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  February 17, 2021 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - February 16, 2021

  AIR FORCE LinQuest Corp., Los Angeles, California, has been awarded a $200,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity for advisory and assistance services in support of Space Operations Command. Work will be performed at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, and is expected to be completed Feb. 28, 2030. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and one offer was received. Fiscal 2021 Space Force operation and maintenance funds in the amount $12,730,301 are being obligated at the time of award. Space Operations Command/Space Acquisition Management – Directorate, Peterson AFB, Colorado, is the contracting activity (FA2518-21-D-0001). U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND Reservoir International LLC, Fayetteville, North Carolina, was awarded a $200,000,000 maximum indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (H92239-21-D-0001) for Army Special Operations Forces training support services in support of the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and 1st Special Warfare Training Group. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $3,449,752 are being obligated at the time of award. The work will be performed in the vicinity of Camp MacKall, North Carolina, until January 2026. The contract was awarded competitively among service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses with nine proposals received. U.S. Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE HEALTH AGENCY Valor Network Inc., Metuchen, New Jersey (HT0015-21-D-0001), was awarded a $73,532,325 fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide professional diagnostic radiology interpretive services to the Military Health System (MHS). The base year amount of the contract is $13,369,448. The contract has four 12-month option periods. This enterprise contract is to support the continued implementation of the MHS organizational reform required by 10 U.S. Code § 1073c, and sections 711 and 712 of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2019, effective Oct. 25, 2019, which eliminated separate silos of military healthcare and officially integrated healthcare under the authority, direction, and control of the Defense Health Agency, consistent with the direction provided by the secretary of defense. This contract was a competitive acquisition with eight proposals received. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $13,369,448 are being obligated at time of award. The Defense Health Agency, Enterprise Medical Support Contracting Division, San Antonio, Texas, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Feb. 12, 2021) ARMY General Dynamics Land Systems, Sterling Heights, Michigan, was awarded a $20,652,845 modification (P00127) to contract W56HZV-17-C-0067 for Abrams systems technical support. Work will be performed in Sterling Heights, Michigan, with an estimated completion date of June 22, 2022. Fiscal 2010 Foreign Military Sales (Kuwait) funds; fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Army) funds; and fiscal 2019, 2020 and 2021 other procurement (Army) funds in the amount of $20,652,845 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity. Raytheon Co., Dulles, Virginia, was awarded an $8,220,193 modification (P00042) to contract W52P1J-16-C-0046 for multinational information sharing services. Work will be performed in Kuwait, with an estimated completion date of July 15, 2021. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $1,895,193 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity. Carbro Constructors Corp.,* Hillsborough, New Jersey, was awarded a $7,773,175 modification (P00004) to contract W912DS-19-C-0035 for construction of flood-control measures for Green Brook Segment C1. Work will be performed in Middlesex, New Jersey, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 13, 2021. Fiscal 2010 civil construction funds in the amount of $7,773,175 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, New York, is the contracting activity. *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2504777/source/GovDelivery/

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  July 22, 2020 | International, C4ISR

  To be competitive in 5G, the US must play offense, not defense

  Joel Thayer , Harold Feld , and Daniel Hoffman The Department of Defense and the Department of Transportation are far from the first to try to upend an independent agency's proceeding. However, these executive agencies have been far more aggressive than normal in that pursuit in response to the Federal Communications Commission's April 20 Ligado decision. This dispute significantly compromises the United States' leadership in global markets — by both undermining domestic initiatives and by undercutting our policy positions internationally. The recent dispute concerning Ligado pits the DoD and DOT on one side, and the Federal Communications Commission, the State Department and Attorney General Bill Barr on the other. This dispute involves the FCC's unanimous decision to grant new wireless entrant Ligado's request to modify its licenses to provide a national, low-power 5G network for Internet of Things services. The Ligado decision took nearly two decades, all told. It is not overstating to say that what should be a straightforward engineering decision has devolved into a watershed moment that, if Congress doesn't act, may prevent the U.S. from deploying 5G at a rate greater or equal to China or other international sovereigns. Worse, it will deprive Americans of competition, wireless innovation and related economic growth for years to come. IoT enabled by 5G will revolutionize everything from precision agriculture to self-driving cars. By focusing exclusively on IoT, Ligado can expedite the deployment of this technology while traditional wireless carriers focus on building out consumer-oriented 5G networks. This will accelerate deployment of 5G networks and introduce competition into the nascent IoT market. This is why Barr (whose Antitrust Division concentrates on competition) and the State Department (which wants to see the U.S. retain wireless leadership in global markets) have supported the FCC's decision. Ostensibly, the DoD and DOT say that Ligado will interfere with sensitive GPS operations. But its rationale does not survive even casual scrutiny. In recent weeks, internal emails from the DoD have surfaced showing that at least some of the DoD's own spectrum experts categorically agreed with the FCC that Ligado posed no threat, but were overruled by their superiors. The real issue is that the DoD and DOT are the largest and most powerful federal spectrum users. Any growth in 5G will require them to make further adjustments. Oddly, neither agency operates near Ligado's spectrum, and yet they seek to impede Ligado's ability to innovate in it. Put simply, Ligdao is just the unlucky party caught in the middle of their broader interagency spectrum fight. Congress made the FCC an independent, expert agency to prevent precisely this kind of situation. One of the most important reasons the FCC even exists is to set uniform rules for commercial wireless networks so that equipment can interoperate and companies can innovate, which ensures consumers ultimately reap the benefits of their products. Unfortunately, the Senate and House Armed Services committees intend to end run the agency by including provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act that, in effect, prevent stakeholders that work with the Defense Department — either directly or indirectly — from using Ligado's network, which includes just about every major company in America. The U.S. squabbling with itself only yields an uncontested “win” for China. Our competitors are coordinated and not stumbling over themselves on petty spectrum disputes. They are certainly not waiting for the United States government to get its act together. To the contrary, as the House Appropriations Committee observed in its report on the FCC's budget: “The U.S. is falling behind other countries in the allocation of [5G] spectrum.” Chinese-owned companies Huawei and ZTE have already bought up significant wireless infrastructure for its 5G networks across the globe and have begun deploying IoT services in the same or similar bands the FCC authorized for Ligado. If that happens, it's China that sets the terms for 5G, which adversely affects our nation's security given China's penchant for international data aggregation. Upending the FCC would hand China a nearly insurmountable advantage in the race to 5G. Also, if Congress sides with the DoD and DOT instead of observing the FCC's 17-year-long rigorous testing and analysis, which included that of the DOT's and the Defense Department's own spectrum experts, then the FCC will be effectively paralyzed going forward. Congress needs to put a stop to these games before they do permanent damage and let the FCC do its job. Joel Thayer focuses his practice on telecommunications, regulatory and transaction matters, as well as privacy and cybersecurity issues. Harold Feld has worked in telecommunications law for more than 20 years. He is senior vice president of Public Knowledge, a 501(c) that advocates for policies to expand broadband access. Public Knowledge has provided support for Ligado several times in the FCC proceeding. Ligado sponsors its IP3 award at the $5,000 level. Daniel Hoffman worked in the CIA, where he was a three-time station chief and a senior executive clandestine services officer. He has been a Fox News contributor since May 2018. https://www.c4isrnet.com/opinion/2020/07/23/to-be-competitive-in-5g-the-us-must-play-offense-not-defense/

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  September 28, 2018 | International, Naval, Land

  Is this the Marine Corps' next amphibious combat vehicle?

  By: Todd South MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. ― The winner of a contract to develop the Marine Corps new amphibious combat vehicle, the first of its kind in four decades, showcased a potential variant that would give commanders eyes on all areas of the littoral battlefield, on-board drones and targeted hand offs to any ACV in their formations. BAE Systems guided reporters through the interior of the vehicle, on display at this year's Modern Day Marine Expo in Quantico, Virginia, on Tuesday. The variant isn't one that the Marines have yet requested, but John Swift, program director for BAE's amphibious vehicles, said the model was an effort to showcase what's possible with the new vehicle. Marines selected the BAE version earlier this year over SAIC's proposed vehicle. Swift noted that decision keeps BAE as the sole company providing such vehicles to the Corps since 1941. They've got to build 30 vehicles by the end of next summer, Swift said. Those vehicles will then go through testing before modifications and the composition of the fleet is decided. Marines want at least two variants as production begins in the next two years: a turreted assault vehicle and a command and control vehicle. As of now, the Corps' official numbers call for 704 ACVs for the fleet when full rate production begins in 2022. That number is planned to be completed within six years, Swift said. The composition of the fleet is still undecided, so the initial 30 vehicles delivered for testing will be basic platforms. But that was before an announcement reported by Defense News this week that the survivability upgrade contract for the existing AAV fleet of an estimated 392 AAVs was cancelled. The move is in line with larger National Defense Strategy aims to ramp up modernization by prioritizing money for those programs rather than legacy platforms. Marine Corps Program Executive Office for Land Systems spokesman Manny Pacheco told reporters at this week's expo that the early version, or ACV 1.1 outperformed expectations and delivery of the new vehicles would not take much longer than the planned upgrades, which could shorten the calendar. The deliveries were about six months apart, he said. Meaning that the brand-new vehicles would arrives shortly after the upgraded vehicles were planned. Swift and Pacheco said separately that the ACV 1.1 was able to both launch and recover, meaning return to ship. That wasn't an expectation until later versions, which sped up the capability development of the new vehicle, giving the Marines other options in how they would pursue modernizing the fleet. In a question and answer posting about the ACV by the Marine Corps Combat Development Command, officials at the time said they would continue the upgrade program even if the early ACV versions achieved a “self-deployable capability.” The posting noted that the upgraded AAVs will “address capability gaps that need to be closed as soon as possible.” It went on to say that the aged AAV fleet also accounts for one-third of the Corps' lift capacity and “will need to remain operationally effective in the force until their replacements are procured.” Later in production there's also interest in building a recovery ACV, Swift said.https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2018/09/27/is-this-the-marine-corps-next-amphibious-combat-vehicle The new ACV has a host of differences and capabilities not on the more than 40-year-old AAVs but most immediately noticeable is it is an eight-wheeled vehicle. Gone are the treads of the tracked AAV. When asked about tire performance by reporters, Swift said that in testing the ACV was able to travel another 30 km with three debilitated tires. The same questions and answers list had several reasons for wheels over tracks: Greater mobility in complex, littoral terrain; • Increased IED protection (2X). • Reduced fuel consumption (