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  December 24, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - December 21, 2018

  ARMY Lockheed Martin Corp., Grand Prairie, Texas, was awarded a $3,378,834,083 fixed-price-incentive foreign military sales (Kuwait and Saudi Arabia) contract to produce Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target Advanced Capability-3 missiles with associated ground support equipment and initial spares. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work will be performed in Huntsville, Alabama; Camden, Arkansas; Ocala, Florida; Chelmsford, Massachusetts; Grand Prairie, Texas; and Lukin, Texas, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2024. Fiscal 2019 other procurement Army funds in the amount of $1,808,140,141 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-19-C-0011). Armed Forces Services Corp., Arlington, Virginia (W15QKN-19-D-0042); Booze Allen Hamilton Inc., McLean, Virginia (W15QKN-19-D-0043); Canvas Inc.,* Huntsville, Alabama (W15QKN-19-D-0044); CTRMG-GAPSI JV II LLC,* Fairfax, Virginia (W15QKN-19-D-0045); Dynamic Systems Technology Inc.,* Fairfax, Virginia (W15QKN-19-D-0046); GAP Solutions Inc., Herndon, Virginia (W15QKN-19-D-0047); Goldbelt Glacier Health Services LLC, Alexandria, Virginia (W15QKN-19-D-0048); HR Services Solutions LLC,* Manassas, Virginia (W15QKN-19-D-0049); Hyperion Biotechnology Inc.,* San Antonio, Texas (W15QKN-19-D-0050); 360 Patriot Enterprises LLC,* Alexandria, Virginia (W15QKN-19-D-0051); Quality Innovation Inc.,* Leesburg, Virginia (W15QKN-19-D-0052); Strategy Consulting Team LLC,* Fairfax, Virginia (W15QKN-19-D-0053); Serco Inc., Reston, Virginia (W15QKN-19-D-0054); Strategic Resources Inc., McLean, Virginia (W15QKN-19-D-0055); Three Wire Systems LLC, Falls Church, Virginia (W15QKN-19-D-0056); Zeiders Enterprises Inc., Woodbridge, Virginia (W15QKN-19-D-0057); and Science Applications International Corp., McLean, Virginia (W15QKN-19-D-0058), will compete for each order of the $2,457,541,083 hybrid (cost, cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price, firm-fixed-price-level-of-effort, and time-and-materials) contract to provide support for enterprise level human resource services for Department of Defense programs and systems. Bids were solicited via the internet with 32 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2028. U.S. Army Contracting Command, New Jersey, is the contracting activity. Leading Technology Composites Inc.,* Wichita, Kansas (W91CRB-19-D-0009); Engense Inc.,* Camarillo, California (W91CRB-19-D-0010); and Florida Armor LLC,* Miami Lakes, Florida (W91CRB-19-D-0011), will compete for each order of the $268,864,369 hybrid (cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price) contract for Enhanced Side Ballistic Insert hard armor plates. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 20, 2022. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity. AECOM Technical Services, Los Angeles, California (W912DR-19-D-0001); APTIM Federal Services LLC, Alexandria, Virginia (W912DR-19-D-0002); Bay West LLC,* St. Paul, Minnesota (W912DR-19-D-0003); Cape Environmental Management Inc.,* Norcross, Georgia (W912DR-19-D-0004); EA Engineering, Science, and Technology,* Hunt Valley, Maryland (W912DR-19-D-0005); HydroGeoLogic Inc., Reston, Virginia (W912DR-19-D-0006); Kemron Environmental Services Inc.,* Atlanta, Georgia (W912DR-19-D-0007); Leidos-CDM Solutions LLC, Denver, Colorado (W912DR-19-D-0008); Seres-Arcadis JV LLC,* Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (W912DR-19-D-0009); and Weston Solutions Inc., West Chester, Pennsylvania (W912DR-19-D-0010), will compete for each order of the $230,000,000 hybrid (cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price) contract for environmental services. Bids were solicited via the internet with 25 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 20, 2023. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Baltimore, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Vectrus Systems Corp., Colorado Springs, Colorado, was awarded a $127,447,882 modification (P00172) 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 March 28, 2019. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance Army funds in the amount of $127,447,882 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command in Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity. International Business Machines, Bethesda, Maryland, was awarded a $92,148,924 modification (P00044) to contract W52P1J-17-C-0008 for services and solutions necessary to support and maintain the Army's General Fund Enterprise Business System. Work will be performed in Bethesda, Maryland, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 15, 2020. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance Army funds in the amount of $15,159,296 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command in Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Grand Prairie, Texas, was awarded a $92,000,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to purchase Launcher Integration Network Kit boxes, and associated software development activities. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2023. U.S. Army Contracting Command in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-19-D-0016). Parsons-Versar JV, Arlington, Virginia, was awarded a $75,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for general architect/engineer construction phase support services. One bid was solicited with two bids received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 20, 2023. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Louisville, Kentucky is the contracting activity (W912QR-19-D-0008). URS Federal Services Inc., Germantown, Maryland, was awarded a $60,350,545 modification (0002 38) to contract W52P1J-12-G-0028 for logistic support services for Army Preposition Stock-2. Work will be performed in Mannheim, Germany; and Dulmen, Germany, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 20, 2021. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance Army funds in the amount of $9,375,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contacting Command in Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity. AM General LLC, South Bend, Indiana, was awarded a $20,110,570 modification (P00001) to contract W56HZV-18-C-0177 for recapitalization of High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles for the Army National Guard. Work will be performed in South Bend, Indiana, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2019. Fiscal 2017 other procurement Army funds in the amount of $20,110,507 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, is the contracting activity. DCT Inc.,* McAlester, Oklahoma, was awarded a $17,707,507 firm-fixed-price contract for full food service operations to be performed at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin. Bids were solicited via the internet with four received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2023. U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, is the contracting activity (W9124J-19-D-0005). DynCorp International LLC, Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded a $12,431,031 modification (P00202) to contract W58RGZ-13-C-0040 for aviation field maintenance services. Work will be performed in Afghanistan, Egypt, Kosovo, and Germany, with an estimated completion date of June 30, 2019. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance Army; and aircraft procurement Army funds in the amount of $12,431,031 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. FLIR Systems Inc., Wilsonville, Oregon, was awarded a $10,442,932 modification (P00016) to contract W9113M-15-D-0001 for guaranteed repair and refurbishment of forward looking infrared radar. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 28, 2019. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. DynCorp International LLC, Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded a $9,367,994 modification (P00280) to contract W58RGZ-13-C-0042 for aviation field maintenance services. Work will be performed in Fort Hood, Texas, with an estimated completion date of July 31, 2019. Fiscal 2017, 2018 and 2019 operations and maintenance Army; and aircraft procurement Army funds in the combined amount of $9,367,994 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Zodiac-Poettker JVII LLC,* St. Louis, Missouri, was awarded a $8,690,000 firm-fixed-price contract to construct a company headquarters fire station at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Bids were solicited via the internet with eight received. Work will be performed in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 24, 2020. Fiscal 2019 military construction funds in the amount of $8,690,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Kansas City, Missouri, is the contracting activity (W912DQ-19-C-4000). CORRECTION: The contract announced on Dec. 20, 2018, to Raytheon Co., Andover, Massachusetts, for the Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target missile system, had the incorrect award amount and obligated amount. The contract was awarded a $692,997,550 and $515,192,122 were obligated at the time of the award. All other information in the announcement is correct. AIR FORCE Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Rolling Meadows, Illinois, has been awarded a $1,310,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, firm‐fixed-price, cost-reimbursable contract for sustainment, modernization, production, and development of the LITENING advanced targeting pod. Work will be performed in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, and is expected to be completed Dec. 31, 2023. This contract is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia is the contracting activity (FA8540‐19‐D‐0001). Lockheed Martin Services LLC, Colorado Springs, Colorado, has been awarded a $462,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Global Positioning Systems Control-Segment Sustainment II. The contract provides depot-level software maintenance; organizational-level hardware and software maintenance; support to and integration of GPS Acquisition Category III programs onto the operational control system platform; systems engineering; Technical Order Management Agency support; maintenance and sustainment of the consolidated test environment; and non-recurring engineering and studies, as required. Work will be performed in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2025. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition and one offer was received. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $41,524,038 are being obligated at the time of award. Space and Missile Systems Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, is the contracting activity (FA8823‐19‐D‐0001). General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., Poway, California, has been awarded a $291,391,727 cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price contract for MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial systems support and services. This contract provides for program management, logistics support, configuration management, technical manual and software maintenance, contractor field service representative support, inventory control point management, flight operations support, depot repair, and depot field maintenance. Work will be performed in Poway, California, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2019. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $51,481,522 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity (FA8528-19-C-0001). Raytheon Corp., McKinney, Texas, has been awarded a $59,211,905 cost-plus fixed-fee and firm-fixed- price contract for Reaper MQ-9 sensors contractor logistics support. This contract provides for program management, contractor-filed service-representative support, depot repair, depot maintenance, sustaining engineering support, supply and logistics support, configuration management, tech data maintenance, software maintenance, inventory control point, and warehouse support for the MQ-9 sensors. Work will be performed in McKinney, Texas; and Jacksonville, Florida, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2019. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds are being obligated in the amount of $37,779,873 at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity (FA8528-19-C-0002). Alutiiq Commercial Enterprises LLC, Anchorage, Alaska, has been awarded a $53,895,599 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, for Fort Eustis, Virginia, base operations support services. This contract provides for base and facilities maintenance in support of the 733rd Civil Engineering Division. Work will be performed in Fort Eustis, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2023. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and six offers were received. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $2,926,134 are being obligated at the time of award. The 633rd Contracting Squadron, Joint Base Langley Eustis, Virginia, is the contracting activity (FA4800-19-D-0001). Universal Technology Corp., Dayton, Ohio; University of Dayton Research Institute, Dayton, Ohio; and Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., McLean, Virginia, have each been awarded a not-to-exceed $44,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract for the Structures Engineering Research program. This contract provides for basic, applied, advanced, and demonstration/validation research to develop, demonstrate, integrate, and transition new aerospace vehicle structures technologies to the warfighter. These structures' technologies will provide cost-effective, survivable aerospace vehicle platforms capable of accurate delivery of weapons and cargo worldwide. Work will be performed in Dayton, Ohio; and McLean, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by December 2025. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition via a Broad Agency Announcement and three offers were received. No specific funds are obligated on the basic IDIQ, although in conjunction with the basic IDIQ award, the first task order is incrementally funded with fiscal 2019 research and development funds in the amount of $50,000 at time of each award. Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio, is the contracting activity. (IDIQ contracts: FA8650-19-D-2241, FA8650-19-D-2242, and FA8650-19-D-2243; initial task orders: FA8650-19-F-2245, FA8650-19-F-2246, and FA8650-19-F-2248) Kratos Technology & Training Solutions Inc., San Diego, California, has been awarded a $20,700,432 modification, (P00113) to contract FA8808-13-C-0008 for Control System Consolidated (CCS-C) Production and Sustainment Contract. These services are required to sustain and provide post-production development for the current CCS-C system for telemetry, tracking and commanding of current and future military satellite communications satellites. Work will be performed in Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, and is expected to be completed Dec. 19, 2018. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $20,700,432 will be obligated at the time of award. Space and Missile Systems Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, is the contracting activity. Range Generation Next LLC, Sterling, Virginia, has been awarded a $16,782,397 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P00220) to previously awarded contract FA8806-15-C-0001 for relocating communications systems to the newly constructed Eastern Range communications facility. Work will be performed primarily at the Eastern Range at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2021. Fiscal 2019 procurement funds in the amount of $16,782,397 are being obligated at the time of award. Space and Missile Systems Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, is the contracting activity. The Boeing Co., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has been awarded an estimated amount of $14,446,683, Option Three modification (P00013) to contract FA8105-16-D-0002 for KC-135 engineering services for sustainment. The contract modification provides for recurring engineering services for sustainment of the KC-135 aircraft. Work will be performed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; San Antonio, Texas; Huntsville, Alabama; and Fort Walton Beach, Florida, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2019. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds are being obligated at the time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is estimated $70,901,530. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity. Contract was awarded Dec. 20, 2018. General Atomics - Aeronautical Systems Inc., Poway, California, has been awarded a $13,074,090 firm-fixed-price and cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for Block 30 Ground Control Station (GCS), Linux retrofit kits. This contract provides for the production of Linux retrofit kits to retrofit currently fielded Block 30 GCSs. Work will be performed in Poway, California, and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2020. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2017 and 2018 aircraft procurement funds in the amount of $13,074,090 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8620-19-F-2305). BAE Systems Technology Solutions & Services Inc., Rockville, Maryland, has been awarded a $12,392,102 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract modification (P00002) to contract FA8109-18-D-0005 to exercise Option One. The contract modification extends the contract term for an additional 12 months in order to continue providing diminishing manufacturing sources and material shortages (DMSMS) support for Air Force and non-Air Force users supporting the Air Force, to proactively reduce mission capability impacts to improve logistics support and weapon system sustainability. This effort will help assure all required parts and materials supporting Air Force-managed weapon systems are available within acceptable production lead times and will reduce the overall cost of ownership of the weapon systems by facilitating economical DMSMS resolutions costs, reducing the number of reactive solutions, minimizing any delays in organic depot-level repair, as well as contractor repair, and by improving weapon system availability. Work will be performed at Hill Air Force Base, Utah; Robins Air Force Base, Georgia; and Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, with some work performed at Fort Walton Beach, Florida. The work is expected to be completed by June 20, 2021. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 consolidated sustainment activity group engineering funds will be obligated on any individual task orders issued during the option one performance period. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $24,778,204. Air Force Sustainment Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity. Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Arizona, has been awarded a $9,573,118 firm-fixed-price modification (P00008) to contract FA8675-18-C-0003 for the Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile program. This modification provides for a life of type procurement of known obsolete components in support of production and sustainment through the program of record and procurement of three guidance section refill stations in support of sustainment efforts. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2019. This contract involves Foreign Military Sales (FMS) to Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Morocco, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Spain, and U.K. Air Force and Navy fiscal 2017 procurement funds in the amount of $6,367,933 and FMS funds in the amount of $3,205,185 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity. NAVY Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, is being awarded a $910,723,811 fixed-price incentive firm target modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-18-C-2305) to exercise the fiscal 2019 option for construction of a DDG 51 class ship (DDG 132). This modification also includes options for engineering change proposals, design budgeting requirements, and post-delivery availabilities on the fiscal 2019 option ship which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of the fiscal 2019 option ship to $921,990,345. Work will be performed in Bath, Maine (65 percent); Cincinnati, Ohio (5 percent); Atlanta, Georgia (3 percent); York, Pennsylvania (2 percent); Coatesville, Pennsylvania (2 percent); Falls Church, Virginia (2 percent); South Portland, Maine (1 percent); Walpole, Massachusetts (1 percent); Erie, Pennsylvania (1 percent); Charlottesville, Virginia (1 percent); and other locations below 1 percent (collectively totaling 17 percent), and is expected to be completed by May 2026. Fiscal 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $900,723,811 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Corp., Rotary and Mission Systems, Liverpool, New York, is being awarded a $184,114,000 firm-fixed-price modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-16-C-5363) to exercise options for full rate production of Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) Block 2 subsystems (AN/SLQ-32(V)6). SEWIP is an evolutionary acquisition and incremental development program to upgrade the existing AN/SLQ-32(V) electronic warfare system. SEWIP Block 2 will expand upon the receiver/antenna group necessary to keep capabilities current with the pace of the threat and to yield improved system integration. Work will be performed in Liverpool, New York (23 percent); Lansdale, Pennsylvania (23 percent); Andover, Massachusetts (21 percent); Frankfort, New York (9 percent); Hamilton, New Jersey (7 percent); Hauppauge, New York (7 percent); Brockton, Massachusetts (3 percent); West Yorkshire, U.K. (2 percent); Minneapolis, Minnesota (2 percent); Huntsville, Alabama (2 percent); Lancaster, Pennsylvania (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by June 2021. Fiscal 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); and fiscal 2019 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $184,114,000 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is being awarded a $76,581,676 not-to-exceed firm-fixed-price contract for the design, fabrication, installation, test and delivery of two F/A-18E Tactical Operational Flight trainers and two F/A-18E low cost trainers for the government of Kuwait under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri (50 percent); New Orleans, Louisiana (30 percent); and Kuwait City, Kuwait (20 percent), and is expected to be completed in February 2022. FMS funds in the amount of $20,490,233 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. The Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity (N6134019C0005). Raytheon Co., Tewksbury, Massachusetts, is being awarded a $72,117,547 modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-17-C-5145 to exercise options for DDG 1000 ship class integrated logistics support and engineering services. The DDG 1000 ship class is a multi-mission surface combatant designed to fulfill volume firepower and precision strike requirements. DDG 1000 combat systems provide offensive, distributed and precision firepower and long ranges in support of forces ashore, while incorporating signature reduction, active and passive self-defense system and enhanced survivability features. Work will be performed in Portsmouth, Rhode Island (40 percent); San Diego, California (28 percent); Tewksbury, Massachusetts (24 percent); Marlboro, Massachusetts (2 percent); Ft. Wayne, Indiana (2 percent); Bath, Maine (2 percent); St. Petersburg, Florida (1 percent); and Nashua, New Hampshire (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by September 2019. Fiscal 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy); and fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funding in the amount of $81,555,802 will be obligated at time of award, and $8,816,581 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Pacific Architects and Engineers Applied Technologies, Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $47,889,307 cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price, cost reimbursable contract for the development, test, and installation of the SureTrak surveillance system in support of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division's SureTrak program office (AIR-5.2). The SureTrak system is a state-of-the-art, fully integrated, multi-sensor, data acquisition and display system used to perform airspace surveillance, waterway clearance, shoreline surveillance, and environmental monitoring functions at several Navy, Air Force and National Aeronautics and Space Administration facilities around the nation, as well as foreign governments. Work will be performed in various locations inside the continental U.S. (CONUS), including Patuxent River, Maryland; Wallops, Virginia; Dahlgren, Virginia; Vandenberg Air Force Base , California; Patrick Air Force Base, California; and Point Mugu, California. Work will also be performed outside CONUS at various locations, including Nigeria, Africa; SaoTome-Prinipe, Africa; Djibouti, Africa; Kenya, Africa; Tunisia, Africa; Congo, Africa; Togo, Africa; and Benin, Africa. Work is expected to be completed in December 2023. No funds are being awarded at time of award, funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was competitively procured via a request for proposals; one offer was received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00421-19-D-0023). BAE Systems, Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc., Greenlawn, New York, is awarded $38,141,300 for firm-fixed-price delivery order N0001919F0030 against a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity contract (N00019-17-D-0003). This delivery order provides for the procurement of 14 AN/APX-117A(V) Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) transponders for the government of Bahrain; 969 AN/APX-123A(V) IFF transponders to include 777 for the Navy, 101 for the Army, two for the Coast Guard, 13 for the government of the U.K., nine for the government of Japan, 12 for the government of Norway, 35 for the government of Saudi Arabia, four for the government of Australia and 16 for the government of the United Arab Emirates; 100 mode 4/5 remote control units for the Navy; 62 IFF mounting trays to include 30 for the Navy, 8 for government of the U.K., 12 for the government of Norway, and 12 for the government of Bahrain; seven mode 4/5 Shop Replaceable Assemblies (SRA) with crypto for the Army, 136 signal processors for the Army; 210 Mode 5 change kits to include 100 for the Navy and 110 for the Army; 100 integrations of Mode 5 change kits for the Navy, 40 receiver/transmitters for the Army, 44 SRA power supplies for the. Army; 211 conversion kits to include 201 for the Army and 10 for the government of Australia; one AN/APX-118A(V) IFF transponder repair for the government of South Korea and four AN/APX-123A(V) IFF transponder repairs for the Navy. Work will be performed in Greenlawn, New York (78 percent); and Austin, Texas (22 percent), and is expected to be completed in March 2021. Fiscal 2018 Special Defense Acquisition Fund; working capital (Defense); fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement (Army); fiscal 2017, 2018 and 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy); fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy); fiscal 2019 other procurement (Navy); fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy); fiscal 2018 and 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); and foreign military sales funds in the amount of $38,141,300 will be obligated at time of award, $118,601 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This order combines purchases for the Department of Defense ($26,170,660; 69 percent); Army ($4,799,989; 13 percent); Navy ($3,940,577; 10 percent); the government of Saudi Arabia ($1,166,65; 3 percent); the government of the United Arab Emirates ($533,104; 1 percent); the government of the U.K. ($439,443; 1 percent); the government of Norway ($409,272; 1 percent); the government of Japan ($299,871; 1 percent); the government of Australia ($203,056; 1 percent); the government of Bahrain ($174,966; 0.46 percent), and the government of South Korea ($4,197; 0.01 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Raytheon Co., Tuscon, Arizona, is being awarded a $37,902,562 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-16-C-5433 to exercise options in support of Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) design agent, in-service support and technical engineering support services. This contract is to procure ESSM technical engineering support services, design agent and in-service support for calendar years 2016-2020. These requirements support ESSM missile production. The ESSM program is an international cooperative effort to design, develop, test and procure ESSM missiles. The ESSM provides enhanced ship defense. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona, (91 percent); Hengelo OV, Netherlands (2 percent); Raufoss, Norway (2 percent); Ottobrunn, Germany (1 percent); Richmond, Australia (1 percent); and various places below one percent (3 percent), and is expected to be completed by December 2019. Fiscal 2019 other country; fiscal 2018 weapons procurement (Navy); fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy); Foreign Military Sales; and fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funding in the amount of $16,663,004 will be obligated at time of award, and funds in the amount of $208,225 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole-source contract pursuant to an international agreement between the U.S. and nine other countries. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. General Dynamics Electric Boat Corp., Groton, Connecticut, is being awarded a $37,347,581 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-12-C-2115 to exercise options to procure on-board repair parts for Virginia-class submarines PCU Massachusetts (SSN 798) and PCU Idaho (SSN 799). This option exercise is for Block IV Virginia-class submarines, PCU Massachusetts (SSN 798), and PCU Idaho (SSN 799) mechanical and electronic repair parts that will be stored on the ship while at sea. Work will be performed in Groton, Connecticut, and is expected to be completed by February 2022 for PCU Massachusetts, and August 2022 for PCU Idaho. Fiscal 2017 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $9,498,000 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Corp., Marietta, Georgia, is being awarded a $31,674,573 indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for sustainment engineering and logistics services in support of the C/KC-130J for the Marine Corps, Marine Corps Reserves, Coast Guard and the government of Kuwait. Work will be performed in Marietta, Georgia (66.5 percent); Palmdale, California (18 percent); Abdullah Al-Mubarak Air Base, Kuwait (2.5 percent); Iwakuni, Japan (2.5 percent); Miramar, California (2.5 percent); Cherry Point, North Carolina (2.5 percent); Elizabeth City, North Carolina (2.5 percent); Fort Worth, Texas (2.5 percent), and Greenville, South Carolina (0.5 percent). Work is expected to be completed in December 2023. No funds are being awarded at time of award; funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N0001919D0014). Detyens Shipyards Inc., North Charleston, South Carolina, is being awarded a $30,106,818 firm-fixed-price contract for a 120-calendar day shipyard availability for the post shakedown of USNS Hershel ‘Woody' Williams (T-ESB 4). This contract consists of the funds listed in the following areas Category “A” work item cost, additional government requirement, other direct costs, and the general and administrative costs. Work will include furnishing general services for the ship, hull perimeter lighting, high voltage/medium voltage switchboard inspect and clean, expansion of handheld ultra-high frequency radio repeater system, segregate grey and black water transfer line, aft house habitability modifications, temporary sensitive compartment information facility installation - industrial support, additional temporary expandable units, A6 level installation of commercial broadband satellite program and OE-570 antennas, high frequency, ultra-high frequency and very high radio infrastructure, motor gasoline stowage capability, aviation support spaces heating, ventilation and air conditioning upgrade Phase I. This contract also contains options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative contract value to $38,485,181. Work will be performed in North Charleston, South Carolina, and is expected to be completed by July 2019. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $30,106,818 are obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Funds will be obligated at time of award. Work will be completed by July 9, 2019. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website with two proposals received. The Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N3220519C4150). Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Linthicum Heights, Maryland, is being awarded a $27,594,541 fixed-price incentive firm-target modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-15-C-5319) to exercise options for the production of two AN/SLQ-32(V)Y Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) Block 3 system low rate initial production units. SEWIP is an evolutionary acquisition and incremental development program to upgrade the existing AN/SLQ-32(V) electronic warfare system. SEWIP Block 3 will provide select Navy surface ships a scalable electronic warfare enterprise suite with improved electronic attack capabilities. Work will be performed in Linthicum, Maryland (98 percent); and Los Angeles, California (2 percent), and is expected to be completed by June 2021. Fiscal 2017 and 2018 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $27,594,541 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Austal USA LLC, Mobile, Alabama, is being awarded a $21,070,175 cost-plus-fixed-fee order (N6931619F4000) against previously awarded basic ordering agreement (N00024-15-G-2304) to accomplish the post shakedown availability (PSA) execution for the littoral combat ship, USS Manchester (LCS-14). This effort encompasses all of the manpower, support services, material, non-standard equipment, and associated technical data and documentation required to prepare for and accomplish the USS Manchester (LCS-14) PSA. The work to be performed will include correction of government responsible trial card deficiencies, new work identified between custody transfer and the time of PSA, and incorporation of approved engineering changes that were not incorporated during the construction period which are not otherwise the building yard's responsibility under the ship construction contract. Work will be performed in Seattle, Washington, and is expected to be completed by July 2019. Fiscal 2013 and 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); and fiscal 2018 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $21,070,175 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion, and Repair Gulf Coast, Pascagoula, Mississippi, is the contracting activity. Fincantieri Marine Systems North America Inc., Chesapeake, Virginia, is being awarded a $17,220,420 for modification N55236-17-D-0009 to exercise option year two of previously awarded firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity to provide maintenance support for the mine countermeasure-1 class main propulsion diesel engines and ship service diesel generators. Work will be performed in the homeports of San Diego, California; Sasebo, Japan; Manama, Bahrain; and ports-of-call as required, and are scheduled to be completed by January 2020. No funding is being obligated at time of award. In accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) this contract was not competitively procured. The independent contractor, under the direction of the regional maintenance center and not an agent of the government, shall provide diesel engine technical, engineering, and field service support for Mine Countermeasure-1 class ships homeported in San Diego, California, and forward deployed in Japan and Bahrain. Obligated funding will cover preventive maintenance services and travel in the base year and subsequent option years in accordance with work item specifications and work item plans, drawings, other references, the delivery schedule, and all other terms and conditions set forth in the contract. The Southwest Regional Maintenance Center, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity. Daylight Defense LLC, San Diego, California, is being awarded a $16,306,540 modification (P00012) to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-16-C-0036). This modification provides for the procurement of Distributed Aperture Infrared Countermeasure Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation and Fiber Optic Cable Assemblies. This modification exercises an option for the production and delivery of 24 lasers and 26 fiber optic cable assemblies in support of the Air Force and the Navy. Work will be performed in San Diego, California, and is expected to be completed in July 2020. Fiscal 2018 and 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy and Air Force) funds in the amount of $16,306,540 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This modification combines purchases for the Air Force ($10,799,888; 66 percent) and the Navy ($5,506,652; 34 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Cianbro Corp., Pittsfield, Maine, is being awarded an $11,169,941 firm-fixed-price modification for construction of the dry dock one refueling facility at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine. The work to be performed provides for all changes not previously accounted for in changing the facility from a defueling facility to a refueling facility, including, but not limited to, trailer relocation, commissioning, testing and demonstrations, scaffolding, concrete installation, metal installation, insulation installation, metal wall panels, roof hatches, compression seals, doors and hardware, ceiling system, flooring, coatings, electrical, heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning, fire protection, controls, and testing and balancing. After award of this modification, the total cumulative contract value will be $50,526,989. Work will be performed in Kittery, Maine, and is expected to be completed by May 2021. Fiscal 2018 operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $11,169,941 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N40085-17-C-5002). DMR Consulting Inc,* Panama City Beach, Florida, is being awarded a $9,426,737 firm-fixed–price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for depot level repair, overhaul, and modification for the MK-105 magnetic minesweeping gear. This contract supports the depot level repair and maintenance of the MK105 magnetic minesweeping gear. The MK105 Magnetic Influence Minesweeping system, better known as the “sled”, is a high speed catamaran hydrofoil platform which is towed behind the MH-53E helicopter and is used to sweep magnetic influence mines. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value to $48,318,732. Work will be performed in Panama City, Florida, and is expected to be completed by December 2019. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with three offers received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division is the contracting activity. (N61331-19-D-0002) MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY The Boeing Co., Huntsville, Alabama, is being awarded a five-year, sole-source, cost-plus-award-fee contract (HQ0147-19-C-0001). The total value of this contract is $240,204,960. Under this follow-on contract, the contractor will provide the Missile Defense Agency support by performing highly complex technical systems engineering and integration requirements related to the Ballistic Missile Defense system. The work will be performed in Huntsville, Alabama. The period of performance is from Dec. 15, 2018, through Dec. 14, 2023. One offer was solicited and one offer was received. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funds will be used to incrementally fund this award in the amount of $54,900,000. The Missile Defense Agency, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (HQ0147-19-C-0001). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY SupplyCore Inc.,* Rockford, Illinois, has been awarded a maximum $80,000,000 firm-fixed-price, bridge contract for facilities maintenance, repair and operations items. 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 the north central region of the U.S. with a Dec. 18, 2019, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE8E3-19-D0003). Michelin North America Inc., Greenville, South Carolina, is awarded an estimated $11,838,003 fixed-price, indefinite-delivery, requirements contract for various types of tires supporting the Global Tire program. This was a competitive acquisition with five responses received. A total of three contracts are awarded as a result of the subject solicitation. This is a three-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is South Carolina, with a Dec. 20, 2021, performance completion date. Using customer is Defense Logistics Agency. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Columbus, Ohio (SPE7LX-19-D-0034). Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio, is awarded an estimated $10,786,368 fixed-price, indefinite-delivery, requirements contract for various types of tires supporting the Global Tire program. This was a competitive acquisition with five responses received. A total of three contracts are awarded as a result of the subject solicitation. This is a three-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Ohio, with a Dec. 20, 2021, performance completion date. Using customer is Defense Logistics Agency. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Columbus, Ohio (SPE7LX-19-D-0033). Consumer Fuels Inc.,* Huntsville, Alabama, has been awarded a $7,433,117 firm-fixed-price contract for the 105mm Light Towed Howitzer's MVSS sensor head kit. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. This was a competitive small business set-aside acquisition with five offers received. Location of performance is Alabama, with a May 29, 2020, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Warren, Michigan (SPRDL1-19-D-0022). Mast Technologies Inc.,* San Diego, California, has been awarded a $7,718,000 firm-fixed-price contract for rubber tiles that support the Navy's Passive Counter Measure Material systems. This is 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 contract with no option periods. Location of performance is California, with a Jan. 4, 2021, performance completion date. Using military service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 Navy working capital funds. The contracting activity is Defense Logistics Agency, Land and Maritime, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania (SPRMM1-19-C-HA10). UPDATE: Clark Equipment Company, Statesville, North Carolina, (SPE8EC-19-D-0036) has been added as an awardee to the multiple award contract for commercial portable power equipment, issued against solicitation SPE8EC-17-R-0010, announced May 31, 2017. DEFENSE FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING SERVICE Ernst and Young, Washington, District of Columbia, has been awarded a labor-hour contract option with a maximum value of $36,467,951 to provide financial statement audit services for the Navy. Work will be performed in Alexandria, Virginia, with an expected completion date of Dec. 31, 2019. The contract option has a 12-month option period with two individual one-year option periods remaining. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance Navy funds are being obligated at the time of the award. The cumulative value of the contract, including the option is $73,632,391. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Contract Services Directorate, Columbus, Ohio, is the contracting activity (HQ0423-17-F-0101). KPMG LLP, McLean, Virginia, has been awarded a fixed-price contract option with a maximum value of $11,647,639 for audit services of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Civil Works (CW) and suballotted funds financial statements. Work will be performed in McLean, Virginia, with an expected completion date of Dec.31, 2019. This contract is the result of a competitive acquisition for which three quotes were received. The contract had a 12-month base period plus four individual one-year option periods, with a maximum value of $57,693,820. This award brings the total cumulative value of the contract to $21,440,433. Fiscal 2019 USACE CW revolving funds in the amount of $11,647,639 are being obligated at the time of this option award. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Contract Services Directorate, Columbus, Ohio, is the contracting activity (HQ0423-18-F-0039). DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE EDUCATION ACTIVITY Sumitomo Mitsui Auto Service Co. Ltd., Japan (HE1254-19-D-2000), is awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple-award contract for lease bus and maintenance services for daily student transportation in the amount of $33,702,302. The location of performance is mainland Japan. The award is for a five-year base period ending July 31, 2024; and a five-year option period ending July 31, 2029. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds will be used to fund the initial task order. This contract was competitively procured via request for proposal HE1254-18-R-2001, with two offers received. The contracting activity is the Department of Defense Education Activity, Alexandria, Virginia. U.S. TRANSPORTATION COMMAND Phoenix Air Group Inc., Cartersville, Georgia, was awarded task order,HTC71119FR019, exercising option period three, on contract HTC71116DR001 in the amount of $8,797,654. The task order provides headquarters U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) continued Charter Air Transportation services. Work will be performed in Stuttgart Army Airfield, Germany, to various points throughout Africa and Europe. The period of performance is from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2019. Fiscal 2019 AFRICOM operation and maintenance funds were obligated at award. The total cumulative face value of the contract value increased from $39,352,268 to $48,149,922. U.S. Transportation Command, Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity. *Small business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1720584/source/GovDelivery/

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  January 2, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval

  The 19 things you need to watch in 2019

  By: Geoff Ziezulewicz , Mark D. Faram , Natalie Gross , Tara Copp , Leo Shane III , Carl Prine , and David Larter, Defense News More money and more personnel but also new challenges from rising rivals in the western Pacific, Europe and the Persian Gulf. More changes to your leadership at the Pentagon and in the Navy. And more innovations that promise to transform the ways the nation's premier maritime service recruits, trains and retains its sailors. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we gave you 19 through six. Today we greet the final five, too! Sailors, here comes 2019. Buckle up! 1. The rise of China and Russia The South China Sea will remain a global flashpoint, with rising tensions sparked by Beijing's ongoing efforts to fortify islands claimed by Western Pacific neighbors. And already parring over Moscow's 2014 invasion and annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula and economic sanctions by western nations against strongman Vladimir Putin's regime, relations between the United States and Russia got rockier throughout 2018. Expect more of all this in 2019. For China, the U.S. Navy has vowed to continue conducting Freedom of Navigation Operations — or “FONOPS” — to remind the world's most populous nation that the disputed islands are in international waterways. On Sept. 30 near the Gaven Reef, a sprawl of rocks that are claimed by Beijing, Taiwan, the Philippines and Vietnam, the Chinese warship Lanzhou closed to within 45 yards of the U.S. Navy's guided-missile destroyer Decatur, forcing the American vessel to veer away to avoid collision. “U.S. Navy ships and aircraft operate throughout the Indo-Pacific routinely, including in the South China Sea,” U.S. Pacific Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Nate Chirstensen said in the wake of the incident. “As we have for decades, our forces will continue to fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows.” Beijing's ambassador to the U.S., Cui Tiankai, took to Fox News Sunday to blame the Americans for the confrontation “on China's doorstep.” “It's not Chinese warships that are going to the coast of California, or to the Gulf of Mexico. It's so close to the Chinese islands and it's so close to the Chinese coast. So who is on the offensive? Who is on the defensive? This is very clear,” he said. With Russia, similar confrontations have played out in the air. On Nov. 5, 2018, a Russian Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker fighter zoomed close to a U.S. Navy EP-3 Aries II reconnaissance plane flying in international airspace over the Black Sea. The Russian pilot banked right, hit the afterburners and forced the Greece-based Navy crew to fly through the turbulent engine wash. It marked the third time in a 12-month span that Russian jets over the Black Sea intercepted American reconnaissance aircraft in what Pentagon officials said were potentially dangerous encounters. Then came the Nov. 25 incident in the Kerch Strait that divides the Sea of Azov from the Black Sea. Ukraine attempted to send two gunboats and a tug through the channel but Moscow's forces fired on the flotilla and detained the crews, vowing to try them in a Russian court. That triggered Kiev to declare martial law and bar all Russian men of military age from entering the country. “There is no justification for Russia's use of military force against Ukrainian ships and naval personnel. We call on Russia to release the Ukrainian sailors and ships it seized, without delay,” read a NATO statement released amid escalating tensions that might not abate in 2019. 2. A new SecDef Just days after Defense Secretary Jim Mattis announced he would step down from that post in late February, President Donald J. Trump announced in a Dec. 23 tweet that he'd push the popular Cabinet member out even earlier. Trump installed Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan as the acting secretary of defense starting Jan. 1. He praised the Pentagon's second-in-command as having “a long list of accomplishments” and added in his tweet, “He will be great!” The move cuts short Mattis' tenure by two months, and added to an acrimonious end of the relationship between the commander in chief and his top military leader. A resignation letter from Mattis urging the president to find “a secretary of defense whose views are better aligned with yours" likely irked Trump, who unlike the retired Marine four-star general never served in uniform. Mattis also mildly chastised Trump for the president's belligerent statements about allies overseas, especially fellow democracies often at odds with strongmen in Russia, China and North Korea. The end of Mattis' reign over the Pentagon set the stage for potentially contentious confirmation hearings over his successor, who might not be Shanahan, a former top executive at defense contractor Boeing. It also sparked deliberations by the corral of prized national security hands personally recruited by Mattis to help oversee the armed forces. If they decide to depart Trump's Defense Department en masse, there could be increased tension inside the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill, where Mattis enjoyed bipartisan support even amid growing concerns about the president's handling of foreign policy and national security problems. A diplomat, Brett McGurk, the U.S. envoy to the global coalition fighting the Islamic State group, already joined Mattis in voting with his feet. In a protest over President Donald Trump's abrupt decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, McGurk on Dec. 21 tendered his resignation to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The next day, a tweeting Trump downplayed the development, insisting that he didn't know the envoy an calling his departure a “nothing event." 3. Back to the future with 2nd fleet After nearly two decades as a forgotten backwater, the Atlantic Ocean returned to relevance for the U.S. Navy in 2018. Levels of Russian submarine activity in the North Atlantic unseen since the end of the Cold War helped prod the Navy to reestablish the 2nd Fleet in Norfolk on Aug. 24. The fleet is expected to reach full operational capability in 2019, according to its commander, Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis. And his patrols won't be tracking only Russians. Lewis said that China is “aspirationally in the Arctic,” as well. “There's no question the logical sequence of events with China is they will be there militarily, as well.” Operating in colder northern waters will represent a stark change to traditional U.S. Navy tours, which is why Lewis beefed up his staff with seasoned hands from the U.S. Coast Guard and allies from Canada, Norway and other northern nations. Lewis said 2nd Fleet will count about 80 staff members by early next year. He plans on keeping his team “lean and agile” as it spearheads what other flag officers have dubbed “the fourth battle of the Atlantic.” 4. Homeport swaps Three Navy aircraft carriers and three amphibious warships, plus their crews and families, will be prepping to swap homeports or will be on the move in 2019. The 36-year-old aircraft carrier Carl Vinson will likely leave San Diego in March for a planned incremental availability maintenance stint at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, joining the Navy's oldest operational flattop, the Nimitz, in the state of Washington. Meanwhile, the carrier Stennis will depart Washington in May to prepare for an overhaul in Virginia, according to Navy Personnel Command. And the carrier Abraham Lincoln is expected to leave Norfolk for San Diego, too. Forward-deployed to Japan for just less than a year, the amphibious warship Wasp will leave Sasebo soon and return to Norfolk, replaced by the America, which will bid farewell to San Diego. It's part of a three-port swap orchestrated two years ago that also involves the Wasp-class amphib Bonhomme Richard, which also called Sasebo home before May. That's when the warship completed its homeport shift to San Diego and began prepping for an extended modernization spell at the nearby General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding yard. The Pentagon hoped the movements of the three vessels would be completed in 2018 but the Navy Personnel Command's Decommissioning and Homeport Change webpage marked May 25, 2019 as the effective date for the America's switch to Sasebo. 5. Remedying readiness woes The Navy's Air Boss laid out an ambitious plan in 2018 to get the Navy's F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet strike fighters back into fighting shape, hiking readiness through maintenance changes, service life extensions and other systemic overhauls buoyed by an increase in defense dollars. Navy leaders hope the spending spigot remains on and President Trump has telegraphed that he's willing to push for more Pentagon funding. After waffling on a potential spending cut, he's now expected to propose a $750 billion defense budget for Fiscal Year 2020, a 5 percent hike over the previous year's numbers. Poised to take control of the House of Representatives when it reconvenes in 2019, several Democrats on Capitol Hill have signaled that a bloated defense budget could stand a diet, a sentiment shared by some fiscal conservatives. And a spending bill for much of the rest of the federal government this year languishes because of a standoff over Trump's border wall proposal. Defense hawks and their critics must reach a budget deal by the fall of 2019 or automatic spending caps enacted in 2011 will return, slashing Pentagon funding to $600 billion per year. For 2019, however, expect the Navy keep spending to revamp its aging aircraft fleet, with $1.25 billion earmarked for aviation repair depots, $338 million more than lawmakers provided in 2016. There's more funding for airframe work, engine maintenance and aircraft components, too. “We still have a long way to go,” Naval Air Forces spokesman Cmdr. Ron Flanders told Navy Times. “But we're now at that point where we can say that there's light at the end of the tunnel.” 6. More Ford flattops Dogged by technology glitches and pummeled by critics for its $12.8 billion price tag, the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford not only is expected to enjoy a banner year in 2019 but has inspired the Navy to buy more warships like it. The lead ship in its carrier class, the Ford is scheduled to leave its post-shakedown maintenance session at Huntington Ingalls Newport News Shipyard and head back to sea in late 2019. Navy officials have told lawmakers that fixes to the Ford's high-tech electromagnetic catapult system, EMALS, and its Advanced Arresting Gear recovery system will be completed and the warship's advanced radar installed. Technicians also are exorcising the demons that haunted the flattop's weapons elevators. Ford's sister carrier, the John F. Kennedy, is expected to be christened by the end of 2019. At the end of November, 84 percent of the flattop's structure was finished. Congress capped the Kennedy's costs at around $11.4 Billion, cheaper than the Ford. It's why the Navy is wrapping up a deal with Huntington Ingalls to build two more to replace the aging fleet of Nimitz-class carriers. 7. Navy mulls frigate choices The Navy retired the last of its workhorse Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates in 2015, hoping to replace them with littoral combat ships. But the LCS program got mired in cost overruns, delays and a fickle Congress that bought more hulls than the Navy wanted, sometimes without the high-tech guts that go into them. Concerns within the Navy and on Capitol Hill about the future of the LCS have helped to drive the Pentagon to buy up to 20 new frigates, beginning in 2020. There are five finalists competing to build what's now called the FFG(X), using designs from existing warships — Austal USA in Alabama; Huntington Ingalls Industries in Mississippi; Lockheed Martin in Baltimore; a joint venture between Italy's Fincantieri and Wisconsin's Marinette Marine; and another tying General Dynamics/Bath Iron Works to Spanish shipbuilder Navantia. Austal is expected to base its design on the Independence-class LCS and Lockheed Martin on its Freedom-class LCS, HII on its Legend-class National Security Cutter, Fincantieri on its FREMM multi-purpose frigate and Bath Iron Works on Navantia's Álvaro de Bazán-class F100 Frigate. The Navy hopes to select a winner in 2019, but the Congressional Research Service wants lawmakers and the admirals to first fix some problems with the FFG(X) program. In a report updated on Oct. 22, CRS urged them to identify the capability gaps and mission needs the new warships are supposed to address and then decide if they're the right vessels for the jobs. They also must determine if they'll end LCS procurement in 2019 and shift to the frigates, or keep buying both vessels. Should they use a “clean-sheet” design that starts from scratch or lean on “parent” vessels like the LCS that already have been built? How much space should be built into the frigates to add new technologies and systems as they're developed, perhaps decades from now? And how does a new frigate program affect Navy plans to buy more guided-missile destroyers or rehab the aging Ticonderoga-class cruisers? Those sound like questions that must be answered in 2019. 8. Divided government Just hours after Democrats won control of the House in November's midterm elections, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, said the victory delivered a clear mandate from voters. “We have a constitutional responsibility for oversight,” she told reporters. “This doesn't mean we go looking for a fight. But it means that if we see a need to go forward, we will.” Issues important to the armed forces and military veterans will be at the center of many of those squabbles. Already, Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee have vowed to probe President Donald Trump's decision to deploy active-duty troops to the southwestern U.S. border, suspecting that it's little more than a political stunt. Democratic critics of the president in the House also pledged to explore the military's transgender recruiting rules, Trump's strategy in the Middle East and the need for a new authorization of military force resolution for combat overseas. Senior party officials have promised to dig into reports of Trump cronies influencing Department of Veterans Affairs policies. They also will ask tough questions about GI Bill payment failures during the fall semester and probe plans to overhaul the agency's community care programs. Democrats will have broader subpoena power than they enjoyed in 2018 and will use it to investigate Trump's past tax filings and business connections to Russia. The new Congress convenes on Jan. 3. 9. Coast Guard needs icebreakers The Navy draws its funding from the Department of Defense but its smaller sister service, the Coast Guard, relies mostly on the Department of Homeland Security. Lawmakers already wrapped up a 2019 spending package for the Pentagon but in December they were still working on the DHS budget. Congress and the White House have dangled a $750 million icebreaker project to build what's now called the Polar Security Cutter. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz wants to start building six breakers — three heavy, three medium. His service is down to one of each now, the Healy and the heavy Polar Star, which was commissioned in 1976. The Navy doesn't have icebreakers and with calls to increase America's presence in the Arctic region the Coast Guard is raising a hand to help. And the Coasties can help sooner if they can start building an icebreaker in 2019 and rebuilding the rest of their aging cutter fleet. 10. CNO about to go? Next September will be the four-year mark for Adm. John Richardson's stint as Chief of Naval Operations. And while officials have been mum on the nominee to become the Navy's next top officer, the norm has been a four-year tour. The only four-star to last longer than four in the 21st century was Adm. Vernon E. Clark, who held the post from July 2000 to July 2005, becoming the longest-serving CNO since Adm. Arleigh Burke helmed the Navy between 1955 and 1961. That's led to growing speculation about Navy Secretary Richard Spencer's pick as Richardson's replacement in 2019. Richardson and his predecessor, Adm. Jonathan Greenert, were career submariners, as is Adm. James Caldwell, currently the head of Naval Reactors, and Adm. James Foggo III, who has led naval forces in Europe and Africa, plus NATO's Joint Force Command Naples, since 2017. Four-star aviators include Adm. Bill Moran, who has served as Vice Chief of Naval Operations since 2016, and Adm. John Aquilino. But Aquilino became the 36th commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet in May and was soon joined in Hawaii by Adm. Phil Davidson, a surface warfare officer, at U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. Davidson was replaced at U.S. Fleet Forces Command by fellow SWO Adm. Christopher Grady. The most recent four-star switch occurred on Nov. 26, when Adm. Craig Faller relieved Adm. Kurt W. Tidd as commander of U.S. Southern Command. Tidd holds the titles of both “Old salt” and “Old Goat” — the oldest serving SWO and the longest-serving graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. 11. Fitz officers fight back The Navy officer who commanded the warship Fitzgerald when it suffered a fatal collision in 2017 will finally have his day in court next year, and so will one of his lieutenants. Cmdr. Bryce Benson faces dereliction of duty and hazarding a vessel charges in connection to the June 17, 2017, collision with a merchant vessel off the coast of Japan that killed seven sailors. The Navy dropped a negligent homicide charge against him. The ongoing legal maneuvers continue to shine spotlights not only on the Navy's efforts to shore up years of shoddy maintenance and manning during an era of high operational tempo in the 7th Fleet but also on how senior leaders handle court-martial cases. Attorneys for Benson and Lt. Natalie Combs have moved to get the cases tossed out of court, arguing that public statements by CNO Richardson and several flag officers, combined with other alleged forms of unlawful command influence, spoiled their chances to get fair trials. 12. Fat Leonard haunts the Navy This past year saw several current and retired Navy leaders disciplined, tried and sentenced for their dirty dealings with “Fat Leonard” Glenn Francis, the portly shipping magnate who plied scores of senior officers and their top enlisted sailors with prostitutes, booze, cash and other perks to land ship servicing contracts in the Western Pacific. At least 21 active-duty and retired defendants have been charged by the U.S. Justice Department in connection with the Fat Leonard scandal and federal prosecutors passed hundreds of lower-level cases to the Navy for military adjudication. As of mid-December, 11 named defendants still await trials for public corruption. Several are expected to start in 2019, including those for Cmdr. Stephen F. Shedd, the former 7th Fleet planning officer, and retired officers Rear Adm. Bruce Loveless, Capt. David “Too Tall” Lausman and Cmdr. Donald “Bubbles” Hornbeck. 13. Special warriors under fire While trials targeting the Fitz officers and Fat Leonard defendants snatched headlines nationwide, quieter court-martial proceedings have played out for the Navy warriors who ply their trade in the shadowy world of counter-terrorism operations. In California, six SEALs are battling war crime charges tied to their service overseas in either Afghanistan or Iraq. In Virginia, two SEALs face murder charges for their alleged roles in the slaying of Army Special Forces Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar, who was strangled to death on June 4, 2017 in Bamako, Mali. They'll be joined in the Norfolk docket by Navy Lt. Craig Becker, an explosive ordnance disposal expert who authorities believe drugged and tossed his wife, Johanna Hanna Elizabeth Hove-Becker, from their Belgian apartment's window in late 2015, killing her. All have pleaded not guilty but the strongest public support has gone to a pair of SEALs in San Diego, Chief Special Warfare Operator Edward “Eddie” Gallagher and his commanding officer, Lt. Jacob “Jake” Portier. Prosecutors allege Gallagher stabbed to death a young, wounded Islamic State prisoner of war near Mosul in 2017. He faces at least 14 criminal counts, including murder, aggravated assault, obstructing justice and drug charges tied to alleged pain reliever and anabolic steroid abuse. Portier is accused of failing to report rumors of his chief's misconduct to superiors in their chain of command. Both have proclaimed their innocence and predict they'll be exonerated. Supporters also point to Chief Special Warfare Operator Keith Barry, who won a landmark decision on Sept. 5 from the military's highest court after justices ruled senior Navy leaders committed unlawful command influence that tainted his case. But questions continue to mount about a culture of corruption and callousness inside the secretive teams of SEALs and the sailors who are attached to them. Nine very public court-martial trials might answer them. 14. More money in your pockets Sailors in 2018 saw lawmakers approve their biggest pay raise in a decade. And the next boost could be even bigger. Continuing a trend in recent years, the raise for 2020 is slated to rise again, thanks to the improving economy and expected increase in civilian sector wages. Based on the current federal formula, troops should see a 3.1 percent pay raise in January 2020, up 0.5 percent from the 2.6 percent raise this January. If that holds, it would mark the fifth year that troops saw a bigger pay raise than the previous year. But getting the money depends on Congress and the White House. The is an easy target for savings because of the large effects even small changes to salaries can make. Dropping the pay raise by 0.5 percent — which leaves troops with a large paycheck but not necessarily one that keeps up with civilian wages — can save up to $3 billion over five years for the Defense Department. But military advocates have long argued that such moves undermine promises to provide for troops and their families. The White House's formal Defense Department appropriations request is scheduled to be unveiled in February. After that, expect months of wrangling over the totals and details. 15. More chances to advance The Navy is expected to grow in 2019, increasing manning to levels unseen in the sea service for over a decade, with advancement opportunities inching up alongside the size of the force. As of December 5, the service had 329,867 people on active-duty, the highest number in uniform total since late 2010. By next December, the Navy is slated to have 335,400 officers and sailors, the highest total since late 2007. Navy personnel officials say the continued growth in end strength should spark more chances for you to get ahead, a trend spotted in 2018. Active duty petty officers enjoyed a 23.5 percent chance of moving up in the fall cycle, slightly higher than in the spring. Advancements to chief petty officer saw a steady rise over the past three years, cresting at a 25 percent selection rate in 2018. Since 1997, the selection rate to senior chief petty officer held stead at around 11 percent, until 2018. Then it shot up to 14 percent. There also will be more Meritorious Advancement Program picks. Since officials revamped the program in 2015, quotas have increased by 4,774 total slots. That's a 213 percent increase over the initial 2,238 quotas allowed. The Navy's top personnel officer, Vice Adm. Bob Burke, wants one out of every four petty officers to get ahead through merit-based advancements, a trend likely to continue in 2019. 16. An end to the uniform madness Nearly two decades of uniform changes should end in October of 2019 when the “Blueberry” Navy Working Uniform will no longer be authorized for wear. That's also the date when all sailors will be required to own and maintain two sets of the green Type III uniform. The transition officially started Oct. 1, 2017 when recruits were issued new uniforms at boot camp in Great Lakes. By early 2018, the Navy Exchange announced it was scrapping a phased two-year roll out for the uniform and made it available in every shop. All sailors will see the second year of a two-year plus-up in their annual clothing replacement allowances to pay for the uniforms. Still undecided is what sailors will wear at sea. The Navy began issuing the new “Improved Fire Retardant Variant” coveralls this year. Considered command-issued “organizational clothing,” Big Navy foots the bill. But officials say that 84 percent of sailors in fleet focus groups demanded a two-piece version to wear. Initial testing of the prototype ended in September and drew poor reviews, with many sailors advocating for a fire retardant NWU Type III style of uniform. Navy leaders will make up their minds in 2019. 17. LinkedIn, for the Navy The Navy is expected to debut a new “Detailing Marketplace” system in mid-2019, with sailors in some ratings getting the chance to negotiate orders and assignment perks on their smartphones and desktop devices. Describing it as “LinkedIn for the Navy,” Vice Adm. Bob Burke, the Navy's top personnel officer told Navy Times that it's all part of an ongoing effort to string multiple personnel databases together to better guide sailors through their careers. “It will know who the sailor is and have the ability to use that information to help them better manage their careers,” Burke said. The Navy spent the latter half of 2018 testing the new technology on both desktop and mobile devices for the aerographer's mate rating, what Burke called a “war game” to try out the new technology. Burke said that the Navy has been using “real data and sailors will be able to test functions and negotiate for money, advance to vacancy, geographic stability, educational opportunities — all those things — just as if they're doing it for real.” Officials are gathering data from the ongoing tests to refine the system for 2019. “Major muscle movement parts will be in place April or May 2019 to support this,” Burke said. “Then we'll commence a rating-by-rating rollout because we won't be able to do it all at once as that would just be too difficult.” 18. A better tape test The Pentagon expects to decide on changes to the dreaded tape test by next summer, potentially overhauling one of the main ways it evaluates sailors' fitness and body composition. For more than a year, the Defense Department has been working with the services on ways to better calculate the body fat composition of service members, which for a generation has mainly involved a tape test that relies on several key measurements of body size and height-weight proportions. The tape test has been widely criticized as an inaccurate method that unfairly penalizes people with certain body types. Failure to meet the services' body composition standards can result in involuntary separation. “The department is actively working closely with the services on this issue and we expect to have results we can discuss in late spring or early summer,” said Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Col. Carla Gleason. Other options could include using MRIs, water displacement or CT scans, methods that are more accurate but also more costly and gobble up more time. 19. GI Bill changes Earlier this year, the Pentagon changed the rules for troops who want to transfer their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to their dependents. Most notably, the new policy will end transfers for service members who have been in uniform longer than 16 years, starting in July 2019. It also immediately put an end to previous exceptions that have allowed certain service members with more than 10 years in uniform to transfer the benefit without committing to serve four more years, including those who were unable to continue serving because of mandatory retirement or high-year tenure. DoD officials have said the changes are “to more closely align the transferability benefit with its purpose as a recruiting and retention incentive.” Officials said the policy change will impact about 9 percent of the total force. The changes have been hotly contested by lawmakers and veteran advocates, and, after pushback, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis announced in September that none of the changes would apply to wounded warriors. Active-duty sailors who have earned a Purple Heart are now allowed to transfer their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to their family members whenever they want. More recently, Sen. Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, has introduced legislation to scrap DoD's changes altogether and open GI Bill transfer to veterans who did not have dependents while on active duty. Meanwhile, long-serving sailors who want to transfer their GI Bill benefits to a spouse or child should plan on doing so before the July deadline kicks in. https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2018/12/31/the-19-things-you-need-to-watch-in-2019

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  November 26, 2023 | International, Aerospace

  Pentagon’s ‘Replicator’ gambit may speed decisions on lethal autonomy

  The program presents immense technological and personnel challenges for procurement and development.