July 25, 2024 | International, Land
June 12, 2024 | International, Land
The first four of 50 new Armoured Combat Support Vehicles (ACSVs) built by Canadian workers for donation to Ukraine are departing for Europe, where members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) will be trained in their use this summer.
July 18, 2018 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR
FARNBOROUGH, England — The Air Force is still not moving fast enough to recruit the software talent that it needs to harness emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, its acquisition head said Tuesday. "I don't think we're attracting enough people. Whether they're the right people or not, I think that's a separate question. I'm not sure that we'll be able to answer that until we're working with a broader set of the industry base that's working AI,” Will Roper, the Air Force's undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logstics, told reporters at Farnborough Airshow. “I contend that the companies driving AI are a different breed of company than those who drive evolution in hardware, especially companies that drove hardware that have gotten us to today's military. The paces are faster, turnovers are quicker. Software is done in month cycles not year cycles.” Over the past year, the Air Force has charted some successes and some failures in its attempts to integrate tech like AI and big data analytics with legacy hardware systems like fighter jets or air operations center. It has established the Kessel Run Experimentation Lab, a group of industry and airmen in Boston that are iterating new capabilities for air operations centers. Instead of rolling out a large software package, the coders focus on app-like updates that can more rapidly insert new functionality into the AOC. But it's also suffered setbacks — most notably, Google's stated intention to withdraw from future Defense Department projects after some employees objected to the company's work on Project Maven, a program would allow the Pentagon to use AI to review footage from drones. Some have worried that could have a chilling effect on future efforts. Roper said that a big focus of his job is changing how the Air Force approaches software. In the past, software was a product that could be bought in cycles, just like a physical product like a missile or aircraft. Now, it's a service that must be reworked constantly, he said. “You get a good set of coders in, they can push out so much code per month. You put them with the user that's going to use the code and together they're able to collaborate to make sure that the developer is creating something that the operator is using,” he said. “That's working very well for us in Boston, and we're looking to expand that. That's the basic mechanism to move towards AI. We're going to need people that are working with us that are software people that are working, tweaking algorithms with the users that use them, and it's probably a different company than have worked with us over the past 10 years.” The Air Force has to get those companies under contract faster, in weeks instead of months, Roper said. It's looking for opportunities to use contract vehicles specifically delegated for small businesses and to use AFWERX — its outreach arm to nontraditional contractors who are creating promising commercial technologies — to introduce startups to the service. But Roper acknowledged there was no easy answer to the problem. One possible way to inject AI into Air Force programs — although a mundane one — is to use it for predictive maintenance technologies that use sensors to forecast when a component will break, said Air Force Under Secretary Matt Donovan. “It's very exciting for us and I think it holds a lot of potential to reduce our sustainment costs,” he said, noting that sustainment makes up a whopping 70 percent of the life-cycle cost of any given product. Roper agreed that sustainment was a great area to begin employing AI, and that experience could help the Air Force begin to figure out how to use the technology for classified applications. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/farnborough/2018/07/17/air-force-looks-to-accelerate-artificial-intelligence-contracts
August 4, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND GATR Technologies, Huntsville, Alabama, a subsidiary of Cubic Corp., was awarded a $172,000,000 maximum ceiling, single-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quality, firm-fixed-price contract (H92401-20-D-0003) with five one-year ordering periods for the procurement of 1.2 meter and 2.4 meter Ground Antenna Transmit and Receive (GATR) inflatable satellite communications terminals and ancillary equipment in support of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). Fiscal 2020 procurements funds in the amount of $5,000 are being obligated at the time of award. The contract will be funded with operations and maintenance funds, as well as procurement funds, from multiple fiscal years over the life of the contract. The majority of the work will be performed in Huntsville and is expected to be completed by August 2025. The contract is a Phase III Small Business Innovation Research award authorized under Title 10, U.S. Code 2304(b)(2) or Title 41, U.S. Code 253(b)(2). USSOCOM, Tampa, Florida, is the contracting activity. ARMY Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing Inc.,* Grand Rapids, Michigan, was awarded a $160,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for domestic aseptic fill and finish manufacturing capacity for critical vaccines and therapeutics in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 2, 2021. Fiscal 2020 Health and Human Services funds in the amount of $160,000,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W911QY-20-C-0086). Aspen Construction Co.,* Hackensack, Minnesota, was awarded an $8,354,252 contract for Phase II redevelopment site construction in Martin, Kentucky. Bids were solicited via the internet with four received. Work will be performed in Martin, Kentucky, with an estimated completion date of March 3, 2023. Fiscal 2020 civil construction funds in the amount of $8,354,252 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntington, West Virginia is the contracting activity (W91237-20-C-0007). NAVY Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Melbourne, Florida, is awarded a $34,712,366 cost-plus-fixed-fee order (N00019-20-F-0088) against previously-issued basic ordering agreement N00019-20-G-0005. This order provides non-recurring engineering for requirements development and systems engineering technical reviews and certification planning; initial requirements change requests; procurement strategy source selection package; performance based navigation certification plan; initial system safety; cyber; program protection and exportability analysis; integrated master schedule; and other associated technical deliverables in support of the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye cockpit redesign. Work will be performed in Melbourne, Florida (99.76%); and Patuxent River, Maryland (0.24%), and is expected to be completed by January 2022. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $5,785,394 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. Koman Construction LLC,* Anchorage, Alaska, is awarded a $10,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with firm-fixed priced task orders that will be issued for the construction and repairs at the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland. The total cumulative contract value is not to exceed $10,000,000 over the duration of the contract. Work will be performed in Annapolis, Maryland, and the contract completion date is July 2021. No funds will be obligated at the time of award; funds will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Washington, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N40080-20-D-0019). AIR FORCE Raytheon Co., Tewksbury, Massachusetts, has been awarded a $33,735,474, predominantly cost-plus-incentive-firm modification (P00068) to contract FA8730-15-C-0002 for National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System (NASAMS) integration and alternate Air Defense Operations Center (ADOC) installation. The contract modification is for the procurement, installation, integration and testing of NASAMS into the ADOC and alternate ADOC. Work will be performed in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, and is expected to be completed October 2021. This modification involves Foreign Military Sales (FMS) to Qatar. FMS funds in the in the full amount are obligated at the time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $346,498,681. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity. ROCCOR LLC, Longmont, Colorado, has been awarded a $15,998,168 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P00003) to contract FA9453-20-C-0003 for structurally combined aperture and reticulated locking expandable truss. This modification provides for the exercise of the option where ROCCOR will develop, build and test a flight quality demonstration unit for the Air Force Research Laboratory. The system will consist of a scaled and/or truncated system that provides guidance for the structural feasibility of a full scale meter operational system. Work will be performed in Longmont, Colorado, and is expected to be completed Aug. 3, 2022. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $4,945,000 are being obligated at the time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $16,998,086. Air Force Research Laboratory, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, is the contracting activity. Aptima Inc., Woburn, Massachusetts, has been awarded a $9,900,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for research and development. The purpose of this research and development contract is operational experimentation, technology refinement and operational alignment related to improving and personalizing individual, team and larger group instructional training methods and better blending of live, virtual and constructive environments in and across operational contexts. Work will primarily be performed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and is expected to be completed Nov. 3, 2025. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and one offer was received. Fiscal 2020, research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,508,274 will be obligated at the time of award. Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8650-20-D-6243). *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2298575/source/GovDelivery/