Leonardo sees market opportunity for M-346 attack variant in Middle East

On the same subject

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  January 8, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - January 7, 2019

  NAVY General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Co., (NASSCO)-Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia, is awarded a $91,477,172 undefinitized contract action as a modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-16-C-4306) for USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) fiscal 2019 Dry-docking Planned Incremental Availability. A Dry-docking Planned Incremental Availability includes the planning and execution of depot-level maintenance, alterations, and modifications that will update and improve the ship's military and technical capabilities. Work will be performed in Portsmouth, Virginia, and is expected to be complete by February 2021. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $45,738,586 will be obligated at time of award and $45,738,586 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center, Norfolk, Virginia, is the administrative contracting activity. Clark Nexsen Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia, is awarded a maximum amount $60,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity architect-engineering contract for multi-discipline architect-engineering services in Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Mid-Atlantic area of responsibility (AOR). The work to be performed provides for comprehensive architect-engineering services required for planning, design, and construction services in support of new construction, repair, replacement, demolition, alteration, and/or improvement of Navy and other governmental facilities. Facilities may include, but are not limited, personnel housing facilities, (bachelor enlisted quarters and bachelor officers quarters, hospitality); office facilities (medical, training, secure facilities); training facilities (operational, maintenance, and classroom), and industrial maintenance facilities (vehicle maintenance ships, shore intermediate maintenance activities, aircraft maintenance hangars, public works ships, and warehouses). Projects may involve single or multiple disciplines, including, but not limited to, architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical, civil, landscape design, fire protection, commissioning and interior design. Task Order 0001 is being awarded at $528,950 for preliminary design authority to validate planning requirements and develop preliminary design deliverables in support of P1035, corrosion control and paint facility. Work for this task order is expected to be completed by March 2019. All work on this contract will be performed at various Navy and Marine Corps facilities and other government facilities within the NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic AOR including, but not limited to Norfolk, Virginia (27 percent); Portsmouth, Virginia (27 percent); Virginia Beach, Virginia (26 percent); Yorktown, Virginia (15 percent), and other facilities within the NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic AOR (5 percent). The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months with an expected completion date January 2024. Fiscal 2019 military construction (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $528,950 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by military construction (Navy); and operations and maintenance (Navy). This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with 12 proposals received. Naval Facilities Engineering Command Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N40085-19-D-9041). L-3 Technologies Inc., Salt Lake City, Utah, is awarded $12,556,242 for modification P00006 to a previously awarded, firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00019-18-C-1030) to manufacture, test, deliver, manage, and support the common data link Hawklink AN/SRQ-4 systems for the MH-60R aircraft. Work will be performed in Salt Lake City, Utah (60 percent); Atlanta, Georgia (14 percent); Mountain View, California (6 percent); Exeter, New Hampshire (2 percent); Derby, Kansas (1 percent); El Cajon, California (1 percent); Boise, Idaho (1 percent); Dover, New Hampshire (1 percent); Sunnyvale, California (1 percent); York Haven, Pennsylvania (1 percent); Bohemia, New York (1 percent); Oxnard, California (1 percent); Littleton, Massachusetts (1 percent); Providence, Rhode Island (1 percent); Cedar Park, Texas (1 percent); Minnetonka, Minnesota (1 percent); Phoenix, Arizona (1 percent); Stow, Massachusetts (1 percent); Salinas, California (1 percent); Fort Worth, Texas (1 percent); Skokie, Illinois (1 percent); and Toronto, Canada (1 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2020. Fiscal 2019 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $12,556,242 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Southeastern Kentucky Rehabilitation Industries Inc., Corbin, Kentucky, has been awarded a maximum $7,229,250 modification (P00016) exercising the fourth one-year option of a one-year base contract (SPE1C1-15-D-N006) with four one-year option periods for various types of caps. This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Location of performance is Kentucky, with a Jan. 9, 2020, performance completion date. Using military services are Army and Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1725637/source/GovDelivery/

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  December 22, 2024 | International, Aerospace

  Poland To Acquire Three MQ-9B SkyGuardians From GA-ASI

  The MQ-9B is the newest model of RPA produced by GA-ASI, and will serve as the foundational intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) platform for Poland

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  May 6, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Expand missile defenses during the pandemic, don’t cut them

  By: Rebeccah L. Heinrichs Rogue states are taking advantage of the American preoccupation with the COVID-19 pandemic. North Korea may test another long-range missile according to the head of U.S. Northern Command, Gen. Terrence O'Shaughnessy. He warned Congress in March that the North Korean regime is still a serious threat and is improving its missile program. And last week, Iran's Revolutionary Guard successfully launched a satellite into space. This was the first for the terrorist paramilitary group, though not the first for the regime. The pandemic is likely to prompt Congress to reassess, cut and redirect spending, but safeguarding the American people from missile attack is an essential service the government cannot afford to scale back. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Rob Soofer said at a recent Hudson Institute event: “[T]oday we are in an advantageous position vis-a-vis North Korea. Forty-four ground-based interceptors. Gen. O'Shaughnessy has complete confidence that the system will work and we can address the threat. Then the question is: Can we wait until 2028?” The Trump administration intends to deploy in 2028 the Next Generation Interceptor, or NGI, meant to handle far more complicated missile threats than what the Ground-based Midcourse Defense, or GMD, system was initially designed to do. Still, as Dr. Soofer explained, threats develop at an unpredictable pace, and so the Pentagon is pushing for initiatives to bolster defense in the meantime. Those initiatives will require serious bipartisan cooperation while concurrently developing the NGI and pursuing other advanced capabilities meant to dramatically increase the ability of the missile defense architecture. It's a tall order, but critical, nonetheless. First, and to be clear, the Pentagon has not yet embraced this step due to its determination to focus on NGI. But Congress should invest in more than just sustaining the current GMD system; it should improve it by adding 20 GBIs to the already fielded 44. The silos will be prepared for the additional numbers since, in 2017, President Donald Trump called for adding more deployed GBIs considering the heightened North Korea missile threat. The Pentagon began work on preparing for their delivery but never emplaced GBIs into those silos because Pentagon officials canceled the Redesigned Kill Vehicle. The Pentagon had anticipated the Redesigned Kill Vehicle for the nation's new GBIs. After evaluating the resources and time it would take to restart the production line of the Capability Enhancement II interceptors or to rapidly develop an improved kill vehicle that leverages new technology, the Pentagon should choose the most cost-effective solution. Recall, the Capability Enhancement II was the kill vehicle that performed well in the last complex flight test, which was the first salvo engagement of a threat-representative intercontinental ballistic missile target by GBIs. Regardless of the option the Pentagon would choose, the result would be a near-term enhanced capability by either increased capacity at a minimum, or an increased capacity with improved kill vehicles on 20 of the 64 at best. Either would be a much better scenario than keeping the backbone of homeland defenses stagnant while we anticipate the NGI in 2028. But that is not all the country should do. It should also move forward with steps the Pentagon has embraced. Those steps include improving the discrimination radar capability in the next few years so GMD can better detect and characterize the evolving threat, and deploying other existing systems to bolster GMD. Utilizing current systems with impressive testing records against missiles shorter than ICBM range as part of a layered homeland defense is called the “underlay.” As a key component of the underlay, Congress has directed the Pentagon to test the Aegis SM-3 IIA interceptor against an ICBM target. Unfortunately, because of the pandemic, the Missile Defense Agency's planned flight tests will be delayed, including for the SM-3 IIA. The threats facing the country will not wait for the end of the pandemic, and the Pentagon should reconsider that delay. As soon as the country can test the system, and if it is a success, it would be wise to prepare to deploy Aegis SM-3 IIA as the threat requires. If there is an ICBM attack against the U.S. homeland, a GBI would have the first shot at the incoming missile while it's in its midcourse phase of flight; and if an enemy missile gets through, and the Aegis SM-3 IIA is positioned correctly, it could have another shot at the missile as it begins its descent. There has been some concern about whether Russia or China have legitimate claims that bolstering homeland defense in this way is destabilizing. But no evidence supports these claims, and, as Dr. Jim Miller, an Obama-era undersecretary of defense for policy, said at a recent Hudson event: “We cannot and must not give Russia or China a veto over the United States' ability to defend ourselves from North Korea and Iran. That is an absolute no-go for any administration.” Another system that is a natural candidate for the underlay is the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense air defense system. Embracing that concept as well, Dr. Miller said: “It makes sense for certain contexts. And if you're looking at a shorter-range missile and a relatively small footprint of coverage, THAAD has a real chance to contribute in that. To me, that's certainly the case for Guam and Hawaii.” But what about cost? That's the $10 billion question — a question that happens to be valued at more than the current president's budget requires for the Missile Defense Agency. The budget request that Congress is currently considering for the MDA is roughly $9.2 billion, noticeably less than previous years, even as the role of missile defense is supposed to be expanding in the country's National Security Strategy. There is no margin for cutting the budget. Congress should rally around this mission and budget, and it should increase funding to sufficiently make these necessary improvements in the near term without paying for them by sacrificing investments like NGI for the not-so-distant future. It can do that without tipping the scale much more than $10 billion this year. That is eminently reasonable given the pressure every government department will feel after the sudden spending splurge due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rebeccah L. Heinrichs is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute where she specializes in nuclear deterrence and missile defense. https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/commentary/2020/05/05/expand-missile-defenses-during-the-pandemic-dont-cut-them/