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March 5, 2019 | International, Aerospace

Singapore moves to buy four F-35s, possibly eight more afterward

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MELBOURNE, Australia — Singapore will seek to buy four Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters for a start, with an option to purchase eight more, according to the southeast Asian nation's defense minister.

Speaking in Parliament on Friday, Ng Eng Hen said Singapore will submit a letter of request to the United States for the purchase, adding that “Singapore has the endorsement of both the U.S. administration and the Department of Defense for our proposed purchase of F-35s.”

He did not disclose which version of the F-35 Singapore will request when asked by lawmakers, although he was quoted as ruling out buying the “aircraft-carrier version” of the F-35, and told Parliament that the unit price of the aircraft “ranges from U.S. $90 million to U.S. $115 million.”

The prices he quoted are the respective unit prices of the F-35A conventional-takeoff-and-landing version and the F-35B short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing version under the latest LRIP 11 contract signed in September 2018 between the DoD and manufacturer Lockheed Martin.

Earlier reports suggested the land-scarce island nation is keen on the F-35B for its ability to operate from short runways.

He also told Parliament that the total cost of ownership of an F-35 fleet including maintenance across its lifespan will be similar to Singapore's current fleet of Boeing F-15SG Eagles. He added, however, that the Defence Ministry “will continue to work with the U.S. Department of Defense to optimize operating and maintenance costs.”

Singapore currently operates a fleet of 60 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 52/52+ Fighting Falcons and 40 F-15SGs. It wants the F-35 to replace the former, starting from around 2030.

The country typically makes its combat aircraft acquisitions in small, incremental batches, so the relatively small order is not much of a surprise. If the option for the additional aircraft is picked up, Singapore will have the numbers to launch a training detachment, likely based in the United States, to train pilots and maintainers.

This is similar to the acquisition structure Singapore adopted for its F-15s and F-16s, with the country currently maintaining a joint U.S. Air Force-Republic of Singapore Air Force training unit for each of those aircraft types in the U.S. made up of personnel from both countries, in Idaho and Arizona respectively.

https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/avalon/2019/03/01/singapore-moves-to-buy-four-f-35s-possibly-eight-more-afterward/

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  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - February 8, 2019

    February 11, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - February 8, 2019

    ARMY Isometrics Inc.,* Reidsville, North Carolina, was awarded an $82,510,281 firm-fixed-price contract for the Modular Fuel System - Tank Rack Module. Bids were solicited via the internet with five received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 6, 2024. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-19-D-0048). Goodwin Brothers Construction, St. Louis, Missouri, was awarded a $33,900,000 firm-fixed-price contract to construct a new water treatment plant for the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, Missouri. Bids were solicited via the internet with four received. Work will be performed in Independence, Missouri, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 22, 2021. Fiscal 2018 other procurement Army funds in the amount of $33,900,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City, Missouri, is the contracting activity (W912DQ-19-C-4002). Booz Allen Hamilton, McLean, Virginia, was awarded a $12,884,834 modification (P00006) to contract W91RUS-18-C-0024 for cybersecurity support services. Work will be performed in Fort Huachuca, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 2, 2029. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance Army funds in the amount of $12,884,834 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Gilbane Federal JV, Concord, California, was awarded a $10,041,983 firm-fixed-price contract for two-phase design build construction of a blood donor center. Bids were solicited via the internet with six received. Work will be performed in Fort Gordon, Georgia, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 21, 2020. Fiscal 2018 military construction funds in the amount of $10,041,983 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah, Georgia, is the contracting activity (W912HN-19-C-3002). NAVY Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded $52,367,561 for modification P00002 to a previously issued cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order (N0001918F0472) placed against basic ordering agreement N00019-14-G-0020. This modification provides for additional ancillary mission equipment for F-35 Lightning II aircraft in support of the Marine Corps, Air Force, Navy, non-U.S. Department of Defense (non-U.S. DoD), participants and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in June 2022. Fiscal 2017 aircraft procurement (Marine Corps, Air Force, and Navy); fiscal 2018 aircraft procurement (Marine Corps); non-U.S. DoD participant; and FMS funding in the amount of $52,367,561 will be obligated at time of award, $35,913,912 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This modification combines purchases for the Marine Corps ($20,791,984; 39 percent); Air Force ($11,338,222; 22 percent); Navy ($5,016,648; 10 percent); non-U.S. DoD participants ($12,112,092; 23 percent), and FMS customers ($3,108,615; 6 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. General Dynamics NASSCO-Bremerton, Bremerton, Washington, is awarded a $34,305,282 modification to previously awarded contract N00024-14-C-4321 to exercise an option for repair and alteration requirements for USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) fiscal 2019 dry-docking planned incremental availability (DPIA). The DPIA is the opportunity in the ship's life cycle to conduct repairs and alterations. The option will authorize the fourth major availability of the contract, and entails modification and repair of ship equipment, hull and systems. Work will be performed in Bremerton, Washington, and is expected to be completed by July 2020. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $34,305,282 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Bremerton, Washington, is the contracting activity. Huntington Ingalls Industries Fleet Support Group LLC (formerly AMSEC LLC), Virginia Beach, Virginia (N4523A-19-D-1301); Gryphon (formerly CDI Marine Co. LLC), Norfolk, Virginia (N4523A-19-D-1302); and Tridentis LLC,* Alexandria, Virginia (N4523A-19-D-1303), are awarded a combined not-to-exceed $40,000,000 shared capacity, multiple-award indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price contract for marine design and engineering services for all current and former U.S. naval vessels, ships, craft and boats in the areas of naval architecture, civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, electronics, industrial and environmental engineering. The work will include planning and estimating, engineering designs and calculations, technical research, troubleshooting and failure mode analysis, assessments and inspections, oversight and technical support of industrial work, training, and detailed reports based on engineering studies and analysis relating to marine vessels and equipment (including, but not limited to cranes, caissons and similar equipment used to support ship repairs, overhaul and dismantling). This requirement also includes computer aided drafting and design drafting and modeling, and technical document preparation, publication and reproduction. Work will be performed in Bremerton, Washington (60 percent); and throughout the world depending on need (40 percent), and is expected to be complete by February 2024. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $15,000 will be obligated at time of award through the issuance of three separate task orders ($5,000 for each company) and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with five offers received. The Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Bremerton, Washington, is the contracting activity. Harper Construction Co., Inc., San Diego, California, is awarded $23,958,623 for firm-fixed-price task order N6247319F4285 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N62473-18-D-5853) for bachelor enlisted quarters (BEQ) repairs at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California. The work to be performed provides for a Design-Build project, consisting of whole barracks renovation and modernization of BEQ Towers D, E, and F. The project also includes repairs for the core building in the complex, which houses administration, utilities, and boilers for the BEQ. Building shell work for Towers D, E and F will repair the roof, provide roof anchors, replace metal panels to match existing building walls, replace all exterior doors, frames, and hardware, replace windows, and repair exterior walls. The task order also contains one unexercised option, which if exercised would increase cumulative task order value to $45,234,567. Work will be performed in Lemoore, California, and is expected to be completed by February 2021. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $23,958,623 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Six proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity. Vigor Marine Inc., Portland, Oregon, is awarded a $17,044,892 firm-fixed-price contract for a 75-calendar day shipyard availability for the regular overhaul and dry docking of USNS Carl Brashear (T-AKE 7). Work will include clean and gas-free tanks, voids, cofferdams and spaces, propulsion motor and cooler, main generator maintenance and cleaning, high voltage switchboard and emergency switchboard cleaning, five-year main engine flex hose replacement, dry-docking and undocking, propeller shaft and stern tube inspect, freshwater (closed loop) stern tube lubrication, underwater hull cleaning and painting, freeboard cleaning and painting, sea valve replacements, renew flight deck nonskid, and reverse osmosis unit sea-chest installation. The contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the total contract value to $19,374,570. Work will be performed in Portland, Oregon, and is expected to be completed by May 15, 2019. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $17,044,892 are obligated at the time of award. Funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with proposals solicited via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with two offers received. The U. S. Navy's Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N3220519C6004). Jacobs Technology Inc., Ridgecrest, California, is awarded $12,328,002 for modification P00060 to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost contract (N68936-15-C-0026). This modification provides for the retrofit of existing test equipment, design and development of new testing equipment and test support for Air Launch Testing and Underwater Testing of a conventional prompt strike weapon. Work will be performed in China Lake, California, and is expected to be completed in August 2019. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $270,000 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 Weapons Division, China Lake, California, is the contracting activity. General Dynamics, Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, is awarded a $10,826,033 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification under a previously awarded contract N00024-14-C-4313 for Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Planning Yard Services. This modification procures waterjet assembly battle spares for the LCS-5 and follow ships (Freedom Class), from Rolls-Royce Marine North America Inc. Work will be performed in Walpole, Massachusetts (98 percent); and Bath, Maine (2 percent), and is expected to be complete by August 2021. Fiscal 2019 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $10,826,033 will be obligated at 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. Donjon Marine Co. Inc., Hillside, New Jersey, is awarded a $10,364,915 cost-plus-award-fee delivery order under previously-awarded contract N00024-18-D-4307 to provide pumping assets (equipment and personnel) to Puerto Rico to assist with pumping operations designated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE). This contract modification is under Zone A Salvage Services Contract. Action is in response to a salvage services request from ACOE to provide pumping assets given hurricane season commencement and anticipated near-term heavy rainfall. Work will be performed in Puerto Rico and is expected to be completed by December 2019. Non-expiring ACOE funding in the amount of $9,528,240 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. Homeland Security Solutions Inc., Hampton, Virginia, is awarded a $10,250,351 firm-fixed-price, six-month contract for program management support, training, human resources services and non-guard security support services. This contract includes three one-year option periods, and one six-month option period which, if exercised, could bring the cumulative value of this contract to $35,291,550. Work will be performed in: Camp Lejeune/New River, North Carolina (11 Percent); Camp Pendleton, California (10 percent); Washington, District of Columbia (9 percent); Cherry Point, North Carolina (8 percent); Miramar, California (8 percent); Quantico, Virginia (8 percent); Camp Smith and Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii (7 percent); Beaufort/Parris Island, South Carolina (6 percent); Yuma, Arizona (5 percent); Barstow, California (5 percent); San Diego, California (5 percent); Albany, Georgia (5 percent); Okinawa, Japan (5 percent); Bridgeport, California (2 percent); Blount Island, Florida (2 percent); New Orleans, Louisiana (2 percent); and Iwakuni, Japan (2 percent). Work is expected to be completed September 2019. If all options are exercised, work will continue through March 2023. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Marine Corps) in the amount of $10,250,351 will be obligated at the time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via solicitation on the Federal Business Opportunities website, with three offers received. The Marine Corps Installations National Capitol Region - Regional Contracting Office, Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting activity for M00264-19-C-0007. Georgia Tech Applied Research Corp., Atlanta, Georgia, is awarded a $9,775,501 cost-plus fixed-fee contract for Low Cost UAS Swarm Technology Distributed Autonomy prototyping, analysis, and support. This contract contains options, which if exercised, will bring the total cumulative value of the contract to $17,441,037. Work will be performed in Atlanta, Georgia, and work is expected to be completed Jan. 31, 2020. If options are exercised, work will continue through Jan. 31, 2022. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $9,061,486 are obligated at the time of award. No funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured under N00014-18-S-B001, a long range broad agency announcement (BAA) for science and technology projects for advancement and improvement of Navy and Marine Corps operations, including expeditionary maneuver warfare and combating terrorism. Since proposals will be received throughout the year under the long range BAA, therefore, the number of proposals received in response to the solicitation is unknown. The Office of Naval Research, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N00014-19-C-2023). MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, Redondo Beach, California, is being awarded a $17,416,113 modification (P00359) to a previously awarded F04701-02-C-0009 contract to exercise an option. The value of this contract is increased from $1,898,989,472 to $1,916,405,585. Under this modification, the contractor will provide on-orbit operations and sustainment for the Space Tracking and Surveillance System. The work will be performed at the Missile Defense Space Center at Colorado Springs, Colorado; and at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems in Redondo Beach, California. The performance period is from April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $7,000,000 is being obligated at time of award. The Missile Defense Agency, Colorado Springs, Colorado, is the contracting activity. AIR FORCE Textron Aviation Defense, Wichita, Kansas, has been awarded a $10,362,128 undefinitized contract modification (P0005) to a previously awarded undefinitized contract action FA8617-17-C-6216, increasing the not-to-exceed price to $135,279,753 for 12 T-6C aircraft, maintenance and pilot training, and interim contractor support for maintenance. Contractor will provide supplies and services to provide for the replacement of current training aircraft fleet and the enhancement of the Argentina air force surveillance and border security mission. Work will be performed in Wichita, Kansas, and is expected to be complete by June 30, 2021. This contract is 100 percent Foreign Military Sales to Argentina. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. *Small Business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1752961/source/GovDelivery/

  • Milley: We’re going to cut instructor-trainee ratios at Army basic training in half

    October 9, 2018 | International, Land

    Milley: We’re going to cut instructor-trainee ratios at Army basic training in half

    By: Meghann Myers So far, 2018 has seen an overhaul of basic combat training and a pilot programto extend infantry one-station unit training from 14 to 22 weeks. Next stop: Reducing the number of trainees assigned to each drill sergeant. Earlier this year, the Army sent drill sergeants back to advanced individual training, bringing uniformity to the whole of initial entry training for new soldiers who move onto a second training program following basic. But the ratio of trainers to trainees is still “way too high,” Army Chief of Staff Mark Milley told Army Times on Monday at the AUSA annual meeting in Washington, D.C. “And that's because we intentionally, over the last 17 years, we trimmed our institutional force ... in order to feed the fight in Iraq and Afghanistan and make sure that those deploying units had enough people,” he said. So that left the base with 20 trainees for every one drill sergeant at basic combat training, and 40-to-1 at AIT. “We want to essentially cut those ratios in half,” Milley said, while adding a platoon sergeant and officer platoon leader to each of those units. The Army is counting on a steady rise in end strength to 500,000 active component soldiers in the next four years. Those new additions are slated first to fill spots in operational units, but the training base is also hurting for more of the unprecedented number of noncommissioned officers who have been re-enlisting. Decreasing the ratio of drill sergeants to trainees comes at a time when basic training programs are extending, requiring yet more instructors. The Army wants to improve basic combat training “not just in the length, but in the quality and attention paid to each trainee,” Milley said. Infantry OSUT completed a pilot program to extend from 14 to 22 weeks this summer, Army Secretary Mark Esper told Army Times, and that plan will extend in the next year to armor, combat engineers and others. “If we step back and ask ourselves, why? Why extend it?” Esper said. “I think it's lessons learned from the field, the operational Army that says, ‘Look, we're getting solders who could use more time to develop their physical fitness.' Maybe spend more time talking about the military traditions and our history, that [they] would come to the service with a greater sense of discipline.” Some more tactical and technical expertise wouldn't hurt, he added. “We thought adding two months would be what it takes,” for OSUT, Esper said, making it the “Longest and most challenging infantry basic training the world. Depending on what we learn ... we would seek to apply those lessons to other MOSs.” https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/10/08/milley-were-going-to-cut-instructor-trainee-ratios-at-army-basic-training-in-half

  • Grandoreiro Banking Trojan Resurfaces, Targeting Over 1,500 Banks Worldwide

    May 19, 2024 | International, Security

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