USAF Agility Prime Aims To Boost Investor Confidence In EVTOL Market

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  March 12, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - March 11, 2020

  NAVY Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Arizona, is awarded a $109,607,857 firm-fixed-price modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-19-C-5406 for MK 15 Close-In Weapon System upgrades and conversions, system overhauls and associated hardware. Work will be performed in Louisville, Kentucky (29%); Tucson, Arizona (20%); El Segundo, California (9%); Melbourne, Florida (5%); Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (3%); Andover, Massachusetts (2%); Ottobrunn, Germany (2%); Williston, Vermont (2%); Tempe, Arizona (1%); Grand Rapids, Michigan (1%); Hauppauge, New York (1%); Ashburn, Virginia (1%); East Syracuse, New York (1%); Camarillo, California (1%); Phoenix, Arizona (1%); Joplin, Missouri (1%); Murray, Utah (1%); Dallas, Texas (1%); Corona, California (1%); Huntsville, Alabama (1%); Minneapolis, Minnesota (1%); Valencia, California (1%); Palo Alto, California (1%); and various places below one percent (13%). Work is expected to be complete by October 2023. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy); fiscal 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); and fiscal 2020 weapons procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $109,607,857 will be obligated at time of award and were not competitively procured. Funds in the amount of $61,492,849 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. M.A. Mortenson Co., doing business as Mortenson Construction, Minneapolis, Minnesota (N62473-18-D-5850); RQ Construction LLC, Carlsbad, California (N62473-18-D-5851); R. A. Burch Construction Co. Inc.,* Ramona, California (N62473-18-D-5852); Harper Construction Co. Inc., San Diego, California (N62473-18-D-5853); Sundt Construction Inc., Tempe, Arizona (N62473-18-D-5854); SOLPAC Construction Inc., doing business as Soltek Pacific Construction Co., San Diego, California (N62473-18-D-5855); Bethel-Webcor Pacific JV,* Anchorage, Alaska (N62473-18-D-5856); and The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., Baltimore, Maryland (N62473-18-D-5858), are awarded $92,000,000 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 repair of commercial and institutional building construction projects at various government installations located in California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. All work will be performed at various federal sites within the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southwest area of responsibility. The maximum dollar value, including the base year and four option years for all eight contracts combined has increased from $750,000,000 to $842,000,000. No funds are being obligated on this award and contract funds will not 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 22 proposals were received. The NAVFAC Southwest, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Corp. Rotary and Mission Systems, Moorestown, New Jersey, is awarded a $65,008,603 cost-plus-incentive-fee and cost-only modification to previously-awarded contract (N00024-19-C-5603) for combat system and engineering support of the Ship Self-Defense System. Work will be performed in Moorestown, New Jersey, and is expected to be complete by June 2022. Fiscal 2020 and 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy); fiscal 2020 and 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy); fiscal 2020 and 2019 other procurement (Navy); and fiscal 2018, 2017 and 2016 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $4,707,191 will be obligated at time of award. Funds in the amount of $727,389 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Ocean Shipholdings Inc., Houston, Texas, is awarded a $13,445,617 modification under previously awarded firm, fixed-price contract (N32205-17-C-3001) to fund the second one-year option period. This contract option is being exercised for the operation and maintenance of two U.S. Naval Ship (USNS) Gordon-class, class surge, large, medium-speed roll-on/roll-off vessels; and two USNS Shughart class surge, large, medium-speed roll-on/roll-off vessels. This contract includes a 12-month base period, four 12-month option periods and a six-month option which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $220,028,462. Working capital contract funds (Navy) in the amount of $13,445,617 are obligated for fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2021 and will not expire. The Navy's Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N32205-17-C-3001). American International Contractors Inc., Arlington, Virginia, is awarded a $10,017,893 firm-fixed-price contract for alterations to the operation control center at Naval Support Activity I Bahrain. The work to be performed provides for the construction of a secure area requiring adherence to the National Counterintelligence and Security Center technical specifications for construction and management of sensitive compartmented information facilities, Version 1.4. Work will be performed in Manama, Bahrain, and is expected to be completed by August 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $10,017,893 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website. This proposed contract action will be awarded pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-2, Unusual and Compelling Urgency. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Europe Africa Central, is the contracting activity (N33191-20-C-0002). Cubic Defense Applications Inc., Austin, Texas, was awarded a $9,027,588 performance-based, cost-plus-fixed-fee, completion contract (N65236-20-C-8007). This contract is for research to develop and demonstrate software for real-time logistics and supply chain system situational awareness, future state prediction and assessment of resilience at unprecedented scale and speed. The contract includes an 18-month base period. Contract funds in the amount of $100,000 were obligated at the time of award. Work will be performed in Austin, Texas (61%); Minneapolis, Minnesota (22%); and Reston, Virginia (17%), and is expected to be completed by September 2021. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The contract was competitively procured, by full and open competition under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Strategic Technology Office broad agency announcement HR0011-19-S-0053 via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with nine timely offers received. Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic, Charleston, South Carolina, is the contracting activity. (Awarded March 9, 2020) ARMY AECOM Technical Services Inc., Los Angeles, California (W91278-20-D-0004); HDR Environmental, Operations and Construction Inc., Englewood, Colorado (W91278-20-D-0005); MSE Group LLC,* San Antonio, Texas (W91278-20-D-0006); Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Dallas, Texas (W91278-20-D-0007); Phe-Baker JV LLC,* Rockville, Maryland (W91278-20-D-0008, W91278-20-D-0009); Tetra Tech Inc., Pasadena, California (W91278-20-D-0010); and Trinity/Jacobs JV LLC,* Shalimar, Florida (W91278-20-D-0011), will compete for each order of the $49,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for architect and engineering services to support the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers South Atlantic Division. Bids were solicited via the internet with 20 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of March 10, 2023. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Salient CRGT, Fairfax, Virginia, was awarded a $38,078,488 modification (P00012) to contract W52P1J-18-C-0020 to provide mission critical information technology communications infrastructure and services in support of U.S. Special Operations military forces. Work will be performed in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and in Afghanistan, with an estimated completion date of March 14, 2023. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $38,078,488 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity. Tetra Tech-Stanley JV, Gahanna, Ohio, was awarded a $12,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for multi-disciplinary professional architect-engineer services primarily for civil works design. Bids were solicited via the internet with 10 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of March 11, 2025. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis, Missouri, is the contracting activity (W912P9-20-D-0009). AIR FORCE Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Woodland Hills, California, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $24,978,602 unpriced change order modification (P00013) to previously awarded contract FA8540-19-C-0001 for embedded Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation System engineering, manufacturing and development. This modification provides for the incorporation of System Requirements Document Version 3.2.1 and the incorporation of Statement of Work Revision 4. Work will be performed in Woodland Hills, California, and is expected to be complete by June 30, 2021. Fiscal 2020 research and development funds in the amount of $7,500,000 are being obligated at the time of award. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $149,990,015. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY SND Manufacturing, Dallas, Texas, has been awarded a maximum $8,130,915 modification (P00003) exercising the first one-year option period of a one-year base contract (SPE1C1-19-D-5038) with four one-year option periods for running suit jackets. This is an indefinite-delivery contract. Location of performance is Texas, with a March 17, 2021, performance completion date. Using military services are Navy and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. CORRECTION: The contract announced on March 6, 2020, for Quantico Tactical Inc.,* Aberdeen, North Carolina (SPE8EJ-19-D-0015), which is one of six companies sharing a $4,000,000,000 award, was announced with an incorrect contract number. The correct contract number is SPE8EJ-20-D-0015. *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2109345/source/GovDelivery/

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  February 27, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  New ‘Air Force Ventures’ Set To Transform Technology Strategy

  Steve Trimble The U.S. Air Force has adopted a three-phase strategy to select small, innovative companies outside the traditional defense industry to perform advanced development work and to tap Silicon Valley-style venture capital firms to help taxpayers finance the new technology. A new process could help rationalize the one-year-old Air Force effort to attract high-tech startups with dozens of Air Force Pitch Day events. These conferences have led to hundreds of small contract awards but no obvious path to guide the aspiring defense contractors further into the byzantine military acquisition process. U.S. Air Force plans to make 50 large “bets” on technology New acquisition training to be based on Fighter Weapons School For the private startups and venture capitalists involved, the Air Force Ventures initiative is designed to offer a new route to the commercial market for potentially game-changing technologies that could benefit from a risk-tolerant government customer providing funding and early support. “We don't really think of ourselves as a [stand-alone] market, but we purchase things in quantities that [are] meaningful enough that we can bridge companies until they reach a level for commercial success,” says Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics. “That's one reason that [venture capitalists] are interested in this.” The Air Force Ventures process starts with the Pitch Day events, during which the Air Force can place initial “bets” worth up to about $50,000 each in Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants on promising, potentially game-changing ideas, says Roper, speaking to about 1,000 Air Force acquisition officials during a Feb. 14 webinar. As the companies transition toward Phase II SBIR awards, the Air Force plans to grant about 300 contracts worth up to $1 million each—with a program office agreeing to fund about one-third of the costs. The funding match is meant to link the SBIR award to a program office, creating a path for the technology to potentially transition beyond the laboratory stage and into a program of record. The third and final step in the Air Force Ventures concept whittles the pool of awards to about 50 recipients. The amount of the award is potentially “unlimited,” Roper says, but is generally regarded as at least $10 million. The first of the “big bets” in Phase III are now under evaluation, Roper says. The contract awards could be announced at South by Southwest, a week-long technology conference and entertainment festival scheduled for March 13-22 in Austin, Texas. The initiative explicitly seeks to help the Air Force break from traditional defense contractors. As the Air Force attempts to field leap-ahead capabilities within the next decade for the Advanced Battle Management System and Next-Generation Air Dominance, leveraging the innovative ideas and technology flowing into the commercial market is seen as critical. “[R&D] in this country is 80% commercial,” Roper explains. “So in the 21st century, the [defense] industrial base should be dual-use. And so we've got to crack the code on how to have public and private funding work seamlessly inside an Air Force program.” But there are significant challenges as the Air Force tries to leverage commercial-sector technology investments: Small companies often need to find a market quickly to generate revenue and cash flow, whereas government program offices tend to make decisions slowly—and inconsistently. “In many cases, their commercialization [strategy] is devalued [by investors] if they have government funds,” Roper adds. The Air Force's program managers also face a learning curve. “If we're making 1,000 small bets a year, the reason we're making 1,000 is that we know most of them aren't going to pan out. So we can't manage the companies the way we would a traditional program,” Roper says. “But we can manage them as a portfolio—the same way that a private investor or a venture capitalist would.” To prepare, the Air Force is sending acquisition officials back to school. Next year, a cadre of program managers will be enrolled in a six-month course at Stanford University, which will teach the Air Force to manage technology investments like a venture capitalist, Roper says. The next step is to expand educational opportunities within the Air Force. A new acquisition curriculum, modeled on operational training centers such as the Fighter Weapons School, will be created, Roper says. https://aviationweek.com/shows-events/air-warfare-symposium/new-air-force-ventures-set-transform-technology-strategy

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  December 27, 2023 | International, Naval

  Turkish committee approves Sweden’s ascension to NATO

  NATO requires the unanimous approval of all existing members to expand, and Turkey and Hungary are the only countries that have been holding out.