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  December 17, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Cobham’s Aerial Refueling Buddy Store Mounted During MQ-25 Test Flight

  Posted on December 16, 2020 by Seapower Staff DAVENPORT, Iowa — Cobham Mission Systems' underwing mounted refueling buddy store was carried for the first time during a successful test flight of Boeing's MQ-25 test asset, known as T1, Cobham said in a Dec. 16 release. The test helped to validate the unmanned aircraft's aerodynamics when carrying existing refueling equipment. The flight marks a significant milestone in the development of MQ-25, the first operational, carrier-based unmanned aerial refueler for the U.S. Navy. The Navy's F/A-18 fleet currently operates the same Cobham 31-301 buddy store, when fulfilling this key aerial refueling role. “This marks a significant milestone for the development of unmanned aerial refueling and we are proud that Boeing's MQ-25 test aircraft carried Cobham's underwing mounted equipment on this test flight,” said Jason Apelquist, senior vice president for business development and strategy for Cobham Mission Systems. “It is encouraging to see how proven solutions are being leveraged to further new mission capability. We look forward to supporting next-generation technology and continue to work with our customers as a key partner to deliver the aerial refueling solution of the future.” The 2.5-hour flight was conducted by Boeing test pilots operating from a ground control station at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in Mascoutah, Illinois, on December 9, 2020. Future flights will continue to test the aerodynamics of the aircraft and the 31-301 Series Buddy Store at various points of the flight envelope. Insights from the tests will inform the eventual progression to the extension and retraction of the hose and drogue used in refueling. https://seapowermagazine.org/cobhams-aerial-refueling-buddy-store-mounted-during-mq-25-test-flight

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  July 16, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - July 15, 2020

  ARMY General Dynamics Land Systems, Sterling Heights, Michigan, was awarded a $249,000,000 hybrid (cost-no-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed price) contract for Increment I of the Small Multipurpose Equipment Transport. 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 July 14, 2025. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-20-F-0382). Hensel Phelps, Phoenix, Arizona, was awarded a $91,819,195 firm-fixed-price contract for a ground based strategic deterrent mission integration facility at Hill Air Force Base. Bids were solicited via the internet with nine received. Work will be performed at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, with an estimated completion date of March 16, 2023. Fiscal 2020 military construction, defense-wide funds in the amount of $35,747,184 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento, California, is the contracting activity (W91238-20-C-0012). Burns and McDonnell Engineering Co. Inc., Kansas City, Missouri (W912HP-20-D-5000); Cromwell Architects Engineers Inc., Little Rock, Arkansas (W912HP-20-D-5001); and Exp Federal Inc., Chicago, Illinois (W912HP-20-D-5002), will compete for each order of the $49,900,000 firm-fixed-price contract for multidiscipline architect-engineer services. Bids were solicited via the internet with 19 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of July 14, 2025. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Charleston, South Carolina, is the contracting activity. TeamGOV Inc.,* Hyattsville, Maryland, was awarded a $7,531,979 modification (P00003) to contract W912DY-19-F-1336 to maintain complete and functional access control point control systems. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed in Killeen and Fort Bliss, Texas; McAlester and Fort Sill, Oklahoma; Fort Polk, Louisiana; White Hall, Arkansas; Camp Roberts and Fort Irwin, California; Dugway Proving Ground, Utah; Fort Huachuca, Arizona; and White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, with an estimated completion date of July 14, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $3,183,862 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntsville, Alabama, is the contracting activity. A Finkl and Sons Finkl Steel-Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, was awarded a $7,181,165 firm-fixed-price contract for procurement of hollow preform forgings for Watervliet Arsenal, New York. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed in Chicago, Illinois, with an estimated completion date of July 15, 2024. Fiscal 2020 revolving funds in the amount of $7,181,165 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W911PT-20-C-0022). NAVY Raytheon Technologies, Portsmouth, Rhode Island, is awarded an $88,050,510 modification to previously awarded contract N00024-16-C-6423 for the production of the MK54 Lightweight Torpedo MOD 0 and MOD 1 common part kits and spare torpedo components. This modification combines purchases for the Navy (18%); and the governments of Canada (72%); Republic of Korea (5%); Denmark (3%); Australia (1%); and Spain (1%), under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. Work will be performed in Portsmouth, Rhode Island (95%); and Keyport, Washington (5%), and is expected to be completed by May 2023. FMS funding in the amount of $71,687,560; and fiscal 2020 and 2018 weapons procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $16,145,556 and $217,394 respectively, will be obligated at time of award, of which $217,394 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. ERAPSCO JV, Sparton and USSI, Columbia City, Indiana, is awarded a $71,801,600 modification (P00005) to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This modification increases the ceiling of the contract to provide for the production and delivery of a maximum quantity of 20,000 AN/SSQ-125 Sonobuoys production. Sonobuoys are air launched expendable, electro-mechanical anti-submarine warfare acoustic sensors designed to relay underwater sounds associated with ships and submarines. Work will be performed in De Leon Spring, Florida (51%); and Columbia City, Indiana (49%), and is expected to be completed by July 2022. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Raytheon Missiles and Defense, Marlborough, Massachusetts, is awarded a $26,463,116 cost-plus-fixed fee and cost only modification to previously awarded contract N00024-19-C-5501 to exercise options and realign level of effort ceiling for Air and Missile Defense Radar AN/SPY-6(V) integration and production support efforts. Work will be performed in Marlborough, Massachusetts (64%); Kauai, Hawaii (12%); Fair Lakes, Virginia (10%); Moorestown, New Jersey (8%); Portsmouth, Rhode Island (6%); and San Diego, California (less than 1%). This option exercise is for performance of the integration and production support for continued combat system integration and test, engineering, training, software, depot maintenance and field engineering in support of the Air and Missile Defense Radar AN/SPY-6(V). Work is expected to be completed by November 2020. Fiscal 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); and fiscal 2019 and 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $35,960,832 will be obligated at time of award. Funds in the amount of $15,410 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was procured under the statutory authority of 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, Navy Yard, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is awarded $12,201,000 for ceiling-priced delivery order N00383-20-F-A341 under previously awarded basic ordering agreement N00383-17-G-A301 for the procurement of multiple flight control surfaces in support of the Boeing F/A-18 E-G Super Hornet aircraft. All work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri, and is expected to be completed by May 2026. Kuwait funds in the amount of $5,978,490 will be obligated at the time of award, and funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Kuwait (100%) funds will be used under the Foreign Military Sales program. One company was solicited for this sole-source requirement under authority 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1) and one offer was received. The Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity. SJC-BVIL*, Montrose, Colorado, is awarded a $9,592,555 firm-fixed-price task order (N40084-20-F-4464) under a design-bid-build, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity, unrestricted multiple awarded construction contract for commercial and institutional building construction contract to convert the overhead power and telephone lines to underground from wood power poles. The work is located from the Navy ammunition area to the Air Force ammunition area along DG1. The work will be performed at U.S. Naval Support Facility, Diego Garcia. All work will be performed in British Indian Ocean Territory. The work to be performed will replace the existing overhead feeder lines from technical feeder wood power poles (WPP) 26 to 82 and from non-technical feeder (WPP) 1013 to 1041 with underground loop-feed type system including conduits and conductors, pad-mounted transformer and switch, grounding system and related system appurtenances. End result is all referenced power and communication lines be underground and on the ocean side of the road. Work is expected to be completed by September 2022. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $9,592,555 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Three proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Far East, Yokosuka, Japan, is the contracting activity (N40084-18-D-0068). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Boeing Distribution Services Defense, O'Fallon, Missouri, has been awarded a maximum $81,000,000 modification (P00067) exercising the first three-year option period of a four-year base contract (SPE5EY-16-D-0547) with two, three-year option periods for broad supply chain management of industrial hardware relating to maintenance, repair and overhaul missions. This is a firm-fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-quantity contract. Locations of performance are Missouri and Texas, with a July 31, 2023, ordering period end date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2023 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Grasmick Produce Co.,* Boise, Idaho, has been awarded a maximum $20,304,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-quantity contract for fresh fruit and vegetables. This was a competitive acquisition with three responses received. This is a four-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Idaho, with a July 14, 2024, performance completion date. Using military services are Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and Department of Agriculture schools and reservations. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2024 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE300-20-D-P357). AIR FORCE Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., McLean, Virginia, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $35,964,710 firm-fixed-price, undefinitized contract for repair of 174 B-52 Engine Nose Cowls for the B-52 Stratofortress Bomber jet. Work will be performed in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and is expected to be completed July 2021. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2020 working capital funds in the full amount are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Sustainment Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity (FA8119-20-C-0004). *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2275570/source/GovDelivery/

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  May 18, 2018 | International, Aerospace

  Company plays “a long game” at NATO

  Persistence and a long-term strategy have paid off for a Canadian space and defence company, which has won a $15 million contract to build a new system for NATO's maritime command and control operations. MDA signed a deal with NATO in December 2017 to support the military alliance's Project TRITON. The contract comes with the prospect of significant follow-on opportunities at NATO and many of its member countries, proving the value of perseverance in pursuing work with the organization. “It's a long game,” says Mike Greenley, group president of MDA president of MDA, part of Maxar Technologies, a public company listed in Canada and the United States, formerly known as MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates. MDA first became interested in the TRITON contract almost a decade ago, when it heard that NATO had plans to replace and update the command and control, or C2, system in its maritime operations centres, he says. “It's a big effort. We had a team working on this project for several years.” MDA, which was founded in 1969 and today has 1,900 employees in several centres across Canada, is best known for innovations in space robotics, such as the development of the Canadarm. It is also involved in satellite antennas, surveillance and intelligence, defense and maritime systems and geospatial radar imagery. NATO—which stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization—is a military defence alliance signed in Washington D.C. in 1949, by several North American and European nations in the North Atlantic area. Canada is a founding member of NATO, which is headquartered in Brussels. Greenley says the three-year Project TRITON contract—which is under the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) in Brussels—uses MDA's core expertise in maritime domain awareness and digital mapping to present a “maritime picture” that locates, tracks and analyzes the movements of ships at sea. This helps NATO and its member counties improve their situational awareness and decision-making processes. It was critical for NATO to recognize MDA's capabilities in the field, he notes, but the company also had to “stick with it” over a long time to be successful in its bid. “This is a demonstration that a Canadian firm can compete in full and open competition and win a NATO program,” Greenley comments, noting that European firms especially find it more convenient to compete at NATO than those overseas. “There's not a lot of history of Canadian companies being successful there.” NCIA general manager Kevin Scheid said in a statement that “NCIA is delighted to have an opportunity to work with a Canadian company that brings the depth and breadth of Canadian maritime command and control experience to NATO for the TRITON project.” Kerry Buck, the Permanent Representative of Canada to NATO, noted, “NATO is at the core of Canada's national security policy. We are proud that NATO will leverage Canadian technology and expertise to contribute to enhanced communications and support interoperability in NATO.” Lieutenant-Colonel Jim Bates, the former national expert, or NATEX, for Canada at NCIA, says that “MDA did everything right to win the TRITON contract.” Bates, who returned to Ottawa in 2017 to take up an assignment at National Defence Headquarters, calls it “an excellent case study” for Canadian firms interested in getting work at NATO. Bates first became aware of MDA's interest in the TRITON contract when he first started at NATO in 2012. “MDA had been tracking that project from the earliest days,” he recalls. “MDA made regular visits to NATO to meet with key stakeholders. It pursued and won other smaller NATO contract opportunities prior to the TRITON award, so it had a foot in the door and was able to introduce NATO personnel to MDA's services and expertise. That made a positive impression.” The company kept in regular contact with Bates to get business intelligence, and it attended each annual NCIA Industry Conference, where MDA officials could engage agency staff and completely understand NATO's procurement process. “There were no surprises when it came time to bid,” says Bates, adding that is not always the case. “Companies big and small agonize over whether to bid,” because it's a substantial commitment with no guarantee. “It was the norm during my time at NATO that Canadian companies would track NATO opportunities but rarely bid. But you can't win if you don't bid...MDA was confident in its position on TRITON and it won.” Greenley says that in dealing with NATO and its member countries, it's important to present the right price as well as the right technical solution. “In NATO you have to get the entire team comfortable with your approach.” Future contracts related to the TRITON deal could “highly likely” include adding functions and features to NATO's C2 systems, he says, while NATO member countries could adopt MDA's TRITON solution for their own maritime operation centres. “There's every reason to expect there will be solid follow-on business,” Greenley says. “This could easily become a persistent work story in our company for a decade or more.” He credits the Canadian representatives in Brussels at all different levels of Canada's mission to NATO, as well as in key NATO member countries, with MDA's success in winning the contract. “All the right people in the right places at the right time worked with us to win this opportunity.” MDA exports regularly and has started to become operationally present in other countries, Greenley says. Its business development activities are supported by the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service (TCS), along with Export Development Canada and the Canadian Commercial Corporation. “We use the full suite of export tools available to Canadians,” Greenley comments. “International business is based on having a good solution, it's based on having your country as a buyer and then you need whole-of-government support.” MDA will be using the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service (TCS) to promote its TRITON technology among NATO members looking to replace and update their own C2 systems, Greenley says. “We will certainly be out there working in NATO countries with the TCS encouraging those countries to adopt this solution.” Gregory Rust, the senior trade commissioner who is head of the trade program at Canada's embassy in Brussels, says “one thing that I've observed following the NATO contracting process over the years is that it's important to be persistent, patient and thorough.” Rust says MDA displayed all of those critical characteristics, and the TCS “was available to support the company's ongoing interests by offering key core services.” Jane Li, First Secretary in the Joint Delegation of Canada to NATO, who is Canada's representative on the Investment Committee that oversees the NATO Security Investment Program, says it's important to be proactive in researching and understanding NATO's needs. “Patience is also a virtue,” she says, adding that as with many large organizations, it takes time to get to know NATO and how it functions, and for the organization to understand what industry has to offer. “Taking a long-term view is necessary.” MDA took such an approach “and spent a lot of time working towards this,” she says, adding that it's important to “respond to opportunities early and often. Tracking and signalling interest to receive invitations for bids will help you understand what NATO needs and improves familiarity with its processes, which in turn can help increase your chances of success.” Greenley says now that MDA has the TRITON contract, “we want to have sustained business relationships with NATO,” but it's still not going to be easy to get contracts there. “It takes a long time for any NATO program to be organized and executed, so to stick with it is challenging,” he says, while the distance to Brussels and the extra investment needed to have a presence there is an added hurdle for Canadian firms. Canada is joining other countries in having governments and companies form partnerships to lobby for NATO work, which makes sense given the revenues that NATO contracts can bring, he says. “We're starting to step up and ensure that we get our fair share.” Greenley advises companies interested in NATO work to beware of how long the process can take. “I would not put a NATO project in my core business plan,” he says. “You shouldn't assume it's going to happen. It's a strategic, incremental business growth opportunity.” He says it's important to stay “fully engaged” with the TCS and work with Canada's delegation to NATO as well as member countries. “NATO by its definition is based on the participation and collaboration of many participants,” he explains. “You need to use Canada's relationships with multiple NATO countries to build a base of support for your solution.” Greeley hopes MDA's success “leads to other companies in Canada seeing it can be done, and adding to the list of Canadian-based NATO programs.” As the company now executes the TRITON contact, “we're going to work hard to make the most of this opportunity,” he adds. From Brussels, Belgium, this story is one example of how trade commissioners located in more than 160 cities around the world help Canadian companies succeed. http://tradecommissioner.gc.ca/canadexport/0002899.aspx?lang=eng