Le Pentagone diminue de 35% sa commande de F-35 pour 2023

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  July 15, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - July 12, 2019

  NAVY DLT Solutions LLC, Herndon, Virginia, is being awarded a multiple-award, firm-fixed-price Department of Defense (DoD) Enterprise Software Initiative (ESI) blanket purchase agreement (BPA) in accordance with the firms General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule contracts. The agreement is part of a multi-reseller/multi-software publisher software category management award for commercial-off-the-shelf software; information technology asset management software; software maintenance support; information technology professional services; and related services in support of DoD ESI and under the direction of Office of Management and Budget, Enterprise Software Category. The software publishers are: Appdynamics, Archibus, Cloudbees, Flexera and Polyverse. The BPA provides for purchase of these products and services by the DoD, U.S. intelligence community and the Coast Guard. The overall estimated value of this BPA category is $820,450,000. The ordering period will be for a maximum of 10 years from July 12, 2019, through July 11, 2029. This BPA is issued under DoD ESI in accordance with the policy and guidelines in the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement, Section 208.74. This BPA will not obligate funds at the time of award. Funds will be obligated as task orders using operations and maintenance DoD funds. Requirements will be competed among the awardees in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 8.403-3(c)(2), and the successful contractor will receive firm fixed-price orders. This BPA was competitively procured via the GSA E-Buy web site among 679 vendors. Four offers were received and four were selected for award. Naval Information Warfare Center, Pacific, is the contracting activity (N66001-19-A-0045). Air New Zealand Gas Turbines, Auckland, New Zealand (N64498-19-D-4028); and MTU Maintenance Brandenburg-Berlin, Ludwigsburg, Germany (N64498-19-D-4029), were both awarded a $70,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity, firm-fixed-priced contract for the commercial depot-level overhaul of up to 24 L0M2500 paired blade turbine gas generators. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division, requires the commercial depot level overhaul of Navy, Coast Guard, Military Sealift Command and Foreign Military Navy LM2500 paired blade turbine gas generators, National Stock Number 2S 2835-01-032-9125. The two contractors may compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the awarded contracts. Work under the Air New Zealand Gas Turbines contract will be completed at the contractor's facilities in Auckland, New Zealand, and is expected to be completed by June 2023. Work under the MTU Maintenance Brandenburg-Berlin contract will be completed at the contractor's facilities in Ludwigsfelde, Germany, and is expected to be completed by June 2023. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the total amount of $5,740,811 will be obligated at time of award and will 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 Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity. (Awarded July 10, 2019) C&C Power Solutions LLC,* Columbus, Georgia, is being awarded a $65,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price contract to procure, renovate, repower, overhaul and/or repair different power systems within its fleet of power equipment services at Naval Facilities Engineering Command Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center (EXWC) Mobile Utilities Support Equipment (MUSE). Initial seed task order is being awarded at $2,559,924 for a four, 900-kilowatt generator package at EXWC MUSE Port Hueneme, California. Work for this task order is expected to be completed by July 2020. All work on this contract will be performed in Port Hueneme, California, and is expected to be completed by July 2025. Fiscal 2019 other procurement, Navy (OP, N) contract funds in the amount of $2,559,924 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by OP, N. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website and Federal Business Opportunities website with five proposals received. The EXWC Acquisitions Department, Port Hueneme, California, is the contracting activity (N39430-19-D-2124). Palantir Technologies, Palo Alto, California, is being awarded a $27,640,000 fixed-price blanket purchase agreement under the Department of Defense (DoD) Enterprise Software Initiative to provide commercial-off-the-shelf hardware, software and services for DoD, the Intelligence community and the Coast Guard. This one-year agreement includes four, one-year option periods, which if exercised, would bring the potential value of this agreement to an estimated $143,800,000 million. The ordering period of the base agreement will be from July 12, 2019, through July 11, 2020. If all options are exercised, the ordering period will extend through July 11, 2024. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated at the delivery order level using operations and maintenance (DoD) funds. This agreement was non-competitively procured with a brand name justification in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 8.405-6 via a limited source solicitation and publication on the General Services Administration eBuy web site. Naval Information Warfare Center, Pacific, is the contracting activity (N66001-19-A-0044). Mercury Defense Systems Inc., Cypress, California, is being awarded a $22,901,395 cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost reimbursable order (N00421-19-F-6104) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00421-17-G-0001). This order provides for the development, integration, delivery and test of the Radar Air-to-Ground Environment in support of the Integrated Battlespace Simulation and Test Air Combat Environment Test and Evaluation Facility. Work will be performed in Cypress, California (80%); Patuxent River, Maryland (10%); and Edwards Air Force Base, California (10%), and is expected to be completed in July 2022. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $300,000 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Frontier Technology Inc., Beavercreek, Ohio, is being awarded a $13,236,204 cost-plus-fixed-fee task order (N63394-19-F-0041) under previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract N63394-17-D-0003 for providing enterprise product life cycle management integrated decision environment services. Work will be performed in Washington, District of Columbia (80%); and Chesapeake, Virginia (20%), and is expected to be completed by September 2020. Fiscal 2012 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy); and fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (other defense agencies) funding in the amount of $6,722,842 will be obligated at time of award, and $6,122,842 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This task order was not competitively procured. In accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1), this contract was not competitively procured (only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements). The services under this contract cover software development and installation, software configuration management and technical support, software solutions and training. These services are in support of the Affordable System Operation Effectiveness (ASOE) initiatives across the Department of Defense. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division, Port Hueneme, California, is the contracting activity. IAP Worldwide Services Inc., Cape Canaveral, Florida, is being awarded a $10,870,239 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) modification for the exercise of the first option period under an IDIQ contract for base operations services at Naval Support Activity, Annapolis, Maryland. The work to be performed provides for all management, supervision, labor hours, training, equipment and supplies necessary to perform base operating services to include but not be limited to facility investment, service calls, pest control, operation of utility plants, refuse collection, special events and snow and ice removal. After award of this option, the total cumulative contract value will be $31,751,865. Work will be performed in Annapolis, Maryland, and the option period is from August 2019 to November 2019. No funds will be obligated at time of award. Fiscal 2019 operation and maintenance (Navy); and fiscal 2019 Navy working capital funds in the amount of $7,274,602 for recurring work will be obligated on individual task orders issued during the contract period. Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N40080-18-D-0500). Schuyler Line Navigation Co. (SLNC),* Annapolis, Maryland, is being awarded a $10,595,700 (fixed-price for firm period) firm-fixed-price contract with reimbursable elements, for employment in worldwide trade for the transportation and/or prepositioning of cargo by the shallow draft tanker MT SLNC Pax. This contract includes a one-year base period with three one-year option periods and an 11-month option period, which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $51,435,950. Work will be performed in the Western Pacific Ocean (intentions Japan or Korea), and is expected to be completed, if all options are exercised, by Oct. 29, 2024. Fiscal 2019 transportation working capital funds in the amount of $1,765,950 are being obligated at time of award and none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Transportation working capital funds will be obligated in fiscal 2020 and will not expire at the end of fiscal 2020. This contract was a small business set-aside with more than 50 companies solicited via the Federal Business Opportunities website and three offers received. The Navy's Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N32205-19-R-3504). Paradromics Inc.,* Austin, Texas, is being awarded a contract option in the amount of $8,275,758 from a previously awarded cost type of contract. Support includes development of a neural interface system capable of performing continuous, simultaneous full-duplex (read and write) interaction with at least one thousand neurons in regions of the human sensory cortex. This option builds on the designs and prototypes developed from the base award, and provides in vivo animal testing and human studies. This option has a one-year period of performance from July 12, 2019, through July 11, 2020. Work will be performed at the contractor's facilities in Austin, Texas. The option will be incrementally funded at the time of award in the amount of $3,000,000. The original contract was competitively procured via Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) 16-09 “Neural Engineering System Design (NESD).” Forty-one offers were received and six were selected for award. Naval Information Warfare Center, Pacific, is the contracting activity (N66001-17-C-4005). AIR FORCE Sossec Inc., has been awarded a $355,000,000 ceiling increase modification (P0030) to previously awarded firm-fixed-price agreement FA8626-17-9-1000 for the propulsion consortium initiative. Work will be performed at Atkinson, New Hampshire, and is expected to be completed by July 31, 2024. No funds are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Propulsion Acquisition Directorate, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. Textron Defense Systems, Wilmington, Massachusetts, has been awarded a $51,263,809 firm-fixed-price contract modification (P00012) to previously awarded contract FA8204-14-C-0011 for the Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile weapon system multiprobe antenna procurement. Work will be performed at Wilmington, Massachusetts, and is expected to be completed by July 13, 2029. Fiscal 2019 procurement funds in the amount of $4,645,109 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Nuclear Weapon Center, Hill Air Force Base, Layton, Utah, is the contract activity. ARMY The Boeing Co., Mesa, Arizona, was awarded a $96,873,221 modification (P00024) to foreign military sales (United Arab Emirates) contract W58RGZ-16-C-0023 for Apache aircraft integrated logistics support, product assurance and Longbow Crew Trainers. Work will be performed in Mesa, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2024. Fiscal 2010 Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $96,873,221 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. DynCorp International LLC, Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded a $29,311,547 modification (P00251) to domestic and foreign military sales (Slovakia) contract W58RGZ-13-C-0040 for the aviation field maintenance services contract. Work will be performed in Afghanistan, Honduras and Germany, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2019. Fiscal 2010 and 2019 operations and maintenance, Army; and Foreign Military Sales funds in the combined amount of $29,311,547 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Joint Research and Development Inc.,* Stafford, Virginia, was awarded a $25,000,000 hybrid (cost-no-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee and firms-fixed-price) contract for operations, research and technology and program and integration support for the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, Chemical Biological Center's Chemical Biological Applications and Risk Reductions business unit. 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 14, 2024. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W911SR-19-D-0008). BAE Systems Ordnance Systems Inc., Radford, Virginia, was awarded a $17,789,259 firm-fixed-price contract to upgrade and rehabilitate the water intake pumps at Radford Army Ammunition Plant. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work will be performed in Radford, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 31, 2021. Fiscal 2019 procurement of ammunition, Army funds in the amount of $17,789,259 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W52P1J-11-G-0002). DEFENSE INFORMATION SYSTEMS AGENCY SES Government Solutions Inc., Reston, Virginia, was awarded a firm-fixed-price task order against the competitive single award blanket purchase agreement (BPA) from General Services Administration's Information Technology Schedule 70 contract for commercial satellite communication services, HC1013-18-A-0002, which was awarded April 13, 2018. The face value of this task order is $7,151,397, funded by fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds. The total cumulative face value of the BPA is $516,700,000 (contract ceiling). Performance will be centralized to the U.S. Central Command, with the BPA representing worldwide coverage. The task order period of performance is four years, consisting of a 12-month base period of July 15, 2019, through July 14, 2020, and three 12-month option periods. The Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity (GS-35F-0328V/HC1013-18-A-0002, HC1013-19-F-0119). *Small business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1903937/source/GovDelivery/

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  June 10, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Losing Market Share And Damaging National Security Due To Anachronistic Drone Policy

  Dave Deptula Contributor Adherence to an obsolescent approach to the international nuclear non-proliferation export guidelines of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) is hurting the United States (U.S.) both commercially and from a national security perspective. In a nutshell, the MTCR treats large drones as if they were nuclear missiles—which they are not. As a result, this self-imposed restriction not only limits the sale of large U.S. drones to our friends and allies but pushes them into the arms of foreign suppliers some of whom are potential adversaries. The result is a series of negative consequences for the U.S. When the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute released its annual report on global arms transfers earlier this year, it was a good news story for the U.S. From 2015-2019, the U.S. accounted for 36 percent of major global arms sales, a 23 percent increase in volume over the previous five-year period and 76 percent more than its next closest competitor—Russia. The dominant position the U.S. finds itself in is a testament to both the quality of U.S. defense equipment, which is typically accompanied by robust training, sustainment, and support packages, as well as the mutual desire of the U.S. and its partners and allies to develop and maintain strong defense relationships. However, one important segment of the defense market where this pattern does not hold are large military unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). This is not due to a lack of capability—the U.S. remains the world's leader in UAV technology and expertise—nor a lack of demand as by 2029 the international market will account for over 50 percent of the over $10 billion projected to be spent annually on UAVs. Instead, the U.S. has hamstrung itself due to restrictive export policies that equate large UAVs to nuclear missiles. This mismatch between the definitions and controls imposed on UAVs and the reality of how they are actually employed has significantly harmed coalition operations, U.S. relationships with its partners and allies, and the U.S. defense industrial base. It is imperative that the U.S. modernize its UAV export policy. Currently, the MTCR governs the export of U.S. UAVs. Initially formed in 1987, the MTCR is a voluntary agreement intended to limit the proliferation of missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons—and later weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The MTCR defines UAVs capable of delivering a 500-kilogram payload more than 300 kilometers one way as Category I systems, the transfer of which “are subject to an unconditional strong presumption of denial.” Although at the time the MTCR was negotiated no UAV exceeded the Category I thresholds, their envisioned use as delivery vehicles for WMD equivalent to cruise missiles precipitated their inclusion in the MTCR. However, since then the development of UAVs evolved as remotely piloted aircraft, not cruise missiles. Unfortunately, export policy has failed to keep pace, resulting in a situation where the export of UAVs is regulated under the same stringent regime as intercontinental ballistic missiles. The U.S. policy failure to adequately remedy this situation creates significant problems for the following reasons. First, current U.S. export policy prevents the U.S. from realizing the full potential of UAVs in coalition operations. Because current policy frequently results in the denial of export requests for U.S. UAVs by close partners and allies, these nations must either resort to indigenous production or to another foreign manufacturer to meet their military requirements. Under the best of circumstances, the result is a lower level of interoperability with U.S. forces than possible had they been able to acquire U.S. UAVs. This hampers the integration of partners that would enable the coalition to be much more effective. The current policy impedes the use of common UAVs critical for success in allied operations. Of greater concern is that much of the unmet demand by friends for U.S. military UAVs is now being fulfilled by China because of the MTCR restrictions. Integrating partners into coalition operations using Chinese UAVs creates significant security risks. This is because China maintains control of the systems necessary to operate their UAVs. This enables them to collect intelligence on coalition operations if allowed access to coalition networks. From the perspective of a U.S. commander, the risk these likely infiltrations pose to security is sufficient to exclude partners operating Chinese UAVs from participating in both U.S. led coalition operations and intelligence sharing agreements. Second, the U.S. denying UAV export requests from nations that are security partners fosters frustration, raises doubts about U.S. commitments, and drive partners to pursue security relationships with China. Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates provide recent examples of solid U.S. partners that have procured Chinese UAVs. Furthermore, these countries are then forced to rely on China for training, sustainment, intelligence processing, and other related services. China's willingness to integrate indigenous industry in joint ventures—another practice restricted by the MTCR—serves to further solidify the ties between China and the partnering nation. Absent a change in U.S. policy, China will continue to expand its UAV market share and associated influence into regions important to the U.S. Third, the associated U.S. loss of global market share of UAV sales weakens U.S. business and the U.S. defense industrial base. Domestic funding for certain UAVs already faced downward pressure in the most recent budget request amidst other modernization priorities. Looking ahead the enormous federal expenditures to address the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated economic downturn are likely to result in significant cuts to future U.S. defense budgets. Greater access to foreign markets would serve to diversify the customer base of U.S. manufacturers of large UAVs, helping to offset reduced revenue from domestic buyers and keeping commercial production lines. Unfortunately, current UAV export policy precludes this from happening. Declining production rates for large military UAVs threaten to not only to shrink the U.S. aerospace industrial base, but also to undermine its competitive edge. Lacking predictable cash flow and sufficient profit margins, companies that manage to remain in the market will become more reticent to invest significant funds into research and development. Furthermore, the MTCR prohibits co-development and co-production of UAVs, precluding U.S. drone companies from pooling resources and expertise with international partners. The danger is that the U.S. may squander its drone advantage just as international interest in procuring advanced, survivable, multi-mission UAVs ramps up. It would be a tremendous shame if the U.S. finds itself no longer in a leading position and must instead rely on others to develop cutting-edge UAV technologies. Although there is growing awareness of these problems, recent efforts to craft a more reasonable UAV export policy have largely fallen short. Rather than a fundamental shift in policy, the few positive steps taken have been stopgap measures involving workarounds—approving more Category I sales via direct commercial sales rather than foreign military sales—or maneuvering within the confines of the MTCR through attempts to modify UAV definitions such as adding a speed criteria. Instead, as is comprehensively laid out in the Mitchell Institute's most recent policy paper, what is needed is for the Congress to insert language into the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act that explicitly defines UAVs as combat aircraft and subject them to the same export considerations. This would effectively remove U.S. UAV export decisions from the MTCR guidelines. The U.S. has a proven process of adjudicating sales of the most advanced fighter aircraft in the world, including how to configure them to make sales mutually beneficial to the U.S. and its partners. The example of the F-35 is particularly pertinent because technologies approved for export on the F-35 would be restricted by the MCTR if applied to a UAV—the only difference being the pilot of the F-35 is in the aircraft whereas large UAVs are remotely piloted. Given both the high degree of commonality of combat aircraft and UAVs, as well as the proven success combat aircraft sales have in providing partners a formidable deterrent and warfighting capability, improving interoperability among coalition partners, and supporting both U.S. and partner industrial capacity, treating UAVs as combat aircraft for export policy offers the most sensible and effective solution. Change cannot come soon enough. The U.S. has a limited window to re-engage with partners with a stated interest in U.S. UAVs or who are experiencing buyer's remorse with regard to their Chinese UAV partnerships. It is therefore critical that the U.S. normalize its UAV export policy before China can consolidate its gains. The future of warfare increasingly depends on UAV technology. Exporting large U.S. UAVs is vital to effective coalition operations. For too long the MTCR has distorted the balance of national security and economic interests against the fear of nuclear and WMD proliferation. Acknowledging UAVs as what they are—aircraft, not missiles—will enhance U.S. security, improve commercial trade in a growing business sector while preserving the MTCR as an effective means to prevent the proliferation of missiles and their associated technologies. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davedeptula/2020/06/09/losing-market-share-and-damaging-national-security-due-to-anachronistic-drone-policy/#50ce76d51332

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  January 6, 2023 | International, C4ISR

  Sweden vows to push defense collaboration, cyber defense at EU helm

  Stockholm has set out to move the needle on joint procurement arrangements for military equipment within the European Union.