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November 3, 2020 | International, Naval, C4ISR

Viasat to supply Britain’s future frigate with satellite communications tech

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LONDON — Progress toward boosting the British Royal Navy's frigate numbers with a new class of ship continues to advance, with the Babcock International-led consortium contracted to build the warships adding on satellite communication supplier Viasat to its list of subcontractors.

A deal to supply ultrahigh-frequency satellite communications for five general-purpose frigates being built for the Royal Navy has gone to Viasat UK, the company announced Nov 3. Viasat is based in the U.S. and was ranked No. 69 on Defense News' latest list of the top 100 defense companies around the world.

Ultrahigh-frequency SATCOM is a mission-critical capability that will provide the Type 31 with beyond-line-of-sight, secure, integrated voice and data services.

The deal is the latest in a sequence of contract awards by Babcock over the last few months. This time last year, the Ministry of Defence hired the firm to design and build a British version of the Danish Iver Huitfeldt-class warship.

About 75 percent of the Type 31 subcontracts have now been awarded, and Babcock remains confident the program is on schedule despite problems presented by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Viasat deal follows a recent announcement from BAE Systems that it had come to an agreement with Babcock to deliver two Bofors 40 Mk4 and one Bofors 57 Mk3 multipurpose gun systems per ship. BAE said its Karlskoga facility in Sweden will deliver the weapons in 2023 and 2024.

All of the major supply chain contracts on Type 31 have been decided, including the Thales Tacticos-based combat management system; MTU main engines and diesel generators; Renk main reduction gearboxes; MAN Energy Solutions propellers and propeller shaft lines; and Raytheon Anschutz's warship-integrated navigation and bridge system.

Babcock and its partners BMT, Fraser Nash, OMT and Thales — collectively known as Babcock Team 31 — are to start construction of the first 6,000-ton warship next year, with 2027 set as the year it's to enter service.

A covered construction hall capable of holding two Type 31s is progressing at Babcock's Rosyth shipyard in Scotland, where the Royal Navy's two 65,000-ton Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers were recently completed.

All five of the new frigates are due to have been completed — at an average cost of £250 million (U.S. $324 million) per ship — by 2028 to replace aging Type 23 frigates.

Babcock announced in August that it had weeks earlier successfully completed the preliminary design review of the entire ship.

BAE is also building Britain's Type 26 anti-submarine warfare frigate. The company has a contract for the first three warships, with the Royal Navy having an eventual requirement for eight vessels.

As for Viasat UK, the SATCOM contract is the second defense deal it has secured in the last few days. Last week the company announced that, along with CDW UK, it had been awarded a two-year technical innovation contract for command, control and communication support for a program known as Lelantos. The agile experimentation initiative is to empower the headquarters of NATO's Allied Rapid Reaction Corps in Gloucester, England, with superior decision-making, cross-domain integration and fast maneuver in a conflict.

https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2020/11/03/viasat-to-supply-britains-future-frigate-with-satellite-communications-tech

On the same subject

  • General Dynamics Awarded $174 Million Contract for Submarine Work

    July 15, 2019 | International, Naval

    General Dynamics Awarded $174 Million Contract for Submarine Work

    GROTON, Conn. (July 11, 2019) - The U.S. Navy today awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat a $174 million contract for nuclear-submarine work. Electric Boat is a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD). Under the terms of the contract, Electric Boat will provide design agent, planning yard, and engineering services, as well as technical support for active nuclear submarines and submersible systems. The contract could be worth more than $1 billion over five years if all options are exercised and funded. Seventy percent of the work will be performed at Groton; 13 percent at Kings Bay, Ga.; 10 percent at Bangor, Wash.; 3 percent at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; and 2 percent at Newport and Quonset Point, R.I. Work performed under this contract is expected to be completed by September 2023. General Dynamics Electric Boat has established standards of excellence in the design, construction and lifecycle support of U.S. Navy submarines. In its position as an industry leader, Electric Boat remains committed to applying its technical and business expertise to effectively manage the challenges of nuclear-submarine production. The company's three primary locations are in Groton and New London, Conn.; and Quonset Point, R.I. Its current workforce is approximately 17,000 employees. More information about Electric Boat is available at www.gdeb.com. For more information about General Dynamics, please visit www.generaldynamics.com. http://www.gdeb.com/news/news_archives/2019archives.html#07-11-19

  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - April 29, 2020

    April 30, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - April 29, 2020

    ARMY FN America LLC, Columbia, South Carolina (W56HZV-20-D-0024); and Colt's Manufacturing Co. LLC, West Hartford, Connecticut (W56HZV-20-D-0025), will compete for each order of the $383,311,941 firm-fixed-price contract to provide M16A4 rifles for Foreign Military Sales (Afghanistan, Grenada, Iraq, Lebanon and Nepal). Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of April 28, 2025. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity. Travis Association for the Blind, Austin, Texas, was awarded a $12,483,935 modification (P00004) to contract W56HZV-18-C-0067 to support repairing, cleaning, warehousing and distribution of organizational clothing and individual equipment. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Austin, Texas, with an estimated completion date of April 30, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $12,483,935 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity. Cepheid, Sunnyvale, California, was awarded a $9,933,000 firm-fixed-price contract (W911QY-20-P-0154) for up to 333,000 COVID-19 assays. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Sunnyvale, California, with an estimated completion date of March 31, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $9,933,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity. (Awarded April 27, 2020) Manson Construction Co., Seattle, Washington, was awarded a $7,675,998 modification (P00002) to contract W912P8-20-C-0010 to exercise option hours for the dredge Glenn Edwards. Work will be performed in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2020. Fiscal 2020 civil operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $7,675,998 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans, Louisiana, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY American Water Military Services LLC, Camden, New Jersey, has been awarded a maximum $70,000,000 modification (P00001) to a 50-year contract (SP0600-19-C-8327) with no option periods for additional wastewater utility system construction, repair and replacement work at Target Hill Wastewater Treatment Plant, U.S. Army Garrison West Point, New York. This is a fixed-price contract. Locations of performance are New Jersey and New York, with a Sept. 30, 2023, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2016 through 2020 Army military construction funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Raytheon Co., Andover, Massachusetts, has been awarded a maximum $13,688,190 firm-fixed-price, one-time purchase contract for radomes. 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 two-year base contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Massachusetts, with a March 31, 2022, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (SPRRA2-20-C-0023). UPDATE: Werres Corp., Frederick, Maryland (SPE8EC-20-D-0058) has been added as an awardee to the multiple-award contract for commercial material handling equipment, issued against solicitation SPE8EC-17-R-0002 and awarded June 9, 2017. AIR FORCE Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Arizona, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $32,780,869 fixed-price-incentive-fee, undefinitized contract action for StormBreaker Lot 6 Contract Line Identification Number 6001 - All Up Round (AUR); Simmonds Precision Product and multicut. This contract provides for Simmonds Precision Product and multicut material and labor for parts used in a StormBreaker AUR. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona, and is expected to be completed by Nov. 21, 2022. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2020 missile procurement funds in the amount of $6,612,745 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity (FA8672-20-C-0005). (Awarded April 28, 2020) NAVY Physical Optics Corp.,* Torrance, California, is awarded a $17,783,583 cost-plus-fixed-fee order (N68335-20-F-0001) against previously issued basic ordering agreement N68335-19-G-0041. This order provides non-recurring engineering for the production, test, integration and delivery of the T-45 Head-Up Display (HUD) and its associated internal software. Work will be performed in Torrance, California, and also provides airworthiness substantiation and supports the joint software support activity lab and government flight test demonstration for the HUD. This is a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase III for research and development performed under the SBIR Topic Numbers N091-003, N152-096 and 04-A-A1.01. Work is expected to be complete by April 2022. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,166,435; fiscal 2019 fiscal aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $16,387,148; and fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $230,000 will be obligated at time of award, $230,000 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. Vectrus J&J Facilities Support LLC, Colorado Springs, Colorado, is awarded a $17,090,690 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for base operating support (BOS) services at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Patuxent River, Maryland; Webster Field, St. Inigoes, Maryland; Solomons Annex, Solomons, Maryland; and Point Lookout, St. Mary's County, Maryland. The maximum dollar value including the base period and seven option periods is $190,007,916. All work will be performed in Calvert County (8%) and St. Mary's County (92%), Maryland. The BOS services to be performed include: general information, management and administration, airfield facilities, facilities support including facility management; facility investment; integrated solid waste management; other (swimming pools); special events; and utility management, wastewater, water and environmental services. Work is expected to be complete by June 2028. No funds will be obligated at time of award. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $17,090,690 for recurring work will be obligated on an individual task order issued during the base period. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, and seven proposals were received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N62470-20-D-0009). CFM International, West Chester, Ohio, is awarded a $13,582,486 modification (P00172) to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-18-C-1071). This modification exercises an option to procure one CFM56-7B27AE commercial-off-the-shelf engine for the government of the United Kingdom. Work will be performed in Villaroche, France (50%); and Durham, North Carolina (50%), and is expected to be complete by April 2021. 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The task order is for a one-year base period beginning July 1, 2020. The task order includes four one-year option periods. If all four option periods are exercised, the task order will be completed June 30, 2025. Quoters were solicited on the General Services Administration eBuy website, available to 03FAC contract holders, five quotes were received. The Defense Commissary Agency, Enterprise Acquisition Division, Construction Design Branch, Joint Base San Antonio, Lackland, Texas, is the contracting activity (HDEC03-20-F-0030). *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2170148/source/GovDelivery/

  • Textron finalizes acquisition of robotics company

    January 11, 2019 | International, Land

    Textron finalizes acquisition of robotics company

    By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — Textron's acquisition of robotics firm Howe & Howe Technologies stemmed from a late night channel surfing session, where a fortuitous viewing of “Jay Leno's Garage” turned into a big business deal. As its CEO Lisa Atherton watched the show at home with her husband, Howe & Howe's light tank drone wheeled across the screen. Textron had recently identified a gap in unmanned land vehicles, and this seemed to fit exactly the niche that the company was looking to fill. “I saw this tracked vehicle kind of flying through the woods and up and over the berms, and so I went and did a little research," Atherton told reporters on Jan. 10. Textron declared in October that it intended to purchase the Waterboro, Maine-based company. On Dec. 17, the deal was finalized, the company announced Thursday morning. The businesses have not disclosed the price or terms of the sale. Textron executives believe Howe & Howe, which specializes in innovative robotic ground vehicles, is a natural fit for their company, which is known for building unmanned systems — predominantly drones like the RQ-9 Shadow and maritime assets like the common unmanned surface vehicle that can deploy from a littoral combat ship to find mines. Meanwhile, Textron brings with it the ability to manufacture unmanned systems en masse and to support them in the field. Howe & Howe's senior vice president, Michael Howe, said his company's inventiveness, coupled with Textron's experience selling unmanned systems to the government, “makes for an extremely formidable combination.” Atherton said she is looking forward to getting Howe & Howe the investment dollars necessary to start work on new products and make existing ones more robust. “Mike and Geoff [Howe, the company's other founder] both have a ton of great ideas," she said. "They have ideas that they've sketched out in their books forever that they just haven't had the opportunity to do the investment for.” Several of Howe & Howe's robotic land vehicles have been evaluated by the U.S. Army. Its Ripsaw vehicle — the small unmanned tank seen on “Jay Leno's Garage” — has undergone testing at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey. But when sequestration slowed down funding of tests, the Howe brothers looked for other venues to promote it, landing the product a role in the 2015 classic “Mad Max: Fury Road.” “That speaks to their ingenuity, their ability to survive through sequestration as a small company,” Atherton said. Howe & Howe's RS2-H1 robot, invented to carry soldiers' gear, is competing against three other unmanned land vehicles for the Squad Multipurpose Equipment Transport program contract. Two Army infantry brigade combat teams and an undisclosed Marine unit are currently assessing the four contenders ahead of a downselect, Army Times reported last year. Atherton named that opportunity as one of the four big programs she's hoping Textron can win in 2019. Updated on 1/10/19 at 1:10 p.m with quotes from Textron CEO Lisa Atherton. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2019/01/10/textron-finalizes-acquisition-of-robotics-company

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