US Army awards Lockheed up to $4.5 bln missiles contract

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  November 27, 2017 | International, Aerospace

  CAE and Rockwell Collins join forces to develop integrated Live, Virtual, Constructive training solutions

  Companies to demonstrate integrated LVC-enabled capabilities at I/ITSEC 2017 Orlando, Florida, USA, November 27, 2017 - Today at the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC), CAE and Rockwell Collins announced a collaborative agreement to develop integrated Live, Virtual, Constructive (LVC) training solutions. During I/ITSEC, CAE (Booth #1734) and Rockwell Collins (Booth #2201) will conduct several demonstrations of an integrated mission training exercise using fully connected, LVC training elements. A live-flying LVC-enabled L-29 aircraft, operated by the University of Iowa's Operator Performance Laboratory (OPL), will be networked with a variety of virtual simulators and constructive forces to demonstrate an integrated, joint, multi-dimensional mission training environment. The live, real-time LVC training exercises will take place at I/ITSEC at the following times: Tues., Nov. 28 - 12:30 to 1:15 p.m. and 2 to 2:45 p.m. Wed., Nov. 29 - 12:30 to 1:15 p.m. and 2 to 2:45 p.m. Virtual participants in the demonstration will include blue force F/A-18 aircraft simulators as well an E-2 aerial surveillance platform operated in the Rockwell Collins booth, networked to Naval Combat System Simulators (NCSS) and remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) desktop trainers running in the CAE booth. A variety of constructive elements representing enemy and friendly forces will be injected into the live and virtual training systems for the demonstration of immersive LVC training capabilities. Both CAE and Rockwell Collins will jointly conduct distributed command and control tasks during the exercise. "Integrated live, virtual, constructive training is becoming more critical as defense forces look to cost-effectively maintain readiness and prepare for operational missions," said Gene Colabatistto, group president, Defense & Security for CAE. "As a training systems integrator, we are focused on supporting our customers' training and readiness requirements and recognize that cooperation and collaboration will be necessary to deliver integrated LVC training capabilities." "As a recognized leader in aerospace solutions providing avionics for live assets and integrated virtual training systems and products, we'll be able to provide solutions to make LVC-enabled training more routine without boundaries, ultimately resulting in our military customers achieving optimal mission readiness," said Nick Gibbs, vice president and general manager of Simulation & Training Solutions at Rockwell Collins. The demonstration at I/ITSEC will showcase how synthetic environments built on different database standards can be correlated and interoperate as part of an integrated LVC training exercise. This includes the use of synthetic data onto the Rockwell Collins L-29 pilots' integrated Helmet Mounted Display (HMD). CAE and Rockwell Collins will also utilize the Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) and High-Level Architecture (HLA) industry standard networking protocols to link LVC assets. About CAE CAE's Defense & Security business unit focuses on helping prepare our customers to develop and maintain the highest levels of mission readiness. We are a world-class training systems integrator offering a comprehensive portfolio of training centers, training services and simulation products across the air, land, naval and public safety market segments. We serve our global defense and security customers through regional operations in Canada; the United States/Latin America; Europe/Africa; and Asia-Pacific/Middle East, all of which leverage the full breadth of CAE's capabilities, technologies and solutions. CAE is a global leader in training for the civil aviation, defense and security, and healthcare markets. Backed by a 70-year record of industry firsts, we continue to help define global training standards with our innovative virtual-to-live training solutions to make flying safer, maintain defense force readiness and enhance patient safety. We have the broadest global presence in the industry, with over 8,500 employees, 160 sites and training locations in over 35 countries. Each year, we train more than 120,000 civil and defence crewmembers and thousands of healthcare professionals worldwide. www.cae.com Follow us on Twitter: @CAE_Inc and @CAE_Defence About Rockwell Collins Rockwell Collins (NYSE: COL) is a leader in aviation and high-integrity solutions for commercial and military customers around the world. Every day we help pilots safely and reliably navigate to the far corners of the earth; keep warfighters aware and informed in battle; deliver millions of messages for airlines and airports; and help passengers stay connected and comfortable throughout their journey. As experts in flight deck avionics, cabin electronics, cabin interiors, information management, mission communications, and simulation and training, we offer a comprehensive portfolio of products and services that can transform our customers' futures. To find out more, please visit www.rockwellcollins.com. Follow us on Twitter: @RockwellCollins http://www.cae.com/CAE-and-Rockwell-Collins-join-forces-to-develop-integrated-Live-Virtual-Constructive-training-solutions/?contextualBUID=103

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  January 2, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Too many cooks in the DoD: New policy may suppress rapid acquisition

  By: Eric Lofgren In 2015, Congress passed middle tier acquisition, or MTA, authorities for rapid prototyping and rapid fielding. Lawmakers expected detailed guidance to follow shortly after. By June 2019, the Government Accountability Office found little clarity on documentation and authority. Congress reacted by threatening to withhold 75 percent of MTA funding in 2020 until the Pentagon released guidance. Dangle the purse strings and compliance follows. The undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment, or USD(A&S), released Department of Defense Instruction 5000.80 on Dec. 30, 2019. The MTA guidance, however, is more likely to pump the brakes on rapid acquisition than propel it forward. Programs designated “middle tier” do not have to follow regulatory processes for requirements and milestone reviews. That can shave years off a program schedule. In return, the prototype must be completed — or system fully fielded — within five years. As of March 2019, there were 35 middle tier programs. The term “middle tier” is perhaps misleading considering nearly half of them exceed the cost thresholds for major weapon systems — roughly $200 million for prototyping or $1 billion for fielding. Many questions remained unanswered until the new policy. How big was a middle tier? What documentation does it require? What is the role of oversight and USD(A&S)? Authority For several years, acquisition authority had been delegated down to the services. While the services only managed 48 percent of major programs in 2014, the figure grew to 90 percent in 2019. DoDI 5000.80 reverses the trend. While the services can approve MTA for non-major programs, only USD(A&S) may approve major programs. Moreover, major programs have far more entrance documentation than non-majors, including approved requirements, an acquisition strategy and a cost estimate. The services may avoid some documentation by disaggregating major systems into multiple MTA programs. For example, two of the Navy's non-major programs are components to Standard Missile-6 Block 1B. The same is true of the Air Force's Airborne Warning and Control System. USD(A&S), however, can still disapprove any MTA program, whether major or non-major. With advisers from all around the Office of the Secretary of Defense, there will be will numerous potential veto points. Each official may extract concessions from MTA programs managed by the services. Even though 31 out of 35 MTA programs are rapid prototyping efforts, the undersecretary for research and engineering, or USD(R&E), has been relegated to a secondary position. All MTA authority rests with USD(A&S). Almost as an affront to USD(R&E), he was given control over a rapid prototyping fund that Congress stopped funding. The outcome reflects a broader weakening of USD(R&E). Congress has reacted negatively to the undersecretary's effort to move fast and reallocate funds to higher value uses. USD(R&E) may lose control of the Missile Defense Agency to USD(A&S). Documentation While MTA exempts programs from traditional requirements and milestone processes, documentation abounds. Each service must create its own requirements process with approval in six months. Joint service requirements are discouraged from using MTA pathways. MTA requirements, however, must still meet the needs determined by four-star generals in the Joint Chiefs of Staff and combatant commands. This may in effect bring the same approvals from the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System process back into MTA. Many of the DoDI 5000.02 processes also apply. Still required are system analyses, sustainment plans, test strategies, cybersecurity, risk assessments, cost estimates and more. Contractors performing on MTA programs must still report cost data. No exemption was made for earned value management systems. Sidestepping many contract regulations — for example, with other transactions authorities — remains a separate process. Most importantly, Congress requires detailed justification in the budget for every MTA program. That means the services must start justifying MTAs at least two years in advance of funding receipt. Many of today's MTA programs spun off existing, budgeted line items. New programs may find a hard time finding funds. The present situation is reminiscent of the time David Packard attempted rapid acquisition between 1969 and 1971. A couple years later, new layers of bureaucracy descended. Similarly, MTA has built within it the seeds of another slow-paced bureaucratic order. Adm. Hyman Rickover's skepticism to the reforms nearly 50 years ago rings true today. As Rickover wrote to Packard in a memo: “My experience has been that when a directive such as the one you propose is issued, most of the effort goes into the creation of additional management systems and reports and the preparation of large numbers of documents within the Service to ‘prove' that the requirements of the directive are being met in order to justify funds for the Service. “So long as the bureaucracy consists of a large number of people who consider that they are properly performing their function of approval and evaluation by requiring detailed information to be submitted through the bureaucracy, program managers will never be found who can in fact effectively manage their jobs.” https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/commentary/2020/01/02/too-many-cooks-in-the-dod-new-policy-may-suppress-rapid-acquisition/

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  February 25, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  SpaceX, ULA each get Air Force contracts for trio of space launches

  By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — The battle between military space juggernaut United Launch Alliance and its upstart rival SpaceX continues, with the two companies splitting a collection of launch contracts worth $739 million awarded by the Air Force on Tuesday. ULA, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, picked up a $442 million award for three launches, while Elon Musk's SpaceX nabbed a $297 million contract for another three launches. Each company will be responsible for “launch vehicle production, mission integration, mission launch operations/spaceflight worthiness, and mission unique activities,” according to the contract award. ULA will deliver the following payloads as part of its contract: Silent Barker, a secret payload developed by the Air Force and National Reconnaissance Office, which will improve situational awareness after it is launched in fiscal year 2022. SBIRS GEO-5, the fifth geostationary satellite in the Space Based Infra Red Sensor constellation, will improve early warning for missile launches. SBIRS GEO-5 is set to be launched in FY21. SBIRS GEO-6, the sixth geostationary satellite in the SBIRS constellation, could be launched in FY22, but no firm date has been set. Meanwhile SpaceX will launch these payloads: NROL-85, a classified intelligence payload launched for the NRO, expected to be launched in FY21 NROL-87, another classified NRO payload set for a FY21 launch date. AFSPC-44, an Air Force satellite also set to be launched in FY21. The service hasn't released much information about this payload's capabilities or purpose. The contracts were awarded by the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center as part of the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program. In a statement, Lt. Gen. John Thompson, commander of SMC and program executive officer for space programs, defended the service's strategy of awarding launch contracts in a way that balances rewarding low-price bids while also maintaining competition among rocket makers. “The competitive award of these EELV launch service contracts directly supports SMC's mission of delivering resilient and affordable space capabilities to our nation while maintaining assured access to space” he said. https://www.defensenews.com/space/2019/02/20/spacex-ula-each-get-air-force-contracts-for-trio-of-space-launches/