September 18, 2020 | International, Land

Army backs off idea to submit its own bid in Bradley replacement competition

WASHINGTON — The Army is backing off a plan for the service to submit its own bid to the Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle replacement competition after it indicated its intention to offer up its own design in a draft request for proposals posted in July.

The service tried once before to competitively solicit designs for its Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV) but ended up with just one offering after its requirements proved too onerous to industry and included a requirement to deliver a working prototype to the Army by October 2019.

In a statement sent to Defense News Sept. 17 from Ashley John, an Army spokeswoman, she said “As a result of industry feedback and continuous dialogue between Army senior leaders, the government will not submit a proposal in response to the OMFV RFP. A revision to the draft OMFV RFP was made today and deletes paragraph A.3.1 Interested Government Offeror in its entirety."

The Army's intention to develop its own bid was met with scrutiny as industry officials questioned whether the service could play the game after service leaders had already seen industry's cards during an earlier iteration of the competition. The move, many in industry thought, would have easily teed up protests.

With pressure to get the competitive process right this time in a program where the service plans to spend $4.6 billion from fiscal 2022 through FY26, it is turning to industry input earlier and more than ever.

Congress questioned Army leaders earlier this year on why it seemed the service did not pay attention to the signs or listen to industry and make adjustments before having to cancel its previous competition. First, BAE Systems, which manufactures the Bradley, decided not to compete due to unachievable requirements set within a very short timeline. Then the Army had to disqualify a Raytheon and Rheinmetall team because they couldn't get a physical bid sample to Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, in time.

The service, this time around, reviewed and analyzed over 500 industry comments in response to the draft RFP and will now spend several weeks providing responses to industry concerns, John said.

“As we continue to progress through the first-phase of our five-phased approach for the OMFV program, communication, inclusive feedback and innovative thinking from industry remains key,” John said.

The Army waded back into the OMFV effort with the release of a market survey in February that tapped industry for ideas on what a future vehicle might look like. The market survey itself asked companies to weigh in on what affected their decisions to participate in the previous OMFV competitive effort and how the Army might better engage with industry this time around.

Instead of providing a laundry list of requirements that when paired together became unachievable — especially when delivered over an ambitious fielding goal of 2026 — the Army will give industry roughly nine characteristics with which to work. The Army is also not requiring the delivery of physical bid samples in the first phase of competition.

The Army plans to release a final RFP in December, which will results in the award of up to five contracts in June 2021.

It appears likely that the Raytheon and Rheinmetall team and General Dynamics Land Systems will submit bids for the new competition. BAE Systems has not publicly said whether they plan to compete this time.

https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/09/17/army-backs-off-idea-to-submit-its-own-bid-in-bradley-replacement-competition/

On the same subject

July 17, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - July 16, 2020
AIR FORCE Transcend Technological Systems LLC, Prattville, Alabama, has been awarded a ceiling $485,000,000 single-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the Hill Enterprise Data Center (HEDC) – sustainment, modernization, and consolidation. This contract provides for sustainment and onboarding support for the HEDC and applications within the HEDC. Work will be performed at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, and expected to be completed July 15, 2027. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and eight offers were received. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $2,500 will be obligated on the first task order, which will be awarded immediately after the basic contract. Air Force Sustainment Center Hill AFB, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8201-20-D-0001). NAVY Kanto Kosan Co. LTD, Kanagawa, Japan (N62649-20-D-0012); and Seaon Environmental LLC, Tempe, Arizona (N62649-20-D-0013), are awarded a not-to-exceed $35,201,535 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple-award contract that will include terms and conditions for the placement of firm-fixed-price task orders to provide oily wastewater purification services. This will include providing an oily water disposal barge, arranging oil/chemical separating barge consisting of a receiving tank, oil collecting tank, and a minimum of three settling tanks and purifying collected water/oil and discharge to the sea in accordance with applicable regulations in support of the U.S. Naval Ship Repair Facility and Japan Regional Maintenance Center, Yokosuka and Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka Port Operations. Work will be performed at Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Yokosuka, Japan. The contracts will run concurrently and will include a one-year base ordering period with four one-year option ordering periods. The initial ordering period will continue until July 2021; if all options are exercised, the final ordering period will be completed by July 2025. The total estimated value of the contracts will be $65,000,000. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) (OMN) funds in the amount of $100,000 ($50,000 on each of the two contracts) will be obligated at time of award and funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Annual OMN funds will be obligated as individual task orders are issued. This contract resulted from a full and open competitive solicitation and the requirement was posted to the Asia Navy Electronic Commerce Online and the Federal Business Opportunities websites, with two offers received. Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Yokosuka, Contracting Department, Yokosuka, Japan, is the contracting activity. Raytheon Missiles and Defense, Tucson, Arizona, is awarded a $15,296,009 cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-17-C-5410 to exercise options for engineering and technical services and obsolescence solution in support of Standard Missile-2/6. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona, and is expected to be completed by June 2021. This contract combines purchases for the U.S. government (68.2%); and the governments of Australia, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Spain, Netherlands and Denmark (31.8% combined), under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. This contract also combines purchases for other Department of Defense funds (47.2%); FMS programs (31.8%); and the Navy (21%). Fiscal 2020 other Department of Defense funds; 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds; fiscal 2020 weapons procurement (Navy) funds; and FMS funds in the amount of $15,296,009 will be obligated at the time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. Beckman Coulter Inc., Brea, California, is awarded a $14,916,335 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract is for the production, test and delivery of up to 800 particle counter units to replace all existing obsolete units currently in use throughout the Navy and Marine Corps fleet. These units will provide the fleet's intermediate maintenance level technicians a mechanism for measuring particle contamination in fluids from aircraft government support equipment in hangars and depots in support of the Navy Hydraulic Contamination Program. Work will be performed in Loveland, Colorado (75%); and Brea, California (25%), and is expected to be completed by June 2026. 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-0031). B.C. Schmidt Construction Inc.,* Colusa, California, is awarded a $10,000,000 maximum amount, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for new flooring work, additions, alterations, maintenance and repairs at various locations within Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton and Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, California. The work to be performed provides for the minimal design, installation, supervision, equipment, material, labor and all means necessary for new work. No task orders are being issued at this time. The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months and work is expected to be completed by July 2025. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) (O&M, N) contract funds in the amount of $2,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by military construction (Navy); O&M, N; and O&M (Marine Corps). This contract was competitively procured via the beta.SAM.gov contract opportunities website and three proposals were received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N62473-20-D-1117). ARMY Carahsoft Technology, Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $29,837,009 firm-fixed-price contract for movement of the logistics modernization program to the cloud. Bids were solicited via the internet with 11 received. Work will be performed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of July 15, 2021. Fiscal 2020 other procurement (Army) funds in the amount of $29,837,009 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W52P1J-20-F-0419). Scientific Research Corp., Atlanta, Georgia, was awarded a $28,543,191 hybrid (cost-no-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee) contract to provide a full spectrum of support to the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex at Eielson Air Force Base. 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 July 15, 2021. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity (W900KK-20-F-0120). HDR Architecture Inc., Seattle, Washington, was awarded a $21,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract to provide architectural and engineering services in support of planned construction projects at the Veteran Administration American Lake Campus. Bids were solicited via the internet with eight received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of July 16, 2028. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle, Washington, is the contracting activity (W912DW-20-D-1003). CORRECTION: The contract announced on June 15, 2020, for General Dynamics Land Systems, Sterling Heights, Michigan (W56HZV-20-F-0382), for $249,000,000 should have included this additional sentence: The initial delivery order is being awarded under this action to obligate $14.1 million to provide field service representative support for remaining test events, data deliverables, refurbishment of test systems, production of 24 S-MET systems, associated authorized stock list kits and prescribed stock list kits. *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2277243/source/GovDelivery/
November 1, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

UK: Defence and Security Accelerator funding competitions
Details of our current, future and past funding competitions. Published 8 December 2016 Last updated 30 October 2018 — see all updates From: Defence and Security Accelerator and Ministry of Defence Contents Events and market interest activities (Open) Themed competitions (open now for application) Themed competitions (opening for applications soon) Past events and market interest activities (closed) Past themed competitions (closed) You can submit a Defence and Security Accelerator proposal either to our Open Call for Innovation or in response to the technical challenges in a specific themed competition, as detailed below. You can submit your themed competition proposal online once the full detailed competition document is published. Summary competition documents may be published a few weeks in advance of full competition document releases. Events and market interest activities (Open) Maximising Human Performance - Market Exploration 18 October 2018 DASA dial in event: many drones make light work competition 18 October 2018 Themed competitions (open now for application) The competitions below are in order of closing date, earliest at the top. Competition: predictive cyber analytics 6 September 2018 Competition: Biosensing across wide areas 31 August 2018 Competition: stopping it in its tracks 28 September 2018 Competition: Don't Blow It! Safely eliminating chemical and biological munitions on the battlefield 9 October 2018 Competition: many drones make light work phase 3 18 October 2018 Competition: Behavioural Analytics for Defence and Security 11 October 2018 Themed competitions (opening for applications soon) Please note we publish these summary documents ahead of publishing the full detailed competition documents to give potential applicants early information on the competition. Full documents are typically published within a couple of weeks of the summary documents. The competitions below are in order of closing date, earliest at the top. Competition: Tackling Knife Crime in the UK 30 October 2018 https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/defence-and-security-accelerator-funding-competitions
May 7, 2019 | International, Naval, Security

Coast Guard commandant talks domestic challenges and threats in the Arctic
By: Jeff Martin and Geoff Ziezulewicz From home port inspections to transiting the Taiwan Strait, down to Antarctica and through riverine waterways, the Coast Guard has arguably the most diverse mission set of the armed services. But despite these responsibilities, the Coast Guard remains a red-headed stepchild of sorts, a military branch that falls under the Department of Homeland Security. That designation resulted in a lack of payment for Coasties during the 35-day government shutdown of December 2018 and January 2019. But in a chat during the 2019 Sea-Air-Space conference, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz said his service is back on track, even as it grapples with the same readiness challenges faced by other services. He also opined on why the Arctic matters more than ever, as well as the difference between the current heavy icebreaker and the coming polar security cutter. The Coast Guard was hit hard during the government shutdown. What is the service doing to recover? The shutdown was a shutdown. Obviously going 35 days without pay was tough on our members. Not having appropriations challenged us from a readiness standpoint. I think we have recovered. Some of the things like boat maintenance periods, dry dock availabilities, we lost some calendar days on that. That's tough. But going forward, the Coast Guard's ready to do the nation's business. What's the main message you try to convey to lawmakers on Capitol Hill regarding the last shutdown's impact on the Coast Guard? I've been on the same message since I did my Hill visits before my confirmation hearing in April 2018. The Coast Guard's challenge is readiness. In a budgeting environment we've been flatlined for the good part of eight-plus years. The president rolled out a conversation about national security. It's fantastic and good for [the Department of Defense], they got a 12 percent [funding] bump in 2018. Being in DHS, we weren't part of that conversation. We are a capital-intensive organization like the other armed forces, and we've got some bills. We've got some maintenance we've been kicking the can on, so since before I even assumed the duties of commandant I've been having this conversation about the readiness of the Coast Guard and testified recently about being at a readiness tipping point. We just need to enhance the understanding, the fact that it's a readiness conversation. We need to take ownership of it, and I need to convince folks that this is important for the nation. Your predecessor hammered the need for icebreaker capacity. Where is the Coast Guard at regarding its next icebreaker? Two weeks ago today, we award the contract to [VT Halter Marine] down in Mississippi to build the first polar security cutter. We used to talk about heavy icebreakers, now we talk about a polar security cutter. We just rolled out in April what we call the Arctic Strategic Outlook. It's a refresh on what was our Arctic strategic plan in 2013. We talk about the Arctic through a different lens now. We talk about the Arctic as a competitive space. We've seen China, we see Russia investing extensively. China built icebreakers in the time since we updated our strategy. China's been operating off the Alaskan Arctic for a good part of the last six years on an annual basis. We're championing increased capabilities in the Arctic, we're championing better communications, better domain awareness, we're talking about innovation, we're talking about resiliency, we're talking about rule-based order. I want to see the Arctic remain a peaceful domain. China's a self-declared Arctic state. They're not one of the eight Arctic nations, so for me, for the service, its presence equals influence. Right now, with one 43-year-old heavy icebreaker, Polar Star, that ship is basically a one-trick pony. It goes down to [McMurdo Station, the U.S. scientific outpost in Antarctica] every year and does the breakout, so the National Science Foundation can maintain their operations down there. The first polar security cutter, which probably hits the waterfront late 2023, 2024, is going to be almost a one for one. It's when we get to the second or third polar security cutter that we start to have some capacity. And again, presence equals influence. I'd like to see us in the Arctic, I'm not saying a fully annual basis, but on a lot more persistent presence up there. That's where we need to be as a nation. What's the difference between today's heavy icebreaker and the future polar security cutter? It's a designation change, it's the lexicon of adding “security” to the title. We thought it was more artful to capture the reflecting reality in how we talk about that ship. I think that narrative helped raise the bar in understanding. https://www.defensenews.com/news/your-navy/2019/05/06/coast-guard-commandant-talks-domestic-challenges-and-threats-in-the-arctic

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