US Army picks 5 innovators to help increase its howitzer firing rate

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  May 1, 2020 | International, Land

  L3Harris Technologies equips the U.S Army’s first unit with enhanced night vision google-binocular

  Londonderry, N.H. April 30, 2020 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX) has completed delivery of 656 combat-ready Enhanced Night Vision Goggle – Binocular (ENVG-B) systems to the U.S. Army. This delivery fully equips the Army's first unit with next generation night vision technology that enhances the soldier's ability to locate and engage threats and access common operating environment imagery, thus improving the soldier's situational awareness, mobility and protection. “The success of the ENVG-B program is based on our continued collaboration with the U.S. Army and our ability to rapidly develop, test and deliver next generation capabilities that enable our soldiers to combat near-peer threats around the world,” said Lynn Bollengier, President, Integrated Vision Solutions, L3Harris. “Delivering imagery and data from the battlefield directly to the soldier's eye is game changing technology and L3Harris is proud to equip the Army with the first combat-ready goggles of this kind.” This delivery is part of the initial order the company received under the $391 million ENVG-B Directed Requirement contract from the Army in 2018. The first 52 systems were delivered last fall. To date, L3Harris has received orders to deliver just over 10,000 ENVG-B systems under the Directed Requirements contract. The ENVG-B includes a new high-resolution display and an embedded soldier wireless personal area network, rapid target acquisition and augmented reality algorithms to interface with the Army's Nett Warrior. The complete system will interface with the Army's family of weapon sights, while enhancing interoperability and data sharing. About L3Harris Technologies L3Harris Technologies is an agile global aerospace and defense technology innovator, delivering end-to-end solutions that meet customers' mission-critical needs. The company provides advanced defense and commercial technologies across air, land, sea, space and cyber domains. L3Harris has approximately $18 billion in annual revenue and 50,000 employees, with customers in 130 countries. L3Harris.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect management's current expectations, assumptions and estimates of future performance and economic conditions. Such statements are made in reliance upon the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results and future trends to differ materially from those matters expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Statements about the value or expected value of orders, contracts or programs and about technology capabilities are forward-looking and involve risks and uncertainties. L3Harris disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. View source version on L3Harris Technologies: https://www.l3harris.com/newsroom/press-release/2020/04/89751/l3harris-technologies-equips-the-us-armys-first-unit-with-enhanced-night-vision-goggle--binocular?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=cs-ivs-pr-envg-b

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  February 3, 2021 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - February 02, 2021

  AIR FORCE ViaSat Inc., Carlsbad, California, has been awarded a $50,800,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for development on prototype space systems. The contractor will provide studies, design, manufacturing, integration, performance qualification, network space segment elements, launch, flight and demonstration of prototype space systems. This also includes the development, integration and demonstration with ground terminals in conjunction with the government ground segment to reduce risk and assess performance and functionality for future protected service. Work will be performed in Carlsbad, California, and is expected to be completed May 2, 2028. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and one offer was received. Fiscal 2021 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $754,337 will be obligated when the first task order is awarded. Air Force Research Laboratory, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, is the contracting activity (FA9453-21-D-0029). NAVY ACTS-Meltech JV1 LLC,* Virginia Beach, Virginia (N00178-21-D-4403); Athena Construction Group Inc.,* Triangle, Virginia (N00178-21-D-4404); Cremer Global Services Inc.,* Melbourne, Florida (N00178-21-D-4405); Encon Desbuild JV2 LLC,* Bladensburg, Maryland (N00178-21-D-4406); HSU EGI JV LLC,* Gaithersburg, Maryland (N00178-21-D-4407); Matos Builders LLC,* Baltimore, Maryland (N00178-21-D-4408); New Dominion Construction LLC,* Dumfries, Virginia (N00178-21-D-4409); Signature Renovations LLC,* Capitol Heights, Maryland (N00178-21-D-4410); and Trinity USA Contracting Inc.,* White Stone, Virginia (N00178-21-D-4411), are awarded a combined $30,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for facility repairs and renovations in multiple buildings, trailers and labs. This contract was competitively awarded among HUBZone small businesses. It provides standard maintenance, sustainment, repair and minor construction as well as field surveying of sites, mapping of new site conditions, soil boring sampling, sampling and testing of potential existing hazardous construction materials, performing and providing engineering analysis and evaluations for purposes of structural and electrical capacities and providing energy computations for infrastructure solutions. Operation and execution are primarily focused in repairing, upgrading and nonstructural construction in accordance with and not exceeding Category II of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Engineering & Construction Bulletin Issue No.2006-04. Each awardee will be awarded $500 (minimum contract guarantee per awardee) at contract award. These contracts do not include options and consist of a cumulative value of $30,000,000 over a five-year period to the nine vendors combined. Work will be performed in Dahlgren, Virginia (85%); Wallops Island, Virginia (5%); Virginia Beach, Virginia (5%); and Washington, D.C. (5%), and is expected to be completed by February 2026. Fiscal 2021 sustainment, restoration and modernization funds in the amount of $4,500 will be obligated at the time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. All other funding will be made available at the delivery order level as contracting actions occur. This contract was competitively procured via the beta.SAM.gov website, with 11 offers received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, Dahlgren, Virginia, is the contracting activity. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Newport News Shipbuilding division, Newport News, Virginia, is awarded a $12,500,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract N00024-16-C-4316 to continue performance of the repair, maintenance and upgrade efforts on the USS Helena (SSN 725) Dry-Docking Selected Restricted Availability. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by April 2021. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $12,500,000 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair, Newport News, Virginia, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Federal Prison Industries Inc.,** doing business as UNICOR, Washington, D.C., has been awarded a maximum $21,978,000 modification (P00009) exercising the first one-year option period of a one-year base contract (SPE1C1-20-D-F057) with four one-year option periods for various types of coats. This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Locations of performance are Illinois, Texas, North Carolina, and Washington, D.C., with a Feb. 5, 2022, ordering period end date. Using military services are Army and Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2022 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency, Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Delavan Inc., West Des Moines, Iowa, doing business as Collins Aerospace, has been awarded a maximum $9,999,999 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity contract for T700 aircraft engine fuel injector assemblies. This was a competitive acquisition with one response received. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Iowa, with a Feb. 2, 2026, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy and Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2026 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Richmond, Virginia (SPE4A721D0099). ARMY Weeks Marine Inc., Covington, Louisiana, was awarded an $11,791,200 modification (P00001) to contract W912P8-20-C-0059 for maintenance dredging of the Southwest Pass of the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge to the Gulf of Mexico. Work will be performed in Venice, Louisiana, with an estimated completion date of June 30, 2021. Fiscal 2020 civil construction funds; and fiscal 2020 non-federal sponsor, state of Louisiana funds in the amount of $11,791,200 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans, Louisiana, is the contracting activity. *Small business **Mandatory source https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2490862/source/GovDelivery/

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  January 30, 2019 | International, C4ISR

  How the intel community could use machines and AI

  By: Mark Pomerleau The intelligence community has unveiled its multi-pronged plan to compete in the increasingly digital and data-centric world. The strategy, titled “Augmenting Intelligence using Machines (AIM)” and released Jan. 16, outlines how the intelligence community will adjust its investments, personnel and practices to better incorporate associated technologies “To meet its vision of ensuring intelligence advantage, the IC must adapt to the rapid global technological democratization in sensing, communications, computing, and machine analysis of data,” Sue Gordon, principal deputy director of national intelligence, said in the document. “These trends threaten to erode what were previously unique [IC] capabilities and advantages; going forward, we must improve our ability to analyze and draw conclusions from IC-wide data collections at scale.” During remarks at an August 2018 conference, Gordon said she wants the strategy to help focus on what the IC is trying to achieve rather than the technologies that they use.She described the need for getting machines as partners to help derive intelligence as one of the two most existential threats facing the community. The strategy lists four primary investment objectives ranked chronologically. They include: - Immediate and ongoing needs: Creating digital foundations, data and science and technical intelligence. - Short-term needs: Adopting commercial and open source narrow AI solutions, which are AI solutions that are designed with very specific tasks and functions. - Medium-term needs: Make investments in the gaps such as AI assurance and multimodal AI. - Long-term needs: Make investments in basic research focused on sense-making. The strategy notes that the “IC must be willing to rethink or abandon processes and mechanisms designed for an earlier era, establish disciplined engineering and operations practices, and maintain an absolute focus on assuring advantage in an intensely competitive global adversarial environment.” However, it also warns that artificial intelligence and associated technologies are not a panacea or a substitute for creating a digital foundation. Instead, the intelligence community must understand how AI algorithms may succeed and fail. The strategy also aims to bring together disparate efforts in artificial intelligence, process automation, and IC officer augmentation as a way to match investments in AI and data from other countries. One example includes the use of such technologies to create forgeries of audio and video, often referred to as deepfakes, which could lead to difficulties in deciphering fact from fiction. Gordon said in August that the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is using AI to automate image processing and the National Reconnaissance Office is using artificial intelligence tools to automate analysis of streaming multi-intelligence data for detecting activity and automating tasks of scarce and expensive collection resources. The strategy also focuses on the workforce. It notes that it is much more than technology and implementing the strategy will entail addressing workforce challenges and understanding and shaping the policies and authorities governing how the IC deploys and uses AI. https://www.c4isrnet.com/c2-comms/2019/01/28/how-the-intel-community-could-use-machines-and-ai