With new CH-47 variant back in flight tests, Boeing hopes for production contract

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

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

  AIR FORCE Unisys Corp., Reston, Virginia, has been awarded a $630,000,000 single-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for technology application development and sustainment (TADS) supporting the Air Force weather enterprise. Orders under the TADS contract will support development, delivery and sustainment of an integrated system of weather enterprise hardware and software dedicated to providing accurate, consistent, relevant and timely environmental intelligence. Work will be performed at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska; and Omaha, Nebraska, and is expected to be completed by Oct. 15, 2025. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and six proposals were received. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $2,182,983 are being obligated at the time of award. The 55th Contracting Squadron, Offutt AFB, Nebraska, is the contracting activity (FA4600-20-D-0002). ApiJECT Systems America Inc., Stamford, Connecticut, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $138,000,000 firm-fixed-price, undefinitized contract action (UCA) for COVID-19 response “Project Jumpstart” and “Project Rapid,” which will dramatically expand production capability for domestically manufactured blow-fill-seal injection devices. Work will be performed throughout the U.S. and is expected to be completed by May 8, 2022. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2020 Air Force other procurement funds in the amount of $69,000,000 are being obligated at the time of UCA issuance and remaining funding will be added at definitization. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity (FA8726-20-C-0022). (Awarded May 8, 2020) Raytheon Corp., Marlborough, Massachusetts, has been awarded a $20,232,337 firm-fixed-price modification (P00113) to contract FA8705-14-C-0001 to exercise 23 fixed spares for Production Year Two, Option Contract Line Item Number 0008, for a Global Aircrew Strategic Network Terminal. Work will be performed in Largo, Florida, and is expected to be completed by July 2022. Fiscal 2020 other procurement funds in the full amount are being obligated at the time of award. This modification brings the total cumulative value of the contract to $488,205,869. Air Force Materiel Command, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity. ARMY Chemring Sensors and Electronic Systems Inc., Dulles, Virginia, was awarded a $200,218,380 modification (P00009) to contract W909MY-18-D-0014 to develop, integrate and produce and deliver Husky Mounted Detection System kits, spare parts, maintenance and training. 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 Aug. 15, 2022. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity. NAVY BAE Systems Land & Armaments L.P., Minneapolis, Minnesota, is awarded a $42,842,169 firm-fixed-price modification to previously awarded contract N00024-20-C-5380 for MK 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) canister production and ancillary hardware. This modification combines purchases for the Navy (68%); and the governments of Japan (11%); Australia (6%); Norway (6%); Netherlands (6%); and Turkey (3%), under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. Work will be performed in Minneapolis, Minnesota (10%); and Aberdeen, South Dakota (90%). This option exercise provides for the manufacture and delivery of MK 13 Mod 0, MK 21 (Mod 2 and 3), MK 21 Mod 1 and MK 29 Mod 0 canisters, ancillary hardware and MK 13 Mod 0 canister renews. The VLS canisters serve as the missile shipping containers and launch tubes when loaded into VLS Modules. Work is expected to be complete by July 2023. Fiscal 2020 weapons procurement (Navy); fiscal 2019 and 2020 defense-wide procurement; and FMS funds in the amount of $42,842,169 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 Navy Yard, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. Cape Environmental Management Inc.,* Honolulu, Hawaii, is awarded an $11,674,808 cost-plus-award-fee task order N62473-20-F-4678 under a single-award small business environmental remedial action contract for removal actions and environmental restoration activities at installation restoration and munition response sites at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, San Diego, California. Work will be performed in San Diego, California, and provides for site maintenance activities at Installation Restoration Site (IRS) 21, time critical removal action at IRS 20 and non-time critical removal action at Munitions Response Site 5. Work is expected to be complete by May 2023. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $11,674,808 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One proposal was received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N62742-16-D-1807). WASHINGTON HEADQUARTERS SERVICES General Dynamics Information Technology, Falls Church, Virginia, has been awarded a $7,417,730 firm-fixed-price contract. This contract provides case analysts, defense security officers, and program management support for the Office of Military Commissions hearings. Work performance will take place at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $7,417,730 are being awarded. The expected completion date is May 10, 2023. Washington Headquarters Services, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HQ0034-20-C-0082). *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2183554/source/GovDelivery/

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  July 23, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Singapore requests future F-35 training location also host its F-16 jets

  By: Mike Yeo and Valerie Insinna MELBOURNE, Australia — Singapore has told the U.S. Air Force it wants to co-locate its Arizona-based F-16 training detachment with its future F-35 training unit, with five locations in the U.S. shortlisted as potential sites for training international F-35 operators. In a statement to Defense News, U.S. Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said the service “plans to establish an F-35 Foreign Military Sales training Center in the Continental United States which could accommodate up to 36 F-35 aircraft.” “Based on negotiations with our foreign military sales customers as well as airspace and weather considerations, the Air Force is considering five candidate locations. Those include Buckley AFB, Colorado; Fort Smith Airport, Arkansas; Hulman Field, Indiana; Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas; and Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Michigan,” she added. In a statement announcing that Fort Smith Regional Airport was under consideration, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton said that Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett signed a memorandum July 6 to establish the training center. He also revealed that Singapore — which is a Foreign Military Sales customer for the F-35B, having been cleared earlier this year to purchase four aircraft with an option for eight more — wants to co-locate its F-16 squadron, currently based at Luke Air Force Base, with its F-35s as a “long-term Foreign Military Sales location.” The Air Force's Stefanek explained that this is “to make room for additional USAF/Partner F-35s at Luke AFB,” and that once the new FMS F-35 training location is selected, that location will also be considered for Singapore's F-16 training detachment. Defense News understands that the future F-35 FMS training base would host some countries and their jets on a rotational basis, while others might maintain a permanent presence. The latter group would likely include land-scarce Singapore, which already maintains permanent aircraft training detachments in the U.S. in addition to the Luke AFB-based F-16s. The Asian nation is also setting up a rotating training presence in Guam for its fighter aircraft. Most of the shortlisted bases currently host few or no permanent flying units, and none of them are currently earmarked to operate F-35s in the future. It will take significant capital to set up an F-35 FMS training facility because existing infrastructure will need modifications to support the fifth-generation stealth fighter's operations. Luke AFB, which is located at the outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona, will reach its aircraft hosting capacity in the coming years. Its resident U.S. Air Force squadrons are set to convert from F-16s to the F-35A, and the base itself will continue to be the training location for F-35 international partner nations. This means the two international F-16 training detachments currently on base — Singapore and Taiwan — will have to move. Taiwan's F-16 jets were set to move to the nearby Arizona Air National Guard base in Tucson, but local media reported in August 2019 that the country is instead seeking to move to a base closer to the Pacific coast to better accommodate Taiwanese pilots training with U.S. Navy carrier strike groups. https://www.defensenews.com/training-sim/2020/07/22/singapore-requests-new-f-35-training-location-also-host-its-f-16-jets

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  June 26, 2018 | International, C4ISR

  Team Dedrone Wins USSOCOM ‘Game of Drones’ Competition

  Dedrone announced that its team of Echodyne Corporation, Squarehead Technologies and Battelle, won first place at ThunderDrone's “Game of Drones” outdoor demonstration at Nellis Air Force Base and AFWERX enclave, June 18-20. Hosted by AFWERX, Team Dedrone bested five other teams in the last of three ThunderDrone rapid prototyping events focusing on countering small, unmanned aerial drones. Team Dedrone successfully demonstrated the capabilities of a layered detection, tracking, classification and mitigation solution that defends protected airspace against aerial drone threats. Initially 93 counter-drone technology companies formed teams and were narrowed down through a series of three rapid prototyping events. The Dedrone platform is a fully automatic counter-drone solution, designed to detect, classify and mitigate drone-based threats. Dedrone's software, DroneTracker, gathers intelligence from Dedrone's RF sensors, Echodyne's MESA radar and Squarehead Discovair acoustic sensor. Once DroneTracker makes a positive identification of a drone, Battelle's non-kinetic defense system, DroneDefender™, is automatically triggered to defeat the drone and eliminate the threat. The Dedrone platform combines hardware sensors and machine-learning software, providing early warning, classification of and mitigation against all drone threats. Based in San Francisco, Dedrone was founded in 2014. ThunderDrone is a U.S. Special Operations Command and SOFWERX initiative dedicated to drone prototyping, which focuses on exploring drone technologies through idea formation, testing and demonstrating efforts that are being conducted collaboratively with the Department of Defense's Strategic Capabilities Office. SOFWERX leads collaboration between special operations warfighters and select contributors from industry and academia on technology and innovation efforts to bring drones, tactical swarms and their associated data science applications to the special operations community. Team Dedrone Quotes: “Dedrone's open platform and architecture allows customers to combine the best in drone detection and mitigation technology, such as with RF sensors from Dedrone, radar from Echodyne, acoustic sensors from Squarehead, and jammers from Battelle,” shares Joerg Lamprecht, CEO and co-founder of Dedrone. “This multi-layered sensor platform ensures that all organizations, including those under USSOCOM, are provided complete airspace security that is safe from all drone threats.” “ThunderDrone provided us with our first opportunity to simultaneously engage against multiple UAVs with two DroneDefender V2 systems,” shares Alex Morrow, Technical Director of cUAS Programs at Battelle. “Battelle is pleased with another successful demonstration of our DroneDefender V2.” “Echodyne's compact solid-state radar repeatedly demonstrates an unparalleled combination of range, tracking accuracy and value in countering UAS threats,” notes Eben Frankenberg, Echodyne CEO. “We're pleased that our beam steering radar once again contributed its indispensable capabilities as part of the award-winning Team Dedrone solution.” “Discovair's directional acoustics add a near unspoofable layer of super hearing. The ability to deal with drones hinges on detection. In cluttered areas and up against any drone system, even passive ones – Discovair acoustic sensor has proven to shine,” shares Stig Nyvold, CEO of Squarehead Technology. “Discovair's importance as part in the systems of systems has once again been proved. We are very excited to be part of this team and look forward to the future.” https://www.uasvision.com/2018/06/26/team-dedrone-wins-ussocom-game-of-drones-competition/