Interview: Lockheed Martin Aeronautics EVP Michele Evans

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  July 16, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - July 15, 2019

  ARMY Lockheed Martin Corp., Grand Prairie, Texas, was awarded a $492,108,514 fixed-price-incentive contract for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems M142 launchers and support requirements to include Product Data Definition Package Maintenance, training, support equipment, qualification testing, initial spares/repair parts and software. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work will be performed in Camden, Arizona; Boca Raton, Florida; Budd Lake, New Jersey; Whippany, New Jersey; Dallas, Texas; Palm Bay, Florida; Archbald, Pennsylvania; York, Pennsylvania; Clearwater, Florida; Jackson, Mississippi; and Brownboro, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of May 30, 2023. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $66,404,293 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-19-C-0101). General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., Poway, California, was awarded a $275,000,000 hybrid (cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price) contract for aircraft, satellite communications air data terminals, universal ground data terminals, program management, and equipment maintenance and repair. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Poway, California, with an estimated completion date of July 30, 2021. Fiscal 2017, 2018 and 2019 aircraft procurement, Army funds in the amount of $275,000,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-19-C-0022). TetraTech, Arlington, Virginia, was awarded a $9,626,655 firm-fixed-price contract for biological and environmental services. Bids were solicited via the internet with four received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 2, 2031. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity (W912BU-19-D-0010). NAVY Manson/Connolly Seal Beach JV, Seattle, Washington, is being awarded an $88,147,000 firm-fixed-price contract for P-224 Causeway Boat Channel and Turning Basin and P-226 Ammunition Pier at Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach. The contract also contains five unexercised options and one planned modification, which if exercised would increase the cumulative contract value to $154,771,611. The work to be performed provides a public boat channel, naval ship channel and naval ship turning basin; ship mooring dolphins, excavation of above water moles, salvage and reuse of armor/riprap, paving, striping, signage, fencing, hauling and disposing of excess dredge material, placing fill for vehicle causeway and habitat enhancement; and constructing rock breakwater, rock armor shore protection, security structure and wharf improvements to support large deck amphibious ship ordnance operations. This project also includes relocating naval barge mooring buoys, installing marine navigation aids, utility infrastructure upgrades and communication infrastructure and security improvements. Work will be performed in Seal Beach, California, and is expected to be completed by June 2024. Fiscal 2019 military construction (Navy) funds for P-224 in the amount of $117,780,000 are obligated at the time of award, and the funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. When fiscal 2020 military construction (Navy) funds are available they will be obligated using one of the unexercised options for P-226. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website with two proposals received. Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N62473-19-C-2450). Huntington Ingalls Inc., Newport News, Virginia, is being awarded a $40,000,000 cost-plus-incentive-fee modification to previously awarded contract N00024-17-C-2105 for additional supplemental work for the refueling complex overhaul of USS George Washington (CVN 73). Work includes accomplishment of the overhaul, modernization, repair, maintenance and refueling. This modification provides additional funds required to support mandatory and essential work performed by Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News. All work is approved by the government and will ensure that the ship is returned to the fleet fully mission capable at redelivery. The supplemental refueling work for CVN 73 will be accomplished by Huntington Ingalls Inc., located in Newport News, Virginia, under the authority of 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1). Huntington Ingalls Inc. is the original building yard contractor for all ships of the CVN 68 class, the reactor planning yard, the lead design refueling yard and the only private shipyard capable of refueling and overhauling nuclear powered aircraft carriers. Therefore, it is the only source with the knowledge, experience and facilities required to accomplish this effort in support of the refueling of CVN 73 without an unacceptable disruption of Navy-wide overhaul and repair schedule. This additional effort will ensure that the ship is returned to the fleet fully mission capable at redelivery. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia, and is expected to complete by August 2021. Fiscal 2018 shipbuilding and construction (Navy) funding in the amount of $40,000,000 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Bethel-Webcor Pacific JV,* Anchorage, Alaska, is being awarded firm-fixed-price task order N6247319F4865 at $39,300,000 under a multiple award construction contract for a maritime skills training center at Naval Base San Diego. The task order also contains three unexercised options and one planned modification, which if exercised would increase cumulative task order value to $41,868,747. The work to be performed provides for converting a portion of Building 3304 to house computer simulator trainers to support the Surface Warfare Officers School's mission to train sea-bound warriors to serve on surface combatants as officers. The planned modification, if issued, provides for furniture, fixtures and equipment. The options, if exercised, provide for an electrical switch, fiber optic cable and new duct bank installation and removal of existing cages in a portion of the building. Work will be performed in San Diego, California, and is expected to be completed by December 2020. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance, (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $39,300,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Four proposals were received for this task order. Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N62473-18-D-5856). Keysight Technologies Inc., Englewood, Colorado, is being awarded a $9,850,400 indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract for up to 350 radio frequency vector signal generators in support of the Naval Air Systems Command's Metrology and Calibration Division. Work will be performed in Singapore, and is expected to be completed in January 2026. Fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $84,432 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposals; two offers were received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity (N6833519D0137). Bluewater Management Group LLC, Norfolk, Virginia (N3220519D2002), is being awarded a $7,926,050 indefinite-delivery, requirements contract for Customer Support Unit-West for civil service mariners' lodging and transportation. The contract includes a one-year base period with four, one-year option periods, which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $42,691,305. Work will be performed in San Diego, California, and is expected to be completed if all options are exercised by Sept. 30, 2024. Navy operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $7,926,050 are obligated for fiscal 2020 and will expire Oct. 1, 2020. This contract was competitively procured with proposals solicited via the Federal Business Opportunities website and five offers received. The U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command, headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N3220519D2002). Harris Corp., Rochester, New York, is being awarded a $7,392,098 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a base ordering period of one year for the refurbishment of Marine Corps Radio components associated with controlled cryptographic communications. This contract includes two one-year option ordering periods which, if exercised, could bring the cumulative value of this contract to $22,850,412. Work will be performed in Rochester, New York. Work is expected to be completed October 2020. If all options are exercised, work will continue through January 2023. Fiscal 2019 working capital (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,012,868 will be obligated on the first delivery order at the time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) - only one source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Marine Corps Logistics Command, Albany, Georgia, is the contracting activity for (M67004-19-D-0002). *Small Business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1905262/source/GovDelivery/

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  August 27, 2019 | International, Land

  Army Hopes Microsoft App Will Help Reduce Heavy Soldier Loads

  By Matthew Cox The Army is finalizing a new, web-based modeling app -- developed by Microsoft -- that will allow soldier equipment officials to see how hanging new pieces of kit on close-combat troops could affect a squad's performance. "For a long, long, long time, we have struggled with the ability to be able to show in a quantitative manner how a new component or an upgraded component will affect the effectiveness of a soldier and squad," John Howell, current lead for the Army's new Adaptative Squad Architecture effort, told an audience Tuesday. He spoke at the first industry day for what Army officials hope will lead to a new framework developing future capability sets for dismounted soldiers that are far lighter and more streamlined than today's assortment of tactical gear. While still in its early stages, the Architectural Assessment Tool is designed to be a collaborative tool for project managers and requirements officials to view digital models of soldiers kitted-out in current-issue gear to form a baseline. In a quick demo, Howell made a copy of the squad leader configuration baseline and then replaced his M4A1 with an M249 squad automatic weapon and the accessories needed for it. "This is where you start to get into a little bit of the quantitative assessment piece," he said, showing how the app immediately calculates the weight added from the change. "What you notice immediately is that this special squad leader now weighs 30 pounds more." It's a simple example, "but just to get to this point is quite a big step," Howell said. "In order to treat the soldier as an integrated weapons platform, this is the kind of thing you need to be able to do." Adaptive Squad Architecture is the latest attempt by the Army to treat the soldier as a complete system, breaking away from the long practice of developing individual pieces of equipment and fielding them. "We build the soldier out like a Christmas tree and our products are like ornaments, and we just continue to hang products off our soldiers until the soldier gets so heavy, they can't move," said Brig. Gen. Anthony Potts, head of Program Executive Office Soldier. Potts told the mix of small and large defense companies in attendance that the Army needs a new approach to developing capability sets of equipment that are much lighter than the roughly 120-pound loads dismounted infantrymen carry today. "If I can give you an architecture ... you can look at this and say, 'You know what? I've got an idea that I can combine three of those capabilities into one,'" Potts said. "Those three capabilities might weigh 4.5 today and you go, 'You know, I can bring it to one and I can bring it to you for 2.75 pounds.' "Let me tell you something, if you do that, you have my interest." In addition to the web-based assessment tool, the Army is also conducting evaluations that involve running infantry squads through tactical lanes at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, to build a database of performance data, Potts said. "We are doing a correlation of data on squad performance, how the individual data on that soldier relates to the individual performance and how it relates to the entire squad's performance," he said, adding that he is sending a five-member team to Afghanistan in October to embed with the 75th Ranger Regiment to do more data collection. "We want to be able to make data-driven decisions on some of the places we are going for in materiel development in the future," Potts said. Under the soldier lethality priority in the Army's new modernization strategy, the service is developing advanced new kit such as the Integrated Visual Augmentation System, or IVAS, a Microsoft technology that will let soldiers view their weapon's sight reticle and other tactical information through a pair of tactical glasses. The Army is also developing the Next Generation Squad Weapon, a replacement for the M4A1 and M249 that promises to offer significant weight savings on the weapon as well as the ammunition, Army officials have said. But Potts realizes that it's still up to commanders to decide how much weight their soldiers carry into battle. "A commander may believe that if we gave him 20% lighter ammunition or 30% lighter ammunition and he feels like the fight he's going into ... means he can take 20 or 30% [more ammo], that's a commander's call," he said. On the other hand, Potts said a commander may decide "I'm going up a hill at 90 degrees; I'm going to take that 30% weight savings because that's what I think is the most important thing to me." "I think what we are going to do is give commanders more options on what they can do with their formations that they have never had before, because the basic load that we will provide through the architecture will be lighter. ... As we draw down the weight of our body armor, draw down the weight of our ammunition, draw down the weight of our automatic weapons, you are going to free up space in there that's going to make it lighter," Potts said. https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/08/22/army-hopes-microsoft-app-will-help-reduce-heavy-soldier-loads.html

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  June 17, 2020 | International, Land

  Kratos Receives $46 Million Directed Energy Award in Support of U.S. Army

  San Diego, June 16, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: KTOS), a leading National Security Solutions provider, announced today that the Kratos Defense & Rocket Support Services (KDRSS) Division has been awarded a $46 million Other Transaction for Prototype Agreement (pOTA) to support the U.S. Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO). The new award has a three year period of performance. The prototype project is to establish a Directed Energy (DE) Testbed to accelerate military development capability in the focus areas of High Energy Laser (HEL) and/or High Power Microwave (HPM) systems. Air and Missile Defense (AMD) military utility will be demonstrated with a concentration on countering Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) using HEL and/or HPM on ground-based and airborne platforms. Additionally, this pOTA will perform research and experimentation related to DE test infrastructure and methodologies to improve the efficiency and accuracy of DE test programs. The project improves the ability to deploy HEL and HPM systems by providing test beds for evaluation of emerging, reduced Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) HEL and HPM systems. Work under this pOTA is anticipated to be performed at Kratos facilities and at government locations in Huntsville, AL. Dave Carter, President of the Kratos Defense & Rocket Support Services (KDRSS) Division, said, "This recent award is another important milestone in our commitment to continue providing superior advanced technology solutions that is in keeping with our long term strategic goals supporting the U.S. Army in advancing and developing improved Directed Energy Technologies. We are very pleased the U.S. Army has chosen Kratos to serve in this capacity." About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) develops and fields transformative, affordable technology, platforms and systems for United States National Security related customers, allies and commercial enterprises. Kratos is changing the way breakthrough technology for these industries are rapidly brought to market through proven commercial and venture capital backed approaches, including proactive research and streamlined development processes. Kratos specializes in unmanned systems, satellite communications, cyber security/warfare, microwave electronics, missile defense, hypersonic systems, training and combat systems, and next-generation turbojet and turbo-fan engine development. For more information, go to www.KratosDefense.com. Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are made on the basis of the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of the management of Kratos and are subject to significant risks and uncertainty. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and Kratos undertakes no obligation to update or revise these statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Although Kratos believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements involve many risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from what may be expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. For a further discussion of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the business of Kratos in general, see the risk disclosures in the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Kratos for the year ended December 29, 2019, and in subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K and other filings made with the SEC by Kratos. Press Contact: Yolanda White 858-812-7302 Direct Investor Information: 877-934-4687 investor@kratosdefense.com View source version on GlobeNewswire: http://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/06/16/2049122/0/en/Kratos-Receives-46-Million-Directed-Energy-Award-in-Support-of-U-S-Army.html