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WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – July 1, 2019 – Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) has received a $104 million indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) award for the technical refresh of UH-1Y, AH-1Z and UH-60V mission computers. The IDIQ contract covers delivery of production units, retrofit units and spare units for the Marine Corps, Defense Logistics Agency and the government of Bahrain under the Foreign Military Sales Act. This contract brings together multiple mission computer customers, driving greater value, cost efficiency and a reduced logistics footprint. Under the IDIQ, the Navy may issue task or delivery order awards up to the ceiling amount specified in the contract. Work under the contract is set to conclude in 2023. “Northrop Grumman's mission computer delivers mission critical capability to the warfighter,” said James Conroy, vice president, land and avionics C4ISR, Northrop Grumman. “The system provides improved situational understanding in the rapidly changing threat environment.” The mission computer integrates advanced mission, weapons and video processing capabilities into a high-performance airborne computer capable of driving independent, multi-function displays. Its trusted, open architecture provides centralized display and control of all integrated avionics system functions. The mission computer brings improved capability, commonality, reliability and maintainability to the warfighter. Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in autonomous systems, cyber, C4ISR, space, strike, and logistics and modernization to customers worldwide. https://news.northropgrumman.com/news/releases/northrop-grumman-receives-104-million-contract-for-uh-1y-ah-1z-and-uh-60v-aircraft-mission-computers

By: Andrew Chuter and Sebastian Sprenger LONDON and COLOGNE, Germany – Germany's Rheinmetall and Britain's BAE Systems on Monday launched their U.K.-based military vehicles joint venture, after British authorities approved the deal in mid-June, the companies announced. The new outfit is named RBSL, short for Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land, and it's based in Telford, West Midlands. Peter Hardisty, formerly of Rheinmetall UK, is the company's managing director. The joint venture sets out to “play a major role” in manufacturing the Boxer multirole fighting vehicle for the British Mechanised Infantry Vehicle program, according to a Rheinmetall statement. Official also have an eye on “other strategic combat vehicle programs” in addition to maintenance contracts for the British Army's bridging- and armored-vehicle fleets, according to the company. “This announcement is a clear vote of confidence in the UK's defence industry as a world-leader in designing, supplying and supporting military vehicles,” Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt was quoted as saying in the statement. “This exciting venture clearly demonstrates how Defence sits at the heart of the prosperity agenda. Its benefits will be felt in the West Midlands and across the UK defence supply chain, creating jobs, boosting exports and guaranteeing our technical skills base into the future.” Some might think it was anything but. That's because the news also means Britain has lost its only big-name, armored-vehicle company in a joint venture where BAE is the junior partner. As a result, the country no longer has a domestically controlled mainstream vehicle supplier — although some would argue BAE forfeited that role a while ago. The British company retains significant armored-vehicle design and build activities in the United States and Sweden. General Dynamics UK, Lockheed Martin UK and Rheinmetall now have significant investments in Britain's armored-vehicle sector, with British involvement primarily led by specialist designers and builders like Supacat and Jankel and a still-vibrant sector supply chain. It's a far cry from 2004 when BAE acquired key domestic manufacturer Alvis, trumping an acquisition bid from General Dynamics with a last-minute offer of £355 million (U.S. $451 million) that was largely seen as a strategic move. At the time, most of the British Army's armored vehicle fleet was designed and supplied by Alvis. But that's dramatically changed. General Dynamics has recently started supplying its Ajax family of tracked reconnaissance vehicles to the Army in what is the biggest deal in the sector in three decades. Final assembly and testing takes place at company facilities in South Wales. Lockheed Martin is leading the program to update the Warrior infantry fighting vehicle as well as supply turrets for the Ajax program from a factory in southern England. Rheinmetall is a partner in the Artec consortium selected without competition to supply Britain with the eight-wheel drive Boxer vehicle. The vehicle was nominated as the preferred option last year but a final production deal between RBSL and the Ministry of Defence has yet to be announced. Rheinmetall and BAE have also been vying to supply a major upgrade of the Challenger 2 main battle tank for the British Army. Mordaunt recently labeled the Challenger as “obsolete” due to the ministry's failure to keep pace with technological advances in the sector. In a speech to the Royal United Services Institute think tank last month, she said Britain had fallen behind it's allies and rivals due to underinvestment in the armored vehicle sector. A decision on the Challenger update program is expected shortly. However, recent signals from the MoD suggest the Army may have got its wish to fall into line with other NATO members and go for the German company's solution of a new turret and 120mm smoothbore gun to replace the rifled weapon currently fitted to the Challenger 2. BAE's weapons and ammunition activities in the U.K. are excluded from the deal, as is the CTAI joint venture with Nexter to build a new 40mm cannon. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2019/07/01/rheinmetall-bae-consummate-armored-vehicles-joint-venture/

RACHEL S. COHEN Several Air Force installations with strategic assets are now armed with systems to protect against small unmanned aircraft that might loiter nearby. Steve Wert, the Air Force's digital program executive officer helping to roll out counter-UAS systems, said the service had fielded initial capabilities to an undisclosed number of US Strategic Command and Air Force Global Strike Command sites. Speaking at an Air Force Life Cycle Management Conference recently in Dayton, Ohio, Wert described the new systems as “a command-and-control capability integrated with some detection and some jamming,” but did not mention kinetic attacks. “Much more work to do,” he said. “We're finding the typical problems you will find on some bases. In order to have a radar providing detection, you actually have to build a tower. Building towers is hard because you have to do environmental assessments.” The systems provide “a composite suite of options” to sense and defeat drones attempting to enter restricted airspace around nuclear, space, electronic warfare, long-range strike, and missile defense resources, Air Force spokeswoman Laura McAndrews said. “The concept of ‘tailored and layered defense' provides the ability to execute kinetic solutions, such as traditional ballistic rounds and capture nets, coupled with other countermeasures that disrupt the operator's ability to navigate drones in our restricted airspace,” she said. The Air Force and Army are also collaborating on using 40 mm ammunition with nets that deploy and wrap around the drones to bring them down. “We've had some recent success working with the Army on kinetic defeat, successful test round firings,” Wert said. “The idea of a net round is probably a good solution, but that system's becoming accurate enough where the training rounds are directly hitting UAVs, so very good results there.” In May, Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord told reporters Defense Department officials were concerned that military personnel weren't aware of their options for addressing UAVs and the services weren't sharing their ideas. Combatant command representatives and acquisition officials meet each month to discuss the right way forward. That's generated a list of counter-UAS systems in the DOD with details on their maturity, how many are deployed, and how they are used, Lord said. The Air Force is also working toward laser and microwave weapons for that purpose. The FAA already regulates how and where small UAS are allowed to fly, though those rules are evolving in collaboration with the Pentagon, which called the issue a high priority earlier this year. “I really do think of these UAVs as something that's low-cost, it's easy to manipulate,” then-acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told the Senate Appropriations Committee in May. “We need to develop the capabilities and the rules because, quite frankly, this airspace is shared by so many different authorities, so it's as much about rules to operate in space as it is the technologies to defeat them.” Over the past few years, Defense Department officials have pointed to instances of enemy combatants dispatching small drones for strike and intelligence-gathering in the Middle East and of unmanned aerial vehicles lingering near high-end aircraft. US Strategic Command did not answer how many little aircraft have been spotted lately or if the number is growing. "So far, they've been incidental activities,” STRATCOM boss Gen. John Hyten said at a 2017 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. "But the fact that they're occurring, and then if you watch what is happening overseas in the [US Central Command theater] with the use of lethal UAVs and the use of UAVs for surveillance on the part of a terrorist adversary, I'm very concerned that those same kind of UAVs could be employed against our weapon storage facilities, especially on the nuclear weapon storage facilities." Air Combat Command chief Gen. Mike Holmes in 2017 also noted two incidents that interfered with operations on the same day and required reports to Air Force leadership. Conventional military assets need similar policies and protections as STRATCOM has put in place over the past few years, allowing workers to track and engage drones when needed, he argued. "At one base, the gate guard watched one fly over the top of the gate shack, tracked it while it flew over the flight line for a little while, and then flew back out and left," Holmes said. "The other incident was an F-22 . . . had a near collision with a small UAS, and I don't have anything that I can do about it." http://www.airforcemag.com/Features/Pages/2019/July%202019/Strategic-Air-Bases-Receive-First-Counter-UAS-Systems.aspx

ARMY Cardno GS Inc., Charlottesville, Virginia (W91278-19-D-0027); AECOM Technical Services Inc., Los Angeles, California (W91278-19-D-0025); Atkins North America Inc., Dallas, Texas (W91278-19-D-0026); HDR Environmental, Operations and Construction Inc., Englewood, Colorado (W91278-19-D-0028); Tetra Tech Inc., Fairfax, Virginia (W91278-19-D-0031); Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Dallas, Texas (W91278-19-D-0029) and Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia (W91278-19-D-0030) will compete for each order of the $49,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for architect and engineering services. Bids were solicited via the internet with 12 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of June 30, 2022. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Hughes Network Systems LLC, Germantown, Maryland, was awarded an $11,823,659 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the research and development effort to research solutions, prototype products and demonstrate solutions that include machine learning to improve transport and network performance availability and reliability. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work will be performed in Germantown, Maryland, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 30, 2023. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,863,123 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W56KGU-19-C-0016). Techwerks LLC,* Arlington Heights, Illinois, was awarded an $8,920,153 modification (P00018) to contract W911QY-17-C-0101 for labor, other direct costs and travel in support of Walter Reid Army Institute of Research Behavioral Health Readiness and Suicide Risk Reduction Review. Work will be performed in Arlington Heights, Illinois, with an estimated completion date of July 1, 2020. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $4,863,077 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military, Bethesda, Maryland, was awarded an $8,168,074 modification (P00005) to contract W81XWH-18-C-0337 to provide diagnostic and clinical research support. Work will be performed in Silver Spring, Maryland, with an estimated completion date of June 30, 2023. Fiscal 2019 Defense Health Program funds in the amount of $6,834,794 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, Fort Detrick, Maryland, is the contracting activity. NAVY The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is awarded a $42,875,328 fixed-price-incentive delivery order (N00019-19-F-2412) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-16-G-0001). This order provides for the procurement of 48 trailing edge flaps for F/A-18 aircraft. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri (72%); Lucerne Switzerland (20%); Paramount, California (5%); Hot Springs, Arkansas (3%), and is expected to be completed in June 2021. Fiscal 2018 and 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $42,875,328 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Corp., Rotary and Mission Systems, Moorestown, New Jersey, is awarded a $7,120,812 cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee, and firm-fixed-price contract for Combat System Ship Integration and Test on Guided Missile Frigate (FFG(X)) new-construction ships. The work executed under this contract includes combat system (CS) ship integration engineering support and test planning, conducting a waterfront CS ship integration and test program, post-delivery engineering support to government test teams, engineering services for CS ship integration and test and developing test program documents for FFG(X) ships. This contract includes options, which if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $124,980,289. Work will be performed at the FFG(X) ship builder location (70 percent) and Moorestown, New Jersey (30 percent), and is expected to be complete in June 2025. If all options are exercised, work will continue through July 2029. Fiscal 2019 research development test and evaluation (Navy) funding in the amount of $1,000,000 will be obligated at the time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with three offers received. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N00024-19-C-5602). AIR FORCE CACI Technologies Inc., Chantilly, Virginia, has been awarded a $34,837,804 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for software agility and resiliency software/hardware. This contract provides for the development of technology and methods to test and evaluate the effectiveness of virtual infrastructure with regard to malware analysis and mission assurance and web-based mission management functionality integration with current operational systems. Work will be performed in Rome, New York, and is expected to be completed by June 30, 2024. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and two offers were received. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,150,000 are being obligated at time of award. The Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome, New York, is the contracting activity (FA8750-19-C-0014). The Design Knowledge Co.,* Fairborn, Ohio, has been awarded a $15,000,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for Advanced Visualization, Automation and Novel Computing Enterprise (ADVANCE). This contract provides for the Small Business Innovation Research Phase III effort that extends the previous Phase I and Phase III efforts by adding in other relevant algorithms, automation, cloud based integrations, full-spectrum workflows, advanced visualization, models and simulation to increase the technology readiness levels by testing and validating the ADVANCE system within a relevant environment of live set networks. Work will be performed at Fairborn, Ohio; and Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, and is expected to be completed by September 2025. This award is derived from, extends or completes efforts made under prior SBIR funding agreements and is authorized under 10 U.S. Code 2034(b)(2) or 41 U.S. Code 3303(b). Fiscal 2019 research development test and evaluation funds in the amount of $592,000 are being obligated at time of award. The Air Force Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles directorate, Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico, is the contracting activity (FA9453-19-C-0038). LinQuest Corp., Los Angeles, California, has been awarded a $12,824,336 cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price modification (P00098) to previously awarded contract FA8808-13-C-0009 for systems integration and engineering services. The contract modification provides for the extension of the period of performance of the current contract for a period of two months of services. This two month extension is to ensure continuity of services and provide the required 60-day transition period as a result of the delay in the award of the competitive follow-on contract. Work will be performed at Los Angeles Air Force Base, and is expected to be completed by Aug. 31, 2019. Fiscal 2017 procurement; 2018 research and development; and 2019 procurement; operations and maintenance; and research and development funds in the amount of $6,259,555 are being obligated at the time of award. Los Angeles Air Force Base Space and Missile Systems Center Missile Systems Center, Military Satellite Communications Systems Directorate, Los Angeles, California, is the contracting activity. Raytheon Co., Dulles, Virginia, has been awarded $8,045,715 modification (P00004) to previously awarded firm-fixed price contract FA4890-17-C-0014 for persistent surveillance and dissemination system of systems and mission video distribution system services. This modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract from $15,626,799 to $23,672,514. Work will be performed at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina; and Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, and is expected to be completed by July 31, 2022. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $4,022,857 are being obligated at time of award. Headquarters ACC, Acquisition Management and Integration Center, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, is the contracting activity. AECOM Management Services Inc., Germantown, Maryland, has been awarded a $7,497,087 firm-fixed-price, task order (FA8131-19-F-0002) to previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract FA8131-18-D-0001 for contractor logistics support of the Air National Guard's C-26 Fleet. This task order is to provide sustainment and engineering support for the current fleet of 11 aircraft. Work will be performed at Fresno, California; Clarksburg, West Virginia; Kirtland, New Mexico; Meridian, Mississippi; Ellington Field, Texas; Des Moines, Iowa; Fairchild, Washington; Tucson, Arizona; Madison, Wisconsin and Montgomery, Alabama, and is expected to be completed by June 30, 2020. Fiscal 2019 Air National Guard operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $7,497,087 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Exelan Pharmaceuticals Inc., Boca Raton, Florida, has been awarded a maximum $8,080,106 firm-fixed-price requirements contract for Budesonide Inhalation Suspension. This is a one-year base contract with four one-year option periods. This was a competitive acquisition with two responses received. Locations of performance are Florida and India, with a June 30, 2020, performance completion date. Using customers are Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, Indian Health Services and Federal Bureau of Prisons. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency, Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2D2-19-D-0075). *Small business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1893327/source/GovDelivery/

By: David B. Larter WASHINGTON — With bigger, faster missiles in development and bound for the fleet, the U.S. Navy's engineers are considering installing upgraded launchers on the stalwart Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. The head of Naval Sea Systems Command, Vice Adm. Thomas Moore, told an audience at a conference of naval engineers that the Arleigh Burkes — due to their vertical launch system and Aegis missile capabilities — were easier to keep relevant than other destroyers such as the Adams and Spruance classes. Still, with the service attempting to keep the ships longer, new launchers may be in order to pace the threat from Russia and China, which have been developing their own hypersonic weapons. “Vertical launch system has been a real game changer for us. We can shoot any number of things out of those launchers,” Moore said. “We'll probably change those out and upgrade them for prompt strike weapons down the road.” Putting hypersonic weapons on surface ships would greatly increase the effectiveness of their strike capabilities. The current main strike weapon, the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile, is a subsonic missile that is vulnerable to evermore advanced Russian and Chinese air defenses. Prompt strike, which refers to a Pentagon-wide effort to field hypersonic weapons to quickly strike anywhere in the world, are most likely coming first to submarines, said Thomas Callender, a retired submarine officer and analyst with the Heritage Foundation. Because subs are stealthy and can sneak in close to land undetected more easily than a surface ship, they make the most sense. “They're looking at putting hypersonics on submarines first because where you can get access,” Callender said. “You can potentially then put them on surface ships as an added capability for them, but the submarines would be the priority for access and the ranges you can achieve.” The Navy is designing a new large surface combatant to replace the cruisers and ultimately the destroyers with larger missiles in mind. As a result, the ship may be fairly large, former Surface Warfare Director Rear Adm. Ron Boxall told Defense News last year. The benefit of larger vertical launch cells is that you can pack more missiles into each cell, if you are not using the cell for the larger hypersonic missiles, Boxall said. “We are going to need, we expect, space for longer-range missiles,” he said. They are going to be bigger. So the idea that you could make a bigger cell, even if you don't use it for one big missile, you could use it for multiple missiles — quad-pack, eight-pack, whatever.” The missiles that would go into a larger launcher are still very much under development. The Navy is teamed with the Army to develop a booster for a hypersonic missile, and the Army is leading a team with the Navy and Air Force to internally build a common glide body that is producible on a larger scale. Radar upgrades Naval Sea Systems Command is also examining installation of a scaled-down version of the air and missile defense radar AN/SPY-6, under development for the Flight III DDG. The scope of that project, however, remains to be determined. “We are looking at a scaled-back version of the air and missile defense radar to back-fit the Flight Is and Flight IIs, similar to how we are looking for a version of the [Enterprise Air Search Radar] developed for [the Ford-class aircraft carriers] to back-fit on some of the old Nimitz class,” Moore said. “I'm not sure how many ships it is going to go on, we're still doing the design work. It's a fairly significant change to the structure of the ship, AMDR versus Spy.” The purpose of the upgrade would be used to track the faster, more dynamic missiles under development by Russia and China. The array is a smaller version of the SPY-6 intended for the Flight III DDG, the first of which is now under construction at Huntington Ingalls Industries. The SPY-6 destined for DDG-125 will have 37 radar modular assemblies, or RMA, which are 2-foot-by-2-foot-by-2-foot boxes that use gallium nitride technology to direct radar energy on air targets. The Flight IIA version will have 24 RMAs in the array. A version of the radar planned for the FFG(X) future frigate is a nine-RMA configuration. The Navy wants to upgrade all of its DDGs to Aegis Baseline 9 or higher with a ballistic missile defense capability and extend the service lives to 45 years as part of an effort to grow the fleet. But the Navy is going to try to get 50 years out of its Flight IIA ships. The IIAs make up the bulk of the DDG fleet, with 46 total planned for the service — DDG-79 through DDG-124. DDG-127 will also be a Flight IIA. That upgraded SPY-6 will be far easier to maintain than the current SPY-1D. Raytheon claims the radar can be maintained by simply removing an RMA and switching it out with a new one, with the rest of the work performed offsite. https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2019/06/30/navy-eyes-new-launchers-on-stalwart-destroyers-for-putting-hypersonics-afloat/

By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The Army has awarded several key contracts to build virtual trainers, which make up a critical part of the service's developing Synthetic Training Environment (STE). Cole Engineering Services, Inc. (CESI) was selected from a pool of vendors with solutions for ground and air virtual trainers on June 28 to build a prototype of the Army's Synthetic Training Environment's Reconfigurable Virtual Collective Trainer (RVCT). The Army sifted through a total of 11 responses to a request for solutions issued in April — eight RVCT solutions that address aircraft, two that address ground platforms and one that covered both air and ground capability in a comprehensive solution. “As a result of a multi-stage competition, the comprehensive solution, provided by Cole Engineering Services Inc., was selected as the winning vendor providing best value to the government,” a June 28 statement sent to Defense News from Army Contracting Command- Orlando said. The total value of the prototype project, if all phases and options are exercised, is $81.4 million. The Army also awarded a $95 million contract June 19 to VT MAK, a subsidiary of Singapore company ST Engineering in the United States, to deliver both Training Simulation Software (TSS) and a Training Management Tool (TMT) — two essential elements that, when combined with One World Terrain, form the STE's Common Synthetic Environment (CSE). The CSE enables the RVCT, the Soldier Squad Virtual Trainer and the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS). The awards mark big progress in developing the STE — essentially a virtual world in which to train soldiers for war and aims to move the service away from its stove-piped training systems from the ‘80s and ‘90s. The new system will allow soldiers to train collectively — which is critical to preparing for multidomain operations across air, ground, sea, cyber and space — with greater fidelity. The STE will ultimately also be used as a mission planning tool. The idea is to be able to click on any place on a virtual globe and go there. Soldiers can then train virtually in an exact environment in which they can expect to operate in reality. The STE was prioritized through the establishment of Army Futures Command and has its own cross-functional team led by Maj. Gen. Maria Gervais to push efforts forward quickly. Prior to the standing up of the new four-star command aimed at rapidly building and procuring more modern equipment, the STE wasn't going to be ready until 2030. Now that timeline has been shrunk through new approaches in development and acquisition. The contracts awarded this month, for example, are Prototype Other Transaction Agreements under the Training and Readiness Accelerator (TReX), which allowed the service to move more quickly through a competitive process. The plan moving forward for the RVCT is “upon successful completion of this prototype effort,” the Army would award a follow-on production contract “without the use of competitive procedures,” according to the ACC-Orlando-issued statement. But if the vendor fails to “demonstrate progress” or “be unsuccessful in the accomplishment of the goals of this prototyping effort,” the Army “reserves the right to return to the results of this competition and award additional Other Transaction Agreements to one or more of the vendors that responded to the initial Request for Solutions, as appropriate within the scope and evaluated results of the competition,” the statement notes. Should the vendor move forward, a follow-on effort could include continued development, further scaling of the solution and integration of future capabilities. The Army estimates the fielding quantity for the prototype would be 210 (or greater) RVCT-Air trainers and 656 ground versions “at various locations for Full Operational Capability,” according to the statement. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2019/06/28/army-awards-key-contracts-to-build-virtual-trainers/

Posted by Eric Brothers Lockheed Martin is investing $142 million in its Camden, Arkansas, facility and adding 326 new jobs by 2024. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson joined Lockheed Martin executives during the Paris Air Show announcing this investment. Two new production buildings will support manufacturing long range fires and PAC-3 missile defense capabilities, plus expanding current facilities. Frank St. John, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, said, "The facility has a long record of precision manufacturing and on-time deliveries, which is the reason we continue to invest in and expand our Camden Operations." Camden Operations is Lockheed Martin's Precision Fires operations center of excellence. Hutchinson said, "Lockheed's investment illustrates the fact that Arkansas continues to be a global player in the aero-defense industry." The newly created jobs are growing the Camden facility workforce from approximately 700 employees to more than 900 employees in the next few years. https://www.aerospacemanufacturinganddesign.com/article/lockheed-martin-invest-camden-arkansas/

By Allen Cone June 27 (UPI) -- Three companies -- BAE System Technology Solutions and Services Inc., Serco and Scientific Research Corp. -- have been awarded combined contracts by the U.S. Navy worth up to $1.8 billion to support the branch's shipbuilding programs, including communications and computers systems aboard vessels. The initially obligated amount on orders will not exceed $747 million throughout the duration of the awarded contracts, the Defense Department said in an announcement Wednesday. The work will be performed aboard new construction aircraft carriers and large deck amphibious ships, including refueling and complex overhaul ships. The programs require integrated work on integrated command, control, communications, computers and intelligence systems, or C4I. This includes logistics, integration, engineering, procurement, fabrication, assembly, test, inspection, zone integration and installation. The integrated capability comprises distributed systems that provide network capabilities, communications, command and control, intelligence, and non-tactical data. The breakdown is $601.5 million for BAE, $608.2 million for Serco and $599.5 million for Scientific, the Pentagon said. Seventy-three percent of the work will be performed in Newport News, Va., 17 percent in Charleston, S.C. and 10 percent in Pascagoula, Miss. Work is expected to be completed by June 2029. No contract funds have been obligated at the time of award. Each company will receive $50,000 on the first task order under each contract, which won't expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval fiscal 2017 shipbuilding and conversion, fiscal 2019 shipbuilding and conversion, and fiscal 2019 research and development funds will be obligated. https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2019/06/27/Three-companies-awarded-18B-to-support-Navy-shipbuilding-programs/5311561636928/

By PAUL MCLEARY WASHINGTON: As the Marine Corps prepares to wrap up the first deployment of its innovative mobile counter-drone system to the Middle East, the service is rushing ahead to put lasers on a ground vehicle, with an eye to shooting down drones. While the deployed Light Marine Air Defense Integrated System — mounted on two Polaris MRZR all-terrain vehicles — can move quickly and electronically jam drones, the Marines are looking for something a little more...well, kinetic. They hope they've found it in the Compact Laser Weapons System (CLaWS) program. It is the first ground-based laser approved by the Pentagon for use by ground troops. Marine Lt. Col. Ho Lee, product manager for Ground Based Air Defense Weapons Systems, said in a statement that the CLaWS program has been developed, troops trained on it, and its been fielded for testing all in about a year's time, a timeline the Corps is hoping will get the system fielded in a relatively short time period. “We've been doing rapid prototyping, rapid delivery,” Lee said. “With this and a lot of the other efforts we are doing, we are using items currently available and integrating them to meet a capability. Little development, if any, went into this.” Back in 2017, Boeing began developing the system in 2-kW, 5-kW and 10-kW configurations. But it's unclear which version the Marines are testing. The Army has already placed a version of the weapon on a Stryker for testing in Europe, while the Marines last year showed it off on top of a JLTV. The idea is to get the system in the field as part of a larger, integrated air defense system that can protect deployed troops from DIY drones to more sophisticated models built by nation states. Despite the Pentagon's National Defense Strategy which prioritize equipping the force for competition with China and Russia, out in the world, there are still 15,000 US troops in Afghanistan, 5,000 in Iraq and somewhere around 2,000 in Syria, all of whom are in range of small, DIY drones made by insurgent groups or second-tier states. In Syria, Iranian-made drones operated by the Asad regime have dropped small bombs near US troops, and US aircraft have been forced to shoot them down using aircraft that launch expensive missiles, creating a cost imbalance that favors the other side. Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq have also long weaponized small commercial quadcopter drones to drop small munitions on Iraqi troops and US-backed fighters, who have little to no protection against them. The Taliban has filmed attacks on Afghan outposts from a collection of drones, as well. “We will never deploy again to a theater of operations where we are not under threat from unmanned aerial systems,” UK's Maj. Gen. Felix Gedney, former deputy commander of US and coalition troops in Iraq and Syria in 2017-2018 said recently. “Both those high-end systems of our near-peer competitors, and lower, off-the-shelf, botched-together systems that are developed by asymmetric enemies. And we need to get used to that.” https://breakingdefense.com/2019/06/marines-develop-laser-to-fry-drones-from-jltvs/