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Jen Judson WASHINGTON — Partnering helicopters and unmanned aircraft just a few years ago meant that a pilot could control a drone to fly ahead to conduct reconnaissance. Maybe it meant a pilot could control payloads or even the weapon systems on that drone. But at Project Convergence at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, this month, manned-unmanned teaming took on a far more advanced meaning. The Army's Future Vertical Lift team rolled into the service's weeks-long “campaign of learning” with 19 semi truck trailers and almost 200 people, Brig. Gen. Wally Rugen, who is in charge of the Army's FVL modernization efforts, told Defense News in a Sept. 22 interview. The effort brings together future weapons and capabilities envisioned for a 2030s battlefield against near-peer adversaries such as Russia and China. It includes using a machine learning and artificial intelligence-enabled battle management system that is in development. Rugen said he was “very, very proud” to see technology at the event mature to the point that allowed for data to be pushed across networks “faster than we've done in the past” through a tight-knit kill chain that included space, air and ground assets underpinned by Assured Position, Navigation and Timing (APNT) and an advanced network. The team had 127 technical objectives it wanted to meet through 11 use cases and the three mission threads. The breadth of the effort reflects that the Army is at a critical juncture when it comes to modernizing its fleet. The service is attempting to develop and field both a Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) and Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) as well as a variety of Air-Launched Effects (ALE) capabilities along with a modular open system architecture that makes it easier to upgrade and modernize as time goes on. Leaders want all of this by 2030. The next level of algorithmic warfare A year ago, the Army's Architecture, Automation, Autonomy and Interfaces capability, or A3I, was put to the test at China Lake, California. In that effort, an operator with a tablet in the back of an MH-47 Chinook cargo helicopter took control of a Gray Eagle drone and tasked it to fire a small, precision-glide munition at an enemy target located on the ground. At the last second, a higher level threat was detected and the munition was rapidly redirected toward a different threat, taking it out within seconds. At Project Convergence, the final shot of the campaign came from a soldier on the ground taking control of a Long-Range Precision Fires (LRPF) munition surrogate (a Hellfire missile) on a Gray Eagle — representing a FARA — and firing on the target. This takes critical seconds out of the operation as the pilot of the aircraft wouldn't have to focus on trying to locate the target himself, aiming and firing the missile. At China Lake, the Army was able to use automation to reroute the Gray Eagle around poor weather. This year the aircraft were avoiding threat weapon systems, Rugen said. And while the Dynetics GBU-69 small glide munition used last year was inert, this time the Army used live rounds. The Army also used an open system architecture that was flexible enough for payloads and capabilities to be swapped in out of its A3I Gray Eagles without having to rely on the original equipment manufacturer to do it, Rugen highlighted. Multidomain aviation During the first mission thread, which focused on the penetration phase laid out in the Army's Multidomain Operations warfighting concept, aircraft partnered with space-based assets, APNT, and LRPF capabilities to locate, then degrade and destroy enemy assets modeled after the Russian Pantsir air defense systems and other weapons. The ALE pushed ingested data forward through the network to get it to the right shooters, whether that would be an Extended Range Cannon Artillery (ERCA) system on the ground or a Gray Eagle or another ALE. During the exercise, the team launched six ALEs “flooding the zone with our drones for the first time and we did that multiple times over,” Rugen said. Flooding the zone brought a variety of capabilities to the overall force during the three phases of operations. First, the Army was able to extend the ALE capability out to almost 62 kilometers, which provides deep standoff for manned aircraft like FARA. “For a division commander,” Rugen said, “that's just transforming his or her battlefield geometry.” The ALEs performed both the reconnaissance, surveillance and targeting acquisition mission and worked as a mesh network to extend the battlefield. Two ALEs were truck launched and four were air launched. “We did prove we could launch up to 80 knots forward speed on our FARA surrogate aircraft,” Rugen said. The team was also able to recover all of its ALEs from the operation using the Flying Launch and Recovery System (FLAReS). Rather than letting the drones belly land in the sand or on a runway, which would result in damage, FLAReS has a hook on the edge of the wing that catches the ALE's wing in flight. “It's been wonderful to see that innovation,” Rugen said. In a classified operation related to the penetration phase of battle, an ALE dropped off a Gray Eagle at an operationally relevant altitude for the first time, Rugen noted. In the dis-integrate mission thread, which aims to destroy and disrupt subcomponents of enemy capability such as command and control systems and intelligence capabilitiesas well as other critical nodes, the ALEs helped refine targeting information in a GPS-denied environment and passed it back to the ERCA system for long-range shots. In that phase, a Gray Eagle, serving as a “munitions mule,” flew outside of the enemy weapon engagement zone, and another aircraft took control of a sensor-enabled munition deployed from the Gray Eagle. In the third mission phase, where the goal is to exploit freedom of maneuver gained in the penetrate and dis-integrate phases in order to defeat enemy objectives, the air assets and Next-Generation Combat Vehicles were able to pass information back and forth using an internally developed system called Firestorm that works as the machine-to-machine brain. During the phase, the team was able to demonstrate the ability to automatically route the engagement, Rugen said. This means the aircraft or vehicle was able to ingest data and then the machine automatically sets up its route to engage the target with no involvement from the pilot. “Keeping the aviator out of it was the ingenious thing we were able to do,” Rugen said. Project Convergence also wasn't just about the technology but the tactics, techniques and procedures through which the Army worked, according to Rugen. “We're not just hitting the technology button here,” he said. “Some of it is the advanced ingress techniques against our pacing threats.” Overall, the interoperability between various battlefield capabilities from the ground all the way to space was an achievement, according to Rugen. "I'm not saying it's flawless, but we are not in our stove pipes and it's made us, at times, uncomfortable. But being uncomfortable is not necessarily bad. “We definitely had to converge because we were forced to, and there was some forcing to it, but it's been great,” he added. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/09/23/flooding-the-zone-future-aviation-capability-tightens-kill-chain-at-project-convergence/

Christina Mackenzie PARIS – The French Ministry of the Armed Forces has announced a firm order for a second tranche of the Jaguar and Griffon armored vehicles that lie at the core of its ambitious Scorpion program to reconfigure how its army wages war. This second tranche is for 42 Jaguar combat and reconnaissance armored vehicles and 271 Griffon multirole armored vehicles. The first tranche, ordered in 2017, was for 319 Griffons and 20 Jaguars. So far the Army has received 105 Griffons and earlier this month took two of them to Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa. Forces there are testing them in hot, desert conditions before the first vehicles are deployed to Mali next year in support of France's Barkhane anti-terrorist operation. The first four Jaguars are scheduled for delivery to the army before the end of this year. The Griffon and Jaguar are both manufactured by a conglomerate of three major French defense industries: Nexter, Arquus and Thales. The latest delivery of 13 Griffons was to the 21st Marine Infantry Regiment which received them in July. The regiment's Scorpion officer, described in an army video only as “Major Laurent” in keeping with French security protocol for lower-ranking officers, praised the vehicle for its speed, precise firing system and armor. “So far, we have trained 16 pilots and eight instructors. They will then be responsible within the Regiment for training our pilots and our gunners,” the officer said. Other regiments that have already received the Griffon are the 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment, the 13th Battalion of Chasseurs Alpins and the 1st Infantry Regiment. Sign up for our Early Bird Brief Get the defense industry's most comprehensive news and information straight to your inbox Subscribe According to Col. Tugdual Barbarin, commander of the 3rd Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (RPIMA), his formation will not be equipped with the Griffon as planned but, instead, will be getting the Serval, the third of the new vehicles being developed in the Scorpion program. This decision, he said, was made by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Thierry Burkhard earlier this month. France's 2019-2025 military program law has imposed an acceleration in deliveries of the Scorpion vehicles, establishing that 50 percent of the 1,872 Griffons and 300 Jaguars which the Ministry of the Armed Forces expects to order in total must be delivered by 2025. That means the army will have 936 Griffons and 150 Jaguars by the end of 2024. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/09/23/french-forces-to-get-new-batch-of-jaguar-griffon-armored-vehicles/

Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — While the phrase “tsunami of data” seems to have exited everyday use by Defense Department officials, the problem remains the same: The Pentagon simply cannot exploit the sheer amount of information that comes in every day to its fullest. It's a challenge that will only get worse as more sources of information come online, with each branch having its own data sets, which often don't talk to each other. At the same time, the lack of ability to properly sort, catalog and exploit the data means the department cannot fully achieve its goals of using artificial intelligence to its fullest. After almost a decade of talking about the problem, military leaders appear to have a target date for when the department will get its arms around the problem, according to Gen. John Hyten, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. By 2030, the Pentagon expects handling data will no longer be an overwhelming challenge, Hyten said Monday during an event organized by the Defense Innovation Unit. But, he added, the department is looking at any way to move that date closer, including by reworking how requirements are developed in the Joint Requirements Oversight Council, or JROC, a group chaired by Hyten, which serves as an oversight body on the development of new capabilities and acquisition efforts. Currently, “a service develops the capability, it comes up through the various coordination boards in the JROC, eventually getting to the JROC where we validate a service concept and make sure it meets the joint interoperability requirement,” Hyten explained. “But what was intended is the JROC would develop joint requirements and push those out to the services and tell the services ‘you have to meet those joint requirements.'” To get back to that top-down model, Hyten plans to push out a list of joint requirements for two major department priorities in all domain command and control and logistics for joint fires, which will have specific requirements for data and software. “They're not going to be the traditional requirements that you've looked at for years, capability description documents and capability production documents. They're going to capabilities and attributes that programs have to have,” he said. “And if you don't meet these, you don't meet the joint requirements and therefore you don't get through the gate, you don't get money. That's how we're going to hold it.” Hyten added that the goal is to have those data requirements out to the services around the end of the year, shortly after the expected publication of the new joint warfighting concept. That concept — which Hyten has previously described as essentially eliminating lines between units and services on the battlefield — inherently relies on the ability to combine data to be successful, he noted. https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2020/09/23/hyten-to-issue-new-joint-requirements-on-handling-data/

Burak Ege Bekdil ANKARA— Turkish government officials and industry executives are hoping to find new sales in what they see as emerging export markets in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. “These are promising markets for Turkish manufacturers,” said one senior procurement official. A Turkish diplomat familiar with the three countries said that “smooth, friendly, problem-free political relations” with all three Asian countries promise export deals for Turkish companies. “As more Turkish-made systems become combat-proven [by local use], interest from those countries will increase,” he said. Hakan Kurt, chairman of Capital Exhibition, calls Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan as “hot markets” for Turkish defense and aerospace industries. Capital Exhibition organizes Defence Port Turkey South Asia. “Turkish manufacturers do not have the problem of ‘lack of sellable platforms' like they had a decade ago,” Kurt said. Kurt expects that Turkish defense and aerospace exports to the three Asian countries could reach $5 billion in the next 10 years. Turkey's overall defense exports stood at $2.74 billion in 2019, down from the official target of $3 billion. A defense specialist in Ankara advised caution about Asian markets. “These countries need hardware. They have good political ties with Turkey. But their economies are often cash-strapped. Turkey may also have licensing problems in any potential export deal as it depends on foreign technology for local production,” he said. In 2018, Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) signed a $1.5 billion agreement to sell a batch of 30 T129 attack helicopters to Pakistan. But the deal has not moved forward as TAI has failed to secure U.S. export licenses for the contract. The T129 is a twin-engine multirole attack helicopter produced under license from the Italian-British company AgustaWestland. It's powered by two LHTEC T800-4A turboshaft engines. Each engine can produce 1,014 kilowatts of output power. The T800-4A is an export version of the CTS800 engine. LHTEC, the maker of the engine, is a joint venture between the American firm Honeywell and the British company Rolls-Royce. The defense specialist said that most likely Turkish hardware to go into Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan would include naval vessels and patrol boats (except Afghanistan), smart ammunition, drones and armored vehicles. https://www.defensenews.com/global/2020/09/23/turkey-eyes-new-markets-for-exports/

Steve Trimble Developing larger and longer-ranged fighters, weaponizing the Boeing KC-46 fleet, and possibly fielding a new type of unmanned, small and stealthy tanker are all now in discussion by U.S. Air Force leaders, assistant secretary of the Air Force Will Roper said on Sept. 23. As the head of acquisition, technology and logistics, Roper said he and the new chief of Air Mobility Command, Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, are “excited” now about the direction of the long-troubled KC-46 program, as the Air Force and Boeing continue to finalize the Remote Vision System 2.0 upgrade. The KC-46's turnaround, Roper said, is allowing acquisition and mobility officials to turn their attention to addressing another Air Force refueling problem: How to solve a yawning gap between refueling capacity and operational need for inflight refueling, especially at the forward edge of a ring of contested airspace, where large and, for now, relatively defenseless aircraft such as the KC-46 are most vulnerable. Building a more survivable and responsive air refueling capability that can be used in a contested war zone was the focus of a meeting this week between Roper and Van Ovost, he said. “One of those next strategic questions for the Air Force is going to be can you defend a tanker against an onslaught of fighters who know that every tanker you kill, it's like killing a lot of fighters or bombers or drones that it supports,” Roper said. Roper prefers not to take a one-size-fits-all solution, such as a single major new acquisition program that buys only one type of aircraft. Instead, the Air Force should evaluate the solution to the contested aerial refueling problem as an architecture, with multiple options that can be dialed back and forth. One option for reducing demand on tankers is a new fighter aircraft that is designed to carry more fuel. “Maybe having [the] small, currently sized fighters is not the way to go in [the] future,” Roper said. “And since we're all abuzz with digital engineering and thinking about what the future fighter force could look like, thinking about bigger fighters is a natural question.” Another way to make the KC-46 fleet more survivable, and thus operate closer to the forward edge of contested airspace, is to weaponize the aircraft, he said. “We don't put weapons and sensors on tankers to shoot down aircraft, but the current KC-46 is a big airplane with the ability to mount sensors and weapons under the wings,” Roper said. “We just don't do it because we can use a fighter combat air patrol to defend high-value assets.” The Air Force also may need a different kind of tanker in the future, he said. Two options are possible: A larger aircraft than the KC-46 that could carry more fuel, but needs to stay farther away from potential threats, or much smaller, unmanned and stealthy “micro-tankers” that could operate much closer or even inside defended airspace, Roper said. “I expect that as we really look at airpower in the truly contested environment that we'll be looking at fuel very strategically,” Roper said. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/aircraft-propulsion/usaf-discussing-larger-fighters-weaponized-kc-46-roper-says

Michael Tint The COVID-19 crisis has hit the commercial MRO industry hard. How is the military aftermarket sector faring? Michael Tint, head of defense analytics at Aviation Week, responds: COVID-19 has not caused military aviation anything like the degree of disruption it has for civil aviation. Defense budgets for 2020 were largely allocated before its onset, and there have been only minor reductions in military operations as a result of the pandemic. Procurement has been similarly steady, with only small production delays so far. However, the nature of military budgeting in most countries means that major cuts in spending will not be felt for at least a year or two. Meanwhile, rising global tensions are likely to ensure that defense spending remains a priority—even if the longer-term economic consequences of the pandemic prove severe. Growing Military Engine Repair, 2020-29 (U.S. $ billions) Jet engines powering Western-designed fighters and training aircraft will generate $50.5 billion in maintenance, repair and overhaul demand over the next decade—rising from $4.5 billion in 2020 to $5.6 billion in 2029, for a compound annual growth rate of 2.05%. Most of the growth will come from Pratt & Whitney's F135, the engine on Lockheed Martin's F-35. As military flying continues, so too must military engine maintenance, repair and overhaul. Aviation Week forecasts that $85.4 billion dollars will be spent on depot-level engine maintenance for Western-designed military aircraft over the next decade. Of this total, $50.5 billion will be spent on the engines powering fighters and jet-powered trainers. Demand for these engines will rise from $4.5 billion in 2020 to $5.6 billion in 2029, a compound annual growth rate of 2.05%. General Electric F404/F414s in Boeing's F/A-18 and T-7, Saab's Gripen, and KAI's KF-X and T-50 will produce the largest share of this demand (22.4%), but most of the growth will come from Pratt & Whitney F135s powering Lockheed Martin F-35s. Demand for this engine will rise from $424 million in 2020 to $1.4 billion in 2029, a rate of 14.19% per year https://aviationweek.com/mro/hows-military-aftermarket-sector-faring-amid-covid-19-crisis

Former Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden commented in a Sept. 10 Stars and Stripes interview that he does “not see major reductions in the U.S. defense budget” if he is... https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/budget-policy-operations/opinion-whats-defense-budget-cut

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Sysco Hampton Roads Inc., Suffolk, Virginia, has been awarded a maximum $804,744,193 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-quantity contract for full-line food distribution. This was a competitive acquisition with one response received. This is a five-year contract. Location of performance is Virginia, with a Sept. 20, 2025, ordering period end date. Using military services are Air Force and Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2025 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency, Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE300-20-D-3286). O&M Halyard, Mechanicsville, Virginia, has been awarded a maximum $35,188,397 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for medical and surgical products. This was a competitive acquisition with 18 responses received. This is a one-year base contract with nine one-year option periods. Location of performance is Virginia, with a Sept. 21, 2021, ordering period end date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 Warstopper funds. The contracting agency is the Defense Logistics Agency, Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2D0-20-D-0018). Raytheon Co., McKinney, Texas, has been awarded a maximum $32,248,579 firm-fixed-price contract for television cameras and sensor assembly units for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. 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 one one-year option period. The option is being exercised at the time of award. Location of performance is Texas, with a May 25, 2023, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency, Land and Maritime, Warren, Michigan (SPRDL1-20-C-0188). AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Space, Sunnyvale, California, has been awarded an $85,273,664 fixed-price, incentive-firm, firm-fixed-price, cost‐plus‐incentive‐fee and cost-reimbursement modification (P00180) to previously awarded contract FA8810‐13‐C‐0002 to continue Space Based Infrared System contractor logistics support. Work will be performed at Peterson Air Force Base, Buckley AFB, Greeley Air National Guard Station, and Boulder, all located in Colorado, and is expected to be completed March 31, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds will be used with no funds being obligated at the time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $1,914,295,948. The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, Peterson AFB, Colorado, is the contracting activity. The Boeing Co., Layton, Utah, has been awarded a $13,287,959 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P00132) to contract FA8214-15-C-0001 for additional qualification requirements for the Signal Conditioner Module for the MOD 7 Flight Test Kit (SC Module). The objective of this proposed effort is to perform full qualification and acceptance testing to support new builds. Work will be performed in Layton, Utah, and is to be completed June 30, 2022. Fiscal 2020 missile procurement funds in the amount of $4,140,649 are being obligated at the time of award. Modification is funded with current year 3020 funds. AFNWC/PZBB is the contracting agency at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, Hill AFB, Utah, is the contracting activity. Systems and Technology Research,* Woburn, Massachusetts, has been awarded an $8,297,019 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for software deliverables. This contract provides for the research and development of challenge problems to validate and evaluate the design technologies developed by the Technology Area (TA) 1 team and the symbiosis technologies developed by TA2 teams. The focus of the research is Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) related models and seed designs. This effort brings two unique and differentiated design approaches to the Symbiotic Design for Cyber Physical Systems community from two pioneering UUV developers. Work will be performed in Woburn, Massachusetts, and is expected to be completed October 2024. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and 23 offers were received. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,011,150 are being obligated at time of award. Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome, New York, is the contracting activity (FA8750-20-C-0535). ARMY FN America LLC, Columbia, South Carolina, was awarded a $78,709,973 firm-fixed-price contract for M249 Squad Automatic Weapons. 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 Sept. 19, 2025. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Newark, New Jersey, is the contracting activity (W15QKN-20-D-0036). James Construction Group LLC, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was awarded a $13,349,914 firm-fixed-price contract to design and construct a new two-lane bridge. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed at Fort Hood, Texas, with an estimated completion date of May 23, 2022. Fiscal 2020 military construction (Army) funds in the amount of $13,349,914 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth, Texas, is the contracting activity (W9126G-20-C-0038). World Wide Technology LLC, St. Louis, Missouri, was awarded an $8,980,145 firm-fixed-price contract for network upgrades. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 9, 2020. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $8,980,145 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army 408th Contracting Support Brigade, Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, is the contracting activity (W912D2-20-F-0046). Julius Kaaz Construction Co. Inc.,* Leavenworth, Kansas, was awarded an $8,852,723 firm-fixed-price contract to complete the renovation of Building 50 at Fort Leavenworth. Bids were solicited via the internet with five received. Work will be performed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, with an estimated completion date of March 25, 2022. Fiscal 2020 civil construction funds in the amount of $8,852,723 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City, Missouri, is the contracting activity (W912DQ-20-C-4015). NAVY Life Cycle Engineering Inc., Charleston, South Carolina (N64498-20-D-4036, $44,312,721); and McKean Defense Group LLC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (N64498-20-D-4037, $33,941,662), are awarded a combined total $78,254,383 cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for engineering and technical services to support the shipboard Electronic Chart Display and Information System and the Situational Awareness Bridge Display System for the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division. Work will be performed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (20%); Norfolk, Virginia (10%); San Diego, California (10%); Washington, D.C. (5%); Mayport, Florida (5%); Charlottesville, Virginia (4%); Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (4%); Yokosuka, Japan (4%); the Kingdom of Bahrain (4%); Bremerton, Washington (2%); Rota, Spain (2%); and the remainder of the work (30%) will be performed at the contractor sites according to each awarded task order, and is expected to be completed by September 2025. Fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $500,000 ($250,000 obligated on each contract) will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. These contracts were competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with four offers received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity. The Boeing Co., Jacksonville, Florida, is awarded a $75,129,607 modification (P00006) to previously awarded, cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract N00019-19-D-0003. This modification exercises options to provide aircraft inspections, modifications and repairs as well as inner wing panel (IWP) modifications and repairs for the F/A-18 E/F and EA-18G series aircraft. These efforts restore the aircraft and IWP to meet service life projections in accordance with new design specifications. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, Florida (80%); St. Louis, Missouri (15%); and Lemoore, California (5%), and is expected to be completed in September 2021. No funds are being obligated at time of award; funds will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Etolin Strait Partners LLC,* Norfolk, Virginia, is awarded a $30,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract modification for the exercise of Option Year One under an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for construction projects located primarily within the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Washington, D.C., area of responsibility (AOR). The work to be performed provides for various maintenance, repair, alteration and minor new construction projects for facilities located primarily within the NAVFAC Washington, D.C., AOR in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. The total contract amount after this modification will be $60,000,000. No task orders are being issued at this time. Work will be performed primarily in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., and is expected to be completed by September 2021. No funds will be obligated at time of award; funds will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued. Task orders will be primarily funded by fiscal 2021 military construction (Navy); operations and maintenance (O&M) (Navy); O&M (Defense Logistics Agency); and Navy working capital funds. NAVFAC Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N40080-19-D-0007). Centerra Integrated Services LLC, Herndon, Virginia, is awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a maximum amount of $30,000,000 for minor construction, alteration and repair of real property and utilities at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. An initial task order is awarded at $64,194 to provide new high density polyethylene pile fenders at the Windward and Leeward Ferry Landing. The work to be performed provides for, but is not limited to, general construction projects including new construction, repair, alteration, renovation, demolition and other construction-related operations or projects. Work for this task order is expected to be completed by January 2021. All work for this contract will be performed in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months with an expected completion date of September 2025. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) (O&M, N) contract funds in the amount of $64,194 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by O&M, N and O&M (Army). This contract was competitively procured via the beta.SAM.gov Contract Opportunities website with three proposals received. Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southeast, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity (N69450-20-D-0072). Bette & Cring LLC, Latham, New York, is awarded a $23,064,843 firm-fixed-price contract for the construction of a co-generation plant at the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C. This work to be performed is a construction project for the co-generation plant with a combined heat and power system to generate electricity and steam at the Naval Research Laboratory. Site preparation includes above-ground site demolition and relocations, underground site demolition and utility relocations, excavation, grading preparation for construction and paving. Mechanical systems will include water, steam, sewer, heating, ventilation and air conditioning. Work will be performed in Washington, D.C., and is expected to be completed by April 2023. Fiscal 2016 and 2017 military construction contract funds in the amount of $23,064,843 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website with four proposals received. Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Washington, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N40080-20-C-0023). The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is awarded a $21,909,659 modification (P00040) to previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract N00019-16-C-0032. This modification exercises an option for test and evaluation support for Next Generation Jammer integration on the EA-18G aircraft. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri, and is expected to be completed in September 2021. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $8,360,505 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. Pacific Maritime Industries (PMI) Corp.,* San Diego, California (N00189-20-D-0030); TST Fabrications LLC,* Norfolk, Virginia (N00189-20-D-0031); and Tri-Way Industries (TWI) Inc.,* Auburn, Washington, (N00189-20-D-0032), are awarded an estimated $15,984,115 multiple award for a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract that will include terms and conditions for the placement of firm-fixed-price task orders to provide a means to purchase shipboard lockers and related materials in support of the Shipboard Habitability Improvement Program at competitive prices in accordance with the delivery schedules listed on the Statement of Work. The contracts will run concurrently and will include a 60-month base ordering period with an additional six-month ordering period option pursuant of Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.217-8, which if exercised, will bring the total estimated value of this contract to $19,540,057. The base ordering period is expected to be completed by September 2025; if the option is exercised, the ordering period will be completed by March 2026. Specific requirements for habitability support cannot be predicted at this time; therefore, the various locations of where the supplies will be delivered cannot be determined at this time. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $7,500 ($2,500 on each of the three contracts) will be obligated to fund the contracts' minimum amounts and funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Individual task orders will be subsequently funded with appropriate fiscal year appropriations at the time of their issuance. This contract was competitively procured with the solicitation posted on beta.SAM.gov as a small business set-aside for the award of multiple contracts pursuant to the authority set forth in Federal Acquisition Regulation 16.504, with four offers received. Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Norfolk, Contracting Department, Norfolk Office, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity. Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., San Diego, California, is awarded a $9,018,804 firm-fixed-price modification (P00023) to previously awarded fixed-price-incentive-successive-target contract N00019-17-C-0018. This modification establishes final configuration and final price determination for the unique material required for the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft. This modification provides for the procurement of three Integrated Functional Capability (IFC) 4.0 material kits and one IFC 4.0 retrofit kit. Additionally, this modification adds scope to support non-recurring engineering efforts associated with wing and v-tail modifications and the procurement of components and associated efforts in support of Lot Three low rate initial production. Work will be performed in Rancho Bernardo, California (28.9%); Palmdale, California (12.6%); Waco, Texas (9.6%); Red Oak, Texas (5.6%); Sparks, Nevada (5%); Verona, Wisconsin (4.4%); Bridgeport, West Virginia (2.4%); Westchester, Ohio (2.4%); San Clemente, California (2.1%); Salt Lake City, Utah (1.2%); Menlo Park, California (1.1%); and various locations within the continental U.S. (24.7%), and is expected to be completed in March 2022. Fiscal 2018 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $9,018,804 will be obligated at the time of award, all of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Oceaneering International Inc., Chesapeake, Virginia, is awarded a $7,733,142 cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-only modification to previously awarded contract N00024-18-C-6413 to exercise options for configuration changes, engineering services, material maintenance and repair. Work will be performed in Chesapeake, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by September 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Defense-wide; 80%), and fiscal 2020 procurement (Defense-wide; 20%) in the amount of $497,000 will be obligated at the time of award, of which, funds in the amount of $397,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2357052/source/GovDelivery/

HASSAN MEDDAH MADE IN FRANCE Trois industriels français seront les principaux bénéficiaires du programme de renouvellement des capacités de combat de l'armée de Terre. Au total, le programme Scorpion représente un plan de charge de près de 2000 emplois industriels qualifiés Le ministère des armées a officialisé ce 22 septembre 2020 la commande de 313 véhicules blindés à l'industrie française. La commande passée par la Direction générale de l'armement (DGA) le 15 septembre, marque une étape importante du programme Scorpion de renouvellement des capacités de combat de l'armée de Terre. Elle porte sur 271 véhicules blindés multi-rôles, les Griffon et 42 engins blindés de reconnaissance et de combat, les Jaguar. https://www.usinenouvelle.com/article/quels-sont-les-industriels-qui-vont-livrer-les-313-vehicules-de-combat-commandes-par-les-armees.N1007904