we want to fight with it in the future.” Coffman said that doesn't mean all of the technology was successful or that everything performed perfectly. “Some [technology] knocked our socks off, and some we've got a little bit of work to do. But that is why we do these things, so we can do it at small scales, so we can learn, save money and then make decisions of how we want to fight in the future.” Going the distance In part, the Army is tackling a physics problem as well as a technology challenge involving the distance between the robot and the controller, Coffman said. But the service has found companies that can create waveforms to get the required megabytes per second to extend the range in the most challenging environments like dense forested areas, he added. During the experimentation, Coffman said, the Army tested the waveforms. “We went after them with [electronic warfare], we saw they were self-correcting, so that if they're on one band, they can switch to another,” he said, “so we have a really good idea of what is in the realm of the possible today.” The service was also able to almost double the range between controller and robot using the waveforms available, he explained. “If you could extend the battlefield up to 2 kilometers with a robot, then that means that you can make decisions before your enemy came, and it gives you that trade space of decisions faster and more effectively against the enemy.” The Army was also very pleased with the interface for the crew. The soldiers were able to located themselves and the robots, communicate among themselves, and see the graphics that “just absolutely blows us away,” Coffman said. The software between the robot and control vehicle — a Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle — “while not perfect, performed better than we thought it would,” Coffman said. The software also allowed the robot move in front of the control vehicle by roughly 80-1,000 meters as well as identify hotspots and enemy locations. “I didn't know how that was going to work,” Coffman said. “There were some challenges that we had, like getting exact granularity at distance, but the ability that we could identify hotspots and enemy positions I thought was absolutely exceptional.” As a side experiment, the Army also tested a robotic version of the Stryker Dragoon infantry combat vehicle, which is equipped with a 30mm cannon and uses the same software and hardware in control vehicles, Coffman noted. The experiment included live fire. In the heavy RCV surrogates, the target recognition worked while stationary, but part of the challenge the Army is tackling is how to do that on the move while passing information to a gunner, he added. Work on stabilizing the system for multiple terrains also needs performed, but that was indicative of using clunky, old M113s and turning them into robots rather than having a purpose-built vehicle like the RCV Medium and RCV Light. The Army awarded contracts to a Textron and Howe & Howe team to build the RCV-M, and a QinetiQ North America and Pratt & Miller team to build the light version late last year and early this year. Those are being built now. Training on the system also proved to be much easier than anticipated. Coffman said he asked how long the operators need to train, and was surprised to hear they need roughly 30 minutes to learn. “I thought it was going to take them days, but our soldiers are so amazing and they grew up in this environment of gaming.” What's the Army's next step? Now that the first major experiment is done, the Army plans to build up to a company-level operation in the first quarter of fiscal 2022 at Fort Hood, Texas. The experiment will also include four medium RCV prototypes and four light RCVs. While the experimentation at Fort Carson was focused on cavalry operations where the robots served more in a scout mission and proved they could be effective in a reconnaissance and security role, the experiment in FY22 will move the robots into more of an “attack and defend” role, according to Coffman. A new radio will be added to increase range as well as a tethered UAV and more leap-ahead target recognition capability that uses algorithms trained on synthetic data that is “truly cutting-edge,” Coffman said. After each of these experiments, he added, the Army reaches a decision point where it decides how to proceed, whether that is more experimentation or a fielding decision. “We have enough information tactically and technically that I believe we can move forward to the second experiment,” he noted. Following the second experiment, the Army will reach a decision point in FY23 on whether to move the effort into an official program of record. Once that is decided, an acquisition strategy would be identified if the decision is to move forward, according to Coffman. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/08/07/heavy-robotic-combat-vehicles-put-to-test-in-the-colorado-mountains/
October 18, 2022 | International, Aerospace
They might not be as elaborate as the exosuit Sigourney Weaver used in 'Aliens,' but the idea of using tech to bolster human muscles is not far off.