November 26, 2024 | International, Aerospace
US Navy Awards L3Harris Nearly $1 Billion IDIQ Contract
Over the next five years, L3Harris will deliver its Multifunctional Information Distribution System Joint Tactical Radio System Terminals.
July 16, 2020 | International, Aerospace
UK orders first three Protector drones from General Atomics
By: Andrew Chuter
LONDON – Britain's Ministry of Defence has signed a deal with General Atomics for the first three Protector remotely piloted air vehicles destined to equip the Royal Air Force with a replacement for its Reaper drone force.
A £65 million (U.S. $80 million) contract for three Protectors, the British version of the MQ-9B SkyGuardian was announced by Defence Secretary Ben Wallace during a virtual air power conference held by the RAF July 15.
Protector will fly further, hit harder and, crucially, be able to fly in unsegregated civilian airspace compared with the Reaper vehicles widely used by the British in Afghanistan and the Middle East over the last several years.
Three ground stations and other associated support equipment are also included in an initial deal that will see the first vehicle delivered to the British next year.
The initial vehicle will remain in the United States for test and evaluation until 2023, ahead of deploying to its UK base at RAF Waddington, eastern England.
Able to fly for up to 40 hours Protector is expected to enter service in 2024.
The aircraft will be armed with MBDA's Brimstone missile and Raytheon UK's Paveway IV precision-guided bomb, enhanced data links and detect-and-avoid technology.
The deal for Protector production includes an option on a further purchase of 13 drones.
A contract firming up the options is planned for April next year.
An MoD spokesperson denied that breaking up the order into two parts was related to balancing the over-stretched budget for this year.
The cost of purchasing the remaining drones is put at around £180 million, or $230 million.
The MoD spokesperson said consideration is also being given to an additional acquisition of drones over and above the 16 vehicles already envisaged.
A total force of more than 20 Protectors was envisaged in the Conservative government's 2015 strategic defence and security review.
Now, the final numbers will likely be subject to the outcome of an integrated defense, foreign policy and security review now underway by the Conservatives.
Many people here think the already cash-strapped MoD will be a post-Covid-19 target for capability cuts as the government shifts its emphasis on defense equipment spending away from more conventional technologies into areas like space, cyber and artificial intelligence.
Protector has already been a victim of MoD financial pressures.
Sir Simon Bollom, the CEO of the Defence Equipment and Support arm of the MoD, alluded to the difficulties saying in an MoD statement his organization had "overcome considerable challenges" to keep the program on track.
The vehicle was originally slated to enter service with the RAF in 2018 but that was then put back until 2021 before the new date was agreed.
In announcing the deal defence secretary Ben Wallace said, „Protector will provide the RAF with vast global reach, meeting the UK's defense and security needs for decades to come, and provide another increase to the unmanned inventory for the armed forces.“
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January 8, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - January 7, 2019
NAVY General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Co., (NASSCO)-Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia, is awarded a $91,477,172 undefinitized contract action as a modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-16-C-4306) for USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) fiscal 2019 Dry-docking Planned Incremental Availability. A Dry-docking Planned Incremental Availability includes the planning and execution of depot-level maintenance, alterations, and modifications that will update and improve the ship's military and technical capabilities. Work will be performed in Portsmouth, Virginia, and is expected to be complete by February 2021. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $45,738,586 will be obligated at time of award and $45,738,586 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center, Norfolk, Virginia, is the administrative contracting activity. Clark Nexsen Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia, is awarded a maximum amount $60,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity architect-engineering contract for multi-discipline architect-engineering services in Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Mid-Atlantic area of responsibility (AOR). The work to be performed provides for comprehensive architect-engineering services required for planning, design, and construction services in support of new construction, repair, replacement, demolition, alteration, and/or improvement of Navy and other governmental facilities. Facilities may include, but are not limited, personnel housing facilities, (bachelor enlisted quarters and bachelor officers quarters, hospitality); office facilities (medical, training, secure facilities); training facilities (operational, maintenance, and classroom), and industrial maintenance facilities (vehicle maintenance ships, shore intermediate maintenance activities, aircraft maintenance hangars, public works ships, and warehouses). Projects may involve single or multiple disciplines, including, but not limited to, architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical, civil, landscape design, fire protection, commissioning and interior design. Task Order 0001 is being awarded at $528,950 for preliminary design authority to validate planning requirements and develop preliminary design deliverables in support of P1035, corrosion control and paint facility. Work for this task order is expected to be completed by March 2019. All work on this contract will be performed at various Navy and Marine Corps facilities and other government facilities within the NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic AOR including, but not limited to Norfolk, Virginia (27 percent); Portsmouth, Virginia (27 percent); Virginia Beach, Virginia (26 percent); Yorktown, Virginia (15 percent), and other facilities within the NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic AOR (5 percent). The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months with an expected completion date January 2024. Fiscal 2019 military construction (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $528,950 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by military construction (Navy); and operations and maintenance (Navy). This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with 12 proposals received. Naval Facilities Engineering Command Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N40085-19-D-9041). L-3 Technologies Inc., Salt Lake City, Utah, is awarded $12,556,242 for modification P00006 to a previously awarded, firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00019-18-C-1030) to manufacture, test, deliver, manage, and support the common data link Hawklink AN/SRQ-4 systems for the MH-60R aircraft. Work will be performed in Salt Lake City, Utah (60 percent); Atlanta, Georgia (14 percent); Mountain View, California (6 percent); Exeter, New Hampshire (2 percent); Derby, Kansas (1 percent); El Cajon, California (1 percent); Boise, Idaho (1 percent); Dover, New Hampshire (1 percent); Sunnyvale, California (1 percent); York Haven, Pennsylvania (1 percent); Bohemia, New York (1 percent); Oxnard, California (1 percent); Littleton, Massachusetts (1 percent); Providence, Rhode Island (1 percent); Cedar Park, Texas (1 percent); Minnetonka, Minnesota (1 percent); Phoenix, Arizona (1 percent); Stow, Massachusetts (1 percent); Salinas, California (1 percent); Fort Worth, Texas (1 percent); Skokie, Illinois (1 percent); and Toronto, Canada (1 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2020. Fiscal 2019 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $12,556,242 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Southeastern Kentucky Rehabilitation Industries Inc., Corbin, Kentucky, has been awarded a maximum $7,229,250 modification (P00016) exercising the fourth one-year option of a one-year base contract (SPE1C1-15-D-N006) with four one-year option periods for various types of caps. This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Location of performance is Kentucky, with a Jan. 9, 2020, performance completion date. Using military services are Army and Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1725637/source/GovDelivery/
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November 20, 2018 | International, Aerospace
MOD awards £160m contract to prepare RAF Lakenheath for US F-35s
The MOD has awarded a contract worth £160m to Kier VolkerFitzpatrick to deliver infrastructure to ready RAF Lakenheath for two squadrons of US F-35s. The Suffolk airbase will be the first permanent international site for US Air Force F-35s in Europe and continues the base's long and proud history of supporting US Air Force capability in the UK. Co-locating US and UK F-35 capability in the UK will help strengthen the historic military ties between the two nations as well as the partnership between the RAF and US Air Forces The contract awarded to Kier VolkerFitzpatrick includes the construction of a flight simulator facility, a maintenance unit, new hangars and storage facilities. The flight simulator will have the capacity to link to other simulators used pilots across the UK and beyond, allowing expertise to be shared and pilots from the UK and US to train together on a regular basis. At the height of construction, it is expected that there will be up to 700 contractors on site. The investment will also provide wider benefits to the local economy with over 1,000 personnel and family members living at the base. MOD is also working closely with Forest Heath District Council and Kier VolkerFitzpatrick to ensure that the opportunities to create employment and training are maximised to ensure they last beyond the end of construction. A ceremony, attended by representatives from the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, US Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa (USAFE- AFAFRICA), Air Force Civil Engineer Center (AFCEC), Kier VolkerFitzpatrick and Forest Heath District Council, was held at the base to celebrate the award of the contract. Minister for Defence People and Veterans, Tobias Ellwood, said: For more than one hundred years now our armed forces have fought in defence of our common values and interests. Our two countries have developed the deepest, broadest and most advanced relationship of any two nations. Today marks another step towards reinforcing the strong partnership between our two nations and an exciting milestone for RAF Lakenheath. This investment will see substantial benefits to local economy, bringing 1,000 new personnel with their families and we will work hard to ensure that the benefits will last long after construction ends. USAF 48th Fighter Wing Commander, Colonel Will Marshall, said: This is an exciting milestone for the 48th Fighter Wing and for all our partners. We're transforming RAF Lakenheath together, and the work we do today is critical to the future security of the United States, the United Kingdom and the NATO Alliance. DIO Commercial Director, Jacqui Rock, said: We welcome this investment into RAF Lakenheath. This is an incredible opportunity for UK Defence and for the local area and DIO is pleased to be able to support the development of this key infrastructure which will make the beddown of the US F-35s possible. Managing director of aviation and defence at Kier, James Hindes, said: We're extremely proud to have been appointed to deliver another prestigious defence project for DIO. It builds on our extensive expertise in the defence sector delivering first-class projects within secure environments including facilities at MoD Lyneham and RAF Shawbury. We look forward to working closely with the DIO and our local supply chain to provide this crucial infrastructure and deliver this exciting opportunity ready for the arrival of the two permanent squadrons. Managing director of VolkerFitzpatrick's Civils division, Chris Evans, said: We are delighted to have been awarded this highly significant project with DIO. VolkerFitzpatrick has been working with the United States Air Force at RAF Lakenheath for over ten years and we look forward to bringing the knowledge we have gained to this new contract. The project will allow us to build on our substantial experience within the civil airports and defence sector, to deliver the highest quality infrastructure for the new F-35 Fighter Jet. The contract has been designed so that the enabling work can begin immediately on the award. Building work is programmed to start in the summer next year so that the base can welcome the first of the new aircraft in 2021. The contract award is the first in a wider programme of work to support US Air Force operations in the UK, with more than US$1bn expected to be in invested in the UK over the next seven to ten years. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/mod-awards-160m-contract-to-prepare-raf-lakenheath-for-us-f-35s