General Atomics nets $7.4B MQ-9 Reaper contract with U.S. Air Force

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  June 19, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - June 18, 2020

  NAVY BAE Systems Technology Solutions and Services Inc., Rockville, Maryland, is awarded an $85,912,640 cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost reimbursable, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract provides for in-service engineering activity and production services for various Navy identification and data link systems in support of the Combat Integration and Identification Systems Division at the Naval Air Warfare Center Webster Outlying Field. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Maryland (77%); and Rockville, Maryland (23%). Services will support integration and production efforts, including design and feasibility evaluation, component and system design, system integration, production, installation testing and evaluation, in-service engineering, logistics, repair and validation, training, lab maintenance, quality assurance and technical management on a worldwide range of naval ship and shore platforms. Work is expected to be complete by June 2025. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposal, and one offer was received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00421-20-D-0117). BAE Systems Land & Armaments LP, Minneapolis, Minnesota, is awarded an $18,771,034 firm-fixed-price modification to previously awarded contract N00174-17-C-0022 to exercise Option Year Three for the fiscal 2017-2020 production of the MK 38 MOD 3 machine gun system (MGS) and associated spares. Work will be performed in Hafia, Israel (67%); and Louisville, Kentucky (33%). The production of the MGS is derived from the application of an ordnance alteration to the MK 38 MOD 1 25mm MGS. Once installed, this version will incorporate two-axis stabilizations, an improved electro-optical sight system, improved multi-function display, a modified main control panel, a new main computing unit, a 7.62mm machine gun and remote control operation. Work is expected to be complete by November 2021. Fiscal 2020 weapon procurement (Coast Guard) funds; 2017 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds; and 2020 weapon procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $18,771,034 will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division, Indian Head, Maryland, is the contracting activity. AV3 Inc., Mechanicsville, Maryland, is awarded a $9,770,558 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract procures the audio and visual video teleconference equipment for the integration of specialized network video teleconference systems in support of the integrated command, control and intelligence divisions of the Joint Staff and combatant commanders, Department of Defense agencies and services, and Department of Homeland Security operational and support components. Work will be performed in Mechanicsville, Maryland, and supports the command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. Work is expected to be complete by June 2022. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposal and two offers were received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity (N68335-20-D-0028). ARMY Raytheon, Fort Wayne, Indiana, was awarded a $29,237,124 hybrid (cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price) contract for procurement of Jordan's Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 31, 2024. Fiscal 2020 Foreign Military Sales (Jordan) funds in the amount of $29,237,124 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W91CRB-20-C-5016). Sigmatech Inc.,* Huntsville, Alabama, was awarded an $8,220,049 modification (000240) to contract W31P4Q-15-A-0028 for technical support for the unmanned aircraft systems project manager's office. Work will be performed in Huntsville, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of June 18, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $8,220,049 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. DRS Sustainment Systems Inc., St. Louis, Missouri, was awarded a $7,985,880 modification (P00069) to contract W56HZV-16-C-0028 for seven Joint Assault Bridge Systems. Work will be performed in West Plains, Missouri, with an estimated completion date of May 11, 2024. Fiscal 2019 other procurement (Army) funds in the amount of $7,985,880 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY DMG Mori USA Inc., Hoffman Estates, Illinois, has been awarded a maximum $17,302,222 firm-fixed-price contract for integrated manufacturing cell axis machining centers and machines. 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 two-year contract with no option periods. Locations of performance are Illinois; California; and Germany, with a March 3, 2022, performance completion date. Using military service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2022 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Richmond, Virginia (SPE4A8-20-C-0007). Honeywell International Inc., Phoenix, Arizona, has been awarded a maximum $7,785,286 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity delivery order SPRRA1-20-F-0197 against a one-year contract (SPRRA1-20-D-0038) with no option periods for clutch assemblies. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. Location of performance is Arizona, with a June 30, 2021, ordering period end date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. CORRECTION: The contract announced on June 16, 2020, for Pentaq Manufacturing Corp., Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico (SPE1C1-20-D-1258), for $33,645,750 was announced with an incorrect award date. The correct award date is June 17, 2020. CORRECTION: The delivery order (SPRRA2-20-F-0087) announced on May 27, 2020, for Raytheon Co., Andover, Massachusetts (SPRBL1-15-D-0017), for $14,494,050 was announced with an incorrect dollar amount. The correct dollar amount is $14,971,905. U.S. TRANSPORTATION COMMAND Science Applications International Corp., Reston, Virginia, has been awarded hybrid (labor hour and firm-fixed-price) task order HTC711-20-F-D061 in the amount of $8,863,576. The task order provides software engineering services to the U.S. Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command. Requirement to obtain software engineering services to support U.S. Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command's integrated booking system. Services include requirements definition, software maintenance, development, configuration management, area manager support, training, implementation, documentation, technical support and project management. Work will be performed at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. The contract base period of performance is from Oct. 1, 2020, to Sept. 30, 2021. No funds were obligated at award; award was made subject to the availability of fiscal 2021 funds. U.S. Transportation Command, Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity. *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2225212/source/GovDelivery/

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  May 14, 2020 | International, Naval

  DoD asks Congress for a two-sub Columbia-class buy

  By: Joe Gould , David B. Larter , and Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON ― The Pentagon is asking Congress for authority to buy two of its new Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines, a potential mega-deal worth as much as $17.7 billion with far-reaching implications for the ailing submarine industrial base. If approved, the proposal would potentially lower the price by promising General Dynamics a steady stream of work at its shipyard as the Pentagon and its network of suppliers grapple with COVID-19's economic shocks. General Dynamics and the Navy have been negotiating the terms of a two-ship purchase, but nothing can be finalized until Congress authorizes the block buy. As the House and Senate Armed Services committees ready their drafts of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, it's customary for the Defense Department to send legislative proposals for the annual policy bill. It was unclear how Congress will ultimately react to this one, but at least one key lawmaker would “seriously consider” the proposal. Senate Armed Services Seapower Subcommittee Chairman David Perdue, R-Ga., “certainly supports and has been working toward better business practices in the Department of Defense. He would seriously consider any proposal that achieves cost savings or increases efficiency,” said his spokesperson, Jenni Sweat. The Columbia-class program is meant to design and build 12 new ballistic missile submarines to replace the Navy's current force of 14 aging Ohio-class boats. The president's budget estimated the cost of the lead Columbia-class sub at $14 billion, the second at $9.3 billion, and total procurement costs for all 12 at $110 billion. The Navy wants to procure the first Columbia-class boat in fiscal 2021, the second in fiscal 2024, and the remaining 10 at a rate of one per year from 2026 through 2035. The Navy has already spent about $6.2 billion in advanced procurement for the Columbia, which leaves about $8.2 billion remaining for the first boat. A summary of its new legislative proposal, obtained by Defense News, said the move is intended to “permit the Navy to enter into one block buy contract for up to two Columbia-class submarines (SSBN 826 and SSBN 827), providing industrial base stability, production efficiencies, and cost savings when compared to an annual procurement with options cost estimate.” Complicating matters is the potential for the coronavirus pandemic to create construction or funding issues that delay SSBN 826's first scheduled patrol in 2031, according to a recent Congressional Research Service report. To boot, it was unclear whether the Navy had accurately projected costs or whether stable funding would be available across the Navy's procurement portfolio. The Navy is confident the program is on track and negotiations are ongoing in line with what the Navy has previously disclosed, said Capt. Danny Hernandez, spokesman for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition. “The Columbia program is on track, it is our top acquisition priority,” Hernandez said in an email. "Per the Navy's Budget Submission, the Navy plans to award a contract modification for construction of the first two Columbia-Class ships as a priced option in FY20. "Formal option exercise and SSBN 826 construction start are planned for October 2020, following required Congressional authorizations and appropriation of funds.” This week, the Navy and General Dynamics were still negotiating on the terms of the two-ship buy, but what the ultimate savings would be for contracting for two together was not clear yet, according to a source familiar with the talks. No final deal can be negotiated until Congress has authorized the contract. Also unclear is how perturbations in the system from the COVID-19 outbreak might impact the supply and labor system, the source said. Indeed, the potential impact of COVID-19 on an already stressed submarine industrial base is one reason the strategy could be important, said Bryan Clark, a retired submarine officer a senior fellow at the Conservative Hudson Institute think tank. “There has already been advanced procurement money provided by Congress that has been used to build missile tubes, nuclear reactors and propulsion plants,” Clark said. "But there is a bunch of other equipment on the ship that you would like to buy in quantities: Pumps, valves, fans, a lot of habitability systems. “If you double the number of ships, you double the number that you buy and maybe you reduce your costs, but more importantly you support your industrial base.” To date, disruptions to the submarine supplier base and the Electric Boat shipyard have been comparatively mild, two sources familiar with the situation said. General Dynamics is interested in locking in a larger block buy for the remaining ten boats, and a source familiar with the company's thinking said the precise savings would be clear once the company gets further along with construction of the first boat. The third ship will officially be procured in 2026, so it gives the parties time to understand the program better. The Navy has been public about its desire to buy the first two submarines as a block but given that it's a new start program, that seemed premature, said Project On Government Oversight military analyst Dan Grazier. He noted that a multi-year procurement, under the law, would require a stable design, while a block buy would not. “The Navy claims the Columbia's design is much further along in the process than the Ohio was at this point, but the Navy's track record of designing and building ships recently is quite poor," Grazier said. "The Zumwalts, LCSs, and the Ford-class ships were designed using similar methods and the results have proven to be both costly and disappointing. It would be better to build the first boat and make sure the design actually works as intended because if it doesn't, then the money we save now will actually cost us much more in the future.” Clark, on the other hand, argued that while early multi-ship buys on new classes of ships are usually a bad idea, Columbia might be a special case where the risks associated with early block buys are sufficiently offset. “You wouldn't want to do a block buy if you thought the design was going to change significantly, as in you were going to buy one or two hulls and then revise it based on the results of testing or production issues,” Clark said. “On this one, more of the design is more complete so they are confident it is mature. "And with the experience General Dynamics has with submarine construction, they are confident in their path to build it without significant design changes.” The Navy is aiming to have more than 80 percent of the Columbia's design complete prior to construction starting later this Fall, double where they were at the start of construction on the lead boat of the Virginia class. The Columbia class is not the only big-ticket weapons program where the Pentagon is seeking latitude from Congress in pursuit of savings. For the Lockheed-made F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, DoD has separately proposed to use department funds to again bulk buy F-35 components ― “material and equipment” in “economic order quantities,” the proposal synopsis says ― for Lot 15 in fiscal 2021 through Lot 17 in 2023. Lawmakers have historically been supportive of such moves, and Congress authorized the purchase of F-35 economic order quantity buys in the fiscal 2020 defense policy bill. In October, the Defense Department and Lockheed finalized a deal for F-35 lots 12, 13 and 14, but the order is structured so that lot 13 and 14 fall under separate contract options, differentiating it from a block buy. Lt. Gen. Eric Fick, who leads the F-35 program on behalf of the government, has said that arrangement would likely continue over the next several production lots. "To date, we are pursuing a base-plus-options production contract vehicle for [lots] 15 to 17,” Fick said in March at the McAleese and Associates conference. “The business case that supports a three year multi year has not been there. We have not seen from Lockheed a business case that merits tying up three years of appropriated funds.” Clarification: The story has been updated to clarify the specific transaction for which the Navy is seeking authority from Congress. https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2020/05/13/dod-asks-congress-for-columbia-submarine-block-buy/

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  March 6, 2024 | International, Land

  Spain's Indra sees revenue, profit soaring on European defence spending