June 12, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

Senate panel OKs $6 billion military fund to confront China

WASHINGTON ― Plans for a Senate-crafted version of the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, a new military fund to boost deterrence against China in the Pacific, is one step closer to becoming law.

The Senate Armed Services Committee has approved nearly $6 billion for the fund in its version of the annual defense policy bill, the panel announced Thursday. It authorizes $1.4 billion in fiscal 2021, which would be $188.6 million above the administration's budget request, and $5.5 billion for fiscal 2022. The bill also directs the defense secretary to create a spending plan for all of the funds.

“The best way to protect U.S. security and prosperity in Asia is to maintain a credible balance of military power, but, after years of underfunding, America's ability to do so is at risk,” the committee's summary stated. “The FY21 [National Defense Authorization Act] establishes the Pacific Deterrence Initiative (PDI) to send a strong signal to the Chinese Communist Party that America is deeply committed to defending our interests in the Indo-Pacific.

“PDI will enhance budgetary transparency and oversight, focus resources on key military capability gaps, reassure U.S. allies and partners, and bolster the credibility of American deterrence in the Indo-Pacific.”

Though not all details of the fund were immediately made public, SASC Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., and ranking member Jack Reed, D-R.I., previously said they would sponsor a measure to enable U.S. military operations in the region, beyond supporting new weapons platforms.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper has said China is his department's top adversary, but said Congress has worked to sharpen the Pentagon's spending and focus in the region. The PDI would follow the form of the multiyear European Deterrence Initiative, which has consumed $22 billion since its inception after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

Congress will have to internally negotiate the final dollar amount for PDI and what those funds would buy, but House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., and ranking member Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, have expressed support for the idea. Though the Senate's approach differs, Thornberry has also proposed spending $6 billion―all in FY21―on priorities that include air and missile defense systems as well as new military construction in partner countries; Smith hasn't released his own plan.

Once approved by the full Senate, its version of the NDAA would be reconciled with the House's version, which the HASC is expected to make public late this month before it goes through markup July 1 and advances to the House floor.

With an eye on China beyond the PDI, the SASC bill also encourages the Air Force to establish an operating location in the Indo-Pacific region for F-35A fighter jets and to allocate “sufficient resources and prioritize the protection of air bases that might be under attack from current or emerging cruise missiles and advanced hypersonic missiles, specifically from China."

There are also a number of provisions aimed at safeguarding America's technology and industrial base from Chinese intellectual property theft and “economic aggression,” according to the summary. The bill would also require reports from the Pentagon on how to mitigate the risks from vendors like Chinese telecom firms Huawei and ZTE when basing U.S. troops overseas.

The SASC summary said its proposed PDI would:

Increase lethality of the joint force in the Pacific, including by improving active and passive defense against theater cruise, ballistic and hypersonic missiles for bases, operating locations and other critical infrastructure.
Enhance the design and posture of the joint force in the Indo-Pacific region by transitioning from large, centralized and unhardened infrastructure to smaller, dispersed, resilient and adaptive basing; increasing the number of capabilities of expeditionary airfields and ports; enhancing pre-positioning of forward stocks of fuel, munitions, equipment and materiel; and improving distributed logistics and maintenance capabilities in the region to ensure the sustainment of logistics under persistent multidomain attack.
Strengthen alliances and partnerships to increase capabilities, improve interoperability and information sharing, and support information operations capabilities with a focus on countering malign influence.

https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2020/06/11/senate-panel-oks-6-billion-military-fund-to-confront-china/

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January 9, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - January 08, 2020
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Aurora Industries,* Camuy, Puerto Rico, has been awarded a maximum $53,594,133 modification (P00008) exercising the first one-year option period of a one-year base contract (SPE1C1-19-D-1128) with three one-year option periods for coats and trousers. This is a firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Location of performance is Puerto Rico, with a Jan. 10, 2021, performance completion date. Using military services are Army and Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. AIR FORCE BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc., San Diego, California, has been awarded a $49,620,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity modification (P00026) to previously awarded FA4600-12-D-0002 for additional Air Vehicle Planning System (APS) support. The contract modification is for a ceiling increase to allow the purchase of continued maintenance and sustainment activities, ongoing development activities, increased onsite support requirements and required modifications to APS for new and modified weapons. Work will be performed at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska; Bellevue, Nebraska; and San Diego, California, and is expected to be completed by Jan. 31, 2024. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $195,000,826. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds; and fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds are being used. No funds are being obligated at the time of award. The 55th Contracting Squadron, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, is the contracting activity. Kapsuun Group LLC, Lorton, Virginia, has been awarded a $14,535,027 firm-fixed-price contract for A4/A6 staff support services. Work will be performed at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, and is expected to be complete by July 9, 2025. This award is the result of direct award acquisition with one offer being received. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $1,719,657 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Combat Command's Acquisition Management Integration Center, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, is the contracting activity (FA4890-20-C-0002). *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2052857/source/GovDelivery/
January 8, 2024 | International, Land

How does the Leopard 1A5 stack up against Russian armor?
Opinion: Proven in combat, the Leopard 1 was an effective Cold War-era main battle tank. However, many question its effectiveness and survivability in modern wars.
November 6, 2020 | International, C4ISR

BAE building new campus for recently acquired GPS business
Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — BAE Systems announced Thursday it is investing more than $100 million in new infrastructure to support its navigation and sensor systems business, which was acquired from Collins Aerospace over the summer. The new campus, located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, will condense the company's military GPS capabilities from around the country into one location. Included in the project is a 278,000-square-foot factory and research and development center, located on a 32-acre site just minutes from Eastern Iowa Airport. The building will include a large factory, several hundred offices, workstations, and both classified and unclassified labs, according to a company release, with the ability to add 50,000 square feet of space if needed. BAE spent $1.9 billion to land the business unit, which primarily focuses on military GPS technologies, in a deal that was completed July 31. The acquisition followed the merger of defense contracting giants United Technologies Corp. and Raytheon into Raytheon Technologies Corporation in June 2019. The U.S. Department of Justice approved that merger in March 2020, but only on the condition the companies divest UTC's military GPS and large space-based optical systems businesses, as well as Raytheon's military airborne radios business. In March, BAE's chief executive Jerry DeMuro told Defense News that the purchase, along with $275 million spent to purchase the airborne radio business, positioned the company well under the National Defense Strategy. The military GPS business includes a workforce of 700 employees that design and build advanced, hardened, secure GPS products, including devices that can utilize M-Code, a more secure U.S. military GPS signal. The business boasts more than 1.5 million GPS devices installed on more than 280 weapons systems. “Our world-class military GPS business is built on the rich talent pool in Greater Cedar Rapids,” John Watkins, vice president and general manager of precision strike and sensing solutions at BAE Systems, said in a statement. “This investment will provide our high-tech engineering and manufacturing experts with a world-class workspace and the tools to enhance operational excellence.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/industry/2020/11/05/bae-building-new-campus-for-recently-acquired-gps-business

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Senate panel OKs $6 billion military fund to confront China

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How does the Leopard 1A5 stack up against Russian armor? Opinion: Proven in combat, the Leopard 1 was an effective Cold War-era main battle tank. However, many question its effectiveness and survivability in modern wars.

How does the Leopard 1A5 stack up against Russian armor?
Opinion: Proven in combat, the Leopard 1 was an effective Cold War-era main battle tank. However, many question its effectiveness and survivability in modern wars.