Vente de Rafale et de frégates FDI : les PDG de Dassault Aviation et de Naval Group attendus ce jeudi en Grèce

On the same subject

• 

  March 6, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Northrop offers Triton drones to Australia, as US budget request pauses orders

  By: Nigel Pittaway MELBOURNE, Australia — Faced with a possible two-year production pause in the wake of the Trump administratoin's fiscal 2021 budget request, Northrop Grumman is offering to accelerate MQ-4C Triton drone production for Australia at what it says is the lowest price it has ever offered for an unmanned platform. Under the budget request, funding for U.S. Navy MQ-4C acquisition will be suspended until at least FY23, and aircraft that was to be built in low-rate initial production Lots 6 and 7 will now be deferred. However, the proposal leaves the door open for Triton production to recommence in 2023 while securing funds to complete development of the IFC 4 variant of the drone. This latter model is required by the U.S. Navy to replace its aging fleet of Lockheed Martin-made EP-3E Aries II aircraft used for signals reconnaissance. Speaking in Canberra on March 4, Northrop's chief executive in Australia, Chris Deeble, said the company's proposal is to move forward production of five aircraft for the Royal Australian Air Force into the current, and funded, low-rate initial production 5 batch during the two years the U.S. Navy might not buy the aircraft. “PB21 has created an incredible opportunity for Australia. We've been working with the U.S. Navy to provide an option to buy the rest of their aircraft as part of the LRIP 5 contract,” Deeble said. “That provides a significant unit-cost saving to Australia, so now's the time to buy more than ever.” Australia has a requirement for six Tritons, built to the IFC 4 standard, under Project Air 7000 Phase 1B. However, it currently has only one aircraft on order, which would be built as part of LRIP 5 and requires a more finalized contract by May 15 if the plan is to go ahead. Deeble said Australia will need to make a decision on the additional five aircraft by the end of June. Northrop Grumman's proposal is to add the five Australian aircraft to the existing three aircraft in LRIP 5 (two U.S. Navy and one RAAF aircraft), bringing the total to eight. Deeble said the offer preserves Australia's planned funding profile for Triton acquisition and that the delivery schedule will remain the same. Should Australia finalize an agreement to meet its six-Triton requirement, it expects to receive them between 2023 and 2025, with declaration of final operational capability in the 2025-2026 time frame. "The two key points are, this will probably the best price you will be able to achieve for the Triton capability, and we're remaining within the [Australian] defense profile,” Deeble added. “We also look to provide Australian industry opportunities as a consequence. And committing to an additional five aircraft in LRIP 5 will provide about AU$56 million [(U.S. $37 million)] of opportunity in that regard.” https://www.defensenews.com/unmanned/2020/03/04/northrop-offers-triton-drones-to-australia-as-us-budget-request-pauses-orders/

• 

  October 31, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - October 30, 2019

  ARMY General Dynamics Land Systems Inc., Sterling Heights, Michigan, was awarded a $162,403,915 hybrid (cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price) contract to procure small multipurpose equipment transport systems; support hardware including authorized stockage list kits and prescribed load list kits; and services for refurbishment, user training, field service representative, system technical support, program management support for pre-production meetings, and storage. Four bids were solicited with four received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 29, 2024. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-20-D-0002). The Boeing Co., Mesa, Arizona, was awarded a $62,294,566 modification (PZ0005) to contract W58RGZ-19-C-0024 for performance-based logistics support for the AH-64D/E Apache Attack helicopter. Work will be performed in Mesa, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of April 30, 2024. Fiscal 2019 Army working capital funds in the amount of $62,294,566 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. AGCM Inc.,* Corpus Christi, Texas (W912DY-20-D-0002); Alliance Consulting Group Inc.,* Alexandria, Virginia (W912DY-20-D-0003); PCS and MOCA JV LLC,* Decatur, Georgia (W912DY-20-D-0004); Professional Project Services Inc., Oak Ridge, Tennessee (W912DY-20-D-0005); Project Time and Cost LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (W912DY-20-D-0006); and Michael Baker International Inc., Alexandria, Virginia (W912DY-20-D-0007), will compete for each order of the $49,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for architect-engineering services. Bids were solicited via the internet with seven received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 18, 2024. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntsville, Alabama, is the contracting activity. NAVY BAE Systems Technology Solutions & Services Inc., Rockville, Maryland, is awarded a $69,247,177 cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for up to 931,200 man hours of installation and certification technical support to the Combat Integration and Identification Systems Division, Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) Webster Outlying Field and Patuxent River in support of the Navy and the governments of Japan, South Korea and Australia. Work will be performed in St. Inigoes, Maryland (80%); and Rockville, Maryland (20%), and is expected to be completed in April 2025. No funds will be obligated at time of award; funds will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposals; one offer was received. The NAWCAD, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00421-20-D-0003). Aircraft Readiness Alliance LLC,* Anchorage, Alaska, is awarded a $55,170,944 modification (P00012) to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N68936-17-C-0081). This modification exercises an option to provide depot level maintenance services in support of the Fleet Readiness Center Southwest mission. Work will be performed in San Diego, California (79.5%); Lemoore, California (8.5%) Camp Pendleton, California (3.4%); Yuma, Arizona (2.4%); Miramar, California (2.2%); Whidbey Island, Washington (1.7%); Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii (1%); Nellis, Nevada (1%); and Fallon, Nevada (0.3%), and is expected to be completed in October 2020. Fiscal 2020 working capital (Navy) funds in the amount of $19,062,893 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, Weapons Division, China Lake, California, is the contracting activity. AUSTAL USA LLC, Mobile, Alabama, is awarded a $21,529,121 cost-plus-fixed-fee task order N69316-20-F-4000 against a previously awarded basic ordering agreement N00024-19-G-2318 to accomplish advance planning, material procurement and work in support of the post shakedown availability (PSA) of the littoral combat ship USS Charleston (LCS 18). This effort encompasses all of the manpower, support services, material, non-standard equipment and associated technical data and documentation required to prepare for and accomplish the USS Charleston (LCS 18) PSA. The work to be performed will include correction of government responsible trial card deficiencies, new work identified between custody transfer and the time of PSA, and incorporation of approved engineering changes that were not incorporated during the construction period which are not otherwise the building yard's responsibility under the ship construction contract. Work will be performed in Seattle, Washington, and is expected to be completed by September 2020. Fiscal 2020 operation and maintenance (Navy); fiscal 2014 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); and fiscal 2019 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $14,700,000 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Funding: fiscal 2020 operation and maintenance, Navy (75%); fiscal 2014 shipbuilding and conversion (20%); and fiscal 2019 other procurement, Navy (5%). This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1); only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion, and Repair Gulf Coast, Pascagoula, Mississippi, is the contracting activity. The Boeing Co., Seattle, Washington, is awarded a $17,630,211 modification (05) to a cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order (N00019-17-F-2017) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-16-G-0001). This modification exercises an option to perform 27 modifications in support of the Increment 3 Block 1 retrofit requirement for P-8A aircraft for the Navy and the government of Australia. Work will be performed in Seattle, Washington (64.9%); Edinburgh, Australia (33.8%); and Meza, Arizona (1.3%), and is expected to be completed in September 2021. Fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $11,362,276; and cooperative engagement agreement funds in the amount of $6,267,935 are being obligated on this 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. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $10,571,178 modification (P00015) to a previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract (N00019-14-C-0040). This modification provides for the development and delivery of an enhanced simulator database and project management support for the F-35 aircraft in support of the government of Japan. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida (70%); and Fort Worth, Texas (30%), and is expected to be completed in July 2021. Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $10,311,534 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 Allison Transmission, Indianapolis, Indiana, has been awarded a maximum $35,266,682 firm-fixed-price contract for transmissions. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a one-year base contract with one, one-year option period being awarded at the time of award. Location of performance is Indiana, with a March 31, 2022, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Warren, Michigan (SPRDL1-20-C-0023). Alliant Healthcare, Grand Rapids, Michigan, has been awarded a maximum $30,000,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for medical/surgical supplies. This was a competitive acquisition with 16 responses received. This is a five-year contract with no options. Location of performance is Michigan, with an Oct. 29, 2024, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2024 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2DE-20-D-0004). Propper International, Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, has been awarded a maximum $13,099,478 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity contract for Improved Combat Vehicle Crewmen's coveralls with the operational camouflage pattern. This is a one-year base contract with four one-year option periods. This was a competitive acquisition with two responses received. Location of performance is Puerto Rico, with an Oct. 29, 2020, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE1C1-20-D-1205). AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Co., Space Systems Co., King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, has been awarded a $7,325,831 contract modification (P00031) to previously awarded contract FA8823-17-C-0003 for the AN/UMQ-13 Meteorological Data Station MARK IV-B System sustainment. The MARK IV-B is a web enabled client-server system that receives, processes, disseminates and stores real time imagery and mission sensor data from polar orbiting and geostationary satellites. Data from multiple satellites can be processed simultaneously. Using approved network protocols the system disseminates environmental imagery and sensor data to internal/external modeling systems and provides stored environmental imagery and sensor data to forecaster users. The MARK IV-B Forecaster client software is fully interrogatable and enables weather personnel to manipulate and transform environmental data. The MARK IV-B provides both automatic and semiautomatic dissemination of products to other approved external systems. Work will be performed at King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2020. The total cumulative face value is $27,313,202. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $3,438,207; and spectrum relocation funds in the amount of $644,391 are being obligated at the time of option award. The Space and Missile Systems Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, is the contracting activity. *Small Business

• 

  November 16, 2017 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR, Security

  Cyber consequences: Attacks are hitting the C-suite

  Ask Charles Bouchard what keeps him awake at night and the chief executive officer of Lockheed Martin Canada won't hesitate: “Our ability to protect our cyber systems.” At a time when access to intellectual property (IP) is raising debate among aerospace OEMs, suppliers, in-service support and MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) companies, and governments and militaries, protecting data is a hot topic. Lockheed Martin has seen enough of its IP stolen in recent years to take the problem seriously. But Bouchard believes many industry executives don't truly understand the challenge or the cost. “It's one thing to say, we want the IP. The next question is, can you defend it? Can you protect it? That is a problem today,” he told Skies. “Subcontractors . . . need to protect their data because they are connecting to our systems, especially if IP will be passed to them. How are we going to do that? We have gone beyond putting a guard at the front gate and a lock on the door. [And] for some, it's a significant investment.” Cyber defence is a national imperative, said retired Major-General Robert Wheeler, a 32-year veteran of the United States Air Force and a senior advisor to Avascent Global Advisors. Whether the threat comes from nations or non-state actors such as terrorist or criminal organizations, cyber experts are seeing an increase in frequency and capability “in this particular type of warfare.” “They are going after companies that are not prepared to deal with it, to take their IP and create havoc...,” the former deputy chief information officer in the Office of the Secretary of Defense told executives at the Canadian Aerospace Summit in Ottawa Nov. 7. Modern aircraft, with their vast supply chains and increasingly networked systems, present an attractive “avenue for bad guys to get in.” In a presentation that highlighted recent attacks in Canada, the U.S. and elsewhere, Wheeler showed how the relentless pursuit of corporate and government data has jeopardized military, commercial and critical infrastructure systems and programs. The 2011 attack on Defence Research and Development Canada, for example, was not only a costly systems problem to fix, it also raised questions about what government, industry and research data was exfiltrated. Likewise, the 2015 hack of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management was alarming because the benign-sounding agency houses the security clearances, including digital photo and biometric identification, for government, intelligence and military personnel. “Data is the commodity of the 21st century,” said Wheeler. While the sheer volume of new data might be a sign that more intellectual property is being created and the economy is growing, corporate breaches are keeping pace, and “the cost of each breach is accelerating” in terms of dollars and lost IP. Cyber attacks are also starting to impact the C-suite, he noted. The 2013 breach of Target's payment card system cost chief executive officer Gregg Steinhafel his job, and executives with credit reporting agency Equifax have been “publicly flogged” in the wake of the hack of millions of client records in October. ere may be greater consequences for companies that don't do due diligence, Wheeler suggested, pointing to changes taking shape in the legal regime following the Target attack. While greater investment in cyber defence is important, “this is not a technology issue,” he said. “This is a leadership issue” that requires a change in organizational culture and executives who understand the challenge and can “walk the talk.” It also requires more employee training, not only in best cyber hygiene practices, but also in how to use networking and cyber tools to be more resilient, agile and quick to respond. The payoff is a more effective, efficient and competitive company. “[So] many solutions to problems of this world today are in the data,” he said. “If you do this correctly . . . there is an opportunity to be more competitive, more collaborative, to come up with faster ideas in an environment and age when we have to come up with faster ideas.” https://www.skiesmag.com/news/cyber-consequences-attacks-hitting-c-suite/