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March 16, 2020 | International, Aerospace

Lockheed names Taiclet next top executive

By: Aaron Mehta

WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin, the world's largest defense company, will have a new top executive come June.

The company announced Monday that James Taiclet, 59, has been selected president and CEO of the company, succeeding Marillyn Hewson in those roles.

Taiclet, while a member of Lockheed's board since 2018, has not worked directly inside the company before; he has served as chairman, president and CEO of American Tower Corporation, a wireless and broadcast communications infrastructure company based in Boston, Massachusetts, since 2004.

Previously, he worked as president of Honeywell Aerospace Services and vice president of engine services at Pratt & Whitney. Taiclet is also a retired U.S. Air Force officer, whose biography cites more than 5,000 flying hours, including as part of the first Gulf War.

“I know it is the right time to transition the leadership of Lockheed Martin. The corporation is strong, as evidenced by our outstanding financial results last year and a record backlog of business. We have a bright future — particularly with Jim and our outstanding leadership team at the helm,” Hewson said in a statement. “I'm pleased the board agreed with my recommendation. As Lockheed Martin's next CEO, Jim will lead the company forward in its next phase of growth and value creation.”

Hewson took over the company in 2013, the first woman to lead Lockheed. Her ascension came as a surprise, following the sudden removal of then-Chief Operating Officer Chris Kubasik, who had been in line for the top job. Since coming into power, Hewson successfully guided the company through the U.S. budget sequestration and a major acquisition of helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky, along with getting the F-35 fighter program largely on track.

“I'm honored to be asked to succeed one of the most respected CEOs in America. While serving on Lockheed Martin's board, I've not only been impressed by the company's continued growth as a leader in aerospace & defense but also by the dedication and commitment of Marillyn and Lockheed Martin employees to deliver for its customers,” Taiclet said in a statement. “As a military veteran, I understand the mission of this great company to provide global security and innovative solutions for the brave men and women who protect our freedom.”

Taiclet's rise to the role of Lockheed's CEO may have been enabled due to a leave of absence by Michele Evans, Lockheed's head of aeronautics, who temporarily stepped back from that position in September due to an undisclosed medical issue. Evans, age 53, was considered a rising star in the pool of Lockheed executives, having rose through the ranks of Lockheed's aeronautics, sustainment, and integrated warfare systems and sensors divisions. She was widely considered a possible successor to Hewson.

As follow-on moves, Frank St. John, 53, was elected by the board to serve as chief operating officer of Lockheed; St. John is currently executive vice president of Lockheed Martin's Rotary and Mission Systems division. Replacing him is Stephanie Hill, 55, the current senior vice president for Enterprise Business Transformation.

All the moves are effective June 15.

According to the Defense News Top 100 list, Lockheed Martin has been the top defense contractor in the world for 20 straight years. Lockheed's $50.5 billion in defense revenue in fiscal 2018 represented about 10 percent of the Top 100's total defense revenues, and dramatically outpaced the No. 2 company on the list, Boeing, which brought in $34 billion in defense revenue.

https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2020/03/16/lockheed-names-taiclet-next-top-executive

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  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - March 4, 2019

    March 5, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - March 4, 2019

    MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY Lockheed Martin Corporation Missiles and Fire Control, Dallas, Texas, is being awarded a non-competitive hybrid contract line item numbers type (cost-plus-incentive-fee, firm-fixed-price and cost reimbursement) contract under Foreign Military Sale (FMS) cases to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The total estimated value of this contract is $945,900,000. Under this undefinitized contract action, the contractor will provide Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) FMS KSA Phase I long lead items, obsolescence, tooling and test equipment, key personnel, line requalification activities, initial training development, System Integration Lab and testbeds, three-level maintenance concept, exportability, and early engineering development. The work will be performed in: Dallas, Texas; Lufkin, Texas; Huntsville, Alabama; Anniston, Alabama; Camden, Arkansas; Troy, Alabama; and Sunnyvale, California. The performance period is from Feb. 28, 2019, through Oct. 31, 2026. KSA FMS funds in the amount of $945,900,000 will be used to fund this effort. The Missile Defense Agency, Huntsville, Alabama, is the contracting activity (HQ0147-19-C-0007). NAVY Corvid Technologies LLC,* Mooresville, North Carolina, is awarded a $223,277,038 firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost-reimbursable, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the delivery of hardware, equipment and components for manufacturing and integration of short- and medium-range sub-orbital flight vehicles supporting Navy, other government agencies, and Foreign Military Sales testing over a five-year ordering period. The flight vehicles are exo-atmospheric rocket-based vehicles specifically configured to deliver payloads and test articles into a flight regime of interest for systems under test. This contract combines purchases for the Navy (76 percent); other government agencies (12 percent); and Foreign Military Sales to the government of Japan (12 percent). Work will be performed at the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico (70 percent); Mooresville, North Carolina (10 percent); Herndon, Virginia (5 percent); Glen Burnie, Maryland (5 percent); Las Cruces, New Mexico (5 percent); and Huntsville, Alabama (5 percent), and is expected to be completed by February 2024. Foreign Military Sales (Japan) funding in the amount of $8,021,855 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with two offers received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, Dahlgren, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N00178-19-D-5001). General Dynamics Electric Boat Corp., Groton, Connecticut, is being awarded a $76,210,586 cost-plus-fixed-fee completion undefinitized contract action under previously-awarded contract N00024-16-C-2111 to perform planning and execution efforts and alterations during USS South Dakota's (SSN 790) post-delivery work period. Work will be performed in Groton, Connecticut, and is expected to be completed by December 2020. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funding in the amount $38,320,000 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair, Groton, Connecticut, is the contracting activity. General Dynamics Electric Boat Corp., Groton, Connecticut is awarded a $60,000,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee, level-of-effort undefinitized contract action under previously-awarded contract N00024-09-C-2104 to provide additional support and services during USS South Dakota's (SSN 790) post-delivery work period. Work will be performed in Groton, Connecticut, and is expected to be completed by December 2020. Fiscal 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $30,000,000 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair, Groton, Connecticut, is the contracting activity. General Dynamics Electric Boat Corp., Groton, Connecticut, is awarded a $55,077,981 cost-plus-fixed-fee, level-of-effort undefinitized contract action under previously-awarded contract N00024-16-C-2111 to perform the planning and execution efforts and installation of the Stern Area System during USS South Dakota's (SSN 790) post-delivery work period. Work will be performed in Groton, Connecticut, and is expected to be complete by December 2020. Fiscal 2019 and fiscal 2020 (subject to availability of funds) research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funding in the amount $27,680,000 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair, Groton, Connecticut, is the contracting activity. Serco Inc., Reston, Virginia, is awarded a $41,304,910 modification under fixed-price contract (N39430-16-C-1811) to exercise Option Period Three for lifecycle sustainment of physical security/access control and command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence systems in support of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection Ashore Program at various Navy installations worldwide. The work to be performed provides for preventive maintenance of hardware, associated firmware, and software; response and resolution of service calls for corrective maintenance to include equipment repair, overhaul, or replacement; information assurance vulnerability alert to include version control, patch management, and vulnerability scanning; asset management to track, maintain, upgrade, and dispose of systems; configuration management to establish and maintain consistency of the system attributes with operational requirements and evolving technical baseline; technical refreshments, upgrades and installation of new systems; and programmatic trend analysis to identify systemic sustainment issues such as technology obsolescence. After award of this option, the total cumulative contract value will be $160,741,210. Work will be performed at various installations worldwide, and work is expected to be completed March 2020. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance, (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $41,304,910 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center, Port Hueneme, California, is the contracting activity. Gilbane Federal, Concord, California, is awarded an $8,403,802 firm-fixed-price modification to decrease the value of the contract for the cleaning, inspection, and repair of fuel storage tanks 602, 604 and 605 at Defense Fuel Support Point (DFSP) Tsurumi, Japan, from the task order scope of work. After award of this modification, the total remaining task order value will be $4,733,405. Work will be performed in Tsurumi, Japan, and is expected to be completed by May 2019. Fiscal 2016 defense working capital (Defense Logistics Agency) contract funds in the amount of $8,403,802 will be de-obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center, Port Hueneme, California, is the contracting activity (N39430-15-D-1634). ARMY REEL COH Inc., Mobile, Alabama (W9128F-19-D-0019); PaR Sytstems, Shoreview, Minnesota (W9128F-19-D-0020); Knight Construction & Supply Inc.,* Deer Park, Washington (W9128F-19-D-0021); Crane Technologies,* Rochester Hills, Minnesota (W9128F-19-D-0022); and Garco WEMCO JV, Spokane, Washington (W9128F-19-D-0023), will compete for each order of the $99,900,000 contract for crane rehabilitation and replacement. Bids were solicited via the internet with nine received. Work locations and funding will be determined with an estimated completion date of March 3, 2024. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha, Nebraska, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Missiles Fire Control, Grand Prairie, Texas, was awarded an $8,469,594 modification (P00026) to Foreign Military Sales (Japan, Saudi Arabia, Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Qatar, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, Germany and Netherlands) contract W31P4Q-17-D-0026 for Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept On Target Advanced Capability-3 Missile Support Center Field Missile Activities. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2020. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Steris Corp., Mentor, Ohio, has been awarded a maximum $48,000,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for hospital equipment and accessories. This was a competitive acquisition with 74 responses received. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Ohio, with a March 3, 2024, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2024 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2DH-19-D-0011). Aurora Industries LLC,* Camuy, Puerto Rico, has been awarded a maximum $18,672,261 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for coats for the Army Combat Uniform and Improved Hot Weather Combat Uniform. This was a competitive acquisition with three responses received. This is a two-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Puerto Rico, with a Sept. 3, 2021, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE1C1-19-D-1137). AIR FORCE The Boeing Co., Defense Space Security, St. Louis, Missouri, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $40,000,000 undefinitized fixed-price-incentive-firm modification (P00003) to previously awarded contract FA8634-18-C-2697 for Infra-Red Search and Track Block II Ship Sets. This modification provides for the production of an additional six Block II IRST Ship Sets. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri; and Orlando, Florida, and is expected to be complete by Oct. 31, 2022. Fiscal 2017 procurement funds in the amount of $19,600,000 are being obligated at the time of award. This modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $249,784,825. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. JASR Systems LLC, La Jolla, California, has been awarded an $8,107,308 firm-fixed-price contract for research and development. This contract provides for the development of chip-scale Optical Phased Arrays and Light Detection and Ranging systems that leverages Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Modular Optical Aperture Building Blocks (MOABB) Phase 1, and maps to Phases 2 and 3 of the MOABB program respectively. Work will be performed in La Jolla, California, and is expected to be complete by Nov. 1, 2020. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and one offer was received. Fiscal 2018 research, test, development and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,400,000 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8650-19-C-7916). * Small Business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1774554/

  • Defense Agency Wants To Acquire UAS Services For Use In Disaster Relief

    January 22, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Security

    Defense Agency Wants To Acquire UAS Services For Use In Disaster Relief

    By Calvin Biesecker The Defense Department's agency charged with providing logistics support to warfighters is seeking information from vendors capable of providing unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) that can deliver food and water to people in remote areas following a disaster. The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) in an information request lists key capabilities and requirements for its UAS needs as part of a forthcoming acquisition for the services in the East and Gulf Coasts of the U.S. “This is in support of Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support's Subsistence Contingency Operations and Natural Disaster relief efforts,” the DLA says in a Jan. 10 Request for Information on the government's FedBizOpps site. In addition to supporting warfighters with their supply needs, DLA also provides support to the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which supports disaster response to U.S. states and territories. Support for FEMA is “becoming more routine,” a DLA spokesman told Defense Daily on Thursday. The DLA announcement doesn't specify a specific event or series of disasters that is driving the need for remote delivery of food and water by UAS but it does follow a series of dramatic storms and wildfires over the past 16 months. In particular, Hurricane Maria, which hit the U.S. Virgin Islands on Sept. 19, 2017, and Puerto Rico the day after. Maria impacted 100 percent of the populations of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Caribbean islands of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are both U.S. territories located a 1,000 or more miles from Florida. The devastation in Puerto Rico made deliveries of relief supplies difficult. “Hurricane Maria severely damaged or destroyed a significant portion of both territories' already fragile critical infrastructure,” FEMA said in a July 12, 2018 after-action report on the 2017 hurricane season. “Maria left Puerto Rico's 3.7 million residents without electricity. The resulting emergency response represents the longest sustained air mission of food and water delivery in Federal Emergency Management Agency history.” Rather than acquire the systems outright, DLA wants a contactor that can provide the delivery services through a “turnkey deployment” based on a performance-based concept of operations developed as part of a research effort. Capabilities must be in place within one to two days of an event, the agency says. It also says the drones must be non-developmental and be able to operate beyond visual line of sight in austere conditions. Payloads on the UAS will weigh between 250 and 500 pounds and “typically” consist of cases of bottled water, Meals-Ready-to Eat, and other related operational items that will be released remotely without damage to the supplies. For the deployments, the drones must be able to operate from maritime vessels to land, land to sea vessel, and land to land. DLA says that sea-based operations “will be coordinated with the U.S. Coast Guard.” In the late summer of 2017, before Maria hit, Texas was hit by Hurricane Harvey, which was followed by Hurricane Irma, which slammed into Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Harvey affected 30 percent of the population in Texas and Irma affected 85 percent of the combined populations of Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Around the same time the three storms hit the U.S. and its territories, another hurricane interfered with maritime operations in the Caribbean Sea and FEMA also supported California's response to “some of the most devastating wildfires to ever impact the state,” the after-action report said. The DLA wants responses to its Request for Information by Jan. 25. The agency said the timing of the release of the Request for Proposals is unknown as is the ultimate amount of the eventual procurement pending the completion of market research. https://www.rotorandwing.com/2019/01/18/defense-agency-wants-acquire-uas-services-use-disaster-relief/

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