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August 15, 2019 | International, Land

Download, Disconnect, Fire! Why Grunts Need JEDI Cloud

By SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR.

ARLINGTON: To see through the fog of war on future battlefields, ground troops will need near-real-time access to huge amounts of information from a host of sensors — from satellites to F-35s to mini-drones to targeting goggles, all sharing data through a joint combat cloud. But to evade the enemy's own swarms of sensors, soldiers will also need to know when to disconnect from the network and go dark.

Switching quickly from being hyperconnected to being cut off — whether as a tactical choice or as the result of enemy jamming and hacking — will put a new kind of strain on future frontline commanders. The capability to cope is central both to the Army's evolving combat concept, Multi-Domain Operations, the Pentagon's controversial Joint Enterprise Defense Initiative, the JEDI cloud computing program.

DoD graphic

The Case For Cloud

“Why do we want to go to the cloud? Because you get better synthesized data,” said the Army's senior futurist, Lt. Gen. Eric Wesley, in a recent conversation with reporters. “Sensors are going to be ubiquitous on the battlefield,” he said. They'll provide such masses of data that unaided human brains and traditional staff processes can't collect it all in one place, let alone make sense of it: “It's got to be synchronized by tools such as artificial intelligence and cloud-based computing.”

“If I am a warfighter, I want as much data as you could possibly give me,” said the head of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, Air Force Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan, at a separate roundtable. “Let me use my algorithms to sort through it ... at machine speeds...It's really hard for me to do that without an enterprise cloud.”

While disconnected, troops will have to make do with whatever data they've already downloaded, perhaps to a backpack mini-server with built-in AI. Then, Wesley continued, “when you're back up on the net, you might need to do a download, adjust your algorithms, adjust your data.

“But you won't necessarily have access to that all the time,” Wesley warned. “You can imagine where a given [unit] will be off the net for a period — maybe go dark, not unlike the way submarines operate now. ”

While disconnected, troops will have to make do with whatever data they've already downloaded, perhaps to a backpack mini-server with built-in AI. Then, Wesley continued, “when you're back up on the net, you might need to do a download, adjust your algorithms, adjust your data.”

“You're going to have balance both cloud computing and computing at the edge,” Wesley said. “It's absolutely a form of maneuver.” Transmitting and going silent, uploading and downloading, will need to be as well-practiced and intuitive as digging in a hasty defense or laying an ambush.

Wesley, who works for Army Futures Command, didn't mention the all-service JEDI program by name. But Shanahan, who reports to the Pentagon CIO, made the link explicit.

“JEDI will include cloud capabilities that are able to operate out of standalone, portable hardware even in the absence of communications links,” Shanahan said. “It will re-synch with the rest of the JEDI cloud as soon as communications are restored.”

“You have the central JEDI cloud, then you have, maybe, portable data centers that are downrange,” Shanahan explained. “The beauty of that is not only are you getting access to all the benefits of the cloud down to the very edge of the battlefield: As you're collecting data, that data can then go back into [the central cloud], so everybody is benefiting from that.”

“If you get disconnected, as is going to happen in combat, especially in a high-end fight, you still have what you had at the point it was disconnected,” Shanahan said. Your latest downloads will be saved at the closest local server, which might be in a CONEX shipping container carried by truck to a forward command post or in a pair of soldiers' backpacks, accessible even when long-range communications fail. Then, he continued, “when it suddenly comes back, you have all of this ... connected across the entire enterprise.”

Multi-Domain Command & Control

While JEDI plays a central role in this vision of future warfare, it's just one part of a much larger push, an Air Force system for communicating and combining all this information, the Multi Domain Command and Control System (MDC2). The goal is to move data from any part of the force, anywhere in the world, in any of the five recognized domains — land, sea, air, space and cyberspace — to any other part, quickly and in useful form. In essence, the Air Force and JEDI are attacking the multi-domain problem from the top down, starting with central servers, higher headquarters, and satellites, while the Army is coming from the ground up, grunt-first.

“Imagine a scout on the reverse side of a tactical slope,” Wesley said. “Imagine an F-35 may have just flown over that slope, that space, in the previous 60 minutes. Those aircraft are going to be taking in all sorts of data. How is the scout going to get access to that data without waiting for a direct point-to-point communication with that aircraft?” The solution, he said, is for all sensors to share their data in a common “combat cloud,” a term which he noted comes from in the Air Force.

It's not just intelligence, Wesley went on: It's targeting data. The ultimate goal is some AI algorithm — carefully monitored and directed by human commanders — that can match a target with the weapon best suited to destroy it, whether that weapon is a strike fighter, a land-based missile launcher, or a warship. A future commander could call for fire support the way today's urbanites call an Uber

To experiment with how this might work in real life, the Army has already created a brigade-sized Multi-Domain Task Force, whose collective eyes are a battalion-sized Intelligence, Information, Cyber, Electronic Warfare, & Space (I2CEWS) detachment. The original MDTF has been holding wargames and field exercises in the Pacific with the other services and with allies like Australia; a second task force is planned for Europe, and a third will join the first in Asia. After that, Wesley said, the Army plans to develop new organizations like a Theater Fires Command to coordinate long-range strikes by its new thousand-mile missiles.

But this cannot be only an Army effort, Wesley emphasized, and it isn't. “The Air Force and Army are well aligned in that this future design is going to have to be increasingly joint,” he said. “Headquarters are going to be increasingly purple in the future.”

“We must have a joint concept going forward,” Wesley said. “The former acting secretary of defense, [Patrick] Shanahan, directed joint wargames that will ensue this fall. I think that's the next big moment where you're going to see the services come together.“

https://breakingdefense.com/2019/08/download-disconnect-fire-why-grunts-need-jedi-cloud/

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  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - July 09, 2020

    July 10, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - July 09, 2020

    NAVY Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $56,100,000 not-to-exceed, undefinitized contract modification (P00018) to previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract N00019-19-C-0010. This modification provides systems integration engineering support and procures long lead material to ensure the ASQ-239 electronic warfare/countermeasures production capability remains on track to meet Lot 17 deliveries. This modification provides for the continuation of Block 4 electronic warfare development without creating a gap in engineering resources in support of the Navy, Air Force and non-Department of Defense (DOD) participants. Work will be performed in Nashua, New Hampshire (85%); and Fort Worth, Texas (15%), and is expected to be completed by December 2020. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $6,986,000; fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Air Force) funds in the amount of $6,986,000; and non-DOD participant funds in the amount of $3,026,680, 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. Liberty JV,* Yuma, Arizona, is awarded a $40,000,000 maximum amount, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity architect-engineering contract for environmental restoration projects at various locations in the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Northwest area of responsibility (AOR). No task orders are being issued at this time. Work will be performed at various government installations within the NAVFAC AOR including, but not limited to, Washington (75%); Alaska (22%); Idaho (1%); Montana (1%); and Oregon (1%). The work to be performed provides for environmental restoration services under the Defense Department's Environmental Restoration Program, which includes the Installation Restoration Program and Munitions Response Program, complies with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, and supports the Navy and Marine Corps base realignment and closure effort and similarly complex local and state environmental investigations. The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months and work is expected to be completed by July 2025. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $1,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by environmental restoration (Navy). This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website and four proposals were received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Northwest, Silverdale, Washington, is the contracting activity (N44255-20-D-5006). Jacobs-EwingCole JV, Pasadena, California, is awarded a $29,944,543 firm-fixed-price task order (N62473-20-F-4714) under an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for post-award design services (PADS) and post-construction award services (PCAS) to support multiple construction projects related to the fiscal 2020 and 2021 military construction (MILCON) earthquake recovery and repair program at Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS), China Lake, California. The task order also contains one unexercised option, which if exercised, will increase cumulative task order value to $36,456,778. Work will be performed in Ridgecrest, California. The work to be performed provides for PADS and PCAS for various fiscal 2020 and 2021 MILCON and repair projects; 18 MILCON projects; and 25 repair projects will be constructed at NAWS China Lake as a part of the earthquake recovery program. The contractor will provide architect-engineer services to address any post-award design and construction related issues for the MILCON and repair projects. The contractor will also provide assistance to the government during the development of responses and requests for information from the contractors performing the construction effort for the projects. Work is expected to be completed by April 2024. Fiscal 2020 MILCON (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $29,944,543 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One proposal was received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N62473-18-D-5801). Salient CRGT Inc., Fairfax, Virginia, is awarded a $21,984,298 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, single award contract to provide support with program management, program planning and execution, Joint Staff actions process training, Actions Division customer service help desk services, strategic planning and analysis assistance, correspondence management and communications and editorial functions in support of the Joint Staff Actions Division. The contract will include a 60-month base ordering period, with no option period. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia (85%); Fairfax, Virginia (10%); and Suffolk, Virginia (5%). The ordering period will be completed by July 2025. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (O&M) (Defense-wide) (DW) funds in the amount of $10,000 will be obligated to fund the contract's minimum amount and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Subsequent task orders will be funded with the appropriate fiscal year O&M, DW funds. This contract was competitively procured with the solicitation posted through Navy Electronic Commerce Online and beta.SAM.gov website and 15 offers were received. The Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Norfolk, Contracting Department, Philadelphia Office, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity (N00189-20-D-Z023). Lockheed Martin, Baltimore, Maryland, is awarded a $16,345,048 firm-fixed-price contract for the refurbishment of rocket motors and thrust vector control used on vertical launch assemblies for anti-submarine rocket assisted torpedoes. If the option is exercised, the work will be completed by July 2023, bringing the total value of the contract to $30,630,048. Work will be performed in Baltimore, Maryland (44%); Dulles, Virginia (29%); and Owego, New York (27%). The base period of this contract is expected to be completed by October 2022. Weapons procurement funds (Navy) in the full amount of $16,345,048 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One company was solicited for this sole-source requirement pursuant to the authority set forth in 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1) and one offer was received. The Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity (N00104-20-C-K045). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY AM General LLC, South Bend, Indiana, has been awarded a maximum $44,095,015 firm-fixed-price requirements contract for High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle diesel engines with containers. 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 three-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Indiana, with a July 8, 2023, ordering period end date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2023 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Warren, Michigan (SPRDL1-20-D-0118). Marlex Pharmaceuticals Inc., New Castle, Delaware, has been awarded a maximum $9,274,712 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for various pharmaceutical products. This was a competitive acquisition with one response received. This is a one-year base contract with nine one-year option periods. Location of performance is Delaware, with a July 8, 2021, ordering period end date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 Warstopper funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2D0-20-D-0008). ARMY VS2 LLC, Alexandria, Virginia, was awarded a $36,672,648 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for logistics support services (maintenance, supply and transportation) at Fort Benning, Georgia. Bids were solicited via the internet with nine received. Work will be performed in Chattahoochee, Georgia, with an estimated completion date of July 8, 2025. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $2,077,440 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W52P1J-20-F-0305). Manson Construction Co., Seattle, Washington, was awarded an $8,330,800 firm-fixed-price contract for dredge work in the Mississippi River. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed in Venice, Louisiana, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 30, 2021. Fiscal 2020 civil operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $8,330,800 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans, Louisiana, is the contracting activity (W912P8-20-C-0030). DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY IT Concepts Inc., Vienna, Virginia, was awarded a $26,308,755 labor-hour contract (HHM402-20-C-0038) to develop, update, sustain, operate and enhance a software tool capability to be used by members of the acquisition, requirements, operational and intelligence communities to support and aid in the identification of intelligence requirements, management of priorities, planning and production of intelligence products, enterprise data analytics, communication and other associated processes. Work will be conducted in Vienna and Charlottesville, Virginia, with an expected completion date of June 2025. Fiscal 2020 operations and management funds in the amount of $1,023,586 are being obligated at time of award. This contract was awarded through an 8(a) set-aside and five offers were received. 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The objective of this effort is to provide radiometric and radiation characterizations of focal plane arrays (FPAs) and associated devices. The effort includes developing innovative techniques to advance the state of the art in the characterization of infrared and visible FPAs and associated devices. These innovative techniques include the development of characterization and analytical techniques, test hardware and operational and test procedures that advance the experimental capabilities of the IRREL. Work will be performed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is expected to be completed Oct. 10, 2025. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition with one offer received. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $150,000 are being obligated at time of award. The Air Force Research Laboratory, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, is the contracting activity (FA9453-20-C-0015). *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2269384/source/GovDelivery/

  • US Air Force restricts KC-46 from carrying cargo and passengers

    September 12, 2019 | International, Aerospace

    US Air Force restricts KC-46 from carrying cargo and passengers

    By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — In a move that could have major impacts on the already-delayed tanker program, the U.S. Air Force has indefinitely barred the KC-46 from carrying cargo and passengers, Defense News has learned. The decision was made after an incident occurred where the cargo locks on the bottom of the floor of the aircraft became unlocked during a recent flight, creating concerns that airmen could potentially be hurt or even killed by heavy equipment that suddenly bursts free during a flight. “As a result of this discovery, the Air Force has submitted a Category 1 deficiency report and is working with Boeing to identify a solution,” Air Force Mobility Command spokesman Col. Damien Pickart said in a statement. The service uses the term Category 1 to describe serious technical issues that could endanger the aircrew and aircraft or have other major effects. “Until we find a viable solution with Boeing to remedy this problem, we can't jeopardize the safety of our aircrew and this aircraft,” he said. The problem was discovered during a recent overseas operational test and evaluation flight, when KC-46 aircrew noticed that numerous cargo restraint devices had come unlocked over the course of the multiple legs of the trip. “Prior to departing for each of these missions, aircrew fully installed, locked and thoroughly inspected each restraint, and performed routine inspections of the restraints in flight,” Pickart said. “Despite these safety measures, the unlocking of cargo floor restraints occurred during flight, although no cargo or equipment moved and there was no specific risk to the aircraft or crew.” A source with knowledge of the issue told Defense News that if all restraints on a particular pallet had become unlocked, it would be able to roll freely throughout the cabin. If all cargo became unlatched, it could pose a safety risk to aircrew or even unbalance the aircraft — making the plane “difficult, if not impossible” to control. While this problem has only been observed on one KC-46, the Air Force does not have enough information to rule out other aircraft having a similar defect. The problem also poses a danger to the tanker's operational test schedule, Pickart said. The program was set to start initial operational test and evaluation this fall, with pre-IOT&E activities already initiated. “This is a multi-mission aircraft, it's for carrying cargo and passengers, it's for refueling and also the aeromedical evacuation mission,” he said. “If you can't carry cargo pallets and patient litters, a significant amount of your core missions cannot be properly tested.” In a statement, KC-46 manufacturer Boeing acknowledged that it had been notified of the new issue. “The company and the Air Force are cooperatively analyzing the locks to determine a root cause,” Boeing stated. “The safety of KC-46 aircraft and crew is our top priority. Once a cause has been identified, the tanker team will implement any required actions as quickly as possible.” But the problem could be bad news for Boeing's bottom line. The company is locked into a fixed-price contract for where it is responsible for paying for any expenses beyond the initial $4.9 billion award for development of the aircraft. So far, the company has paid more than $3.5 billion of its own money to fund corrections to ongoing technical issues. The latest Cat-1 deficiency brings the total up to four: The tanker's remote vision system or RVS — the camera system that allows KC-46 boom operators to steer the boom into a receiver aircraft without having to look out a window and use visual cues — provides imagery in certain lighting conditions that appears warped or misleading. Boeing has agreed to pay for potentially extensive hardware and software fixes, but the Air Force believes it will be three or four years until the system is fully functional. The Air Force has recorded instances of the boom scraping against the airframe of receiver aircraft. Boeing and the Air Force believe this problem is a symptom of the RVS's acuity problems and will be eliminated once the camera system is fixed. Boeing must redesign the boom to accommodate the A-10, which currently does not generate the thrust necessary to push into the boom for refueling. This problem is a requirements change by the Air Force, which approved Boeing's design in 2016. Last month, Boeing received a $55.5 million contract to begin work on the new boom actuator. While the KC-46 program has clocked several key milestones this year, it has also hit some publicly embarrassing stumbles. After several years of delays, the Air Force finally signed off on the acceptance of the first tanker. However, due to the list of technical problems, Boeing was forced to accept an agreement where the service could withhold up to $28 million per aircraft upon delivery. About $360 million has been withheld so far, Defense One reported in July. The Air Force plans to buy 179 KC-46s over the life of the program, and 52 are currently on contract. So far, Boeing has delivered 18 tankers to McConnell Air Force Base, Kan.; Altus Air Force Base, Okla; and Pease Air National Guard Base, N.H. But deliveries were interrupted earlier this year by the discovery of foreign object debris in multiple planes. The Air Force suspended KC-46 flights at Boeing's production line in Everett, Wash., this February after finding debris. Then it paused all tanker deliveries in March as the service investigated the extent of the problem. The service began accepting tankers again later that month, only for deliveries to stop — and restart — in April due to similar problems. Will Roper, the service's acquisition executive, told reporters at the Paris Air Show this July that the service expects to find foreign object debris in KC-46s moving through the line, and it may be months before planes are reliably clean. “As those airplanes flow forward down the line, we think it's going to take some time for the new quality assurance inspection processes to start early enough so that airplanes will flow that are FOD-free,” he said, according to Defense One. “It's not the way we want to get airplanes into the Air Force, but it's what we're going to have to do in the meantime.” https://www.defensenews.com/breaking-news/2019/09/11/air-force-restricts-kc-46-from-carrying-cargo-and-personnel

  • US sanctions firms in China , Russia, Turkey over Iran’s drone program

    September 19, 2023 | International, Aerospace

    US sanctions firms in China , Russia, Turkey over Iran’s drone program

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