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  July 3, 2018 | International, Aerospace

  Will the F-35 beat out ‘the usual suspects’ in Singapore’s search for F-16 replacement?

  By: Mike Yeo MELBOURNE, Australia ― Singapore will decide in the next few months on a new fighter to replace its fleet of Lockheed Martin F-16 multirole fighters, with the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter from the same manufacturer seen as the prime candidate. In an interview with media ahead of the southeast Asian island nation's Armed Forces Day, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said that despite ongoing upgrades, the F-16s face obsolescence beyond 2030. He added the country will make a definitive decision on its replacement in the next few months based on interoperability with Singapore's current systems and platforms as well as the price. Ng refused to be drawn into further details as to which fighter platforms Singapore is looking at, only saying that the BAE Systems Typhoon, the F-35, Russia's Sukhois, and Chinese-made stealth fighters are “the usual suspects that you have to look at” when air forces are choosing a new combat platform. However, Singapore has been evaluating the F-35 since 2013 and Ng had previously suggested that the type was suited to be the replacement for Singapore's F-16s. Earlier reports suggested Singapore is keen on acquiring the F-35B short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing variant, with the B-model's STOVL capability seen as useful for Singapore, whose main island has an area of a mere 277 square miles and whose air bases are seen as vulnerable to a first strike. Nevertheless, former head of the F-35 program Christopher Bogdan, said Singapore requested information on all three variants of the F-35, and the possibility of Singapore opting for the conventional takeoff and landing F-35A variant cannot be ruled out. Singapore is a security cooperative participant of the F-35 program and is believed to have an eventual requirement of between 40 and 60 new fighters to replace its F-16s. The Republic of Singapore Air Force, or RSAF, currently operates a fleet of 60 F-16C/D Block 52 and Advanced Block 52 aircraft delivered between 1998 and 2005. Twelve aircraft are currently assigned to a joint continuation training unit between the U.S. and Singapore air forces at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, while the remaining are split between three Singapore-based squadrons. Singapore's F-16s are currently being upgraded by Lockheed Martin with the upgrade program, which started in 2016 and is expected to be completed in 2022, including the addition of Northrop Grumman's AN/APG-83 active electronically scanned array radar, an improved identification, friend or foe system, as well as Link 16 data links. During the interview, Ng also outlined some of the other upcoming procurement programs Singapore is looking at. These include new multirole combat vessels to replace six corvettes and new joint multimission ships to replace four amphibious ships in Singapore's Navy, while the Army will replace its towed 155mm howitzers with a new self-propelled high-mobility artillery system in the 2020s. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2018/07/02/will-the-f-35-beat-out-the-usual-suspects-in-singapores-search-for-f-16-replacement/

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  July 28, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - July 27, 2020

  ARMY Vectrus Systems Corp., Colorado Springs, Colorado, was awarded a $529,058,476 modification (P00202) to contract W52P1J-10-C-0062 for Kuwait base operations and security support services. Work will be performed in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 28, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $248,000,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity. Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $58,487,824 firm-fixed-price contract to ensure suitable time and ceiling are available to meet the requirements of the Automated Installation Entry system. 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 27, 2022. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W911QY-15-D-0047). SCD.USA Infrared LLC, Melbourne, Florida, was awarded a $17,425,550 firm-fixed-price contract for sustainment support services for the AN/VSQ-6B Vehicle Optics Sensor system. 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 27, 2030. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W56JSR-20-D-0016). Carahsoft Technology Corp., Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $16,043,475 firm-fixed-price contract for contractor staff augmentation services to migrate the Army Enterprise Systems Integration Program components and Global Combat Support System-Army system. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of July 26, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $16,043,475 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W52P1J-20-F-0432). Owyhee Group Co.,* Boise, Idaho, was awarded a $9,209,263 firm-fixed-price contract for the Army cold weather combat boot. Bids were solicited via the internet with five received. Work will be performed in Boise, Idaho, with an estimated completion date of July 30, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $9,209,263 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W911QY-20-F-0360). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Dynalec Corp. Inc., Sodus, New York, has been awarded an estimated $17,685,523 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity contract for electronic and communication components. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a five-year base contract with three one-year option periods. Location of performance is New York, with a July 24, 2025, performance completion date. Using military service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2025 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Columbus, Ohio (SPE7LX20D016). (Awarded July 24, 2020) NAVY CBGG JV LLC,* Silver Spring, Maryland, is awarded a $12,982,363 firm-fixed-price contract for trailer procurement Phase II at Marine Corps Base (MCB) Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point, North Carolina. Work will be performed in Jacksonville and Havelock, North Carolina. The work to be performed provides for the procurement, delivery and set-up of 75 interim relocatable facilities, with 62 to be located at MCB Camp Lejeune and 13 to be located at MCAS Cherry Point. The new facilities will include administrative, classroom trailers, post office, medical aid station, computer lab, chapel and fire station. Work is expected to be completed by November 2020. Fiscal 2020 procurement (Marine Corps) contract funds in the amount of $12,982,363 are obligated on this award, of which $11,200,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the beta.SAM.gov website and 13 proposals were received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N62470-20-C-0008). *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2289819/source/GovDelivery/

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  July 6, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Australia plans US$190 billion defence boost over decade

  Rod McGuirk The Associated PressStaff CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA -- Australia's prime minister on Wednesday announced 270 billion Australian dollars (US$190 billion) in additional defence spending over the next decade, which will include long-range missiles and other capabilities to hold enemies further from its shores. Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned that the post-pandemic world will become more dangerous and announced a renewed focus on Australia's immediate region, although its military would be open to joining U.S.-led coalitions as it did in Afghanistan and Iraq in campaigns that were in the Australian national interest. Australia had not seen such economic and strategic uncertainty in the region since the Second World War for reasons including tensions between the United States and China, he said. "This simple truth is this: Even as we stare down the COVID pandemic at home, we need to also prepare for a post-COVID world that is poorer, that is more dangerous and that is more disorderly," Morrison said. Tensions over territorial claims were rising between India and China and in the South China Sea, Morrison said. "The risk of miscalculation and even conflict is heightened," Morrison said. "Regional military modernization is at an unprecedented rate." "Relations between China and the United States are fractious at best as they compete for political, economic and technological supremacy," he added. Rory Medcalf, head of the Australian National University's National Security College, said the announcement showed Australia was "getting serious about deterrence and the prospect of armed conflict in the Indo-Pacific region." "It was only a matter of time before the Australian government made a choice about the kind of defence force that we're going to have in the 21st century with the rapid deterioration in the strategic environment in recent years," Medcalf said. "The government has accepted that the Australian military needs to be able to attempt to deter armed conflict through its capabilities and to be able to fight in our region if we have to," he added. Australia will invest in more lethal and long-range capabilities that will hold enemies further from its shores, including longer-range strike weapons and offensive cyber capabilities. To increase maritime strike capability, Australia will buy the AGM-158C anti-ship missile from the U.S. Navy at an estimated cost of AU$800 million, the government said. The new missile is a significant upgrade from Australia's current AGM-84 air-launched Harpoon anti-ship missile, which was introduced in the early 1980s. It has a range of 124 kilometres (77 miles), while the missile being purchased can exceed 370 kilometres (230 miles). The new missile will initially be used on the F/A-18F Super Hornet jet fighters but can be used by other defence aircraft. Training on the weapon system would begin next year, the government said. Australia will also invest in advanced naval strike capabilities, including long-range anti-ship and land strike weapons, and will buy long-range rocket artillery and missile systems to give the army an operational strike capability. It also plans to develop and test high-speed, long-range strike weapons, including hypersonic weapons. The announcement comes as Australia's relationship with China, its most important trading partner, is under extraordinary strain over Australian calls for an independent investigation of the pandemic. The United States, Australia's most important security partner since the Second World War, remains "the foundation of our defence policy," Morrison said. "Of course we can't match all the capabilities in our region," Morrison said. "That is why we need to ensure that our deterrence capabilities play to our strengths." https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/australia-plans-us-190-billion-defence-boost-over-decade-1.5006902