February 27, 2020 | International, Aerospace

New ‘Air Force Ventures’ Set To Transform Technology Strategy

Steve Trimble

The U.S. Air Force has adopted a three-phase strategy to select small, innovative companies outside the traditional defense industry to perform advanced development work and to tap Silicon Valley-style venture capital firms to help taxpayers finance the new technology.

A new process could help rationalize the one-year-old Air Force effort to attract high-tech startups with dozens of Air Force Pitch Day events. These conferences have led to hundreds of small contract awards but no obvious path to guide the aspiring defense contractors further into the byzantine military acquisition process.

U.S. Air Force plans to make 50 large “bets” on technology
New acquisition training to be based on Fighter Weapons School

For the private startups and venture capitalists involved, the Air Force Ventures initiative is designed to offer a new route to the commercial market for potentially game-changing technologies that could benefit from a risk-tolerant government customer providing funding and early support.

“We don't really think of ourselves as a [stand-alone] market, but we purchase things in quantities that [are] meaningful enough that we can bridge companies until they reach a level for commercial success,” says Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics. “That's one reason that [venture capitalists] are interested in this.”

The Air Force Ventures process starts with the Pitch Day events, during which the Air Force can place initial “bets” worth up to about $50,000 each in Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants on promising, potentially game-changing ideas, says Roper, speaking to about 1,000 Air Force acquisition officials during a Feb. 14 webinar.

As the companies transition toward Phase II SBIR awards, the Air Force plans to grant about 300 contracts worth up to $1 million each—with a program office agreeing to fund about one-third of the costs. The funding match is meant to link the SBIR award to a program office, creating a path for the technology to potentially transition beyond the laboratory stage and into a program of record.

The third and final step in the Air Force Ventures concept whittles the pool of awards to about 50 recipients. The amount of the award is potentially “unlimited,” Roper says, but is generally regarded as at least $10 million.

The first of the “big bets” in Phase III are now under evaluation, Roper says. The contract awards could be announced at South by Southwest, a week-long technology conference and entertainment festival scheduled for March 13-22 in Austin, Texas.

The initiative explicitly seeks to help the Air Force break from traditional defense contractors. As the Air Force attempts to field leap-ahead capabilities within the next decade for the Advanced Battle Management System and Next-Generation Air Dominance, leveraging the innovative ideas and technology flowing into the commercial market is seen as critical.

“[R&D] in this country is 80% commercial,” Roper explains. “So in the 21st century, the [defense] industrial base should be dual-use. And so we've got to crack the code on how to have public and private funding work seamlessly inside an Air Force program.”

But there are significant challenges as the Air Force tries to leverage commercial-sector technology investments: Small companies often need to find a market quickly to generate revenue and cash flow, whereas government program offices tend to make decisions slowly—and inconsistently.

“In many cases, their commercialization [strategy] is devalued [by investors] if they have government funds,” Roper adds.

The Air Force's program managers also face a learning curve.

“If we're making 1,000 small bets a year, the reason we're making 1,000 is that we know most of them aren't going to pan out. So we can't manage the companies the way we would a traditional program,” Roper says. “But we can manage them as a portfolio—the same way that a private investor or a venture capitalist would.”

To prepare, the Air Force is sending acquisition officials back to school. Next year, a cadre of program managers will be enrolled in a six-month course at Stanford University, which will teach the Air Force to manage technology investments like a venture capitalist, Roper says. The next step is to expand educational opportunities within the Air Force. A new acquisition curriculum, modeled on operational training centers such as the Fighter Weapons School, will be created, Roper says.

https://aviationweek.com/shows-events/air-warfare-symposium/new-air-force-ventures-set-transform-technology-strategy

On the same subject

November 14, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - November 13, 2018
ARMY Barnard Construction Company Inc., Bozeman, Montana, was awarded a $324,422,299 firm-fixed-price contract for design and build of a pedestrian fence replacement project. Three bids were solicited via the internet with three bids received. Work will be performed in Yuma, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of April 1, 2020. Fiscal 2018 omnibus funds in the amount of $172,157,017 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth, Texas, is the contracting activity (W9126G-19-C-0007). SLSCO, Galveston, Texas, was awarded a $167,460,000 firm-fixed-price contract for border infrastructure design and build. Three bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed in Mission, Texas, with an estimated completion date of May 4, 2020. Fiscal 2018 omnibus funds in the amount of $167,460,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth, Texas, is the contracting activity (W9126G-19-C-0006). NAVY BAE Systems Jacksonville Ship Repair, Jacksonville, Florida (N00024-17-D-1007); Colonna Shipyards Inc., Norfolk, Virginia (N40027-17-D-1008); and Metro Machine Corp., Jacksonville, Florida (N40027-17-D-1009), are each awarded a $212,967,725 firm-fixed-price modification to their respective previously awarded multiple award contracts to exercise Option Year Two for the accomplishment of fixed priced delivery orders for docking and non-docking Chief of Naval Operations scheduled ship repair availabilities. Work will be performed in Mayport, Florida, and is expected to be completed by November 2019. No funding will be obligated at time of modification. The Southeast Regional Maintenance Center, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity. BAE Systems Jacksonville Ship Repair, Jacksonville, Florida (N40027-17-D-1001); Colonna Shipyards Inc., Norfolk, Virginia (N40027-17-D-1002); East Coast Repair and Fabrication LLC, Norfolk, Virginia (N40027-17-D-1003); Metro Machine Corp., Jacksonville, Florida (N40027-17-D-1004); North Florida Shipyards, Jacksonville, Florida (N40027-17-D-1005); and Tecnico Corp., Chesapeake, Virginia (N40027-17-D-1006), are each awarded a $42,641,520 firm-fixed-price modification to their respective previously awarded multiple award contracts to exercise Option Year Two for the accomplishment of fixed priced delivery orders for emergent and continuous maintenance availabilities. Work will be performed in Mayport, Florida, and is expected to be completed by November 2019. No funding will be obligated at time of the modification award. The Southeast Regional Maintenance Center, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity. Saifa Phommarine, doing business as Precision Dynamic,* Hayward, California (N6893619D0002); United Support Solutions – LMT Inc.,* Cedar Grove, New Jersey (N6893619D0003); ZYCI LLC,* Atlanta, Georgia (N6893619D0004); Modern Machine Co.,* Tehachapi, California (N6893619D0005); and Wutzler Machine Corp.,* Hemet, California (N6893619D0006), are each being awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts. The estimated aggregate ceiling for all contracts is $11,500,000, with the companies having an opportunity to compete for individual orders. These contracts provide for commercially available products manufactured from several different materials in different forms, shapes, sizes, complexity; specialty services for rapid processing, ranging from heat treating of manufactured items to paint and coating of manufactured items, and grinding services. These services are in support of the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD), China Lake's Applied Manufacturing Technology Division. Work will be performed at NAWCWD, China Lake, California; and at various awardee's facility sites in Hayward, California; Cedar Grove, New Jersey; Atlanta, Georgia; Tehachapi, California; and Hemet, California; and various customer sites to be determined on individual orders, and is expected to be completed in November 2023. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. These contracts were competitively procured via an electronic request for proposals as a 100 percent small business set-aside; five offers were received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, China Lake, California, is the contracting activity. Detyens Shipyards Inc., North Charleston, South Carolina, is awarded a $10,046,484 firm-fixed-price contract for a 60-calendar day shipyard availability for the regular overhaul dry docking of USNS Joshua Humphreys (T-AO 188). Work will include general services; clean and gas free tanks; 01 level and tank deck hydro-blast and recoat; flight deck preservation and non-skid; stability test; main engine turbo charger overhaul; ship's service diesel engine overhaul; life boat davit blocks; recertify lifeboats and winches; fire and smoke damper service; dry-docking and undocking the vessel; propeller system maintenance; overhauling sea valves; underwater hull cleaning and painting; ground tackle inspection and preservation; simplex stern tube seals; cargo ballast system tanks overhaul; ram tensioner preservation; and repair and preservation of saddle winches. The contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the total contract value to $11,054,691. Work will be performed in North Charleston, South Carolina, and is expected to be completed by March 17, 2019. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount $10,046,484 will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured, with proposals solicited via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with two offers received. The Navy's Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N3220519C4013). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Stern Produce Co. Inc.,* Phoenix, Arizona, has been awarded a maximum $99,850,000 firm-fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for fresh fruits and vegetables. This is a 48-month contract with no option periods. This was a competitive acquisition with one response received. Location of performance is Arizona, with a Nov. 12, 2022, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps; and Department of Agriculture schools and reservations. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2022 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE300-19-D-P343). AIR FORCE The Boeing Co., Layton, Utah, has been awarded a $70,500,000 cost-plus-incentive-fee request for equitable adjustment contract modification to contract FA8214-15-C-0001 for the Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Flight Test, Telemetry, and Termination program. This modification changes the specifications for the parts management plan, flight termination receiver, electromagnetic interference, cable qualification requirements, and antenna testing requirements. Most of the work is being performed in Huntington Beach, California; and work is expected to be completed by Jan. 29, 2021. No funds are being obligated at time of award. Air Force Nuclear Weapon Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contract activity. *Small business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1689528/
October 29, 2019 | International, Naval

Submarines are poised to take on a major role in strike warfare, but is that a good idea?
By: David B. Larter WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy is preparing to ink one of the largest contracts in its history with General Dynamics Electric Boat and the firm's partner shipyard Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News that will make the new generation of attack submarines a major force in strike warfare. The Block V Virginia contract is expected to produce 11 boats with eight Virginia Payload Modules, and will triple the Virginia's Tomahawk Land Attack Missile capacity to 40 missiles per hull. Experts say that the new Virginia Payload Module will also be large enough to accommodate boost-glide hypersonic missiles like those the Navy is developing with the Army. But the logic for the Virginia Payload Module has always been about replacing the Ohio-class guided missile submarines retiring in the 2020s. Because submarines have been the Navy's go-to asset to penetrate areas threated by Chinese and Russian surface-to-surface and anti-ship missiles, attack submarines loaded with strike missiles would have to be the ones to get close enough to be able to launch land-attack strikes. That model upends decades of the surface Navy's supremacy in the world of strike warfare from the sea, but experts are beginning to question the logic of giving the strike warfare mission to submariners in an era of great power competition. With Russia and, to an even greater extent, China investing heavily in anti-submarine technology, does it make sense to give a stealthy asset a mission that will blow its cover? Bryan Clark, a retired submariner and senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, wonders if the surface fleet is the best place inside the force to house the strike mission. “I think the requirement may be changing,” he said in an Oct. 22 phone call with Defense News. “Over the past 10 years there has been a real emphasis on the submarine as the one tool we have that may be able to get into contested areas — the East and South China seas, up in the north Atlantic, etc. “That's changing now: These countries are investing in their own anti-submarine warfare systems. China has put a lot of money into ASW systems, they are installing surveillance systems akin to our SOSUS [sound surveillance system]. So the idea that our submarines are our go-to asset to gain access, that may not be true in the next few years as it was in the past 10, so there is a question as to whether we should be investing in submarines to maintain the undersea strike capacity.” ‘Increasingly vulnerable' The issue is not just that submarines run the risk of being detected, which is an ever-present risk anytime a submarine leaves the pier, but that it won't be able to create the volume of fires that the surface fleet could, especially with new concepts in development such as a large unmanned surface vessel that could act as a kind of arsenal ship. “The surface fleet is likely going to be our best strike capacity asset in the next decade,” Clark said. “Submarines are going to be increasingly vulnerable, so the question becomes: Do I want to take my [Virginia Payload Module]-equipped SSN, put it inside the South China Sea to launch strikes, get counter-detected and harassed for days afterward? I lose it from the fight for a long time just evading attacks. “Whereas if you used unmanned surface vessel[s], those can launch just as many cruise missiles as a Virginia class, many times cheaper; they can rotate, get reloaded and just keep launching strikes at a much higher rate of fire as you would ever get out of the SSN force.” Jerry Hendrix, a retired naval flight officer and analyst with The Telemus Group, agreed that the surface fleet is likely going to be the place to house a strike capability, especially in the era of mass hypersonic fires, because of the cost it would impose on the U.S. to try to match Chinese capabilities on subs. “I think there is a powerful argument to distribute these weapons across the surface force,” Hendrix said. “If you can create a strike weapon that allows the surface force to stand outside of DF-21 and DF-26 range and shoot three-pointers from outside, then yes. To create mass and volume in the submerged force is twice to three times as expensive as it is to create that volume from the surface force. “So there is a solid argument just from the standpoint of cost. If I was trying to create 2,000 tubes of hypersonics — which are much more massive than Tomahawks, wont fit into a Mark 41 vertical launch system and hence will have to go into a different configuration — to create that mass in the submerged force is going to be very expensive.” The Navy is looking at back-fitting destroyers with larger vertical launching system tubes to accommodate so-called prompt-strike weapons, Defense News reported in June. But some analysts say the mission is better suited for a large unmanned surface vessel. “I think this is going to one of the main things driving the design of the large unmanned surface combatant,” said Dan Gouré, an analyst at the Lexington Institute think tank. “We're back to arsenal ship: long-range, park it into a surface action group of carrier strike group — kind of like a surface version of the SSGN.” https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2019/10/28/submarines-are-poised-to-take-on-a-major-role-in-strike-warfare-but-is-that-a-good-idea/
February 12, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval

Can France Eventually Replace Its Single Aircraft Carrier?
by Robert Farley Follow drfarls on TwitterL Key Point: Paris has a long history of building aircraft carriers, including their current nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle. If France wants to remain a relevant great power, it needs to think about what comes next after its carrier reaches retirement. France's first carrier entered service in the interwar period, but for a very long time the French navy trailed behind international counterparts in naval aviation. This changed in the Cold War, however, and today France operates the world's most advanced carrier outside of the U.S. Navy. How did France build its naval aviation force, what does it do today and what direction will France take next? The History of French Carriers Soon after World War I, France joined the international carrier community through the conversion of the battleship hulk Bearn. Although large, Bearn did not carry many aircraft and never actively participated in combat, even during World War II. The construction of two additional large carriers was suspended by World War II, but after the war the French navy gained access to light carriers transferred from Britain and the United States. Four in total, these carriers helped the French navy develop its naval aviation muscles. The next step was big; France constructed a pair of CATOBAR aircraft carriers, Clemenceau and Foch. Commissioned in 1961 and 1963, the ships displaced 30,000 tons and could carry around forty modern aircraft. A third carrier, the much larger Verdun, was cancelled before being laid down. Clemenceau and Foch, operating the F-8 Crusader and later the Super Etendard, would form the backbone of the world's second largest carrier force for the latter half of the Cold War. After nearly forty years of hard service, the two ships were decommissioned in favor of France's next carrier, the nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle. https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/can-france-eventually-replace-its-single-aircraft-carrier-122231

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