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June 6, 2023 | International, Aerospace

Safran confirms talks with Raytheon over flight control assets

French aero engine maker Safran said on Monday it was s in discussions with U.S. aerospace company Raytheon Technologies for the potential acquisition of certain flight control and actuation activities, confirming earlier media reports.

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/safran-confirms-talks-with-raytheon-over-flight-control-assets-2023-06-05/

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  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - April 28, 2020

    April 29, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - April 28, 2020

    AIR FORCE General Electric Co., Cincinnati, Ohio, has been awarded $707,274,997 for four undefinitized contract actions under an existing F110 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, for F110-GE-129 engine production. These actions provide for F110 engine production, including installs and spares and modernized engine management system computers. Work will be performed in Cincinnati, Ohio, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2026. These actions involve Foreign Military Sales to Slovakia, Bulgaria, Taiwan and Qatar. This award is the result of country-directed, sole-source acquisitions. Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $353,637,499 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8626-18-D-0029). NAVY Doyon Project Services LLC,* Federal Way, Washington, is awarded $30,831,632 for firm-fixed-price task order N-44255-20-F4095 under a multiple award construction contract for repair of Shipyard Electrical Backbone Substation A, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington. Work will be performed in Bremerton, Washington, and includes removal and disposal of select electrical components; repairing electrical cabling and distribution lines; repairing the switching and routing equipment; repairing substation components to include but not limited to: electrical boards, circuit breakers, tie breakers, conductors, cabling, terminations, grounds transformers, motor operators and repair of the supervisory control and data acquisition system at Shipyard Electrical Backbone Substation A to restore the system to its customary state of operation. Inspection, testing and commissioning will be performed on the electrical distribution system and at three substations following repairs. Hazardous material disposal and station support is included in the project. Work is expected to be complete by April 2023. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy); and contract funds in the amount of $30,831,632 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Three proposals were received for this task order. Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Northwest, Silverdale, Washington, is the contracting activity (N44255-17-D-4036). Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Syracuse, New York, is awarded a $13,227,000 engineering services, cost-plus-incentive-fee modification to previously awarded delivery order N00024-19-F-6201 under indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract N00024-19-D-6200 for the design, prototyping and qualification testing for the TI-20 AN/BLQ-10. Work will be performed in Syracuse, New York, and is expected to be complete by February 2021. Fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $7,227,000; and 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $6,000,000 will be obligated at time of award and not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin, Mission Systems and Training, Baltimore, Maryland, is awarded a $13,034,943 cost-plus award-fee order (N62786-20-F-0013) against the previously awarded basic ordering agreement N00024-19-G-2313 to provide engineering and management services for Littoral Combat Ship (LCS)-19 Post Shakedown Availability (PSA). Work will be performed in Moorestown, New Jersey (53%); Mayport, Florida (23%); Hampton, Virginia (15%); and Washington, District of Colombia (9%). Lockheed Martin will provide engineering and management services in support of the following: 45,070 man-hours level of effort; and to provide the work specification, pre-fabrication and material for LCS-19 PSA. Work is expected to be complete by September 2021. Fiscal 2014 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); and 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $11,408,580 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, Bath, Maine, is the contracting activity. AECOM Technical Services Inc., Los Angeles, California (N62470-19-D-8022); Aptim Federal Services LLC, Alexandria, Virginia (N62470-19-D-8023); CH2M Hill Constructors Inc., Englewood, Colorado (N62470-19-D-8024); Environmental Chemical Corp., Burlingame, California (N62470-19-D-8025); Fluor Intercontinental Inc., Greensville, South Carolina (N62470-19-D-8026); and Perini Management Services Inc., Framingham, Massachusetts (N62470-19-D-8027), are awarded a $10,000,000 modification to increase the maximum dollar value of an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple award contract for global contingency construction projects worldwide. The work to be performed provides for the Navy; the Navy on behalf of the Department of Defense; the Navy on behalf of other federal agencies; and when authorized, an immediate response for construction services. The construction and related engineering services will respond to natural disasters, humanitarian assistance, conflict or projects with similar characteristics. Work will be predominately construction. The contractor may be required to provide initial base operating support services in support of the construction effort, which will be incidental to construction efforts. Work is expected to be complete by March 2024, and the term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months. After award of this modification, the total cumulative contract value will be $1,081,443,694. No funds will be obligated at time of award; funds will be obligated on subsequent modifications for work on existing individual task orders. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity. The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is awarded a $9,669,789 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P00034) to previously awarded contract N00019-16-C-0032. This modification provides engineering, manufacturing and development support to integrate BRR3.1 software to the Next Generation Jammer on Boeing EA-18G Growler carrier-based electronic warfare aircraft, resulting in BRR3.1 software initial operating capability. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri, and is expected to be complete by December 2020. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $3,000,000 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. Risk Mitigation Consulting Inc.,* Destin, Florida, is awarded an $8,860,412 modification to task order N62470-20-F-4016 under an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. The task order is for mission assurance (MA) assessments for various locations within the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) area of operations worldwide. Work will be performed in Florida (15%); Virginia (11%); Georgia (10%); California (7%); Maryland (6%); and Louisiana (6%). Work will also be performed outside of the U.S. in the following locations: Bahrain (11%); Souda Bay, Greece (10%), Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (9%); Sasebo and Okinawa, Japan (8%); and Deveselu, Romania (7%). The MA assessments to be performed include assessments of installation infrastructure, industrial control systems and energy/utility management control systems. Work is expected to be complete by January of 2021. The maximum dollar value for this task order as a result of this modification will increase from $5,172,574 to $8,860,412. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $3,687,838 will be obligated on a modification to the above referenced task order. The base contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website with six proposals received. NAVFAC Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N62470-19-D-2002). Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Manassas, Virginia, is awarded a $7,730,297 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract modification to previously awarded contract N00024-17-C-6259 to exercise and fund options for Navy equipment, long-lead material and spares. Work will be performed in Manassas, Virginia (65%); Clearwater, Florida (32%); Syracuse, New York (2%); and Marion, Florida (1%), and is expected to be complete by August 2030. Fiscal 2020 other procurement, (Navy) funding in the amount of $7,730,297 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. ARMY Martin Baker, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was awarded a $25,517,707 modification (P00003) to contract W58RGZ-17-D-0046 for incorporation of new side-facing multi-function operator seats and retrofit modification kits in support of the UH-60M Blackhawk helicopter. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of May 11, 2022. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Yorktown Systems Group Inc.,* Huntsville, Alabama, was awarded a $20,383,541 modification (P00038) to contract W911S0-17-C-0007 for operations support services including conducting and providing predictive modeling and trend analyses concerning global asymmetric threats. Work will be performed at Fort Meade, Maryland, with an estimated completion date of May 14, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $20,383,541 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Field Directorate Office, Fort Eustis, Virginia, is the contracting activity. Amentum, Germantown, Maryland, was awarded a $12,000,000 modification (000266) to contract W52P1J-12-G-0028 for Army prepositioned stock logistics support services in support of maintenance, supply and transportation at Mannheim and Dulmen, Germany. Work will be performed in Mannheim, Germany, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 20, 2020. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $12,000,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity. Meggitt Training Systems Inc., Suwanee, Georgia, was awarded a $9,000,000 modification (P00004) to blanket purchase agreement W911SA-16-A-0002 for delivery of live fire target system parts to Fort McCoy, Wisconsin. Funding will be obligated by individual orders. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Suwanee, Georgia, with an estimated completion date of April 30, 2021. The 419th Contracting Support Brigade, Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, is the contracting activity. Associated Aircraft Manufacturing & Sales Inc.,* Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was awarded an $8,439,750 firm-fixed-price contract for landing gear maintenance and overhaul. Bids were solicited via the internet with seven received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of April 28, 2025. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-20-F-0341). WASHINGTON HEADQUARTERS SERVICES Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $13,428,125 firm-fixed-price contract. This contract is for a team of experts to provide translation, transcription and interpretation services to the Office of the Chief Prosecutor. Work performance will take place in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $13,428,125 were awarded. The expected completion date is April 15, 2023. Washington Headquarters Services, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HQ0034-20-C-0073). (Awarded April 15, 2020) Redhorse Corp., San Diego, California, was awarded a $9,385,703 firm-fixed-price contract. This contract supports the coordination of department-wide efforts advising senior leaders regarding national programs and policy support (NPPS) under the direct guidance of the director of NPPS. This includes advising senior leaders regarding global intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) operations and/or resulting in the rapid production of ISR capability from concept initiation to specialized modification to deployment into the operational theater. Work performance will take place in the Pentagon Reservation, Arlington, Virginia. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $4,579,209; and fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $4,806,494 were awarded. The expected completion date is Jan. 31, 2025. Washington Headquarters Services, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HQ0034-20-F-00223). (Awarded April 23, 2020) DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Hardigg Industries Inc., South Deerfield, Massachusetts, has been awarded a maximum $10,000,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for medical equipment and accessories for the Defense Logistics Agency electronic catalog. This was a competitive acquisition with 115 responses received. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Massachusetts, with an April 27, 2025, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2025 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2DH-20-D-0036). Federal Prison Industries Inc.,** Washington, District of Columbia., has been awarded a $9,558,000 modification (P00003) exercising the first one-year option of a one-year base contract (SPE1C1-19-D-F024) with two one-year option periods for working parkas. This is a firm-fixed-price contract. Locations of performance are Kentucky and Washington, District of Columbia, with a May 2, 2021, performance completion date. Using military service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. *Small business **Mandatory source https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2168478/source/GovDelivery/

  • DARPA Awards Six Teams During Final Spectrum Collaboration Challenge Qualifier

    December 20, 2018 | International, C4ISR

    DARPA Awards Six Teams During Final Spectrum Collaboration Challenge Qualifier

    On December 12, DARPA held the second preliminary event of the Spectrum Collaboration Challenge (SC2) – the world's first collaborative machine-intelligence competition to overcome spectrum scarcity. Fifteen teams represented by members from across the academic, commercial and defense landscapes gathered at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) to pit their intelligent radio designs against each other in a head-to-head competition. At the event's conclusion, six of the eight top-scoring teams walked away with $750,000 each in prize money. While not all competitors received interim prizes, all 15 teams have an opportunity to move on to the next stage and compete in the 2019 Spectrum Collaboration Challenge grand finale, which will be held in conjunction with MWC19 Los Angeles, in partnership with CTIA, on October 23, 2019. The six prize-winning teams from the second preliminary event are: Zylinium, a team of independent researchers MarmotE from Vanderbilt University Sprite from Northeastern University Erebus, a team of independent researchers Gator Wings from University of Florida SCATTER from IDLab, an imec research group at Ghent University and University of Antwerp, and Rutgers University "During the second preliminary event we witnessed a technological shift," said Paul Tilghman, the DARPA program manager leading SC2. "For the first time, we saw autonomous collaboration outperform the status quo for spectrum management." Starting in early December, each team's radio participated in 105 matches against competitors in the Colosseum, a massive RF testbed that was developed specifically for SC2. The matches were held in a round-robin fashion where each radio network – working in groups of threes, fours or fives – had multiple opportunities to compete against every other radio design in the competition. Roughly 400 matches were held in total to determine the final team rankings and the prize recipients. During the PE2 matches, teams were put through six different RF scenarios designed to mimic the challenges that collaborative, autonomous radios will face in the real world. These scenarios challenged the radios to collaboratively mitigate interfering with an incumbent radio system, sense and adapt to the spectrum demands of high-traffic environments, handle the data demands of the connected soldier of the future, and beyond. Each scenario was designed to pressure test various elements of the teams' approaches and, in particular, their ability to successfully collaborate with the other radios operating within the same environment. “The six different scenarios were closely aligned to actual situations that our defense and commercial systems face in the field. The Wildfire scenario, for example, replicates the complex communications environment that surrounds an emergency response situation, while the Alleys of Austin scenario was designed to mimic what's needed to help dismounted soldiers navigate and communicate as they sweep through an urban environment. This real-world relevance was critical for us as we want to ensure these technologies can continue to develop after the event and can transition to commercial and/or military applications,” said Tilghman. The sixth scenario of the competition was used to determine the six prize winning teams. This scenario explored the essential question of the SC2 competition: can the top teams' collaborative SC2 radios outperform the status quo of static allocation? Each of the six teams that received awards at PE2 demonstrated that their radio was capable of carrying more wireless applications without the aid of a handcrafted spectrum plan, while simultaneously ensuring four other radio networks operating in the same area had improved performance. In short, each of these six radio networks demonstrated the autonomous future of the spectrum. To aid with decision making, teams applied AI and machine learning technologies in various ways. Some leveraged the current generation of AI technologies like deep learning, while others used more conventional optimization approaches. There were also a few teams that used first wave, rule-based AI technologies. “We're very encouraged by the results we saw at PE2. The teams' radios faced new and unexpected scenarios but were still able to demonstrate smart, collaborative decision making. PE2 showed us that AI and machine learning's application to wireless spectrum management creates a very real opportunity to rethink our current century-old approach,” said Tilghman. The competition now enters its third year and moves closer to the finale, which will be held at one of the country's largest annual technology and telecommunications shows – MWC19 Los Angeles. More than 22,000 attendees from the broad mobile ecosystem and adjacent industry sectors will convene at this three-day event to discuss the current opportunities and future trends shaping the industry. The SC2 championship event will be held on the keynote stage of MWC19 Los Angeles on October 23, 2019. At the conclusion of SC2's finale, three teams will be awarded $2 million, $1 million and $750,000, respectively, for first, second and third place. The real prize, however, will be the promise of a more efficient wireless paradigm in which radio networks autonomously collaborate to determine how the spectrum should be used moment-to-moment, helping to usher in an era of spectrum abundance. For more information about DARPA's Spectrum Collaboration Challenge, please visit: https://spectrumcollaborationchallenge.com/ https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2018-12-19

  • Competition will speed up fielding timeline for missile defense interceptor, MDA boss says

    May 14, 2021 | International, Aerospace, Land

    Competition will speed up fielding timeline for missile defense interceptor, MDA boss says

    By maintaining competition between two teams to develop the Next-Generation Interceptor, the Pentagon could field them early than planned, says the Missile Defense Agency director.

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