Back to news

June 15, 2023 | International, Aerospace

US Air Force would buy six more F-15EXs in 2025 under draft House bill

Some lawmakers are worried the Air Force plans to retire more than twice the number of fighters than it will buy over the next five years.

https://www.defensenews.com/air/2023/06/15/us-air-force-would-buy-six-more-f-15exs-in-2025-under-draft-house-bill/

On the same subject

  • Defense budget brawl looms after pandemic

    May 4, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

    Defense budget brawl looms after pandemic

    BY REBECCA KHEEL - 05/03/20 01:30 PM EDT Defense budget cuts are looming as the coronavirus pandemic places pressure on the federal budget across various agencies. The Pentagon had already been expecting relatively flat budgets for the next few years due to economic constraints caused by the widening deficits in the country. But with the pandemic, the deficit is projected to explode after Congress passed trillions of dollars in coronavirus relief packages, with more aid bills expected. Defense budget analysts are predicting that will mean cuts to defense spending down the line. Meanwhile, Democrats say the crisis should result in a rethinking of national security that gives less money to the Pentagon and more to areas like public health. The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said this past week it's hard to predict where the defense budget will head after the crisis abates, but suggested the entire federal budget will need to be re-examined. “The economics of this get much more complicated than they were before this, and it's logical to assume that we are going to have to reevaluate our entire budget, both revenue and expenditures,” Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said on a teleconference in response to a question from The Hill. “Beyond that, it would be pure speculation as to what's gonna happen.” Smith, a long time opponent of the nuclear budget, specifically highlighted nuclear modernization as an area for potential cuts, but said defense portfolios are “all on the table to figure out how to spend the money more wisely.” In the meantime, defense hawks, progressives and deficit hawks alike are honing their arguments as they brace for defense cuts. The defense budget battles are already starting to play out as Congress debates further coronavirus relief bills. The Pentagon has said it expects to request “billions” of dollars in the next bill to help contractors hit by the virus. That funding would follow the $10.5 billion the Pentagon got in the third coronavirus stimulus package for the Defense Production Act, defense health programs, and military deployments related to the crisis and other areas. Smith, though, said this past week he would not support more Pentagon funding in further coronavirus bills, saying the department can find unused funding in its existing $738 billion-plus budget. Smith's comments came about a week after dozens of progressive organizations led by Win Without War argued in a letter to Congress that “any arguments that the Pentagon cannot use existing resources to respond to the crisis should be met with considerable skepticism.” But the Pentagon maintained after Smith's comments it cannot dip into its existing budget for coronavirus relief. Ellen Lord, the Pentagon's top weapons buyer, said the department may be able to use some operations and maintenance funds for coronavirus needs, but added money still has to be available for “pretty significant needs” in readiness and modernization. “I am not sure that we have the fiscal flexibility to encompass all of the new demands we have and the inefficiencies that we are seeing and perhaps may see in the future,” Lord said at a briefing. “But I respect what Chairman Smith is saying, and we will obviously do our best.” Looking further ahead, Pentagon officials have indicated they are preparing to tighten their belts at the other end of the crisis. In a webinar with the Brookings Institution this past week, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy recalled “compressed budgets” in the wake of recovery bills for the 2008 financial crisis, culminating in the 2011 Budget Control Act that Pentagon officials now blame for readiness shortfalls. The law set budget caps that resulted in sequestration, continuing resolutions or government shutdowns in several years. “These are challenges we're thinking about now as we look at the [Future Years Defense Program] and whether or not this will pressurize Army budgets in the [fiscal year] 23, 24 timeframe, which are very critical to us and our modernization efforts and increasing our talent management within the force," he said. “We are watching that very closely, and we know that is a challenge that is out in front of us.” Late last month, the Congressional Budget Office projected that Congress' rescue and stimulus efforts will cause the federal deficit to quadruple to $3.7 trillion, the largest by far in U.S. history. Defense budget experts say the ballooning deficit likely spells defense cuts in the future, citing trends after previous rising deficits and economic downturns such after the 2008 financial crisis. “What has historically happened is, when Congress and fiscal conservatives come out and get serious about reducing the debt and reducing spending, defense is almost always part of what they come up with for a solution,” Todd Harrison, director of defense budget analysis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said in a webinar. “So, we could be looking at a deficit-driven defense drawdown coming in the next two or three years. At least history would suggest that that is a real possibility.” In the same webinar, American Enterprise Institute resident fellow Mackenzie Eaglen predicted the “budget comes down sooner rather than later.” “There probably will be a total relook even at the [National Defense Strategy] fundamentals and what mission is going to have to go in response to this,” she added. But defense hawks are arguing the Pentagon should not be used to pay other bills,, saying the country still faces threats from Russia and China. Fred Bartels, a senior policy analyst for defense budgeting at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said the defense budget needs to match the National Defense Strategy, which has not changed despite the pandemic. The strategy calls for the military to be ready for so-called great power competition with China and Russia. “What you're going to have is likely empty promises, and that's the worst possible outcome for the military,” Bartels said of a budget cut without a strategy change. “If your national strategy tells the world that you're going to do that but you don't follow through, it's going to be harder and harder to operate.” But the pandemic has intensified calls from progressive lawmakers to rethink what constitutes national security. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) told The Hill the crisis shows the definition of national security needs be expanded. “Lawmakers must view issues like climate change, biosecurity, cybersecurity and this pandemic as serious and real national security threats facing our nation,” Khanna said in a statement to The Hill. “For too long, we were myopically focused and spending trillions on traditional national security issues like terrorism and ‘great power' politics. These new threats impact our health, safety, and economy, requiring new funds to address them.” https://thehill.com/policy/defense/495762-defense-budget-brawl-looms-after-pandemic

  • Cyber Command’s measure of success? Outcomes

    July 14, 2020 | International, C4ISR, Security

    Cyber Command’s measure of success? Outcomes

    Mark Pomerleau A U.S. Cyber Command official said that when they examine whether any given operation or even when a strategy has been successful, they're not looking at metrics, but rather outcomes. “It's really about: have we enabled the collective defense of the nation,” Maj. Gen. John Morrison, Cyber Command's outgoing chief of staff, told C4ISRNET in a July interview. Roughly two years ago, Cyber Command and the Department of Defense started a paradigm shift for cyber policy and operations. The 2018 DoD cyber strategy tasked Cyber Command to “defend forward,” which is best described as operators working on foreign networks to prevent attacks before they happen. The way Cyber Command meets those goals is through persistent engagement, which means challenging adversary activities wherever they operate. Part of the need for a change was that adversaries were achieving their objectives but doing so below the threshold of armed conflict – in the so-called gray zone – through cyberspace. DoD wanted to stop that from happening through more assertive cyberspace action. Some in the academic community have wanted to see some way in which the command can measure the success of these new approaches. But Morrison explained that these outcomes, or intended effects during operations, could be enabling other partners – foreign or other agencies within the U.S. government – to take action in defense of the nation. For example, he said that when Cyber Command teams encounter malware they haven't seen before, they share it with partners in government, such as FBI or DHS, which can lead to the greater national collective defense. He also noted that building partnerships enables a sense of collective defense in cyberspace and can help significantly in the future against sophisticated adversaries. Morrison will be replaced at Cyber Command by Maj. Gen. David Isaacson. It is unclear where Morrison is headed next. The need for flexibility As Cyber Command has gained more authorities in recent years, it has been able to conduct significantly more operations and different types of operations as well, Morrison said. Throughout these missions, leaders have learned they must be flexible, be it in tactics, structure of teams, or the capabilities they need or develop. “We have thinking adversaries that we go against every single day. That drives us to change how we operate,” Morrison said. “You change your tactics, techniques and procedures but that's also going to drive changes in how we train and what we train ... It drives how we do capability development and development of capabilities and the employment of those capabilities, which again ties back to training at a much faster pace in this space.” Morrison noted that this includes how teams are organized. He explained the way defensive cyber protection teams were first envisioned when they were created in 2012-2013 is not at all how they fight now. To keep up with dynamic adversaries, Cyber Command is keeping closer watch on readiness metrics developed by the command for its cyber teams. This is a framework that details standards for how teams are equipped, manned and supplied. Cyber protection teams were detailed first and now Cyber Command has readiness metrics for combat mission teams, the offensive teams that support combatant commands, and intelligence/support teams. Officials are still working through metrics for what are called national teams that are charged with defending the nation. The command also needs to improve the way it feeds operational requirements into capabilities cyber warriors can use, Morrison said. This includes improving acquisition practices for both of the programs of record Cyber Command is executing through its Joint Cyber Warfighting Architecture — which guides capability development priorities and includes the Unified Platform and Persistent Cyber Training Environment — and the more rapidly developed tools needed on the fly. “That's where you've got the ability inside the command now to rapidly produce that capability through a variety of means and get it into the hands of our operators as quick as possible,” he said. In fact, the Army has begun to embed tool developers and coders alongside operators through the Rapid Cyber Development Network to more quickly meet urgent needs. This allows them in almost in near real time to develop or change tools to meet requirements. “How do we do capability development in a much smoother fashion than we sometimes do today where we're able to rapidly assess, prioritize, resource operational requirements to produce a capability that we can then get back into the hands of our operators as quickly as possible,” Morrison said. From these capabilities that are developed for shorter term needs, he said the key will be deciding if they want to move them into a program of record. Will it be a longer term capability, will it adjust tactics, techniques and procedures or training? “We've got to work those pieces,” he explained. On the longer term, program of record capabilities, he noted officials still want the iterative development associated with more software-centric systems as opposed to more traditional military hardware. Integration with combatant commands Cyber is much more ingrained in military planning and operations than it was in years prior, Morrison said, however, work remains. There is now a closer link between the combatant commands and Cyber Command elements that plan, coordinate, synchronize and conduct cyber operations on their behalf, Morrison said, noting that they are still maturing. These include the Joint Force Headquarters-Cybers‚ which are commanded by each of the service cyber component commanders, and plan, synchronize and conduct operations for combatant commands they're assigned to, and new entities being created called cyber operations-integrated planning elements. These are forward extensions of the Joint Force Headquarters resident within the combatant commands to better coordinate cyber planning with other operations for the combatant commander. These entities all enable a greater central connective tissue from a Cyber Command perspective as they can feed from the theater level back to the command providing a global cyberspace picture. “You have to take not only a regional view of anything that you're doing, but, when you can bring the power of a global enterprise behind it, that's a pretty powerful capability for our nation,” Morrison said. “We are in the process of building every one of our CO-IPEs but I definitely think that we are heading in the right direction, especially as [the CO-IPEs] get built and they integrate closer and closer with their supported combatant commands.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/cyber/2020/07/10/cyber-commands-measure-of-success-outcomes/

  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - April 17, 2020

    April 20, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - April 17, 2020

    ARMY Valiant Government Services LLC, Hopkins, Kentucky (W912DY-15-D-0029, P00012); Acepex Management Corp,* Montclair, California (W912DY-15-D-0030, P00015); Emcor Government Services Inc., Arlington, Virginia (W912DY-15-D-0031, P00013); Electronic Metrology Laboratory LLC, Franklin,* Tennessee (W912DY-15-D-0032, P00011); Facility Services Management Inc.,* Clarksville, Tennessee (W912DY-15-D-0033, P00011); J & J Maintenance Inc., Austin, Texas (W912DY-15-D-0034, P00012); Johnson Controls Building Automation Systems LLC, Huntsville, Alabama (W912DY-15-D-0035, P00012); Quality Services International LLC,* San Antonio, Texas (W912DY-15-D-0036, P00011); Sodexo Management Inc., Gaithersburg, Maryland (W912DY-15-D-0037, P00011); and V W International Inc., Alexandria, Virginia (W912DY-15-D-0038, P00011), were awarded $586,000,000 in modifications in support of the presidential national emergency declaration concerning the novel coronavirus disease. The overall ceiling is now $1,667,700,000. Bids were solicited via the internet with 22 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 11, 2020. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntsville, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Golden Max LLC,* Stafford, Texas, was awarded a $37,065,080 firm-fixed-price contract for infusion pump kits for the COVID-19 effort. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of April 19, 2021. U.S. Army Medical Research, Acquisition Activity, Frederick, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W81XWH-20-D-0057). BAE Systems Land & Armaments L.P., Sterling Heights, Michigan, was awarded a $14,069,872 modification (P00087) to contract W56HZV-15-C-A001 for engineering and manufacturing development portion of the armored multi-purpose vehicle. Work will be performed in Sterling Heights, Michigan, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 29, 2021. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 research, development, test and evaluation, Army funds in the amount of $14,069,872 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity. AIR FORCE Chromalloy Component Services Inc., San Antonio, Texas, has been awarded a $461,562,336 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with one base year and four option periods for the remanufacture of the F108 Module 13/15 low pressure turbine assembly. Work will be performed in San Antonio, Texas, and is expected to be completed by April 16, 2025. This contract is the result of a competitive acquisition with two offers received. Funding will be made available at the issuing of delivery orders against this contract. The type of funding utilized is defense agencies working capital. The Air Force Sustainment Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity (FA8122-20-D-0002). NAVY Huntington-Ingalls Industries - Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi, is awarded a $107,976,103 cost-plus-award-fee modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-19-C-4313 to exercise options for the accomplishment of the planning yard services for the littoral combat in-service ships. Work will be performed in Hampton, Virginia (50%); Pascagoula, Mississippi (37%); San Diego, California (7%); and Jacksonville, Florida (6%). The requirements under this contract include, but are not limited to: ship installation drawings development; ship change document updates; operating cycle integration program management; work integration package engineering; type commander response; ship configuration logistics support information system support; configuration data management; research engineering and modeling; provisioned items order; cost and feasibility studies; integrated planning yard material support; provisioning technical documentation; naval ships engineering drawing repository system input and data management; interface and coordination with regional maintenance centers and fleet entities; design alteration and modification development; review and tracing; managing related class ship selected record documents; and hull, mechanical and electrical engineering standardization efforts. Work is expected to be complete by April 2021. Fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy); and fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount $18,854,046 are obligated at time of award, and funding in the amount of $1,115,122 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. J.I. Garcia Construction Inc.,* Fresno, California (N62473-18-D-5817); Patricia I. Romero, doing business as Pacific West Builders,* National City, California (N62473-18-D-5818); Dimensions Construction Inc.,* San Diego, California (N62473-18-D-5819); K.L. House Construction Co. Inc.,* Albuquerque, New Mexico (N62473-18-D-5820); D Square Construction LLC and Au' Authum Ki A JV,* Tucson, Arizona (N62473-18-D-5821); Herman/JCG Co. JV,* Escondido, California (N62473-18-D-5822); and I.E. Pacific Inc.,* Escondido, California (N62473-18-D-5823), are awarded $90,000,000 to increase the aggregate capacity of the previously-awarded suite of firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple award construction contracts. The contracts are for new construction, renovation and the repair of general building construction. All work will be performed at various federal sites within the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southwest area of operation, including but not limited to: California (90%); Arizona (6%); Nevada (1%); Utah (1%); Colorado (1%); and New Mexico (1%). The contracts are for new construction as well as the renovation and repair of general buildings. The maximum dollar value including the base year and four option years for all seven contracts combined is increased from $240,000,000 to $330,000,000. No funds are being obligated on this award and no funds will expire. Future task orders will be primarily funded by military construction (Navy); operations and maintenance (O&M) (Navy); O&M (Marine Corps); and Navy working capital funds. The original contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website and 24 proposals were received. The NAVFAC Southwest, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity. Doyon Project Services LLC,* Federal Way, Washington, is awarded $20,999,877 for a firm-fixed-price task order (N44255-20-F-4154) for the Undersea Vehicle Maintenance Facility, Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Keyport, Washington. Work will be performed in Keyport, Washington, and provides for the construction of a single-story high bay undersea vehicle maintenance facility. The facility will include information systems, infrastructure for built-in cranes and fire protection systems, parts storage, explosive service lockers, maintenance areas and personnel support spaces. The task order also contains one unexercised option, which if exercised, would increase cumulative contract value to $21,003,842. Work expected to be complete by April 2022. Fiscal 2020 military construction (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $20,999,877 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Three proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Northwest, Silverdale, Washington, is the contracting activity. Cubic Dense Applications Inc., San Diego, California, is awarded $8,880,166 for a firm-fixed-price and cost-plus fixed-fee contract with options. This procurement of model AN/USQ-167(V) Communications Data Link System (CDLS) for production of five CDLS Tech Refresh (TR) Integrated Antenna Systems (IAS) for Nimitz class aircraft carrier platforms. Work will be performed in San Diego, California. One AN/USQ-167C(V) CDLS-TR IAS consists of two directional/Omni antennas, one Omni only antenna including hardware/software interface and three above and below deck split radios with communications security module. In addition, the contractor will provide and order the engineering services and provisional items required to support installations, repairs and sustainment. Work is expected to be complete by April 2025. The Navy requires hardware and software delivery for installation within 12 months of the contract's award and for additional units, 12 months after options are exercised. This contract includes four one-year options which, if exercised, will bring the cumulative value of this contract to an estimated $8,880,166. If all options are exercised, work may continue through September 2021. Fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,229,714 will be obligated at the time of award. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract is awarded as a sole-source under the under the authority of 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1). The Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N00039-20-C-0015). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY General Dynamics Mission Systems Inc., Scottsdale, Arizona, has been awarded a maximum $25,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for Prophet Enhanced system spare parts. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Arizona, with an April 16, 2025, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland (SPRBL1-20-D-0021). Hamilton Sundstrand Corp., Windsor Locks, Connecticut, has been awarded a maximum $7,377,840 firm-fixed-price contract for F100/220 aircraft control units. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a one-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Connecticut, with a Jan. 31, 2023, performance completion date. Using customers are foreign military sales to Egypt and Taiwan. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2020 Foreign Military Sales funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma (SPRTA1-20-F-0097). DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY Galois Inc., Portland, Oregon, was awarded a $12,752,707 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for a research project under the Securing Information for Encrypted Verification and Evaluation (SIEVE) program. The SIEVE program will use zero knowledge proofs to enable the verification of capabilities relevant to the Department of Defense without revealing the sensitive details associated with those capabilities. Work will be performed in Portland, Oregon, with an expected completion date of May 2024. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) funding in the amount of $1,219,023; and fiscal 2020 RDT&E funding in the amount of $1,474,654 are being obligated at time of award. This contract was a competitive acquisition under an open broad agency announcement, and 13 offers were received. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HR0011-20-C-0085). *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2155142/source/GovDelivery/

All news