Rising B-21 production costs lead to $1.6B charge for Northrop

On the same subject

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  August 5, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - August 2, 2019

  AIR FORCE HEBCO Inc., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has been awarded an $80,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for A-10 technical order sustainment. This contract provides for 10 years of non-personal technical services in support of technical order sustainment activities by providing technically accurate and up-to-date digital technical data. Work will be performed at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Clearfield, Utah, and is expected to be complete by Aug. 1, 2030. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $445,739 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8202-19-D-0003). The Boeing Co., Seattle, Washington, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $55,500,000 undefinitized contract action modification (P00177) to the previously awarded, FA8625-11-C-6600, for KC-46 engineering, manufacturing and development contract. This modification is for the system level hardware and software critical design review of the boom telescope actuator redesign. Work will be performed at Seattle, Washington, and is expected to be completed February 2021. Fiscal 2018 research and development funds in the amount of $20,845,672 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. Rockwell Collins Simulation & Training Solutions, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been awarded a $40,219,702 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for E-8 Aircrew Training Device sustainment. This contract provides for contractor logistics support and training system support center operations of the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System Aircrew Training Device. Work will be performed at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia; and Sterling, Virginia, and is expected to be complete by Aug. 3, 2029. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2019 Air National Guard operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $3,556,865 are being obligated on the first delivery order at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity (FA8529-19-D-0001). Raytheon Co. Space and Airborne Systems, McKinney, Texas, has been awarded a $23,817,657 contract for two prototype High Energy Laser Weapon Systems (HELWS). This award provides for outside continental U.S. (OCONUS) field assessment for purposes of experimentation including, but is not limited to, 12 months of in-field operation by Air Force personnel against unmanned aerial systems threats. Work will be performed OCONUS and is expected to be completed by Nov. 1, 2020. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2018 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $23,817,657 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8650-19-9-9326). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY C&C Produce Inc.,* North Kansas City, Missouri, has been awarded a maximum $48,000,000 firm-fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for fresh fruits and vegetables. This was a competitive acquisition with three responses received. This is a 36-month contract with no option periods. Locations of performance are Kansas and Missouri, with a July 30, 2022, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Air Force, and Department of Agriculture schools and reservations. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2022 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE300-19-D-P345). ARMY NTVI Enterprises LLC,* Falls Church, Virginia (W9127S-19-D-6001); Global Engineering & Construction LLC,* Renton, Washington (W9127S-19-D-6002); KJS Support Services JV LLC,* Fort Worth, Texas (W9127S-19-D-6003); and Royce Construction Services LLC,* Reston, Virginia (W9127S-19-D-6000), will compete for each order of the $45,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for mechanical infrastructure repair services. Bids were solicited via the internet with 10 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 1, 2022. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Little Rock, Arkansas, is the contracting activity. American Ordnance, Middletown, Iowa, was awarded a $43,351,782 modification (0003 28) to contract W52P1J-16-D-0050 for M795 155mm projectile load assemble and pack. Work will be performed in Middletown, Iowa, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2022. Fiscal 2017, 2018 and 2019 procurement of ammunition, Army funds in the amount of $43,351,782 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE INFORMATION SYSTEMS AGENCY HGSNet LLC, Vienna, Virginia, was awarded a Direct 8(a), firm-fixed-price contract, HC1084-19-C-0006, for development, deployment and sustainment (DD&S) services. These services include requirements analysis, software engineering, systems integration and interoperability, data engineering and management, test, deployment, and development, security and operations (DevSecOps), cloud, infrastructure engineering and transitioning systems to operations in support of the National Background Investigations System. The place of performance will be at the contractor's location in Vienna, Virginia. The contract ceiling is $21,932,725 funded by fiscal 2019 research, development, testing and evaluation funds; and operations and maintenance funds. The proposal was solicited via email to HGSNet LLC. The period of performance consists of one one-year base period and one six-month option period. The period of performance for the base year is Aug. 5, 2019, through Aug. 4, 2020, and the option period follows through to Feb. 5, 2021. The Defense Information Technology Organization, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity. Kapili Services LLC, Orlando, Florida, was awarded a Direct 8(a), firm-fixed-price contract, HC1084-19-C-0005, for system engineering and technical assistance (SETA) support services. The face value of this action is $18,095,364 funded by fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds. The total cumulative value of the contract is $18,095,364. Performance will be at the contractor's facility located in Orlando, Florida. The proposal was solicited via email to Kapili Services LLC. The period of performance consists of one one-year base period and two one-year options. The period of performance is for the base year is Aug. 5, 2019, through Aug. 4, 2020, and the option years follow consecutively through Aug. 4, 2022. The Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity. NAVY The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is awarded $8,905,835 for modification P00023 to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract, N00019-16-C-0032, to continue software development efforts for calendar year 2019 in support of the Next Generation Jammer. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri, and is expected to be completed in December 2019. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $8,905,835 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. *Small Business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1924880/source/GovDelivery/

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  May 4, 2018 | International, C4ISR

  The sparring partner who roughs up Marines with Snapchat

  By: Adam Stone The arm of the U.S. Marine Corps charged with tackling emerging threats has inked a deal that it says will allow it to do more realistic testing. “You want a sparring partner who reflects your adversary's capabilities,” said Lt. Col. Dan Schmidt, head of the field testing branch at the USMC Warfighting Lab. Enter MD5, the National Security Technology Accelerator. The Marine lab will identify challenges, develop warfighting concepts and design wargames and experiments. MD5 also will provide a platform upon which to accelerate these evolving concepts. Together the partners will support an Adaptive Threat Force Cadre, specially trained individuals who can share with their cohorts new and evolving response methodologies in the face of a wide range of threats. While the Marine lab will bring a military sensibility to the table, MD5 offers a private-sector approach. It is represented in this collaboration by Quantico, Va. based training-solutions contractor Guard Unit. “MD5 is designed to bring a commercial mindset to help solve problems in DoD,” said Zenovy Wowczuk, chairman of Guard Unit. “We bring technologists and other folks who haven't been standardized with DoD doctrine. They are private sector free thinkers, so they reflect the future adversary who also hasn't been indoctrinated into that mindset.” Schmidt laid out a number of specific warfighting challenges the partners seek to address. The partnership aims to tackle pervasive challenges in the information environment, issues around electronic warfare, cyber security, and command and control. The Marines want to look at technological fixes as well as organizational changes that could make the force more responsive to these threats. “How do we dominate and operate effectively with decentralized execution in a contested information environment?” Schmidt said. “Maybe if we just change a little bit of how we train and organize, we can dramatically impact the way we execute. We have a whole year of experiments lined up to flesh that out.” They also plan to look at hybrid logistics in support of future fighters. “We may have to spread out to greater distances with smaller units. Then you have to move blood plasma to the point of injury in a contested environment with contested networks. Now you are facing a whole new set of problems,” he said. Hybrid logistics could resolve some of these issues by combining the planning skills of human experts with artificial intelligence, robotics and rich data tracking. Another area of interest involves dense urban operations, an emerging combat scenario that brings my it myriad new concerns and challenges. “We know that the Marine Corps will fight expeditionary wars in mega-cities and we are in the process of discovering the implications of that,” Schmidt said. This exploration will likely dig deep into issues of networking, spectra and cyber strategy. “You have tunnels and skyscrapers and all this electromagnetic density,” Schmidt said. “We are in the early stages of developing an urban campaign plan, which has to include a range of emerging technologies. Our ground combat element, our logistics, our electronic environment ― all will play into how we fight in this environment.” MD5's close ties to industry could prove beneficial here. “We could pull in subject matter experts who have done city planning, who understand where the weak points are, and we could mount that data against the Marine Corps force to see how they react,” Wowczuk said. “We could pull from [off-the-shelf] technology to make it very difficult for the Marine Corps to do their job.” Early collaborations between the Marine and MD5 already have proven out the powerful potential of a bringing commercial-side view to the fight. In one experiment, a mock adversary was able to cull social media to gather critical intelligence on Marine activities. “We weren't used to that paradigm, where there is this rich environment of people on Snapchat taking pictures of us. They showed us just how easy it is to gather information, and from there we can devise new ways to protect some of our intelligence interests,” Schmidt said. “We would not have seen that without MD5. This is all about having an alternative perspective.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/electronic-warfare/2018/05/03/the-sparring-partner-who-roughs-up-marines-with-snapchat/

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  October 19, 2022 | International, Naval

  U.S. Navy awards BAE Systems $143 million contract to continue Surface Combat Systems Center support

  These mission-essential systems are used by sailors across the fleet for all current and future cruiser, destroyer, and amphibious ship modernization initiatives