June 12, 2024 | International, Security
China-Backed Hackers Exploit Fortinet Flaw, Infecting 20,000 Systems Globally
China-backed hackers exploit Fortinet flaw, breaching 20,000 systems globally. Dutch NCSC reveals state-sponsored cyber campaign.
May 19, 2020 | International, Naval
German shipyard shuffle clears path for MKS 180 warship program to proceed
By: Sebastian Sprenger
COLOGNE, Germany — An agreement by two German shipyards to merge has dislodged a major legal roadblock in the multibillion-dollar program to build the Navy's MKS 180 large frigate-type warships.
The Defence Ministry's confirmation on Friday that German Naval Yards Kiel had dropped its protest against Dutch shipbuilder Damen, who was announced as the winner of the contract in January, was the final building block in a turbulent week for the European naval industry.
Days prior, the German shipbuilder said it would merge with Bremen-based Lürssen, giving the latter company the lead in building surface combatants together. Lürssen, for its part, is already part of the MKS 180 team as a subcontractor to Damen, and the Dutch said they would lean heavily on their German partner in building four initial vessels under the program.
Earlier this year, German Naval Yards Kiel lamented an unfair evaluation of its MKS 180 bid by the Defence Ministry, announcing it was prepared for a potentially lengthy legal battle. But just as litigious as the company sounded in its public proclamations, industry insiders said there appeared to be a willingness early on by all companies to come to an agreement outside of duking it out in court.
Damen, meanwhile, is expected to rethink the distribution of its MKS 180 workshare plan now that the former competitor is also onboard, albeit only by extension. Considerations to that effect would be a “logical next step,” one company official said.
“We are pleased with the consolidation of the German shipping industry under the leadership of the Bremer Lürssen Group,” a Damen statement read. “We look forward to intensive cooperation in the future. As Damen, we see this consolidation as a positive development.”
The company also believes the merger would “increase the chance of equal cooperation between Northern European countries in the field of naval construction — a development that we can only applaud in an otherwise unevenly distributed European playing field.”
That leaves the question of what will happen with ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, another losing bidder in the MKS 180 race. The company previously reported to be part of the German consolidation talks, leading to reports that a single, national shipbuilding “champion” was in the works.
For now, however, TKMS is still weighing its options, as Reuters reported this week. In one scenario, the shipbuilder could merge with Italy's Fincantieri, with talks ongoing to that effect, according to the news service. It is also possible TKMS could join the other two German yards at a later time.
Whatever happens next, it appears a broader move toward naval-industry consolidation may be gaining steam in the wake of the Lürssen-GNY Kiel deal, according to experts.
“The cards are reshuffled,” said Sebastian Bruns, a naval analyst with the University of Kiel in northern Germany. “The consolidation is a significant step forward — and potentially not the final evolution in the Central European warship sector yet.”
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January 3, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - January 2, 2019
NAVY Risk Mitigation Consulting Inc.,* Destin, Florida, is awarded a maximum amount $95,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for mission assurance assessments of installation/facilities infrastructure and facility-related control systems for the Department of the Navy . The work includes, but is not limited to the collection and evaluation of data concerning the criticality of facilities, utilities, industrial control systems, and supporting infrastructure based on mission impacts, probable threats and hazards, and degrees of vulnerability to determine the overall risk posture of the asset. Work will be performed at various Navy and Marine Corps installations at various locations within the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic area of responsibility, both inside and outside the continentalU.S., including, but not limited to, California (24.6 percent); Virginia (13.0 percent); Florida (10.1 percent); Maryland (7.2 percent); Washington (5.8 percent); Hawaii (4.3 percent); Texas (4.3 percent); South Carolina (4.3 percent); Washington, District of Columbia (2.9 percent); North Carolina (2.9 percent); Mississippi (2.9 percent); Georgia (2.9 percent); Tennessee (1.5 percent); Rhode Island (1.5 percent); Pennsylvania (1.5 percent); New York (1.5 percent); New Jersey (1.5 percent); Louisiana (1.5 percent); Indiana (1.5 percent); Illinois (1.5 percent); Connecticut (1.4 percent); and Arizona (1.4 percent). The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months with an expected completion date of January 1, 2024. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $10,000 are obligated on this award, and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by operations and maintenance (Navy and Marine Corps). This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website and Federal Business Opportunities website, with six proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N62470-19-D-2002). Raytheon Co., El Segundo, California, was awarded $81,224,627 for modification P00007 to a previously awarded fixed-price-incentive=-firm-target contract (N00019-17-C-0042). This modification provides for the procurement of 228 configuration components required for completion of Configuration D Retrofit Component engineering change proposals for the F/A-18E/F and EA-18G aircraft for the Navy and the government of Australia. Work will be performed in Forest, Mississippi (53 percent); Andover, Massachusetts (36 percent); and El Segundo, California (11 percent), and is expected to be completed in February 2022. Fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy); and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) funds in the amount of $81,224,627 will be obligated at time of award. No funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This modification combines purchases for the Navy ($80,692,484; 99 percent) and the government of Australia ($532,143; 1 percent) under the FMS program. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin, Rotary and Mission Systems, Moorestown, New Jersey, is awarded a $28,882,337 cost-plus-incentive-fee modification to previously awarded contract N00024-16-C-5102 for AEGIS Baseline 9 Integration and Delivery, TI-08 CG Upgrade, AEGIS Baseline 9 Capability Development, Capability Improvements, Baseline 9 Sea Based Non-Cooperative Target Recognition Development and Radar Engineering. Work will be performed in Moorestown, New Jersey, and is expected to be complete by July 2019. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy); fiscal 2013 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); fiscal 2019 other procurement (Navy); 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy); and 2019 weapons procurement (Navy), funding in the amount of $28,882,337 will be obligated at time of award and funds in the amount of $1,530,764 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Bell-Boeing JPO, Amarillo, Texas, is being awarded $23,325,145 for cost-plus- fixed-fee delivery order N0001918F5004 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-17-G-0002) in support of the V-22. This order provides support of ongoing flight test and evaluation of the V-22 test aircraft. Work will be performed at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland (90 percent); and Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona (10 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2018. Fiscal 2018 aircraft procurement (Navy); and fiscal 2018 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $23,325,145 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. SRA International Inc., Chantilly, Virginia, was awarded an $11,336,940 firm-fixed-price contract for command, control, communications, and computer system afloat operations and sustainment support for capabilities aboard the Military Sealift Command (MSC) fleet of ships, and the MSC network operations centers. This contract includes a six-month period of performance. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia, and work is scheduled to commence Jan. 1, 2019, and is scheduled to be completed June 30, 2019. This contract will be funded with Navy working capital funds; and U.S. Transportation Command working capital funds. Funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was awarded as an other than full and open requirement under unusual and compelling urgency procedures. Only one offer was solicited and received. The Navy's Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity. (N3220519C1000) (Awarded Dec. 31, 2018) Structural Associates Inc., * East Syracuse, New York, is awarded $10,008,000 for firm-fixed-price task order N4008519F4299 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N40085-17-D-5048) for repairs for insulator shop relocation Building 166 at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. The work to be performed provides building repairs and modernization to the historic 1941 Building 166. Exterior envelope repairs and replacement will include, but are not be limited to, roofing and wall systems, trim, windows and window systems, skylights, door repairs, concrete, the installation of roof and wall insulation, and reconfiguration of the building entrance to provide accessibility. Interior repair and renovation includes, but is not limited to, reconfiguration of existing toilet facilities, the renovation of electrical and plumbing systems, the replacement of deteriorated heating ventilation and air conditioning equipment and controls, and the modernization of fire protection systems. Work will include egress paths in order to improve space utilization, accessibility and life safety. The task order also contains five unexercised options, which, if exercised, would increase cumulative task order value to $10,691,110. Work will be performed in Kittery, Maine, and is expected to be completed by March 2020. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $10,008,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Four proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity. Correction: Contract awarded on Dec. 27, 2018 to Bell Boeing JPO, Amarillo, Texas, was announced with the incorrect award amount and contracting activity. The contract should have stated the award amount of $ $24,448,390 and that the contracting activity is the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey. All other contract information is correct. ARMY O'gara-Hess & Eisenhardt Armoring Co. LLC,* Fairfield, Ohio, was awarded a $60,736,752 firm-fixed-price contract to procure Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles protection kits. Bids were solicited via the internet with six received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2023. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-19-D-0041). Endeavor Robotics Inc., Chelmsford, Massachusetts, was awarded a $32,400,000 firm-fixed-price contract for reset, sustainment, maintenance, and recap parts for Robot Logistics Support Center technicians to support the overall sustainment actions of the entire Endeavor family of small, medium, and large robots. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 2, 2024. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-19-D-0031). CORRECTION: An $89,520,585 modification (0053 09) to contract W52P1J-11-G-0053 awarded to BAE Systems Ordnance Systems Inc., Radford, Virginia, announced Dec. 31, 2018, listed the wrong amount of funds obligated. The correct amount of obligated funds is $7,895,422. All other information in the announcement was correct. AIR FORCE BAE Systems Information and Electronics Systems Integration, Nashua, New Hampshire (FA8604-19-D-4021); The Boeing Co., Defense, Space & Security, St. Louis, Missouri (FA8604-19-D-4022); General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc.(GS-ASI), Poway, California (FA8604-19-D-4020); Goodrich Corp., UTC Aerospace Systems, ISR Systems, Westford, Massachusetts (FA8604-19-D-4023); Harris Corp., Electronic Systems, Integrated Electronic Warfare Systems, Clifton, New Jersey (FA8604-19-D-4027); Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas (FA8604-19-D-4026); Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, Melbourne, Florida (FA8604-19-D-4024); and Raytheon Co., Raytheon, El Segundo, California (FA8604-19-D-40250), have been awarded $22,500,000 ceiling indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts for the formation of a collaborative working group of various industry partners to work as single extended entity to develop, evolve, update via pre-planned product improvement initiatives, as well as manage and provide configuration control of the open mission systems and universal command and control interface standards, collectively referred to as the Open Architecture Standards. These contracts provide for the development, updating and management of the above standards with the following business goals, promote adaptability, flexibility, and expandability; support a variety of missions and domains; simplify integration; reduce technical risk and overall cost of ownership of weapon system programs; enable affordable technology refresh and capability evolution; enable reuse; enable independent development and deployment of system elements; and accommodate a range of cybersecurity approaches. Work will be performed at the industry partner facilities in Nashua, New Hampshire; St. Louis, Poway, California; Westford Massachusetts; Clifton New Hampshire; Fort Worth, Texas; and Melbourne, Florida, and is expected to be complete by December 31, 2022. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Air Force Life Cycle Management, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. *Small business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1723366/
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July 22, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
COVID Drives AUSA Mega-Conference Online: Gen. Ham
Bringing together an estimated 33,000 soldiers and civilians from around the world was just too dangerous in the coronavirus era. By SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR.on July 21, 2020 at 3:42 PM WASHINGTON: Every October, the Walter E. Washington convention center in downtown DC – a behemoth building covering two whole city blocks – fills with soldiers, contractors, and reporters. Over 30,000 people pack shoulder-to-shoulder in conference rooms to hear from Army leaders, speak face to face, line up for fried chicken, shake hands, hug, and handle military hardware from prototype rifles to full-sized tanks. But with COVID-19 cases rising alarmingly around the country, none of that will happen this October. “We've made the difficult decision to convert the 2020 AUSA Annual Meeting from an in-person meeting to a virtual experience,” said retired Gen. Carter Ham, the Association of the US Army's president and CEO, in a statement Tuesday afternoon. The mega-conference – historically one of the biggest in-person gatherings for the defense industry in the DC area – will now take place entirely online over Oct. 13-16. Breaking Defense plans to cover the virtual event as exhaustively (and as exhaustingly for our reporters) as it has the physical one every year since 2011. “With recent trends, it just became clear to me that we simply could not, in any reasonable manner, ensure a safe, secure environment for the 32,000-plus people we expected this October,” Gen. Ham told me in an follow-up email. “We are working very closely with the Army to craft an agenda which provides opportunities for key leaders to connect with our members and constituents.” “One of the keys to that is finding ways to connect Army leaders with the businesses, large and small, who normally are present in the exhibition hall,” Ham said. “Finding a way to do something similar to that experience in the virtual world will be a challenge, but it is an integral part of the AUSA Annual Meeting, so we'll figure it out.” AUSA is still working out the logistics of this massive switch. Registrations and sponsorship agreements from the in-person version of the event will not automatically carry over. “Registration for the new virtual meeting is expected to open by September,” the AUSA statement says. “AUSA is now coordinating details for the virtual event, and team members will be reaching out directly to exhibitors and sponsors about new opportunities.” With over 600 sponsors in a typical year – ranging from small businesses with a single, small booth to titans like Boeing and Lockheed Martin – the Annual Meeting is a major source of revenue for AUSA. How this will impact the association's budget is unclear – even to AUSA itself at this point. Breaking Defense graphic from AUSA data “The AUSA Annual Meeting is our most important revenue-generating event of the year,” Ham said bluntly. “The revenue from this event is largely what allows us to conduct other events throughout the year. So, I don't know yet precisely what the impact will be, but there will be some effect. Fortunately, AUSA is in a strong financial position so we will be able to sustain this change.” AUSA's latest annual report said the 2018 conference “generated $16 million in revenue,” just under half the association's total projected revenue of $33 million for the 2018-2019 fiscal year. (The report for 2019-2020 hasn't been published yet). But AUSA also reported its investment portfolio was worth $51 million; that was as of May 2019, before COVID roiled the stock market, but the portfolio should still be large enough to offer at least some buffer. The initial wave of the COVID-19 coronavirus forced AUSA to cancel its Global Force conference in Huntsville, Ala. this March just a week ahead of opening day. That gave the association no time to schedule virtual alternatives, although multiple events from Army aircraft announcements to Shark Tank-style pitch meetings were hastily turned into teleconferences or webcasts. Global Force had expected some 6,000 attendees. Since then, AUSA has held a host of online events, largely but by no means entirely without glitches, but they were all much smaller in scale. The Annual Meeting had expected some 33,000 attendees. Moving that conference online will be a vastly larger organizational and technical challenge. It's also an opportunity, Ham argued. “While we will all certainly miss the opportunity to be together with the broader Army Family, choosing to provide our programs in a virtual environment does offer us an opportunity to connect with audiences who might not know AUSA all that well or who have simply not been able to travel to Washington DC for the event in prior years,” he told me. “I view this very much as a chance to extend our reach and to more effectively fulfill our mission to support the Army.” Even if nothing glitches, though, the virtual Annual Meeting won't replace the human connection that came from the Army's annual gathering of its disparate tribes. “What will I miss? This is the Army's family reunion,” Ham said. “Every October, the opportunity to see old friends and to make new friends is the most enjoyable part of the Annual Meeting. I'll miss that, to be sure, but I also know that via this virtual experience, we will make new connections, new relationships that will make AUSA 2021 even better when we can all be together again.” https://breakingdefense.com/2020/07/covid-drives-ausa-mega-conference-online/