July 24, 2024 | International, C4ISR, Security
Microsoft Defender Flaw Exploited to Deliver ACR, Lumma, and Meduza Stealers
Microsoft patches Defender flaw exploited to deliver info stealers ACR, Lumma, Meduza in global campaign
June 23, 2020 | International, Naval
The US Navy and Marine Corps should acquire Army watercraft
By: Capt. Walker D. Mills and Lt. Joseph Hanacek
The Navy intends to acquire up to 30 new light amphibious warships, or LAW, to support new Marine Corps requirements. The vessels are needed to meet the challenges of “evolving threats in the global maritime environment,” according to the Navy program office, and are tied to the new operational concepts of Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations and Distributed Maritime Operations as well as the Marine Corps' Force Design 2030 effort. Once complete, the acquisition will have almost doubled the number of L-class amphibious ships already in naval service. Rather than accepting a new amphibious design built from the ground up, however, decision-makers should take advantage of the fact that many key requirements of the new vessels are very similar to the capabilities of vessels operated by U.S. Army Transportation Command.
The Navy and Marine Corps should delay any new construction and immediately acquire some of these existing vessels to drive experimentation and better inform their requirements for the LAW program.
The key requirements of the future LAW include having 8,000 square feet of cargo space, a range of 3,500 miles, a speed of up to 14 knots, accommodation for a crew of up to 40 Navy personnel and 75 embarked Marines, and up to 200 feet in length. The vessel also needs to have a roll-on/roll-off capability, preferably with a stern ramp.
U.S. Army Transportation Command has over 100 vessels, and dozens have similar capabilities to those required of the LAW. The Army's LCU-2000s, also called the Runnymede-class large landing crafts, are smaller, with roughly half of the cargo space designed for the LAW and slightly slower, but they boast nearly double the range. The Runnymede-class vessels have nearly 4,000 square feet of cargo space and can travel 6,500 miles when loaded and at 12 knots; and they can unload at the beach with their bow ramp.
The Army's General Frank S. Besson-class logistics support vessels are larger than the future LAW, at 273 feet in length but can claim 10,500 square feet of cargo space and a 6,500-mile range loaded to match the LCU-2000. These vessels also have both a bow and stern ramp for roll-on/roll-off capability at the beach or ship-to-ship docking at sea. The version built for the Phillipine military also has a helipad.
Army Transportation Command has 32 Runnymede-class and eight General Frank S. Besson-class vessels in service. Mostly built in the 1990s, both classes of vessel have many years left in their life expectancy and more than meet the Navy's 10-year life expectancy for the LAW.
These vessels are operable today and could be transferred from the Army to the Navy or Marine Corps tomorrow. In fact, the Army was attempting to divest itself of these watercraft less than a year ago, which underscores the importance of this opportunity even further. Congress is firmly set against the Army getting rid of valuable, seaworthy vessels and has quashed all of the Army's efforts to do so thus far, but transferring this equipment to the Navy is a reasonable course of action that should satisfy all parties involved.
While acquiring “surplus” military equipment might lack the allure and promise of designing a new ship class from the ground up, the reality of the situation is that this overlapping of service needs couldn't come at a better time. By acquiring a watercraft that meets most of their requirements from the Army, the Navy and Marine Corps simultaneously fill current capability gaps and obtain an invaluable series of assets they can use to support the evaluation and experimentation of new designs and concepts. This will allow Navy and Marine leaders to give their units the maximum amount of time to evaluate and experiment with new designs to get a better idea of what they need both in future amphibious craft as well as operational and support equipment.
The significance of so rapidly acquiring the Army's amphibious craft isn't just limited to developing a better amphibious force either. There is a very real capability gap that exists in the fleet today in the areas of surplus seagoing capacity, and acquiring these Army watercraft would go an extremely long way toward addressing it. Often overlooked, the availability of surplus vessels is absolutely critical to the process of developing new technologies, developing the tactics to employ them, conducting training, and providing decision-makers the requisite capacity to remain flexible in the face of unexpected challenges.
The Navy and Marine Corps today are hurtling toward a new future of distributed operations and unprecedented levels of integration in the littorals. The Marine Corps commandant has clearly specified that force design is his No. 1 priority and that significant changes to the Marine Corps are in the works.
At the same time, the Navy and Marine Corps continue to serve as the first responders for many of the nation's emerging challenges around the globe. They've long been in need of a boost in their amphibious capabilities so as to be better positioned to meet the demands of today and prepare for the challenges of tomorrow, and taking possession of the Army's Runnymede- and Frank S. Benson-class vessels is a solution on a silver platter.
Capt. Walker D. Mills is a U.S. Marine Corps infantry officer serving in Cartagena, Colombia. Lt. Joseph Hanacek is a U.S. Navy surface warfare officer based in Dam Neck, Virginia. The views expressed here are theirs alone and do not necessarily represent the views of these military branches or the Defense Department.
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November 30, 2018 | International, C4ISR
Squad X Improves Situational Awareness, Coordination for Dismounted Units
The first test of DARPA's Squad X Experimentation program successfully demonstrated the ability to extend and enhance the situational awareness of small, dismounted units. In a weeklong test series at Twentynine Palms, California, U.S. Marine squads improved their ability to synchronize maneuvers, employing autonomous air and ground vehicles to detect threats from multiple domains – physical, electromagnetic, and cyber – providing critical intelligence as the squad moved through scenarios. Squad X provides Army and Marine dismounted units with autonomous systems equipped with off-the-shelf technologies and novel sensing tools developed via DARPA's Squad X Core Technologies program. The technologies aim to increase squads' situational awareness and lethality, allowing enemy engagement with greater tempo and from longer ranges. The Squad X program manager in DARPA's Tactical Technology Office, Lt. Col. Phil Root (U.S. Army), said Experiment 1 demonstrated the ability for the squad to communicate and collaborate, even while “dancing on the edge of connectivity.” The squad members involved in the test runs praised the streamlined tools, which allowed them to take advantage of capabilities that previously had been too heavy or cumbersome for individual Soldiers and Marines to use in demanding field conditions. “Each run, they learned a bit more on the systems and how they could support the operation,” said Root, who is also program manager for Squad X Core Technologies. “By the end, they were using the unmanned ground and aerial systems to maximize the squad's combat power and allow a squad to complete a mission that normally would take a platoon to execute.” Two performers, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control and CACI's BIT Systems, each are working on different approaches to provide unique capabilities to enhance ground infantries. Manned-unmanned teaming is critical to both companies' solutions. Marines testing Lockheed Martin's Augmented Spectral Situational Awareness, and Unaided Localization for Transformative Squads (ASSAULTS) system used autonomous robots with sensor systems to detect enemy locations, allowing the Marines to engage and target the enemy with a precision 40mm grenade before the enemy could detect their movement. Small units using CACI's BITS Electronic Attack Module (BEAM) were able to detect, locate, and attack specific threats in the radio frequency and cyber domains. Experiment 2 is currently targeted for early 2019. https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2018-11-30a
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October 15, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - October 12, 2018
DEFENSE INFORMATION SYSTEMS AGENCY Iridium Satellite LLC, Tempe, Arizona, was awarded a non-competitive, firm-fixed-price $44,000,000 contract modification (P00008) for the extension of services on the current airtime contract (HC104714C4000) in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.217-8. Fiscal 2019 defense working capital funds will be used. Performance will be at the contractor's facility. The period of performance for the option period is Oct. 22, 2018, through April 21, 2019. The Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization, Scott AFB, Illinois, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Creighton AB Inc., Reidsville, North Carolina, has been awarded a maximum $35,000,000 fixed-price contract for Air Force lightweight jackets. This was a competitive acquisition with two responses received. This is a one-year base contract with four one-year option periods. Maximum dollar amount is for the life of the contract. Locations of performance are New York and North Carolina, with an Oct. 11, 2023, performance completion date. Using military service is Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2024 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE1C1-19-D-1104). Simmonds Precision Products Inc., Vergennes, Vermont, has been awarded an $11,024,500 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for electro-me actuators. This is a five-year base contract with four one-year option periods. This was a competitive acquisition with two responses received. Location of performance is Vermont, with an Oct. 15, 2023, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (SPRRA1-19-D-0004). Transaero Inc., Melville, New York, has been awarded a $9,500,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for assembly clutches. This is a five-year base contract with four one-year options periods. This was a competitive acquisition with two responses received. Location of performance is New York, with a Nov. 30, 2023, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (SPRRA1-19-D-0002). ARMY Medvolt LLC,* Colorado Springs, Colorado, was awarded a $19,978,985 firm-fixed-price contract for upgrading the chilled water line system at the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, Colorado, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 15, 2020. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $19,978,985 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha, Nebraska, is the contracting activity (W9128F-19-C-0001). AIR FORCE Rockwell Collins, Richardson, Texas, has been awarded a $12,010,975 definitization (P000013) to previously undefinitized contract FA8204-18-C-0010 (P00005) to implement Security Classification Guide changes. Work will be performed at Richardson, Texas, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 3, 2020. Fiscal 2018, research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $818,227 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Nuclear Weapon Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity. NAVY Complete Parachute Solutions, Deland, Florida, is awarded a $9,270,000 modification under previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (M00264-18-C-0007) for the Multi-Mission Parachute Course. The Multi-Mission Parachute Course provides training and technical support for all Military Free-Fall training to ensure compliance with all Federal Aviation Administration Regulations and Marine Corps Orders to safely meet the Marine Corps Training Input requirements. This contract includes four one-year option periods which, if exercised, could bring the cumulative value of this contract to $42,763,854. Work will be performed in Coolidge, Arizona, and is expected to be completed Sept. 27, 2019. If all options are exercised, work will continue through Sept. 27, 2022. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $9,270,000 will be obligated at the time of contract modification award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The original contract was competitively solicited and competitively procured via solicitation on the Federal Business Opportunity website, with one proposal received. The Marine Corps Installation National Capital Region-Regional Contracting Office, Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting activity. FlightSafety Services Corp., Centennial, Colorado, is awarded an $8,354,866 modification (P00004) under a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N6134018C0019) for aircrew training services in support of the TH-57B/C community, including instruction, operation, and curriculum support. Work will be performed at the Naval Air Station, Whiting Field, Florida, and is expected to be completed in October 2019. No funds are being obligated at time of award. The Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity. Huntington Ingalls Inc., Newport News, Virginia, is awarded a $7,031,737 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-17-C-2103) to exercise an option for the accomplishment of planning and design yard functions for standard Navy valves of nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by September 2019. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $600,000 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. *Small Business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1660999/source/GovDelivery/