L’Eurodrone sur les rails

On the same subject

• 

  December 11, 2023 | International, Aerospace

  Exclusive: Boeing deepens strategy cuts as operations take center-stage -sources | Reuters

  Boeing Co has embarked on deeper-than-expected cuts in its strategy ranks, halving the number of planners working within key divisions as it refocuses energies on tackling industrial pressures, people familiar with the matter said.

• 

  September 8, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - September 04, 2020

  DEFENSE HEALTH AGENCY International SOS Government Services Inc., Trevose, Pennsylvania, was awarded a $960,362,689 single-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, fixed-price task order contract for health care support services by the Defense Health Agency (DHA). This contract supports the TRICARE Overseas Program (TOP) by supplementing the healthcare capabilities and capacities of overseas military treatment facilities and provides healthcare in remote overseas locations. This was a full and open competitive acquisition. The TOP contract is for $19,803,735 operations and maintenance funds for a base year (transition-in) and seven one-year option periods. It provides a wide range of health care support services for TRICARE eligible beneficiaries outside the U.S. and Washington, D.C. The performance completion date is Aug. 31, 2028. The DHA Managed Care Contracting Division, Aurora, Colorado, is the contracting activity (HT9402-20-D-0002). (Awarded Aug 31, 2020) NAVY Raytheon Technologies Corp., Pratt and Whitney Military Engines, East Hartford, Connecticut, is awarded a $579,837,316 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, which includes $146,269,941 firm-fixed-price undefinitized line items and $433,567,375 firm-fixed-price, fixed-price-incentive-firm-target, cost-plus-fixed-fee definitized line items. This contract provides unit and depot level F-135 propulsion system spare parts, spare engines and modules in support of the F-135 propulsion initial spares requirements for the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, non-Department of Defense participants and Foreign Military Sales customers. Work will be performed in East Hartford, Connecticut (93%); Indianapolis, Indiana (6%); and Bristol, United Kingdom (1%), and is expected to be completed in December 2024. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00019-20-D-0013). Bell Textron Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $272,161,641 fixed-price-incentive-firm-target contract for the production and delivery of eight UH-1Y and four AH-1Z helicopters for the government of the Czech Republic. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (60%); and Amarillo, Texas (40%), and is expected to be completed in November 2023. Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $272,161,641 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 2304(f)(2)(e). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00019-20-C-0061). Advex Corp., Hampton, Virginia (N00164-20-D-GW63); Chesapeake Machining and Fabrication, Baltimore, Maryland (N00164-20-D-GW06); Kodiak Manufacturing, Allison, Pennsylvania (N00164-20-D-GW07); and Merrill Technologies Group, Saginaw, Michigan (N00164-20-D-GW08), will compete for each order of the $50,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple award contracts for machining and fabrication requirements in support of the development, maintenance and sustainment of systems, sub-systems, equipment and components. The Platform and Launch Systems Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane, Indiana, in support of the strategic systems program, requires the establishment of multiple award contracts for the purpose of competing machining and fabrication requirements to manufacture new parts, and major overhaul of existing parts for systems in the operation and sustainment phase of their lifecycle. This acquisition provides support for Trident missile launcher subsystems, fire control and guidance subsystems and navigational subsystems. Work locations will be determined by individual task orders and is expected to be complete by September 2025, and if all options are exercised, work is expected to be complete by September 2030. Fiscal 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $19,250 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. These multiple award contracts were set-aside for small business concerns in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(b)(2). The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, Crane, Indiana, is the contracting activity. MEB General Contractors Inc., Chesapeake, Virginia, is awarded a $43,681,000 firm-fixed-price contract for construction of dry dock flood protection improvements located at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Virginia. The work includes subsurface cutoff wall for construction of cast-in-place concrete flood wall with manual flood gates, utility valve vaults, Dry Dock 1 and 3 caisson gunwale and seal extension and incidental related work in the small dock area of Norfolk Naval Shipyard. Work will be performed in Portsmouth, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by June 2023. Fiscal 2020 military construction contract funds in the amount of $43,681,000 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the beta.SAM.gov website with six proposals received. Naval Facilities Engineering Command Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N40085-20-C-0063). Huntington Ingalls Inc., Pascagoula, Mississippi (N00024-20-C-6319); Lockheed Martin Corp., Baltimore, Maryland (N00024-20-C-6320); Bollinger Shipyards Lockport LLC, Lockport, Louisiana (N00024-20-C-6316); Marinette Marine Corp., Marinette, Wisconsin (N00024-20-C-6317); Gibbs & Cox Inc., Arlington, Virginia (N0002420C6318); and Austal USA LLC, Mobile, Alabama (N00024-20-C-6315), are each being awarded a firm-fixed price contract for studies of a Large Unmanned Surface Vessel with a combined value across all awards of $41,985,112. Each contract includes an option for engineering support, that if exercised, would bring the cumulative value for all awards to $59,476,146. The contract awarded to Huntington Ingalls Inc. is $7,000,000; the contract awarded to Lockheed Martin Corp. is $6,999,978; the contract awarded to Bollinger Shipyards Lockport LLC, is $6,996,832; the contract awarded to Marinette Marine Corp. is $6,999,783; the contract awarded to Gibbs & Cox Inc. is $6,989,499; and the contract awarded to Austal USA LLC is $6,999,020. Work will be performed in various locations in the contiguous U.S. in accordance with each contract and is expected to be complete by August 2021, and if option(s) are exercised, work is expected to be complete by May 2022. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount $41,985,112 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. These contracts were competitively procured via Federal Business Opportunities (now beta.SAM.gov) with eight offers received. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. National Steel and Shipbuilding Co., San Diego, California, is awarded a $35,553,202 fixed-price-incentive modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-19-C-2235 to incorporate Engineering Change Proposal H-004, Forward House Habitability Modification in support of Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB) 6 and ESB 7. This Engineering Change Proposal is applicable to ESB 6 and ESB 7 to modify the existing ESB class berthing requirement to support an additional 100 military crewmembers and is deemed essential to Fleet operational requirements planned for this class of ships. Work will be performed in San Diego, California, and is expected to be completed by January 2024. Fiscal 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $18,511,945 (52%); and fiscal 2018 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $17,041,257 (48%), will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Bath, Detachment San Diego, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Moorestown, New Jersey, is awarded a $12,529,557 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract N64267-18-C-0132 to exercise options for Aegis design agent field engineering services. The services include test and evaluation, engineering change development, ordnance and ship alterations, modernization engineering, logistics and technical support, ordnance alterations kit development, integration and test support, AN/SPY-1 series radar antenna refurbishment and Coast Guard deep-water program design agent field engineering support. These services are in support of Aegis-equipped guided missile cruisers and destroyers, allied Aegis-equipped ships and Coast Guard Aegis-configured ships. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia (30%); San Diego, California (30%); Yokosuka, Japan (17%); Wallops Island, Virginia (6%); Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (5%); Pascagoula, Mississippi (4%); Port Hueneme, California (4%); and Rota, Spain (4%), and is expected to be completed by September 2021. Fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,566,205 (75%); and fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $272,303 (25%), will be obligated at time of award and $272,303 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division, Port Hueneme, California, is the contracting activity. Invicta Defense LLC,* Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $8,064,483 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for transportation management and logistic support services at Naval Support Activities Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. The work to be performed provides for all labor, supervision, management, tools, material, equipment, facilities, transportation and other items necessary to accomplish all work to perform transportation management and logistics support services at Naval Support Activities, Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. The maximum dollar value including the base period and one option period is $22,300,325. Work will be performed at Naval Support Activities, Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, and is expected to be completed by June 2022. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (O&M) (Navy); and O&M (Air Force) in the amount of $8,064,483 are obligated on this award. This contract was competitively procured via the beta.sam.gov with five proposals received. Naval Facilities Engineering Command Marianas, Guam, is the contracting activity (N40192-20-D-7040). ARMY Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was awarded a $70,000,000 cost-no-fee contract to research and develop a new translational research methodology that leverages autonomy and artificial intelligence to minimize time spent on low-impact, high-time activities. Bids were solicited via the internet with 999 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 3, 2025. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W911QX-20-D-0008). (Awarded Sept. 3, 2020) Goldbelt Frontier LLC,* Alexandria, Virginia, was awarded a $36,828,500 hybrid (firm-fixed-price, time-and-materials) contract for equipment maintenance and repair and administrative, advisory, inventory and training services at U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command/Defense Health Agency. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 4, 2025. U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, Fort Detrick, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W81XWH-20-D-0062). SLSCO Ltd, Galveston, Texas, was awarded a $29,177,910 modification (P00007) to contract W912PP-19-C-0018 to provide all labor, material and equipment necessary to design and construct approximately 48.4 miles of three-phase power distribution, lighting and all necessary supports, closed circuit, linear ground detection system and electronic equipment shelters. Work will be performed in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 2, 2021. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $29,177,910 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Albuquerque, New Mexico, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Missile Fire Controls, Grand Prairie, Texas, was awarded a $23,067,054 modification (P00017) to contract W31P4Q-19-C-0101 for the purchase of production parts for the production of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System launchers. Work will be performed in Camden, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 30, 2023. Fiscal 2019 missile procurement (Army) funds; 2020 United States Marine Corp funds; and 2020 Foreign Military Sales (Romania, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Finland) funds in the amount of $23,067,054 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. WHH Nisqually-Garco JV 2,* Olympia, Washington, was awarded a $20,217,000 firm-fixed-price contract for construction of a 29,000 square-foot modified tactical equipment maintenance facility. Bids were solicited via the internet with four received. Work will be performed in Yakima, Washington, with an estimated completion date of May 17, 2022. Fiscal 2019 military construction (Army Reserve) funds in the amount of $20,217,000.00 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville, Kentucky, is the contracting activity (W912QR-20-C-0035). Kokosing Construction Co.; and O'Brien & Gere JV, Fredericktown, Ohio, was awarded a $10,281,100 firm-fixed-price contract to provide 24/7 construction management services that include extensive water treatment management services and dredging material disposal and related services at the Indiana Harbor & Canal Confined Disposal Facility. 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 Sept. 30, 2021. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Chicago, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W912P6-16-D-0004). Technical and Project Engineering LLC,* Alexandria, Virginia, was awarded a $9,221,888 firm-fixed-price contract to provide computer programming support services to Headquarters, Department of the Army; U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command; U.S. Army Special Operations Command; the Office of the Chief of Army Reserve; Army National Guard; and TRADOC Centers of Excellence. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed in Alexandria, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 6, 2024. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $9,221,888 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W91CRB-20-F-0446). K&K Industries Inc.,* Junction City, Kansas, was awarded an $8,431,214 firm-fixed-price contract for construction of a maintenance storage facility at Whiteman Air Force Base. Bids were solicited via the internet with eight received. Work will be performed at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2021. Fiscal 2020 military construction (defense-wide) funds in the amount of $8,431,214 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City, Missouri, is the contracting activity (W912DQ-20-C-4009). Huckstep Holdings Corp., doing business as Techwise,* Colorado Springs, Colorado, was awarded a $7,891,131 firm-fixed-price contract to provide air traffic control service for Fort Bliss, Texas. 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 Sept. 4, 2025. The 418th Contracting Support Brigade, Fort Bliss, Texas, is the contracting activity (W911SG-20-D-0002). Triumph Engine Control Systems LLC, West Hartford, Connecticut, was awarded a $7,697,480 firm-fixed-price contract for the overhaul and repair of fuel engine controls for the CH-47 Chinook. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in West Hartford, Connecticut, with an estimated completion date of July 31, 2021. Fiscal 2020 Army working capital funds in the amount of $7,697,480 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-20-F-0556). Definitive Logic Corp., Arlington, Virginia, was awarded a $7,090,619 modification (P00004) to contract W912HZ-18-F-0339 to provide all personnel, supervision and services necessary to maintain and integrate the Comprehensive Planning Platform. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 3, 2021. Fiscal 2018, 2019 and 2020 operations and maintenance (Air Force) funds in the amount of $7,090,619 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg, Mississippi, is the contracting activity. AIR FORCE Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Warner Robins, Georgia, has been awarded an estimated $66,851,248 requirements contract for the supply chain management of the AN/ALQ-155, AN/ALQ-161, AN/ALQ-184 and AN/APN-241 systems. This contract provides for repairs, spares and engineering services for the mentioned systems. Work will be performed at Warner Robins, Georgia, and is expected to be completed Sept. 9, 2028. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2020 defense working capital funds are being used and no funds are being obligated at the time of the award. Air Force Sustainment Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity (FA8524-20-D-0012). Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Herndon, Virginia, has been awarded a $33,394,848 cost-plus, award-fee task order under the Ground Subsystems Sustainment contract to definitize an undefinitized contract action issued for Minuteman III general sustainment. Work will be performed in Ogden, Utah, and is expected to be completed Aug. 31, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $4,177,579 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8214-20-F-0082-PZ0001). Hamilton Sundstrand Corp., Windsor Locks, Connecticut, has been awarded an estimated $24,296,844 firm-fixed-price requirements contract for the repair and overhaul of augmentor fuel control and augmentor fuel pump located on the F100-PW-229 engine. Work will be performed in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, and is expected to be completed Sept. 3, 2025. This contract includes Foreign Military Sales contract line items and is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Air Force Sustainment Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity (FA8121-20-D-0010). Benham Design, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (FA4419-20-D-0002); and SLA+Cyntergy JV, Wichita Falls, Texas (FA4419-20-D-0003), have collectively been awarded a multiple year $20,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity architect and engineer contract. This contract provides for architect and engineering Services at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma; and Sheppard AFB, Texas. Work is expected to be completed Sept. 3, 2025, and is the result of a competitive acquisition with seven offers received. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the total amount of $57,990 will be obligated at the time of award. The 97th Contracting Flight Altus AFB, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Campbell Oil Co.,* Elizabethtown, North Carolina (SPE605-20-D-8505, $53,178,404); Petroleum Traders Corp.,* Fort Wayne, Indiana (SPE605-20-D-8526, $31,184,840); Brad Hall and Associates Inc.,* Idaho Falls, Idaho (SPE605-20-D-8512, $14,957,834); and Lykins Energy Solutions,* Milford, Ohio (SPE605-20-D-8514, $12,104,624), have each been awarded a minimum fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract under solicitation SPE605-20-R-0028 for various types of fuel. These were competitive acquisitions with 45 responses received. They are five-year contracts with one one-month option period. Locations of performance are Idaho, Ohio, Indiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina and South Carolina, with a Sept. 30, 2025, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, National Guard, Defense Logistics Agency, Department of Defense, National Aeronautics and Space Administration and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2025 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. (Awarded August 31, 2020) Akorn Inc., Lake Forest, Illinois, has been awarded a maximum $42,080,784 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for numerous pharmaceutical products. This was a competitive acquisition with one response received. This is a one-year base contract with nine one-year option periods. Location of performance is Illinois, with a Sept. 3, 2021, ordering period end date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 defense warstopper funds. The contracting agency is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2D0-20-D-0011). Airgas Nitrogen Services LLC, Abita Springs, Louisiana, has been awarded a maximum $17,649,805 firm-fixed-price, requirements type contract for gaseous nitrogen. This was a restricted acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(2), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-2. This is a five-month contract with no option periods. Locations of performance are Louisiana and California, with a Jan. 31, 2021, performance completion date. Using customer is Space Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting agency is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy-Aerospace Energy, San Antonio, Texas (SPE601-20-D-1502). Stonewin LLC,* Miami, Florida, has been awarded a minimum $14,397,083 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract under solicitation SPE605-20-R-0028 for various types of fuel. This was a competitive acquisition with 45 responses received. This is a five-year contract with one six-month option period. Locations of performance are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina and South Carolina, with a Sept. 30, 2025, performance completion date. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, National Guard, Defense Logistics Agency, Department of Defense, National Aeronautics and Space Administration and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through fiscal 2025 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia (SPE605-20-D-8525). (Awarded Sept. 2, 2020) CORRECTION: The contracts announced on Aug. 28, 2020, for Petro Star, Inc.,* Anchorage, Alaska (SPE605-20-D-4008, $62,088,432); Delta Western LLC, Seattle, Washington (SPE605-20-D-4002, $32,629,727); Crowley Government Services, Jacksonville, Florida (SPE605-20-D-4005, $26,468,885); and Petro 49 Inc.,* doing business as Petro Marine Services, Seward, Alaska (SPE605-20-D-4009, $15,852,473), under solicitation SPE0600-20-R-0222, were announced with an incorrect award date. The correct award date is Aug. 30, 2020. *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2337845/source/GovDelivery/

• 

  October 8, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence

  Democrats face internal ‘fight’ on defense spending, says Smith

  Joe Gould WASHINGTON ― The Democratic split over the size of future defense budgets will come to a head in the new Congress, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., predicted Tuesday. The outcome of the long-simmering dispute would take on higher stakes if some pre-election polling becomes a reality and Democrats retake Congress and the White House. Though President Donald Trump and his supporters claim the Democratic Party has been hijacked by the far left, Smith's remarks suggest the party's future direction, at least on defense spending, is not yet settled. Instead of slashing next year's $740 billion defense budget, as some progressives want, Smith is pushing, “a rational Democratic, progressive national security strategy,” as he called it. That stance seems to align Smith with his party's pragmatic standard-bearer, Joe Biden, who's said he doesn't foresee major defense cuts, if elected. “I don't think that rational policy involves 20 percent defense cut, but that fight is going to be had,” Smith said at an event hosted by George Mason University. “There are extremists on the right and extremists on the left, and what I'm trying to do is say, ‘Let's go for pragmatic problem solving.' I don't see extremism solving problems.” If Democrats are swept into power Nov. 3, it will be by voters opposed to President Donald Trump from across the political spectrum, Smith said. To hold on that mandate, Democrats would need to govern with a broad coalition and not overreach from the left on issues like defense. “Okay, we can win an election because people are appalled by Donald Trump,” Smith said, “but that doesn't mean that they're endorsing us in any sort of huge, dramatic way.” After the House passed an early version of last year's defense policy bill without Republicans aboard, negotiations to reconcile it with theWhite House and GOP-held Senate dragged for months before a compromise bill passed Congress with progressive priorities stripped from it, leaving them dissatisfied. This year, many of the progressives' priorities were deflected from the House's version of the bill, and it passed the chamber with support from more than half of Republicans and more than two-thirds of Democrats. Military spending remains popular with most Republicans, and they largely opposed progressive amendments in the House and Senate this summer to slash the authorization bill by 10 percent. HASC member Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., called the House amendment, “a deeply irresponsible stunt.” Biden and congressional Democrats are already under pressure from progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who have been part of a campaign to direct spending away from the military in favor of healthcare, education and jobs. Massive spending on national security, they say, didn't protect the country from COVID-19. “You have a progressive movement in the party now that is really motivated and mobilized around foreign policy and national security issues, and that's not going away,” Matt Duss, a Sanders foreign policy aide, told Defense News last month. “That is something a President Biden will have to work with, and I think his team understands that.” As both Biden, Trump and lawmakers of both parties have called for the U.S. to extricate itself from the Mideast and end the “endless wars” in Iraq and Afghanistan, Smith said it's important to educate a war-weary American people about why it's unwise to retreat from the world stage ― marked by hotspots in Libya, Syria and West Africa. “We've got to make the case to them: ‘Here's why the defense budget is what it is, here's why we're trying to accomplish what we're trying to accomplish, and here's why it's in your best interest,'” Smith said. “And we're going to be very aggressive about having public hearings and public discussions to listen to people, to listen to those concerns and try to address them.” The Pentagon's five-year defense plan indicates it will request flat defense spending after 2021, and ― amid pandemic-related expenses and historic deficits ― the budget is widely expected to stay flat regardless of who is president. Smith pretty much echoed that view Tuesday. “I think the reasonable assumption is yeah, the defense budget is going to be flat for a while ― and there is no reason on Earth in my view that we cannot defend the United States of America for $700 to $740 billion,” Smith said. “So I think the better question, the question to focus on, is how do we get more out of it?” On that one, Smith echoed some ideas from his committee's bipartisan Future of Defense Task Force. Its report emphasized the need, in order to compete with a surging China, to divest from some legacy programs and heavily invest in artificial intelligence, among other potentially game-changing technologies. Citing a spate of acquisition failures, Smith said Washington has to work with its defense contractors “about how we spend our money and the results we get for that money.” He also acknowledged the need to protect key contractors stressed by the pandemic's economic impacts and strengthen the industrial base overall. Smith defended the Pentagon's allocation of hundreds of millions of dollars in pandemic relief funding for items like jet and submarine parts instead of increasing the country's supply of medical equipment. The remarks seemed to set him at odds with liberals like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who have asked the Defense inspector general to look into the department's “reported misuse” of funds. The Democrat-led House Oversight and Reform Committee, Financial Services Committee, and select subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis are conducting a joint investigation. “Three committees in Congress are now investigating this, and I'm not one of them because there's nothing to investigate here, in my view,” Smith said. “This was part of the CARES Act: We gave a billion dollars to DoD to deal with COVID-related expenses. Very specifically, it said one of the COVID related expenses you could deal with was the defense industrial base, which they did. And now we're chewing on them for doing that.” Smith said the Pentagon did “nothing illegal,” but he suggested it's reasonable to explore whether DoD balanced the money it received appropriately and whether its payments to large contractors are flowing to smaller, more vulnerable firms, as they should. “I think it is important to make sure we keep the industrial base going,” Smith said, “but there's going to be pressure on that [decision].” https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2020/10/07/democrats-face-internal-fight-on-defense-spending-says-smith/