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The U.S. Air Force selected United Launch Alliance (ULA) as one of two launch service providers under the National Security Space Launch Phase 2 Launch Services Procurement (LSP). Aerojet Rocketdyne will provide two RL10 rocket engines to power the upper stage of ULA's Vulcan Centaur launch vehicle, as well as the thrusters that control the stage while in flight and the composite overwrapped pressure vessels that store gases required for operation of the launch vehicle. “Aerojet Rocketdyne congratulates ULA on its selection and we look forward to providing our highly reliable RL10 engine on the Vulcan,” said Eileen P. Drake, Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO and president. “Aerojet Rocketdyne has supported the nation's most important national security space missions for decades. We will now bring the RL10 engine's tremendous record of mission success to support the next generation of American National Security Space Launch missions. Under the LSP contract, ULA will support approximately 60% of missions starting in 2022 and continuing through the next five years. The RL10 engine's outstanding performance and reliability has made it the upper-stage engine of choice for the nation. Built in West Palm Beach, Florida, the RL10 engine is currently used to power the upper stages of ULA's Delta IV and Atlas V rockets, and has supported earlier versions of those vehicles dating back to the early 1960s. The flight-proven RL10 engine provided the upper-stage propulsion to place hundreds of military, civil and commercial satellites into orbit and has sent spacecraft on their journeys to explore every planet in our solar system. The RL10 engine has been continuously upgraded throughout its service life with recent efforts focused on incorporating additive manufacturing to enhance affordability while maintaining its unequaled performance. “With 500 engines flown in space, the RL10 has an unmatched reputation worldwide,” added Drake. “We look forward to continuing our strong partnership with ULA as we provide an advanced RL10 engine for Vulcan.” Source: United Launch Alliance Date: Aug 8, 2020 https://www.asdnews.com/news/aerospace/2020/08/08/aerojet-rocketdyne-provide-ulas-vulcan-centaur-key-propulsion-next-generation-air-force-lsp

Interconnectivity between remote carriers and Eurofighter Typhoons has been successfully proven for the first time during a live exercise. During the recent German Air Force Timber Express exercise over Northern Germany and the North Sea, the Airbus Defence and Space remote carrier technology in a multi-data link environment was demonstrated with real fighter aircraft. The remote carriers were not only connected with all tactical combat aircraft of the Air Force, but could also receive and executed orders without the need for technical modifications to the aircraft. This marks a first in Europe and is also a further milestone towards a future combat air system (FCAS). The communications, which also included Tornado fighters and NATO cooperative ESM Operations, were established within the framework of existing IT security regulations and NATO classification levels. The remote carriers which currently use the Compact Airborne Networking Data Link (CANDL), were successfully connected to Link16, the operational tactical data link of the German Air Force. A further step was the demonstration of interoperability with the NATO concept of Co-operative ESM Operations (CESMO). This is a reconnaissance network spanning several branches of the armed forces aimed at locating threat systems in the electromagnetic spectrum in real time. Airbus has succeeded in integrating the remote carriers as full component in the CESMO reconnaissance network. The simulated reconnaissance results of the remote carriers were made immediately available to the CESMO Fusion Element during the exercise and merged in real time with other reconnaissance results such as those of a flying Tornado ECR. https://www.defenseworld.net/news/27608#.XzK7wShKiUk

By: Andrew Chuter Correction: A previous version of this story misidentified a contract conclusion date. That has been updated. LONDON – Britain has moved a step closer to completing a deal for purchasing Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTV) following the award of a contract allowing platform builder Oshkosh Defense to trial proposed UK sub-systems on the vehicle. The British Ministry of Defence signed a demonstration phase deal with the US government in June to investigate the integration of UK equipment on the JLTV as part of a proposed foreign military sales agreement. Program officials here said the work being undertaken by Oshkosh is to help them better understand the choices to be made and reduce risk during manufacturing. The US vehicle has been selected by the British Army as the preferred option for the first phase of its Multi-Role Vehicle-Protected program aimed at replacing command, liaison and light logistics vehicles. A second MRV-P package, unrelated to JLTV, involving purchase of larger vehicles for ambulance and general purpose duties is still in competition. The demonstration deal has not been officially announced but radios, electronic countermeasures and other equipment are among the items specified by the British for trialing on a modified JLTV. Mike Ivy, the senior vice president for international programs at Oshkosh Defense, confirmed the work is underway. “The MRV-P program has funded a series of technical work packages that take the UK requirements and ensure proper fit and integration into JLTV,” Ivy said. The Oshkosh Defense executive said the work is being undertaken at the company's headquarters in Wisconsin. “The contract will conclude by December 2022,” said Ivy. Nobody is saying yet when a production contract might finally get signed, or for how many vehicles. Talks between the British and US governments on a proposed JLTV purchase have been underway for more than four years. Cost has been cited by some media reports as one of the reasons the two sides have failed so far to finalize a deal. Ivy said talks to conclude the deal were still underway. “The timing for the purchase of JLTV, the quantity of vehicles and subsequent delivery is the subject of ongoing discussions between the UK MoD and US DoD,” he said. British armed forces minister James Heappey told Parliament in January the intention was to decide on the JLTV procurement this year. That, though, was before Covid-19 struck, causing the delay of a defense review until around the end of the year and chronically damaging the financial prospects of military equipment spending. Equipment programs are regularly being delayed as the MoD seeks to balance its books. Most recently officials cited the defense review as one of the reasons for delaying a major 155mm howitzer program by more than two years. Analysts and the media here have said the Army may be a big loser if its budget takes a hit as the government defense review pivots towards sectors like space and cyber and away from conventional weapons like armored vehicles and artillery. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in 2017 the British had been approved to purchase 2,747 JLTV vehicles at a cost of $1 billion. The Parliamentary Defence Committee , also in 2017, said the expectation was that 750 vehicles would likely be procured. Whatever number the British settle for Ivy said that Oshkosh is mindful of the importance of UK content for its contracts with the UK MoD. “The MRV-P program is no exception. Once the work packages have been completed by Oshkosh and the configuration has been determined by the UK MoD, Oshkosh will present options on shared work content that can be completed in collaboration with UK partners,” said the executive. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/08/10/oshkosh-is-tinkering-with-a-uniquely-british-jltv/

Nathan Strout SpaceX and United Launch Alliance have won massive five-year National Security Space Launch contracts from the U.S. Space Force and National Reconnaissance Office, the Space and Missile Systems Center announced Aug. 7. The contracts will support more than 30 heavy lift launches planned between fiscal 2022 through 2027, with task orders to be made from fiscal 2020 through 2024. 60 percent of launch services orders will go to ULA, with SpaceX taking up the remaining 40 percent. The two firm-fixed-price, indefinite delivery requirement contracts included funding for the first year of launches: $337 for ULA and $316 for SpaceX. “This is a groundbreaking day, culminating years of strategic planning and effort by the Department of the Air Force, NRO and our launch service industry partners,” said William Roper, assistant secretary of the U.S. Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, in a statement. “Maintaining a competitive launch market, servicing both government and commercial customers, is how we encourage continued innovation on assured access to space. Today's awards mark a new epoch of space launch that will finally transition the Department off Russian RD-180 engines.” Following a Congressional mandate, the Department of Defense began the NSSL competition in 2019 to end U.S. reliance on the Russian propulsion systems used for the Atlas V and Delta IV rockets. A four-way competition ensued, with Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman and ULA designing new rockets for the military and SpaceX submitting their already certified Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. The Space and Missile Systems Center claimed that a report issued in April by think tank RAND supported its decision to award contracts to only two launch providers, arguing that the market could only support two. “This landmark award begins the dawn of a new decade in U.S. launch innovation, while promoting competition, maintaining a healthy industrial base, and reinforcing our global competitive advantage,” stated Lt. Gen. John Thompson, commander of SMC and program executive officer for space. “This acquisition will maintain our unprecedented mission success record, transition National Security Space payloads to new launch vehicles, assure access for current and future space architectures and cultivate innovative mission assurance practices.” With the announcement, SMC announced the first three missions to be assigned under the new contracts: USSF-51 and USSF-106 for ULA, and USSF-67 for SpaceX. All three will take place in fiscal 2022. https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2020/08/07/spacex-and-ula-win-massive-national-security-launch-contracts/

By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — Support is growing both in Congress and in the Pentagon to pursue a Hawaii-based ballistic missile defense radar that the Missile Defense Agency did not include in its fiscal 2021 funding request. Previous MDA budget requests in FY19 and FY20 asked for funding for the discriminating radar as well as another somewhere else in the Pacific. The plan in FY19 was to field the Homeland Defense Radar-Hawaii, or HDR-H, by FY23, which meant military construction would have taken place beginning in FY21. Then in FY20, MDA requested $247.7 million for the radar. Lockheed Martin received an award to develop the radar in December 2018. But in FY21, funding for both the Hawaiian radar and the Pacific radar was missing in the request. MDA Director Vice Adm. Jon Hill said in February, when the request was released, that the agency decided to hit the brakes on its plans to set up the radars in the Pacific, instead planning to take a new look at the sensor architecture in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command region to figure out what is necessary to handle emerging threats. Hill noted that the area is covered by a forward-deployed AN/TPY-2 radar in Hawaii as well as the deployable Sea-Based X-Band radar. Additionally, Aegis ships with their radars are mobile and can be repositioned as needed to address threats in the near term, he added. Yet, over the summer, the Hawaiian radar gained traction in Congress via funding support in the House Appropriations Committee's defense subcommittee's version of the FY21 defense spending bill and the Senate Armed Services Committee's version of the defense policy bill. The House subcommittee injected $133 million to pursue the homeland defense radar in Hawaii, and the SASC added in $162 million to continue HDR-H development. The SASC also included language that essentially reminded the Pentagon that HDR-H was a response to a mandate in the FY18 National Defense Authorization Act to improve coverage for the threat of ballistic missiles in Hawaii. The HDR-H was also listed as an unfunded requirement for FY21 by Indo-Pacific Command. The SASC also directed the MDA to provide an updated plan that accounts for delays related to finding a site in Hawaii, noting it expects the Pentagon to fund the program in subsequent budget requests. During a presentation at the virtually held Space and Missile Defense Symposium on Aug. 4, Hill showed a slide listing focus areas for the agency in FY21. The presentation included the currently unfunded radar, third from the top of the list. “The potential for getting a radar onto Hawaii as part of another major sensor allows us to have that launch-all-the-way-to-intercept view out in a very large ocean area in the Pacific,” Hill said. The HDR-H is categorized as a focus area for the MDA “because if the [Defense] Department decides to move forward with HDR-H, then the HDR-H will be deployed as part of the U.S. homeland defense architecture against long-range threats,” Mark Wright, MDA spokesman, told Defense News in an Aug. 6 statement. The missile defense architecture “must evolve with advancements of the threat,” he added. “Space sensors do not replace but complement ground-based radars by providing track custody during radar coverage gaps. Having both terrestrial radar and space sensors provides dual phenomenology to accurately track and discriminate the threat as it continues to become more complex.” https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/smd/2020/08/07/support-to-pursue-hawaii-based-missile-defense-radar-continues-after-dod-drops-funding/

ARMY General Dynamics Land Systems, Sterling Heights, Michigan, was awarded a $428,229,970 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the field level maintenance, field service representative support, contingency maintenance support, new equipment training and total package fielding for the family of Stryker vehicles. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of July 31, 2025. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-20-D-0075). Sierra Nevada Corp., Sparks, Nevada, was awarded a $318,952,224 hybrid (cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price) contract for simple key loader production, engineering and sustainment support services. 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. 9, 2030. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W15P7T-20-D-0030). Remotec Inc., Clinton, Tennessee, was awarded a $48,600,000 firm-fixed-price contract for the reset, sustainment, maintenance and recap to support the overall sustainment actions of the Remotec family of robots. 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. 1, 2025. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Detroit, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-20-F-0366). Carbro Constructors Corp.,* Hillsborough, New Jersey, was awarded a $7,832,976 modification (P00003) to contract W912DS-19-C-0035 for construction of flood-control measures for Green Brook Segment C1, Borough of Middlesex, New Jersey. Bids were solicited via the internet with five received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 13, 2021. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, New York, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Aug. 6, 2020) AIR FORCE Tangram Flex Inc.,* Dayton, Ohio, has been awarded a maximum $95,000,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for software and reports. The scope of this effort is to perform research, development, prototyping, enhancement, testing, evaluation, integration, transition and operational assessment to enhance and commercialize the Tangram Platform resulting in flexible system engineering componentization that allows system integrators and maintainers to ease the difficulty in interface versioning and generation. Work will be performed in Dayton, Ohio, and is expected to be completed Aug. 10, 2025. 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 $243,000 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome New York, is the contracting activity (FA8750-20-D-1000). Black River Systems Co. Inc.,* Utica, New York, has been awarded an $89,280,441 modification (P00012) to contract FA8750-19-C-0040 for operational counter-small unmanned aircraft system (C-sUAS) open systems architecture. The objective of this effort is to rapidly enhance and commercialize the technology and approach developed under the previous Small Business Innovation Research Phase II contract in order to support rapid research, development, prototyping, demonstration, evaluation and transition of C-sUAS capabilities. Work will be performed in Utica, New York, and is expected to be completed May 1, 2023. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $9,150,720; fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $2,683,016; and fiscal 2018 other procurement funds in the amount of $2,509,784, are being obligated at the time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $184,929,049. Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome, New York, is the contracting activity. The Boeing Co., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has been awarded a $50,000,000 cost ceiling, cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-incentive-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) Internet Protocol Enabled Communication (IPEC) program. This contract provides for the continued acquisition of supplies and services directly associated with the functions of IPEC in the overarching AWACS upgrade. Work will be performed at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, and is expected to be completed Aug. 10, 2026. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement funds in the amount of $1,875,634 are obligated at the time of award on the same day delivery order. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom AFB, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity (FA8730-20-D-0038). NAVY Nan Inc., Honolulu, Hawaii, is being awarded a $33,491,868 firm-fixed-price contract for construction of magazines at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. The work to be performed provides for constructing four standard earth covered Type D box magazines without loading platforms, each equipped with electronically-operated doors at ground level, lightning protection system and grounding system. Paving and site improvements include concrete magazine apron and site demolition. Electrical utilities include primary and secondary electrical distribution systems and transformers. Work will be performed in Oahu, Hawaii, and is expected to be completed by September 2022. Fiscal 2020 military construction (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $33,491,868 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Beta.SAM.gov contract opportunities website with four proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Hawaii, Joint Base Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is the contracting activity (N62478-20-C-4016). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Argentum Medical LLC, Geneva, Illinois, has been awarded a maximum $14,780,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for medical surgical products. This was a competitive acquisition with 24 responses received. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Illinois, with an Aug. 9, 2025, ordering period end date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through fiscal 2025 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2DE-20-D-0018). *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2307696/source/GovDelivery/

by Jon Grevatt India, one of the world's biggest defence importers, has announced a ban on procuring more than 100 military products from foreign suppliers. The new policy – announced on 9 August – is line with a government campaign to achieve self-reliance and is intended to “apprise India's defence industry about anticipated requirements ... so that they are better prepared to realise the goal of indigenisation”, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said. The new ‘import embargo list' features 101 defence products, with emphasis mainly on land and sea-based equipment including artillery, armoured vehicles, destroyers, submarines, and a range of related components. However, although the list includes some air platforms – such as light combat aircraft and light combat helicopters – that are currently being produced by Indian defence firm Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, it also features some advanced technologies – including electronic warfare systems and air-to-air missiles – that would be integrated on to these platforms. The MoD said the banned list will be “progressively implemented” over the next few years. Accordingly, the list names items that will be barred for import from December 2020 (69 products), December 2021 (11 products), and December 2022 (21 products). The MoD added that the embargo list would be expanded progressively. “This is a big step towards self-reliance in defence,” said the MoD. “It offers a great opportunity to the Indian defence industry to rise to the occasion to manufacture the items ... by using their own design and development capabilities or adopting technologies designed and developed by [state-owned] Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).” https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/india-to-ban-imports-of-101-defence-products

Nathan Strout The Pentagon has cleared 100 megahertz (MHz) of contiguous mid-band spectrum to be used for commercial 5G following a 15-week review, determining that they can share that bandwidth while minimizing impact on military radars. While that 3450-3550 MHz mid-band spectrum is highly desired by commercial 5G developers, it's been historically used by the military for critical radar operations for air defense, missile and gunfire control, counter-mortar, bomb scoring, battlefield weapon locations, air traffic control, and range safety. But now, leaders from the Department of Defense say the Pentagon can continue using the spectrum for those purposes while making it available for commercial development. DoD Chief Information Officer Dana Deasy said the department will move toward sharing most of that spectrum without limits while setting up a Spectrum Relocation Fund Transition Plan to minimize risks. “DoD is proud of the success of the [America's Mid-Band Initiative Teams (AMBIT)] and is committed to working closely with industry after the FCC auction to ensure timely access to the band while protecting national security,” Deasy told reporters Aug. 10. The White House and Department of Defense established AMBIT to free up spectrum for 5G development quickly back in April. Over a 15-week period, the working group was able to bring together 180 subject matter experts, and ultimately were able to identify 100 MHZ of spectrum used by the military that could be safely shared with commercial 5G efforts.The decision expands the amount of connected mid-band spectrum open for 5G development to 530 MHz. The Federal Communications Commission will auction off the spectrum. One government official said action was expected by the end of this fiscal year. https://www.c4isrnet.com/industry/2020/08/10/pentagon-clears-100-mhz-of-spectrum-for-5g-development

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) will partner with Asia Air Survey (AAS) to hold a series of validation flights for the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) featuring GA-ASI's SeaGuardian® beginning in mid-September. Xavier Vavasseur The purpose of the flights is to validate the wide-area maritime surveillance capabilities of RPAS for carrying out JCG's missions, including search and rescue, disaster response, and maritime law enforcement. The flights are expected to run for approximately two months and will include support from the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) at its Hachinohe base in Aomori Prefecture. According to the JCG, the flight validation will be conducted in accordance with “The Policy on Strengthening the Maritime Security Systems,” using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to perform maritime wide-area surveillance using new technology. “We're pleased to support the JCG's goals of validating SeaGuardian's maritime surveillance performance,” said Linden Blue, CEO, GA-ASI. “We know there is a need in Japan and worldwide for affordable, long-endurance airborne surveillance in the maritime domain.” The SeaGuardian system will feature a multi-mode maritime surface-search radar with Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (ISAR) imaging mode, an Automatic Identification System (AIS) receiver, and High-Definition – Full-Motion Video sensor equipped with optical and infrared cameras. This sensor suite enables real-time detection and identification of surface vessels over thousands of square nautical miles. The featured Raytheon SeaVue surface-search radar system provides automatic tracking of maritime targets and correlation of AIS transmitters with radar tracks. SkyGuardian® and SeaGuardian are revolutionizing the long-endurance RPAS market by providing true all-weather capability and is built to achieve Type Certification based on STANAG (NATO standard) airworthiness compliance. This feature, along with its operationally-proven, collision-avoidance radar, enables flexible operations in civil airspace. https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2020/08/general-atomics-seaguardian-uav-to-conduct-validation-flights-for-japan-coast-guard/