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July 15, 2022 | International, C4ISR

Safran unit agrees to acquire Orolia to expand in PNT market

Safran's purchase will complete a '€œcohesive set of PNT architectures'€ to meet the needs of industries including aviation, defense and space, the company says.

https://www.c4isrnet.com/2022/07/11/safran-unit-agrees-to-acquires-orolia-to-expand-in-pnt-market/

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  • Counterdrone Tech Takes Center Stage In UK Government Strategy

    November 11, 2019 | International, Aerospace

    Counterdrone Tech Takes Center Stage In UK Government Strategy

    By Tony Osborne Britain is taking initial steps to create a mobile national counterdrone capability to protect major events and key parts of the national infrastructure. Although aware of the potential benefits that small unmanned aircraft (UAS) systems can bring to the national economy, the country has also experienced the havoc they can wreak. Last December, sightings of small UAS around the perimeter of London's Gatwick Airport resulted in the halting of flight operations, disrupting flights and the plans of thousands of travelers in the run-up to Christmas. Yet, despite more than 100 such sightings during the shutdown, police investigations have exhausted their lines of inquiry, no charges were ever brought and Sussex Police, leading the investigation, closed their probe at the end of September. Since then, environmental protesters Extinction Rebellion threatened to use UAS to shut down Heathrow Airport in a bid to disrupt operations, although activists were arrested before they got a chance to try. Drone use in the UK is growing rapidly. According to consultancy PwC, there could be as many as 76,000 commercial and government drones in use in the UK by 2030. In 2014, there were around 400 commercial drone operators in the UK approved by the UK Civil Aviation Authority; there are now over 5,000. The events at Gatwick have acted as a catalyst, prompting the government to get ahead of the threat. In October, the British Home Office published its Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Strategy to help civilian authorities tackle the issues surrounding drones. Along with developing a national counterdrone capability for the police, instead of relying on the military as they had to at Gatwick, the government is looking to update the threat picture of how UAS can be misused. They would then develop what officials call a “full-spectrum” approach in deterring, detecting and disrupting that misuse. Perhaps most crucially, the government will provide greater support to Britain's fledgling but fast-growing counterdrone industry. As well as developing legislation and regulation for counterdrone technology, the strategy also mentions “incentivizing investments” for the most effective technologies. “Government needs to strike a balance,” says British security minister Brandon Lewis. “We need a security posture that keeps us safe, but it must also recognize the benefits of the legal uses of drones and allow us to reap the fullest rewards of incorporating drone technology into society,” But first, the British government will test and accredit anti-drone technologies to better understand their capabilities and develop a catalog of systems that can be purchased by police forces, security agencies and other government departments. Government officials and industry admit there is no “silver bullet” to protect against all types of UAS. “There is not one specific system or one capability that solves the problem,” said Tony Burnell, CEO of Metis Aerospace, a UK-based developer of drone detection equipment. Burnell made his comments while speaking to a British parliamentary committee about the domestic threat of drones in October. “It has to be a multilayered approach. . . . The counterdrone capabilities in the UK, made by industry, will tackle 99.5% of the drones that are out there,” he said. “There is still the 0.5% of drones that you do not know about and that you will [need to] be keeping up [with] to understand.” Costs of anti-drone equipment also remain prohibitively high. But while military-spec systems to protect an airport are priced at £2-3 million ($3-4 million), that could be overkill and far too expensive for a facility such as a prison. Yet prisons arguably need such equipment most urgently. Home Office figures say there were 284 drone incidents at British prisons in 2016, 319 in 2017 and 168 in 2018, with 165 drones recovered at prisons in 2016-17. The police are not the only ones taking an interest in drone technology. In September, the Royal Air Force (RAF) selected Leonardo to carry out a three-year-long study to inform a future RAF counterdrone capability. Leonardo's Falcon Shield was one of the systems deployed by the RAF to Gatwick after a police request. The Gatwick incident has already prompted changes in British law. In March, laws stating that drones could not be flown within 1 km (0.6 mi.) of an airfield were replaced with new restrictions banning them from operating within an airfield's existing aerodrome traffic zone—a radius of 2-2.5 nm around the airfield. It is also now against the law to operate them in 5 X 1-km zones stretching from the thresholds of an airfield/airport's runway. The UK has introduced legislation that calls on drone operators with systems weighing between 250g-20 kg (0.6-44 lb.) to register them and for the pilots to take an online competency course. Registration, which began on Nov. 5, will become a legal requirement from Nov. 30, with operators receiving an operator registration number they must affix to their drone before it is flown. The strategy says the government is now developing concepts for the future implementation of an unmanned traffic management (UTM) system, but it notes that while UTM technology “will not be delivered in the lifetime of the strategy,” security concerns will be appropriately incorporated in early planning. https://aviationweek.com/commercial-aviation/counterdrone-tech-takes-center-stage-uk-government-strategy

  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - November 20, 2020

    November 24, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - November 20, 2020

    AIR FORCE Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Clearfield, Utah, has been awarded a $185,700,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the A-10 Aircraft Structural Integrity Program Legacy VII. This contract provides for sustaining engineering services of A-10 aircraft. Work will be performed in Clearfield, Utah, and is expected to be completed Nov. 22, 2030. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $6,480,694 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8202-21-D-0001). L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace LLC, Madison, Mississippi, has been awarded a $65,603,271 firm-fixed-price contract for contractor operated and maintained base supply of the Air Education and Training Command fleet of 178 T-1A Trainer aircraft. Work will be performed at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas; Laughlin AFB, Texas; Vance AFB, Oklahoma; Columbus AFB, Mississippi; and Pensacola Naval Air Station, Florida, and is expected to be completed Nov. 30, 2021. This award for Option Three is the result of a competitive acquisition and three offers were received. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance funds in the amount $17,946,903 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity (FA8106-18-C-0001). Lockheed Martin Corp., King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, has been awarded a $34,939,734, cost-type modification (P00014) to contract FA8219-20-C-0001 for Mk21A technology maturation and risk reduction (TMRR) research and development for reentry vehicles (RVs). The contract modifies the TMRR prototype flight test plan, to now include preparations for a second flight test and development of two prototype RVs with telemetry capability in order to further mature technology. Work will be performed in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and is expected to be completed Oct. 21, 2022. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds are being used with no funds being obligated at the time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $151,943,606. The Air Force Nuclear War Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity. AT2 LLC, Severn, Maryland, has been awarded a $15,751,876 firm-fixed-price modification (P00017) to contract FA4890-18-C-0008 for Air Combat Command and Air Force Global Strike Command Primary Training Ranges operation and maintenance (O&M) support services. This contract provides for O&M of range threat, scoring and feedback systems. Work will be performed at Dare County Range, North Carolina; Poinsett Range, South Carolina; Grand Bay Range, Georgia; Avon Park Range, Georgia; Snyder Range, Texas; Belle Fourche Range, South Dakota; Holloman Ranges, New Mexico; and Mountain Home Ranges, Idaho. Work is expected to be completed Dec. 31, 2021. Fiscal 2021 O&M funds in the amount of $15,044,766 are being obligated at the time of award. Headquarters Air Combat Command, Joint Base Langley‐Eustis, Virginia, is the contracting activity (FA4890‐18‐C‐0008). Lockheed Martin Corp., King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, has been awarded a $14,068,093 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P00022) to contract FA8620-14-C-4022 to develop, integrate and lab test detection, removal and characterization operations. Work will be performed in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and is expected to be completed Nov. 30, 2023. This contract was the result of a sole-source acquisition and one offer was received. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,699,000 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. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, has been awarded a $9,326,062 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the Long Range Systems Division seeking to integrate the Navy Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile-Extended Range (AARGM-ER) into the F-35. The AARGM-ER is a Navy weapon that will provide the F-35A advanced suppression of enemy air defenses/destruction of enemy air defenses capability. This contract includes one contract line item number and is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the full amount are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity (FA8682-21-C-2000). CORRECTION: The Nov. 13, 2020, announcement of a $9,703,375 contract modification awarded to Raytheon Missile Systems Co., Tucson, Arizona, included an incorrect modification number. The number of the modification to contract FA8675-20-C-0033 for Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) production baseline rocket motors is P00008, not P00007. NAVY AAR Government Services Inc., Wood Dale, Illinois, is awarded a $148,357,084 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract provides contractor logistics support required for operating and maintaining the C-40A aircraft, aircraft subsystems, appliances and support equipment, including depot-level, main operating base and supply support and commercial line maintenance. Work will be performed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (40%); Fort Worth, Texas (16.5%); Jacksonville, Florida (9%); North Island, California (9%); Oceana, Virginia (9%); Whidbey Island, Washington (9%); and Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii (7.5%), and is expected to be completed in December 2025. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was competitively procured via electronic request for proposal; three offers were received. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00019-21-D-0004). Lockheed Martin Space, Titusville, Florida, is awarded a $108,778,290 cost-plus-incentive-fee and cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P00002) to exercise options under previously awarded contract N00030-20-C-0100 for Trident II (D5) missile production and deployed systems support. Work will be performed in Denver, Colorado (25%); Cape Canaveral, Florida (23.5%); Borgo San Dalmazzo, Italy (12%); Sunnyvale, California (9.7%); Hoffman Estates, Illinois (4.3%); Titusville, Florida (3.4%); Melbourne, Florida (2.6%); Berlin, Connecticut (1.8%); Modesto, California (1.3%); Bangor, Washington (1.1%); Kings Bay, Georgia (1.1%); Clearwater, Florida (1%); and other various locations (less than 1% each, 13.2% total). Work is expected to be completed Sept. 30, 2025. Fiscal 2021 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $94,943,006; fiscal 2021 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $10,176,348; United Kingdom funds in the amount of $3,618,936; and fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $40,000 are being obligated on this award, $40,000 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract is being awarded to the contractor on a sole-source basis under 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) and was previously synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities website. The Strategic Systems Programs, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Corp., Rotary and Mission Systems, Orlando, Florida, is awarded a $9,574,093 modification (P00047) to previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract N68335-17-C-0253. This modification exercises an option to provide the second phase of interim contractor support for fleet Repair of Repairables (RoR), non-fleet RoR and installation RoR support for the Common Aviation Support Equipment program office. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida, and is expected to be completed in March 2021. Fiscal 2021 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,335,259; and fiscal 2021 working capital (Navy) funds in the amount of $727,619 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity. ARMY Carahsoft Technology Corp., Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $38,611,275 firm-fixed-price contract for a one-time license buy for SAP software. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed in Reston, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 30, 2021. Fiscal 2021 other procurement (Army); operation and maintenance (Army); and Army working capital funds in the amount of $38,611,275 were obligated at the time of the award. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W52P1J-21-F-0042). Great Lakes Dredge & Dock LLC, Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, was awarded a $15,844,050 firm-fixed-price contract for maintenance dredging. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work will be performed in St. Mary's, Georgia, with an estimated completion date of June 5, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operation and maintenance (Defense) funds in the amount of $15,844,050 were obligated at the time of the award. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity (W912EP-21-C-0002). McCarthy HITT - Next NGA West JV, St. Louis, Missouri, was awarded an $8,982,180 modification (P00012) to contract W912DQ-19-C-7001 for a resident management system. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri, with an estimated completion date of April 24, 2023. Fiscal 2020 military construction (Defense wide) funds in the amount of $8,982,180 were obligated at the time of the award. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City, Missouri, is the contracting activity. *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2425497/source/GovDelivery/

  • Defense Innovation Board launches survey to boost private partnerships

    February 1, 2023 | International, C4ISR

    Defense Innovation Board launches survey to boost private partnerships

    The survey will inform a broader study that considers how DoD can better mobilize capital investment toward critical defense technology areas.

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