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  August 9, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

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

  AIR FORCE Atlantic Diving Supply Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia (FA8606-19-D-0029); Nightline Inc., Mountain City, Tennessee (FA8606-19-D-0036); Tactical & Survival Specialties Inc., Harrisonburg, Virginia (FA8606-19-D-0039); Federal Resources, Stevensville, Maryland (FA8606-19-D-0032); Sera Star LLC, Carrollton, Texas (FA8606-19-D-0038); Hurricane Aerospace Solutions, Pompano Beach, Florida (FA8606-19-D-0033); Baker and Associates Inc., Centerville, Ohio (FA8606-19-D-0030); Mountain Horse Solutions, Colorado Springs, Colorado (FA8606-19-D-0035); Rapid Response Defense Systems Inc., Irvine, California (FA8606-19-D-0037); Capewell Aerial Systems LLC, Meadows of Dan, Virginia (FA8606-19-D-0031); and Life Support International Inc., Langhorne, Pennsylvania (FA8606-19-D-0034), have been awarded a contract with a ceiling of $950,000,000 multiple award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for commercial aircrew items. This contract is a commercial item contract vehicle, designed to rapidly equip aircrew with non-stock listed, commercial items including: uniforms, cold weather clothing systems, visual augmentation equipment, personal protective equipment, helmets, body armor, tactical carriers, individual equipment, lighting, survival equipment, air crew support equipment, communication equipment, tactical equipment, load bearing equipment, lethality support items, boots, gloves, eye protection, egress equipment, aerial insertion equipment, search & rescue equipment, personnel recovery equipment, medical equipment, power management, hydration, electronics test equipment, ancillary services and testing. Work will be performed, as indicated, by contractor in the list above and is expected to be completed by Aug. 8, 2029. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and 12 offers were received. Fiscal 2018 and other procurement funds in the amount of $11,000 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. BAE Systems Technology Solutions & Services Inc., Rockville, Maryland, has been awarded a $369,000,000 ceiling increase modification (P00013) to previously awarded contract FA2521-16-D-0010 for serviceable components and subsystems for instrumentation tracking systems world-wide for both foreign and domestic government agencies to include radars, telemetry and optical instrumentation tracking systems. This increase is to support range instrumentation sustainment and obsolescence management requirements. Work will be completed at the program's 28 worldwide participating ranges and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2020. Fiscal 2019 operational and maintenance funds will be used, and no funds are being obligated at the time of award. The 45th Contracting Squadron, Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity. ARMY JE Dunn, Kansas City, Missouri, was awarded a $295,974,160 firm-fixed-price contract for design-build construction to replace the hospital at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Bids were solicited via the internet with four received. Work will be performed in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 31, 2023. Fiscal 2018 military construction funds in the amount of $79,235,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City, Missouri, is the contracting activity (W912DQ-19-C-4011). HydroGeoLogic Inc.,* Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $95,000,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for hazardous, toxic and radioactive waste remediation activities at the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program St. Louis sites. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 7, 2025. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis, Missouri, is the contracting activity (W912P9-19-D-0011). Massman Construction, Leawood, Kansas, was awarded an $8,414,000 firm-fixed-price contract for lock and dam gate anchorage. Bids were solicited via the internet with five received. Work will be performed in Clarksville, Missouri, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 7, 2020. Fiscal 2010 civil operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $8,414,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis, Missouri, is the contracting activity (W912P9-19-C-0009). U.S. TRANSPORTATION COMMAND Columbia Helicopters Inc. Aurora, Oregon, has been awarded an option year modification to contract HTC711-17-D-R018 in the estimated amount of $224,394,412. This modification, P00008, provides rotary wing airlift support within the U.S. Central Command Area of Responsibility, configured to simultaneously transport passengers and cargo. Work will be performed in Afghanistan. The option period of performance is Sept. 1, 2019, to Aug. 31, 2020. Type of appropriation is 2019 operations and maintenance funds. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to an estimated $670,327,669 from an estimated $445,933,257. U.S. Transportation Command, Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity. CHI Aviation Inc., Howell, Michigan, has been awarded an option year modification to contract HTC711-17-D-R017 in the estimated amount of $149,819,159. This modification, P00009, provides rotary wing airlift support within the U.S. Central Command Area of Responsibility, configured to simultaneously transport passengers and cargo. Work will be performed in Afghanistan. The option period of performance is Sept. 1, 2019, to Aug. 31, 2020. Type of appropriation is 2019 operations and maintenance funds. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to an estimated $460,456,492 from an estimated $310,637,333. U.S. Transportation Command, Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity. Berry Aviation Inc., San Marcos, Texas, has been awarded option year modification to contract HTC711-16-D-R021 in an estimated amount of $29,848,000. This modification, P00006, provides fixed wing passenger, cargo, combined passenger and cargo, aeromedical evacuation, and short take-off and landing air transportation services within the U.S. Central Command Area of Responsibility, configured to simultaneously transport passengers and cargo. Work will be performed in Afghanistan. The option period of performance is Sept. 1, 2019, to Aug. 31, 2020. Type of appropriation is 2019 operations and maintenance funds. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to an estimated $117,746,500 from an estimated $87,898,500. U.S. Transportation Command, Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity. NAVY J.F. Taylor Inc.,* Lexington Park, Maryland, is awarded a $108,987,777 cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost-reimbursable, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide engineering and technical services in support of the Integrated Battlespace Simulation and Test Department, Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division 5.4.3 Simulation Division laboratories. These laboratories support activities that include research and development of requirements for aviation systems, supporting system development, providing developmental and operational flight test support, and providing life-cycle operational support to include system enhancement, procedure refinement and accident investigations. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Maryland, (78%); and Lexington Park, Maryland (22%), and is expected to be completed in August 2024. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposal as a small business set-aside; one offer was received. The Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00421-19-D-0074). ZITEC Inc.,** Niceville, Florida, is awarded a $25,110,110 fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract provides up to 672 alternate mission equipment mobility ready storage systems; two first article units, and 670 production systems for the Navy and Marine Corps. Work will be performed in Niceville, Florida, and is expected to be completed in August 2025. Fiscal 2018 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $71,969 will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposals as a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business set-aside; three offers were received. The Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity (N68335-19-D-0242). APTIM Federal Services LLC, Alexandria, Virginia, is awarded $15,248,090 for firm-fixed-price task order 0004 under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N39430-15-D-1632) to clean, inspect, repair and inspect repairs to mined-in-place military petroleum storage tanks (Red Hill Tanks 4 and 13). After award of this modification, the total cumulative contract value will be $30,112,525. Work will be performed in Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, and is expected to be completed by December 2021. Fiscal 2016 working capital funds (Navy) in the amount of $15,248,090 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Hawaii, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, is the contracting activity. AECOM Technical Services Inc., Los Angeles, California, is awarded $14,749,825 for cost-plus-award-fee modification to task order N62742-18-F-0126 under a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N62742-17-D-1800) for investigation and remediation of releases, and groundwater protection and evaluation for Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. Work will be performed in Hawaii, and is expected to be completed by January 2021. Working capital funds (Defense) in the amount of $14,749,825 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Pacific, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY North American Rescue LLC, Greer, South Carolina, has been awarded a maximum $41,742,284 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for medical surgical products. This is a one-year base contract with nine one-year option periods. To date, this is the 13th contract awarded from standing solicitation SPM2D0-12-R-0004. Location of performance is South Carolina, with an Aug. 10, 2020, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2020 warstopper funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2D0-19-D-0005). Dominion Privatization South Carolina LLC, Richmond, Virginia, has been awarded a $24,946,260 modification (P00008) to a 50‐year contract (SP0600‐18‐C‐8325) with no option periods for the ownership, operation and maintenance of the electric utility systems at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. This is a fixed‐price with economic‐price‐adjustment contract. Locations of performance are South Carolina and Virginia, with a May 1, 2069, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2069 Army operations and maintenance funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency, Energy, Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Direct Energy Business Marketing LLC, Iselin, New Jersey (SPE604-19-D-7519; $15,881,084); Constellation New Energy-Gas Division LLC, Louisville, Kentucky (SPE604-19-D-7520; $10,742,319); and CenterPoint Energy Services Inc., Houston, Texas (SPE604-19-D-7521; $10,738,786), have each been awarded a fixed‐price with economic‐price-adjustment requirements contract under solicitation SPE604-19-R-0405 for pipeline quality direct supply natural gas. This was a competitive acquisition with seven offers received. They are two-year base contracts with a six‐month option period. Locations of performance are Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and New York, with a Sept. 30, 2021, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, and federal civilian agencies. No money is obligated at the time of award; however, customers are solely responsible to fund these requirements contracts. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/1929800/source/GovDelivery/

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  June 25, 2020 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR

  Senate bill would add $120M for hypersonic tracking satellites

  Nathan Strout The Senate's annual defense policy bill would authorize an additional $120 million toward a space-based sensor layer capable of tracking hypersonic weapons, despite the fact the Department of Defense did not seek more funding for the project in its fiscal 2021 budget requests. The Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor is DoD's answer to the growing threat posed by hypersonic weapons being developed by China and Russia. Hypersonic weapons present a significant challenge to the United States' current missile warning architecture. Not only can these weapons maneuver around ground based sensors, they're too dim to be picked up and tracked by space-based sensors in higher orbits. HBTSS theoretically solves this problem via a proliferated constellation of Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) sensors operating in low earth orbit. At that lower orbit, the sensors will be able to pick up and track the otherwise dim objects. But because the satellites are closer to the earth and have a limited field of view, the system will need to pass off custody responsibility from sensor to sensor as the weapons traverse the globe. Hence the need for a proliferated constellation. HBTSS will plug into the Space Development Agency's National Defense Space Architecture, a new system of satellites operating in low earth orbit. The Missile Defense Agency awarded $20 million contracts to four companies in October to develop HBTSS prototypes: Northrop Grumman, Leidos, Harris Corporation and Raytheon. The Senate's version of the National Defense Authorization Act would authorize the Missile Defense Agency $120 million in research, development, testing and engineering funds for HBTSS. If passed, this would be the second consecutive year the department did not include money for HBTSS in its annual budget request, but Congress allocated money for the project anyway. In 2019, MDA put the program at the top of its unfunded priority list, seeking $108 million for that effort. Congress fully funded that request in the legislation that passed in December. The decision to give the HBTSS funding to the Missile Defense Agency in fiscal year 2021 continues a 2019 battle between the administration and Congress over which agency should lead the program's development effort. While lawmakers wanted to place MDA firmly in charge of the effort, the White House argued that it was too soon to put one agency in charge. Ultimately, Congress included a provision putting primary responsibility for the development and deployment of the system in MDA's hands. Just three months after that legislation passed, lawmakers expressed frustration and confusion over MDA's FY2021 budget request, which sought to transfer HBTSS funding responsibility to SDA. While MDA Director Vice Adm. Jon Hill tried to assure legislators at the March hearing that his agency was fully in charge of developing the sensor for HBTSS, skepticism has continued. According to Hill, funding for the effort would be allocated to SDA, who would in turn provide the funding to MDA. As currently drafted, the legislation de facto rejects DoD's request to transfer funding responsibility to SDA. Furthermore, it specifically assigns principal responsibility for the development and deployment of HBTSS through the end of FY2022, after which it may be transferred over to the U.S. Space Force. It's not the only legislative proposal emphasizing Congress' desire for MDA to be in charge of the system. The House version of the FY2021 defense bill made public in June asks for the Secretary of Defense to certify that MDA is indeed in charge of HBTSS. According to a defense official, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Michael Griffin sent a letter signed May 29 certifying that MDA was in charge of payload development. Griffin has since resigned, stating that he has received an opportunity to work in the private sector. The Senate version requires on orbit testing of HBTSS to begin by December 31, 2022, with full operational deployment as soon as technically feasible. https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2020/06/24/senate-bill-adds-120m-for-hypersonic-tracking-satellites/

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  July 15, 2019 | International, Other Defence

  Army to Receive 7.62mm Squad Marksman Rifles as Early as Next Year

  By Matthew Cox Heckler & Koch Defense Inc. will soon begin delivering thousands of 7.62mm squad-designated marksman rifles to the Army to give infantry and other close-combat units a better chance of penetrating enemy body armor. H&K will deliver "between 5,000 and 6,000" variants of the G28 rifle, which the Army plans to issue as its new squad designated marksman rifle (SDMR), according to a July 12 H&K news release. Under the agreement, the rifles will be manufactured by H&K in Oberndorf, Germany, and will begin to arrive in the H&K-USA facility in Columbus, Georgia, early next year, according to the release. Once there, H&K-USA workers will install scopes and mounts purchased by the Army under a separate agreement. "This is a significant achievement for Heckler & Koch," H&K-USA's chief operating officer, Michael Holley, said in the release. "The HK SDMR system will add much-needed capabilities to virtually every squad in the Army. We are honored by this opportunity." The new SDMRs are part of an interim effort to make squads more lethal ahead of the Army's fielding of the Next-Generation Squad Weapon system sometime in 2022, service officials have said. In May 2017, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told Senate Armed Services Committee members that the service's current M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round will not defeat enemy body armor plates similar to the U.S. military-issue rifle plates such as the Enhanced Small Arms Protective Insert, or ESAPI. As a short-term fix, the Army selected the G28 as its M110A1 Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper System in 2016, to be used with the service's new 7.62mm enhanced performance round to give squads more penetrating power. In the past, the Army relied on the Enhanced Battle Rifle, or EBR, 14 -- a modernized M14 equipped with an adjustable aluminum stock with pistol grip, scope and bipod legs -- to fill the growing need by infantry squads operating in Afghanistan to engage enemy fighters at longer ranges. But the EBR is heavy, weighing just under 15 pounds unloaded. The M110A1 weighs about 11 pounds. In the long term, the Army is working with gunmakers to develop the new Next Generation Squad Weapon (NGSW) that is slated to fire a special, government-produced 6.8mm projectile that promises higher velocities at greater ranges, service officials say. The program is being designed to produce an automatic rifle version to replace the M249 squad automatic weapon and a carbine version to replace the M4 carbine. Army officials said recently that they expect to begin receiving prototypes of the NGSW in July and August and that the weapon could be fielded to units beginning in late fiscal 2020. https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/07/12/army-receive-762mm-squad-marksman-rifles-early-next-year.html