February 1, 2024 | International, Aerospace
The Crew-9 mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, designed to shuttle workers to and from the International Space Station.
December 11, 2023 | International, Land
A former senior executive of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) told a House of Commons committee Monday he doesn’t believe the international financial institution can be reformed as long as China remains on its current geopolitical course.
November 7, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Corp., Orlando, Florida, has been awarded a $350,000,000 increase to an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) production support. Contractor will provide lifecycle support for all efforts related to JASSM, Long Range Anti-Ship Missile, JASSM-Extended Range, and any JASSM variant in the areas of system upgrades, integration, production, sustainment, management and logistical support. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida, and is expected to be completed by April 17, 2022. This award is the result of sole-source acquisition. No funds are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity (FA8682-17-D-0002). General Atomics - Aeronautical Systems Inc., Poway, California, has been awarded a $263,403,355 firm-fixed-price contract for MQ-9 Reaper production. This contract provides for the production of the MQ-9 Reaper aircraft in the fiscal 2018 production configuration. Work will be performed at Poway, California, and is expected to be complete by Nov. 30, 2021. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2017 and 2018 aircraft procurement funds in the amount of $263,403,355 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8620-19-F-2374). Raytheon Co., El Segundo, California, has been awarded an $11,532,469, competitive, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the research and development of Millimeter-Wave Digital Arrays (MIDAS) Defense Advanced Research Projects Activity program. The contractor will address the MIDAS program goals through innovations in digital tile architecture and integrated, scalable apertures with groundbreaking transmit and receive components. Work will be performed in El Segundo, California, and is expected to be completed by Nov. 4, 2020. Fiscal 2018 research and development funds in the amount of $2,928,098 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8650-19-C-7993). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Burlington Apparel Fabrics, Greensboro, North Carolina, has been awarded a maximum $40,632,816 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery contract for blue wool cloth. This was a competitive acquisition with one response received. This is a one-year contract with four one-year option periods. The maximum dollar amount is for the life of the contract. Location of performance is North Carolina, with a Nov. 4, 2023, performance completion date. Using military service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2023 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE1C1-19-D-1112). Burlington Apparel Fabrics, Greensboro, North Carolina, has been awarded a maximum $40,563,765 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery contract for blue poly/wool cloth. This was a competitive acquisition with one response received. This is a one-year contract with four one-year option periods. The maximum dollar amount is for the life of the contract. Location of performance is North Carolina, with a Nov. 4, 2023, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2023 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE1C1-19-D-1100). Southeast Power Systems of Orlando,* Orlando, Florida, has been awarded a maximum $8,247,300 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for diesel engine fuel pumps. 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 Florida, with a Nov. 4, 2021, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2022 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Warren, Michigan (SPRDL1-19-D-0016). NAVY Transoceanic Cable Ship Co. LLC, Baltimore, Maryland, is awarded a $35,952,500 firm-fixed-price contract for the time charter services of a cable-laying and repair ship. This contract contains options, which if exercised, would bring the contract value to $224,619,153. Work will be performed worldwide, and is expected to be completed Jan. 10, 2019. If options are exercised, work will continue through November 2023. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of approximately $42,000,000 will be obligated at the time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with proposals solicited via the Federal Business Opportunities website and Navy Commerce Online website. Two offers were received. The Navy's Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N32205-19-C-3506). ExxonMobil Marine Ltd., Spring, Texas, was awarded a $16,572,038 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for worldwide delivery of lubricants and related support services to Military Sealift Command vessels, Navy ships, and other government-owned or government-chartered ships designated by the Military Sealift Command. This contract contains options, which if exercised, will bring the contract value to $86,602,374. Work will be performed worldwide and is expected to be completed by Nov. 3, 2019. If all options are exercised, work will continue through Nov. 4, 2023. Fiscal 2019 Navy working capital funds in the amount of $5,000 are obligated to cover the minimum-guarantee. Navy working capital funds will be obligated on individual delivery orders for the fiscal year when delivery orders are issued. This contract was competitively procured, with proposals solicited via the government-wide Point of Entry Federal Business Opportunities website, with four offers received in response to the solicitation. The Navy's Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N3220519D7000). (Awarded Nov. 2, 2018) General Dynamics Electric Boat Corp., Groton, Connecticut, is awarded a $13,888,444 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-09-C-2104 for planning and execution of USS Indiana (SSN 789) post-delivery work period. Work includes long-lead-time material procurement, in preparation to accomplish the maintenance, repair, alterations, testing and other work on USS Indiana. Work will be performed in Groton, Connecticut, and is expected to be completed by April 2019. Fiscal 2018 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $8,638,444 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Supervisor of Shipbuilding Conversion and Repair, Groton, Connecticut, is the contracting activity. The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is awarded $12,106,016 for modification P00003 to a previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract (N00019-18-C-1022) in support of the Infrared Search and Track (IRST) Block II Phase 2 non-recurring engineering effort. This modification incorporates an engineering development model and upgrades two sets of IRST Block I system weapon replacement assemblies. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida (73 percent); and St. Louis, Missouri (27 percent), and is expected to be completed in April 2022. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $6,500,000 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. *Small Business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1682676/
May 9, 2019 | International, Aerospace
By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab will build a T-X production facility in West Lafayette, Indiana, where it will manufacture its portion of the Air Force trainer jet it is developing with Boeing, the company announced Wednesday. The company plans to invest $37 million in the site, which will produce “major structural sections” and conduct final assembly of Saab's piece of the jet, according to a Saab news release. Then those elements will be sent to Boeing's facility in St. Louis, Missouri, to be mated with the rest of the trainer. Construction on the new facility will begin in 2020, and Saab intends to hire at least 300 full-time employees from the area during the initial years of the site's operation. The announcement, made Wednesday during a ceremony at West Lafayette-based Purdue University, fulfills a promise Saab officials made in 2017 to establish a new manufacturing center in the United States once the Boeing-Saab team had won the T-X contract. At the time, Saab President and CEO Håkan Buskhe said the company was still considering site locations, as well as whether to repurpose an existing production facility or construct a new campus. However, he was confident at least 90 percent of the jet could be made in the United States — an important qualifier under the Trump administration, which has touted “Buy American” policies. Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, Purdue University President Mitch Daniels and Buskhe attended the ceremony on Wednesday. “After careful consideration, we have chosen West Lafayette, thanks to the visionary leadership of both the State of Indiana and the world-leading Purdue University,” Buskhe said. “Today's announcement is a part of our growth strategy in the United States, and deepens our relationship with the U.S. customer. We see great possibilities here for this facility and our partnerships.” In addition to building the new facility, the Swedish company will partner with Purdue University, a hub of engineering talent in the Midwest, to conduct research on advances in sensors, artificial intelligence and autonomous technologies. During the ceremony, Buskhe noted the scope and level of investment of these activities has not been decided. Under the T-X program, Saab and Boeing will produce at least 351 trainers for the U.S. Air Force. The Navy and Marine Corps is also interested in buying the jet, and the Air Force is considering its use for simulating adversaries during combat and for light-attack missions — a prospect that could land the Saab-Boeing team additional sales in the hundreds. The Air Force awarded the $9.2 billion T-X contract to Saab and Boeing last year, and the service's first T-X squadron is expected to be operational in fiscal 2024. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2019/05/08/saab-to-build-new-t-x-plant-in-indiana/