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September 28, 2020 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR

SpaceX handed loss in challenge over Air Force contract

Joey Roulette

(Reuters) - A federal judge plans to deny SpaceX's challenge to U.S. Air Force contracts awarded to its rivals, writing in a Thursday court filing that the Pentagon properly assessed the development of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's Starship rocket system as “too risky and expensive.”

Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp in its year-long lawsuit had accused the Air Force of unfairly awarding development contracts to Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and other competitors for new rocket systems in 2018.

But in a ruling that was briefly posted online by the court before being sealed, the judge found no wrongdoing by the Air Force in denying the company funds to help develop Starship, a reusable rocket system that Musk envisions will send satellites to orbit and one day ferry humans to the moon and Mars.

Judge Otis D. Wright II gave the parties a week-long window to change his mind before entering judgment.

https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN26G2MA

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  • The U.S. Department of Defense selects BAE Systems to help develop and deliver next generation mission technologies

    October 3, 2018 | International, C4ISR

    The U.S. Department of Defense selects BAE Systems to help develop and deliver next generation mission technologies

    The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has selected BAE Systems to compete for future research and development (R&D) task orders awarded under a nine-year, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract. The contract provides fast, flexible, low-cost solutions across technical disciplines to meet the current and future technology needs of the U.S. military. “This large-scale contract provides us with a tremendous opportunity to reach across BAE Systems and leverage our own internal research and development investments to help the DoD solve its most difficult mission challenges,” said Al Whitmore, president of BAE Systems' Intelligence & Security sector. “We are excited to help the government leverage innovations in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and directed energy technologies to enhance the security and effectiveness of our warfighters across physical and digital domains.” BAE Systems is one of 15 companies selected by the Defense Technical Information Center to compete for future R&D and support task orders expected to exceed $15 million. These task orders will be awarded by the Air Force Installation Contract Agency/KD Offutt AFB, Nebraska and support the DoD Information Analysis Center Program Management Office. The ceiling value for all future work awarded under the IDIQ is $28 billion. BAE Systems delivers a broad range of solutions and services enabling militaries and governments to successfully carryout their missions. The company provides large-scale systems engineering, integration, and sustainment services across air, land, sea, space, and cyber domains. BAE Systems takes pride in its support of national security and those who serve. https://www.baesystems.com/en/article/the-u-s--department-of-defense-selects-bae-systems-to-help-develop-and-deliver-next-generation-mission-technologies

  • Armée française : une remontée en puissance entamée, mais « à mi-chemin »

    March 18, 2022 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

    Armée française : une remontée en puissance entamée, mais « à mi-chemin »

    Après cinq ans de hausse des crédits budgétaires, l'armée française est mieux équipée et mieux entraînée en 2022 qu'en 2017. Dans sa 4ème année d'exécution, le budget des armées atteint 40,9 Md€ au lieu de 32,3 Md€ en 2017. Les augmentations promises ont été votées avec des marches successives d'1,7 Md€ par an ; la loi de programmation militaire (LPM) votée en 2018 pour la période 2019-2025 est ainsi respectée « à l'euro près » d'après la ministre des Armées, Florence Parly. En 2022, les soldats sont aussi mieux équipés. L'armée de l'Air a reçu de nouveaux ravitailleurs, qui permettent aux avions de chasse d'être projetés à l'autre bout du monde rapidement. L'industrie de défense a aussi profité des programmes de modernisation : entre 2017 et 2022, elle a créé 30 000 emplois, relancé l'innovation et atteint des records sans précédents dans les campagnes d'exportation. La LPM prévoit de réaliser un effort encore plus intense entre 2023 et 2025 pour atteindre quelque 50 Md€ de budget, afin de préparer l'avenir. Ni l'Europe ni la France n'ont encore de systèmes d'alerte avancés antimissiles, de moyens de détecter l'ensemble des débris et objets spatiaux, ni de cloud souverain solide pour protéger leurs données en cas de cyberattaque. « La LPM a permis une remontée en puissance mais nous ne sommes qu'à mi-chemin », confirme-t-on au ministère des Armées. Les Echos du 15 mars

  • GOP’s ‘targeted’ stimulus doesn’t include defense dollars

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

    GOP’s ‘targeted’ stimulus doesn’t include defense dollars

    By: Joe Gould WASHINGTON ― Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday introduced and set up a floor vote for a leaner Republican coronavirus relief bill, but it does not contain the billions of dollars the defense industry has sought to diffuse the economic impact of the pandemic. The bill, which includes some of the elements of the $1 trillion package the GOP proposed in July, is intended to break a weekslong partisan stalemate. However, it has a slim chance of passage in the face of Democrats' insistence for more sweeping aid. “The Senate Republican majority is introducing a new targeted proposal, focused on some of the very most urgent health-care, education and economic issues. It does not contain every idea our party likes,” McConnell said in a statement. “I will be moving immediately today to set up a floor vote as soon as this week.” It wasn't immediately clear what the differences, if any, were to an earlier version that Senate Republicans floated last month. Both draft bills excluded the $29 billion for defense that the GOP included in its previous $1 trillion package. The $1 trillion proposal from July contained $11 billion to reimburse defense contractors for coronavirus-related expenses, as authorized by Section 3610 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. which expires Sept. 30. Defense firms and trade associations have lobbied for an extension of Section 3610 as well as the funding, fearing the Pentagon would otherwise have to tap modernization and readiness accounts. The move comes as lawmakers straggle back to Washington for an abbreviated preelection session, as hopes are dimming for another coronavirus relief bill — or much else. Passage of an extension for Section 3610 and any funding may have a better chance if lawmakers can attach it to and pass a stopgap continuing resolution before Sept. 30, when the fiscal year ends and 2020 appropriations run out. However, defense industry observers were pessimistic on Tuesday. “I don't see any of the COVID package procurement money making it into the CR, and the CR is a high hurdle in any event,” a defense industry source told Defense News. “This Senate bill is a ‘press release' bill and not a piece of legislation that has a chance of passing into law.” Several Republican senators in tough reelection bids are eager to show constituents they are working to ease the pandemic's strain on jobs, businesses and health care. But many Senate Republicans are resisting more spending. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told reporters Tuesday that the GOP conference would discuss the legislation during a meeting on Wednesday. McConnell's move Tuesday would clear the way for a Thursday test vote in which the $500 billion, scaled-back bill — roughly half the size of a measure McConnell unveiled earlier this summer — is sure to be blocked by Democrats. McConnell's bill would provide more than $100 billion to help schools reopen, enact a shield against lawsuits for businesses and others that are powering ahead to reopen, create a scaled-back supplemental jobless benefit of $300-per-week, and write off $10 billion in earlier post office debt. (The National Defense Industrial Association is among groups that have called for a liability shield.) But the bill won't contain another round of $1,200 direct payments going out under President Donald Trump's name. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., continues to demand $2.2 trillion, and while Trump's negotiators have signaled a willingness to inch further in her direction, a significant gap remains. Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., rapped McConnell in a statement Tuesday for resisting earlier calls to work on an economic stimulus bill. They called the most recent bill “political” and a nonstarter with Democrats. “As they scramble to make up for this historic mistake, Senate Republicans appear dead-set on another bill which doesn't come close to addressing the problems and is headed nowhere,” Pelosi and Schumer said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2020/09/08/will-gops-targeted-stimulus-include-defense-dollars/

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