Saltzman nominated to lead Space Force

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  February 25, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - February 22, 2019

  AIR FORCE Aleut Field Services LLC, Colorado Springs, Colorado (FA2550-19-D-A001); MedVolt LLC, Colorado Springs, Colorado (FA2550-19-D-A002); Olgoonik Enterprises LLC, Colorado Springs, Colorado (FA2550-19-D-A003); Site Work Solutions, Denver, Colorado (FA2550-19-D-A004); Sky Blue RME JV LLC (a Joint Venture comprised of Sky Blue Builders, LLC and Rocky Mountain Excavating Inc.), Aurora, Colorado (FA2550-19-D-A005); and T1-Avery JV (a Joint Venture comprised of Tribal One Broadband Technologies LLC and Avery Asphalt Inc.), Centennial, Colorado (FA2550-19-D-A006), have each been awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity firm-fixed-price contracts. The aggregate maximum amount for all six contracts is $200,000,000 with the companies having an opportunity to compete for individual orders. These contracts provide for construction and maintenance of roadways, bridges, sidewalks, parking areas, airfields and runways to include subsequent services which are typical activities that promote safe and efficient transportation. Work will be performed at various locations in Colorado to include Buckley Air Force Base, Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, Fort Carson Army Post (to include Piñon Canyon and the Pueblo Chemical Depot), Peterson Air Force Base, Schriever Air Force Base, and the U.S. Air Force Academy (to include the Farish Memorial Recreation Area, and the Bulls Eye Auxiliary Airfield). Work is expected to be complete by March 2026. No funds are being obligated at time of award. These contracts were the result of a competitive acquisition and fourteen offers were received. The 50th Contracting Squadron, Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado, is the contracting activity. Cyber Systems & Services Solutions, Bellevue, Nebraska, has been awarded a $17,436,173 firm-fixed-price and cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P0007) to contract FA8773-18-D-0002 to exercise Option I for Defensive Cyber Realization, Integration, and Operational Support services. Work will be performed at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, and is expected to be complete by Feb. 29, 2020. This modification is the result of a competitive acquisition and seven offers were received. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $9,244,750 are being obligated at the time of award. The 38th Contracting Squadron, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, is the contracting activity. ARMY Radiance Technologies Inc.,* Huntsville, Alabama, was awarded a $77,376,456 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for system engineering technical and assistance services, space and cyberspace science and technology development support. Twenty-three bids were solicited with two bids received. Work will be performed in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 27, 2024. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $10,349,818 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W9113M-19-F-0016). CK Power, St. Louis, Missouri,* was awarded a $23,426,448 firm-fixed-price contract for auxiliary power unit kits for the assembly of M8E1 Chemical and Biological Protective Shelters at Pine Bluff Arsenal, Arkansas. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 21, 2024. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W52P1J-19-D-3011). ACC Construction Co. Inc., Augusta, Georgia, was awarded a $10,718,591 firm-fixed-price contract for construction of a 12-story flight control tower. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work will be performed in Fort Benning, Georgia, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 25, 2020. Fiscal 2015 and 2018 military construction funds in the amount of $10,718,591 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah, Georgia, is the contracting activity (W912HN-19-C-3003). Weeks Marine Inc., Covington, Louisiana, was awarded a $9,900,000 modification (P00001) to contract W912P8-19-C-0010 for Mississippi River Southwest Pass maintenance cutterhead dredging. Work will be performed in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, with an estimated completion date of May 26, 2019. Fiscal 2018 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $9,900,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans, Louisiana, is the contracting activity. NAVY Archer Western Federal JV, Chicago, Illinois (N69450-19-D-0907); B.L. Harbert International, Birmingham, Alabama (N69450-19-D-0908); The Haskell Co., Jacksonville, Florida (N69450-19-D-0909); The Korte Co., St. Louis, Missouri (N69450-19-D-0910); and Mortenson Construction, Minneapolis, Minnesota (N69450-19-D-0911), are each awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple award design-build construction contract for construction projects located primarily within the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southeast (NAVFAC SE) area of responsibility (AOR). The work to be performed provides for, but is not limited to, general building type projects (new construction, renovation, alteration, demolition, and repair work) including industrial, airfield, aircraft hangar, aircraft traffic control, infrastructure, administrative, training, dormitory, and community support facilities. These five contractors may compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the awarded contract. Archer Western Federal JV is awarded the $24,774,660 initial task order for P427 Littoral Combat Ship Operational Trainer Facility at Naval Station Mayport, Florida. The remaining four contractors will be awarded $1,000 each to satisfy the guaranteed minimum. Work for this task order is expected to be completed by January 2021. All work on this contract will be within the NAVFAC SE AOR, which includes Florida (15 percent); Georgia (15 percent); Louisiana (14 percent); Mississippi (14 percent); South Carolina (14 percent); Tennessee (14 percent); and Texas (14 percent). The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months, with an expected completion date of February 2024. Fiscal 2019 military construction (Navy); and fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $24,778,660 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by military construction (Navy); operations and maintenance (Navy); and Navy working capital funds. The maximum dollar value for the five-year ordering period for all five contracts combined is $240,000,000. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with 19 proposals received. Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southeast, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity. Oracle America Inc., Redwood City, California, is awarded $18,850,000 for fixed-price-level-of-effort task order M67854-19-F-7603 under a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (M67854-17-D-7609) for continued post-deployment system support including, service management, service operations; production and pre-production system sustainment; solution development environment; enterprise training and training devices; product lifecycle support; and service transition for change requests and engineering change proposals. Work will be performed in Stafford, Virginia (50 percent); and Quantico, Virginia (50 percent), and is expected to be completed by Dec. 20, 2019. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $18,850,000 will be obligated at the time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The base was awarded on a sole source in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1- only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting activity. CIRCOR Naval Solutions LLC, Warren, Massachusetts, is awarded an estimated $13,294,404 requirements contract for a broad range of pump parts in support of refurbishment and maintenance of existing pumps installed on various Military Sealift Command vessels. Delivery of parts will occur at various locations on the East and West coast of the U.S., and is expected to be completed by Feb. 24, 2024. No funding will be obligated at the time of award. This contract was sole-sourced, with a proposal solicited via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with one offer received. The U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N3220519D9006). Coastal Enterprises, Jacksonville Inc., Jacksonville, North Carolina, is awarded an $8,260,289 modification under a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N40085-18-D-6113) to exercise Option One for grounds maintenance services at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and other outlying locations. The work to be performed provides for grounds maintenance services that will maintain mowing and trimming grass on road shoulders, ditches, bunkers, firing ranges, wet-lands and tank training sites. After award of this option, the total cumulative contract value will be $16,506.249. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, North Carolina. This option period is from March 2019 to February 2020. No funds will be obligated at time of award. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Marine Corps) contract funds in the amount of $1,882,643 for recurring work will be obligated on an individual task order issued during the option period. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity. * Small Business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1765547/

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  June 26, 2020 | International, C4ISR, Security

  Pandemic doesn’t slow cyber training for the Army

  Mark Pomerleau While much of the national security community has had to rethink or delay operations and business practices because of the global pandemic, the Army's cyber school has been able to carry on business as usual due to prior investments in online tools and virtual training environments. “Our virtual training environment had existed prior to COVID and that was really what our students logged into and that's where our training ranges are and where we do a lot of coding and where we ... conduct our courses,” Col. Paul Craft, the Fort Gordon-based school's commandant told Fifth Domain in an interview. “Because we had that environment, we were already prepared, we were already postured.” This environment is called the Virtual Training Area or VTA. It is a conglomeration of open-source technologies that Army users can login from around the world on the open internet, not the closed DoD network, to access course prep materials, courses, tests or even to note curriculum changes. Now, all the officer courses are conducted remotely in the unclassified environment. With the empty classroom space this creates, the enlisted student body can now meet in person and still follow Centers for Disease Control mandated social distancing standards. For some of the classified material, officers still need to come into classes, also adhering to social distancing mandates and wear masks. “We did not change. For us, it just occurred over a weekend where our students backed out and said ‘I'm going to log in [from home]' ... continue to train like we were logging into that virtual training environment and we're still going to conduct the classes,” Craft said. “We set up for a success that we didn't know we needed to have.” This change is especially important as the cyber school expanded to teach “operations in the information environment,” which incorporates how cyber operations, electronic warfare and information operations interact. Within the last two years, the Army merged the electronic warfare and cyber branches together. While much of the rest of the world has been forced to either halt operations or drastically change practices, many within the military cyber community have been able to lean on technical advancements to continue training. In addition to the Army Cyber School, U.S. Cyber Command is conducting its annual major training event in June almost entirely remote relying on a virtual training platform for the first time called the Persistent Cyber Training Environment. Craft explained that when PCTE comes fully online for all of the Defense Department, the plan is to migrate operations from the VTA to PCTE to conduct their training. Migrating to an almost entirely remote environment on the officer side has also allowed the school to open up more seats to more trainees since they aren't limited to physical space. It's also reduced travel costs for those who need training, Craft said. For example, personnel can take courses from their home stations without having to travel all the way to Fort Gordon. Moreover, senior leaders are able to audit courses or even conduct guest speaking sessions right from their desks without having to travel to the cyber school. https://www.fifthdomain.com/dod/army/2020/06/25/pandemic-doesnt-slow-cyber-training-for-the-army/

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  June 18, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  India’s defense industry is set to lose $3 billion from nationwide lockdown

  By: Vivek Raghuvanshi NEW DELHI — Indian defense companies may have lost $3 billion in potential revenue during March 24-May 31 amid a nationwide lockdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a Ministry of Defence official. Those affected include more than 100 large defense firms and some 4,000 small and medium aerospace and defense businesses. The lockdown has also impacted the supply of local and foreign material for 50 major defense projects. Currently, every Indian-made weapon and platform is designed to use 10-20 percent of imported components. The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to disrupt the supply of such components for at least a year, which could cause delays and cost overruns for major defense programs, according to a senior executive with the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers, a defense industry advocacy body. Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said local defense industry factories are operating at 30-50 percent capacity and that the outlook is grim. “This will lead to a direct hit in the first-quarter revenue of all defense companies operating in India, which will also seemingly struggle for cash flows for operation costs,” he said, adding that those costs could increase in the second quarter of the current fiscal year. Another MoD official told Defense News that some of the ongoing major defense projects — such as licence production of French Scorpene submarines, Project 17A destroyers, Indo-Russian BrahMos cruise missiles and license production of Russian T-90MS main battle tanks — will take a major hit because foreign engineers are unwilling to come to India to supervise the projects. Due to disruption in the supply chain, the SIDM exec warned, the cost of material and components will increase sharply — possibly an extra 10-15 percent — and Indian defense companies will have to spend more if fluctuations in the exchange rate between the Indian rupee and the euro or U.S. dollar harms India's purchasing power. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2020/06/17/indias-defense-industry-is-set-to-lose-3-billion-from-nationwide-lockdown/