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By: Tara Copp President Donald Trump has no plans to nominate a replacement for Defense Secretary Jim Mattis any time soon, and said acting secretary Patrick Shanahan may remain in the post for the foreseeable future. Shanahan currently serves as the deputy secretary of defense at the Pentagon, the No. 2 civilian position there, which has traditionally focused more on the internal workings and business practices of the Defense Department. Trump announced on Sunday via Twitter that Shanahan would immediately replace Mattis after the departing defense chief released a public resignation letter last week citing his differences with the administration's security policies. Instead, Shanahan will immediately take the reins and Shanahan “could be there for a long time” in the acting defense secretary position, Trump said, according to Reuters, during his surprise visit to Iraq Wednesday. Mattis had intended to remain in place for two months to give the administration time to get through the 2020 budget hearings and give the White House time to find a replacement. Shanahan, a career Boeing executive, had been primarily focused on the Pentagon's inner workings, developing a space force and overhauling the building's business practices. https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/12/26/trump-no-plans-to-name-mattis-replacement-soon

By Ed Adamczyk Dec. 26 (UPI) -- A Program Management Office has been established by the Air Force at Tyndall Air Force Base to lead redevelopment and reconstruction efforts there, which are expected to take more than five years and cost about $3 billion. The PMO will be responsible for leading the redevelopment and reconstruction efforts at the base after it sustained devastating damage in October from Hurricane Michael, the U.S. Air Force said in an update Wednesday. Full article: https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2018/12/26/Air-Force-establishes-office-at-Tyndall-AFB-to-guide-five-year-rebuilding-process/7501545848204/

By: Kelsey D. Atherton To understand the future of Russia's drone program, we have to grasp its present and immediate past. While the modern era of unmanned aircraft is perhaps best typified by American Reaper drones flying missions with Hellfire missiles slung under wing, the overall picture of drones in combat has evolved and changed. The Pentagon's primacy in aerial robotics is no longer a sure thing, in part because of the waning unipolar moment and in part because building a drone capability is cheaper today than it was two decades ago. To sort out what the past year means, to see if any of the battlefield experience from the multiple irregular wars Russia is part of has factored into drone design or force planning, C4ISRNET spoke with Samuel Bendett, an adviser at the Center for Naval Analyses and a Fellow in Russia Studies at the American Foreign Policy Council. C4ISRNET: Bottom line up front: What's the single sentence takeaway for next year in Russian drones? BENDETT: As Russia develops its lineup of long-range UCAVs [unmanned combat aerial vehicles], it will challenge American dominance with such technologies that Washington held for the past 17-18 years. C4ISRNET: That's ambitious, to say the least. How is the Ministry of Defence preparing to make that challenge, and did Russia learn anything from fighting in Syria that might lead to changes in how it uses drones in 2019? BENDETT: [The week of Dec. 17] marked a series of key announcements from the Russian Ministry of Defence about the country's growing unmanned aerial systems capabilities. Going into Syria in 2015, Russia was lacking a key combat element — the ability to hit targets quickly following their identification, one of the key functions of UCAVs around the world today. Moscow's experience in Syria underscored that point — despite fielding a large number of ISR drones that enabled Russian to be more precise in combat, the majority of targets were hit by manned aviation or manned artillery forces. Hence, the push today to field an entire lineup of strike UAVs for a diverse range of missions. Public statements by the Russian government and the military establishment also highlight the importance of unmanned systems for the country's military and its ability to wage war. Just recently, President Putin stated key propriety areas for his military in 2019 — among them was an emphasis on unmanned and robotic systems development. C4ISRNET: What sort of drones are we seeing in that push? BENDETT: The Ministry of Defence mentioned work on a strike version of Forpost mid-range drone. The Forpost UAV is a license copy of an Israeli “Searcher,” itself a design that is decades old at this point. Capable of distances up to 250 kilometers, it is currently Russia's longest-ranged drone. Under the earlier license agreement with Israel, this UAV could only be assembled as an ISR version. Russian military valued this particular unmanned vehicle and has long wanted to turn into something more than an extra pair of eyes in the sky. Today, UZGA Defence enterprise is claiming that the “Russified” version of that UAV is full of Russian-made components, so that no further cooperation with Israel would be necessary. Putting a strike package on Forpost would give Russian an immediate ability to hit targets within a 250 kilometer range — in other words, giving it the ability to strike most adversary targets in Syria where Russian forces are still conducting operations. Given that Forpost itself is an older UAV model, it's likely that the Russian military will use it as a test bed to further refine its UAV manufacturing abilities, as well as to test indigenous munitions for UAV missions. It's likely that out of all UAVs listed by the MOD, this particular one will reach the Russian forces sooner than others. C4ISRNET: What about the Orion? BENDETT: The Ministry also named Orion UAV as another unmanned vehicle to fully see the light of day in 2019. Orion has similar characteristics to Forpost, such as range, at least as advertised at international arms expos [250 kilometers]. It is possible that its range could be extended further — current Orion versions are showcased as ISR models, but there were discussions that it could be offered for export as armed version. This particular UAV has similar design features to the ever-growing family of unmanned aerial vehicles all over the world — it bears close resemblance to the American RQ-9 Reaper, Chinese CH-4 and Ch-5 drones, as well as to the Iranian Shahed and Turkish Anka UAVs. Unlike Forpost, Orion was only recently tested, although there were rumors that it was seen in Syria, with observers possibly confusing it with the Iranian Shahed. C4ISRNET: Are there other large drones in the works for the Ministry of Defence in 2019? BENDETT: The Ohotnik UCAV is the most intriguing and interesting project of its kind in Russia. Originally started around 2011-2012, this UAV has also been delayed by a number of years. This fall, MOD carried out the first “taxing” test, when Ohotnik prototype was accelerated on the runway to test the engine. Next year, the Russian defense establishment is promising a test that will include a short-duration “jump”— the UCAV will rise ever so briefly above the tarmac to test its launching and landing capabilities. At this point, it is going to be heaviest and fastest UAV if and when fielded, but additional testing and evaluation will have to take place in order for this unmanned system to be fully functional. Its speed — up to 1000 km/hr — and weight — up to 20 tonnes — means that a host of aerodynamic, electronic and hi-tech issues need to be worked out. C4ISRNET: Should we hold our breath waiting for the Ohotnik test flights? BENDETT: Given the delays experienced with “Altius,” MOD would probably be more conservative with Ohotnik estimates. However, the very appearance of Ohotnik rising in the air — a stealthy blended-wing design — will be a powerful PR coup for the country that has lagged behind other nations like the United States, Israel and China in actual UCAV examples and combat use. C4ISRNET: What was the Altius, and what happened with it? BENDETT: The Altius was one of the most ambitious UAV projects in Russia — to build an indigenous drone capable of carrying up to 2.5 tonnes of cargo/equipment/weapons to a distance of 10,000 kilometers. Earlier estimates that this UAV would be fully operational by 2018 did not pan out. Delays in production, a lack of key expertise and hi-tech components meant the entire scheduled pushed “to the right” by many years. [The week of Dec. 17] MOD promised that Altius will take to the skies next year — given the fact that Simonov actually produced a prototype that has already flown, that promise may indeed materialize. The real issue will be the quality of that test flight — whether Altius will fly as intended and with the right amount of key equipment. C4ISRNET: How will these drones change the way Russia plans and conducts war? BENDETT: All these UAVs — if and when fielded as planned and as advertised — will give Russia the capability to strike targets at a range anywhere form 250 kilometers and up to several thousand kilometers. This is a flexibility the Russian military has long sought — its Syrian actions depended on manned airborne assets conducting deep-strike against designated targets, which in turn depended on an extensive logistics and infrastructure to support such missions. Having the ability to launch long-range UCAVs from Russian [or Russian-allied] territory would exponentially increase MOD's ability to conduct missions in the near abroad and possibly around the world. Of course, that would depend largely on the domestic defense sector actually delivering what was initially promised, something that some UAV projects have greatly struggled with. C4ISRNET: Russian forces have used small drones quite a bit. Is any of that transferable to using these new, larger drones? BENDETT: While the Russian military has gained extensive experience operating a wide range of close and short-range UAVs, and has commenced force-wide training and usage of these unmanned systems, operating the large and heavy UAVs would be a different story. This kind of technology requires different training, as well as different logistical and infrastructure support. Getting these UCAVs into the military will require a change to existing CONOPS and TTPs, something that will take time as the Russian military will need to become familiar with a different set of technological sophistication. Still, these UAVs are finally moving past the prototype stage — with the Ministry of Defence paying very close attention to these projects, the likely 2019 appearance is guaranteed for these designs. Their eventual acquisition is still years away. Russian UCAV plans will have important implications for the way Moscow thinks about, designs, tests and eventually conducts warfare. C4ISRNET: Describe, let's say, what Russia drone use looks like in 2030 based on these trends. BENDETT: With the influx of high-precision munitions, development of high-tech weapons and the development of various types of UAVs, future conflicts where Russia will be involved will no longer feature Russian military as a “blunt instrument” — the way Russian tech was used in Chechen wars, in Georgia and even in the early stages of the Syrian conflict. If Russia fields the weapons it is currently designing, then it to will join the ranks of high-tech military powers aiming to strike its adversaries with precision. These UCAVs will have a pivotal role in such a construct. C4ISRNET: What are constraints on Russia achieving this vision? BENDETT: Major constraints for Russia to achieve its vision is lack of experience with hi-tech systems — sensors, key electronics, navigation, cameras, etc. Russians have been able to overcome such problems with simpler, smaller drones, but larger MALE/HALE classes are a different story. This led to production and delivery delays, and despite MOD oversight, there was no silver bullet to deal with these issues. Another constraint has been the effect of Western sanctions and Russian ability to import hi-tech systems and components — today's import-substitution effort by Moscow in hi-tech will take time. C4ISRNET: Any last thoughts? BENDETT: As Russia pursues its own version of the “multidomain battle,” unmanned and robotic systems will form key parts of the Russian way of warfare in 2030 and beyond. However, that will depend on the actual capability of the Russian defense sector to field certain unmanned systems. That vision may change based on the reality of producing such systems, given how many T&E and delivery schedules have already been pushed “to the right.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/newsletters/unmanned-systems/2018/12/26/what-does-2019-hold-for-russias-drones

by Sandra Erwin The Air Force is developing software and ground equipment to boost the protection of the Wideband Global satcom system. First in line for the upgrade are naval carrier strike groups. The Navy will get the new technology in 2022, about 18 months sooner than previously planned. WASHINGTON — The Air Force is cyber hardening military satellite communications equipment amid worries that foreign hackers could infiltrate U.S. networks. “Adversaries are getting better and more able to penetrate our unclassified or barely protected systems,” said Col. Tim Mckenzie chief of the advanced development division for military satellite communications at the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center. The bulk of military satcom services are provided by the Air Force Wideband Global Satcom, or WGS, satellites and by commercial operators. All these systems require additional protection from cyber attacks, Mckenzie told SpaceNews in a recent interview. “Commercial satcom as well as our own purpose-built Wideband satellites were never designed to provide protection against some of the things we expect our adversaries to do in the near future,” he said. In response, the Air Force is developing software and satcom ground equipment to boost the protection of WGS networks in the near term, and commercial systems at a later time. First in line for these upgrades are the Navy's aircraft carrier strike groups in the Pacific, Mckenzie said. The Air Force will have this technology available for carrier strike groups in 2022, about 18 months sooner than previously planned. The central piece of the cyber security upgrade is anti-jam communications software — called the Protected Tactical Waveform (PTW). A ground system, the Protected Tactical Enterprise Service (PTES) will manage the transmission of the waveform over WGS satellites and terminals. Boeing, which manufactures the WGS satellites, was awarded a seven-year, $383 million contract in November to develop the PTES. “We are doing agile software development to enable early use of the PTW capability,” said Mckenzie. The anti-jam software and ground system only will work initially with WGS networks, said Mckenzie. If a commercial provider opted to use the PTW waveform, the ground system could be updated to interoperate with that vendor's network. Military satcom users will need to upgrade their satellite terminals with new modems to operate the PTW waveform. The Air Force two years ago awarded three contracts — $39 million to Raytheon, $38 million to L3 and $33 million to Viasat — to develop prototype modems. The Army, Navy and Air Force will run separate competitions to decide which modems they will acquire for their specific terminals. For carrier strike groups, the Navy will have to buy PTW-capable modems to upgrade its satellite terminals aboard ships. In the long term, the plan is to add a new space component — either newly designed spacecraft or military communications payloads hosted on commercial buses. “Our goal is to have some protected tactical satcom prototype payloads on orbit in the fiscal year 2025 time frame,” said Mckenzie. Whatever new hardware makes up the space segment, it will be compatible with the PTES ground equipment, he said. Mckenzie noted that the Air Force has been criticized for deploying satellites before the ground equipment is available. The PTW and PTES efforts reverse that trend. “We have learned lessons from being out of sync with terminals on the ground,” Mckenzie said. “We've been working for the last several years to develop modem upgrades that can be put into our existing terminals so we have terminals that can use PTW.” To get fresh thinking on how to develop a secure satcom system, the Air Force Space Enterprise Consortium is funding four design and prototyping projects. These are four areas “where we're trying o reduce risk,” said McKenzie. The consortium was stood up in 2017 and given authorities to kick start projects with far less red tape than traditional Pentagon contracting. Mckenzie said the Air Force is interested in new ideas for constellation architectures, payload hosting concepts, advanced space processing and antenna designs. McKenzie expects contracts for the development of protected tactical satcom payloads will be awarded in fiscal year 2020, with a goal to start launching new systems into orbit by 2025. Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and X-Band LLC have entered into cost-sharing agreements with the Air Force — contracts known as Other Transactions Authority — to map out constellation sizes, layouts, design lives, and concepts such as hosting of military payloads as a commercial service. Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and SSL have signed OTA agreements to develop phased arrays and array fed reflectors antennas. BAE Systems, L3 and SEAKR Engineering received OTA deals to investigate requirements for secure satcom applications such as geo-location, waveform processing, and anti-jam. Boeing and Southwest Research Institute are studying hosting concepts, such as identifying interface commonalities between commercial and military bus providers and recommends ways to simplify the integration. Tom Becht, military satcom director at the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, said the protected tactical satcom effort has been underway for more than eight years and now is being accelerated as the Air Force seeks to respond to military commanders' needs in a more timely fashion. “The demand for protected satcom has significantly increased,” Becht said in an interview. After the PTW, PTES and the new space segment are deployed, the next step will be to modernize the military's nuclear-hardened strategic satcom system, the Advanced Extremely High Frequency constellation. Most of the users of the AEHF system are tactical operators and the Pentagon eventually wants to have a dedicated strategic satcom constellation for nuclear command and control. “Tactical users will transition to the Protected Tactical Satcom system,” said Becht. That transition could take decades, he said. “The aggregated [tactical and strategic] AEHF will be around until the mid 2030s or a bit longer.” https://spacenews.com/air-force-to-accelerate-deployment-of-anti-jam-satellite-communications-equipment

NAVY Oceaneering International Inc., Chesapeake, Virginia (N64498-19-D-0001); Huntington Ingalls Inc., Newport News, Virginia (N64498-19-D-0002); and General Dynamics Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut (N64498-19-D-0003), are being awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity multiple award contracts with firm-fixed-priced ordering provisions for Submarine Safety (SUBSAFE) and Level I engineering and technical services in the amounts of $827,674,072; $874,341,811; and $1,110,350,671, respectively. This requirement is for management and technical services for the support installation, troubleshooting, repair, and maintenance of main and auxiliary weapons, as well as hull, mechanical and electrical equipment for various Submarine, SUBSAFE and Level I Material work onboard SSN 21 Class (Seawolf Class); SSN 688 Class (Los Angeles Class); SSBN/SSGN 726 Class (Ohio Class); and SSN 774 Class (Virginia Class) submarines. These contracts will primarily support large submarine maintenance and modernization programs and/or critical-path ship changes/alterations that are accomplished in Navy Chief of Naval Operation availabilities, dry-dock selected restricted availabilities, engineered refueling overhauls, depot modernization periods, and continuous maintenance availabilities. Work is expected to be performed at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia; Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington; and Naval Submarine Base King's Bay, King's Bay, Georgia. The work under this contract will contain a five-year ordering period and is expected to be completed by December 2023. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the total amount of $300,000 ($100,000 per contract) will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This funding represents the guaranteed contract minimum for each contract award. These contracts were competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with four offers received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is the contracting activity. Huang-Gaghan JV Two, * Alexandria, Virginia (N40080-19-D-0001); LLB Enterprises LLC, * Stafford, Virginia (N40080-19-D-0002); Argus-CJW JV LLC, * Leesburg, Virginia (N40080-19-D-0003); Signature-Renovations LLC, * Capital Heights, Maryland (N40080-19-D-0004); Snodgrass JV, * Annapolis, Maryland (N40080-19-D-0005); and JCMCS,* Washington, District of Columbia (N40080-19-D-0006), are each awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple award construction contracts for mechanical - construction projects located primarily within the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Washington area of responsibility (AOR). The maximum dollar value including the base year and four option years for all six contracts combined is $99,000,000. The work to be performed provides for construction services. The contractor shall provide all labor, supervision, engineering, materials, equipment, tools, parts, supplies and transportation to perform all work described in the specifications. Huang-Gaghan JV Two is being awarded task order 0001 at $2,942,286 for the seed project A-59 new mechanical room and central hot water system, at Naval Research Laboratory Washington, District of Columbia. Work for this task order is expected to be completed by January 2019. All work on this contract will be performed primarily within the NAVFAC Washington AOR to include District of Columbia (40 percent); Virginia (40 percent); and Maryland (20 percent). The term of the contract is not to exceed 24 months, with an expected completion date of January 2020. Fiscal 2019 supervision, inspection, and overhead; and fiscal 2019 Navy working capital funds in the amount of $2,942,286 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by military construction (Navy); operations and maintenance (Navy and Defense Logistics Agency); and Navy working capital fund. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with 18 proposals received. These six contractors may compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the awarded contract. Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Raytheon Co., Integrated Defense Systems, Marlborough, Massachusetts, was awarded a $72,463,134 firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost-only undefinitized contract action for the production of Aegis Weapon System fire control system MK 99 equipment, Aegis Modernization production requirements, and associated engineering services. Work will be performed in Andover, Massachusetts (66 percent); Marlborough, Massachusetts (16 percent); Chesapeake, Virginia (13 percent); Portsmouth, Rhode Island (3 percent); San Diego, California (1 percent); and Burlington, Massachusetts (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by April 2022. Fiscal 2018 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); fiscal 2018 other procurement (Navy); and fiscal 2018 defense wide procurement funding in the amount of $22,975,534 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1). The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N00024-19-C-5112). (Awarded Dec. 21, 2018) KBE Building Corp., Farmington, Connecticut, is awarded a $30,188,219 firm-fixed-price contract for construction of a medical and dental clinic at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. The work to be performed provides for the construction of a new free-standing medical and dental clinic consisting of two occupied stories with a shared two-story waiting area. The facility will replace the existing clinic, and will encompass Medical Homeport, optometry, undersea medicine, dental, and mental health, as well as pharmacy, radiology, ancillaries, support and administrative space. Supporting facilities construction will include all site utilities, site preparation, site improvements, paving (parking and roadways) and access roads. Work will be performed in Kittery, Maine, and is expected to be completed by January 2021. Fiscal 2017 defense military construction, medical funds in the amount of $30,188,219 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website with two proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N4008519C9072). General Dynamics Mission Systems, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, is awarded $28,957,961 for contract modification P00030 to a previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00030-16-C-0005) for sustainment of the U.S. and United Kingdom (UK) SSBN fire control system, the U.S. SSGN Attack Weapon Control System, including training and support equipment. Also included is the missile fire control for the U.S. Columbia-class and UK Dreadnought-class Common Missile Compartment program development, through first unit UK production, and Strategic Weapon Interface Simulator. Work will be performed in Pittsfield Massachusetts (90.5 percent); Bremerton, Washington, (3.6 percent); Kings Bay, Georgia (2.7 percent); Dahlgren, Virginia (1 percent); Cape Canaveral, Florida (0.9 percent); Portsmouth, Virginia (0.9 percent); and the United Kingdom (0.4 percent), with an expected completion date of Sept. 30, 2023. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $20,139,048; and United Kingdom funds in the amount of $2,726,000 are being obligated on this award. Funds in the amount of $20,139,048 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $5,183,913; and United Kingdom funds in the amount of $909,000 will be obligated. Funds in the amount of $5,183,913 will expire at the end the current fiscal year. Strategic Systems Programs, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, is awarded a $26,448,121 cost-plus-award-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost, and firm-fixed-price contract for planning yard efforts such as engineering, technical, planning, ship configuration, data and logistics efforts for DDG 1000-class destroyers post-delivery and in-service life cycle support, and shock qualification test and analysis. The planning yard will provide DDG 1000 class technical, engineering and support, including emergent technical problem investigation and resolution; shock qualification test and analysis; maintenance and modernization planning; integrated logistics support; configuration data management; maintenance, repair and/or overhaul availability planning and scheduling; modernization planning and scheduling; industrial yard/facility planning and scheduling and material orders; and fabrication and kitting. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $86,703,677. Work will be performed in Bath, Maine (92 percent); Gardena, California (1 percent); Atlanta, Georgia (1 percent); Muscatine, Iowa (1 percent); Patterson, New Jersey (1 percent); Saratoga Springs, New York (1 percent); and other locations below one percent (3 percent); and is expected to be completed by December 2023. Fiscal 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); and fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funding in the amount of $25,611,651 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was procured via a limited competition under the authority of 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1), with two offers received. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N00024-19-C-2322). Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Arizona, is awarded a $17,011,832 modification to previously awarded contract N00024‑17-C-5420 to exercise an option for providing Zumwalt capability and design agent support to the STANDARD Missile-2. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona (47 percent); Andover, Massachusetts (33 percent); Mountain View, California (12 percent); San Diego, California, (3 percent); Chandler, Arizona (2 percent); Hudson, New Hampshire (2 percent); Redmond, Washington (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by March 2022. Fiscal 2017 and 2018 weapons procurement (Navy); and foreign military sales funding in the amount of $16,951,832 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. CORRECTION: A contract modification awarded Dec. 20, 2018, to Ameresco Select Inc., Framingham, Massachusetts, for $17,961,208 (N4740899F4117), was announced with an incorrect cumulative value. The correct total cumulative value after award of the modification is $121,374,022. ARMY SOS International LLC, Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $191,225,021 firm-fixed-price contract for base life support and security services. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work will be performed in Taji, Iraq, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2023. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance; and military personnel appropriations funds in the amount of $83,044,481 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W52P1J-19-C-0010). The Boeing Co., Mesa, Arizona, was awarded a $49,210,651 firm-fixe-price Foreign Military Sales (Qatar) contract for Maintenance Augmentation Team services for the Qatari Air Force AH-64E aircraft. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work will be performed in Mesa, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of July 31, 2024. Fiscal 2018 operations and maintenance Army funds in the amount of $49,210,651 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-19-C-0008). AIR FORCE Alliant Techsystems Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, has been awarded a $36,570,512 firm-fixed-price modification (P00045) to contract FA8106-16-C-0004 that exercises Option Year Three for contractor logistic support. This contract provides the Iraqi Air Force's Cessna 208 fleet and the 208/172 Trainer fleet with contractor logistic support. Work will be performed in Iraq and is expected to be completed Dec. 31, 2019. This contract involves 100 percent foreign military sales to Iraq and is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity. U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND Rockwell Collins Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been awarded a $35,000,000 contract modification for an existing non-competitive single award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (H92241-15-D-0001) to provide post-deployment software support for the Common Avionics Architecture System. This modification increases the contract ceiling amount from $107,328,000 to $142,328,000. Each individual task order will be funded with procurement; research, development, testing and evaluation; and operations and maintenance appropriations, as appropriate, from the correct fiscal year at the time of obligation. This contract is not multiyear. Ordering periods will end on Nov. 30, 2019. This contract was awarded through noncompetitive procedures in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. U.S. Special Operations Command, Tampa, Florida, is the contracting activity. *Small business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1721253/

Germany is taking the first steps toward being a more reliable defense partner. After years of paring down the country's defense budget, sorely impacting capability and equipment availability, Berlin's lawmakers have begun increasing funding to the military, with billions of euros being allocated to new equipment programs. Germany is increasing defense spending by 12% in 2019, enabling investment in new equipment Berlin wants to replace Tornado aircraft by 2030 It has not ... Full article: http://aviationweek.com/defense/budget-hikes-bring-about-germany-s-military-modernization

By Stephen Feller Dec. 24 (UPI) -- General Atomics and Raytheon have each been awarded contracts for support of the MQ-9 Reaper, one for sensors and the other for overall program support, that come to a total of more than $350 million. The contracts, announced Friday by the Department of Defense, cover separate areas of sustainment for the unmanned aerial system used for surveillance and support of ground troops, though they have also been used for emergency search and rescue and other missions. Full article: https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2018/12/24/General-Atomics-Raytheon-contracted-for-Reaper-drone-support/8251545664925/

By: Lolita C. Baldor, The Associated Press WASHINGTON — The sooner-than-expected departure of Defense Secretary Jim Mattisshifts the focus to President Donald Trump's appointment of an acting Pentagon chief and plans for a permanent replacement. Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan will take over as acting secretary on Jan. 1, Trump announced in a tweet Sunday. He had worked for more than three decades at Boeing Co. and was a senior vice president when he became Pentagon deputy in July 2017. In the new year Trump wants to focus on streamlining purchases at the Pentagon, an issue on which Shanahan has already been working, a White House official said. The official asked not to be identified publicly discussing personnel matters. U.S. officials said they didn't know if Shanahan would be Trump's nominee to replace Mattis. During a lunch with conservative lawmakers Saturday at the White House, Trump discussed his options. They were "not all military," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who was among those attending. Shanahan's biography on the Pentagon's website does not list military experience for the longtime Boeing executive. He earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Washington, then a master's degree in mechanical engineering as well as an MBA from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In addition to work in Boeing's commercial airplanes programs, Shanahan was vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems and of Boeing Rotorcraft Systems. In a March 2016 report, the Puget Sound Business Journal called Shanahan a Boeing "fix-it" man who was central to getting the 787 Dreamliner on track after production problems in the program's early years. An acting defense secretary is highly unusual. Historically when a secretary has resigned, he has stayed on until a successor is confirmed. For example, when Chuck Hagel was told to resign in November 2014, he stayed in office until Ash Carter was confirmed the following February. Mattis, a retired Marine Corps general, had been expected to retain his position as Pentagon chief through February. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, not the president, notified Mattis of Trump's decision to put in place Shanahan, said a senior administration official who insisted on anonymity to discuss personnel issues. The sudden change stripped Mattis of any chance to further frame national security policy or smooth rattled relations with allies over the next two months. But U.S. officials said the reaction to Mattis' decision to leave — it sparked shock and dismay on Capitol Hill — annoyed Trump and likely led to pushing Mattis out. "When President Obama ingloriously fired Jim Mattis, I gave him a second chance. Some thought I shouldn't, I thought I should," Trump tweeted Saturday, foreshadowing his displeasure and the Sunday announcement. He also fumed over the media coverage of his Syria withdrawal order, suggesting he should be popular for bringing troops home. "With me, hit hard instead by the Fake News Media. Crazy!" Trump tweeted. A White House official said Trump decided Mattis should leave the administration earlier than planned to avoid a drawn-out transition when someone on hand whom they consider a qualified deputy capable of running the Pentagon in an acting capacity. The official asked not to be identified publicly discussing personnel matters. While Mattis' resignation followed Trump's announcement that he would soon pull all of the approximately 2,000 U.S. troops out of Syria, officials said that the decision was the result of an accumulation of disagreements. In a stunning resignation letter, Mattis made clear he did not see eye to eye with a president who has expressed disdain for NATO and doubts about keeping troops in Asia. Mattis was also unhappy with Trump's order to develop plans to pull out up to half of the 14,000 U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Earlier Sunday, Trump's acting chief of staff said that Trump had known for "quite some time now" that he and Mattis "did not share some of the same philosophies ... have the same world view." Mick Mulvaney told ABC's "This Week" that the president and his defense chief "just could never get on the same page" on Syria, adding that Trump had said since his presidential campaign that "he wanted to get out of Syria." Mulvaney said the president "is entitled to have a secretary of defense who is committed to that same end." Asked whether Trump wanted a Pentagon leader willing to challenge him or someone in lock step with his views, Mulvaney said "a little bit of both." "I've encouraged him to find people who have some overlap with him but don't see the world in lockstep with him," Mulvaney said. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., joined leading Republicans on foreign affairs in urging Trump to reconsider his decision to withdraw American forces from Syria and called it "a premature and costly mistake." They asked Trump to withhold a final decision for 90 days to allow time to study the impact of the decision, but Mulvaney told ABC that Trump wouldn't change his mind. Just after tweeting the announcement about Shanahan, Trump said he had had "a long and productive call" with Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Trump said they discussed IS, "our mutual involvement in Syria, & the slow & highly coordinated pullout of U.S. troops from the area. After many years they are coming home." Associated Press writers Robert Burns, Darlene Superville and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report. https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/12/24/fix-it-man-shanahan-working-to-streamline-defense-spending

THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA — U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' decision to resign creates a void for Canada, says former Defence Minister Peter MacKay, because of Mattis's deep understanding of Canada's role in joint NATO and UN missions and good ties with Canadian security officials. His years of experience in the U.S. military and on-the-ground understanding of the parts of the world where he served as a Marine general, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan, are “virtually irreplaceable,” MacKay said. After serving for two years at the top of the U.S. military machine, Mattis announced Thursday that he'd resign as of the end of February, in a move widely seen as a rebuke of Trump's decision to abrupt withdraw U.S. troops from Syria. The retired general has been considered a moderating influence on Trump over his last two years as Pentagon chief, which is why concerns have been raised by ally nations about how his departure could affect U.S. security and foreign policy. These concerns are particularly focused on America's role in the NATO transatlantic alliance after Trump said this week that not only will the U.S. military pull out of Syria, but the number of U.S. troops will also be cut in half in Afghanistan, where the U.S. is part of the NATO-led joint mission Operation Resolute Support. “In spite of the moniker ‘Mad Dog Mattis' he was anything but. He was a highly intelligent, highly rational guy and he saw first-hand the integration of defence, diplomacy, development that Canada was doing and was very full of praise and admiration for that,” MacKay said. Mattis's departure is even more keenly felt in light of the departures of H.R. McMaster and John Kelly, who U.S. President Donald Trump also appointed to serve in his administration, MacKay added. McMaster was an army general who was Trump's national-security adviser for a year; Kelly is a retired Marine general who served as secretary of homeland security and then Trump's chief of staff. McMaster resigned last April; Kelly is to leave the White House at the end of this year. “Jim Mattis and the others have and feel an abiding respect for Canada and our role in NATO and in NORAD, for our niche capabilities, what we were able to do along with others in the coalition, both the UN and NATO coalition in Afghanistan, our support role in other missions,” MacKay said. “That, too, is in some jeopardy depending on who replaces Gen. Mattis.” But in spite of ongoing political tensions at the top, Canada's defence and security relationship with the U.S. is hardwired at the bureaucratic and institutional levels and has not materially changed with the election of Donald Trump, said Fen Hampson, director of the global security and politics program at the Centre for International Governance Innovation. Mattis' resignation will not alter those ties, he said. “There's a constant flow of exchanges and communication on, I would say, almost an hourly basis. That's not really going to change in substantive terms,” Hampson said. “I think where it's going to be probably felt most keenly is at the cabinet-to-cabinet level where our officials have met with Mattis and (Secretary of State Mike) Pompeo on a pretty regular basis and that's where the hole is going to be felt.” Dave Perry, a senior defence analyst with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, echoed this, saying he has heard of little change on the ground when it comes to the day-to-day bilateral work and partnerships between Canadian and American officials. “It's a relationship that's pretty embedded at the working level in institutional agreements, exchanges, all the Canadians that work directly within the U.S. defence structure in the United States — so I think the degree of change has probably been overstated with this administration,” he said. “A lot of things on the defence front have continued to work quite well quietly and will likely do so in the future.” While many analysts agree that Canada should be concerned about losing an ally in the Trump administration like Mattis, who acted as a stabilizer at the highest levels, this concern could be eased depending on whom Trump nominates as his replacement. “The void now, within the defence and security world, will hopefully be filled with someone of his ilk and his acumen,” MacKay said of Mattis. “Hope burns eternal. I remain very optimistic about the resilience of the Canada-U.S. relationship. It'll survive this administration, but boy, there's a lot of damage being done.” https://leaderpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/mattis-resignation-not-likely-to-damage-canada-u-s-security-ties-experts/wcm/bead703a-ee27-44e6-8fca-31f19603259f