Curtiss-Wright receives contracts valued at approximately $100 Million to support critical U.S Naval defense platforms

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  March 5, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

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

  NAVY Perspecta Enterprise Solutions LLC, Herndon, Virginia, is awarded $62,143,412 as part of receiving a modification (N00039-13-D-0013_P00205) to the previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a maximum potential value for the existing Next Generation Enterprise Network contract. Current and future work for the affected end user hardware seat services will be performed throughout the U.S. No additional funding will be placed on contract or obligated at the time of modification award. This modification will extend various end user hardware services from a six month (October 2019 to March 2020) to a 10 month ordering period (October 2019 to July 2020) during the contract's Option Year Six. This contract modification was not competitively procured because it is a sole-source acquisition pursuant to the authority of 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) and one source or limited sources (Federal Acquisition Regulations, subpart 6.302-1). This action is the result of a justification and approval that authorizes extending the ordering period by up to four months for end user hardware seat services through July 31, 2020. The Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N00039-13-D-0013). Serco Inc., Reston, Virginia, is awarded $60,747,812 which provides for exercise of the fourth option period under a fixed-price contract for lifecycle sustainment of physical security/access control and command, communications, computers and intelligence systems in support of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command anti-terrorism/force protection ashore program at various Navy installations worldwide. Work will be performed in California (12.47%); District of Columbia (11.70%); Florida (7.98%); Italy (7.61%); Virginia (7.23%); Washington (6.59%); Hawaii (5.65%); Japan (5%); Maryland (4.52%); Guam (4.31%); Texas (2.67%); Rhode Island (2.57%); Bahrain (2.21%); Spain (2.06%); Mississippi (2.02%); Illinois (2%); Georgia (1.53%); Connecticut (1.23%); Tennessee (1.22%); Indiana (1.21%); Greece (1.10%); New Jersey (1.08%); Pennsylvania (0.98%); United Kingdom (0.86%); New Hampshire (0.81%); Cuba (0.72%); Nevada (0.63%); Louisiana (0.63%); Republic of Korea (0.54%); New York (0.52%); Singapore (0.26%); and Maine (0.09%). The work to be performed provides for preventive maintenance of hardware, associated firmware and software; response and resolution of service calls for corrective maintenance to include equipment repair, overhaul, or replacement; information assurance vulnerability alert to include version control, patch management and vulnerability scanning; asset management to track, maintain, upgrade and dispose of systems; configuration management to establish and maintain consistency of the system attributes with operational requirements and evolving technical baseline; technical refreshments, upgrades and installation of new systems; and programmatic trend analysis to identify systemic sustainment issues such as technology obsolescence. After award of this option, the total cumulative contract value will be $245,745,412. This option period is from March 2020 to March 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $55,365,560 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center, Port Hueneme, California, is the contracting activity (N39430-16-C-1811). VLJM LLC,* Fullerton, California, is awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a maximum amount of $35,000,000 for 8(a) small business set-aside at various government installations within Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton and Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, California. No task orders are being issued at this time. The work to be performed provides for alterations, repairs, renovations and new construction within the North American Industry Classification System Code 237310 for paving projects. The terms of the contracts are not to exceed 60 months, with an expected completion date of March 2025. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, Navy (O&M, N) 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 military construction (Navy); O&M, N; O&M, Marine Corps; and Navy working capital funds. 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 (N62473-20-D-0033). Larsen and Toubro Ltd., Mumbai, India, is awarded an $11,500,000 firm-fixed-price contract in the support of the government of Chile for an existing twin-screw Anchor Handling, Towing, Supply and Standby Vessel (AHTSSV) with hybrid propulsion and dynamic positioning system, hull number 71010. Work will be performed in Chennai, India, and is expected to be completed by May 2020. This contract involves foreign military sales (FMS) to Chile. FMS national funding in the amount of $11,500,000 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured, in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(4) (international agreement). The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N00024-20-C-2214). Progeny Systems Corp.,* Manassas, Virginia, is awarded a $9,304,227 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the "Automation Entity Classification in Video Using Soft Biometrics." The contractor, with support from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and other stakeholders, has developed a suite of machine learning, image processing and computer vision capabilities that collectively serve as building blocks for intelligent solutions to real-world data analytics problems. Work will be performed in Manassas, Virginia. The work to be performed is aimed at maturing these capabilities through further research and development, integrating them into operational systems, supporting testing and evaluation and transitioning into programs of record. The proposed research extends prior Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and is in scope of decision support, artificial intelligence, machine learning and graph analysis. Work is expected to be completed by March 2024. The total cumulative value of this contract is $9,304,227. The base period is $9,304,227 with no options. The action will be incrementally funded with an initial obligation of $1,566,206 utilizing fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured under Navy SBIR Solicitation 2008.1 (SBIR Phase III; Topic Number N08-077). One proposal was received in response to the solicitation. ONR, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N00014-20-C-2014). Lampson International LLC, Kennewick, Washington, is awarded a $7,907,692 firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for reactor compartment disposal land haul services. Work will be performed in Richland, Washington, and is for the off-load, transport and placement of defueled, decommissioned reactor compartment disposal packages from a barge at the Port of Benton in Richland, Washington, to a burial trench located on the U.S. Department of Energy's Hanford site in support of Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility. Work is expected to be complete by March 2025. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $987,730 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the beta.sam.gov website with three offers received. The Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Bremerton, Washington, is the contracting activity (N4523A-20-D-4000). Huntington Ingalls Industries, Newport News Shipbuilding Division, Newport News, Virginia, is awarded a $7,532,422 cost-plus-fixed-fee option exercise modification to previously-awarded contract (N00024-18-C-2102) for engineering and technical design effort to support research and development concept formulation for current and future submarine platforms. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia (80%); Modesto, California (13%); East Aurora, New York (3%); Bayview, Idaho (2%); and Westerly, Rhode Island (2%), and is expected to be completed by September 2020. This contract procures advanced submarine research and development, including studies to support the future development, production and sustainment phases of submarine platforms. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funding in the amount of $795,000 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. AIR FORCE The Boeing Co., Seattle, Washington, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $36,721,743 undefinitized modification (P00206) to contract FA8625-11-C-6600 for KC-46 engineering, manufacturing and development contract. This modification is for the component build and development of the hardware system integration lab to conduct lab verification and ground test verification for the boom telescope actuator redesign. Work will be performed in Seattle. Fiscal 2019 research and development funds in the amount of $27,541,307 are being obligated at the time of award and is expected to be completed February 2023. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, KC-46 Program Office, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. ARMY Heckler & Koch Defense Inc.,* Ashburn, Virginia, was awarded a $33,500,000 modification (P00028) to contract W15QKN-16-D-0051 for the Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper Systems and the Squad Designated Marksman Rifle. 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 March 16, 2022. U.S. Army Contracting Command, New Jersey, is the contracting activity. Sauer Inc., Jacksonville, Florida, was awarded a $31,412,000 firm-fixed-price contract for Volar Barracks renovations at Fort Polk, Louisiana. Bids were solicited via the internet with six received. Work will be performed in Fort Polk, Louisiana, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 25, 2021. Fiscal 2020 sustainment, restoration and modernization; and operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $31,412,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth, Texas, is the contracting activity (W9126G-20-C-0014). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Base Utilities Inc.,* Grand Forks and Cavalier, North Dakota, has been awarded a maximum $7,244,277 modification (P00009) to a 50-year utilities privatization contract (SP0600-18-C-8322) with no option periods for additional utility services for two water and two wastewater systems. This is a fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract. Location of performance is North Dakota, with a Jan. 31, 2069, performance completion date. Using military service is Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2069 Air Force operations and maintenance funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2102247/source/GovDelivery/

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  September 12, 2022 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Pentagon eyes commercial solution to supply chain problems

  The Defense Innovation Unit is seeking commercial software to support new supply chain pathways and manage risk across the industrial base.

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  November 10, 2020 | International, C4ISR

  Mixed-reality systems can bring soldier feedback into development earlier than ever before. Here’s how the US Army is using it.

  Nathan Strout ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — The U.S. Army's Combat Capabilities Development Command has made clear it wants to introduce soldier feedback earlier in the design process, ensuring that new technologies are meeting users' needs. “Within the CCDC, the need to get soldier feedback, to make sure that we're building the appropriate technologies and actually getting after the users' needs is critical,” said Richard Nabors, acting principal deputy for systems and modeling at the command's C5ISR Center (Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance). “There's a concerted effort within the C5ISR Center to do more prototyping not just at the final system level ... but to do it at the component level before the system of systems is put together,” he added. But how can the service accomplish that with systems still in development? One answer: virtual reality. The Army's CCDC is testing this approach with its new artificial intelligence-powered tank concept: the Advanced Targeting and Lethality Aided System, or ATLAS. While tank operations are almost entirely manual affairs, ATLAS aims to automate the threat detection and targeting components of a gunner's job, greatly increasing the speed of end-to-end engagements. Using machine-learning algorithms and a mounted infrared sensor, ATLAS automatically detects threats and sends targeting solutions to a touch-screen display operated by the gunner. By touching an image of the target, ATLAS automatically slews the tank's gun to the threat and recommends the appropriate ammunition and response type. If everything appears correct, the gunner can simply pull the trigger to fire at the threat. The process takes just seconds, and the gunner can immediately move on to the next threat by touching the next target on the display. ATLAS could revolutionize the way tank crews operate — at least in theory. But to understand how the system works with real people involved and whether this is a tool gunners want, CCDC needed to test it with soldiers. The Army has set up an ATLAS prototype at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, and it hopes to conduct a live-fire exercise soon with targets in a field. However, to collect useful feedback, CCDC is giving soldiers a more robust experience with the system that involves multiple engagements and varying levels of data quality. To do this, the command has built a mixed-reality environment. “It gives us the opportunity ... to get the soldiers in front of this system prior to it being here as a soldier touchpoint or using the live system so we get that initial feedback to provide back to the program, to get that soldier-centric design, to get their opinions on the system, be that from how the GUI is designed to some of the ways that the system would operate,” explained Christopher May, deputy director of the C5ISR Center's Modeling and Simulation Division. The virtual world In the new virtual prototyping environment — itself a prototype — users are placed in a 3D world that mimics the gunner station while using a physical controller and display that is a carbon copy of the current ATLAS design. The CCDC team can then feed simulated battlefield data into the system for soldiers to respond to as if they were actually using ATLAS. Like most virtual reality systems, the outside looks less impressive than the rendered universe that exists on the inside. Sitting down at the gunner's seat, the user's vision is enveloped by a trifold of tall blue walls, cutting the individual off from the real world. Directly in front of the chair is a recreation of ATLAS' touch-screen display and a 3D-printed copy of the controller. Putting on the virtual reality headset, the user is immersed in a 3D rendering of the ATLAS prototype's gunner station, but with some real-world elements. “We're leveraging multiple technologies to put this together. So as the operator looks around ... he has the ability to see the hand grips. He also has the ability to see his own hands,” May said. All in all, the mixed-reality environment creates the distinct impression that the user is in the gunner's chair during a real-life engagement. And that's the whole point. It's important to note the virtual reality system is not meant to test the quality of the AI system. While the system populates the virtual battlefield with targets the same way ATLAS would, it doesn't use the targeting algorithm. “We're not using the actual algorithm,” May said. “We're controlling how the algorithm performs.” Switching up the scenarios Another advantage to the mixed-reality environment: The Army can experiment with ATLAS in different vehicles. CCDC leaders were clear that ATLAS is meant to be a vehicle-agnostic platform. If the Army decides it wants ATLAS installed on a combat vehicle rather than a tank — like the current prototype — the CCDC team could recreate that vehicle within the simulated environment, giving users the opportunity to see how ATLAS would look on that platform. “We can switch that out. That's a 3D representation,” May said. “This could obviously be an existing tactical vehicle or a future tactical vehicle as part of the virtual prototype.” But is the virtual reality component really necessary to the experience? After all, the interactions with the ATLAS surrogate take place entirely through the touch screen and the controller, and a soldier could get an idea of how the system works without ever putting on the headset. May said that, according to feedback he's received, the virtual reality component adds that extra level of realism for the soldier. “They thought it added to their experience,” May said. “We've run through a version of this without the mixed reality — so they're just using the touch screens and the grips — and they thought the mixed reality added that realism to really get them immersed into the experience.” “We've had over [40 soldiers] leveraging the system that we have here to provide those early insights and then also to give us some quantitative data on how the soldier is performing,” he added. “So we're looking from a user evaluation perspective: Again, how does the [aided target recognition] system influence the soldier both positively, potentially and negatively? And then what is the qualitative user feedback just of the system itself?” In other words, the team is assessing how soldiers react to the simulated battlefield they are being fed through the mixed reality system. Not only is the team observing how soldiers operate when the data is perfect; it also wants to see how soldiers are impacted when fed less accurate data. Soldiers are also interviewed after using the system to get a sense of their general impressions. May said users are asked questions such as “How do you see this impacting the way that you currently do your operations?” or “What changes would you make based off your use of it?” The virtual prototyping environment is an outgrowth of CCDC's desire to push soldier interactions earlier in the development process, and it could eventually be used for other systems in development. “We're hoping that this is kind of an initial proof of concept that other programs can kind of leverage to enhance their programs as well,” May said. “This is a little bit of a pilot, but I think we can expect that across the C5ISR Center and other activities to spend and work a lot more in this virtual environment,” added Nabors. “It's a great mechanism for getting soldier feedback [and] provides us an opportunity to insert new capabilities where possible.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/artificial-intelligence/2020/11/09/mixed-reality-systems-can-bring-soldier-feedback-into-development-earlier-than-ever-before-heres-how-the-us-army-is-using-it/