New SideWinder Cyber Attacks Target Maritime Facilities in Multiple Countries

On the same subject

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  February 24, 2023 | International, C4ISR

  When it comes to network innovation, we must protect the data ‘pipes’

  Because encryption has a shelf life, military networks still need to protect the data pipes that support the warfighter.

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  January 25, 2021 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - January 21, 2021

  AIR FORCE Northrop Grumman, San Diego, California, has been awarded a $3,600,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) operations, sustainment and support. This contract provides for research, development, test, and evaluation, integration and operations and sustainment for existing and future payloads contained in or connected to the BACN system and associated ground stations or controls, ancillary equipment, support equipment and system integration laboratories. Work will be performed in San Diego, California, and overseas locations, and is expected to be completed by Jan. 24, 2026. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $23,673,035 are being obligated with the initial task order, FA8726-21-F-0023, at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity (FA8726-21-D-0001). DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY Jones Lang LaSalle Americas Inc., Chicago, Illinois, was awarded a $45,000,000 firm-fixed-price blanket purchase agreement (HHM402-21-A-0002) to provide the Defense Intelligence Agency with furniture products and services. Work will be performed in the National Capital Region, with an expected completion date of Jan. 18, 2026. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $616,166 are being obligated at time of award. The Virginia Contracting Activity, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. NAVY Black Construction/Mace International JV,* Harmon Industrial Park, Harmon, Guam, is awarded a $28,877,806 firm-fixed-price task order (N40084-21-F-4134) under previously-awarded design-build/design-bid-build, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity unrestricted multiple-award construction contract N40084-18-D-0066 to perform various repairs to deep-draft wharf infrastructure at Naval Support Facility (NSF), Diego Garcia. Work to be performed includes demolition of seven wharf fender standoff panels (FSOPs) and replacement of 24 FSOPs, including pile supports; replacement of broken/missing timber fender piles at the north end of the wharf; replacement of steel ladders; repair of concrete deck and sub-structure, including concrete slab replacement, crack sealing and paint striping; repair of cathodic protection, mooring hardware and pedestal/foundation cracks; repair of high mast lighting; providing additional lighting to meet current design criteria; and demolition and replacement of above-ground ductile iron water lines along the wharf edge where it interferes with FSOP work. Work will be performed at NSF Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory, and is expected to be completed by September 2023. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $28,877,806 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Two proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Far East, Diego Garcia, is the contracting activity. Conflict Kinetics Corp., Sterling, Virginia, is awarded a $28,164,522 single-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract that will include terms and conditions for the placement of firm-fixed-price task orders for the procurement of Tactical Ocular Reaction Area™ (TORA™) small arms simulator support services to include on-site hardware; software and contracted information technology system security; air compressors; replacement equipment; and software modifications/software warranty as needed for all TORA™ simulators in support of Naval Expeditionary Combat Command within the continental U.S. and outside the continental U.S. locations. The contract will include a five-year ordering period with no options. The ordering period is expected to begin January 2021 and be completed by January 2026. Work will be performed in Williamsburg, Virginia (15%); Virginia Beach, Virginia (15%); Gulfport, Mississippi (15%); San Diego, California (15%); Port Hueneme, California (15%); Newport, Rhode Island (7%); Jacksonville, Florida (7%); Seal Beach, California (7%); and Guam (4%). Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,000 will be obligated to fund the contract's minimum amount and funds will expire at the end of the fiscal year. Individual task orders will be subsequently funded with appropriate fiscal year appropriations at the time of their issuance. One source was solicited for this non-competitive, sole-source requirement pursuant to the authority set forth in 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1, with one offer received. The Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center, Norfolk, Contracting Department, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N00189-21-D-0005). San Juan-Black & Veatch International Ltd. JV,* Montrose, Colorado, is awarded a $23,145,586 task order (N40084-21-F-4131) under previously awarded, firm-fixed-price, design-build/design-bid-build, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, unrestricted multiple-award construction contract (N40084-18-D-0068) to provide long-term repairs to the north parking apron, Phase I, at Naval Support Facility (NSF), Diego Garcia. The work to be performed will provide long-term repairs to the north parking apron at NSF Diego Garcia, including demolishing existing concrete pavement and replacing with new 330 mm-thick portland cement concrete pavement complete with joints, dowels and sealants; removing cement-treated base and sub-base, replacing or reusing excavated material and re-grading/compacting to recommended design elevation; scarifying, re-grading and compacting existing subgrade; providing tie-down moorings and static grounding points; repairing/repaving parking apron cement-treated shoulders; and providing airfield markings. Work will be performed at NSF Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory, and is expected to be completed by May 2022. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $23,145,586 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Two proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Far East, Diego Garcia, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Kampi Components Inc.,* Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania, has been awarded a maximum $26,650,143 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for valves and valve accessories. 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 three-year base contract with one one-year option period that is being awarded with the base. Locations of performance are Pennsylvania and California, with a Jan. 18, 2025, performance completion date. Using military service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2025 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Columbus, Ohio (SPE7MX-21-D-0044). Woodward HRT Inc., Santa Clarita, California, has been awarded a maximum $9,662,562 firm-fixed-price contract for F-15 rotary vane assemblies. 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 one-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is California, with an Apr. 1, 2025 ordering period end date. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma (SPRTA1-20-C-0006). ARMY Goodwill Industries of San Antonio Contract Services, San Antonio, Texas, was awarded a $17,454,530 modification (P00012) to contract W81K04-18-C-0002 to provide support to the Army, Air Force and Air National Guard, medical record processing and storage services. Work will be performed in San Antonio, Texas, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 25, 2022. Fiscal 2021 and 2022 Defense Health Program funds in the amount of $17,454,530 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Health Contracting Activity, San Antonio, Texas, is the contracting activity. Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Tullahoma, Tennessee, was awarded a $9,238,191 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to support field, chamber, laboratory and range developmental and operational testing at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, and other locations. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work will be performed in Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 28, 2025. Fiscal 2021 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $48,193 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army 418th Contracting Support Brigade, Fort Hood, Texas, is the contracting activity (W91151-21-C-0006). *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2479160/source/GovDelivery/

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  May 7, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  Here's the Air Force's plan to revolutionize the way it trains pilots

  Oriana Pawlyk, Military.com When Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson visited AFWERX's Pilot Training Next program in Austin, Texas, last year, she watched as trainees took flight from the seats in front of her — through the use of virtual reality. It piqued her interest enough to ask service officials to explore waysthat similar flight simulator programs could be introduced to high schools to get young students involved in the nation's endeavors to create more pilots. Officials with Air Education and Training Command (AETC) are now gearing up to present Wilson's successor with a business case for more widespread use of the system, within the force. The move provides a glimpse into Air Force leaders' thinking as they overhaul the pilot training curriculum, introducing one that augments time airborne in the cockpit with simulators and technology on the ground. It comes as the Air Force readies itself for the possibility of complex conflict with a peer-level adversary equipped with long-range missiles and advanced combat aircraft. It's a future that may represent a strong contrast to recent decades, in which the Air Force has flown in largely uncontested airspace supporting ground troops. The service is attempting to boost its pilot ranks amid a longterm pilot shortage, even as its trainer fleet ages. Air Force officials say they want to move away from the service's old-fashioned, "industrial" approach to training — having pilots sit in classrooms for weeks then moving on to a trainer. This means using virtual reality earlier and more frequently in the training pipeline. As the service prepares to bring its latest trainer, known as the T-X, into the fold, it is proposing a more "concentrated dose" of training to seamlessly transition from virtual reality to the trainer and, finally, to the Formal Training Unit, or FTU. The system is well poised to reform in a few ways, said Gen. Mike Holmes, commander of Air Combat Command (ACC). Using the low-cost immersive environment of virtual reality, together with "competency-based learning," and moving skillset testing at the graduate level to an earlier place in the model, "would experience our pilots much faster," he said. "Those are two things that are poised to make a revolutionary changein how well we train pilots and in how long it takes us to train pilots," Holmes said Tuesday in an interview with Military.com. "I want to see how fast and well I can produce experienced pilots." Pilots end up leaving the service if they feel dissatisfied and lack a sense of purpose, added Lt. Gen. Steven Kwast, AETC commander. "You have to fly a lot to be good at what you do, and we don't have the money, and we don't have the weather, and we don't have the range space ... [because of] sequestration. And all these things that are politically driven oftentimes are frustrating the force," Kwast said in a separate interview. Airline hiring efforts are the biggest factor that drives pilot retention and production problem in the services, officials have said. Old learning mechanisms also bog down the system, often adding to pilots' frustration, Kwast said. "We would [add] layers of things over time" through the course of a pilot's service, "basically assuming, 'You can't handle the truth!' or 'You're not smart enough to be able to learn this holistically, we have to give it to you piecemeal and then you'd put it together in your brain over time.' That's why it would take seven years to make a great mission commander pilot." But now, he said "We're breaking that paradigm." Trainer fleet in trouble? The service still relies heavily on its trainer fleet for training, even though virtual reality is the new frontier, Holmes said. "There's still no substitute for being in a real airplane," he said. "I think we'll always want a mix of learning our skills cheaply, but also build on decision-making in a real airplane." The T-38 Talon has been the backbone of the Air Force's undergraduate pilot training, or UPT, program for decades. But last year, the trainer fleet was plagued with a series of crashes, two of which were fatal. Those selected to fly bombers and fighters typically receive their advanced pilot training in the T-38. The T-1A Jayhawk, meanwhile, is used in advanced training for students who are slated to go into cargo or tanker aircraft. The T-6 Texan II, used for instrument familiarization and low-level and formation flying, also has had its share of problems. Last year, the Air Force ordered an operational pause for the T-6 fleet after pilots suffered a series of unexplained physiological episodes, or UPEs. As a result, AETC on Feb. 1 ordered an indefinite operational pause for all T-6 aircraft at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi; Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma; and Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas. That pause was lifted Feb. 28. A team of experts determined that the T-6's On-Board Oxygen Generating System (OBOGS) filter and drain valvesfailed at higher rates than expected. The discovery led to repairs and increased inspections, but pilotscontinued to suffer from UPEs. A T-6 trainer from Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, crashed just last week. The Air Force is preparing to receive new trainer jets to replace its current Northrop Grumman-made T-38s, some of which date to the mid-1960s. In September, the service awarded Boeing Co. a $9.2 billion contract to build its next aircraft for training pilots, known as the T-X program. The first T-X aircraft and simulators are scheduled to arrive at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, in 2023. The service has committed to buying 351 T-X jets, 46 simulators and associated ground equipment. The pay ment structure, officials have said, also allows for an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity option to give the Air Force the opportunity to purchase up to 475 aircraft and 120 simulators. Delays to this program or other unforeseen challenges could have catastrophic consequences, said retired Gen. T. Michael "Buzz" Moseley, former Air Force chief of staff. "My anxiety over this when I was the chief [is that] we are one sortie away from this older inventory having a problem," Moseley, an F-15 Eagle pilot, said in a recent interview with Military.com. "Here we are in 2019, and we're going to fly these airplanes until 2024 before T-X starts coming in." Kwast and Holmes agreed that the T-38 fleet will continue to undergo any upgrades necessary to keep them flying as long as it makes sense. "You can make anything last longer; it just takes more money to sustain," Kwast said. "I guarantee that the T-1, the T-38 and the T-6 all can last as long as we need them to last, depending on the business case and the amount of money you want to spend. But will the T-38 or the T-1 become too expensive, and [therefore], we have to jump to a different technology? Then we would look at other options." Boeing said it stands ready to produce the T-X. "Our T-X program, including engineering, manufacturing and test, is located in long-established Boeing St. Louis facilities," wrote Rachelle Lockhart, spokeswoman for the company's T-X program, in an email. "In fact, we built and assembled our first two T-X aircraft in St. Louis prior to contract award to prove the maturity of our design, repeatability in manufacturing and performance. We're now on contract, executing on schedule as planned, as are our suppliers." She added the trainer's production schedule could be advanced at the Air Force's request. "The US Air Force plan calls for a full production rate of 48 jets a year, and we will meet the customer need," Lockhart said. "Should the Air Force request a higher rate of production, we are well positioned to accommodate it." Full article: https://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-plan-to-revolutionize-pilot-training-2019-5