Defense contractors must prepare for ‘trust but verify’ era

On the same subject

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  December 17, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  New COVID-19 bill extends contractor reimbursement, but no new funding

  By: Joe Gould WASHINGTON ― A bipartisan group of lawmakers has unveiled a $748 billion coronavirus relief proposal that includes an extension of a prized reimbursement program for federal contractors, but without the billions of dollars previously sought by defense firms. Defense officials have warned they will need to tap modernization and readiness funds if Congress does not appropriate at least $10 billion for defense contractors' coronavirus-related expenses, as authorized by Section 3610 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. However, the new proposal doesn't appropriate funding for the Section 3610 reimbursements. Negotiations on a final relief deal are ongoing, but the package includes a Section 3610 extension through April 30, 2021. The provision applies to all federal agencies, but it has been of particular interest to the Pentagon and defense industry. Added funding could come in the $1.4 trillion omnibus spending package for fiscal 2021, which is expected this week, or it could come with the next Congress and the incoming Biden administration in 2021. The defense industry has of late pushed for the extension of Section 3610 first, over added appropriations. “You have people who can't feed their families, you have people who are going to get evicted, you have people whose unemployment insurance is going to run out. They need Congress to pass this legislation,” Arnold Punaro, National Defense Industrial Association chairman, said of the new bipartisan relief package. “We prefer the defense industry have 3610, and we believe we'll have an opportunity with the new administration to make the case to them that it's still an important provision,” Punaro said, adding that the extension gives the incoming administration time to work on a “much more comprehensive approach.” Fifteen defense companies implored Congress on Friday to extend the program. In a letter to congressional leaders, they argued the extension is needed to maintain national security, but also “thousands of critical employees who would be difficult to replace within the industrial base.” “As COVID-19 rates hit record levels that were unanticipated not only when the CARES Act was enacted but just weeks ago, agencies are shifting work plans, reducing hours and taking other steps to ensure the health and safety of the workforce,” the letter stated. The reimbursement window was extended until Dec. 18 under the continuing resolution Congress passed on Friday. Originally the support was to stop at the end of fiscal 2020 in September. NDIA was among eight trade organizations that signed a Nov. 20 letter to Congress urging an extension of Section 3610. There have been a spate of similar letters from lawmakers to congressional leaders in recent weeks. “The current authority has saved thousands of NASA and defense contractors from being furloughed,” Florida Republican Rep. Bill Posey said in a letter with nine other lawmakers. “If the authority is not extended, many contractors — through no fault of their own — will face dire economic and financial consequences if they are restricted again from conducting their regular work on a NASA center or defense program and may be limited or unable due to the nature of their work to do so through a telework alternative.” Senate Intelligence Committee acting Chairman, Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., pressed congressional leaders earlier this month to extend Section 3610. “Section 3610 has proven to be an important means of providing necessary relief during the pandemic to critical Intelligence Community industry partners ― and particularly to small businesses that provide highly specialized capabilities ― to retain key national security capabilities,” they said in a joint letter. https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2020/12/15/contractor-reimbursement-extension-in-new-covid-19-bill-but-no-new-funding/

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  June 28, 2023 | International, Land

  US approves $15 bln in Patriot and missile defense upgrades for Poland

  The U.S. State Department has approved a possible $15 billion sale of an Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Battle Command System (IBCS) and related equipment to Poland as it upgrades its air defenses, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.

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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/