Latvia cleared to buy Black Hawks

On the same subject

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  April 19, 2021 | International, Land

  Pencils up: Bids are due for Army’s Bradley replacement and it’s only the beginning

  Here's who will be competing in the initial design phase of the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle Competition.

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  July 19, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  Pentagon redirects $282M to close ISR gaps

  By: Nathan Strout The Department of Defense redirected more than $282 million to intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance programs in the past two months, largely from a defense-wide operation and maintenance account. The most recently approved reprogramming of $247 million was dated June 21. According to the Pentagon, the action aims to close ISR gaps in the combatant commands. The transfers go to a variety of programs, including artificial intelligence development and developing a bilateral network to share ISR data with strategic partners. In addition to the $247 million from operation and maintenance accounts, the June 21 reprogramming action also transfers $22.5 million to Special Operations Command. That money was made available after ending a program for a signals intelligence sensor effort that originally appeared in the fiscal year 2018 budget. About $13 million of that funding will now provide signals intelligence sensors for use on contractor airborne ISR systems, while another $6.5 million will go toward modernizing an undisclosed maritime ISR system. The remaining funding will go to acquiring and deploying six new sensitive compartmented information facilities. The June 21 reprogramming action follows a $12.25 million reprogramming action May 20. Then, about $7.9 million of that funding went to classified programs, while the remaining $4.3 million went to upgrading AI and machine learning processors in support of pattern of life analysis. Of the more than quarter of a billion dollars in transferred funding, the Army received $31 million, the Navy received $28.6 million, the Air Force received $77.6 million, and the remaining $144.8 million will be spent on defense-wide programs. Meanwhile, the Air Force has announced July 15 that Col. Julian Cheater will be the service's new director of ISR operations. Cheater will work under the deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and cyber effects operations, a position created recently as part of the Air Force's reorganization of it's ISR and cyber efforts. https://www.c4isrnet.com/intel-geoint/2019/07/16/pentagon-redirects-282m-to-close-isr-gaps/

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  June 21, 2019 | International, Land

  Following protest, US Army awards 6th contract for upgunned Stryker design

  By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army has awarded a sixth contract to EOS Defense Systems USA, Inc. to develop a design to integrate a new weapon system on a Stryker combat vehicle. The service originally announced it was awarding contracts to five companies, but following a protest filed by EOS, it reevaluated the company's proposal and determined it too should receive a contract, according to the Stryker project manager, Col. Glenn Dean, who spoke to Defense News in an interview this month. The company protested the Army's original decision through Army Contracting Command; upon review, Dean said, it was learned the proposal had not been “accurately assessed.” The sixth award was made June 5 and posted to the Federal Business Opportunities website. The Army made no follow-up announcement regarding the contract. EOS is an Australian-owned company focused on precise, remote weapon systems. The Army awarded $150,000 contracts to five companies on May 23 under its Stryker Medium Caliber Weapons System (MCWS) lethality program: General Dynamics Land Systems Kollsman, Inc. Leonardo DRS Raytheon Pratt & Miller Engineering and Fabrication, Inc. Defense News first reported in May that the Army had decided — after upgunning some of its Stryker vehicles with a 30mm cannon — that it would proceed to outfit at least three of its six brigades of double V-hull A1 Stryker infantry carrier vehicles with the more powerful guns and would hold a competition to acquire that weapon system. The companies have to come up with integration designs using a government-furnished XM813 gun on a government-furnished Stryker DVH A1 hull. The Army was prepared to award six contracts and had the money to bring EOS into the effort, Dean said. Despite the late award, EOS was able to jump into the effort and participated in contractor training on the Stryker and the 30mm cannon, which took place earlier this month, so the companies could take possession of the government-furnished equipment. The MCWS program will be carried out in two phases, which will culminate in equipping a Stryker DVH A1 brigade in fiscal 2022, according to the Army. As part of the design study, competitors will build a production-representative vehicle. The second phase will be a full and open competition to award a production contract. Draft requests for proposals will be released to industry beginning in fall 2019. The two phases, as well as fielding, are expected to take 39 months total — a short timeline. While the Army plans to initially procure three brigade sets of the Stryker MCWS DVH A1 — a total of 83 vehicles per brigade — the service could procure systems for additional brigades at future decision points, the Army said. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2019/06/20/following-protest-army-awards-6th-contract-for-upgunned-stryker-design/