April 24, 2020 | International, Land
By: Joe Gould
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army is girding for modernization program delays and a rise in acquisition costs as the coronavirus pandemic ripples across its installations and through its network of suppliers.
Army leaders told reporters Thursday they are confident the service can juggle schedules to make up for any emerging delays and would ask Congress to help address future cost growth. While some larger prime contractors have adapted quickly, officials said, they warned that lower-tier companies with less slack in their workforces remain vulnerable.
The Army's Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System had several major tests and evaluations scheduled, including a long-awaited limited-user test, or LUT. However, Army Futures Command chief Gen. Mike Murray said in a call with reporters that the testing schedule “will slide a little bit, but we will be on time” for the program's other milestone decisions.
“I am very confident we will get the LUT done this summer or early fall,” he said.
The Army is in the third year of an ambitious modernization overhaul, which depends in part on “soldier touchpoints,” or user evaluations of new equipment. The modernization efforts are now in question as commanders apply physical distancing measures to protect their soldiers.
For example, a touchpoint at Fort Riley, Kansas, for a future replacement of the RQ-7 Shadow unmanned aircraft system is going ahead, but the commander at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, decided to postpone one there.
Whether wider program delays are coming, “we're still watching very closely, and what I am very much focused on is there may be some slips in key decisions and soldier touchpoints,” Murray said. “The current estimate is we will deliver that [UAS] capability to our soldiers by the time we said we would.”
The Army will also push a critical touchpoint for the Integrated Visual Augmentation System from the summer to the fall after Microsoft — a subcontractor for the prime — temporarily closed. The device is a set of goggles meant to provide soldiers next-level night and thermal vision as well as enhance navigation and targeting.
“Not only for that program but for all our programs, input from the soldiers that were actually asked to use this equipment has been critical,” Murray said. “That has been impacted.”
The comments came as the Pentagon expects a broader three-month delay for major acquisition programs and speeds progress payments to primes that should trickle to small businesses. Army acquisitions officials have worked to help get second- and third-tier suppliers access to small business loans as well as facilitate cash flow to them.
“The supply chain does have some challenges, and that's probably where the vast majority of any slips would occur that are tied to individual companies,” said Bruce Jette, the Army's acquisition chief. “These companies are small, and if one person gets COVID in the company, the next thing you know you've lost 14 days with the company because everybody that didn't get it is in quarantine.”
BAE Systems coordinated a temporary closure with the Army and plans to scrap a planned summer break to make up the time. Boeing's closure in Philadelphia also came and went.
“It's like that down [the] chain for the primes: They tend to be coming back online,” Jette said. “The ones where we end up with two or three weeks are the ones where we've got small individual companies of maybe 20 to 30 people who were suppliers of cables, or connectors and things like that.
“There's something there that tends to have a bigger impact or take a little bit longer time. And with them, we try to execute those portions of the program which aren't dependent upon those components, and then we'll come back and clean up the battlespace.”
Some big agenda items for the Army don't appear to have been knocked off balance. For example, the Army is still planning on another flight test of Lockheed Martin's Precision Strike Munition, or PrSM, by April 30, which will deliver a new long-range precision fires capability to the battlefield. The capability is the Army's No. 1 modernization priority.
“I'm confident enough that we're going to do the next test flight [of] PrSM that I scheduled a military aircraft to go out and see it, so I'm very confident,” Murray said.
The Army's latest “night court” review — used to divest the service of unneeded programs — proceeded virtually, as much of the Pentagon shifted to remote work. As part of the review, Army leaders recently received the final brief concerning equipment.
“A lot of the recommendations are pretty much close to being finalized,” Murray said.
June 13, 2023 | International, Other Defence
A British-led defence alliance of several European countries will strengthen its sharing of tactical intelligence, the group, known as the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), said on Tuesday.
April 23, 2018 | International, Security
By: Adam Stone From their perch in the operations center at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., security analysts peer down like hawks over the Naval Research Lab, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling and a half-dozen other major military installations scattered around the national capital region. It takes just 10 people to maintain constant surveillance over all those disparate sites, “but you need machines to help you,” said Robert Baker, command information officer for the Naval Facilities Engineering Command. Those machines include a complex network of cameras and sensors, supported by analytics software. When the software spots a suspect event – traffic headed in the wrong direction, for example – that video feed gets pushed to the foreground for human analysis. This is just one example of how the military looks to technology to improve physical security. The real-world influence of technology is evident across the military: Everything from targeting systems to logistics to intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance has been enhanced in some way by IT. Physical security represents an emerging frontier, where artificial intelligence, machine learning, autonomous technologies and other advances could give the military an edge. Force multiplier At Edwards Air Force Base in California last summer, a security team installed a ground-based radar system to monitor a wide landscape using electro-optical and infrared sensors. The team turned to technology to give them insight across a massive 308,000-acre facility. “The driving need for this system is to proactively defend Edwards AFB. Given the mission of Edwards, and how much terrain we have, we need a system that can overcome the difficulties of patrolling the vast amount of land Edwards presents to our patrols,” Staff Sgt. Alexander Deguzman, an installation security technician with the 412th security forces squadron said in a news release. As at the Navy Yard, the effort at Edwards is all about using some combination of remote sensing, networked surveillance and machine intelligence to create a force multiplier in physical security. Analysts say such initiatives could make bases and installations markedly safer at a lower cost and with less labor required. The rise of artificial intelligence is a critical technology moving forward. Security often involves the constant observation of multiple video and data feeds for prolonged periods of time. Human analysts get tired. They look away for a moment. In short, they miss stuff. “A human can look at things once or twice, but after 100 times they start to lose their edge,” said retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Bob Elder, chair of the cyber and emerging technologies division at the National Defense Industrial Association. “AI goes beyond what a human can do, because it doesn't get tired.” Elder envisions a future in the near-term in which routine surveillance can be carried out by software-supported machines, with computers scanning for anomalies and alerting human analysts to potential threats. That saves on labor. In addition, such as approach also would allow the military to use less highly-skilled operators, relying instead on the machine's expertise and accuracy. Eyes in the sky Industry's interest in this subject has helped bring AI and autonomy to the fore as potential security assets. With the rise of the drones and the imminent arrival of driverless cars, some experts are looking to autonomy as the next logical step in military security. Drones alone don't offer a security fix: Their batteries run down too fast. The military might however consider the use of tethered drones, autonomous ISR assets that can hover in place and remain attached to a power source for ongoing operations. Put one at each corner of a base camp and leaders can put together a big-picture view of any approaching hazard. “This kind of solution is really smart, because you can constantly feed it power, you don't have to worry about it flying away, and if someone tries to damage it or take control of it, you know about it right away,” said Steve Surfaro, chairman of the Security Industry Association public safety working group. Another key industry trend, biometrics, may also point the way forward on physical security. “Investing in facial recognition software ... can improve perimeter security by automating aspects of it to speed up entry to bases for those authorized and focus screening attention on those that represent a risk,” according to a Deloitte report on smart military bases titled “Byting the Bullet.” The networking needs To make the most of the technological imperative around security, experts say, the military will have to give serious thought to issues of infrastructure. Security is becoming a data function: Sensor streams, video feeds, drone surveillance and other methodologies all will require robust network support and substantial compute resources. The data will need to flow freely, even in great quantities, with ample processing available to put it to use. Much of the processing will be done in the cloud, “but you still need to have a reliable connection to that cloud, which means you want diversity and redundancy. At a minimum you want two connections and ideally you want three ways of doing it – wires, line of sight wireless, and satellite,” Elder said. “You need a reliable way to get to your cloud services.” Such an implementation will require, at the least, a significant amount of bandwidth. At the Navy Yard, Baker said he is able to overcome that hurdle through thoughtful network design. In other words: Rather than pushing all the information back to the operations center for processing, new video and sensor analytics takes place on the edge, shrinking the overall networking demand. “The more processing you can do at the edge of the network, the less robust your network needs to be,” he said. Efficient network design weeds out routine activity “and then the really interesting information is being sent for human analysis.” While emerging technologies can enhance the military's security operations, some argue that IT capabilities are not, in themselves, a rationale for upgrading systems that may already be meeting mission. Budgetary constraints apply. “You could make processing faster, but what is the threat that we are trying to counter? If we are seeing zero incidents, why we would gold-plate that area? We want to be good stewards of the taxpayer dollars,” Baker said. “At the same time, if there was some high-risk area where we needed to do that better, we would absolutely want to put resources against that.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/it-networks/2018/04/12/the-unlikely-tool-thats-improving-physical-security-at-military-bases/
November 24, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
AIR FORCE Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Clearfield, Utah, has been awarded a $185,700,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the A-10 Aircraft Structural Integrity Program Legacy VII. This contract provides for sustaining engineering services of A-10 aircraft. Work will be performed in Clearfield, Utah, and is expected to be completed Nov. 22, 2030. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $6,480,694 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8202-21-D-0001). L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace LLC, Madison, Mississippi, has been awarded a $65,603,271 firm-fixed-price contract for contractor operated and maintained base supply of the Air Education and Training Command fleet of 178 T-1A Trainer aircraft. Work will be performed at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas; Laughlin AFB, Texas; Vance AFB, Oklahoma; Columbus AFB, Mississippi; and Pensacola Naval Air Station, Florida, and is expected to be completed Nov. 30, 2021. This award for Option Three is the result of a competitive acquisition and three offers were received. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance funds in the amount $17,946,903 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity (FA8106-18-C-0001). Lockheed Martin Corp., King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, has been awarded a $34,939,734, cost-type modification (P00014) to contract FA8219-20-C-0001 for Mk21A technology maturation and risk reduction (TMRR) research and development for reentry vehicles (RVs). The contract modifies the TMRR prototype flight test plan, to now include preparations for a second flight test and development of two prototype RVs with telemetry capability in order to further mature technology. Work will be performed in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and is expected to be completed Oct. 21, 2022. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds are being used with no funds being obligated at the time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $151,943,606. The Air Force Nuclear War Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity. AT2 LLC, Severn, Maryland, has been awarded a $15,751,876 firm-fixed-price modification (P00017) to contract FA4890-18-C-0008 for Air Combat Command and Air Force Global Strike Command Primary Training Ranges operation and maintenance (O&M) support services. This contract provides for O&M of range threat, scoring and feedback systems. Work will be performed at Dare County Range, North Carolina; Poinsett Range, South Carolina; Grand Bay Range, Georgia; Avon Park Range, Georgia; Snyder Range, Texas; Belle Fourche Range, South Dakota; Holloman Ranges, New Mexico; and Mountain Home Ranges, Idaho. Work is expected to be completed Dec. 31, 2021. Fiscal 2021 O&M funds in the amount of $15,044,766 are being obligated at the time of award. Headquarters Air Combat Command, Joint Base Langley‐Eustis, Virginia, is the contracting activity (FA4890‐18‐C‐0008). Lockheed Martin Corp., King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, has been awarded a $14,068,093 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P00022) to contract FA8620-14-C-4022 to develop, integrate and lab test detection, removal and characterization operations. Work will be performed in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and is expected to be completed Nov. 30, 2023. This contract was the result of a sole-source acquisition and one offer was received. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,699,000 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. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, has been awarded a $9,326,062 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the Long Range Systems Division seeking to integrate the Navy Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile-Extended Range (AARGM-ER) into the F-35. The AARGM-ER is a Navy weapon that will provide the F-35A advanced suppression of enemy air defenses/destruction of enemy air defenses capability. This contract includes one contract line item number and is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the full amount are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity (FA8682-21-C-2000). CORRECTION: The Nov. 13, 2020, announcement of a $9,703,375 contract modification awarded to Raytheon Missile Systems Co., Tucson, Arizona, included an incorrect modification number. The number of the modification to contract FA8675-20-C-0033 for Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) production baseline rocket motors is P00008, not P00007. NAVY AAR Government Services Inc., Wood Dale, Illinois, is awarded a $148,357,084 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract provides contractor logistics support required for operating and maintaining the C-40A aircraft, aircraft subsystems, appliances and support equipment, including depot-level, main operating base and supply support and commercial line maintenance. Work will be performed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (40%); Fort Worth, Texas (16.5%); Jacksonville, Florida (9%); North Island, California (9%); Oceana, Virginia (9%); Whidbey Island, Washington (9%); and Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii (7.5%), and is expected to be completed in December 2025. 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 electronic request for proposal; three offers were received. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00019-21-D-0004). Lockheed Martin Space, Titusville, Florida, is awarded a $108,778,290 cost-plus-incentive-fee and cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P00002) to exercise options under previously awarded contract N00030-20-C-0100 for Trident II (D5) missile production and deployed systems support. Work will be performed in Denver, Colorado (25%); Cape Canaveral, Florida (23.5%); Borgo San Dalmazzo, Italy (12%); Sunnyvale, California (9.7%); Hoffman Estates, Illinois (4.3%); Titusville, Florida (3.4%); Melbourne, Florida (2.6%); Berlin, Connecticut (1.8%); Modesto, California (1.3%); Bangor, Washington (1.1%); Kings Bay, Georgia (1.1%); Clearwater, Florida (1%); and other various locations (less than 1% each, 13.2% total). Work is expected to be completed Sept. 30, 2025. Fiscal 2021 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $94,943,006; fiscal 2021 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $10,176,348; United Kingdom funds in the amount of $3,618,936; and fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $40,000 are being obligated on this award, $40,000 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract is being awarded to the contractor on a sole-source basis under 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) and was previously synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities website. The Strategic Systems Programs, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Corp., Rotary and Mission Systems, Orlando, Florida, is awarded a $9,574,093 modification (P00047) to previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract N68335-17-C-0253. This modification exercises an option to provide the second phase of interim contractor support for fleet Repair of Repairables (RoR), non-fleet RoR and installation RoR support for the Common Aviation Support Equipment program office. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida, and is expected to be completed in March 2021. Fiscal 2021 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,335,259; and fiscal 2021 working capital (Navy) funds in the amount of $727,619 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity. ARMY Carahsoft Technology Corp., Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $38,611,275 firm-fixed-price contract for a one-time license buy for SAP software. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed in Reston, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 30, 2021. Fiscal 2021 other procurement (Army); operation and maintenance (Army); and Army working capital funds in the amount of $38,611,275 were obligated at the time of the award. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W52P1J-21-F-0042). Great Lakes Dredge & Dock LLC, Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, was awarded a $15,844,050 firm-fixed-price contract for maintenance dredging. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work will be performed in St. Mary's, Georgia, with an estimated completion date of June 5, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operation and maintenance (Defense) funds in the amount of $15,844,050 were obligated at the time of the award. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity (W912EP-21-C-0002). McCarthy HITT - Next NGA West JV, St. Louis, Missouri, was awarded an $8,982,180 modification (P00012) to contract W912DQ-19-C-7001 for a resident management system. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri, with an estimated completion date of April 24, 2023. Fiscal 2020 military construction (Defense wide) funds in the amount of $8,982,180 were obligated at the time of the award. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City, Missouri, is the contracting activity. *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2425497/source/GovDelivery/