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January 14, 2022 | International, Aerospace

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  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense – September 22, 2020

    September 23, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense – September 22, 2020

    DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Sysco Hampton Roads Inc., Suffolk, Virginia, has been awarded a maximum $804,744,193 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-quantity contract for full-line food distribution. This was a competitive acquisition with one response received. This is a five-year contract. Location of performance is Virginia, with a Sept. 20, 2025, ordering period end date. Using military services are Air Force and Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2025 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency, Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE300-20-D-3286). O&M Halyard, Mechanicsville, Virginia, has been awarded a maximum $35,188,397 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for medical and surgical products. This was a competitive acquisition with 18 responses received. This is a one-year base contract with nine one-year option periods. Location of performance is Virginia, with a Sept. 21, 2021, ordering period end date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 Warstopper funds. The contracting agency is the Defense Logistics Agency, Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2D0-20-D-0018). Raytheon Co., McKinney, Texas, has been awarded a maximum $32,248,579 firm-fixed-price contract for television cameras and sensor assembly units for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. 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 two-year base contract with one one-year option period. The option is being exercised at the time of award. Location of performance is Texas, with a May 25, 2023, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency, Land and Maritime, Warren, Michigan (SPRDL1-20-C-0188). AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Space, Sunnyvale, California, has been awarded an $85,273,664 fixed-price, incentive-firm, firm-fixed-price, cost‐plus‐incentive‐fee and cost-reimbursement modification (P00180) to previously awarded contract FA8810‐13‐C‐0002 to continue Space Based Infrared System contractor logistics support. Work will be performed at Peterson Air Force Base, Buckley AFB, Greeley Air National Guard Station, and Boulder, all located in Colorado, and is expected to be completed March 31, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds will be used with no funds being obligated at the time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $1,914,295,948. The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, Peterson AFB, Colorado, is the contracting activity. The Boeing Co., Layton, Utah, has been awarded a $13,287,959 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P00132) to contract FA8214-15-C-0001 for additional qualification requirements for the Signal Conditioner Module for the MOD 7 Flight Test Kit (SC Module). The objective of this proposed effort is to perform full qualification and acceptance testing to support new builds. Work will be performed in Layton, Utah, and is to be completed June 30, 2022. Fiscal 2020 missile procurement funds in the amount of $4,140,649 are being obligated at the time of award. Modification is funded with current year 3020 funds. AFNWC/PZBB is the contracting agency at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, Hill AFB, Utah, is the contracting activity. Systems and Technology Research,* Woburn, Massachusetts, has been awarded an $8,297,019 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for software deliverables. This contract provides for the research and development of challenge problems to validate and evaluate the design technologies developed by the Technology Area (TA) 1 team and the symbiosis technologies developed by TA2 teams. The focus of the research is Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) related models and seed designs. This effort brings two unique and differentiated design approaches to the Symbiotic Design for Cyber Physical Systems community from two pioneering UUV developers. Work will be performed in Woburn, Massachusetts, and is expected to be completed October 2024. 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 $1,011,150 are being obligated at time of award. Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome, New York, is the contracting activity (FA8750-20-C-0535). ARMY FN America LLC, Columbia, South Carolina, was awarded a $78,709,973 firm-fixed-price contract for M249 Squad Automatic Weapons. 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 Sept. 19, 2025. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Newark, New Jersey, is the contracting activity (W15QKN-20-D-0036). James Construction Group LLC, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was awarded a $13,349,914 firm-fixed-price contract to design and construct a new two-lane bridge. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed at Fort Hood, Texas, with an estimated completion date of May 23, 2022. Fiscal 2020 military construction (Army) funds in the amount of $13,349,914 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth, Texas, is the contracting activity (W9126G-20-C-0038). World Wide Technology LLC, St. Louis, Missouri, was awarded an $8,980,145 firm-fixed-price contract for network upgrades. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 9, 2020. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $8,980,145 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army 408th Contracting Support Brigade, Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, is the contracting activity (W912D2-20-F-0046). Julius Kaaz Construction Co. Inc.,* Leavenworth, Kansas, was awarded an $8,852,723 firm-fixed-price contract to complete the renovation of Building 50 at Fort Leavenworth. Bids were solicited via the internet with five received. Work will be performed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, with an estimated completion date of March 25, 2022. Fiscal 2020 civil construction funds in the amount of $8,852,723 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City, Missouri, is the contracting activity (W912DQ-20-C-4015). NAVY Life Cycle Engineering Inc., Charleston, South Carolina (N64498-20-D-4036, $44,312,721); and McKean Defense Group LLC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (N64498-20-D-4037, $33,941,662), are awarded a combined total $78,254,383 cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for engineering and technical services to support the shipboard Electronic Chart Display and Information System and the Situational Awareness Bridge Display System for the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division. Work will be performed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (20%); Norfolk, Virginia (10%); San Diego, California (10%); Washington, D.C. (5%); Mayport, Florida (5%); Charlottesville, Virginia (4%); Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (4%); Yokosuka, Japan (4%); the Kingdom of Bahrain (4%); Bremerton, Washington (2%); Rota, Spain (2%); and the remainder of the work (30%) will be performed at the contractor sites according to each awarded task order, and is expected to be completed by September 2025. Fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $500,000 ($250,000 obligated on each contract) will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. These contracts were competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with four offers received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity. The Boeing Co., Jacksonville, Florida, is awarded a $75,129,607 modification (P00006) to previously awarded, cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract N00019-19-D-0003. This modification exercises options to provide aircraft inspections, modifications and repairs as well as inner wing panel (IWP) modifications and repairs for the F/A-18 E/F and EA-18G series aircraft. These efforts restore the aircraft and IWP to meet service life projections in accordance with new design specifications. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, Florida (80%); St. Louis, Missouri (15%); and Lemoore, California (5%), and is expected to be completed in September 2021. No funds are being obligated at time of award; funds will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Etolin Strait Partners LLC,* Norfolk, Virginia, is awarded a $30,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract modification for the exercise of Option Year One under an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for construction projects located primarily within the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Washington, D.C., area of responsibility (AOR). The work to be performed provides for various maintenance, repair, alteration and minor new construction projects for facilities located primarily within the NAVFAC Washington, D.C., AOR in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. The total contract amount after this modification will be $60,000,000. No task orders are being issued at this time. Work will be performed primarily in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., and is expected to be completed by September 2021. No funds will be obligated at time of award; funds will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued. Task orders will be primarily funded by fiscal 2021 military construction (Navy); operations and maintenance (O&M) (Navy); O&M (Defense Logistics Agency); and Navy working capital funds. NAVFAC Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N40080-19-D-0007). Centerra Integrated Services LLC, Herndon, Virginia, is awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a maximum amount of $30,000,000 for minor construction, alteration and repair of real property and utilities at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. An initial task order is awarded at $64,194 to provide new high density polyethylene pile fenders at the Windward and Leeward Ferry Landing. The work to be performed provides for, but is not limited to, general construction projects including new construction, repair, alteration, renovation, demolition and other construction-related operations or projects. Work for this task order is expected to be completed by January 2021. All work for this contract will be performed in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months with an expected completion date of September 2025. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) (O&M, N) contract funds in the amount of $64,194 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by O&M, N and O&M (Army). This contract was competitively procured via the beta.SAM.gov Contract Opportunities website with three proposals received. Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southeast, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity (N69450-20-D-0072). Bette & Cring LLC, Latham, New York, is awarded a $23,064,843 firm-fixed-price contract for the construction of a co-generation plant at the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C. This work to be performed is a construction project for the co-generation plant with a combined heat and power system to generate electricity and steam at the Naval Research Laboratory. Site preparation includes above-ground site demolition and relocations, underground site demolition and utility relocations, excavation, grading preparation for construction and paving. Mechanical systems will include water, steam, sewer, heating, ventilation and air conditioning. Work will be performed in Washington, D.C., and is expected to be completed by April 2023. Fiscal 2016 and 2017 military construction contract funds in the amount of $23,064,843 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website with four proposals received. Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Washington, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N40080-20-C-0023). The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is awarded a $21,909,659 modification (P00040) to previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract N00019-16-C-0032. This modification exercises an option for test and evaluation support for Next Generation Jammer integration on the EA-18G aircraft. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri, and is expected to be completed in September 2021. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $8,360,505 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Pacific Maritime Industries (PMI) Corp.,* San Diego, California (N00189-20-D-0030); TST Fabrications LLC,* Norfolk, Virginia (N00189-20-D-0031); and Tri-Way Industries (TWI) Inc.,* Auburn, Washington, (N00189-20-D-0032), are awarded an estimated $15,984,115 multiple award for a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract that will include terms and conditions for the placement of firm-fixed-price task orders to provide a means to purchase shipboard lockers and related materials in support of the Shipboard Habitability Improvement Program at competitive prices in accordance with the delivery schedules listed on the Statement of Work. The contracts will run concurrently and will include a 60-month base ordering period with an additional six-month ordering period option pursuant of Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.217-8, which if exercised, will bring the total estimated value of this contract to $19,540,057. The base ordering period is expected to be completed by September 2025; if the option is exercised, the ordering period will be completed by March 2026. Specific requirements for habitability support cannot be predicted at this time; therefore, the various locations of where the supplies will be delivered cannot be determined at this time. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $7,500 ($2,500 on each of the three contracts) will be obligated to fund the contracts' minimum amounts and funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Individual task orders will be subsequently funded with appropriate fiscal year appropriations at the time of their issuance. This contract was competitively procured with the solicitation posted on beta.SAM.gov as a small business set-aside for the award of multiple contracts pursuant to the authority set forth in Federal Acquisition Regulation 16.504, with four offers received. Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Norfolk, Contracting Department, Norfolk Office, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity. Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., San Diego, California, is awarded a $9,018,804 firm-fixed-price modification (P00023) to previously awarded fixed-price-incentive-successive-target contract N00019-17-C-0018. This modification establishes final configuration and final price determination for the unique material required for the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft. This modification provides for the procurement of three Integrated Functional Capability (IFC) 4.0 material kits and one IFC 4.0 retrofit kit. Additionally, this modification adds scope to support non-recurring engineering efforts associated with wing and v-tail modifications and the procurement of components and associated efforts in support of Lot Three low rate initial production. Work will be performed in Rancho Bernardo, California (28.9%); Palmdale, California (12.6%); Waco, Texas (9.6%); Red Oak, Texas (5.6%); Sparks, Nevada (5%); Verona, Wisconsin (4.4%); Bridgeport, West Virginia (2.4%); Westchester, Ohio (2.4%); San Clemente, California (2.1%); Salt Lake City, Utah (1.2%); Menlo Park, California (1.1%); and various locations within the continental U.S. (24.7%), and is expected to be completed in March 2022. Fiscal 2018 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $9,018,804 will be obligated at the time of award, all of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Oceaneering International Inc., Chesapeake, Virginia, is awarded a $7,733,142 cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-only modification to previously awarded contract N00024-18-C-6413 to exercise options for configuration changes, engineering services, material maintenance and repair. Work will be performed in Chesapeake, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by September 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Defense-wide; 80%), and fiscal 2020 procurement (Defense-wide; 20%) in the amount of $497,000 will be obligated at the time of award, of which, funds in the amount of $397,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2357052/source/GovDelivery/

  • The defense industry remains in dire straits. Congress must pass another relief package.

    August 19, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

    The defense industry remains in dire straits. Congress must pass another relief package.

    By: Mackenzie Eaglen House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, recently wrote in an op-ed on Defense News that Congress “cannot panic and hand out blank checks to defense contractors.” They were concerned with a “lack of detail” in the Pentagon's stimulus funding request. Pentagon officials have responded with said requested detail. It's clear the defense, shipbuilding and aerospace industrial base — an “essential” workforce as designated by the Department of Homeland Security — is indeed in need of help. These critical firms need financial support to the tune of about $11 billion to support more than 100,000 direct jobs. Nor should the military have to take it out of hide, as suggested by some. According to the Defense Department, the data from industry is showing 30-40 percent inefficiency across the defense industrial base, but certain sectors like shipbuilding are experiencing 50-60 percent inefficiency. At shipyards, for example, blue-collar worker attendance ranges from just half to 70 percent. Other short-term sectors at risk include textile manufacturers, body armor suppliers and small business electronics suppliers, who feed guidance systems and wiring harnesses in Army vehicles and aircraft. A sampling of specific reasons for inefficiency include: Confirmed cases or quarantines Government facility closure/standdown test delays Telework Closures due to travel restrictions Logistic implications caused by travel restrictions requiring commercial freight Availability of parts and supplies High absentee rates Local and state lockdowns Foreign government lockdowns Supplier shutdowns Pentagon leaders are worried about the near term, but also permanent damage. Officials are “concerned with a potential loss of critical labor skills,” such as welders. Shipbuilders are in dire straits given the “significant touch labor” required to build a ship and “greater facility impact from social distancing.” The potential shutdown of one of the “big seven” private shipyards is a real risk right now. The Virginia-class attack submarine is currently experiencing delays in its production line, as Newport News Shipbuilding has “prioritized its available workforce on supporting maintenance for in-service submarines and aircraft carriers.” If electricians, engineers and solderers shift from the Virginia assembly line elsewhere, the work is slowed and “the opportunity for the cost to come down on each successive submarine hull is diminished.” Congress has repeatedly supported this program above recent budget requests and presumably cares greatly about this unanticipated cost overrun through no fault of nor negligence by the contractor. The Air Force is experiencing major program delays due to the impact on the aerospace industrial base — both primes and suppliers. Programs impacted include the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and KC-46 tanker due to facility shutdowns in the U.S., England, Italy and Japan. These two aircraft programs will likely miss major milestones — therefore delaying the time when they become available to the war fighter. Aircraft engine-maker GE Aviation is a “fragility concern” across the armed forces. For the Air Force, the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile and the Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile are “being impacted by reduced workforce and facility availability.” The Small Diameter Bomb motor supplier is being pulled to support the Federal Emergency Management Agency with motors for hospital beds. Aerospace firms with commercial work are reporting problems given the massive decline in commercial demand, which affects defense. Contrary to the assertion that the Pentagon doesn't need more stimulus money to support contractors, the services are “concerned about large commercial companies, like Boeing and GE that are critical to our defense industrial base facing negative cash flow and other associated impacts from COVID-19.” Small businesses and subcontractors are particularly vulnerable as they have far less slack to respond to crises. Many live contract to contract, as indicated by a 2018 Pentagon report. According to the Defense Department, “small businesses ... have been the hit the hardest due to unfamiliarity that [the] defense industrial base is exempt from most local shelter-in-place orders.” The Pentagon's request for more stimulus money is not a case of pork for primes. This industry has “a notably high rate of subcontracted work flow and systems with high component volumes, driving job loss directly to program partners and the supply chain.” So while virtually all of the Pentagon's missiles are built by two primes, 98 percent of the subcontractors making parts for U.S. munitions are the only source for these items. If these unique businesses fail, there may not be any replacements. A study last year by George Mason University found “contractor workforce challenges have a direct impact on the government's ability to ramp up quickly.” Budget fluctuations are particularly hard on small companies that “do not have large enough portfolios to shift people between projects. The contractor workforce loses skills or move on.” These firms operate with “thin margins and low lines of credit.” The additional costs to respond to COVID-19 were not part of the original contracts the companies are currently performing, and warrant stimulus money. Hopefully, Chairman Smith and Sen. Durbin now agree. https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/commentary/2020/08/18/the-defense-industry-remains-in-dire-straits-congress-must-pass-another-relief-package/

  • Spain’s military still has eyes for the F-35 despite European fighter push

    June 13, 2019 | International, Aerospace

    Spain’s military still has eyes for the F-35 despite European fighter push

    By: Sebastian Sprenger MADRID – The Spanish navy and air force are still interested in the American F-35 fighter jet, even though the government is about to join a Franco-German program to develop a new European plane. The two services are in the beginning stages of an analysis in which the Lockheed Martin-made aircraft is emerging as a key contender, officials told reporters on the sidelines of the FEINDEF defense expo here in late May. For the navy, the choice for the short-takeoff-and-landing variant of the jet, dubbed the F-35B, appears to be more clear-cut than for the air force. The Spanish navy wants to replace its 12 Harrier jets, which are launched from the LPH Juan Carlos I. That ship's short, ski-jump deck makes the F-35B the only option on the market, according to Cdr. Antonio Estevan, a staff officer at the service's plans and policy division. “From a technical point of view, it's a very interesting option for us,” Estevan said. “The problem is the cost. The version for us would be, as far as I know, $100 million; the air force version $80 million. We are talking about high prices. Even the American president was surprised when he realized the cost.” Air force officials, meanwhile, are keeping their options more open when it comes to replacing the service's 84 Boeing-made F-18s. Twenty planes of the “A” variant, stationed on the Canary Islands, need to be replaced first, by 2025, according to Brig Gen. Juan Pablo Sanchez de Lara, chief of the Spanish Air Force's plans division. Airbus has its eyes on that business and is offering to outfit the squadron with the Eurofighter. While that outcome is also the air force's expectation, a replacement for the rest of the F-18 fleet, 64 planes of the “M” designation, is still up for grabs, according to Sanchez de Lara. The two services cooperating on the requirements of a potentially joint program means the F-35 is on the table in some form or another, though it's unclear how compatible the branches' needs will be in the end. “For the navy, it's a very simple solution because they need an aircraft for vertical, short takeoff,” Sanchez de Lara said. “For us, it's different.” Both services want new aircraft by around 2030. That would be ten years before the Future Combat Air System program, led by Airbus and Dassault, is scheduled to field a new combat aircraft. The situation in Spain is reminiscent of the choice Germany faced about the F-35, and the government's decision earlier this year to ditch the plane as a contender to replace the Tornado. The Luftwaffe, the German air force, was reportedly in favor of the American fifth-generation plane, while the defense ministry's civilian leadership preferred an upgraded version of the Eurofighter Typhoon. Airbus had lobbied hard against the F-35, arguing that the pick of a new U.S. aircraft at this stage would effectively sink the entire FCAS project. Meanwhile, two F-35s arrived at Llanos Air Base near Albacete, Spain, earlier this week for training with other NATO air forces, according to announcements from the U.S. Air Force and NATO. During the Tactical Leadership Program officials practiced integrating the aircraft into a search-and-rescue drill to extract friendly forces from enemy territory, a June 11 alliance statement reads. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2019/06/12/spains-military-still-has-eyes-for-the-f-35-despite-european-fighter-push/

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