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September 5, 2023 | International, Land

QinetiQ, Inzpire and BAE Systems Deliver Next Synthetic Training Concept Demonstration to the Royal Navy

Delivered in late June, the complex synthetic collective training demonstration was operated from Portsdown Technology Park delivering training to three platforms docked at HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

https://www.epicos.com/article/772655/qinetiq-inzpire-and-bae-systems-deliver-next-synthetic-training-concept-demonstration

On the same subject

  • U.S. Cyber Command looks to grow its acquisition capacity

    September 14, 2018 | International, C4ISR

    U.S. Cyber Command looks to grow its acquisition capacity

    By Lauren C. Williams The Defense Department's newest combatant command is nearly a decade old but still doesn't steer its own acquisitions. That could change in fiscal 2019, however, as U.S. Cyber Command staffs up its contracting office and seeks a bigger acquisition budget. "Acquisition authority is limited at the moment. It's capped at $75 million and has a sunset date, currently, of 2021," said Stephen Schanberger, command acquisition executive for U.S. Cyber Command during a panel at the Billington Cybersecurity Summit Sept. 6. "So the command is actively pursuing getting that increased on the ceiling amount as well as the sunset date." Cyber Command has only had acquisition authority for two fiscal years, but Congress extended that authority through 2025 in the fiscal year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act. That advances the authority four years from the original sunset date of 2021. Cyber Command awarded only one contract in fiscal 2017, Schanberger said, partly because it lacked a contract writing system and technical personnel to get things done. Things improved this year with $40 million in contract awards and Schanberger expects to reach the $75 million cap sometime in 2019. "We are really hamstrung at the moment in relying on the current [contracting] vehicles out there from others," he said. "And in some cases we've had to adjust our scope to match up to the contract versus waiting for them to put another whole contract vehicle or task order onto a contract." Schanberger seeks to more than triple Cyber Command's acquisition to $250 million to allow for multi-year contracts. Congressional scrutiny has been the main impediment to securing additional acquisition funds because the command needs to prove its contracting abilities, but Schanberger said increasing staff and getting things right will help. "Congress would like us to show that we actually can use our authority the way it's supposed to be and start to stand on the backbone of what it takes to be a contracting organization," particularly regarding contract types, use other transaction authorities, competitive bids versus sole source, and partnering with small businesses, he said. Schanberger told FCW he wasn't concerned about additional congressional scrutiny surrounding the Defense Department's use of other transaction authorities because "our efforts are nowhere near the big efforts that they're looking for." But overall, Cyber Command's contracting office is growing. Schanberger now leads a team of about five people, including himself, consisting of a contracting officer, specialist, and supporting contractors. He hopes to double the team's capacity by year's end. "We are in our infancy from an acquisition perspective, we are putting down the foundation of the personnel and the skills," he said, with the goal "to be able to activate, put together solicitation packages, plan our contracting strategy for [multiple] years, and be able to effectively implement and put out RFPs on the street without making a mess out it." Schanberger said they are looking at capabilities that can benefit all of the service components, such as analytic development. Cyber Command released a request for proposals for an analytic support program dubbed Rainfire on Sept. 4. "Once we get the skills in place, I think we'll be able to demonstrate to everyone around us that we can execute the authorities we have and grow them responsibly," he said. https://fcw.com/articles/2018/09/13/cybercom-aquisition-williams.aspx

  • Berlin is reportedly brokering a deal to consolidate German naval shipbuilders

    April 17, 2020 | International, Naval

    Berlin is reportedly brokering a deal to consolidate German naval shipbuilders

    By: Sebastian Sprenger COLOGNE, Germany — The German government is facilitating talks between major naval shipbuilders in an effort to set up a national conglomerate rivaling industry champions like Naval Group in France and Fincantieri in Italy, according to a local media report. Negotiations to that effect have been ongoing behind closed doors since the beginning of 2020 between ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, German Naval Yards Kiel, and Lürssen, broadcaster NDR reported Thursday. Top executives from the companies confirmed the developments on Twitter, though without elaborating on the status of the negotiations. News of the consolidation plan comes in the wake of German Naval Yards Kiel and TKMS losing a multibillion-dollar contract for new Germany Navy frigate-type ship, dubbed MKS 180. Dutch bidder Damen won the competition in January. The Dutch company has teamed with Lürssen for the program, vowing to do most of the construction work in Germany. Still, the MKS 180 award angered industry lobbying groups in Germany, who argue that the country's good-faith effort to carry out a European Union mandate for bloc-wide competition in major public programs backfired. Other European countries tend to keep such defense-related work within their own industrial ecosystems, the argument goes. “The need for a German consolidation in naval shipbuilding has been repeatedly emphasized by us and our owner, Privinvest, during the past few years,” German Naval Yards Kiel CEO Jörg Herwig was quoted as saying in a statement. “Only a strong German player will be able to remain globally competitive and strengthen the German technology sector.” Privinvest is owned by French-Lebanese businessman Iskandar Safa. A request for a statement from the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy was not immediately returned on Thursday. The idea of a unified German naval industry cluster runs counter to the narrative that the European defense market should focus less on national retrenchment and instead bank more on efficiencies through cross-continental mergers. “I think we have to be honest with ourselves and admit that European defense acquisition will be mostly national, and maybe binational or trinational,” said Sebastian Bruns, a naval analyst with the University of Kiel in northern Germany. Bruns said Lürssen's role in the consolidation talks will be interesting to watch because the company has its foot in the door of the MKS 180 program — through Damen — and at the same time would benefit from a German industry conglomerate with the Navy as a guaranteed customer. All the while, German Naval Yards Kiel has begun the legal process of challenging the Defence Ministry's pick of Damen for the business. Letting the litigation play out in the courts is all but certain to cause a delay in the eventual delivery of the vessels to the sea service. But in the course of future consolidation talks, the government could use its leverage as the broker — and ultimate approval authority — to put the protest by German Naval Yards Kiel to rest and let the MKS 180 program proceed swiftly, Bruns said. “In the end, the most important question is what actual results will come out of this,” he said. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/04/16/berlin-is-reportedly-brokering-a-deal-to-consolidate-german-naval-shipbuilders

  • Leonardo signs contract to upgrade Italian Armed Force’s identification systems to new NATO standard

    March 6, 2020 | International, C4ISR, Security

    Leonardo signs contract to upgrade Italian Armed Force’s identification systems to new NATO standard

    Rome, March 5, 2020 - Leonardo has signed a contract with the Italian Defence authorities to supply and install ‘New Generation Identification Friend or Foe' (NGIFF) identification equipment, updated to the latest NATO Mode 5 Baseline 3 standard, for the Italian Armed Forces' land and naval platforms. The contract is worth approximately €75 million and will last for six years. Leonardo will supply several hundred NGIFF interrogators and cryptographic units in order to upgrade dozens of land and naval platforms across 15 different classes and types. The NGIFF systems will allow the Italian Armed Forces to maintain full interoperability with other NATO forces in joint operations as the alliance mandates the use of ‘Mode 5'-capable systems in its Minimum Military Requirements (MMR) for Air-to-Air and Surface-to-Air Identification. The Mode 5 standard confers a number of benefits in terms of identification and security. Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) technology is essential to military operations as it allows allied forces to be distinguished from potential threats. Under this contract, the equipment for Italy's land and naval platforms will provided entirely by Italian industry. Notably, Leonardo's Mode 5 NGIFF equipment uses the company's own cryptographic unit, which is the only alternative to a U.S. cryptographic system available on the market. Future contractual developments are planned which will see Leonardo equip further Italian aircraft and helicopters with the same capability, bringing them in-line with NATO standards. Leonardo is a worldwide leader in Mode 5-capable NGIFF technology. Previously, the company has been chosen by the UK Ministry of Defence to upgrade the IFF systems of over 400 air, land and naval platforms in collaboration with a partner company. View source version on Leonardo : https://www.leonardocompany.com/en/press-release-detail/-/detail/leonardo-signs-contract-to-upgrade-italian-armed-force-s-identification-systems-to-new-nato-standard?f=%2Fhome

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