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January 11, 2024 | International, Aerospace

How the US replaced Russia’s RD-180 engine, strengthening competition

Opinion: The Vulcan launch and engine development should be considered a success story for U.S. industrial policy.

https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/2024/01/11/how-the-us-replaced-russias-rd-180-engine-strengthening-competition/

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  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - July 1, 2019

    July 2, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - July 1, 2019

    ARMY Cardno GS Inc., Charlottesville, Virginia (W91278-19-D-0027); AECOM Technical Services Inc., Los Angeles, California (W91278-19-D-0025); Atkins North America Inc., Dallas, Texas (W91278-19-D-0026); HDR Environmental, Operations and Construction Inc., Englewood, Colorado (W91278-19-D-0028); Tetra Tech Inc., Fairfax, Virginia (W91278-19-D-0031); Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Dallas, Texas (W91278-19-D-0029) and Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia (W91278-19-D-0030) will compete for each order of the $49,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for architect and engineering services. Bids were solicited via the internet with 12 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of June 30, 2022. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Hughes Network Systems LLC, Germantown, Maryland, was awarded an $11,823,659 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the research and development effort to research solutions, prototype products and demonstrate solutions that include machine learning to improve transport and network performance availability and reliability. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work will be performed in Germantown, Maryland, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 30, 2023. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,863,123 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W56KGU-19-C-0016). Techwerks LLC,* Arlington Heights, Illinois, was awarded an $8,920,153 modification (P00018) to contract W911QY-17-C-0101 for labor, other direct costs and travel in support of Walter Reid Army Institute of Research Behavioral Health Readiness and Suicide Risk Reduction Review. Work will be performed in Arlington Heights, Illinois, with an estimated completion date of July 1, 2020. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $4,863,077 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military, Bethesda, Maryland, was awarded an $8,168,074 modification (P00005) to contract W81XWH-18-C-0337 to provide diagnostic and clinical research support. Work will be performed in Silver Spring, Maryland, with an estimated completion date of June 30, 2023. Fiscal 2019 Defense Health Program funds in the amount of $6,834,794 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, Fort Detrick, Maryland, is the contracting activity. NAVY The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is awarded a $42,875,328 fixed-price-incentive delivery order (N00019-19-F-2412) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-16-G-0001). This order provides for the procurement of 48 trailing edge flaps for F/A-18 aircraft. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri (72%); Lucerne Switzerland (20%); Paramount, California (5%); Hot Springs, Arkansas (3%), and is expected to be completed in June 2021. Fiscal 2018 and 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $42,875,328 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. Lockheed Martin Corp., Rotary and Mission Systems, Moorestown, New Jersey, is awarded a $7,120,812 cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee, and firm-fixed-price contract for Combat System Ship Integration and Test on Guided Missile Frigate (FFG(X)) new-construction ships. The work executed under this contract includes combat system (CS) ship integration engineering support and test planning, conducting a waterfront CS ship integration and test program, post-delivery engineering support to government test teams, engineering services for CS ship integration and test and developing test program documents for FFG(X) ships. This contract includes options, which if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $124,980,289. Work will be performed at the FFG(X) ship builder location (70 percent) and Moorestown, New Jersey (30 percent), and is expected to be complete in June 2025. If all options are exercised, work will continue through July 2029. Fiscal 2019 research development test and evaluation (Navy) funding in the amount of $1,000,000 will be obligated at the time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with three offers received. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N00024-19-C-5602). AIR FORCE CACI Technologies Inc., Chantilly, Virginia, has been awarded a $34,837,804 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for software agility and resiliency software/hardware. This contract provides for the development of technology and methods to test and evaluate the effectiveness of virtual infrastructure with regard to malware analysis and mission assurance and web-based mission management functionality integration with current operational systems. Work will be performed in Rome, New York, and is expected to be completed by June 30, 2024. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and two offers were received. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,150,000 are being obligated at time of award. The Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome, New York, is the contracting activity (FA8750-19-C-0014). The Design Knowledge Co.,* Fairborn, Ohio, has been awarded a $15,000,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for Advanced Visualization, Automation and Novel Computing Enterprise (ADVANCE). This contract provides for the Small Business Innovation Research Phase III effort that extends the previous Phase I and Phase III efforts by adding in other relevant algorithms, automation, cloud based integrations, full-spectrum workflows, advanced visualization, models and simulation to increase the technology readiness levels by testing and validating the ADVANCE system within a relevant environment of live set networks. Work will be performed at Fairborn, Ohio; and Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, and is expected to be completed by September 2025. This award is derived from, extends or completes efforts made under prior SBIR funding agreements and is authorized under 10 U.S. Code 2034(b)(2) or 41 U.S. Code 3303(b). Fiscal 2019 research development test and evaluation funds in the amount of $592,000 are being obligated at time of award. The Air Force Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles directorate, Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico, is the contracting activity (FA9453-19-C-0038). LinQuest Corp., Los Angeles, California, has been awarded a $12,824,336 cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price modification (P00098) to previously awarded contract FA8808-13-C-0009 for systems integration and engineering services. The contract modification provides for the extension of the period of performance of the current contract for a period of two months of services. This two month extension is to ensure continuity of services and provide the required 60-day transition period as a result of the delay in the award of the competitive follow-on contract. Work will be performed at Los Angeles Air Force Base, and is expected to be completed by Aug. 31, 2019. Fiscal 2017 procurement; 2018 research and development; and 2019 procurement; operations and maintenance; and research and development funds in the amount of $6,259,555 are being obligated at the time of award. Los Angeles Air Force Base Space and Missile Systems Center Missile Systems Center, Military Satellite Communications Systems Directorate, Los Angeles, California, is the contracting activity. Raytheon Co., Dulles, Virginia, has been awarded $8,045,715 modification (P00004) to previously awarded firm-fixed price contract FA4890-17-C-0014 for persistent surveillance and dissemination system of systems and mission video distribution system services. This modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract from $15,626,799 to $23,672,514. Work will be performed at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina; and Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, and is expected to be completed by July 31, 2022. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $4,022,857 are being obligated at time of award. Headquarters ACC, Acquisition Management and Integration Center, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, is the contracting activity. AECOM Management Services Inc., Germantown, Maryland, has been awarded a $7,497,087 firm-fixed-price, task order (FA8131-19-F-0002) to previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract FA8131-18-D-0001 for contractor logistics support of the Air National Guard's C-26 Fleet. This task order is to provide sustainment and engineering support for the current fleet of 11 aircraft. Work will be performed at Fresno, California; Clarksburg, West Virginia; Kirtland, New Mexico; Meridian, Mississippi; Ellington Field, Texas; Des Moines, Iowa; Fairchild, Washington; Tucson, Arizona; Madison, Wisconsin and Montgomery, Alabama, and is expected to be completed by June 30, 2020. Fiscal 2019 Air National Guard operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $7,497,087 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Exelan Pharmaceuticals Inc., Boca Raton, Florida, has been awarded a maximum $8,080,106 firm-fixed-price requirements contract for Budesonide Inhalation Suspension. This is a one-year base contract with four one-year option periods. This was a competitive acquisition with two responses received. Locations of performance are Florida and India, with a June 30, 2020, performance completion date. Using customers are Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, Indian Health Services and Federal Bureau of Prisons. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency, Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2D2-19-D-0075). *Small business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1893327/source/GovDelivery/

  • Ukraine lures Western weapons makers to transform defence industry | Reuters

    October 1, 2023 | International, Naval

    Ukraine lures Western weapons makers to transform defence industry | Reuters

    President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday he wants to turn Ukraine's defence industry into a "large military hub" by partnering with Western weapons manufacturers to increase arms supplies for Kyiv's counteroffensive against Russia.

  • Raytheon Unveils Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile Project

    September 16, 2019 | International, Aerospace

    Raytheon Unveils Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile Project

    Steve Trimble Raytheon has unveiled an internally funded program to develop a new air-to-air missile called Peregrine that combines the reach of the medium-range AIM-120 and the maneuverability of the short-range AIM-9X, but in a smaller form factor to increase the magazine depth of tactical aircraft. The unveiling of a Peregrine mockup on Sept. 16 at the Air Force Association's annual National Convention in Washington comes just three months after U.S. Air Force officials confirmed the ongoing development of the Lockheed Martin AIM-260, which is intended to replace the AIM-120 with a longer-range missile of the same length. The Peregrine missile is being pitched to U.S. and international customers that want AIM-120 performance in a smaller package to double missile loads in the internal weapon bays of stealth fighters or triple the magazine depth on the external weapon stations of nonstealth aircraft, says Mark Noyes, vice president of business development and strategy for Raytheon Missile Systems. “What we see it as is a complement to our [AIM-120] Amraam and AIM-9X,” Noyes says Raytheon's internal development project follows the introduction of multiple weapons boasting longer range than the nearly three-decade-old AIM-120 design. In addition to the MBDA Meteor, the PL-15 is being developed by China and the Vympel K-77M has been ordered by the Russian government. The Peregrine also fits into a new category typified by the 2013 unveiling of Lockheed Martin's Cuda concept, which offered the Air Force a missile with AIM-120-like range—or slightly better—in a package half the size and weight. The Cuda received support from an Air Force Research Laboratory project called Small Advanced Capabilities Missile. Raytheon lists the Peregrine with a length of 6 ft. (1.8 m) and a total weight of about 150 lb. (68 kg), or roughly half the length and mass of the 12-ft., 335-lb. AIM-120. Although Peregrine shares a common stature with Lockheed's Cuda concept, there are distinct differences. Lockheed designed the Cuda as a hit-to-kill weapon, but the Peregrine destroys the target with a blast-fragmentation warhead. The missile is guided to the target with a “multimode autonomous seeker,” says Noyes, but he declined to elaborate. A multimode guidance system places the Peregrine in a different category than the radar-guided AIM-120 and infrared homing AIM-9X. It could more closely reflect the multimode guidance system installed in the Raytheon/Rafael Stunner surface-to-air missile, which combines radar and infrared sensors into a dolphin nose-shaped radome. A “new, high-performance propulsion section” will accelerate the Peregrine to supersonic speed to achieve potentially slightly better range than the AIM-120, but Noyes declined to describe the specific type of propulsion technology selected for the new missile. Several options are available to modern missile designers. The Stunner uses a multipulse rocket motor, while the MBDA powers the Meteor missile with a ramjet-augmented rocket. Missile developers also have been experimenting with new propellant technologies, including exotic gels. Even at a range equivalent to that of the AIM-120, the Peregrine should provide similar endgame maneuverability as the super agile AIM-9X, Noyes says. “It will go supersonic and that's attributable to that new lightweight airframe and high-performance modular control system,” he says. “That permits it [to] go and do incredible maneuvers, especially at the endgame where it's needed most.” How long Raytheon has been developing the Peregrine is not clear. In a blow to Raytheon's hopes to deliver the successor of the AIM-120, the Air Force awarded the AIM-160 development contract to Lockheed in 2017. Raytheon filed a trademark application for a new guided missile called Peregrine on Aug. 14, 2018. The company is testing components and is “seeing tremendous progress,” Noyes adds. “We are making a commitment to mature this so our service customers will resonate with its capabilities and demonstrated performance,” he says. https://aviationweek.com/defense/raytheon-unveils-medium-range-air-air-missile-project

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