UK reveals Pyramid programme to rapidly reconfigure software across multiple aircraft types

On the same subject

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  March 16, 2020 | International, C4ISR

  The Pentagon wants to ‘reconsider’ its JEDI award decision

  By Andrew Eversden The Department of Defense requested 120 days to “reconsider certain aspects” of its decision to award its controversial enterprise contract to Microsoft. The request from the DoD in a March 12 court filing comes after Court of Federal Claims Judge Patricia Campbell-Smith issued a temporary restraining order directing the Pentagon to stop all work on its Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud contract, after AWS alleged that the DoD made mistakes in its source selection process. The court granted Amazon's request for an injunction Feb. 13. While Amazon challenged both the technical evaluation and political interference, the court's decision to impose the injunction rested on AWS' technical challenges to the DoD selection, which included issues with how the Pentagon considered data storage capabilities. “DoD wishes to reconsider its evaluation of the technical aspects of Price Scenario 6, and intends to issue a solicitation amendment and to accept limited proposal revisions addressing the offerors' technical approach to that price scenario,” Defense Department lawyers wrote in the document. In the court filing, the DoD also said it wants to reconsider its evaluation of Microsoft and AWS' online marketplace offerings and “may conduct” clarifications with the two tech giants. The DoD will reconsider other technical challenges presented by AWS, but “does not intend to conduct discussions with offerors or to accept proposal revisions with respect to any aspect of the solicitation,” other than price scenario six of the RFP, which deals with storage capabilities. In a statement, Microsoft spokesperson Frank Shaw said the DoD made the “correct decision.” “However, we support their decision to reconsider a small number of factors as it is likely the fastest way to resolve all issues and quickly provide the needed modern technology to people across our armed forces. Throughout this process, we've focused on listening to the needs of the DoD, delivering the best product, and making sure nothing we did delayed the procurement process. We are not going to change this approach now," Shaw said. “Over two years the DoD reviewed dozens of factors and sub factors and found Microsoft equal or superior to AWS on every factor. We remain confident that Microsoft's proposal was technologically superior, continues to offer the best value, and is the right choice for the DoD.” The JEDI cloud contract is potentially worth $10 billion over 10 years. This court filing is another significant setback for the DoD, even after the continuous challenges the contract has faced for about two years. Earlier in the court battle, Amazon sought to depose President Donald Trump, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, DoD CIO Dana Deasy and several other DoD officials involved in the in the final decision. An Amazon spokesperson said the company was “pleased” with the decision. "We are pleased that the DoD has acknowledged ‘substantial and legitimate' issues that affected the JEDI award decision, and that corrective action is necessary,” a spokesperson said. "We look forward to complete, fair, and effective corrective action that fully insulates the re-evaluation from political influence and corrects the many issues affecting the initial flawed award.” https://www.federaltimes.com/it-networks/cloud/2020/03/13/the-pentagon-was-to-reconsider-its-jedi-award/

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  October 29, 2024 | International, Aerospace

  US Space Force moves to make its systems battle-ready by 2026

  The service has set a goal to ensure that four high-priority, classified systems are fully integrated into its C2 architecture.

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  June 11, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Lord: Defense Contractors Need Billions In COVID-19 Relief

  The Pentagon is likely to seek double-digit billions of dollars to reimburse defense contractors that were authorized to seek the money by the CARES Act to preserve their workforce during the COVID-19 crisis, the Pentagon's top procurement officer told lawmakers June 10. The problem is that while the section of the $2 trillion COVID-19 relief bill allows contractors to seek that reimbursement, the bill did not provide any related funding. For just one prime contractor, the estimated costs to keep its workforce in a steady state throughout the crisis exceeds $1 billion, Ellen Lord, the under secretary of acquisition, logistics and technology, said during a House Armed Services Committee hearing. Without additional funding, Lord warns that the Pentagon will “eat into readiness and modernization and slow down readiness and modernization on an ongoing basis.” Aviation and aviation propulsion are two of the hardest-hit areas of the defense industrial base, because of the implosion of the civil aviation industry, she said. Satellite launches also have been hit, given their dependence on the commercial industry, Lord said. Lawmakers were looking for details about how much would be needed for defense contractors, as they anticipate a new COVID-19 spending bill will move through Congress at the end of July. According to Lord, there have been 960 closures and 859 reopenings due to COVID-19. The average closure is about 57 days. But contractors will be specifically requesting reimbursement for issues that affected their employees. So far, contractors are holding back from seeking claims because they are aware that no appropriation exists yet. The Pentagon's internal acquisition group has been tracking data from prime contractors; subcontractors, though, may not be sharing all of their issues to avoid revealing proprietary data, she said, while pledging to provide specific guidance on allowable costs within 30 days. “The defense industrial base is the nexus of economic and national security and it's vitally important to make sure it stays as healthy as possible,” she said. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/budget-policy-operations/lord-defense-contractors-need-billions-covid-19-relief