QinetiQ orders acquisition systems from Celestia STS for UK MoD

On the same subject

• 

  August 2, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Department of Defense Selected Acquisition Reports (SARs) - December 2018

  The Department of Defense (DoD) has released details on major defense acquisition program cost, schedule, and performance changes since the December 2018 reporting period. This information is based on the comprehensive annual Selected Acquisition Reports (SARs) for the first quarter of FY 2019, as updated by the President's Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 budget submitted to Congress on March 11, 2019. SARs summarize the latest estimates of cost, schedule, and performance status. These reports are prepared annually in conjunction with submission of the President's Budget. Subsequent quarterly exception reports are required only for those programs experiencing unit cost increases of at least 15 percent or schedule delays of at least six months. Quarterly SARs are also submitted for initial reports, final reports, and for programs that are rebaselined at major milestone decisions. The total program acquisition cost estimates provided in the SARs include research and development, procurement, military construction, and acquisition-related operations and maintenance. These totals reflect actual costs to date as well as future anticipated costs. All estimates are shown in fully inflated then-year dollars. The prior current estimate of program acquisition costs for programs covered by SARs for the reporting period for December 2017 (83 programs) was $1,917,840 million. The current estimate for December 2018 (87 programs) is $2,018,684 million. Quantity changes account for the majority of the $101,000 million increase (+$51,000 million), in addition to scope changes (+$18,000 million) and revised indices (+$11,500 million). 16 of the 20 programs with quantity changes are either equal to or underrunning their current baseline costs, as well as 60 of the 84* SARs reporting Unit Cost this SAR cycle overall. To view the full news release and SAR Summary Tables, click here. https://dod.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/1923492/department-of-defense-selected-acquisition-reports-sars-december-2018/source/GovDelivery/

• 

  March 23, 2023 | International, C4ISR

  National Cybersecurity Strategy is a North Star for federal agencies

  Many government agencies still rely on legacy IT systems that are costly to maintain and difficult to defend, the author says.

• 

  November 15, 2018 | International, Aerospace

  Lockheed Gets Interim Payment for First Multiyear F-35 Contract: Pentagon

  By Reuters WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin Corp has won a preliminary contract valued at up to $22.7 billion to build a batch of 255 F-35 jets for the U.S. military and its allies, the U.S. Defense Department said on Wednesday. The department said the deal would allow Lockheed to receive $6 billion in funding immediately, a move aimed at preventing major delays in production of the new stealthy fighter jets. This contract is the first to lock in multiyear commitments from U.S. allies as Lockheed anticipates that buying components in larger quantities will help move the price of the most common F-35 jet to below $80 million by 2020. The most common variation of the jet, the F-35 A, had a price of $89.2 million after the most recent round of contract negotiations announced in September. Lockheed is developing and building three models of the new warplanes for the U.S. military and 10 other countries that have signed up to buy the jets: Britain, Australia, Italy, Turkey, Norway, the Netherlands, Israel, Japan, South Korea and Belgium. The Pentagon's chief arms buyer, Ellen Lord, told Reuters on Tuesday that she expected to finalize the interim terms of the deal, known as an "undefinitized contract action" or UCA, with Lockheed, its No. 1 supplier, by the spring of next year. A Lockheed representative said: "This is a smart approach for the taxpayer, the warfighter and for industry." According to the Pentagon, Wednesday's agreement means that U.S. allies buy 149 jets over the three-year period. In the United States' one-year deal, it will buy the remaining 106 jets for delivery beginning in 2020. The U.S. government will continue to buy jets in annual contracts, but is also purchasing components for future-year jets and will also benefit from the economies of scale allowed under the multiyear contract. The three-year deal, known as the "block buy" among the United States and allies, has been said to be worth more than $37 billion and encompass a record 440 jets. Wednesday's contract agrees to a high-water mark of $22.7 billion for all of the 255 jets, but that dollar figure is expected to come down during the negotiations while the jet count is considered a minimum commitment. The interim payment authorized on Wednesday will be deducted from the total contract when the two sides reach a final agreement. The Pentagon is negotiating a separate contract with Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp, for engines to power the jets. (Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis) https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2018/11/14/business/14reuters-usa-lockheed-pentagon.html