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  August 28, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - August 27, 2019

  NAVY Southwest Construction & Property Management,* San Bruno, California (N62473-19-D-1231); Bishop Inc.,* Orange, California (N62473-19-D-1232); J. Davis Construction Management Inc.,* Oxnard, California (N62473-19-D-1233); Trumble Construction Inc., doing business as RBT Construction,* Texarkana, Texas (N62473-19-D-1234); B.C. Schmidt Construction Inc.,* Williams, California (N62473-19-D-1235); and Heffler Contracting Group,* El Cajon, California (N62473-19-D-1236), are each awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple award construction contract. The maximum dollar value including the base period and one option period for all six contracts combined is $240,000,000. The contract covers new construction, renovation and repair, primarily by design-build or secondarily by design-bid-build of roofing systems at various government installations located in California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. Types of roofing projects may include, but are not limited to, roof condition assessment, emergency leak response and testing for hazardous material on various roofing systems. It also covers all roofing related work such as, but not limited to, demolition and disposal of roofing materials that may contain asbestos and lead paint, removal and reinstallation of equipment, piping and heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) ductwork, painting and installation of gutters, downspouts, fascia, sheet metal flashing, sealants, caulking, insulation, vents, and drainage assemblies. No task orders are being issued at this time. All work on these contracts will be performed at various government installations located in California (80%); Arizona (16%); Nevada (1%); Utah (1%); Colorado (1%); and New Mexico (1%). The terms of the contracts are not to exceed 60 months, with an expected completion date of August 2024. Fiscal 2019 operation and maintenance (O&M) (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $30,000 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 (Navy and Marine Corps); and Navy working capital funds. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website with 11 proposals received. These six contractors may compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the awarded contract. Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity. CDM Federal Programs Corp., Fairfax, Virginia, is awarded a not-to-exceed $49,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for services to support the Navy's public works business line. The work to be performed includes, but is not limited to, the following type of services: evaluate, analyze, development of plans, standard operating and maintenance procedures, and recommend improvements for utility management; utility operation and maintenance; electric and steam production; electric and steam distribution; natural gas distribution; water and wastewater treatment; water distribution; wastewater collection; utility privatization and out-sourcing; cybersecurity and control systems; advanced metering; energy management; energy security; energy and water conservation; project financing; utility regulation; utility rate making and analysis; commodity and service pricing and procurement; supply and demand practices; market design; and fuel sourcing. No task orders are being issued at this time. Work will be performed primarily within the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic area of responsibility, and the term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months with an expected completion date of August 2024. Fiscal 2019 operation and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $10,000 are obligated on this award and expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with four proposals received. Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N62470-19-D-2012). Lockheed Martin Corp. Rotary and Mission Systems, Littleton, Colorado, is awarded an estimated $44,308,222 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity hybrid contract with cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price contract line item numbers. The contract is in support of Navy and other agencies' Radiant Mercury (RADMERC) operations to securely transfer data across different security domains. The contract provides for installation, program management, maintenance, modernization and sustainment of RADMERC systems. The contract will also provide system security authorization support, and logistics and training services. This contract includes a five-year ordering period and a five-year option period. The option period, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to an estimated $92,213,609. Work will be performed in various U.S. locations (80%), with work in locations outside the U.S. (20%) based on the requirement for each delivery order placed. Work is expected to be completed by August 2024. If the option is exercised, work could continue until August 2029. No funding is obligated on the contract at time of award. Contract funds will be obligated on individual delivery orders. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $5,000 will be obligated on the first delivery order. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured because it is a sole-source acquisition pursuant to the authority of 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) - only one responsible source (Federal Acquisition Regulation subpart 6.302-1). The Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N00039-19-D-0006). Phoenix International Holdings Inc., Largo, Maryland, is awarded a $37,775,336 cost-plus-fixed fee bridge contract for Submarine Rescue Operations Maintenance contractor. The contractor is responsible for providing appropriate and sufficient personnel and services necessary for the mobilization, operation, storage, logistic support, repair and maintenance of the submarine rescue systems. The contractor will provide appropriate and sufficient personnel and services necessary to mobilize and operate the submarine rescue systems that support the response requirements. The contractor is responsible to ensure the Navy's submarine rescue systems are maintained in a high state of readiness to support a rapid worldwide deployment on a 24-hour-per-day, 7-day-a week basis. This contract includes one option, which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $40,828,728. Work will be performed in San Diego, California, and is expected to be complete by June 2020. If the option is exercised, work will continue through August 2020. Fiscal 2019 operation and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $2,100,000 will be obligated at the time of award, and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) - only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N00024-19-C-4307). DynCorp International LLC, McLean, Virginia, is awarded a $27,079,693 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for base operations support (BOS) services at Naval and Defense Intelligence Agency Facilities in Washington, District of Columbia; Maryland; and Virginia. The BOS services to be performed include: general information, management and administration, supply services, facility management, facility investment, custodial, pest control, integrated solid waste management, grounds maintenance and landscaping, pavement clearance, and utility management, chiller plant, and transportation services. The maximum dollar value including the base period and six option periods is $173,819,122. Work will be performed in Washington, District of Columbia (54%); Maryland (32%); and Virginia (14%), and is expected to be completed by May 2026. No funds will be obligated at time of award. Fiscal 2020 operation and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $23,355,530 for recurring work will be obligated on individual task orders issued during the base period. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with six proposals received. Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N62470-19-D-2013). Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded $25,252,703 for modification P00052 to previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee, fixed-price-incentive-firm, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract N00019-16-C-0004. This modification is for an F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter regional maintenance repair and upgrade facility for the Government of Japan under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. Work will be performed in Nagoya, Japan (65%); Ft Worth, Texas (26%); Greenville, South Carolina (7%); Orlando, Florida (2%); and El Segundo, California (1%), and is expected to be completed no later than September 2022. FMS funds in the amount of $25,252,703 will be obligated at time of award, none 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 Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Herndon, Virginia, was awarded a $50,871,700 hybrid (cost-no-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price) contract for production, integration, fielding, and training of the Huntsman secure network radio. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2022. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone, Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-19-D-0041). Lockheed Martin Rotary Mission Systems, Owego, New York, was awarded a $42,734,799 hybrid (firm-fixed-price and fixed-price-incentive) domestic and Foreign Military Sales (United Kingdom) contract to procure Modernized Radar Frequency Interferometer kits and spares. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work will be performed in Owego, New York, with an estimated completion date of July 31, 2022. Fiscal 2017, 2018 and 2019 aircraft procurement, Army and foreign military sales funds in the combined amount of $42,734,199 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W52P1J-19-F-0634). DLT Solutions, Herndon, Virginia, was awarded a $15,928,239 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of multiple Red Hat software items. Work will be performed in Herndon, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Aug, 23, 2021. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $15,928,239 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W56JSR-19-F-0117). General Dynamics Land Systems Inc., Sterling Heights, Michigan, was awarded a $14,678,125 modification (P00070) to contract W56HZV-13-C-0319 for facilities modifications at the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center in Lima, Ohio. Work will be performed in Lima, Ohio, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 31, 2023. Fiscal 2019 other procurement, Army funds in the amount of $14,678,125 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, is the contracting activity. Triumph Engine Control Systems LLC, West Hartford, Connecticut, was awarded a $7,473,340 firm-fixed-price contract for the overhaul of a minimum of the fuel control main for the CH-47 Chinook helicopter. 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 Aug. 26, 2024. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-19-F-0640). Trident Technologies LLC,* Huntsville, Alabama, was awarded a $7,450,142 modification (0001 35) to contract W31P4Q-16-A-0018 to provide Non-Standard Rotary Wing Aircraft Project Office programmatic support services. Bids were solicited via the internet with four received. Work will be performed in Huntsville, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 25, 2020. Fiscal 2019 Foreign Military Sales funds in the combined amount of $7,450,142 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY BAE Systems, Nashua, New Hampshire, has been awarded a maximum $83,934,598 firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, and cost-no-fee contract for the AN/AAR-57A(V) Common Missile Warning System. 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 New Hampshire, with an Aug. 26, 2024, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 Army working capital funds; and Army operations and maintenance funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland (SPRBL1-19-D-0075). General Electric Co., Lynn, Massachusetts, has been awarded a $42,846,000 firm-fixed-price delivery order (SPRPA1-19-F-QH07) against a five-year basic ordering agreement (FA8122-19-G-0001) for combustion chambers. This is a 42-month contract with no option periods. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S .Code 2304(c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. Location of performance is Massachusetts, with a Feb. 28, 2023, performance completion date. Using military service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 Navy working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY Packet Forensics LLC, Virginia Beach, Virginia, was awarded a $10,000,000 modification (P00004) to previously awarded HR0011-18-C-0056 for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Harnessing Autonomy for Countering Cyberadversary Systems (HACCS) research project. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $21,200,000 from $11,200,000. Work will be performed at Virginia Beach, Virginia, with an expected completion date of August 2020. Fiscal 2019 research and development funds in the amount of $10,000,000 are being obligated at time of award. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity. *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/1945395/source/GovDelivery/

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  April 2, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  U.S. Air Force to Develop AI-Powered Combat UAV

  Author: Mike Rees The U.S. Air Force has announced that its Office of Strategic Development Planning and Experimentation at the Air Force Research Laboratory is working on fielding a prototype Autonomous Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle as an Early Operational Capability as early as 2023. The program, known as Skyborg, and the SDPE office have issued a request for information to industry to conduct market research and concept of operations analysis to learn what is commercially available now as high technology readiness level capabilities which can meet the requirements and timeline of the Skyborg program. Skyborg officially stood up as a fiscal year 2019 funded pathfinder program through SDPE in October 2018, according to Ben Tran, Skyborg program manager. “There was a lot of analysis that determined what was put into the CRFI,” Tran said. “We've been given the overall objective to have an early operational capability prototype fielded by the end of calendar year 2023, so this is our first step in determining what the current state of the art is from a technology perspective and from a systems engineering perspective to provide that EOC capability in 2023.” Low cost, attritable, unmanned air vehicles are one way to bring mass to the fight when it comes to addressing potential near-peer engagements in the future, according to Tran. “We also know there is heavy investment by our near-peer adversaries in artificial intelligence and autonomy in general. We know that when you couple autonomy and AI with systems like low-cost attritables, that can increase capability significantly and be a force multiplier for our Air Force and so the 2023 goal line is our attempt at bringing something to bear in a relatively quick time frame to show that we can bring that kind of capability to the fight.” Matt Duquette, an AFRL Aerospace Systems Directorate engineer, brings a background in UAV control, autonomy, and modeling and simulation of UAVs, especially teams of UAVs to the effort while assisting the Skyborg program with formulating its approach to the autonomy system and some of the behaviors that the UAVs will have. “Skyborg is a vessel for AI technologies that could range from rather simple algorithms to fly the aircraft and control them in airspace to the introduction of more complicated levels of AI to accomplish certain tasks or subtasks of the mission,” Duquette said. This builds on much of the AFRL foundational work with AI shown with programs such as Have Raider and the Auto Ground and Air Collision Avoidance systems, which prove that levels of autonomy in high performance aircraft are not only possible, but also practical. “Part of our autonomy development is building assurance into the system. You can either build assurance by using formal methods or approaches where at design time, as you develop these autonomous capabilities, you guarantee certain behaviors, or a more practical approach is to assess the capabilities of these behaviors at run time, meaning while they're running on the aircraft. So, those are the capabilities that we're interested in looking at from the experimentation level to see what type of assurance you need in the system so you can mix high and low criticality.” “We're looking at a range of vehicle performance parameters – mission analysis will help us determine what the final outcome is and the responses from the CRFI will help us understand what the performance is of currently available systems and whether those will meet the needs or not. Everything from keeping up with combat platforms to slower platforms for sensing. There will be a range of possibilities there,” said Patrick Berry, from AFRL's Sensors Directorate, who is supporting the Skyborg program by conducting modeling, simulation and analysis. Although Skyborg is not scheduled for any particular type of aircraft platform at this time, Tran said the CRFI emphasizes the importance of an open systems architecture, having modularity in the system, not only from a sensing capabilities standpoint, but overall mission systems, as well as the autonomy associated with the mission capability for the platform. “We've partnered with the 412th Test Wing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, and specifically an organization called the Emerging Technologies Combined Test Force and we're working with them beginning with small, fast-moving UAVs to test the current state of the art in AI and autonomy in those airplanes and the ability for them to autonomously team and collaborate in flight,” Tran said. Machine learning has progressed greatly over the last few years and we're very inspired by those results and excited by things that are going on in the gaming industry for instance,” said Maj. Ryan Carr, from AFRL's Aerospace Systems Directorate. “We expect that technology will continue to mature fairly rapidly. What we really need to understand is, ‘How do you take that and do something like bring it to the real world and fly with it for example?' The thing we're trying to get at early on is how to do that safely. We're talking about run-time assurance, working hand-in-hand with the flight test community who have a very long record of safe flight testing. That's really what we want to focus our attention on in this early period,” Carr said. “We want to do this in a way that builds trust in the system as you go along so that when you get to that EOC, you will have established a baseline of trust so that operational youth will believe what the system will do or believe it's safe. It's not just that end-state capability, it's the trust as you go along,” he added. Before operational AI innovation can occur, the Air Force must field an autonomous system that meets an immediate operational need and can serve as an iterative platform to facilitate complex AI development, prototyping, experimentation and fielding, and that system is Skyborg, the CRFI says. https://www.unmannedsystemstechnology.com/2019/03/u-s-air-force-to-develop-ai-powered-combat-uav/

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  September 26, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land

  Faulty $5 Parts Cause 18-Month, $1 Billion Delay to Navy, Air Force Nuclear Upgrades

  Defects found in a $5 electrical component will delay the Navy and Air Force nuclear warhead refurbishment program by 18 months and cost more than $1 billion to fix, a National Nuclear Security Administration official said during a congressional hearing Wednesday. The faulty components are small commercially available capacitors that were to be used in upgrades to the Navy's W88 nuclear warheads. These weapons are deployed on the Trident II D5 submarine-launched ballistic missile systems. Similar capacitors are needed to upgrade the Air Force's B61-12 gravity bomb, Charles Verdon, deputy administrator for defense programs at the National Nuclear Security Administration, told members of the House Armed Services subcommittee on strategic forces during the unclassified portion of Wednesday's hearing. When engineers evaluated available parts, they ran tests to determine if the off-the-shelf capacitors were compatible with the systems due for upgrades, Verdon said. Initial results suggested the components would work in the short-term. “Early tests on the capacitors now in question and subsequent tests including component, major assembly and full-up integrated system flight tests demonstrated that these components meet requirement today. Industry best practices were used to stress the components beyond their design planned usage as a way to establish confidence that they will continue to work over the necessary lifetime of the warhead,” Verdon said. “During stress testing, a few of these commercially available capacitors did not meet the reliability requirements.” The problem is, these parts used in the warhead upgrades must survive for decades, up to 30 years after production, Verdon said. However, the quality of each capacitor production lot varied, which led to the stress testing failure. Instead of using the capacitors and risking readiness in the future, Verdon said his agency decided to delay the upgrade work, initially scheduled to begin in December. Replacement capacitors are being produced but will cost about $75 per unit, compared with the $5 per unit cost of the off-the-shelf capacitors that failed stress testing. “The use of commercial-off-the-shelf electric components needs to be improved to reduce future COTS-related risk,” Verdon said. The Navy is working with U.S. Strategic Command to understand how the 18-month delay will affect near-term deployments, Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe, the director of strategic systems programs for the Navy, told the panel. “Currently, today, based on what we're doing with STRATCOM, we will meet the requirements as we move forward,” Wolfe said. The Navy and STRATCOM are developing a mitigation plan which includes is reevaluating how to turn around the submarine-based nuclear missile stockpile and how to schedule warheads for upgrades in the future, Wolfe said. More details on the Navy's plan to be discussed in a classified hearing. “If you look at the age of these systems and the technology we're using, these are tough, tough issues to solve, and it's critical technology that we're learning as we modernize these,” Wolfe said. Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), chair of the strategic forces subcommittee, said he held the hearing because he wanted more information on what NNSA was doing to avoid more delays. He called the recapitalization “both necessary and hugely expensive” in his written opening statement. “Maintaining Congress and the public's confidence in these programs, and their effective execution, is imperative,” he wrote. https://news.usni.org/2019/09/25/faulty-5-parts-cause-18-month-1-billion-delay-to-navy-air-force-nuclear-upgrades