Export constraints emerge as sticking point for future German-French combat aircraft: report

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  November 9, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - November 06, 2020

  AIR FORCE Rockwell Collins Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa (FA8807-21-C-0005); Interstate Electronics Corp., Anaheim, California (FA8807-21-C-0006); and Raytheon Technologies Inc., El Segundo, California (FA8807-21-C-0007), have collectively been awarded contracts totaling $552,583,932 for a cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-award-fee contract for Military GPS Users Equipment Miniature Serial Interface Increment 2 Application Specific Integrated Circuit (MGUE Inc 2 MSI ASIC). This contract provides for all activities to design, develop, build, integrate, qualify the MSI receiver card with next generation ASIC to enable production of M-Code-capable GPS receiver products for various service applications identified in the MGUE Inc 2 Capability Development Document and all other user platforms that require secure positioning navigation and timing capability. Work will be performed in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Anaheim, California; and El Segundo, California, and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2025. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition with offers received. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $32,000,000 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Space Command, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, California, is the contracting activity. Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas, has been awarded a $13,750,000 cost-reimbursement, additional-work modification (P00005) to contract FA8650-19-C-5212 for research and development. The contract modification adds additional funding to expand various operational spectra (e.g., fighter, bomber, transport, etc.) to explore damage growth behavior representative design details such as wing-to-spar joint that exhibits multiple competing failure modes. Work will be performed in Wichita, Kansas, and is expected to be completed by Nov. 7, 2023. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $13,250,000 are being obligated at the time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $37,250,000. Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. Millennium Health & Fitness Inc., Scottsdale, Arizona, is awarded a $9,200,000 firm-fixed-price contract for Civilian Health Promotion Services (CHPS). This requirement provides health promotion professionals that will develop, manage, and promote CHPS to all civilian employees in Air Force Materiel Command and Air Mobility Command. The CHPS program may include depending on location, but is not limited to, individual health counseling, group health education classes, telephonic wellness coaching, cardiac risk blood profile (HDL, LDL, cholesterol ratio and glucose), body composition analysis, online health risk appraisal, wellness challenges, and health awareness campaigns. The CHPS is a mobile worksite wellness program. The CHPS health promotion professionals will provide services at twelve staffed Air Force bases (including the CHPS office) and eight un-staffed/visited base locations appropriate for mass screenings and work is expected to be completed by Jan. 31, 2021. This award is the result of a 100% Small Business Set-aside acquisition. Fiscal 2020 operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $1,235,167 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Installation Contracting Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8003-20-C-0004). ARMY Lockheed Martin Corp., Baltimore, Maryland, was awarded an Other Transaction Authority agreement with a ceiling of $339,318,582 for the Mid-Range Capability. Work will be performed in Baltimore, Maryland; Akron, Ohio; Clearwater, Florida; Moorestown, New Jersey; Owego, New York; Syracuse, New York; and Orlando, Florida, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2023. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation, Army funds in the amount of $57,959,033 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office, Alexandria, Virginia, is the contracting activity (W50RAJ-2-19-0001). InBios International Inc., Seattle, Washington, was awarded a $9,804,306 modification (P00001) to contract W81XWH-20-F-0253 for development, design controls, production and analytical studies and clinical trials for rapid human diagnostic component assays for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2) infection. Work will be performed in Seattle, Washington, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2022. Fiscal 2010 research, development, test and evaluation, Army funds in the amount of $9,804,306 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, Fort Detrick, Maryland, is the contracting activity. NAVY Capital Center for Credibility Assessment Corp.,* Dublin, Virginia, is awarded a ceiling-priced $29,233,903 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to conduct Counter Intelligence Scope Polygraph examinations throughout the U.S. to support the Naval Criminal Investigative Service's Polygraph Services Field Office. The contract includes a five-year ordering period with no options and is expected to be completed by November 2025. Work will be performed at various contractor facilities (95%); and various government facilities (5%) throughout the U.S. in which the percentage of work at each of those locations cannot be determined at this time. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $100,000 will be obligated to fund the contract's minimum amount and funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Individual task orders will be subsequently funded with appropriate fiscal year appropriations at the time of their issuance. This contract was competitively procured with the solicitation posted on Navy Electronic Commerce Online and beta.SAM.gov as a 100 percent 8(a) small business set-aside requirement, with three offers received. Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Norfolk, Contracting Department, Philadelphia Office, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity (N00189-21-D-Z010). MNDPI Pacific JV, Honolulu, Hawaii, is awarded a firm-fixed-price task order (N6274221F0302) at $25,978,991 under an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for various structural and waterfront projects and other projects at locations under the cognizance of Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Pacific. The work to be performed provides architect-engineer services to conduct a functional analysis concept development and prepare the 35% conceptual submittal of the design-build request for proposal documents (Phase 1), including construction package consisting of project requirements, concept plans, specifications, detailed cost estimate, and other services for the Dry Dock #3 Replacement, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH), Hawaii – Design Phase 1. Work will be performed at JBPHH, Hawaii, and is expected to be completed by December 2021. Fiscal 2020 military construction (design) contract funds in the amount of $25,978,991 are obligated on this award, of which $24,848 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. NAVFAC Pacific, JBPHH, Hawaii, is the contracting activity (N62742-20-D-0004). Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Baltimore, Maryland, is awarded a $17,509,022 cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-only modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-20-C-5392) to exercise options to provide design agent engineering services for the MK 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) electronic systems and computer programs. This option exercise is for software design, systems engineering, ship/missile integration services, and depot operations services for the MK 41 VLS module electronics and launch control system. These services include new missile integration into MK 41 VLS including launcher design, launcher integration into new ship classes and the new AEGIS shore based component, Life Cycle Support Facility depot operations, system product improvements, predictability enhancements, reliability enhancements, and failure investigations. Work will be performed in Baltimore, Maryland (35%); Norfolk, Virginia (18%); Seattle, Washington (18%); San Diego, California (18%); and Ventura, California (11%), and is expected to be completed by July 2021. Fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $2,980,656 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 Navy Yard, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. Brantley Construction Services LLC,* Charleston, South Carolina, is awarded a firm-fixed-price task order (N6945021F0870) at $16,540,566 under a multiple award construction contract for Destroyer Slip South Quay Wall restoration at Naval Station Mayport. The work to be performed includes replacement of the entire 550-foot wharf quay wall with a new steel sheet pile bulkhead, replacement of the existing fender system and connections to water, electrical, oily waste and sanitary sewer utilities. It also includes the procurement and installation of a pedestrian turnstile and vehicular gate. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, Florida, and is expected to be completed by May 2022. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance, (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $16,540,566 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Five proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Southeast, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity (N69450-19-D-0916). Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is awarded a modification to exercise Option Year One to a previously awarded cost contract (N65236-19-C-8017) in the amount of $10,967,203 for Next-Generation Non-Surgical Neurotechnology (N3). Work will be performed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is expected to be completed by May 2022. This modification brings the total cumulative value of the contract to $14,079,282. Fiscal 2020 research, development, testing and evaluation (Department of Defense) funds in the amount of $1,500,000 will be obligated at time of award. Funds will expire at the end of the fiscal year. Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic, Charleston, South Carolina, is the contracting activity. Innovative Defense Technologies LLC, Arlington, Virginia, was awarded an $8,163,883 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-20-C-6116) to exercise and fund options for Navy engineering services and material. Work will be performed in Fall River, Massachusetts, and is expected to be completed by December 2021. Fiscal 2021 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funding in the amount of, $1,000,000 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 Navy Yard, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Awarded Nov. 2, 2020) DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Sysco Central Texas Inc., New Braunfels, Texas, has been awarded a maximum $24,858,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-quantity contract for full-line food distribution. 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 356-day bridge contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Texas, with an Oct. 30, 2021, ordering period end date. Using customers are Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting agency is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE300-21-D-3308). US Foods Inc., Port Orange, Florida, has been awarded a maximum $22,500,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-quantity contract for full-line food distribution. 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 102-day bridge contract with no option periods. Locations of performance are Florida, Cuba and Bahamas, with a Feb. 18, 2021, ordering period end date. Using military services are Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting agency is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE300-21-D-3301). MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY Lockheed Martin Overseas, Moorestown, New Jersey, is being awarded a $14,252,771 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P00031) under the Poland Aegis Ashore Engineering Agent contract. This modification increases the total cumulative contract value by $10,123,968 from $83,536,564, to $93,660,532. Under this modification, the contractor will configure the Poland Aegis Ashore REU Integration Site (POL-AARIS) and perform integration, test, maintenance and upgrades of the Aegis Combat System prior to final installation within the Aegis Ashore Ballistic Missile Defense System. This contract modification contains options which, if exercised, will increase the cumulative value of this contract to $97,789,335. The work will be performed in both Moorestown, New Jersey (15%); and in Redzikowo, Poland (85%), with an expected completion date of Jan. 26, 2022. Procurement defense wide funds in the amount of $9,892,973 (Fiscal 2019: $2,422,418; Fiscal 2020: $7,470,555), are being obligated at the time of award. This contract modification is the result of a sole-source acquisition. The Missile Defense Agency, Dahlgren, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HQ0276-16-C-0001). *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2408669/source/GovDelivery/

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  September 12, 2019 | International, Land

  DSEI: Shoot and scoot: Industry answers call for more mobile firepower

  By: Jen Judson LONDON — As the U.S. military and its European allies look to counter Russian capabilities observed against Ukraine in Crimea, countries are looking to move away from towed artillery systems to highly mobile mortar systems that pack a punch at greater range. The exposition floor at DSEI, a large defense trade show in London, was littered with examples of mobile mortar systems that are answering the call. “We're seeing the emergence of mobile mortars now due to changing threats and environments,” James Tinsley, a managing director at Avascent, told Defense News at the show. “Where U.S. and allied operations in Afghanistan and Iraq used largely static mortar and artillery emplacements at Forward Operating Bases, these sites are easily fixed, targeted and destroyed by more advanced conventional adversaries,” Tinsley said. “Those adversaries use unmanned aerial vehicles, electronic intelligence and counter-battery radars to quickly target and counter-fire on vulnerable artillery positions.” Militaries have increased their focus on mobile artillery solutions, as a result, Tinsley said, to include self-propelled howitzer being recapitalized with new systems like the Paladin M1299 Extended Range Cannon Artillery, Hanwha's K9, BAE Systems' Archer 155mm howitzer to name a few. And there's an effort to extend the range of rounds like the Nammo ramjet capability. Hammer of Thor BAE Systems showcased its CV90 Mjölner variant — Hammer of Thor — with a 120mm mortar system, which is about to be delivered to the Swedish Army after completing qualifications. The company is seeing a genuine requirement from customers because they are seeing the threat and so the company believes its system fits the bill due to its simplicity for the operator. Swedish Armed Forces Colour Sergeant Joakim Kylstad, a development officer at the Land Warfare Centre, said the system brings an increase in mobility and speed of firing and it can keep up with main battle tanks. The ability to shoot and move out of the way before an enemy can detect and return fire is critical, he added. And the 120mm's firepower and range are more effective than an 81mm mortar, Kylstad said. While this variant was specifically designed for the Swedish Army, there are a number of other countries interested in the platform, Dan Lindell, BAE Systems' director of combat vehicles in Sweden, said. The company has sent information on both the Mjölner variant and an advanced mortar system to the United States, but the two have very different price points, Lindell noted. The vehicle was delivered in record time to the Swedes. BAE fired the first shot from the variant just two-and-a-half months after signing a contract in December two years ago. BAE also brought its Archer system on an 8x8 truck. The system carries 21 rounds and can be fired in two-and-a-half minutes. Also packing a punch, Finnish defense company Patria displayed a 120mm Nemo turret on its 6x6 armored wheeled vehicle. While not integrated onto a vehicle at the show, German defense company Rheinmetall brought its 120mm Ragnarok mortar combat system intended for integration into combat vehicles. Downsizing But even smaller vehicles came to the show with mortar systems highlighting easy setup and high mobility. AM General's booth had one vehicle - a HMMWV with a Hawkeye 105mm mobile weapon system using a standard M20 cannon installed with a soft recoil capability. The company has been working with Mandus Group on refining and integrating the Hawkeye system to the humvee. The only parts different from what is already in the U.S. Army inventory is the gun system's cradle and the recoil mechanism, Nguyen Trinh, company executive vice president of International Defense, told Defense News. The 105mm system can be found on Korean and South African vehicles, but it's installed on huge 6x6 trucks. Yet, AM General installed the gun without making any modifications to the humvee besides adding stabilizer legs to adjust to uneven ground. In a recent demonstration, an experienced artillery crew at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, showed the benefits of a system installed on a humvee versus a towed M119. Compared to the four minutes and 41 seconds an artillery crew of seven took to set up and first fire the system, the four person crew using the HMMWV Hawkeye system fired its first shot in one minute and 54 seconds after spending a day-and-a-half training to use it, Trinh said. In emergency situations, a two-person crew can set up and deploy the weapon. Additionally, the system can fire 24 rounds within three minutes from the time the vehicle stops, and by the time a counter-battery radar has time to find the system, it's already moving to its next firing position, he added. And towed-artillery crews can normally only break down and set up the system several times before it becomes physically exhausting. But the mobility and ease of use of the Hawkeye humvee system means the crew can keep going longer. The AM General system can also shoot in 360 degrees and is the only company worldwide with this capability. The rest of the systems out there can shoot in a forward-facing “wedge.” One of the U.S. Army's priorities is to increase protective mobile fire capability because of the threats observed by Russia on the battlefield in Ukraine, and the Army is evaluating systems including AM General's system. “Mobile, self-protected howitzers we believe are the future, not only in the Army but internationally,” Trinh said. Ditching towed systems The U.S. Army has recently completed an Army Requirements Oversight Council review on mobile, self-propelled artillery and language on the way forward is expected soon. The United Kingdom is also looking at the same thing seriously and has requirements for a 155mm system. But “I would say any country that has towed systems today and that really understands the survivability challenges of towed systems are looking in general terms at self-propelled systems,” Trinh noted. While not at the show, the company also has a 155mm system called Brutus on an FMTV chassis. The system doesn't just have to go on a humvee or FMTV either, Trinh said, but any vehicle in a country's inventory. Also taking up less of a footprint was British company Supacat's High Mobility Integrated Fires Capability with an 81mm mortar system on the back. The U.S. Army has several programs that increase the mobility of 120mm mortar systems from the Future Indirect Fire Turret (FIFT) program, the Armored Multipurpose Vehicle (AMPV) and work within the Next-Generation Combat Vehicle program. Several options are being demonstrated to the Army with Stryker for the FIFT program, with a target of installing on AMPV or the future Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle. “Mortars offer significant firepower in lighter weight systems than self propelled howitzers, albeit at lower ranges. But they are a highly effective complement to other systems,” Tinsley noted. Most self-propelled mortars today are mounted in the hull of vehicles like AMPV or the Stryker combat vehicle. “These can be effective but they are slower to bring to bear, have an open roof, which is vulnerable to counter-fire and require a heavier vehicle to handle recoil or an expensive and complex recoil system,” Tinsley said. So turret-mounted systems are “coming into vogue now,” he said. “They offer high rates of fire, maintain crew protection and tightly integrate fire control or indirect and direct fire missions. Some have automatic loaders and other automation to drive even higher rates of fire.” The Army was moving in this direction back in the days of Future Combat Systems, but the program was cancelled with the rest of the program. The international market has been developing and adopting these systems more quickly, according to Tinsley, and it's likely that the providers with wares to show at DSEI are leading candidates for some of the things the U.S. Army is looking for, but will likely require U.S. production partners and integrators, according to Tinsley. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/dsei/2019/09/12/shoot-and-scoot-industry-answers-call-for-more-mobile-firepower

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  August 2, 2021 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Contracts for July 30, 2021

  Today