US joint forces lack a ‘common goal’ for the future, says top Marine

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  April 23, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Lockheed looks to sell additional F-16s to customers in Africa, Asia and South America

  By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin anticipates another wave of international F-16 sales, with countries from Africa, South America and Southeast Asia among those interested in purchasing the jet, the company's chief financial officer said Tuesday. “I think this is a good fourth-generation aircraft for those customers that can't afford the F-35 or, frankly, can't at this time buy the F-35,” Lockheed CFO Kenneth Possenriede told investors during an April 21 earnings call. “It might be a good intermediary step for customers to go from the F-16 to F-35. So we see it frankly as complementary and not competing against themselves.” Unlike the F-35 program, which is seeing disruption within its supply chain that could delay future deliveries, the F-16 production line has experienced little impact as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, Possenriede said. The company moved production of the F-16 production line from Fort Worth, Texas, to Greenville, South Carolina, in 2019 to accommodate production of 16 Block 70 aircraft for Bahrain. Since Bahrain's order in 2018, Lockheed has garnered contracts for eight F-16s for Bulgaria, 14 aircraft for Slovakia, and is working with the U.S. government on a sale of 66 jets for Taiwan. “We also have a couple of orders for F-16 that we're working to try to shape,” Possenriede said. “There is an African country that is interested in F-16, so we're hopeful that will happen. [There is also a] South American country, and then there are some Southeast Asian countries that are interested in F-16 as well.” Possenriede didn't detail which nations were considering purchases of the F-16, as defense companies typically wait until international militaries publicly declare their interest in a sale before talking about specific customers. Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst with the Teal Group, said there's a “pretty good chance” that some of those orders materialize. “Lockheed was doing a disservice by forgetting the F-16 program for so many years. They had this idea that the future was F-35 and nothing but F-35, ignoring the part of the market that is not prepared to buy the F-35 price tag,” he said. “It's actually a really good franchise with a really solid core market. It seems ill-advised to neglect it.” If a new customer in Africa is looking to buy F-16s, it could be Botswana, which has indicated an interest in buying fighter jets, Aboulafia said. Lockheed has already sold F-16s to Morocco and Egypt, and the U.S. State Department in 2019 cleared Morocco for new F-16s and upgrades. In South America, Lockheed has been trying to sell F-16s to Argentina for years, but Aboulafia believes a second order for Chile is a more likely prospect. In Southeast Asia, a sale to Indonesia “would seem to be one of the most likely possibilities,” he added. https://www.defensenews.com/global/mideast-africa/2020/04/22/lockheed-looking-to-sell-additional-f-16s-to-customers-in-africa-south-america/

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  February 27, 2024 | International, Land

  Taser maker Axon forecasts full-year revenue above estimates

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  November 3, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - November 02, 2020

  AIR FORCE Akima Logistics Services LLC, Herndon, Virginia (FA6800-21-D-0002); DynCorp International, Fort Worth, Texas (FA6800-21-D-0005); M1 Support Services LP, Denton, Texas (FA6800-21-D-0003); PAE Aviation and Technical Services LLC, Arlington, Virginia (FA6800-21-D-0001); and Vertex Aerospace LLC, South Madison, Mississippi (FA6800-21-D-0004), have collectively been awarded an $835,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple award contract for helicopter maintenance services in support of Air Force Global Strike Command, Pacific Air Forces, Air Education and Training Command, and Air Force District of Washington requirements. This contract provides helicopter maintenance, aircrew flight equipment maintenance and weapons maintenance services 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Work will be performed at Malstrom Air Force Base, Montana; Minot AFB, North Dakota; F.E. Warren AFB, Wyoming; Yokota Air Base, Japan; Fairchild AFB, Washington; Kirtland AFB, New Mexico; and Andrews AFB, Maryland. This contract is the result of a competitive acquisition and 11 offers were received. Fiscal 2021 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $14,521,850 are collectively being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Installation Contracting Center, Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, is the contracting activity. NAVY Huntington-Ingalls Industries - Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia, is awarded a not to exceed $284,285,022 fixed-price-incentive (firm target) modification to previously awarded contract N00024-15-C-2114, and a not-to-exceed $30,714,978 cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost plus incentive fee modification to previously awarded contract N00024-09-C-2116, for the accomplishment of CVN 79 single phase delivery and Joint Strike Fighter (F-35C) capabilities. The Navy is transitioning to a single-phase delivery approach to meet both Fleet requirements and a congressional mandate of ensuring that CVN 79 is capable of operating and deploying Joint Strike Fighter (F-35C) aircraft before completing the post-shakedown availability as codified in Section 124 of the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (Public Law 116-92). The single-phase delivery date is planned for June 30, 2024. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by June 2024. Fiscal 2018 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $13,961,569 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. Sodexo Management Inc., Gaithersburg, Maryland, is awarded a $124,391,335 firm-fixed-price modification P00043 under previously awarded contract M95494-18-C-0018 for the management and operation of mess halls in support of the Marine Corps Regional Garrison Food Services Program. Work will be performed in Washington, D.C.; Indian Head, Maryland; Quantico, Virginia; Norfolk, Virginia; Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; Cherry Point, North Carolina; Bogue, North Carolina; New River, North Carolina; Beaufort, South Carolina; and Parris Island, South Carolina. Fiscal 2021 military personnel (Marine Corps) funding in the amount of $27,431,955 will be obligated at the time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Marine Corps Installation Command, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity. Sodexo Management Inc., Gaithersburg, Maryland, is awarded a $121,791,100 firm-fixed-price modification P00038 under previously awarded contract M95494-18-C-0016 for the management and operation of mess halls in support of the Marine Corps Regional Garrison Food Services Program. Work will be performed in Camp Pendleton, California; San Diego, California; Twentynine Palms, California; Miramar, California; Yuma, Arizona; and Bridgeport, California. Fiscal 2021 military personnel (Marine Corps) funding in the amount of $27,440,774 will be obligated at the time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Marine Corps Installation Command, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity. Booz Allen Hamilton, McLean, Virginia (N00189-18-D-Z067); CACI Inc. – Federal, Chantilly, Virginia (N00189-18-D-Z068); Science Application International Corp., Reston, Virginia (N00189-18-D-Z069); Capstone Corp., Alexandria, Virginia (N00189-18-D-Z070); and Serco Inc., Herndon, Virginia (N00189-18-D-Z071), are awarded an estimated increased multiple-award-program ceiling-price of $92,834,859 via modifications P00003 to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple award contract program that included terms and conditions for the placement of both cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price task orders to provide technical support services for functions such as chief information officer strategic support; data and information management; engineering support; information technology system support; network support; information assurance/cyber security; enterprise business intelligence/enterprise business analytics; software analysis; hardware maintenance and development; and business process reengineering in support of the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, the Bureau of Naval Personnel, Navy Personnel Command, the Navy Manpower Analysis Center, Commander Naval Education and Training and Commander Navy Recruiting Command. This modification brings the total cumulative multiple-award-program ceiling to $342,538,913. The contracts run concurrently and the ordering period is expected to be completed by September 2024. Work will be performed in Millington, Tennessee (45%); Pensacola, Florida (27%); Arlington, Virginia (10%); various locations throughout the continental U.S. (16%); and various contractor facilities (2%). Operations and maintenance (Navy) funds will fund individual task orders with appropriate fiscal year appropriations at the time of their issuance. This contract action for the modifications is being executed on a non-competitive basis. The original multiple award contracts were solicited under full and open competition; the multiple-award-program ceiling increase is non-competitive utilizing the authority of 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(2) as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-2. The Naval Supply Systems Command, Fleet Logistics Center, Norfolk Contracting Department, Philadelphia Office, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity. Science Applications International Corp., Reston, Virginia, is awarded a $36,020,450 modification (P00005) to previously awarded, cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract N00421-18-D-0017. This modification increases the ceiling of the contract to continue to provide systems engineering support to include multi-discipline, integrated technical baseline evaluations, developmental progress assessments, cost, schedule, emerging technology and maturity of design assessments for all Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) acquisition programs in support of the NAVAIR Systems Engineering Department. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Maryland (95%); various locations within the continental U.S. (4%); and various locations outside the continental U.S. (1%), and is expected to be completed in April 2023. No funds will be obligated at the time of award; funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. The Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Integral Aerospace,* Santa Ana, California, is awarded a $9,230,400 modification (P00004) to previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract N00019-18-C-1036. This modification exercises an option for the production and delivery of 72 external fuel tanks in support of the F/A-18E/F and EA-18G aircraft. Work will be performed in Santa Ana, California, and is expected to be completed in May 2022. Fiscal 2021 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $9,230,400 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Burlington Apparel Fabrics, Greensboro, North Carolina, has been awarded a maximum $8,122,500 modification (P00010) exercising the second one-year option period of a one-year base contract (SPE1C1-19-D-1100) with four one-year option periods for cloth. This is a firm-fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Location of performance is North Carolina, with a Nov. 4, 2021, ordering period end date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2022 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2402363/source/GovDelivery/