Filter Results:

All sectors

All categories

    11758 news articles

    You can refine the results using the filters above.

  • COVID closed Mexican factories that supply US defense industry. The Pentagon wants them opened.

    April 22, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

    COVID closed Mexican factories that supply US defense industry. The Pentagon wants them opened.

    By: Joe Gould WASHINGTON ― Factory closures in Mexico due to the coronavirus pandemic are hurting U.S. defense firms, and the Pentagon is urging America's neighbor to the south to reopen vital suppliers. Because Mexico has not designated its aerospace and defense sector as essential, it's disrupting the supply chain for the American defense industrial base, particularly aircraft manufacturers. Though little known, Mexico's defense exports to the U.S. and beyond grew mightily over the last 15 years as defense firms large and small opened production facilities there. Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon on Monday, Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord said she discussed the problem with U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Christopher Landau. She was planning a letter to Mexican Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard, she said, to ask that he, “help reopen international suppliers there. “These companies are especially important for our U.S. airframe production.” The pandemic has raised broader questions about America's dependence on global supply chains, particularly its reliance on China for key medicines and supplies. A Pentagon task force set up to monitor COVID-19′s impact on military suppliers found “several pockets of closure” linked to “international dependencies,” Lord said. “Mexico right now is somewhat problematical for us but we're working through our embassy, and then there are pockets in India as well,” Lord said. More broadly, only small fractions of the Pentagon's suppliers in the U.S. have closed due to the new coronavirus and distancing measures imposed to fights its spread, but the aviation, shipbuilding and small space launch subsectors have been hardest hit by disruptions from the virus, Lord said. The Pentagon is using $250 million from last month's emergency stimulus funding to bolster defense firms, and it will funnel another $750 million to medical resources. The Defense Department is also working with the White House budget office to request “billions and billions” of dollars in future fiscal packages to cover schedule delays, accelerated progress payments and other costs, Lord said. A Pentagon spokesman declined to provide details about the products and companies impacted by the Mexican factory closures, and said Lord's letter to Ebrard was not being shared publicly because it contained sensitive information. A 2013 United States International Trade Commission report noted that General Electric, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin and Eurocopter were among more than a dozen U.S. firms of various sizes that opened Mexican subsidiaries ― all part of a Mexican aerospace export boom. Mexico's growth was fueled by its lower manufacturing costs, duty-free access to markets through the North American Free Trade Agreement, a Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement with the U.S., and by Mexican government subsidies and workforce development efforts. According to the Mexican Federation of Aerospace Industries, or FEMIA, Mexico's aerospace exports rocketed from $1.3 billion in 2004 to $9.6 billion last year. Lizcano said Mexico manufactures everything from avionics, to landing gear and fuselages, and it's in the top ten overseas suppliers to the U.S. aerospace and defense sector. But coronavirus is blunting Mexico aerospace growth, and it is reverberating across its economy. Mexico's Labor Department said this month that the country had lost 346,748 jobs since mid-March due to the economic impact of the new coronavirus. FEMIA is arguing publicly that its government should designate Mexico's aerospace and defense sector as “essential,” to synchronize with the U.S. and Canada, its general manager, Luis Lizcano, told Defense News. It's also coordinating with its trade association counterparts in the U.S. and Canada. “What we're asking is that we standardize in this sector because we're going to break with supply chains with OEMs for commercial and defense aircraft,” Lizcano said. The U.S.-based Aerospace Industries Association had a similar argument: “Maintaining the free flow of goods and services between the United States, Canada, and Mexico is vital to our nation's economy and to our industry," AIA President and CEO Eric Fanning said in a statement. He hailed the recent United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement as aid to that goal. “However, this certainty is currently threatened by disruptions in America's common aerospace and defense supply chain affecting companies of all shapes and sizes. To restore certainty and keep goods and services moving, all levels of government within the U.S., Canada, and Mexico must work together to provide clear, coordinated, and direct guidance about how best to protect our workers, while ensuring aerospace and defense is declared an ‘essential' function in all three countries. "A unified North American approach helps ensure critical operations will continue under some of the strictest health and safety standards in the world and offer much-needed stability during this crisis.” On Monday, the CEO of the National Defense Industrial Association, retired Gen. Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle, said the increasingly global nature of some American defense supply chains cannot and should not be reversed. The U.S. ought to keep its suppliers diversified, he said, to avoid choke points overseas. “What you don't want are single points of failure where if something happened in that country, it couldn't produce,” Carlisle said. “You have [to have] multiple, avenues to supply that capability. Some may be internal, and you can have more than one nation external.” https://www.defensenews.com/2020/04/21/covid-closed-mexican-factories-that-supply-us-defense-industry-the-pentagon-wants-them-opened/

  • F-35 deliveries could slow down, as COVID-19 jolts Lockheed’s supply chain

    April 22, 2020 | International, Aerospace

    F-35 deliveries could slow down, as COVID-19 jolts Lockheed’s supply chain

    By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — The coronavirus pandemic has rattled Lockheed Martin's aeronautics business, with the F-35 joint strike fighter program facing the prospect of a slowdown in deliveries, company executives said Tuesday. “The disruptions introduced by the virus have caused us to reduce our 2020 sales expectations as production and supply chain activities have recently slowed in our aeronautics business area,” Lockheed CEO Marillyn Hewson said during an April 21 earnings call with investors. The company now projects its total sales for 2020 will amount to anywhere from $62.25 billion to $64 billion dollars — down from the the $62.75 billion to $64.25 billion it had previously estimated in January. Production of the F-35 has been the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic so far, said Ken Possenriede, the company's chief financial officer. “There's more analysis that we're going to do over the next couple of weeks working with our supply chain, our Fort Worth production line to determine — if any impact — to what extent it will be, including deliveries,” he said. Lockheed's acknowledgement of COVID-19 related challenges comes a day after the Pentagon disclosed schedule delays across its major weapons acquisition efforts, with aviation programs hit particularly hard by the effects of the pandemic. “We believe there will be a three-month impact that we can see right now. So we're looking at schedule delays and inefficiencies and so forth. That isn't a particular program, that's [major defense acquisition programs] in general,” Ellen Lord, the Pentagon's top acquisition official, told reporters Monday. While Lord did not name specific programs that could be delayed, Possenriede said Tuesday that disruptions to the F-35 program were likely due to pressures faced by domestic and international companies within the jet's global supply chain. “There are local distancing requirements that are being more stringently applied across the globe. There is workforce disruption,” he said. “We've actually had some issues with shipping constraints.” Most recently, Lockheed's supply chain team discovered an issue with suppliers' performance-based payment invoices, which get delivered to Lockheed after certain milestones are completed, Possenriede said. “There are a couple suppliers that are going to be delinquent in April. Some of them are for administrative reasons — we'll work through that. That's just timing. Some of them is due to them not achieving their milestones,” he said. “Most of it is going to be COVID-related. We're looking at that.” Despite the challenges in keeping F-35 production smooth, there has been little change to other aspects of the program, Possenriede said. Development and follow-on modernization activities have continued with “little to no impact.” And while Lockheed contractors have faced some barriers reporting to work at certain bases where they help perform repairs or stand up maintenance operations, Possenriede said there has been minimal impact to F-35 sustainment. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2020/04/21/f-35-deliveries-could-slow-down-as-covid-19-jolts-lockheeds-supply-chain/

  • For the Navy’s hospital ships, networking is yet another challenge

    April 22, 2020 | International, Naval, C4ISR

    For the Navy’s hospital ships, networking is yet another challenge

    Andrew Eversden When the Navy hospital ship Comfort deployed to Haiti in 2010 following devastating earthquakes, media organizations broadcasting in the area ate up so much satellite bandwidth that the ship had to revert to paper processes and adjust its satellite communications for some ship-to-shore messaging. While the outages weren't a widespread issue, said Sean Kelley, who served as the ship's top IT officer at the time, the problem highlighted a challenge these ships face: broadband. Now, the hospital ships Mercy and Comfort are deployed to Los Angeles and New York, respectively, and are in the national spotlight as symbols of the coronavirus pandemic relief effort. But security and IT experts say the ships' mission presents the Navy with distinct networking problems, from cybersecurity to network connection for patients. Onboard devices When disaster strikes, the Navy's hospital ships deploy in a matter of days, mobilizing with a crew of about 100-1,200 personnel. But the influx of staff also leads to an incursion of devices, all of which must be secure and require bandwidth. “You have a lot of different people going to a lot of different places that now have to be acclimated to this environment,” said Kelley, now executive vice president at Unissant, an IT and cybersecurity company. “So that's really one of the biggest challenges, is getting all those things turned on, all those things activated, making sure that they are all compliant with the latest patches and fixes, and making sure they're good.” This process can be a “nightmare,” said retired Rear Adm. Danelle Barrett, former deputy chief information officer of the Navy and cybersecurity division director. “The challenging part is always in the first couple days whenever this happens,” said Barrett, who oversaw communications and cyberspace for Operation Unified Response, the U.S. military's mission in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake. “The team is coalescing about how they want to operate, and they're getting their feet wet, getting new accounts on networks ... [getting] their logins.” Cybersecurity aboard the ships is also complex. Both ships have 1,000 beds, 12 operating rooms, blood banks, labs, medical devices and a multitude of other “internet of things” devices connected to hospital beds. According to a 2018 survey by health care IoT security company Zingbox, each bed can have as many as 10-15 IoT devices. “They have to be cyber-ready, or the mission of the Mercy is considered [degraded],” said Dean Hullings, global defense solutions strategist at Forescout, which handles Comply to Connect — a Defense Department framework created to ensure the cybersecurity of new devices — for the USNS Mercy. Ensuring connectivity For the devices to function, they need connectivity. When the ships arrived in ports in late March, technology firm CenturyLink “donated” connectivity to the Mercy, while Verizon provided connectivity to the Comfort. Former and current Navy officials told C4ISRNET that adequate broadband is the most challenging IT consideration faced by these ships. “Obviously you're going to be transferring imagery of X-rays or things like that that are more dense and require a ... higher data rate, so that bandwidth in port is important,” Barrett said. And with the introduction of patients, bandwidth needs become more complex. “The greatest communications challenge we are going to face during this deployment is the increased need for patients to communicate off the ship during their stay,” Tom Van Leunen, a spokesman for Military Sealift Command, told C4ISRNET. “Our hospital ships are designed to support official communication for the ship's crew and embarked medical community to complete their job. Adding a capability for patients to reach loved ones increases the risk of saturating the bandwidth off the ship.” Aboard both ships, the Navy doubled the bandwidth, he said, adding that Navy personnel also set up separate networks for patients' communications. While this solves one networking problem, it can also create an increased cybersecurity risk. Securing the ships Cybersecurity on the hospital ships follows the same standard practices as the rest of the Navy fleet. Since those aboard are largely Navy medical staff and personnel, they know what activities are acceptable on the network, Barrett said. “You can't just go and plug anything into that network because of potential vulnerabilities that that system may bring that could affect not just the ship, but remember, the ship is then connected to the rest of the [Department of Defense Information Network],” Barrett said. “So risk by one is shared by all.” ForeScout's Hullings said a hospital environment “epitomizes” why the Comply to Connect program is necessary. The ship has desktops, servers, routers, printers and other networks equipment, as well as mobile devices, such as tablets, that health care providers use to track patient care. “The truly unique stuff is the mission systems of the hospital, like X-ray machines, MRI machines, the beds themselves in the post-operative recovery rooms, that are all sensors. And they are all passing data. They have to be protected,” Hullings said. A spokesperson for the Navy told C4ISRNET that the ships are prepared for the cybersecurity challenges associated with their missions, but declined to address what additional cybersecurity challenges are introduced with the addition of private citizens. “These ships have routinely deployed in humanitarian assistance missions such as Pacific Partnership (USNS Mercy) and Continuing Promise (USNS Comfort) that required them to operate in partner nation ports, with foreign national patients being brought to and from the ship,” said Cmdr. Dave Benham, a spokesman for the Navy's 10th Fleet. “In all operating locations, we take appropriate precautions to keep our networks secure, and we do not discuss specific measures in order to protect operational security.” Cybersecurity on the hospital ships follow the same protocols as any other Military Sealift Command ship, said Benham. “Protecting our networks is a continuous challenge, and the overarching concern is to ensure that the right information gets to the right place at the right time with the right level of protection,” he explained. Cybersecurity aboard the hospital ships follow similar efforts to those recommendations made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Wash your hands. “It's ‘wash your hands' with your computer, too,” Barrett said. “Do good hygiene with your computer.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/it-networks/2020/04/21/for-the-navys-hospital-ships-networking-is-yet-another-challenge/

  • Defense Department study calls for cutting 2 of the US Navy’s aircraft carriers

    April 22, 2020 | International, Naval

    Defense Department study calls for cutting 2 of the US Navy’s aircraft carriers

    By: David B. Larter WASHINGTON – An internal Office of the Secretary of Defense assessment calls for the Navy to cut two aircraft carriers from its fleet, freeze the large surface combatant fleet of destroyers and cruisers around current levels and add dozens of unmanned or lightly manned ships to the inventory, according to documents obtained by Defense News. The study calls for a fleet of nine carriers, down from the current fleet of 11, and for 65 unmanned or lightly manned surface vessels. The study calls for a surface force of between 80 and 90 large surface combatants, and an increase in the number of small surface combatants – between 55 and 70, which is substantially more than the Navy currently operates. The assessment is part of an ongoing DoD-wide review of Navy force structure and seem to echo what Defense Secretary Mark Esper has been saying for months: the Defense Department wants to begin de-emphasizing aircraft carriers as the centerpiece of the Navy's force projection and put more emphasis on unmanned technologies that can be more easily sacrificed in a conflict and can achieve their missions more affordably. A DoD spokesperson declined to comment on the force structure assessment. "We will not comment on a DoD product that is pre-decisional,” said Navy Capt. Brook DeWalt. The Navy is also working on its own force structure assessment that is slated to be closely aligned with the Marine Corps' stated desire to become more closely integrated with the Navy. Cutting two aircraft carriers would permanently change the way the Navy approaches presence around the globe and force the service to rethink its model for projecting power across the globe, said Jerry Hendrix, a retired Navy captain and analyst with the Telemus Group. “The deployment models we set – and we're still keeping – were developed around 15 carriers so that would all fall apart,” Hendrix said, referring to standing carrier presence requirements in the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. “This would be reintroducing reality. A move like this would signal a new pattern for the Navy's deployments that moves away from presence and moves towards surge and exercise as a model for carrier employment.” A surge model would remove standing requirements for carriers and would mean that the regional combatant commanders would get carriers when they are available or when they are needed in an emergency. With 9 carriers, the Navy would have between six and seven available at any given time with one in its mid-life refueling and overhaul and one or two in significant maintenance periods. The net result would be significantly fewer carrier deployments in each calendar year. The assessment reducing the overall number of carriers also suggests that the OSD study didn't revamp the Carrier Air Wing to make it more relevant, Hendrix said. Esper has taken a keen interest in Navy force structure, telling Defense News in March that he had directed the Pentagon's Office of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE), along with the Navy, to conduct a series of war games and exercises in the coming months in order to figure out the way forward toward a lighter Navy, but said any major decisions will be based around the completion of a new joint war plan for the whole department, which the secretary said should be finished this summer. “I think once we go through this process with the future fleet — that'll really be the new foundation, the guiding post,” Esper told Defense News. “It'll give us the general direction we need to go, and I think that'll be a big game changer in terms of future fleet, for structure, for the Navy and Marine Corps team.” When it comes to carriers, Esper said he saw a lot of value in keeping carriers in the force structure, and that it wasn't going to be an all-or-nothing decision. “This discussion often comes down to a binary: Is it zero or 12?” Esper said. “First of all, I don't know. I think carriers are very important. I think they demonstrate American power, American prestige. They get people's attention. They are a great deterrent. They give us great capability.” Revamped Surface Fleet The OSD assessment also calls for essentially freezing the size of the large surface combatant fleet. There are about 90 cruisers and destroyers in the fleet: the study recommended retaining at least 80 but keeping about as many as the Navy currently operates at the high end. The Navy's small surface combatant program is essentially the 20 littoral combat ships in commission today, with another 15 under contract, as well as the 20 next-generation frigates, which would get to the minimum number in the assessment of 55 small combatants, with the additional 15 presumably being more frigates. The big change comes in the small unmanned or lightly manned surface combatants. In his interview with Defense News, Esper said the Navy needed to focus integrating those technologies into the fleet. “What we have to tease out is, what does that future fleet look like?” Esper said. “I think one of the ways you get there quickly is moving toward lightly manned [ships], which over time can be unmanned. “We can go with lightly manned ships, get them out there. You can build them so they're optionally manned and then, depending on the scenario or the technology, at some point in time they can go unmanned. “To me that's where we need to push. We need to push much more aggressively. That would allow us to get our numbers up quickly, and I believe that we can get to 355, if not higher, by 2030.” The Navy is currently developing a family of unmanned surface vessels that are intended to increase the offensive punch for less money, while increasing the number of targets the Chinese military would have to locate in a fight. That's a push that earned the endorsement of the Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday in comments late last year. “I know that the future fleet has to include a mix of unmanned,” Gilday said. “We can't continue to wrap $2 billion ships around 96 missile tubes in the numbers we need to fight in a distributed way, against a potential adversary that is producing capability and platforms at a very high rate of speed. We have to change the way we are thinking.” Aaron Mehta contributed to this report from Washington. https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2020/04/20/defense-department-study-calls-for-cutting-2-of-the-us-navys-aircraft-carriers/

  • Ball hits milestone with weather satellite for military operations

    April 22, 2020 | Information, Aerospace, C4ISR

    Ball hits milestone with weather satellite for military operations

    Nathan Strout A new satellite that will provide weather data for U.S. military operations has passed its critical design review, Ball Aerospace announced April 20, and the company is now moving forward into full production. The Weather System Follow-on satellite is meant to fill three vital space-based environmental monitoring gaps identified by the Defense Department: ocean surface vector winds, tropical cyclone intensity and low-Earth orbit energetic-charged particles. The satellite will include a passive microwave-imaging radiometer instrument for the first two missions, which will provide timely weather collection in support of maneuvering forces. A government-furnished energetic-charged particles sensor will be used for the third mission, which will provide important space weather capabilities such as the ability to characterize operational orbits, space situational awareness and information on the ionosphere. “Measuring and understanding the physical environment is critical to military operations, from determining tropical cyclone intensity for asset protection and maneuver operations to how wind and sea state play into assured access and aircraft carrier operations,” Mark Healy, Ball Aerospace's vice president and general manager of national defense, said in a statement. In addition, the WSF satellite will collect information on sea ice characterization, soil moisture and snow depth. Ball Aerospace is the prime contractor for the entire WSF system, meaning it will deliver the space vehicle along with instrument, spacecraft and system software and algorithms for data products. The company was initially awarded $93,713,423 in November 2017 to design the system, and a year later was awarded an additional $255,418,494 to develop and fabricate the satellite. According to the Space Force, the WSF satellite is projected for a launch in fiscal 2024. https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2020/04/21/ball-hits-milestone-with-weather-system-follow-on/

  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - April 21, 2020

    April 22, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - April 21, 2020

    DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY US Foods, Los Angeles, California, has been awarded a maximum $478,020,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for full-line food distribution. This was a competitive acquisition with three responses received. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Locations of performance are Arizona and California, with an April 19, 2025, performance completion date. Using customers are Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2025 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE300-20-D-3266). Shamrock Foods, Commerce City, Colorado, has been awarded a maximum $45,000,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-quantity contract for full-line food distribution. This was a competitive acquisition with one response received. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Locations of performance are Colorado and Wyoming, with an April 20, 2025, performance completion date. Using customers are Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2020 through 2025 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE300-20-D-3268). Cottonwood Inc., Lawrence, Kansas, has been awarded a maximum $8,428,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity contract for aircraft cargo tie down straps. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a one-year base contract with four one-year option periods. Location of performance is Kansas, with a May 3, 2025, performance completion date. Using customers are Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Richmond, Virginia (SPE4A7-20-D-0222). NAVY United Technologies Corp., Pratt and Whitney Engines, East Hartford, Connecticut, is awarded an $111,131,635 modification (P00019) to a previously-awarded fixed-price-incentive-firm, cost-plus-incentive-fee and cost reimbursable contract (N00019-18-C-1021). This modification exercises an option for the production and delivery of four Prat & Whitney (PW) F135-PW-600 propulsion systems for the Marine Corps to be installed in F-35B short take-off and vertical landing aircraft. Work will be performed in East Hartford, Connecticut (51.7%); Indianapolis, Indiana (38.8%); and Bristol, United Kingdom (9.5%), and is expected to be complete by July 2022. Fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $111,131,635 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. General Electric Aviation Systems, Vandalia, Ohio, is awarded a $72,479,880 modification (P00009) to previously-awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N-00019-18-C-0004). This modification exercises options to procure 140 generator converter units (GCUs) G3 to G4 conversion kits, 260 G4 GCUs and 140 wiring harnesses in support of F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and E/A-18G Growler warfare aircraft electrical systems. Work will be performed in Vandalia, Ohio, and is expected to be complete by December 2022. Fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $72,479,880 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. II Corps Consultants Inc.,* Fredericksburg, Virginia, is awarded a $68,650,500 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (M-00264-20-D-0005) for the Center for Advanced Operational Culture Learning program. Work will be performed in Fredericksburg, Virginia (50%); Bahrain (25%); and Afghanistan (25%). The Center for Advanced Operational Culture Learning ensures Marines deploy with an operational understanding of the local military and partner cultures and regional dynamics relevant to the mission, with select Marines being language-enabled, in order to facilitate mission success. Work is expected to be complete by April 2025. This contract has a five-year ordering period with a maximum value of $68,650,500. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Marine Corps) in the amount of $1,997,452 will be obligated at the time of award for the first task order and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively solicited via the Federal Business Opportunity website, with one proposal received. The Marine Corps Installation National Capital Region - Regional Contracting Office, Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting activity. AIR FORCE AAR Manufacturing Inc., Cadillac, Michigan, has been awarded a $39,629,731 contract for 463L cargo pallets for the Support Equipment and Vehicles Division, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. The contract provides for the production and repair of 20,000 new production units and 10,580 units for pallet repairs under the basic contract. Work will be performed in Cadillac, Michigan, and is expected to be completed April 20, 2022. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. As this is a requirements type contract, no funds are being obligated at contract award. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 procurement funds for new production units; and fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds for repair units will be obligated at the time of delivery order award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity (FA8534-20-D-0003). Cape Fox Facilities Services LLC, Manassas, Virginia, has been awarded a definitive contract for heating ventilation and air conditioning repair and replace construction services. This contract provides for the complete replacements and/or repair of air handling units at the Tinker Air Force Base Sustainment Center, Oklahoma. Work will be performed at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, and is expected to be complete by Aug. 30, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $27,419,359 are being obligated at the time of award. The 72nd Air Base Wing Civil Engineer Directorate, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity (FA8137-20-C-0012). ARMY L3Harris Technologies, Palm Bay, Florida, was awarded a $27,363,117 cost-no-fee, cost-plus-fixed fee contract to provide sustainment and support for the fielded modernization of enterprise terminals and AN/GSC-52 medium satellite communications terminal modernization programs. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Palm Bay, Florida, with an estimated completion date of April 21, 2025. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, Army; and other procurement, Army funds in the amount of $27,363,117 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W52P1J-20-C-0014). P&W Construction Co. LLC,* Knoxville, Tennessee, was awarded an $8,417,700 firm-fixed-price contract for renovation of an existing dormitory facility. Bids were solicited via the internet with five received. Work will be performed in Louisville, Tennessee, with an estimated completion date of April 20, 2021. Fiscal 2020 Air National Guard sustainment, restoration and modernization funds in the amount of $8,417,700 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Property and Fiscal Office, Nashville, Tennessee, is the contracting activity (W50S98-20-C-7001). *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2158770/source/GovDelivery/

  • 50 Vendors Vie For Air Force Flying Car

    April 22, 2020 | International, Aerospace

    50 Vendors Vie For Air Force Flying Car

    The "Agility Prime" event next week will kick off with speeches by Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett, Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, and Air Force acquisition head Will Roper. By THERESA HITCHENSon April 21, 2020 at 5:47 PM WASHINGTON: The Air Force is pulling out all the stops next week to demonstrate the potential utility of ‘flying cars' to military users across the services, as well as civil agencies within the US government including the Department of Transportation. The Agility Prime program's virtual event, being held April 27-May 1 will open with speeches by Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett, Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, and Air Force acquisition head Will Roper, who has been championing the idea since last summer. Some 50 vendors of electric vertical take off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft will be given a chance to strut their stuff to potential buyers across the military services and the US government, Col. Nate Diller, Agility Prime team lead, told reporters today. The high-powered line-up is a testimony to the Air Force's dedication to becoming an earlier adopter of flying car technology for moving people and cargo, as commercial actors such as Uber move out on developing designs for the commercial market. Diller said the Air Force also has been working closely with NASA — which itself has been working with Uber on an eVTOL craft — and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to create operational standards and licensing issues for future vehicles. The FAA regulates US airspace and NASA obviously has expertise in providing safety certification for aircraft and spacecraft carrying people. Bob Pearce, NASA's associate administrator for aeronautics research, and Michael Romanowski, the FAA's policy chief for aircraft certification, will speak at the event as well, Diller said. Agility Prime is first focused on mid-sized eVTOL craft that can carry three to eight people. Diller explained that the service sees potential utility in two other classes of vehicles: very small craft that can carry only one or two people (which he said some vendors are already test flying using FAA licenses applying to ultra-light aircraft); and larger aircraft that could ferry cargo and a large number of people. The first round of Agility Prime prototype contracting, Diller said, in some cases bounce off the Air Force Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I and Phase II contracts already held by some vendors. However, he stressed, the door is wide open to new entries — with next week's event offering “virtual booths” for newcomers to show off their wares. He would not, however, provide an estimate of planned Air Force spending on the program. The Air Force also is wooing private sector investors to the event in hopes they will kick in funds to the companies showing the most promise, both technologically and in plans for getting their wares on the street. As Breaking D readers know, Roper has launched a concerted effort to revamp the service's approach to SBIR funds, led by the new AFVentures unit, designed to match Air Force funds to investments from venture capital funds and ‘angel' investors (read, interested rich people.) Roper has said that he intends for AFVentures to invest about $1 billion a year in some 30 to 40 “game-changing” startups in hopes of helping them vault over the infamous ‘valley of death' between demonstrating a capability and becoming a DoD program of record. One of the hallmarks of Roper's approach to Air Force acquisition chief has been a focus on leveraging commercial research and development to help DoD ensure that it can stay ahead of China in the pursuit of new technology — arguing that ‘innovation is the new battlefield.' https://breakingdefense.com/2020/04/50-vendors-vie-for-air-force-flying-car/

  • Pentagon, Industry Struggle To Chart Impacts Of COVID On Arsenal

    April 22, 2020 | International, Naval

    Pentagon, Industry Struggle To Chart Impacts Of COVID On Arsenal

    "I think a three month slow-down in program activity is an optimistic projection based on the level of damage the economy is currently sustaining." By PAUL MCLEARYon April 21, 2020 at 3:33 PM WASHINGTON: Defense industry and Pentagon leaders are struggling to assess what impact the COVID-19 pandemic will have on building and maintaining the global US arsenal, but early assessments agree there'll be some disruption and delay as the global economy teeters. How much, how long, and where those disruptions will occur are something of an open question. With massive supply chains across the globe that run from small mom and pop manufacturing shops to massive global conglomerates, there's no one formula to assess what will happen to the industrial base in the weeks and months to come. On Monday, Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord said she expects the largest programs to see three-month delays, but some analysts say that assessment could be too rosy. “I think a three month slow-down in program activity is an optimistic projection based on the level of damage the economy is currently sustaining,” said Andrew Hunter, former chief of staff to two heads of Pentagon acquisition. Hunter is now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The designation of the defense industry as critical infrastructure has ensured that shipyards, factories, and shops have generally remained open, as workers stagger shifts and companies provide liberal leave and teleworking where possible. That has placed the defense industry in a good position relative to other parts of the economy. But the supply chain those companies rely on “is tightly interlinked with the commercial economy, especially the aviation and automotive sectors, and this will transmit a degree of economic disruption into defense in the coming months,” Hunter said. Lord singled out the aerospace sector, along with shipyards and space launch as areas most at risk of slowdown and disruption. So far, though, the Navy and its largest shipbuilder say they're mostly working through the issues, and are staying away from putting a specific length of time on any delays. “We do not have a list of programs that are delayed, but as Ms. Lord and [Navy acquisition head James] Guerts have both said, while it's too soon to identify specific delays, generally we are expecting and planning for program disruptions,” Navy spokesman Capt. Danny Hernandez told me in an email. Geurts has moved to accelerate funding for some work and parts supplies so industry can eventually ramp up once the entire workforce is back on the job. Speaking to reporters last week, Geurts said over the “next three four weeks we'll get a better view of the exact delay and disruption and then how we might mitigate that, or quite frankly, where do we have opportunities where we can accelerate things” due to some excess capacity in the supply base because it's not being consumed by commercial aviation or shipbuilding. At the country's largest shipbuilder, Huntington Ingalls, company executives told me recently they're not seeing significant reductions in the number of parts they're receiving. “We are working with a few critical suppliers that are having challenges, but I think for the most part are going to be able to get through that,” said Lucas Hicks, vice president of new construction aircraft carrier programs. “We have reached out to all the suppliers and are working with them to try to help them.” There will be some pain, though how much is up for debate. Analyst Byron Callan of Capital Alpha Partners said in a note Monday that a three-month impact might not force companies to drastically change their expectations for the whole year. Any slippages this spring “could conceivably be made up in subsequent months, but that may be a challenge. Contractors could sustain prior guidance and just call out COVID-19 as a risk for the full year, or drop guidance altogether. No one has a perfect crystal ball.” Hawk Carlisle, president of the National Defense Industrial Association, said on a Monday conference call organized by the Jewish Institute for National Security of America that the slowdown in the global economy “is going to cause things to cost more, whether it's service agreements or products and manufacturing capability.” He's looking to the next congressional stimulus package for an acknowledgment “that these programs are going to exceed budget,” he added, “because of this two to three months of delays, partial workforce, paying the workforce, inability to perform on contract.” But Hunter thinks, so far, the Pentagon has handled the situation as well as can be expected: “To the department's credit, they have been aggressively looking for issues in the supply chain, which means that Ms. Lord's estimate becomes a lot more likely if they succeed in staying ahead of these problems.” https://breakingdefense.com/2020/04/pentagon-industry-struggle-to-chart-impacts-of-covid-on-arsenal

  • China, COVID-19 and 5G; Golden Opportunity For The West

    April 22, 2020 | International, C4ISR

    China, COVID-19 and 5G; Golden Opportunity For The West

    By DEAN CHENG on April 21, 2020 at 10:55 AM Wars and pandemics, great destroyers of the status quo, often generate enormous societal change. An outbreak of hoof-and-mouth disease in the early 20th century, for example, gave the internal combustion engine a permanent lead over steam-powered automobiles. The First World War saw more improvements in aeronautical engineering and airplane manufacturing than the previous decade. The unprecedented global shut down that has seen perhaps half of humanity locked down has generated enormous demands for Internet access, especially broadband. The sudden confinement of so much of the world's work force has led to a massive increased demand for broadband, and not simply for entertainment. Telework, telemedicine and a major increase in videoconferencing are all major parts of the new work environment. Verizon, for example, has seen a 20 percent increase in Web traffic, a 12 percent increase in video services. Many experts have predicted demand for broadband will greatly increase in coming years, especially for 5G networks capable of handling massive data flows at speed. The need would rapidly grow, as smart cities and autonomous vehicles became a reality. But the shift to telecommuting has likely accelerated that demand, shifting it to an immediate need. That demand for increased connectivity is not likely to completely recede even after COVID-19 is overcome, any more than public horse troughs returned after the hoof-and-mouth outbreak ended. Instead, if living in dense urban conurbations is seen as posing a growing health risk, a subsequent population shift toward suburbs and rural areas will only further heighten demand for extensive nationwide 5G access. The ability to provide secure informational pipelines capable of handling massive data traffic has now become essential for the functioning of the broader economy, well beyond rapid downloading of movies and video-games. The benefits offered by 5G, whether in terms of faster upload and download times, or more stable connections, will provide immediate economic benefits in the post-COVID world. This will only sharpen the ongoing tensions between the United States and the People's Republic of China over the role of Huawei in building those 5G networks. Even before the outbreak of COVID-19, Washington and Beijing were battling over the security risks posed by Huawei systems. The United States excluded Huawei from its backbone communications infrastructure and is restricting sales of Huawei cell phones and tablets, but it was actively lobbying other nations to do the same. China, in turn, has striven to reassure other nations that not only is Huawei secure, but that it is a bargain. For the Chinese leadership, building the global 5G network is a matter of government policy because it would ensure that China will enjoy sustained economic benefits servicing and upgrading those networks for decades to come. Given the Chinese leadership's focus on establishing “information dominance,” it would also generate enormous strategic benefits. As demand for bandwidth has surged the global pandemic has led to an explosion of hacking and other cyber crime activities, as criminal and state actors exploit the panic and demand for information. Reports estimate that thousands of phishing sites and scams are being created every day. This has included ransomware attacks on hospitals, as well as efforts to hack the World Health Organization and pharmaceutical companies engaged in COVID-19 vaccine research. Among the identified hackers are Chinese (Vicious Panda, Mustang Panda), as well as South Korean, Vietnamese and other groups. One of the newest threats to arise comes courtesy of the massive demand for telecommuting and teleconferencing software. One of the key apps to fill the gap has been Zoom, software for video conferencing, audio conferencing, web conferencing, and messaging. It works on mobile and desktop devices, and in conference rooms. Unfortunately, Zoom has also been found to have major security gaps, including apparently uniwitting transfers of some encryption keys to China-based servers. This created the potential for Chinese elements to access the conferences, as well as data on participants' cell phones, tablets or computers. COVID: Crisis or Opportunity? The Chinese leadership has sought to exploit the COVID crisis to burnish its reputation in key countries where it can play a role in building 5G networks. It is no accident that one of the earliest recipients of Chinese medical attention was Italy — Italy is the only G-7 country to have signed onto the Chinese “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI). As important, Huawei is establishing 5G testbeds in a number of Italian cities. For the Chinese, the ability to project the image of a good partner, providing aid to Italy when its EU partners and the United States did not, would undoubtedly generate good will and greater openness to Chinese participation in the 5G build-out. This same approach marked such efforts as China's arrangement for the world's largest aircraft, a Russian AN-225, to carry tons of medical supplies to Poland, as well as Chinese provision of medical teams and aid to German towns hard hit by the virus. There would seem to be two implicit messages conveyed by the Chinese. The first is that China is a good partner, providing aid and assistance to when countries need it. The other is that China is a reliable partner, especially in terms of supply chains, whether for personal protective equipment (PPE) or high technology items. To support these benign messages, Beijing has also sought to quash any attempt to link COVID-19 to China, and in particular to reject any suggestion that the Chinese government bears any responsibility for its spread. Chinese officials have said that COVID-19 may have come from the United States (with Chinese social media discussing American participants in the World Military Games in China last October). The official Xinhua timeline for the coronavirus pandemic emphasizes its cooperation with the WHO, while making little mention of Dr. Li Wenliang, the doctor who tried to warn higher authorities of the outbreak of a new disease, caught it himself and died. This narrative is belied by the reality that China has neither been transparent about the coronavirus outbreak within its borders, nor been a good or reliable partner in dealing with the disease. China's suppression of information about the disease, including the muzzling of Dr. Li, have become much more widely known. China's delayed quarantine, admitted by the mayor of Wuhan, almost certainly contributed to the global spread of the pandemic. Even more damaging to the Chinese narrative, however, has been the dishonesty of its claims. In the case of Italy, for example, much of what Chinese media presented as aid was actually equipment that Italy purchased from China. Many other European countries, including Spain, the Netherlands and Turkey have found that a range of Chinese medical items, including everything from masks to testing kits, did not work or was defective. In other cases, exports of badly needed medical equipment from China have been delayed due to bureaucratic red tape. More worrisome, some reports indicate that Beijing has suddenly imposed export restrictions on COVID-19 related medical equipment. That is, even equipment that has been paid for may not be exported, raising fundamental questions about the reliability of the Chinese portion of supply chains. At the same time, Chinese efforts to deflect responsibility for the COVID-19 outbreak have also created growing negative images of the PRC. Chinese officials, for example, have not only accused the United States as being the source of the virus, but also Italy. It is clear that while Chinese doctrine on political warfare calls for coordinated, integrated messaging, that remains an aspirational goal. Implications for the Future It is very clear that the Chinese leadership hopes to exploit COVID-19 and its aftermath to help shape a world where China's reputation, soft power and technological access and capabilities are all enhanced. In particular, building on Huawei's ability to sell quality 5G equipment at a substantial discount, China hopes to take advantage of the burgeoning demand for broadband to ensure that Huawei will be integrated into the global informational ecosystem. But China's actual behavior should serve as a warning to economic and strategic decision-makers. It is not at all clear that China is either a good or reliable partner, especially in terms of supply chains. If Chinese PPE provided to foreign customers often fails to work, it may not be the result of a deliberate decision to export ineffective equipment; indeed, this is unlikely given China's political goal of improving its reputation and standing. It does mean that, even in the case of relatively low-technology systems such as masks and chemical tests, China's quality is abysmal. What might this suggest about Chinese-built telecommunications systems? In fact, the 2019 report from the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre (HCSEC) Oversight Board about the security of Huawei's equipment already emplaced in the UK was scathing. Not only were there a variety of security vulnerabilities, but even previously identified problems had not been addressed by Huawei. There seems to be a pattern of both poor quality control and post-sales support in Chinese manufacturing, which could be catastrophic if allowed in strategic systems such as 5G communications networks. The potential Chinese willingness to impose export controls and restrictions in time of crisis only further raises questions about the resilience of Chinese-manufactured networks, should a political rather than a health crisis arise. COVID-19 further complicates this picture by retarding development and roll-out of alternative 5G networks. Apple has indicated its first 5G enabled iPhone may be delayed from a planned September unveiling. Dish Network has indicated that COVID-19 will delay the construction of its 5G network, but the nationwide lockdown has affected all telecom companies' construction efforts. Samsung, the company best situated to challenge Huawei's ability to construct an integrated 5G network, from mobile telephones and tablets to base stations to servers and routers, also fears that COVID-19 may retard its efforts. The impact of the global shutdown on financial institutions is also likely to affect funding for this massive infrastructure project. But this situation may provide Western nations with a golden opportunity. If COVID-19 is likely to affect everything from auctions for spectrum to infrastructure financing, Western nations should take the opportunity to reconsider their willingness to allow the PRC to construct such a vital part of their national information and strategic backbones. Given the competing demands all leaders are likely to face as the world emerges from COVID-19, deferring key decisions on 5G (and the attendant costs of construction) may make financial, as well as political sense. It would also give Huawei's competitors, including not only Samsung but Ericsson, Nokia and others, a chance to catch up. If nothing else, having more competition would provide national and corporate decision-makers more options, and therefore more leverage in any negotiation with Huawei. Indeed, Huawei's own executives seem to recognize that COVID-19 may have altered the landscape. In a letter to the British parliament, the head of Huawei UK warned: “Disrupting our involvement in the 5G rollout would do Britain a disservice.” Like its behavior regarding COVID-19, Chinese statements such as this may well reveal far more than was intended. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/04/china-covid-19-and-5g-golden-opportunity-for-the-west

Shared by members

  • Share a news article with the community

    It’s very easy, simply copy/paste the link in the textbox below.

Subscribe to our newsletter

to not miss any news from the industry

You can customize your subscriptions in the confirmation email.