France turns to AI for signals analysis in underwater acoustics war

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  December 14, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - December 12, 2018

  NAVY Clark Construction Group LLC, Bethesda, Maryland, is awarded a $298,211,055 firm-fixed-price construction contract to construct a VC-25B hangar complex. The contract provides for the construction of a hangar complex, an aircraft access taxiway/parking apron, associated lighting, engine run-up pads, and a hydrant refueling system with storage tanks. Additional requirements include, but are not limited to, site preparation, wetland/stream mitigation, storm water management, a parking lot, and a fire detection, and suppression system. This contract contains options, which if exercised, will bring the contract value to a ceiling of $315,481,000. Work will be performed at Joint Base Andrews, Camp Springs, Maryland, and is expected to be completed April 2022. Fiscal 2018 and 2019 military construction (Air Force) contract funds in the amount of $220,000,000 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was the result of a competitive acquisition via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with 10 proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N40080-19-C-0008). Bell Boeing Joint Project Office, Amarillo, Texas, is awarded $18,000,000 for modification P00004 to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00019-18-D-0103) to exercise an option for technical analysis, engineering and integration on V-22 aircraft platform for the Navy, Marine Corps,. Air Force, and the government of Japan under the Foreign Military Sales program. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (50 percent); and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (50 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2022. No funds are being obligated at time of award, funds will be obligated on individual delivery orders as they are issued. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Edison Chouest Offshore, Cut Off, Louisiana, is awarded $7,374,825 to exercise an option under previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N3220517C3513) with reimbursable elements for one maritime support vessel. This vessel will be utilized to launch, recover, refuel, and resupply of small crafts in the U.S. Pacific Command's (USPACOM) area of responsibility. This contract includes a 12-month base period, three 12-month option periods, and one 11-month option period. This is option one of the current contract. If all options are exercised this would bring the cumulative value of the contract to $41,079,507. Work will be performed in the USPACOM's area of responsibility, and is expected to be completed Dec. 22, 2019. If all options are exercised, work will continue through Nov. 22, 2022. Navy working capital funds in the amount of $6,018,015 are obligated for fiscal 2019 and will expire at the end of current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with 50-plus proposals solicited via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with five offers received. The U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY General Electric – Aviation, Lynn, Massachusetts, has been awarded a maximum $157,731,567 fixed-price prospective redetermination, requirements contract for holistic engine support of the T64 aircraft engine. 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 and a half year base contract with one five-year option period. Location of performance is Massachusetts, with a June 6, 2024, performance completion date. Using military service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2024 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Richmond, Virginia (SPE4AX-19-D-9400). Michelin North America Inc., Greenville, South Carolina, has been awarded an estimated $42,246,789 fixed-price, indefinite-delivery, requirements contract for aircraft tires supporting the Global Tire Program. This is a three-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is South Carolina, with a Dec. 11, 2021, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Columbus, Ohio (SPE7LX-19-D-0043). Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio, has been awarded an estimated $35,168,525 fixed-price, indefinite-delivery, requirements contract for aircraft tires supporting the Global Tire Program. This was a competitive acquisition with two offers received. This is a three-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Ohio, with a Dec. 11, 2021, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Columbus, Ohio (SPE7LX-19-D-0051). Michelin North America Inc., Greenville, South Carolina, has been awarded a maximum $19,960,116 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity, requirements contract to provide tire support for the Global Tires Program. This was a competitive acquisition with two responses received. This is a three-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is South Carolina, with a Dec. 11, 2021, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Columbus, Ohio (SPE7LX-19-D-0054). ARMY Lockheed Martin Corp., Orlando, Florida, was awarded a $13,364,769 modification (P00002) to Foreign Military Sales (Saudi Arabia) contract W900KK-17-C-0040 for modernization of a number of live fire ranges; support of infrastructure; procurement of installation of targets for ranges; automated shoothouse; urban assault course; range control systems; spare parts, and new equipment training courses. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida and Swanee, Georgia, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 28, 2021. Fiscal 2019 foreign military sales funds in the amount of $13,364,769 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity. URS Federal Services Inc., Germantown, Maryland, was awarded a $9,742,253 modification (P00129) to contract W58RGZ-16-C-0001 for aviation maintenance. Work will be performed in Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Louisville, Tennessee; and Fort Polk, Louisiana, with an estimated completion date of June 29, 2019. Fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement, Army; and operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $9,742,253 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. AIR FORCE Galois Inc., Portland Oregon, has been awarded an $8,589,384 cost-plus-fixed-fee (completion) contract for merged-analysis-to-prevent-exploits software, testing and demonstrations. This contract provides for a software system that will enable computers and humans to collaboratively reason over software artifacts with the goal of finding zero-day vulnerabilities at a scale and speed appropriate for the complex software ecosystem. Work will be performed in Portland, Oregon, and is expected to be completed by May 31, 2021. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and 50 offers were received. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,321,974 are being obligated at the time of award. Air force Research Laboratory, Rome, New York, is the contracting activity (FA8750-19-C-0004). *Small business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1712047/

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  April 9, 2020 | International, Land

  COVID-19 Federal Funds, Benefits Lag For National Guard

  President Trump has authorized only 34 states to receive federal funding and benefits for their Guard troops. While all of them get paid -- many out of rapidly depleting state coffers -- most aren't yet getting full health coverage. By SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR WASHINGTON: Legal arcana and the narrow wording of President Trump's orders are complicating the mobilization of National Guard troops to combat the COVID-19 coronavirus. The Pentagon, the White House, and the states are working urgently to increase the number of troops with federal funding and full benefits, said Gen. Joseph Lengyel, the four-star chief of the National Guard Bureau, in a phone briefing with reporters this afternoon. Part of the problem is that President Trump has not actually authorized federal funding and benefits for every state. Only 34 states and three territories are currently covered by his call-up orders, with 16 states and the District of Columbia still ineligible. (The full list is at the end of this article). Indeed, it's not clear that all states have even requested federal support for their Guard troops, especially in rural areas where the spread of the virus has been slower and suspicion of the federal government can be high. Even once the president authorizes a given state, FEMA must still approve each request for funding. Finally, until yesterday, President Trump's orders only permitted Guard troops to operate under federal orders for up to 30 days – one day too short to qualify for federal health coverage and other benefits. So how many servicemembers are affected? 28,400 personnel from both the Army and Air National Guard have been called up to help with the pandemic, Lengyel reported, a figure that's now rising by more than 1,000 troops every day. However, more than 13,000 of those troops are currently mobilized under state legal authorities, at their states' expense. While their pay in this status is usually consistent with federal payscales — some states are less generous – their benefits are typically limited to basic workers' compensation. Worse, whatever they get may not be sustainable since state coffers are being rapidly depleted by the crisis. Not quite 11,000 are currently mobilized under Title 32, Section 502(f), which allows state governors to retain command-and-control of their Guard in local emergencies but provides federal funding – a number that is “growing rapidly,” Lengyel said. But even among Guard troops on those federal Title 32 orders, it appears that most don't yet enjoy the same benefits as members of the regular active-duty military and reserve working alongside them. In particular, most Guard troops aren't getting the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH), which helps troops on duty far from home pay for lodging if the military can't provide it, and they don't get access to the military's nationwide healthcare network, Tricare. (Guard troops can go to military hospitals for free, but few of the coronavirus hotspots they've been called to are anywhere near a base). Some 349 Guard troops have tested positive for COVID-19, although many of those were infected in civilian life and aren't being called up. Why aren't all troops on federal orders already? And why aren't all the troops on federal orders getting full benefits? That has to do with the often-obscure laws governing the National Guard and the way President Trump has chosen to invoke them. First, Trump hasn't yet authorized federally funded Title 32 call-ups across the country. Instead, on March 22, he authorized them only for Washington State, California, and New York – the three initial hotspots – and then began adding states a few at a time in subsequent orders on March 28, March 30th, April 2nd and April 7th. “FEMA generally gives shorter duration mission assignments, normally two weeks,” Lengyel explained, since most domestic disasters take less than a month to resolve. “We in the National Bureau and the Department of Defense saw this [coronavirus] clearly is going to go into May and maybe beyond, [but] FEMA was restricted [in] writing the mission assignments to what was authorized in the presidential memorandum. “I don't want to speculate on why they chose 30 days, but the difference between 30 and 31 is significant,” the general said. “We recommended a longer period of time at the beginning.” The National Guard Association of the US, an influential independent advocacy groups for Guard units, members, and families, has been watching the situation intently and pressing for an expansion of the Title 32 orders. Consistency has been lacking, lamented John Goheen, NGAUS's chief spokesman: “It's really a patchwork as you look around the country, and states are going to interpret things differently. “Section 502(f) of Title 32 was never designed for this. As a result, we are seeing of lot of bureaucratic obstacles and inflexibility,” Goheen told me this afternoon. “Case in point is the limitation on the number of days. NGAUS will be looking to change the law in the future to provide more flexibility.” The last time Title 32 was used on such a scale was Hurricane Katrina, Goheen said “There were some concerns [after Katrina] about the Defense Department being reimbursed so the Defense Department's been reluctant to use it,” he said. However reluctant the Pentagon bureaucracy in general may be, Gen. Lengyel made clear he is trying to fix the situation. “We're authorized now to bring on up to 44,000 total members of the National Guard covered under ...Title 32 ... which gives them federal pay but state control, and now — because the [April 7th] memorandum allows them to be covered for up to 31 days — they will have full insurance and medical benefits,” he said. But troops who were authorized earlier on shorter orders will have to be switched to 31 days, and making sure all new call-ups are for 31, is an ongoing process, Lengyel acknowledged: “There was some sand in the gears on making sure that we had the cost figures right so that FEMA had the exact numbers.” Meanwhile, he said, his staff and the states have started planning for the annual hurricane season. “By hurricane season, which starts in June, obviously, we're hopeful this begins to lull,” he said, “[but] we in fact are looking at implications of what it might be like to do a hurricane response in a COVID environment.” His staff and the states Guard headquarters, he said, are conducting their planning by telephone and video-teleconference (VTC) instead of the usual in-person meetings. Below is the full list of which states President Trump authorized for federally-funded National Guard callups, by date: March 22, three states: California, New York, and Washington. March 28, five states and two territories: Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New Jersey; Guam and Puerto Rico. March 30, three states: Connecticut, Illinois, and Michigan. April 2, 10 states, one territory: Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Texas; US Virgin Islands. April 7, 13 states: Arizona, Colorado, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, Wisconsin, and West Virginia. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/04/covid-19-federal-funds-benefits-lag-for-national-guard

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  July 15, 2022 | International, C4ISR

  Safran unit agrees to acquire Orolia to expand in PNT market

  Safran's purchase will complete a '€œcohesive set of PNT architectures'€ to meet the needs of industries including aviation, defense and space, the company says.