What Countries Lead In Developing Next-Gen Combat Aircraft?

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  March 12, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  Key piece of F-35 logistics system unusable by US Air Force students, instructor pilots

  By: Valerie Insinna EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. — The F-35 fighter jet's logistics backbone has proven so clunky and burdensome to work with that the U.S. Air Force's instructor pilots, as well as students learning to fly the aircraft, have stopped using a key piece of the system, Defense News has learned. The Autonomic Logistics Information System, built by F-35 manufacturer Lockheed Martin, was supposed to consolidate training, maintenance and supply chain management functions into a single entity, making it easier for users to input data and oversee the jet's health and history throughout its life span. ALIS has been a disappointment to maintainers in the field, with updates coming behind schedule and many workarounds needed so it functions as designed. But the Air Force's F-35A instructor and student pilots at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, were so disappointed with the performance of ALIS' training system that they bailed entirely, confirmed Col. Paul Moga, commander of Eglin's 33rd Fighter Wing. “The functionality in ALIS with regards to TMS — the training management system — was such a source of frustration and a time waste to the instructor pilots and the simulator instructors and the academic instructors that we at [Air Education and Training Command] in coordination with us [at Eglin] and Luke made a call almost a year ago to stop using the program,” Moga said during a Feb. 26 interview. Moga said the command's F-35 training squadrons are “not going to start using TMS again until it works.” So in the meantime, F-35A training squadrons have adopted a legacy system, Northrop Grumman's Global Training Integrated Management System. GTIMS is used by the Air Force, Army and Navy across a number of aircraft inventories to manage training schedules and cut the man-hours and costs associated with doing that work, according to a Northrop fact sheet. At this point, GTIMS provides a more agile, efficient user experience than ALIS' training management system, Moga said. But it doesn't sync with ALIS, so pilots and instructors must do “double data entry” so that each system has a record of flight records, currencies and qualifications. Full article: https://www.defensenews.com/air/2019/03/08/key-piece-of-f-35-logistics-system-unusable-by-us-air-force-students-instructor-pilots/

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

  India releases details of new defense budget

  By: Vivek Raghuvanshi NEW DELHI — India on Monday allocated $18.48 billion for weapons procurement in its 2021-2022 defense budget amid an ongoing military standoff with China and financial stress on the national economy due to the coronavirus pandemic. Excluding pensions, the new defense budget totals $49.6 billion, an increase of more than 3 percent from the previous year's $47.98 billion. New capital expenditure of $18.48 billion meant for arms procurement witnessed an increase of about 16 percent from the previous year's $15.91 billion. This is the highest-ever increase in capital outlay for defense in the last 15 years, according to Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. An additional $2.84 billion was spent on emergency arms purchases in the summer of 2020 to deal with the ongoing confrontation with China. The budget's revenue expenditure meant for maintenance of existing weapons, pay and allowances, and recurring expenses is set at $29.02 billion, compared to $28.75 billion in the previous defense budget. Officials in India point to the COVID-19 pandemic as disrupting the economy and thus affecting the government's income and driving spending decisions. Consequently, the defense budget might not be as high as it would've been were there not a pandemic, said Amit Cowshish, a former financial adviser for acquisition at the Ministry of Defence. Cowshish noted that the funds may be inadequate for all the planned acquisitions from abroad and at home to be signed during the upcoming financial year, which begins April 1. Capital expenditure is essentially defense funding meant for fresh arms procurement and existing liabilities from previously conducted defense contracts. Revenue expenditure is defense spending meant for the pay and allowances of military personnel as well as the maintenance of weapons and other existing inventory items. The Army will receive $4.9 billion in capital expenditure, which is an increase of 8.17 percent from the previous year's $4.53 billion. “The service could buy additional military vehicles and upgrade its drones fleet,” a senior Army official said. The service's revenue expenditure is set at $20.37 billion, compared to $20.11 billion in the previous budget. The Navy will receive $4.55 billion in capital expenditure, which is an increase of nearly 22 percent from previous year's $3.73 billion. This could pave the way for the service to buy 10 tactical MQ-9 Reaper drones from General Atomics through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program, an Indian Navy official said. The revenue expenditure for the Navy is $3.19 billion, which is meant for the maintenance of warships and submarines, compared to $3.13 billion in the previous budget. The Air Force will receive $7.2 billion in capital expenditure, which is a hike of 19 percent from the previous year's $6.05 billion. According to a service official, this will go toward a new contract for 83 homemade LCA MK1A Tejas light combat aircraft, an existing commitment to pay for 36 Rafale fighters from France and five units of S-400 missile defense systems from Russia, among other efforts. The Air Force's revenue expenditure is $4.19 billion, compared to $4.1 billion in the previous budget. About $1.55 billion in capital expenditure will go toward the state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation for new projects, compared to $1.47 billion in the previous budget. DRDO has also been given a revenue expenditure totaling $1.24 billion, compared to $1.2 billion last year. This year, existing liabilities could eat up to 90 percent of the new capital expenditure, which will impact several new weapons procurement efforts, an MoD official said. But if that high percentage is accurate, according to Cowshish, there must be a lot of equipment already on contract. The military will have to make do with whatever amount is left over for acquiring new systems, he noted. “Capability-building and self-reliance ... are long-term projects, which are not dependent entirely on the budgetary allocation in a particular year. Hopefully things will improve in the future.” https://www.defensenews.com/global/asia-pacific/2021/02/02/india-releases-details-of-new-defense-budget/

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  December 10, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - December 09, 2019

  AIR FORCE The Korean Airlines Co. Ltd., Aerospace Division, Seoul, South Korea, has been awarded a $213,000,000 ceiling indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for A-10 Pacific Air Force depot support. This contract provides depot support for A-10 aircraft that are stationed in South Korea. Work will be performed in Buson, South Korea, and is expected to be complete by Dec. 31, 2029. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and one offer was received. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $166,361 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8202-20-D-0001). ARMY LOC Performance,* Plymouth, Michigan, was awarded a $70,987,890 firm-fixed-price contract for Bradley Engineering Change Proposal kits, spare parts and installation. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of July 3, 2024. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-20-F-0014). Raytheon Co., Woburn, Massachusetts, was awarded a $26,000,840 firm-fixed-price Foreign Military Sales (Poland and Romania) contract for field artillery C3, Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System. One bid was solicited via the internet with one bid received. Work will be performed in Woburn, Massachusetts, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 19, 2021. Fiscal 2020 Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $9,235,884 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W91CRB-20-C-5008). HNTB Corp., Kansas City, Missouri, was awarded a $10,213,080 modification (P00007) to contract W91236-17-F-0012 for architect and engineer 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 Sept. 10, 2022. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity. Chustz Surveying LLC,* New Roads, Louisiana (W912EE-20-D-0001); Johnson-McAdams Surveying and Mapping LLC,* Greenwood, Mississippi (W912EE-20-D-0002); and Seaside Engineering & Surveying LLC,* Baker, Florida (W912EE-20-D-0003), will compete for each order of the $10,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for surveying and mapping services. 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 Dec. 9, 2024. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg, Mississippi, is the contracting activity. CACI Inc. – Federal, Chantilly, Virginia, was awarded a $9,908,767 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for design, development and to validate system prototypes for a combined arms squad. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Chantilly, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 30, 2020. Fiscal 2019 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency funds in the amount of $5,668,581 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W912CG-20-C-0004). NAVY PAE Applied Technologies Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $47,364,653 modification (P00088) to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost reimbursable contract (N00019-14-C-0038). This modification extends the period of performance and increases the ceiling to continue providing services in support of range engineering, operations and maintenance support to the Atlantic Test Range and the Atlantic Targets and Marine Operations Division of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division. This work will employ disciplines embracing various types of system operations, laboratory and field testing, marine operations and target support services, engineering, range sustainability, maintenance, data reduction and analysis. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Maryland, and is expected to be completed in June 2020. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test, evaluation; and working capital (Navy) funds for $12,645,500 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. Konecranes Nuclear Equipment and Services LLC, New Berlin, Wisconsin, is awarded a $46,014,523 firm-fixed-price contract to provide one 175-ton portal crane at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The work to be performed provides for the contractor to design, fabricate, assemble, shop test, deliver, install, inspect, field test and make ready for use one 175-ton heavy-lift portal crane to be installed at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The crane shall be a portal type with a rotating superstructure, luffing boom, main hoist and an auxiliary hoist designed to meet the dimensional and functional requirements of the specification. The contract also contains six unexercised options, which if exercised, would increase cumulative contract value to $329,923,447. Work will be performed in New Berlin, Wisconsin, and is expected to be completed by November 2023. Fiscal 2020 other procurement, (Navy) funds in the amount of $46,014,523 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online and Federal Business Opportunities websites with two proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N62470-20-C-0002). Alion – IPS Corp., Burr Ridge, Illinois, is awarded a $44,721,438 cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-only modification to a previously awarded contract N00024-18-C-0015 to procure professional support services for the Naval Sea System Command's Deputy Commander for Surface Warfare. This procurement is for professional support services in the areas of program management, administrative support, surface ship modernization, inactive ships, surface ships readiness, surface training systems, business and financial management, records management and information technology support. Work will be performed in Washington, District of Columbia (54.7%); Norfolk, Virginia (19%); San Diego, California (17.3%); Mayport, Florida (2.1%); Yokosuka, Japan (1.5%); Sasebo, Japan (1.2%); Manama, Bahrain (1.2%); and various locations of less than 1% each in the U.S. and Europe (3%), and is expected to be complete by August 2020. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding for $5,300,000 will be obligated at time of award and funds for $5,300,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Fincantieri Marine Systems North America Inc., Chesapeake, Virginia, is awarded an $18,006,438 contract modification to exercise Option Year Three of a previously awarded firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity N55236-17-D-0009 contract to provide maintenance support for the Mine Countermeasure-1 Class main propulsion diesel engine and ship service diesel generator. Work will be performed in the homeports of San Diego, California; Sasebo, Japan; Manama, Bahrain; and ports-of-call as required, and work is scheduled to be completed by January 2021. No funding is being obligated at time of award. In accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1), this contract was not competitively procured. The independent contractor, under the direction of the Regional Maintenance Center and not as an agent of the government, shall provide diesel engine technical, engineering, and field service support for Mine Countermeasure-1 Class ships homeported in San Diego, California; and forward deployed in Japan and Bahrain. Obligated funding will cover preventive maintenance services and travel in the base year and subsequent option years in accordance with work item specifications and work item plans, drawings, other references, the delivery schedule and all other terms and conditions set forth in the contract. The Southwest Regional Maintenance Center, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Corp., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded an $11,548,231 cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price modification (P00025) to a previously awarded fixed-price incentive firm contract (N00019-18-C-1048) to provide work and training necessary for the Autonomic Logistics Information System 3.5 software rollout to the fleet under the low rate initial production Lot XI. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida (57%); and Fort Worth, Texas (43%), and is expected to be completed in January 2021. Fiscal 2018 aircraft procurement (Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy); non-Department of Defense (DoD) participants; and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) funds in the amount of $11,548,231 are being obligated at time of award, $6,498,614 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract modification combines purchases for the Air Force ($3,043,659; 26%); Marine Corps ($1,476,651; 13%); Navy ($1,978,304; 17%); non-DoD participants ($3,060,938; 27%); and FMS ($1,988,680; 17%). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., San Diego, California, is awarded a $9,140,087 cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order (N00019-20-F-0457) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-15-G-0026) in support of the MQ-8C Firescout unmanned aircraft system. This order is for the production and delivery of eight AN/ZPY-8 radar modification kits, eight forward access panel modification kits and all associated non-recurring engineering and qualification efforts in support of mission processor unit upgrades. Work will be performed in Santa Clarita, California (38%); San Diego, California (37%); Fort Worth, Texas (22%); and Lititz, Philadelphia (3%). Work is expected to be completed in April 2021. Fiscal 2018 and 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds for $9,140,087 are being obligated at time of award, $3,921,389 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2035907/source/GovDelivery/