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By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — Production of the Air Force's KC-46 refueling tanker and the Navy's P-8 maritime surveillance plane will stop as Boeing shuts down all facilities in the Seattle area amid the coronavirus pandemic. “Boeing plans to begin reducing production activity today and projects the suspension of such operations to begin on Wednesday, March 25, at sites across the Puget Sound area,” the company said in a statement on Monday. A Boeing spokesman confirmed that the impacted area includes the facilities in Everett and Renton, where the KC-46 and P-8 are made, respectively. “We plan to temporarily suspend all production operations, including those relating to P-8 and KC-46A, in the Puget Sound region,” the spokesman said. “We're actively engaged with our defense customers to minimize any impacts on their missions. Certain non-production work for all commercial derivative aircraft programs, including for the KC-46 remote vision system enhancements, will continue being done by employees working remotely.” The company is urging employees to telework if they can, but work on classified projects cannot be done on laptops, which could impact more sensitive elements of defense programs. The production stoppage itself is perhaps an even more urgent challenge. Boeing's Puget Sound facilities are best known for commercial airliner production, but the commercial-derivative aircraft it makes for the military —like the KC-46 and P-8 — are built on the same lines. Any pause in commercial production could put Boeing behind in delivering aircraft to the Air Force and Navy. However, Boeing's defense business will likely be able to make a quick recovery as long as the pause in production is not protracted, said Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst with the Teal Group. “P-8, KC-46 and other Boeing defense production in the Puget Sound area is mostly low-volume, like around 1-2 per month,” he said. “So they should be able to recover over the course of the year, assuming the factory deep clean is successful and the pandemic threat turns a corner.” Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun characterized the temporary plant closures as a “necessary step” to protect employees in the wake of a state of emergency in Washington state. "We continue to work closely with public health officials, and we're in contact with our customers, suppliers and other stakeholders who are affected by this temporary suspension,” he said. “We regret the difficulty this will cause them, as well as our employees, but it's vital to maintain health and safety for all those who support our products and services, and to assist in the national effort to combat the spread of COVID-19.” The company will also continue to monitor U.S. government guidance on COVID-19 and conduct a deep cleaning of impacted sites during the two-week pause, Boeing said. https://www.defensenews.com/coronavirus/2020/03/23/kc-46-p-8-production-to-stop-as-boeing-temporarily-shuts-down-production-in-puget-sound-area/

Not long ago, the biggest concern facing commercial aviation was whether Airbus and Boeing could produce enough aircraft to keep up with demand. Industry leaders fretted about how quickly they could ramp up production and whether the supply chain could keep pace. Some airlines were equally bullish, with American Airlines CEO Doug Parker proclaiming: “I don't think we're ever going to lose money again.” After a run of unparalleled and seemingly unstoppable prosperity, aviation and aerospace have flown into a perfect storm. The temporary shutdown of Boeing's 737 MAX production line has waylaid aerospace suppliers. But that pales in comparison to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which first crippled a crucial growth engine, China, and is now decimating air transport markets around the world. Each day brings a new round of fleet groundings, layoffs and order deferrals or cancellations, which in the coming months will rip through the manufacturing industry like a tornado. A new forecast from Europe projects Airbus will be forced to cut planned production nearly in half in 2021 and may not fully recover before 2027. Boeing is calling on the U.S. government to provide at least $60 billion in aid to aerospace manufacturers, U.S. airlines want another $58 billion, airports $10 billion and the maintenance, repair and overhaul industry $11 billion. It would not be hyperbole to call this the greatest crisis civil aviation has faced since the dawn of the commercial jet age more than six decades ago. But amid such panic, we need to take a deep breath and remember that this industry has survived many big challenges: oil price spikes; the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks; the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome; and the 2008-09 global financial meltdown. Each time commercial aviation has recovered and grown stronger, resuming its long-held trend of outpacing global economic growth. In one way, the disruption to our lives and businesses caused by the travel restrictions imposed to control the spread of COVID-19 illustrates the degree to which the world has come to rely on air transportation, from enabling commerce to connecting families. This is a crisis on an unprecedented scale for aviation, and there are airlines and businesses that certainly will not survive. But the extent of the disruption gives hope that demand for air transportation will return unabated once the restrictions are lifted. It is vital for governments, lawmakers and industry leaders to recognize that aviation will need help getting through such destructive upheaval. But in some cases, the optics will invite legitimate criticism. For example, Boeing has returned nearly $50 billion to its shareholders over the past five years while investing far less. Now it wants taxpayers to cough up tens of billions for a bailout? U.S. airlines are no better: They have sent 96% of free cash flow to shareholders over the last five years. And what about those airlines in Europe that should have been allowed to die long ago? Will they use this crisis as leverage for yet another government rescue? Clearly, there are lessons to be learned from the crisis, and a return to business as usual will not suffice. But in the near term, this is not about partisan politics or competitive advantage. It is about helping a vital industry survive this calamity. Commercial aviation is a connective tissue that underpins global commerce, drives prosperity and supports many millions of jobs. Allowing it to wither is not a realistic option. The coming days will be dark, but rest assured the industry will recover and once again prosper. https://aviationweek.com/aerospace/editorial-why-coronavirus-cannot-kill-aviation

Statement attributed to Lt. Col. Mike Andrews, Department of Defense spokesman: "The Department continues to aggressively partner with the defense industry to mitigate impacts from COVID-19. Under Secretary of Defense Ellen Lord's Acquisition and Sustainment leaders in Industrial Policy, Defense Pricing and Contracting, Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), and the Defense Contracting Management Agency (DCMA) have made significant progress this week in addressing specific concerns outlined by defense industry leaders. During the 4 daily COVID-19 update calls with defense industry associations leaders this week, led by Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Policy Ms. Jennifer Santos, several key concerns identified by industry included 1) critical defense contractor workforce ability to continue working; 2) ensuring cash flow to the defense industrial base; and 3) getting standardized guidance out to industry. On Friday the Department issued two memos that address all three concerns. After working closely with the Hill and the Department of Homeland Security, Under Secretary Lord issued a Defense Industrial Base Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce memo that defined essentiality in the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) workforce, ensuring the defense industrial base's critical employees can continue working. The memo also reiterated her commitment to the safety of the workforce and support of the national security mission. In addition, on Friday Mr. Kim Herrington, Director of Defense Pricing and Contracting, issued a Deviation on Progress Payments memo, which stated that once in contracts, the progress payment rate that contracts can get paid for will increase from 80% of cost to 90% for large businesses and from 90% to 95% for small businesses. This is an important avenue where industry cash flow can be improved. DCMA will work on mass modifications to contracts where applicable (vs one by one) using DCMA authorities. In addition, the Department is accelerating payments through several means to prime contracts and directing prime contracts to expedite payments to subcontractors. Vice Admiral David Lewis, DCMA Director, has worked closely with the contracting workforce and the Defense Finance and Accounting Services (DFAS) to ensure that invoices are continuing to be paid in a timely manner. On Friday, the Acquisition and Sustainment Small Business Office reached out to defense industry small businesses, and is working with the Small Business Administration and their small business emergency loan program to help protect these companies. The Department is fully engaged with the interagency to leverage the Defense Production Act to help reinforce critical elements of the DIB. It is especially important to understand that during this crisis the DIB is vulnerable to adversarial capital, we need to ensure companies stay in business without losing their technology. The Department will be discussing this in more detail next week. Under Secretary Lord remains grateful for the productive discussions with the defense industry associations, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Hill and State leaders. She's especially proud of the incredible efforts of Department leaders and contracting officers across the nation who are helping ensure a secure, reliable and resilient Defense Industrial Base." https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/2121122/partnering-with-the-us-defense-industrial-base-to-combat-covid-19/source/GovDelivery/

Steve Trimble Original estimates for costs, schedules and quantities of the Lockheed Martin F-35 upon contract award in October 2001 proved highly unreliable over the fighter program's nearly two-decade life span, but one critical number did not: 1,763. That four-digit figure represents program of record quantity for the U.S. Air Force—the F-35's largest customer by far—accounting for more than half of all projected orders by U.S. and international customers. The Navy and Marine Corps, the second- and third-largest buyers of the combat aircraft, respectively, downsized their planned F-35 fleet by 400 aircraft in 2004. But the Air Force's quantity never budged. Although the Air Force's official number remains unchanged, the F-35A is facing a new credibility test after a series of public statements made by Gen. Mike Holmes, the head of Air Combat Command (ACC). Air Force will consider UAS to replace some F-16s ACC sets 60% goal for fifth-gen mix in fighter fleet In late February, Holmes suggested that low-cost and attritable unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) might be considered by ACC as a replacement for F-16 Block 25/30 jets (also known as “pre-block F-16s”) within 5-8 years. In congressional testimony on March 12, Holmes added that ACC's goal is to achieve a fighter fleet ratio of 60% fifth-generation jets, such as F-35As and F-22s, to 40% fourth-generation aircraft, including F-15s, F-16s and A-10s. He also said a recent analysis by the Office of the Secretary of Defense recommends an even split between fourth- and fifth-generation fighters. Barring a significant increase in the Air Force's authorized force structure, both statements appear to jeopardize the mathematical possibility for the F-35A to achieve the full program of record. As fleet acquisition plans stand today, the F-35A program of record appears sound. Lockheed has delivered at least 224 F-35As to the Air Force so far. The public program of record calls for the F-35A to replace A-10s and F-16s, which currently number 281 and 1,037, respectively, according to Aviation Week and Air Force databases. In 2010, Lockheed and F-35 Joint Program Office officials also confirmed that the F-35 would replace the F-15E fleet after 2035, which currently numbers 228 aircraft. Adding the number of F-35As already delivered, the Air Force has a replacement population of 1,770 aircraft. But Holmes' statements could significantly alter the equation. The service's latest budget justification documents show about 325 of the 1,037 F-16s now in the Air Force fleet form the “pre-block” fleet that could be retired by attritable UAS instead of F-35As. Holmes' goal of a fighter fleet with a 60% share of fifth-generation jets also complicates the forecast for the F-35A. Including the F-22 fleet's 186 aircraft, as well as 234 F-15C/Ds, the Air Force today operates a total fleet of 2,190 fighters. A 60% share of the fleet results in 1,314 total fifth-generation aircraft. After subtracting the numbers of F-22s, the Air Force would have room for only 1,128 F-35As, which implies a 34% reduction from the program of record of 1,763. The head of the Air Force's F-35 Integration Office acknowledges the numerical disparity implied by Holmes' statements, but he stands by the F-35 original program of record. “The program of record for this aircraft is really long,” Brig. Gen. David Abba said on March 9, referring to the Air Force's plans to continue F-35A production into the mid-2040s. “I understand that's a natural question to ask, but I don't think anybody's ready to make that sort of a declaration.” Altering the program of record would not change the steady, downward trajectory of the F-35A's recurring unit costs. Last year, Lockheed agreed to a priced option for Lot 14 deliveries in fiscal 2022, which falls to $77.9 million. But changing the overall procurement quantity does have an impact on the program acquisition unit cost (PAUC), which calculates the average cost per aircraft, including recurring and nonrecurring costs. In the program of record, the PAUC estimate is currently $116 million each for all three versions of the F-35. Noting the forecast length of the F-35 production program, Abba recommends taking a long-term view. “I would focus less on the program of record element,” Abba said, and more on the Air Force's plans “to keep options open.” https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/usaf-fleet-plans-evolve-can-f-35a-program-survive-intact

Selon l'Institut international de recherche pour la paix de Stockholm (le Sipri), l'Hexagone est devenu le troisième plus gros exportateur d'armes sur la période 2015-2019, assurant 7,9 % des livraisons mondiales. Seuls les États-Unis (36 %) et la Russie (21 %) font mieux. En revanche, la France dépasse la Chine et l'Allemagne, respectivement troisième et quatrième sur la période précédente (2010-2014). Cela se traduit dans les comptes des entreprises françaises de l'armement, secteur qui totalise 13 % des emplois industriels du pays. En livrant 26 Rafale à l'export l'an passé, Dassault Aviation a vu son chiffre d'affaires bondir de 44 % à 7,3 milliards d'euros. Thales affiche, lui, une rentabilité opérationnelle record de 14 % dans ses activités de défense et sécurité. Selon le Sipri, la France a livré des armes à 75 États entre 2015 et 2019. L'Égypte, le Qatar et l'Inde sont les trois principaux clients captant 54 % des exportations françaises. "Les livraisons de l'avion de combat Rafale [de Dassault Aviation] à ces trois pays représentaient près d'un quart des exportations d'armes françaises en 2015-2019", détaille le Sipri. Le Moyen-Orient compte pour 52 % des exportations françaises, devant l'Asie et l'Océanie (30 %). Et les pays européens pèsent de plus en plus : ils ont représenté 25 % des exportations en 2018 contre 10 % en moyenne les années précédentes. https://www.usinenouvelle.com/article/la-france-troisieme-exportateur-mondial-d-armes.N941696

A modern mechanized military lives or dies by maintenance. But what if a computer could warn you when your weapons and vehicles were about to break, so you could fix them before they ever let you down? By SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR. WASHINGTON: Raytheon is working with the military on multiple pilot projects for AI-driven predictive maintenance. What's that? Traditionally, military mechanics spend a huge amount of time on what's called preventive maintenance: They carry truckloads of spare parts to war, they consult historical tables of roughly how often certain parts wear out or break down, and they preemptively crack open the access hatches to check those parts on a regular basis. The idea behind predictive maintenance is to feed all that historical data into a machine learning algorithm so it can tell maintainers, vehicle by vehicle and part by part, when something is likely to fail. It's a tremendous technical challenge that requires scanning in years of old handwritten maintenance forms, downloading digital records, and then constantly updating the database. Ideally, you want up-to-the-minute reports on things like engine temperature and suspension stress from diagnostic sensors installed in frontline vehicles. You need to account not only for what kind of equipment you're operating, but how hard it's running for a particular mission and even where in the world it's operating, because environmental conditions like heat, moisture, dust, and sand make a huge difference to wear and tear. And you can't just push out a single software solution and call it done. You have to constantly update your data so the algorithm can continue to learn, evolve, and adapt to different situations. But, Raytheon's Kevin Frazier and Butch Kievenaar told me, artificial intelligence and machine learning have advanced dramatically over just the last five years. Now Raytheon – a long-established defense contractor – is partnered with a flock of niche innovators to make it happen. Currently, they told me, Raytheon is already conducting or about to launch several multi-month pilot projects, seeking to prove the technology's value to the military: For the Army, they're working with a commercial partner on the M2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle, the mainstay armored troop transport of the heavy combat brigades, and the hulking M88 Hercules, a tracked “armored recovery vehicle” designed to tow broken-down battle tanks back for repair, if necessary under enemy fire. For the V-22 Joint Program Office – which supports the Osprey tiltrotor for the Marines, Air Force Special Operations Command, and now the Navy – they're working on the V-22's collision-avoidance radar, a Raytheon product. And across their customer base, they're looking at ways to do predictive maintenance on the many complex components Raytheon provides for a host of programs. How does this work? Let's hear from Kevin and Butch in their own words (edited for clarity and brevity from a highly technical 50-minute interview): Q: What kinds of problems can this technology help the military solve? Kevin: Right now, maintenance is conducted either on a scheduled timeline or when something breaks. What we are trying to do is replace that one piece because you know it's about to wear out and prevent it from breaking. Butch: One of the biggest things is you've got to understand what mission you're trying to achieve. If I'm trying to answer platform readiness questions, then I have to have certain data that's related to that topic. If I am trying to do supply chain analysis, I'm asking questions about where are critical parts and what size stockages we have to have to reduce turnaround time. So I'm answering a different question, and I'm looking at a different data set. So the key to setting all this up is what you do on the front end with your data to give the data scientists so that we can refine the algorithm appropriately. Q: AI/ML requires a lot of data. Is that data really available for all these different military systems? Kevin: It is. It's in different states. Some vehicles have sensors on them. Some do self-diagnostics. Some of the older equipment, especially the support equipment, doesn't have any sensors on them — but they all have files. They all are in the maintenance system, so the data exists. Data doesn't have to purely digital. It does have to be digitized at some point, but it doesn't necessarily have to start being digital. It could be maintenance logs that are hand-written, or the operator of a particular vehicle does a walk around and does an inspection report, writes that up — that's something that you actually can scan and input. Now we can add so many different types of data that your whole data environment becomes much richer. It helps you get to that algorithm — and then to continue to take in that data and refine that model. You're still recording that data and getting data from both handwritten and digital sources to update your model and tune it, so that you're just that much more accurate. Butch: What we're talking about is discrete algorithms solving for discrete problem sets. You look at the environment, and what the algorithm does is it learns. You keep ingesting data. You can get it a bunch of different ways so your analytical tool continues to learn, continues to refine. I can do a physical download from the vehicle, or scan maintenance records, or get it all fed off of a downloader that automatically feeds to the cloud. It can be as fast as we can automate the process of that piece of equipment feeding information back. For the Army and the Air Force especially, there is sufficient data over the last 15 that pertains to the impacts of combat. And we have it for different environments that you can then use to help train and refine the algorithms that you're using as it learns. Kevin: You have to understand the impacts the environment has on how the vehicle is functioning and what type of a mission you're doing, because that will cause different things to wear out sooner or break sooner. That's what the AI piece does. The small companies that we partner with, who are very good at these algorithms, already do this to some extent in the commercial world. We're trying to bring that to the military. Butch: The really smart data scientists are in a lot of the smaller niche companies that are doing this. We combine their tools with our ability to scale and wrap around the customer's needs. These are not huge challenges that we're talking about trying to solve. It is inside the current technological capability that exists. We have currently several pilot programs right now to demonstrate the use cases, that this capability that actually works. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/03/raytheon-ai-fix-that-part-before-it-breaks

From throwable cameras to magnetic brakes, from disease prevention to battlefield networks, these small businesses have technologies the Army really wants. Read on to find out why. By SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR. WASHINGTON: Miniaturized electromechanical compasses so you can still find your way when the enemy's jammed GPS. 360 degree cameras you can throw into a building before you storm it. 60-minute screening for pathogens like COVID-19. Those are just three of the winning ideas in the latest round of the Army's Expeditionary Technology Search program, the service's push to get high tech out of small biz. This week, 20 small businesses made their pitches to a panel of Army judges — and in a suitably 21st century touch, it was all done via the web, since the AUSA Huntsville conference where the pitches were originally to take place was canceled because of the coronavirus. (Click here for all our virtual and surrogate AUSA coverage). Yesterday, in a brief webcast, xTechSearch program manager Zeke Topolosky read out the 10 semifinal winners, who'll receive $120,000 each and – even more important for many of the competitors – access to Army expert mentors to help refine their pitch and their product for military use. One final winner will be picked to receive $250,000 this fall, hopefully at AUSA's grand annual meeting in October if the coronavirus permits. Topolosky spoke to me at length by phone after the announcement. What follows, in his own words (edited for brevity and clarity), is what excited the Army about each of the 10 winners. Zeke Topolosky, Program Manager, Army xTechSearch: It's 20 semifinalists that presented the last two days. This is a selection of all of the top technologies from all of the different technology areas. All that is evaluated by 28 judges over the past two days, from all different fields, very senior technical experts, acquisition experts, end users, and soldiers. We had to come to a consensus agreement on the ten that would move on to the finals. Bounce Imaging, they've made a tactical throwable camera, but it's not just throwable. It can be used mounted on a canine, on a person, on a vehicle, and it gives you a complete 360 degree spherical view. They're working on this in both color and IR [infrared]. And they were working on continuing to miniaturize that technology. And it stabilizes at all times. Imagine a body-worn camera [on someone] running through a building: You can't really follow that video. This device kept the video always oriented in one direction that the users requested, and stabilized, at all times. So it really had a lot of immediate use in things like breaching buildings, subterranean investigation, where they could just toss this into a building and get complete 360 degree situational awareness, day and night. GeneCapture, a very strong company, lots of amazing expertise on their staff. Obviously, they made some references to coronavirus [testing]. What they can do is detect infections and pathogens from a deployable, portable system, and do it rapidly. They have the ability to test for multiple things at once. Most detection systems like this, they're testing for one pathogen at a time, and it has to be done in a laboratory. They were pitching the ability to do this downrange, and to test for multiple things. When you have a soldier downrange, not in a hospital or in a medical station, who may have some illness, you have to sort of guess on treating them, or not treat them at all till they get proper testing, which could lead to administering the wrong medication, or no medication. This would allow a field medic to do those tests, real time, and know exactly what they're dealing with. Inductive Ventures. This is a magnetic braking technology. Now, this company pitched numerous use cases for magnetic brakes versus the carbon brakes that we normally use, but for the xTech competition, they focused on braking for helicopters. Right now, when you land a helicopter, you have no way of moving that machine without either turning on the engine or towing by other vehicles. With this technology, you would enable helicopter operators, if they were to land in an emergency, or have to move their vehicle without it fully functioning, they can do that with this magnetic braking. We did have several helicopter pilots in our judging panel who were saying, “This is revolutionary for us.” We even had an example of somebody having to do an emergency landing on a soccer field with a Huey overseas, due to mechanical failure. And then once they landed, they literally had no way of moving that helicopter. They left it. This would have enabled them to be able to move it around and work on it. IoT/AI, these guys kind of blew the socks off the judges. Essentially, they had a device that was hardened against cyber attacks and other interference. They're also able to do all this on an edge device, in this black box that you can take to the field, as opposed to having to send data back to a server. It's just one less vulnerability. Everything can be done there on the edge. It's kind of the golden nugget for deploying AI for the Army, where it's going to be done in forward deployed areas, without infrastructure, without these computing resources that are power draining, in vulnerable areas where the enemy is trying to mess them up. Deploying artificial intelligence in the Army is going to be way more difficult than all the things we see being developed on the commercial side, from self-driving cars to Alexa. Lots of people are developing algorithms, but we don't necessarily have the hardware to make that a reality for the Army, that's really sort of missing right now. IOT/AI, what they're providing is some of the hardware solutions to make that a reality. LynQ Technologies, this was a very strong company, it had strong VC backing, which de-risks a lot for the Army, and they've also been recognized by Techstars, out of the Air Force. It's a very mature product. There's a real near-term win with this, because it's a ready-to-go product that we could be using now to locate injured soldiers in the field, downed pilots, lost cargo, et cetera. It was a very strong company, well-backed on the commercial side. They clearly had a capability that they could deliver the Army now that we don't have. KeriCure – deployable wound care products. Like LynQ, this was a very mature product: You can go on Amazon and buy their product now. It was just a wonder why the Army doesn't have this in their kit. Field medics right now could be using this. Yes, there's some testing that would have to be done with to validate some of the claims, and there is possibly some more development work that has to go into packaging it better for field use. But it's a mature product that can give immediate, lifesaving capability to soldiers now. The Army deals with wounds that can't be dressed properly immediately, that lead to infections. And what this product does, it's a dressing you spray on wounds to prevent those infections from occurring. We had some combat medics in the group, and they all agreed they could use this in their kit right now. MEI Micro, it's a MEMS [Micro Electronic-Mechanical System] IMU [Inertial Measurement Unit]. It's an order of magnitude improvement on position, navigation, and timing capabilities that we have now. When you're GPS-denied, the solutions that are out there — including quantum clocks and gyro [gyroscopic] devices — are very expensive, and they're under development. What they presented showed a leap-ahead capability for a far lower cost. If it can be realized, it's a game changer here for assured position, navigation, and timing, which helps you with things like communications, navigation, et cetera, especially in a congested or a GPS-denied environment. Multiscale Systems, this is a company that competed in a previous round of xTech, when they were a little less mature. They had a meta-material, an engineered material, so you could customize the properties of the material and how you build it. They're able to make materials for air traffic, cargo, and even lining truck beds, much lighter, much stronger than what we currently have, and for cheaper. With the Army where, especially in logistics and transportation, they can have an immediate impact and save a lot of money and a lot of weight, especially when airdropping cargo and containers and things like that. Beyond that, there just seems to be a lot of other applications for these materials. Granted, they will need some work in lowering the cost to produce them, but the product itself could be a huge cost savings for the Army and lighten the load a lot in aircraft and ground logistics platforms. Novaa, that's the next generation SATCOM [satellite communications]. What these guys are proposing is a brand-new way of handling the spectrum. In the Army, we are constantly having to tap into multiple frequencies, so you'll see vehicles, aircraft driving around with lots of antennas on them. If you're on SATCOM, if you have a radar system, if you're doing high frequency, ultra-high frequency, everything requires a different physical antenna — and all of these antennas take up space. Not only that, they stick out, they get snagged, get caught, these antennas break. And worst of all, they are targets. They're highly visible. They stick out like a sore thumb, and they let the enemy know, hey, this is a vehicle of importance, it's got communication gear or sensor gear. What they are offering is an antenna designed to replace all those antennas with one single aperture, with a very low profile. The space savings, the drag savings, and the concealed nature of it, on top of having the complexity and the cost of all these antennas replaced with just one, was very appealing. It was the antenna design, but it was the architecture that goes with it as well, to be able to handle from one aperture, all these other systems that have to tap into that antenna. Really a potentially revolutionary way of approaching the spectrum. Vita Inclinata is the last one. This is another repeat company, they had previously been in the competition and had come back. They make a stabilization system for helicopters that are hoisting up either cargo or gurneys with injured people on them. This is a huge problem in the rescue operations, where a little gust or just the wrong movement can cause a load to spin out of control. There's instances where the Army is dropping expensive cargo because it would bring down the helicopter when they get into a spin, even losing injured people that are being medevac'ed because of these spins. Even rigging these hoist systems is extremely dangerous and requires somebody on the ground. Vita Inclinata, they've developed fully autonomous solution that completely stabilizes any loads, from just a wounded person to tens of thousands of pounds of cargo. They have a ready-to-go, pretty well tested device that could be added on to any helicopter. Since last year, their company has progressed a lot, with lots of interest across the services and the commercial side, landed some good investments and contracts. And this time around, they really understood where the niche was, where the Army needed this the most. Last year, they were trying to talk to the Future Vertical Lift folks about, “your new aircraft could use this.” But it's really all the helicopters, especially the existing ones that we're using now. The Army does not have this capability and it's desperately needed. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/03/xtechsearch-army-picks-top-10-tech-innovators

NAVY Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Arizona, is awarded a $392,412,665 modification (P00009) to a previously awarded fixed-price-incentive-firm contract (N00019-18-C-1068). This modification exercises options for the production and delivery of tactical missiles (Lot 20 AIM-9X, Block II and Block II plus), captive air training missiles, plus all up round tactical missiles, captive test missiles, special air training missiles, advanced optical target detectors, Block II and II plus guidance units (live battery), captive air training missile guidance units (inert battery), Block I and II propulsion steering sections, electronic units, multiple purpose training missiles, tail caps, maintenance, sectionalization kits, containers and spares for the Air Force, Navy and the governments of Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, Israel, Japan, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona (31%); Andover, Massachusetts (10%); Keyser, West Virginia (9%); Santa Clarita, California (8%); Hillsboro, Oregon (5%); Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (5%); Goleta, California (4%); Cheshire, Connecticut (4%); Heilbronn, Germany (3%); Simsbury, Connecticut (2%); San Jose, California (2%); Valencia, California (2%); Anaheim, California (2%); Cajon, California (2%); Cincinnati, Ohio (1%); Anniston, Alabama (1%); San Diego, California (1%); Chatsworth, California (1%); Amesbury, Massachusetts (1%); Claremont, California (1%); Sumner, Washington (1%); and various locations within the continental U.S. (4%), and is expected to be completed in July 2023. In addition, this modification provides for material in support of repairs, depot maintenance and refurbishment. The following funds will be obligated at the time of award: fiscal 2020 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $135,790,070; fiscal 2020 missile procurement (Air Force) funds in the amount of $129,267,647; fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Air Force) funds in the amount of $8,172,170; fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,999,656; fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $800,197; fiscal 2019 missile procurement (Air Force) funds in the amount of $6,189,530; fiscal 2019 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $3,262,027; fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Air Force) in the amount of $598,896; fiscal 2018 missile procurement (Air Force) in the amount of $503,814; fiscal 2018 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $267,280 and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) funds in the amount of $104,561,378. $4,369,646 of the funds obligated at contract award will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This modification combines purchases for the Air Force ($144,732,057; 36.88%); Navy ($143,119,230; 36.47%); and FMS customers ($104,561,378; 26.65%). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Alberici-Mortenson JV, St. Louis, Missouri, is awarded a $191,900,391 fixed-price award-fee contract for design-bid-build recapitalization of the dry dock at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay. Work will be performed in Kings Bay, Georgia, and is expected to be complete by July 2023. The work to be performed provides for concrete repairs in various locations throughout the dry dock, overhaul and repair of the steel caisson, upgrade power distribution, chilled water and a fire detection and alarm system. The project will also repair corroded steel members of the dry dock superstructure, re-coat the entire superstructure and replace roof and wall panels. The project will remove one bridge crane and overhaul two other bridge cranes. The scope also includes effort to rebuild or replace sluice gates and actuators, roller gate rails, flap valves and frames, all piping, and will upgrade control systems, electronic components and the auxiliary seawater system. The contract also contains nine unexercised options, which if exercised will increase the cumulative contract value to $592,343,628. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $191,900,391 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website with two proposals received. Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southeast, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity (N69450-20-C-0016). Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Moorestown, New Jersey, is awarded a $98,674,505 cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price and cost contract for sustainment of the Littoral Combat Ship Component Based Total Ship System – 21st Century -(LCS COMBATSS-21); and associated combat system elements. Work will be performed in Moorestown, New Jersey (84%); Camden, New Jersey (5%); Virginia Beach, Virginia (5%); Deer Creek, Colorado (2%); Manassas, Virginia (1%); Orlando, Florida (1%); and various other locations (under 1% - 2% total). The work executed under this contract will include maintenance and evolution of the LCS COMBATSS-21 (the backbone of the ship's mission system) and associated combat system elements in support of operational LCS ships. The work includes development, integration, test and delivery of future combat system baseline upgrades for in-service ships, supporting ship integration, installation and checkout, developmental test/operational test, developing training and logistics products, providing field technical support for combat systems, providing hardware engineering, equipment procurement and providing life-cycle supportability engineering and fleet support for fielded baselines. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $1,817,298 was obligated at the time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract includes options, which if exercised will bring the cumulative value of this contract to $789,584,127. This contract was a sole-source acquisition in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1). This contract was not competitively procured and only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N00024-20-C-5601). (Awarded March 16, 2020) CACI Inc. - Federal, Chantilly, Virginia, is awarded a $13,222,827 cost-plus-fixed-fee task order for engineering, technical, administrative and managerial (support) services in support of the Ships Availability Planning and Engineering Center and non-nuclear waterfront and deep submergence system programs at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNS). Work will be performed in Kittery, Maine, and is expected to be complete by March 2021. The purpose of this service contract is to provide technical work, engineering services, quality assurance, process development, consulting and content management support to the PNS departments, with frequent interface with other PNS departments and outside activities such as other private and naval shipyards, submarine maintenance engineering, planning and procurement. Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) support will be in the areas of engineering, technical, planning, deficiency resolution and administration as outlined. This contract includes options, which if exercised, will bring the cumulative value of this contract to $83,189,359. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $3,803,000 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the SeaPort-NxG Navy.mil website, with one offer received. The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine, is the contracting activity (N39040-20-F-3000). BAE Systems Land & Armaments LP, Phoenix, Arizona, is awarded an $8,568,715 modification (P00001) to previously awarded firm-fixed-price delivery order N00019-19-F-4133 against basic ordering agreement N00019-18-G-0018. This modification provides for the procurement of 20 E-2 parachute survival ensemble units and 130 FLU-10 inflators for the Navy, in addition to 60 E-2 parachute survival ensemble units and 70 FLU-10 inflators for the government of Japan. Work will be performed in Phoenix, Arizona (89%); and Orchard Park, New York (11%), and is expected to be completed in November 2023. Fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,620,920; fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $889,322; fiscal 2018 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $156,147; and Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $4,902,326 will be obligated at time of award, $156,147 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This modification combines purchases for the Navy ($3,666,389; 43%); and the government of Japan ($4,902,326; 57%). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND Lukos LLC, Tampa, Florida (H92240-20-D-0011); People, Technology & Processes, Tampa, Florida (H92240-20-D-0012); RMGS Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia (H92240-20-D-0013); and SPATHE Systems LLC, Tampa, Florida (H92240-20-D-0014), were awarded a $245,000,000 maximum multiple award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for logistics support, equipment related and knowledge based services in support of Naval Special Warfare Command (NSWC) enterprise requirements. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $2,500 are being obligated at the time of award for each contract. The work will be performed in various locations in the U.S. and overseas and is expected to continue through fiscal 2025. The contract was awarded competitively using Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 15 procedures with 13 proposals received. NSWC headquarters, Coronado, California, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE INFORMATION SYSTEMS AGENCY DRS Network & Imaging Systems LLC, Melbourne, Florida, was awarded a competitive single award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price contract for the production of Army installation kits. The contract ceiling is approximately $205,998,367, and the minimum guarantee is $2,000,000. The total value of delivery order 0001 is $16,884,194, funded by fiscal 2020 other procurement (Army) funds. Proposals were solicited via FedBizOpps, now beta.SAM.gov, and three proposals were received. The place of performance will be at the contractor's facility until the installation kits are delivered to the U.S. government at Red River Army Depot. The period of performance for the base period is March 20, 2020, to March 19, 2023; if all options are exercised, the contract performance will end March 19, 2030. The period of performance is a three-year base with seven one-year options. The Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity (HC1084-20-D-0006). ARMY Alliant Techsystems Operations LLC, Plymouth, Minnesota, was awarded a $104,770,422 modification (P00071) to contract W15QKN-13-C-0074 for precision guidance kits. Work will be performed in Plymouth, Minnesota, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 26, 2024. Fiscal 2020 other procurement, Army funds in the amount of $104,770,422 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, New Jersey, is the contracting agency. Raytheon Co., Dulles, Virginia, was awarded a $64,751,190 modification (P00006) to contract W56KGY-16-D-0006 to provide operations and sustainment support for Persistent Surveillance Dissemination System of Systems in support of Product Manager Force Protection Systems. 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 May 31, 2023. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity. ID Technologies LLC,* Ashburn, Virginia, was awarded a $46,579,188 firm-fixed-price contract to purchase information technology equipment and accessories. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work will be performed in Ashburn, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of March 24, 2021. Fiscal 2020 revolving funds in the amount of $46,579,188 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntsville, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W912DY-20-F-0193). L3 Fuzing and Ordnance Systems, Cincinnati, Ohio, was awarded a $19,381,064 modification (P00005) to contract W15QKN-19-C-0040 for the procurement of application specific integrated circuit chips. Work will be performed in Cincinnati, Ohio, with an estimated completion date of June 30, 2021. Fiscal 2020 procurement of ammunition, Army funds in the amount of $19,381,064 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, New Jersey, is the contracting agency. Oshkosh Defense LLC, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, was awarded a $17,405,696 modification (P00295) to contract W56HZV-15-C-0095 to exercise an option covering priced man-hours, labor, material and fees on material for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) system technical support JLTV retrofit efforts. Work will be performed in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 30, 2020. Fiscal 2019 other procurement, Army; and 2020 Marine Corps procurement funds in the amount of $17,405,696 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity. Oshkosh Defense LLC, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, was awarded a $16,754,161 modification (P00344) to contract W56HZV-15-C-0095 to exercise options for packaged kits for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle family of vehicles. Work will be performed in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 30, 2023. Fiscal 2018 and 2019 other procurement, Army funds in the amount of $16,754,161 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity. Stantec Consulting Services Inc., New Orleans, Louisiana, was awarded a $14,143,940 firm-fixed-price contract for the design of pump stations and drainage structures. Bids were solicited via the internet with nine received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of March 20, 2024. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans, Louisiana, is the contracting activity (W912P8-20-D-00004). SI2 Technologies Inc.,* North Billerica, Massachusetts, was awarded a $13,491,546 firm-fixed-price contract for protection of Army and Department of Defense assets and weapon systems from emerging threats. 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 April 28, 2023. U.S. Army Contracting Command, New Jersey, is the contracting activity (W15QKN-20-D-0023). Flick Lumber Co. Inc.,* Galion, Ohio, was awarded a $9,340,523 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of performance oriented packaging (POP) boxes. Bids were solicited via the internet with ten received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of March 22, 2025. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-20-D-0021). Texas Dewatering LLC,* Bellville, Texas, was awarded an $8,502,179 firm-fixed-price contract for improvements in the Houston Ship Channel. Bids were solicited via the internet with five received. Work will be performed in Houston, Texas, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 30, 2021. Fiscal 2020 civil operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $8,502,179 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston, Texas, is the contracting activity (W912HY-20-C-0010). DEFENSE FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING SERVICE Guidehouse LLP, McLean, Virginia, is being awarded a labor-hour contract option with a maximum value of $10,449,089 for audit finding remediation support services for the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller). Work will be performed in McLean, Virginia, with an expected completion date of March 31, 2021. Fiscal 2020 Defense-wide operating and maintenance funds in the amount of $10,449,089 are being obligated at the time of this option award. This award brings the total cumulative value of the contract to $34,766,166. This contract is the result of a competitive acquisition for which two quotes were received. The contract had a 12-month base period plus four individual one-year option periods, with a maximum value of $49,839,283. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Contract Services Directorate, Columbus, Ohio, is the contracting activity (HQ0423-18-F-0055). DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY RadiaBeam Technologies LLC,* Santa Monica, California, has been awarded a $10,202,941 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Gamma Ray Inspection Technology (GRIT) program. In Phase I, RadiaBeam Technologies LLC proposes a Laser-Compton approach for meeting GRIT program objectives and carrying out relevant system demonstrations. Work will be performed in Santa Monica, California (80%); Menlo Park, California (9%); Los Angeles, California (7%); and Paris, France (4%), with an estimated completion date of March 2021. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $3,718,701 are being obligated at time of award. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HR0011-20-C-0072). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Chartwell RX LLC, Congers, New York, has been awarded a maximum $7,074,642 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for numerous pharmaceutical products in support of the Corporate Exigency Contracts program. This was a competitive acquisition with one response received. This is a one-year base contract with nine one-year option periods. Location of performance is New York, with a March 18, 2021, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 defense warstopper funds. The contracting agency is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2D0-20-D-0005). UPDATE: Navistar Defense LLC, Melrose Park, Illinois (SPE8EC-20-D-0057), has been added as an awardee to the multiple award contract for commercial trucks and trailers, issued against solicitation SPE8EC-17-R-0008 and announced Jan. 9, 2018. (Awarded March 19, 2020) *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2120442/source/GovDelivery/

By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — One hundred thirty members of the House of Representatives are asking key defense committees in Congress to increase the number of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters by 24 percent over the number requested by the Pentagon in fiscal 2021. “Our adversaries continue to advance surface-to-air missile systems and develop their own stealth fighters,” read the letter, released Wednesday. “It is essential that we continue to increase production of our nation's only 5th generation stealth fighter in order to ensure the United States maintains air dominance and to further reduce overall program costs.” The letter, addressed to the chairs of the Senate and House Armed Services committees and Appropriations Defense subcommittees, is authored by Reps. John Larson, D-Conn.; Marc. Veasey, D-Texas; Martha Roby, R-Ala.; and Michael Turner, R-Ohio — the four leaders of the bipartisan F-35 caucus. Last year, the four also joined forces to write a similar request, which garnered 103 signatories. The Defense Department's budget request asks for 79 F-35s, including 48 of the F-35A model used by the Air Force, 10 F-35Bs used by the Marines and 21 F-35C models used by the Navy. In the letter, the congressmen note that number is 19 less jets than Congress appropriated in FY20. However, that number creates “a capability gap that 4th Generation, or legacy, aircraft cannot fulfill,” the letter warned. “To reach the minimum 50% ratio of 5th Generation and 4th Generation fighters in the timeframe required to meet the threat, the U.S. must acquire F-35s in much larger quantities.” Instead, the members want a 24 percent increase in fighters procurement, going up to 98 total, including 12 more F-35As, two more F-35Bs and 26 more F-35Cs. Those numbers match the fighter increase listed by the Air Force in its unfunded requirements document sent to Congress earlier this year; the Navy requested only five more F-35C variants, while the Marines did not request more. The letter was first reported by Politico. In addition to the increase in planes bought, the members are seeking additional funding for “spare parts and depot level repair capability to meet the required availability rates and accelerate the stand-up of mandated, organic government repair capabilities.” Additionally, investments are sought for the program dedicated to the jet's reliability, maintainability and improvement, as well as a “long-term, outcome-based sustainment contract” that would guarantee performance metrics at a fixed price. The members then request the committees fully fund the budget request for the continuous capability development and delivery (C2D2) modernization effort and use existing funds to accelerate integration of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile onto the jet. Earlier this year, the Pentagon's independent weapons tester called the current schedule for C2D2 “high risk” and said the program office is struggling to stay on schedule. “C2D2 is critical to meeting the evolving threat in the mid-2020s and into the 2030s. Full funding is needed for the delivery of new weapons and critical capabilities necessary to keep the F-35 ahead of our adversaries,” the members wrote. https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2020/03/19/130-house-members-want-24-percent-more-f-35s-procured-in-fy21/