Lithuania seeks to buy Leopard 2 tanks from Germany

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  August 11, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - August 10, 2020

  ARMY General Dynamics Land Systems, Sterling Heights, Michigan, was awarded a $428,229,970 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the field level maintenance, field service representative support, contingency maintenance support, new equipment training and total package fielding for the family of Stryker vehicles. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of July 31, 2025. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-20-D-0075). Sierra Nevada Corp., Sparks, Nevada, was awarded a $318,952,224 hybrid (cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price) contract for simple key loader production, engineering and sustainment support services. 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 Aug. 9, 2030. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W15P7T-20-D-0030). Remotec Inc., Clinton, Tennessee, was awarded a $48,600,000 firm-fixed-price contract for the reset, sustainment, maintenance and recap to support the overall sustainment actions of the Remotec family of robots. 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 Aug. 1, 2025. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Detroit, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-20-F-0366). Carbro Constructors Corp.,* Hillsborough, New Jersey, was awarded a $7,832,976 modification (P00003) to contract W912DS-19-C-0035 for construction of flood-control measures for Green Brook Segment C1, Borough of Middlesex, New Jersey. Bids were solicited via the internet with five received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 13, 2021. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, New York, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Aug. 6, 2020) AIR FORCE Tangram Flex Inc.,* Dayton, Ohio, has been awarded a maximum $95,000,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for software and reports. The scope of this effort is to perform research, development, prototyping, enhancement, testing, evaluation, integration, transition and operational assessment to enhance and commercialize the Tangram Platform resulting in flexible system engineering componentization that allows system integrators and maintainers to ease the difficulty in interface versioning and generation. Work will be performed in Dayton, Ohio, and is expected to be completed Aug. 10, 2025. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and 23 offers were received. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $243,000 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome New York, is the contracting activity (FA8750-20-D-1000). Black River Systems Co. Inc.,* Utica, New York, has been awarded an $89,280,441 modification (P00012) to contract FA8750-19-C-0040 for operational counter-small unmanned aircraft system (C-sUAS) open systems architecture. The objective of this effort is to rapidly enhance and commercialize the technology and approach developed under the previous Small Business Innovation Research Phase II contract in order to support rapid research, development, prototyping, demonstration, evaluation and transition of C-sUAS capabilities. Work will be performed in Utica, New York, and is expected to be completed May 1, 2023. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $9,150,720; fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $2,683,016; and fiscal 2018 other procurement funds in the amount of $2,509,784, are being obligated at the time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $184,929,049. Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome, New York, is the contracting activity. The Boeing Co., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has been awarded a $50,000,000 cost ceiling, cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-incentive-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) Internet Protocol Enabled Communication (IPEC) program. This contract provides for the continued acquisition of supplies and services directly associated with the functions of IPEC in the overarching AWACS upgrade. Work will be performed at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, and is expected to be completed Aug. 10, 2026. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement funds in the amount of $1,875,634 are obligated at the time of award on the same day delivery order. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom AFB, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity (FA8730-20-D-0038). NAVY Nan Inc., Honolulu, Hawaii, is being awarded a $33,491,868 firm-fixed-price contract for construction of magazines at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. The work to be performed provides for constructing four standard earth covered Type D box magazines without loading platforms, each equipped with electronically-operated doors at ground level, lightning protection system and grounding system. Paving and site improvements include concrete magazine apron and site demolition. Electrical utilities include primary and secondary electrical distribution systems and transformers. Work will be performed in Oahu, Hawaii, and is expected to be completed by September 2022. Fiscal 2020 military construction (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $33,491,868 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 contract opportunities website with four proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Hawaii, Joint Base Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is the contracting activity (N62478-20-C-4016). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Argentum Medical LLC, Geneva, Illinois, has been awarded a maximum $14,780,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for medical surgical products. This was a competitive acquisition with 24 responses received. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Illinois, with an Aug. 9, 2025, ordering period end date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps 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 Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2DE-20-D-0018). *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2307696/source/GovDelivery/

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  August 4, 2020 | International, C4ISR, Security

  Pentagon CIO says the department’s cloud efforts are more than just JEDI

  Andrew Eversden WASHINGTON — The Pentagon's top IT official provided an update July 30 on a wide range of ongoing initiatives underway at the department as it continues to grapple with a remote workforce amid the coronavirus pandemic. Chief Information Officer Dana Deasy highlighted several ongoing projects related to artificial intelligence, big data and cloud computing, while also discussing the department's Commercial Virtual Remote Environment that's allowed nearly 1 million Department of Defense employees to collaborate while working from home. Here's a roundup of what Deasy told reporters: Cloud developments The Defense Department has struggled for more than a year to procure its enterprisewide cloud, known as the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, a platform DoD leadership has continuously said will break down data silos and enhance artificial intelligence capabilities. But, as Deasy has stated repeatedly, JEDI is not going to be the DoD's only cloud. “Cloud has always been much more than JEDI,” Deasy said. Work on the JEDI cloud, which was awarded to Microsoft in October last year and subsequently protested by Amazon Web Services, is on hold after a federal judge issued an injunction earlier this year upon determining it was likely the DoD erred in its evaluations of the two tech companies' proposals. The DoD is taking corrective action on the award, with Deasy saying the department intends to re-announce the winner “probably sometimes towards the very end of August, barring any last minute, unforeseen additional issues that are raised.” In the meantime, the DoD has stamped the Air Force's Platform One cloud offering as an enterprise service, giving DoD components a certified place to go for DevSecOps, Deasy said. “What the big message there was, we actually for the first time had designated a cloud across DoD that could be used for a common way of doing DevSecOps,” he said. AI and JADC2 The Joint Artificial Intelligence Center is pivoting to focus on Joint All-Domain Command and Control, a Pentagon-led effort to connect sensors and shooters. Through its Joint Common Foundation, Deasy said, the JAIC has tools and capabilities to develop AI capabilities at scale. “That has now allowed us as we've matured to say: ‘What we've always known we really need to ... get JAIC focused on is the joint all-domain space,‘ ” Deasy said, adding that the center is looking at joint fires, the electromagnetic spectrum and strategic mobility. The JAIC, he said, is working on a cognitive assistant to deliver commanders relevant data from the hoards of information that come from the battlefield to quicken decision-making. But he added that the JAIC will expand into other areas of joint all-domain operations. “JADC2 is made up of a bunch of different areas ... including electromagnetic spectrum, how do we move forces, how do we target,” Deasy said. “But right now it's all about how do you take streams of information and allow the machine and human to interact together to make better decisions.” The new chief data officer In June, the DoD announced that former Special Operations Command chief data officer Dave Spirk would become the DoD's new CDO. Deasy told reporters July 30 that Spirk will focus on “strengthening data governance, interoperability, and data protection across the department,” which he went on to describe as a “major effort.” “The chief data officer is on a directed, 90-day listening tour where he is talking to senior leaders in the Pentagon, war fighters and at the combatant commands, industry and academia to assess the overall department's progress,” Deasy said. “At the conclusion of the 90-day tour, Dave will provide a written assessment with a plan of action.” Deasy added that a DoD data strategy will be released “in the coming months.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/it-networks/2020/07/31/pentagon-cio-provides-updates-on-several-it-initiatives/

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  June 23, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Germany First To Modernize Eurofighters With AESA Radar

  Tony Osborne June 22, 2020 Germany is set to become the first of the Eurofighter Typhoon partner nations to retrofit an active, electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, a move that should bolster the fighter's export potential. The German Parliament has given a green light for Berlin to spend €2.8 billion ($3.1 billion) to install the Euroradar consortium's Captor-E radar in all—around 106—of the German Air Force's Tranche 2 and 3 aircraft from around 2023. Contracts should be signed in the coming weeks. Hensoldt will be the design authority for the retrofit program Germany is receiving the Mk. 1 version of the Captor-E AESA Export customers will receive Captor-E first. Kuwait has ordered 28 aircraft, and Qatar 24, and a batch of Kuwaiti aircraft will be delivered this year. But program officials believe that with the AESA finally receiving partner nation backing, the Typhoon's chances in competitions closer to home may have moved up a notch. AESA-equipped Typhoons are proposed for both Finland and Switzerland. But the radar's capabilities could not be evaluated when the fighter took part in trials in those countries, as the participating aircraft were not fitted with it; its competitors were. All four Eurofighter partner nations, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, supported development of the radar, done by a consortium of Leonardo, Hensoldt and Indra, but have been reluctant to make the retrofit investment. That is due in part to budgets, but also reflects their satisfaction with the currently installed mechanically scanned Captor. The AESA, however, boosts radar performance and range, giving the aircraft a sensor that can match the performance of the MBDA Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile. A mechanical repositioner helps widen the radar's field of view to around 200 deg., from 120 deg. with the existing mechanically scanned radar. For the German retrofit program, Hensoldt will take a leading role in the production and delivery of the radars and act as the design authority, while Airbus will act as the test and integration lead. “With this decision, Germany is taking on a pioneering role in the field of key technology for the Eurofighter for the first time,” says Hensoldt CEO Thomas Muller. “It is a signal for Europe that Germany is investing in a technology that is of crucial importance for European defense cooperation.” Airbus Defense and Space CEO Dirk Hoke says the addition of the radar will increase the mission effectiveness of the aircraft and help integrate it with the Franco-German Spanish Future Combat Air System. Leonardo, which led Captor-E development, will provide support to Hensoldt in its role as design authority. Leonardo will also supply the radar's processor. Three different versions of the Captor-E have been developed or are under development. The German retrofit program calls for the installation of the Mk. 1 radar, which has been developed from the Mk. 0 radar that will be delivered to Kuwait and Qatar. The Mk. 1 adds new modes and a multichannel receiver. Along with being retrofitted to the German Tranche 2 and 3 aircraft, it also likely will be fitted to the 38 new-build aircraft planned under Berlin's Quadriga buy to replace its existing Tranche 1 Eurofighters, which lack the computing and electrical power for an AESA installation. Work has also begun on the Radar 2 being developed for the UK, which will feature an electronic attack capability. It is expected to enter service in the mid-2020s, and the UK plans to install it on its Tranche 3 model aircraft. Spain too is planning a retrofit program with the Mk. 1 radar, but also limited to its Tranche 3 fleet. Airbus revealed last November, however, that the novel coronavirus pandemic appears to have delayed Madrid's plans. An AESA has been part of the Eurofighter's development road map for around 15 years. The consortium had originally hoped that it could form part of the Tranche 3 fleet. The capability was also part of the consortium's ultimately unsuccessful offer for India. But it was not until 2014 that the first Captor-E development radar began flying in the aircraft, making an appearance at the 2014 Farnborough Airshow. The AESA radar capability is added through the Eurofighter's Phase 3B Enhancement (P3E(b)) package that will be delivered to Kuwait. Leonardo completed flight trials in support of the Mk. 0 radar development and P3E(b) in late May. Along with the Quadriga purchase, known in Germany notionally as Tranche 4, the country is also planning to use the Eurofighter, as well as the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, to replace the Panavia Tornado fleet, although these plans are subject to parliamentary approvals that could come as late as 2022-23 (AW&ST May 4-17, p. 50). Egypt is also reportedly interested in purchasing up to 24 Eurofighters, possibly as part of a multibillion euro procurement from Italy that also includes jet trainers, helicopters and warships. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/sensors-electronic-warfare/germany-first-modernize-eurofighters-aesa-radar