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Michael Bruno May 15, 2020 Companies across the board are slashing costs, preserving cash, and trying to adjust to a new normal after the novel coronavirus throttled down business prospects. But there is one area they are sure to spend even more money on in the coming years as industry regroups after COVID-19. Listen in as Aviation Week and Accenture discuss what to watch for in technology investments. https://aviationweek.com/podcasts/check-6-accenture/podcast-what-ad-companies-should-invest-after-covid-19

Tony Osborne Jen DiMascio May 28, 2020 The decision by the U.S. government to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty signed two decades ago is creating ripples of discontent within the U.S. and in Europe. Washington announced on May 22 that it would end its obligations to the arms control treaty in six months, saying that it was “no longer in the United States' best interest to remain a party to this Treaty when Russia does not uphold its commitments,” in a statement put out by the Defense Department. The Open Skies Treaty permits its 34 signatories to conduct observation flights over each other's territory. Aircraft with four types of sensors—-optical panoramic and framing cameras, real-time video cameras, infrared line-scanners and sideways-looking synthetic aperture radar—may make observations anywhere over a country's national territory. Treaty rules say that the flight may only be restricted for reasons of flight safety, not for reasons of national security. NATO and European nations may share U.S. concerns about inconsistent flight restrictions imposed by Moscow but see a U.S. departure from the agreement, in place since 1992, as regrettable. According to the U.S. and NATO, Russia has imposed restrictions on the treaty, in particular those flying near Kaliningrad, Russia's enclave on the Baltic Sea, and near the country's border with Georgia. The Pentagon also says Moscow blocked the overflight of a major military exercise in September 2019, “preventing the exact transparency the treaty is meant to provide.” In an op-ed in The New York Times, Tim Morrison, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and a former member of this administration's National Security Council, added that Russia has been using its overflights to collect “military relevant intelligence on the other parties, like the means to target critical infrastructure.” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, during the May 22 meeting of alliance members, called on the Russian government to return to compliance as soon as possible, noting that the U.S. could reconsider its position if Russia complied. European Open Skies Treaty member states—including Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden—said they would continue to implement the treaty, saying it has a “clear added value” for conventional arms control architecture and cooperative security. Russia rejects the claims of flight restrictions and contends that the U.S. had limited Russia's own Open Skies flights over Hawaii and the Aleutian Islands. Senior Russian officials, including Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, denounced Washington's decision. Medvedev said the U.S. had taken another step down the “path of dismantling the international security architecture that took decades to lay down.” Moscow believes Washington's decision could also affect other arms control treaties, with negotiations on the next New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty potentially at risk. In Washington, the leaders of the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees (both Democrats) have written a letter to Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo contending that withdrawal from the treaty is illegal. They say it violates the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, which requires Esper and Pompeo to notify Congress 120 days before the intent to withdrawal is presented. “This notification must be based on your joint conclusion that withdrawal is in the best interests of the United States and that other states parties to the treaty have been consulted. To date, this requirement has not been fulfilled,” wrote Reps. Adam Smith (Wash.), the Armed Services chairman, and Eliot Engel (N.Y.), the Foreign Affairs chairman. President Donald Trump and his administration have support from Repub-licans who lead the Senate for their decision to exit the treaty. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, asserts that the U.S. should withdraw if Russia is not complying with the agreement. “It will be critical for the Trump administration to continue working with our allies and partners, especially those in Eastern Europe, to ensure they have access to the intelligence they need to protect their security. That includes facilitating access to high-quality imagery.” The U.S. had planned to upgrade the two Boeing OC-135 aircraft delivered to the Air Force in 1996. Late last year, the U.S. issued a request for information saying it was considering awarding two contracts—one for the purchase of two commercial aircraft and another to modify the airframe and provide logistics support. But the Pentagon did not include funding for OC-135 upgrades in its fiscal 2020 budget request. And in March, Esper told Congress he was not prepared to authorize funding for those upgrades until a path forward is clear. Several signatories to the treaty have dedicated aircraft for the mission; others share or lease platforms from other nations for the task. Germany is the latest country to dedicate an aircraft for the mission, using an Airbus A319 converted by Lufthansa Technik. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/budget-policy-operations/how-us-open-skies-exit-could-undermine-arms-control

La Hongrie a passé commande pour un lot de missiles AMRAAM-ER. Première étape. La DSCA, agence américaine chargée de la coopération en matière de défense et sécurité, a annoncé le feu vert du département d'Etat dans le cadre de la vente de 60 missiles sol-air AMRAAM-ER de Raytheon à la Hongrie. Le montant de ce contrat, qui doit désormais être approuvé par le Congrès, est estimé à 230 M$. Défense aérienne. L'acquisition de ces missiles fait partie d'un plan plus global de renforcement de la défense aérienne de la Hongrie. Les missiles AMRAAM-ER viendront ainsi équiper le système de défense sol-air NASAMS, également conçu par Raytheon, permettant de détecter les missiles, drones, hélicoptères et aéronefs évoluant dans l'espace aérien protégé. https://air-cosmos.com/article/missiles-amraam-er-pour-la-hongrie-23130

The Joint Artificial Intelligence Center needs three things: new acquisition authorities, more staff, and the cloud. With JEDI delayed ‘potentially many more months,' director Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan said, he's turning to an Air Force alternative. By SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR.on May 27, 2020 at 2:25 PM WASHINGTON: The legal battle over the JEDI cloud-computing contract has slowed down the Pentagon's AI program, the director of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center acknowledges. In the meantime, Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan told an AFCEA webcast last week, JAIC will turn to a new Air Force program our longtime readers are already familiar with: cloudONE. Cloud computing matters for AI because machine-learning algorithms need lots of data and lots of processing power. A shared cloud can offer both with far greater efficiencies of scale than any single organization's in-house network. JEDI was meant to provide a single “general purpose” cloud to all users across the Defense Department, including Shanahan's Joint AI Center. But it has been mired for months in legal battles over which company should have won the contract, Microsoft Azure or Amazon Web Services. “It slowed us down, no question about it,” Shanahan told the AFCEA audience. “Azure, AWS, I will never get into a company discussion. I'm agnostic,” he said. “[But] if we want to make worldwide updates to all these algorithms in the space of minutes, not in the space of months running around gold disks, we've got to have an enterprise cloud solution.” JEDI can't be that solution today, Shanahan acknowledged, but “we now have a good plan to account for the fact that it will be delayed potentially many more months.” For instance, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread, the Joint AI Center urgently stood up what they call Project Salus – named for the Roman goddess of health and safety – to pull data from 70 different sources, find patterns, and predict trends for US Northern Command and the National Guard. Salus went from a sketch on a “bar napkin” to a functional bare-bones system (what's called a Minimum Viable Product) in 29 days, Shanahan said. With JEDI unavailable, he turned to an existing Air Force cloud run out of Hanscom Air Force Base, which he'd previously used as head of Project Maven. But the Hanscom-based cloud is “an interim solution that will end ... here later in the fall,” Shanahan said. “Because of that, we are pivoting to the cloudONE environment.” CloudONE & Beyond So what's cloudONE? Like JEDI, it's a new cloud-computing capability that the Air Force hopes will be available to a wide range of users from across the Department of Defense. Unlike JEDI, it's not a joint program run by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, but a service program, run by the Air Force. In fact, cloudOne is part of a whole package of computing initiatives – deviceONE, dataONE, et al – that the Air Force acquisition chief, Will Roper, began pushing (and branding) aggressively last year. Further, while JEDI is meant as the Defense Department's “general purpose” cloud, Roper's many ONEs are all intended to serve a single purpose, albeit a broad one: military command and control. Together, Roper's projects will make up what the Air Force is calling its Advanced Battle Management System. ABMS, in turn, will be an Air Force component of the future Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) meta-network to share battle data between all the armed services across all five “domains” of warfare: land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace. Artificial intelligence is essential for JADC2, since human analysts can't pull together that much data from that many sources fast enough to make a difference in combat. The JAIC is far too small to build the whole JADC2 network – that's up to the far better-resourced services – but it can help. “We're not here to build JADC2,” he said. “We're here to find AI-enabled solutions that stitch seams together from all the services, who're [each] developing some version of JADC2.” The objective is to automate and accelerate the often-laborious process of bringing American firepower to bear. That “kill chain” includes everything from spotting a potential target with some kind of sensor, confirming what it is with other sensors, deciding to strike it, picking an aircraft, warship, or artillery battery to execute the strike, and then giving that shooter precise targeting data. Currently most of that requires human beings relaying coordinates and orders over the radio, typing them into terminals by hand, or even scrawling them on sticky notes because one network can't transfer data to another. “Accelerated sensor-to-shooter timelines are so important – to me, this is what the next couple of years will be about, and each of the services has a really strong programs in sensor-to-shooter,” Shanahan said. “What we're trying to bring is the AI/ML solutions.” To do that job, however, the JAIC needs more people and more legal authorities to conduct acquisitions on its own – although it will never be the size of the services' acquisition bureaucracies. For example, while Shanahan initially focused on lower-risk, non-combat applications of AI like maintenance, on May 18 the JAIC awarded Booz Allen Hamilton a landmark contract worth up to $800 million for AI “to support warfighting operations [and] decision-making and analysis at all tiers of DoD operations.” But JAIC did so in partnership with the civilian General Services Administration (using GSA's Alliant 2 contract vehicle), just as it's done past contracts through the Defense Information Systems Agency and other established organizations, because it doesn't have the necessary authorities and personnel in-house – yet. “I couldn't ask for better support,” Shanahan said, “but it's not going to be fast enough as we start putting more and more money into this capability development. We need our own acquisition authority.” In particular, he sees JAIC as a potential early adopter of the new streamlined process for software development and acquisition recently rolled out by the Pentagon's acquisition chief, Ellen Lord. The JAIC also needs to get bigger. Founded in summer 2018 with just four staff, JAIC has now grown to 175 personnel (counting contractors) and must keep growing, Shanahan said. But that larger staff won't include Shanahan: JAIC's founding director retires from the Air Force next month. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/05/joint-ai-center-turns-to-air-force-cloudone-as-jedi-stalls/

By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — Boeing began making its first round of involuntary layoffs on Wednesday morning, announcing that it will slash the jobs of approximately 6,770 employees across the United States. Boeing's massive commercial business will take the brunt of the cuts, with the company's defense, space and security division only expected to shed less than 100 employees through involuntary layoffs this week. “While the deeper reductions are in areas that are most exposed to the condition of our commercial customers, the ongoing stability of our defense, space and related services businesses will help us limit overall impact, and we will continue hiring talent to support critical programs and meet our customers' evolving needs,” a Boeing spokesman said in a statement. Boeing plans to reduce its total headcount by 10 percent through natural turnover, voluntary layoffs and involuntary cuts — a measure made necessary by the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has shook the travel industry and called into question commercial airlines' ability to pay for Boeing aircraft already on order. So far, about 5,520 U.S.-based employees have been approved for voluntary layoffs, with about 380 of that sum coming from Boeing's defense business. The approximately 6,770 U.S.-based employees that will be involuntarily laid off this week represents the largest portion of layoffs expected by the company. Those workers will receive severance pay, COBRA health care coverage and career transition services, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said in a message notifying employees about the cuts. “The several thousand remaining layoffs will come in much smaller additional tranches over the next few months,” a Boeing spokesman said. In his message to Boeing employees, Calhoun hinted that the situation is to improve as countries begin reopening businesses and more customers feel comfortable booking air travel. However, it will take years for Boeing to fully recover from the pandemic, he added. “The COVID-19 pandemic's devastating impact on the airline industry means a deep cut in the number of commercial jets and services our customers will need over the next few years, which in turn means fewer jobs on our lines and in our offices. We have done our very best to project the needs of our commercial airline customers over the next several years as they begin their path to recovery,” Calhoun wrote. “I wish there were some other way.” https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2020/05/27/boeing-begins-involuntary-layoffs-but-defense-biz-to-remain-mostly-untouched/

NAVY Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $393,846,014 modification (P00008) to previously awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract N00019-19-D-0015. This modification increases the ceiling to produce and deliver Ancillary Mission Equipment (AME)/Pilot Flight Equipment (PFE) and associated AME/PFE initial spares in support of F-35 Lot 14 aircraft deliveries for the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, non-Department of Defense participants and Foreign Military Sales customer's operational aircraft. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be complete by September 2023. No funds are obligated at time of award and funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. BAE Systems Technology Solutions and Services, Rockville, Maryland, is awarded a $10,536,004 modification (P00006) to previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract N00421-20-C-0003. This modification exercises options to provide engineering and technical services for integrated communications and information systems radio communications on Navy ships in support of the Ship and Air Integration Warfare Division, Naval Air Warfare Center, Webster Outlying Field, Maryland. Work will be performed in Saint Inigoes, Maryland (60%); California, Maryland (30%); Bath, Maine (5%); and Pascagoula, Mississippi (5%), and is expected to be complete by June 2025. Fiscal 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds for $2,000,000 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 Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., Poway, California, is awarded a $7,432,050 modification (P00006) to previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract N00019-18-C-1063. This modification provides for Group 5 unmanned air system intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance services. These services are in support of outside the continental U.S. (OCONUS) Task Force Southwest and Marine Corps operations utilizing contractor-owned/contractor-operated MQ-9 unmanned air systems. Work will be performed in Yuma, Arizona (35%); Poway, California (15%); and various OCONUS locations (50%), and is expected to be complete by July 2020. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $7,432,050 will be obligated at 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. ARMY Lockheed Martin Missile and Fire Control, Grand Prairie, Texas, was awarded a $106,282,221 hybrid (cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price) contract for industrial engineering services for programs supporting international contractor logistics services related to the Multiple Launch Rocket System. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Grand Prairie, Texas, with an estimated completion date of May 26, 2023. Fiscal 2020 other procurement (Army) funds in the amount of $ 9,553,209 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-20-C-0032). EXP Federal, Chicago, Illinois, was awarded a $25,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for architect and engineering services for construction and renovation projects in the Republic of Korea. Bids were solicited via the internet with four received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 24, 2023. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Far East District, is the contracting activity (W912UM-20-D-0001). Lockheed Martin Corp., Orlando, Florida, was awarded a $13,210,610 hybrid (cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price) contract for modernized target acquisition sight/pilot night vision sensor refurbishment. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida, with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2022. Fiscal 2010, 2018 and 2019 aircraft procurement (Army); and 2010 Foreign Military Sales (United Kingdom) funds in the amount of $13,210,610 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-20-F-0413). General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., Poway, California, was awarded a $13,181,067 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for Gray Eagle post-production software support. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Poway, California, with an estimated completion date of May 27, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $13,181,067 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-20-F-0250). The Boeing Co., Mesa, Arizona, was awarded a $7,578,872 modification (P00057) to contract W58RGZ-16-C-0023 to provide generator feeder fault protection for the Apache helicopter. Work will be performed in Mesa, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2024. Fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement (Army) funds in the amount of $3,713,646 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Tasso Inc.,* Seattle, Washington, was awarded a $7,500,000 firm-fixed-price contract for serology kits. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in San Diego, California, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 15, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $7,500,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W911QY-20-P-0158). (Awarded May 1, 2020) DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Raytheon Co., Andover, Massachusetts, has been awarded a maximum $14,494,050 firm-fixed-price delivery order (SPRRA2-20-F-0087) against a seven-year basic ordering agreement (SPRBL1-15-D-0017) for antenna elements. 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, five-month contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Massachusetts, with a Sept. 30, 2022, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2022 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. Puerto Rico Apparel Manufacturing Corp.,** Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, has been awarded a maximum $11,173,437 modification (P00010) exercising the first one-year option period of a one-year base contract (SPE1C1-19-D-1151) with four one-year option periods for various types of coats and trousers. This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Location of performance is Puerto Rico, with a Nov. 29, 2021, estimated performance completion date. Using military services are Army and Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Awarded May 21, 2020) AIR FORCE Ophir Corp., Littleton, Colorado, has been awarded an $11,281,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for repair of the B-2 pilot alert assembly and laser energy monitor. Work will be performed in Littleton, Colorado, and is expected to be completed May 25, 2025. This award is the result of a non-competitive acquisition. Fiscal 2019 repair funds in the amount of $1,500,000 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Sustainment Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity (FA8119-20-D0004). LinQuest Corp., Los Angeles, has been awarded an $11,008,552 firm-fixed-price modification (P00047) to contract FA8819-15-F-0001 for the Space and Missile Systems Center technical support follow-on task order bridge extension. This modification provides continued technical support services for the Special Programs Directorate, Los Angeles Air Force Base, California. Work will be performed at Los Angeles AFB, California, and is expected to be completed May 31, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $856,651; and fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $3,000,000 are obligated at the time of award. The U.S. Space Force, Space and Missile Systems Center, Special Programs Directorate, Los Angeles AFB, California, is the contracting activity. *Small business **Economically disadvantaged women-owned small business in historically underutilized business zones https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2199430/source/GovDelivery/

By: Sebastian Sprenger COLOGNE, Germany — The air forces of Germany, France and Spain have agreed on a set of performance benchmarks to help their governments guide the development of a next-generation fighter jet set to fly in 2040, the German military announced Tuesday in a statement. The document, approved earlier this month, is meant to help officials identify what features from a collection of 10 possible system architectures are worth keeping when the time comes to settle on a path forward for the Next-Generation Weapon System, or NGWS. That system, with the manned next-gen fighter at its heart, is slated to become the central element of the Future Combat Air System, or FCAS, the most ambitious and expensive weapons program in mainland Europe. As envisioned, a small fleet of attack and surveillance drones, or “remote carriers,” would accompany each jet, and all elements would be interlinked by an artificial intelligence-powered “combat cloud,” according to a project description. The 10 different system architectures for NGWS currently in the mix lean in different directions — for example, when it comes to armaments, maneuverability and range of the main jet and its companion drones, the German Bundeswehr statement explained. The three air force top officials — Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz of Germany, Gen. Philippe Lavigne of France and Javier Fernandez of Spain — also agreed on a “Common Understanding Connectivity,” a guide for connecting national systems into the future FCAS scenario. The document will enable the program's partner nations to “synchronize” their respective development programs, according to the German statement. The industry leads for the Future Combat Air System program, Airbus of Germany and Dassault of France, unveiled a mock-up of the future fighter jet at the Paris Air Show last year. The plan is to begin testing a prototype in 2026. Earlier this year, France and Germany formally kicked off the next phase of the overall program, with each government contributing $85 million toward the development of technology demonstrators. German lawmakers, who fear an overtly strong French industry influence in the FCAS program, have linked the project to progress on the Main Ground Combat System, another highly visible bilateral program aimed at building a common battle tank. France has the lead on the next-generation fighter, while Germany leads the tank project. The German parliament's strategy of keeping a close watch on the aerial program by approving only relatively small tranches of money has Dassault CEO Eric Trappier worried about the ability to hit deadlines, French newspaper La Tribune reported last week. Speaking before a French Senate committee in mid-May, Trappier proposed a Franco-German programming law to ensure a more rapid development pace, according to the newspaper. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/05/26/three-european-air-forces-approve-performance-benchmarks-for-next-gen-fighter-jet/

5/26/2020 By Jon Harper The Navy already plans to spend big on robotics platforms in the coming years. As operation and maintenance costs grow and defense budgets tighten, that trend could accelerate, analysts say. The sea service's future years defense program calls for about $12 billion for unmanned aircraft, surface vessels and underwater systems in fiscal years 2021 through 2025, according to Bloomberg Government. Senior officials have a stated goal of pursuing a 355-plus-ship fleet of manned vessels, but unmanned systems are “probably the future of the Navy,” Robert Levinson, senior defense analyst at Bloomberg Government, said during a recent webinar. About $7.9 billion in the future years defense program would go toward drones, including nearly $4.3 billion for the MQ-4C Triton maritime surveillance aircraft and nearly $1 billion for the MQ-25 Stingray aircraft carrier-launched tanker, according to his presentation slides. An additional $2.2 billion would be allocated toward unmanned surface vessels, or USVs, and $1.9 billion for unmanned underwater vessels, or UUVs. Navy plans call for spending $941 million on USVs and UUVs in 2021 alone, a 129 percent increase relative to 2019, according to the slides. Operations, maintenance and personnel costs could squeeze modernization accounts in the coming years, Levinson noted. The 2021 Navy budget request included $125.8 billion total for those categories. In comparison, the request included $57.2 billion for procurement and $21.5 billion for research, development, test and evaluation. “With this budget being especially flat, you're really seeing the tension particularly in the Navy of, ... ‘Do we spend money on buying new stuff? Or do we need to spend the money on maintaining the stuff we have?'” he said. “You can buy more ships and put more money [into that], but then you need more sailors and you need more training of the sailors,” he noted. The COVID-19 pandemic could exacerbate funding constraints and further incentivize investments in unmanned platforms, Levinson said. “The Navy is really in a tough spot” trying to achieve its force level goals, he added. However, unmanned vessels are generally expected to be less expensive to procure, operate and maintain than manned platforms, which make them attractive as the sea service invests in new capabilities, Levinson noted. Meanwhile, the Marine Corps plans to restructure its forces to take on advanced adversaries, with a heavier emphasis on robotic platforms. “That has huge implications going out into the future” for acquisitions, Levinson said. “The Marine Corps' restructuring that's been announced is probably the biggest in a generation.” https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2020/5/26/navy-wants-$12-billion-for-unmanned-platforms

NAVY AECOM Technical Services Inc., Los Angeles, California (N62470-19-D-8022); Aptim Federal Services LLC, Alexandria, Virginia (N62470-19-D-8023); CH2M Hill Constructors Inc., Englewood, Colorado (N62470-19-D-8024); Environmental Chemical Corp., Burlingame, California (N62470-19-D-8025); Fluor Intercontinental Inc., Greensville, South Carolina (N62470-19-D-8026); and Perini Management Services Inc., Framingham, Massachusetts (N62470-19-D-8027), are awarded a $1,000,000,000 modification to increase the maximum dollar value of an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple award contract for global contingency construction projects worldwide. The work to be performed provides for the Navy on behalf of the Department of Defense and other federal agencies for immediate response for construction services when authorized. The construction and related engineering services will respond to natural disasters, humanitarian assistance, conflict or projects with similar characteristics and will be predominately construction. The contractor, in support of the construction effort, may be required to provide initial base operating support services, which will be incidental to construction efforts. After award of this modification, the total cumulative contract value will be $2,087,443,694. The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months with a completion date of March 2024. No funds will be obligated at time of award; funds will be obligated on subsequent modifications for work on existing individual task orders. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity. Raytheon Co. Integrated Defense Systems, Tewksbury, Massachusetts, is awarded a $29,222,688 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the Receive Only Cooperative Radar and its system. This contract provides for the development of new detection algorithms and operating modes for the AN/SPY-6(V)1 radar system, which will improve detection and tracking capabilities of the radar system. Work will be performed in Marlboro, Massachusetts (98%); and Fairfax, Virginia (2%). The work to be performed includes modelling and simulation of new operating modes, revisions of code to incorporate new algorithms, integration of algorithms into demonstration hardware and field tests using representative AN/SPY-6(V)1 demonstration hardware. Work is expected to be completed by May 25, 2023. The total cumulative value of this contract is $29,222,688. This is a three-year base contract with one two-year option period, which, if exercised, would increase cumulative contract value to $47,513,260. The action will be incrementally funded with an initial obligation of $6,722,688 utilizing fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds that will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured under N00014-19-S-B001, “Long Range Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for Navy and Marine Corps Science and Technology.” Since proposals are received throughout the year under the long range BAA, the number of proposals received in response to the solicitation are unknown. The Office of Naval Research, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N00014-20-C-1073). Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $15,989,488 cost-plus-fixed-fee order (N00019-20-F-0817) against a previously-issued basic ordering agreement N00019-19-G-0008. This order procures support to manage diminishing manufacturing sources in support of the F-35 program for the Air Force, Navy and non-Department of Defense (DOD) participants. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be complete by June 2020. Fiscal 2018 aircraft procurement (Air Force) funds in the amount of $6,545,775; fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $6,545,774; and non-DOD participant funds in the amount of $2,897,939 will be obligated at time of award, $6,545,775 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. CACI Inc. - Federal, Chantilly, Virginia, is awarded a $14,899,365 firm-fixed-price contract (N32205-20-C-4008) for 365-calendar day worldwide logistics services. The $14,899,365 consists of the amounts listed in the following areas: labor, materials and travel. Work will be performed worldwide. Work will include worldwide support services in the functional areas of sustainment logistics, corrective maintenance logistics system support, combat logistics force load management, material handling equipment, ordnance handling equipment support and ordnance management. Work is expected to be complete by June 2021. The contract includes one option period, which if exercised, will bring the total contract value to $29,628,581. Funds will be obligated on June 1, 2020. Contract funds in the amount of $14,899,365, excluding the option period, are obligated for fiscal 2020 using Navy working capital funds and (transportation) working capital funds. This contract is a sole-source and one offer was received. The Naval Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity. Grammatech Inc., Ithaca, New York, is awarded a $7,569,838 modification (P00010) to previously-awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract N68335-17-C-0700. This modification exercises an option to procure continued services and materials necessary to conduct research and develop the Late-Stage Software Customization and Complexity Reduction project. Work will be performed in Ithaca, New York. Specifically, this modification provides for the research and development of five software tools – Grammatech Transformer (GTx)-Reducer, GTx-Optimizer, GTx-Hardener and Vertex and LiftBridge. These software tools improve the viability of late stage customization against software binaries. Work is expected to be complete by May 2022. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $469,719 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 Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity. CORRECTION: The May 15, 2020, announcement of an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00383-20-D-XE01) awarded to S&K Aerospace LLC,* St. Ignatius, Montana, for the repair, overhaul and upgrade of 361 commercial common items used on P-8A Poseidon maritime aircraft included incorrect solicitation information. The contract was competitively procured with the solicitation posted to the Federal Business Opportunities website as a small business set-aside (SBSA) requirement and not as an 8(a)SBSA. ARMY Ernst & Young LLP, Washington, D.C., was awarded a $93,000,000 modification (P00023) to contract W91CRB-18-F-0238 for professional commercial audit support services. Work will be performed in Washington, D.C., with an estimated completion date of Sept. 20, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $12,337,384 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity. General Dynamics Mission Systems Inc., Huntsville, Alabama, was awarded a $16,211,164 modification (P00068) to contract W58RGZ-18-C-0043 for engineering services and contractors on the battlefield. Work will be performed in Huntsville, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 17, 2023. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $16,211,164 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. ProSecure LLC,* Fairfax, Virginia, was awarded an $11,165,786 firm-fixed-price contract for armed guard security services. Bids were solicited via the internet with 12 received. Work will be performed in the cities of Rufus, The Dalles and Cascade Locks, Oregon, with an estimated completion date of July 3, 2025. Fiscal 2020 civil expenses funds in the amount of $11,165,786 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland, Oregon, is the contracting activity (W9127N-20-C-0003). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Paragon-One Group LLC,* Gaithersburg, Maryland, has been awarded a maximum $57,792,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for managed print software services. This was a competitive acquisition with six responses received. This is a three-year contract with no option periods. Locations of performance are inside and outside the continental U.S., with a May 25, 2023, performance completion date. Using customer is Defense Logistics Agency. Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2020 through 2023 working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Contracting Services Office, New Cumberland, Pennsylvania (SP7000-20-D-0003). Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Connecticut, has been awarded a maximum $7,946,333 firm-fixed-price delivery order (SPRPA1-20-F-C12U) against a five-year basic ordering agreement (SPRPA1-17-G-C101) for H-53 hydraulic fluid tanks. 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 five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Connecticut, with an April 30, 2025, performance completion date. Using military service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2025 Navy working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Burlington Industries LLC, Greensboro, North Carolina, has been awarded a maximum $7,935,500 modification (P00007) exercising the second one-year option period of a one-year base contract (SPE1C1-18-D-1054) with four one-year option periods for poly/wool gabardine cloth. This is a fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract. Location of performance is North Carolina, with a May 29, 2021, performance completion date. Using military service is Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. AIR FORCE Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, has been awarded an $8,800,167 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for model-based intent-driven adaptive software (MIDAS). The objective of this contract is to develop a new approach to evolutionary software development and deployment that extends the results of model-based software engineering and provides an integrated, end-to-end framework for building software that is focused on growth and adaptation. The scope of this effort includes research, design, development, demonstration, testing, integration and delivery of the MIDAS software system that enables rapid adaptation of software to changes in requirements, platforms and computational resources at a scale and speed appropriate for the complex software ecosystem upon which the U.S. government, military and economy depend. Work will be performed in Nashville, Tennessee, and is expected to be completed by May 7, 2024. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and 20 offers were received. Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome, New York, is the contracting activity (FA8750-20-C-0215). *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2197963/source/GovDelivery/