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  • U.S. Military Given Authority To Defend Against Climate Change

    January 21, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

    U.S. Military Given Authority To Defend Against Climate Change

    Lee Hudson The U.S. Congress is providing the military with direct responses to the threat of climate change. The passage of defense policy legislation provides the military with new tools to address the effects of the warming globe on strategic security interests, installations and readiness. Congress addresses climate change in defense legislation Climate change negatively affects military training That climate change is a threat to national security has been acknowledged by the military for nearly 30 years. In 1990, the U.S. Naval War College issued a report on “Global Climate Change Implications for the United States.” But in recent years, the issue has become politically charged, with the Republican-controlled House of Representatives voting in 2016 on an amendment to block Pentagon action on climate change. Now legislative support for addressing the security effects of a warming planet is growing. The 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) characterized climate change as a direct threat to national security. Two years later, lawmakers are uniting around potential solutions. Last month, President Donald Trump signed into law the 2020 NDAA, which includes 10 provisions related to climate security. The bill made it through the Democrat-controlled House and the Senate, past Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), who wrote a book in 2012 calling global warming The Greatest Hoax. The 2020 NDAA mandates creation of a Climate Security Advisory Council within the intelligence community to ensure analysis is informed by the best possible science. Intelligence experts must incorporate the foresight scientists have in projecting stress on various regions to predict potential crises. Establishing a Climate and Security Council is a positive step, John Conger, director of the Center for Climate and Security, tells Aviation Week. “If you know there is going to be a water shortage in some portion of the world, that would inform, for example, the assessment of whether that region is going to go unstable,” Conger says. Another provision in the bill related to climate-security strategic interests for the U.S. revolves around the Arctic. Section 1752 of the 2020 NDAA directs the Pentagon to consider sites for a strategic port in the Arctic and submit a report to Congress no later than June 2020. The document should include a cost estimate for construction and sustained operations at the site. For years, experts have rallied for the U.S. to have a more permanent presence in the Arctic as melting ice caps begin to open sea lanes to vessels from Russia and other nations. As the Arctic continues to warm, extreme weather has hit hard at existing bases in the continental U.S. In 2018, Hurricane Michael decimated Tyndall AFB in Florida. Tyndall was home to the Air Force's fleet of Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptors. The Air Force is still coping with the aftermath. While Tyndall is undergoing repairs, F-22s assigned to the 43rd and 95th Fighter Sqdns. have moved to other installations. The jets assigned to the 43rd relocated to Eglin AFB in Florida, while the 95th's aircraft are being spread out across F-22 units at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, and Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia. The military is not just concerned about its coastal bases. A few months after Hurricane Michael floodwaters reached 7ft. (2.1 m), damaging Offutt AFB in Nebraska and causing personnel to move aircraft and munitions to higher ground. The flooding damaged one-third of the Midwestern base, home to the headquarters of the nation's nuclear arsenal, U.S. Strategic Command (Stratcom) and the 55th Wing. The 55th Wing is Air Combat Command's largest wing, with an annual budget of more than $477 million, 45 aircraft, 31 squadrons and 7,000 employees. In total, the damage at Tyndall and Offutt will cost the American taxpayer an estimated $5 billion to rebuild. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein and former Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson had to beg Congress for $5 billion in emergency funding to begin rebuilding the installations damaged by natural disasters. Section 328 of the 2020 NDAA creates a dedicated budget line item for adaptation to and mitigation of extreme weather on military networks, installations, facilities and other assets. These include loss or obstructed access to training ranges. The bill defines extreme weather as recurrent flooding, drought, desertification, wildfires and thawing permafrost. In 2019, the Air Force submitted to Congress a “Top 10” list of installations at risk of extreme damage from chaging weather. Six of the bases are in Florida—Eglin, Hurlburt Field, Patrick AFB, Homestead Air Reserve Base, MacDill AFB and Tyndall. The base taking the top spot is Vandenberg AFB in California, home to the Space Force's Space Operations Command. The remaining installations at risk are Dover AFB in Delaware and Langley-Eustis in Virginia. “As developed, the above list reflects installations susceptible to the consequences of severe weather events: coastal and inland flooding, wildfires, and/or drought; not necessarily 50-100-year climatic changes,” the submission states. “This list does not look at any specific critical mission implications (i.e., even if the base is subject to flooding because a portion is within a 100-year flood plain, a mission-critical facility may not be impacted because of its location on the base or it is on high ground; e.g. the Stratcom Headquarters Building on Offutt AFB).” The Army assessed six climate vulnerabilities on its military bases in the U.S. The service is most concerned about desertification, or land degradation caused by dry conditions, affecting its installations especially at Yuma Proving Ground and Fort Huachuca in Arizona, Fort Irwin and Camp Roberts in California, Fort Bliss in Texas, White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, Hawthorne Army Depot in Nevada, Tooele Army Depot in Utah and Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado. “The analysis is based on climate science only and is not influenced by strategic or mission considerations,” the Army report says. The majority of the measures to defend the military against climate change to date are reactionary, but Section 2801a of the 2020 NDAA is more preventative, directing the Pentagon to incorporate military installation resilience into master plans; it authorizes funding for climate resilience projects. These installation master plans will specifically assess vulnerabilities to the bases and surrounding communities, identify missions affected by those susceptibilities and propose projects to address those weaknesses. “Until you start incorporating these risks into your master planning process, you aren't going to fully appreciate what you have to do at a particular location,” Conger says. “You can't just throw money at a problem not knowing what you're supposed to do.” The Navy paid attention to climate change early on because the service has the most coastal bases and infrastructures in its inventory. Separate from climate change, a few years ago Congress directed the Navy to study the infrastructure requirements of its shipyards. That assessment found that the dry docks at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Virginia were not high enough to deal with sea level rise, Conger says. The 2020 NDAA authorizes $49 million for a project at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard to increase the height of the floodwalls around its dry docks. The shipyard's primary mission is the overhaul, repair and modernization of Los Angeles-class fast-attack nuclear-powered submarines. Climate change is also affecting the U.S. military's readiness levels because of an increasing number of Black Flag days, when the temperature rises to 90F or higher, and training is suspended. This affects units being able to complete a training syllabus on time, Conger says. “It's not like we've never done workarounds in training, but these are things where the training experts in all of the services will have to look at trends and figure out how to adjust what they have to do,” he says. “It is not something they're immune from; it's something they're going to have to accommodate and deal with.” https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/us-military-given-authority-defend-against-climate-change

  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - January 17, 2020

    January 21, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - January 17, 2020

    NAVY Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, Tewksbury, Massachusetts, is awarded a $30,358,285 cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-only modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-19-C-5509 to exercise the option for dual band radar design agent support efforts. Work will be performed in Tewksbury, Massachusetts (69%); Port Hueneme, California (17%); and Arvonia, Virginia (14%), and is expected to be completed by January 2021. Fiscal 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); and fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funding in the amount of $2,099,910 will be obligated at time of award, and funds in the amount of $1,069,769 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. CACI International Inc./BIT Systems, Sterling, Virginia, is awarded a $13,336,559 firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost reimbursable, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract provides engineering, program management and technical services to support the installation, integration and sustainment of counter unmanned aerial systems. Installation and integration includes modeling and simulation, hardware installation, software integration, verification testing and integration trouble shooting support. System sustainment includes maintainability and deployment upgrades of operational systems, reconfiguration of installed systems, training, system maintenance, software updates and hardware repairs. Work will be performed in Sterling, Virginia (34%); various locations within the continental U.S (33%); and various locations outside the continental U.S. (33%), and is expected to be completed in January 2022. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1). The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00421-20-D-0020). ARMY Phillips Corp.,* Hanover, Maryland, was awarded a $28,570,997 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of Computer Numeric Control mill and lathe assemblies. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 16, 2025. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W9098S-20-D-0004). Four Tribes Enterprises Inc.,* Gaithersburg, Maryland, was awarded a $13,147,968 firm-fixed-price contract for the construction of a perimeter security entry point at Rome Laboratory. One bid was solicited via the internet with one bid received. Work will be performed in Rome, New York, with an estimated completion date of July 14, 2021. Fiscal 2020 civil construction funds in the amount of $13,147,968 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, New York, is the contracting activity (W912DS-20-C-0005). Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., McLean, Virginia, was awarded an $8,873,629 firm-fixed-price contract for program management support services on the Integrated Personnel and Pay System-Army for the Functional Management Division, Deputy Chief of Staff, G-1, Technology and Business Architecture Integration Directorate. Fifty-five bids were solicited with one bid received. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 17, 2023. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, Army, funds in the amount of $8,873,629 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, New Jersey, is the contracting activity (W15QKN-20-F-0144). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Honeywell International, doing business as Honeywell Aerospace-Tucson, Tucson, Arizona, has been awarded a $25,664,750 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for helicopter generators. 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 options periods. Location of performance is Arizona with a Jan 17, 2026, performance completion date. Using military service is the Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (SPRRA1-20-D-0016). *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2060522/source/GovDelivery/

  • BAE Systems rachète pour plus de 2 milliards de dollars d'actifs à United Technologies et Raytheon

    January 21, 2020 | International, C4ISR

    BAE Systems rachète pour plus de 2 milliards de dollars d'actifs à United Technologies et Raytheon

    Le groupe britannique de défense BAE Systems a annoncé lundi le rachat en numéraire de plus de 2 milliards de dollars d'actifs aux groupes de défense américains United Technologies et Raytheon, en train de finaliser leur rapprochement. BAE va acquérir un système de géolocalisation militaire à Collins Aerospace, filiale de United, pour quelque 1,9 milliard, et également reprendre pour 275 millions de dollars l'activité de radio tactique aéroportée de Raytheon. Ces transactions sont soumises à "la réalisation effective de la fusion de Raytheon et United Technologies et à l'accord des autorités", précise BAE. Ces actifs, qualifiés d'"opportunités uniques" par le directeur général de BAE Charles Woodburn, sont sur le marché dans le cadre de désinvestissements requis par les autorités américaines de la concurrence pour approuver le rapprochement de Raytheon et United Technologies. Ils "complètent fortement notre activité de systèmes électroniques basée aux Etats-Unis" et présentent "de fortes perspectives de croissance". Ils devraient aussi "avoir un impact positif immédiat sur les résultats et la trésorerie" de BAE, précise le communiqué. L'activité de géolocalisation, dont le rachat sera financé par endettement, devrait générer un chiffre d'affaires de 359 millions de dollars et un excédent brut d'exploitation (adjusted EBITDA) de 127 millions de dollars en 2020. Celle de radio pour l'aviation militaire, "qui conçoit un vaste éventail de systèmes de communications sensibles avec le département américain de la Défense, les gouvernements alliés", affiche "un long historique d'innovations". Elle devrait générer un chiffre d'affaires de 125 millions de dollars en 2019, avec un effet positif immédiat sur les résultats et la trésorerie. Elle devrait être financée par des liquidités existantes. https://www.journal-aviation.com/actualites/43690-bae-rachete-pour-plus-de-2-milliards-de-dollars-d-actifs-a-united-technologies-et-raytheon

  • Trustworthy AI: A Conversation with NIST's Chuck Romine

    January 21, 2020 | International, C4ISR

    Trustworthy AI: A Conversation with NIST's Chuck Romine

    By: Charles Romine Artificial Intelligence (AI) promises to grow the economy and improve our lives, but with these benefits, it also brings new risks that society is grappling with. How can we be sure this new technology is not just innovative and helpful, but also trustworthy, unbiased, and resilient in the face of attack? We sat down with NIST Information Technology Lab Director Chuck Romine to learn how measurement science can help provide answers. How would you define artificial intelligence? How is it different from regular computing? One of the challenges with defining artificial intelligence is that if you put 10 people in a room, you get 11 different definitions. It's a moving target. We haven't converged yet on exactly what the definition is, but I think NIST can play an important role here. What we can't do, and what we never do, is go off in a room and think deep thoughts and say we have the definition. We engage the community. That said, we're using a narrow working definition specifically for the satisfaction of the Executive Order on Maintaining American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence, which makes us responsible for providing guidance to the federal government on how it should engage in the standards arena for AI. We acknowledge that there are multiple definitions out there, but from our perspective, an AI system is one that exhibits reasoning and performs some sort of automated decision-making without the interference of a human. There's a lot of talk at NIST about “trustworthy” AI. What is trustworthy AI? Why do we need AI systems to be trustworthy? AI systems will need to exhibit characteristics like resilience, security and privacy if they're going to be useful and people can adopt them without fear. That's what we mean by trustworthy. Our aim is to help ensure these desirable characteristics. We want systems that are capable of either combating cybersecurity attacks, or, perhaps more importantly, at least recognizing when they are being attacked. We need to protect people's privacy. If systems are going to operate in life-or-death type of environments, whether it's in medicine or transportation, people need to be able to trust AI will make the right decisions and not jeopardize their health or well-being. Resilience is important. An artificial intelligence system needs to be able to fail gracefully. For example, let's say you train an artificial intelligence system to operate in a certain environment. Well, what if the system is taken out of its comfort zone, so to speak? One very real possibility is catastrophic failure. That's clearly not desirable, especially if you have the AI deployed in systems that operate critical infrastructure or our transportation systems. So, if the AI is outside of the boundaries of its nominal operating environment, can it fail in such a way that it doesn't cause a disaster, and can it recover from that in a way that allows it to continue to operate? These are the characteristics that we're looking for in a trustworthy artificial intelligence system. NIST is supposed to be helping industry before they even know they needed us to. What are we thinking about in this area that is beyond the present state of development of AI? Industry has a remarkable ability to innovate and to provide new capabilities that people don't even realize that they need or want. And they're doing that now in the AI consumer space. What they don't often do is to combine that push to market with deep thought about how to measure characteristics that are going to be important in the future. And we're talking about, again, privacy, security and resilience ... trustworthiness. Those things are critically important, but many companies that are developing and marketing new AI capabilities and products may not have taken those characteristics into consideration. Ultimately, I think there's a risk of a consumer backlash where people may start saying these things are too easy to compromise and they're betraying too much of my personal information, so get them out of my house. What we can do to help, and the reason that we've prioritized trustworthy AI, is we can provide that foundational work that people in the consumer space need to manage those risks overall. And I think that the drumbeat for that will get increasingly louder as AI systems begin to be marketed for more than entertainment. Especially at the point when they start to operate critical infrastructure, we're going to need a little more assurance. That's where NIST can come together with industry to think about those things, and we've already had some conversations with industry about what trustworthy AI means and how we can get there. I'm often asked, how is it even possible to influence a trillion-dollar, multitrillion-dollar industry on a budget of $150 million? And the answer is, if we were sitting in our offices doing our own work independent of industry, we would never be able to. But that's not what we do. We can work in partnership with industry, and we do that routinely. And they trust us, they're thrilled when we show up, and they're eager to work with us. AI is a scary idea for some people. They've seen “I, Robot,” or “The Matrix,” or “The Terminator.” What would you say to help them allay these fears? I think some of this has been overhyped. At the same time, I think it's important to acknowledge that risks are there, and that they can be pretty high if they're not managed ahead of time. For the foreseeable future, however, these systems are going to be too fragile and too dependent on us to worry about them taking over. I think the biggest revolution is not AI taking over, but AI augmenting human intelligence. We're seeing examples of that now, for instance, in the area of face recognition. The algorithms for face recognition have improved at an astonishing rate over the last seven years. We're now at the point where, under controlled circumstances, the best artificial intelligence algorithms perform on par with the best human face recognizers. A fascinating thing we learned recently, and published in a report, is that if you take two trained human face recognizers and put them together, the dual system doesn't perform appreciably better than either one of them alone. If you take two top-performing algorithms, the combination of the two doesn't really perform much better than either one of them alone. But if you put the best algorithm together with a trained recognizer, that system performs substantially better than either one of them alone. So, I think, human augmentation by AI is going to be the revolution. What's next? I think one of the things that is going to be necessary for us is pulling out the desirable characteristics like usability, interoperability, resilience, security, privacy and all the things that will require a certain amount of care to build into the systems, and get innovators to start incorporating them. Guidance and standards can help to do that. Last year, we published our plan for how the federal government should engage in the AI standards development process. I think there's general agreement that guidance will be needed for interoperability, security, reliability, robustness, these characteristics that we want AI systems to exhibit if they're going to be trusted. https://www.nist.gov/blogs/taking-measure/trustworthy-ai-conversation-nists-chuck-romine

  • Four Nations To Be Protected With Lockheed Martins Next Generation Radar

    January 17, 2020 | International, C4ISR

    Four Nations To Be Protected With Lockheed Martins Next Generation Radar

    Moorestown, N.J., January 14, 2020 – Through partnerships with the U.S. Government, Spain, Japan, and Canada, Lockheed Martin's (NYSE: LMT) solid state radar (SSR) technology will provide front-line defense to nations around the world with cutting-edge air and missile defense capabilities. These nations are part of a growing SSR family of 24 platforms, ushering in the next generation of maritime and ground-based advanced radar technology. The basis of SSR is the Long Range Discrimination Radar (LRDR), which the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) selected Lockheed Martin to develop in 2015 with an on-track delivery set for 2020. In 2019 Lockheed Martin's SSR for Aegis Ashore Japan was designated by the United States Government as AN/SPY-7(V)1. What is SSR Technology? SPY-7's core technology is derived from the LRDR program, which has been declared Technical Readiness Level 7 by the U.S. Government. The technology consists of a scalable and modular gallium nitride (GaN) based “subarray” radar building block, providing advanced performance and increased efficiency and reliability to pace ever-evolving threats. As part of its investment into the advancement of SSR, Lockheed Martin built a Solid State Radar Integration Site to conduct detailed testing to prove the maturity of the system and reduce fielding risk. Scaled versions of the LRDR site will be utilized for future radar programs including Aegis Ashore Japan, Canadian Surface Combatant and MDA's Homeland Defense Radar in Hawaii. Solid state offers powerful capabilities to detect, track and engage sophisticated air and missile threats, including the very complicated task of discriminating – or picking out – and countering lethal objects present in enemy ballistic missiles. The Lockheed Martin SSR uses state-of-the art hardware and an innovative software-defined radar architecture to meet current requirements while providing extensibility features to pace evolving threats for decades to come. Its unique maintain-while-operate capability provides very high operational availability and enables continuous 24-hour/7-day week operation. Solid state radar is a multi-mission system providing a wide range of capabilities, from passive situational awareness to integrated air and missile defense solutions. The combined capability and mission flexibility of Lockheed Martin's SSR has gained the attention of new and current users of the Aegis Weapon System, the world's premier air and missile defense combat suite. Meeting the World's Most Demanding Missions While LRDR is the first program to utilize Lockheed Martin's new SSR building blocks, over the past three years Lockheed Martin has consistently been selected in open competitions to equip an additional 24 platforms in four nations. SPY-7 provides several times the performance of traditional SPY-1 radars and the ability to engage multiple targets simultaneously with the latest proven interceptors. Spain's Ministry of Defense stated its preference for Lockheed Martin's technology for its five F-110 class frigates in 2017 and awarded the ship construction order to Navantia in 2019. These ships will host the first-ever S-band variants of the SPY-7 radar for the Spanish Navy. Production will be a collaboration between Lockheed Martin and Spanish company, Indra. When the frigates deploy in 2026 our SPY-7 variant will be integrated as part of the Aegis Weapon System. The frigates will also incorporate the International Aegis Fire Control Loop (IAFCL) integrated with SCOMBA, the national combat system developed by Navantia. Canada's Department of National Defence also selected Lockheed Martin as the naval radar provider for its 15 Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) ships. Lockheed Martin's IAFCL is integrated with Canada's combat management system, CMS 330, developed by Lockheed Martin Canada for the Royal Canadian Navy's HALIFAX Class ships. The program will make Canada the owner of the world's second largest Aegis fleet, and our SPY-7 radar variant will enable CSC to conduct highly advanced maritime missions for decades to come. Mature, Cost-Effective Systems Ready Now Including LRDR, the 24 Lockheed Martin SSR platforms selected to date represent a total of 91 antennas of varying sizes, collectively composed of over 15,000 subarrays. On LRDR alone, Lockheed Martin has produced an equivalent of eight Aegis shipsets to-date. The U.S. Government's LRDR has a planned service life for decades to come and will be supported and maintained throughout that period. This ensures the U.S. and its allies will have a large and stable base of cost-effective logistics and support for many years in the future. About Lockheed Martin Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 105,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. View source version on Lockheed Martin: https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2020-01-14-Four-Nations-to-Be-Protected-with-Lockheed-Martins-Next-Generation-Radar

  • Who won Interior’s $1.6B secure network contract?

    January 17, 2020 | International, C4ISR

    Who won Interior’s $1.6B secure network contract?

    Andrew Eversden The Department of Interior awarded CenturyLink a contract potentially worth $1.6 billion for network security and IT modernization. Under the contract, a task order award under the GSA's Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions program, CenturyLink will provide Interior with managed core network services and managed access services. The contract has a base period of one year, a CenturyLink spokesperson said. According to the news release, there are 11 one-year options through 2032. “The Department of the Interior selected CenturyLink to deliver secure, modern network services that will help the agency achieve its mission to conserve and manage our nation's natural resources and cultural heritage for the benefit and enjoyment of the American people,” said David Young, CenturyLink senior vice president of public sector, in a statement. CenturyLink's managed core network services includes designing, engineering, building, securing, operating and maintaining Interior's enterprise network, along with cybersecurity services. The second area, manage access services, included securing cloud connectivity and WiFi services. The EIS program is a 15-year, $50 billion multi-award contract vehicle for federal agencies to use to purchased preapproved, secure IT and telecommunication services. CenturyLink was the first supplier given EIS authority to operate last March. In April last year, CenturyLink also won a task order under the contract to provide secure connectivity services to NASA, the first task order under the EIS program. https://www.federaltimes.com/it-networks/2020/01/16/who-won-interiors-16b-secure-network-contract

  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - January 16, 2020

    January 17, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - January 16, 2020

    AIR FORCE Raytheon Co., Marlborough, Massachusetts, is awarded a $442,265,464 cost-plus-incentive-fee undefinitized contract action for the force element terminal (FET) development effort. This contract provides for the design, development, testing, integration, and logistical support of a FET system that will transition the B-52 and RC-135 hardened communication terminals from the Military Strategic Tactical Relay satellite communications satellite constellation to the Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite constellation. The majority of the work will be performed at Raytheon's facilities in Marlborough, Massachusetts; and Largo, Florida, and is expected to be completed by August 2023. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 research, development, test and evaluation 3600 funds, in the amount of $5,812,581, are being obligated at the time of contract award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Bedford, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity (FA8735-20-C-0003). Raytheon Co., Marlborough, Massachusetts, has been awarded a $36,848,806 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification (P00152) for the software encryption platform (SEP) engineering change effort, under the Family of Advanced Beyond Line-of-Sight Terminals (FAB-T) production contract. The contract action will develop and deliver an updated National Security Agency approved SEP. Work will be performed at Marlborough, Massachusetts, and is expected to be completed by March 2023. This award is the result of a sole source acquisition. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funding in the amount of $1,000,000 is being obligated at the time of award. The FAB-T Contracting Office, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity (FA8705-13-C-0005). ARMY LOC Performance Products,* Plymouth, Michigan, was awarded a $41,439,129 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of manufactured T-161 double pin track which is comprised of molded track pads, rubberized pins and forged track shoe bodies with bonded rubber backings to be used on the Army's Bradley family of vehicles, armored multi-purpose vehicle and Paladin family of vehicles. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work will be performed in Plymouth, Michigan, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 12, 2022. Fiscal 2020 other procurement, Army funds in the amount of $41,439,129 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-20-C-0052). Lockheed Martin Corp., Orlando, Florida, was awarded a $9,829,327 modification (P00013) to contract W31P4Q-19-C-0071 for engineering services in support of the Hellfire Missile and Joint Air-to-Ground Missile. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 15, 2021. Fiscal 2020 missile procurement, Army funds in the amount of $9,829,327 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Carter Enterprises,** Brooklyn, New York, has been awarded a maximum $21,105,765 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity contract for coats and trousers. This was a competitive acquisition with six responses received. This is a one-year base contract with three one-year option periods. Location of performance is New York, with a Jan. 15, 2021, performance completion date. Using military services are Army and Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE1C1-20-D-1206). NAVY Crowley Government Services, Jacksonville, Florida (N62387-15-C-2505), is awarded a $20,771,542 firm-fixed-price contract with reimbursable elements extension by invoking Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.217-8 “option to extend services” to continue the operation and maintenance of five Tactical Auxiliary General Ocean Surveillance (T-AGOS) vessels; and two missile range instrumentation ships (T-AGM). This option includes a 365-day base period of performance, four one-year option periods, and a Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.217-8 “option to extend services” option period for up to six months, which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $375,202,948. Work will be performed at sea worldwide and is expected to be completed by July 21, 2020. Fiscal 2020 Navy operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $20,771,542 will be awarded at time of award and will expire at the end of fiscal year. This contract extension was not competitively procured. The contract was prepared under the provisions of 10 U.S. Code § 2304(c)(1), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii) (only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements). The Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N62387-15-C-2505). MAC LLC, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, is awarded a $9,998,493 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the purchase of up to a maximum of 2,400,000 MK323 Mod 0 polymer cased .50 caliber linked cartridges, and .50 caliber armor piercing/armor piercing incendiary polymer cased linked cartridges. Work will be performed in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and is expected to be completed by January 2024. Fiscal 2019 procurement ammunition (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $3,051,359 will be obligated on the first delivery order immediately following contract award and funds will expire the end of fiscal 2021. The contract was awarded on a sole source basis in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1.The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting activity (M67854-20-D-5200). *Small Business **Small Business in Historically Underutilized Business Zone https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2059429/source/GovDelivery/

  • The Pentagon wants help for its satellites to talk to each other

    January 16, 2020 | International, C4ISR

    The Pentagon wants help for its satellites to talk to each other

    By: Nathan Strout The Space Development Agency wants its satellites to be able to easily talk to each other and is considering using optical intersatellite links for communications within its future low earth orbit space architecture. Now, the organization is looking for industry's help on what standards should be used for those links. On Jan. 15, the agency issued a request for information to industry to inform its attempt to establish an Optical Intersatellite Link Open Standard. Most satellites don't speak with each other directly. Instead, they utilize radio-frequency communications with a ground station to relay communications between satellites. Some satellites, however, are able to use optical links to provide direct communications between satellites without a ground station acting as an intermediary. The SDA wants to use this technology for what it calls its “transport layer,” the backbone of its plans for a new space architecture in low earth orbit. The SDA was established in March 2019 to design the Department of Defense's future threat-driven space architecture, a setup it has since defined as a multi-layered constellation of hundreds of small satellites providing several capabilities from LEO. The SDA will not be directly responsible for every layer or constellation within the architecture — most notably, the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor is being developed primarily by the Missile Defense Agency — however, the SDA will be the agency in charge of integrating those various efforts into a single architecture. Key to the entire enterprise is the Tracking Layer, a family of satellites in low earth orbit that will facilitate the flow of data between satellites in orbit and between satellites and the ground. The Transport Layer will be essential in connecting the various sensors and capabilities on orbit with weapons systems on the ground or in the air. In order to build that capability, the SDA plans to use Optical Intersatellite Links. The optical links will also need to provide range estimates of the distance between satellites in orbit and between satellites and the ground to within a meter in order to provide highly precise timing and positional data for the constellation. The SDA also envisions each satellite utilizing a chip-scale atomic clock as well as GPS signals. The problem is that there are currently no industry standards for those links. To ensure the interoperability of various vendor technologies used for those links, the SDA wants to establish that standard, and it's asking industry for help. Responses are due by Feb. 5. More specifics about what the SDA is considering for its standards is available on beta.sam.gov. According to the request, the SDA plans to issue a solicitation for Tranche 0 of the Transportation Layer in Spring 2020, with additional solicitations for the other capability layers to follow in the summer. That first tranche, known as the war fighter immersion tranche, will consist “of tens of satellites providing periodic, regional sensing and data transport capabilities, including the capability to detect hypersonic glide vehicles and to disseminate time sensitive targeting solutions over tactical data links.” According to the agency, that initial tranche could be delivered as early as fiscal year 2022 https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/c2-comms/2020/01/16/the-pentagon-wants-help-for-its-satellites-to-talk-to-each-other/

  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - January 15, 2020

    January 16, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - January 15, 2020

    AIR FORCE F.K. Horn GmbH & Co., Kaiserslautern, Germany (FA5613-20-D-0001); SKE Support Services GmbH, Goldbach, Germany (FA561320D0002); Mickan GmbH & Co., Amberg, Germany (FA5613-20-D-0003); BB Government Services GmbH, Kaiserslautern, Germany (FA5613-20-D-0004); J&J Worldwide Services, Austin, Texas (FA5613-20-D-0005); and Wolff & Müller Government Services GmbH & Co., Stuttgart, Germany (FA5613-20-D-0006), have been awarded an estimated $425,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the multiple award construction contract. This contract provides for a broad range of design-build, sustainment, maintenance, repair, alteration, renovation and minor construction projects to include residential and commercial work for the Kaiserslautern Military Community, Spangdahlem Air Base, as well as supporting installations throughout Germany. Work will be performed primarily at Headquarters U.S. Air Force in Europe (USAFE); Ramstein Air Base; Spangdahlem Air Base; and USAFE geographically separated units in Germany. The contract will expire on Jan. 14, 2025. This contract is the result of a competitive acquisition and seven offers were received. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of 1,000 Euros are being obligated for each awardee at the time of the award. The 700th Contracting Squadron, Ramstein Air Base, Germany, is the contracting activity. L3Harris Technologies Inc., Colorado Springs, Colorado, has been awarded a $12,929,064 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification (P01033) to a previously-awarded contract F19628-02-C-0010 for the National Space Defense Center (NSDC) sustainment effort. This modification provides sustainment support for the NSDC at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado, which is housed within the Distributed Space Command and Control – Dahlgren program of record. Work will be performed at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado, and is expected to be completed by June 30, 2020. The total cumulative face value is $12,929,064. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $12,929,064 are being obligated at time of award. The Space and Missile Systems Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, is the contracting activity. ARMY F3EA Inc.,* Savannah, Georgia, was awarded a $245,000,000 hybrid (cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost-sharing, and firm-fixed-price) contract for special operations forces requirements analysis, prototyping, training, operations and rehearsal IV. Bids were solicited via the internet with 10 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 14, 2027. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity (W900KK-20-D-0005). Rogers, Lovelock & Fritz, Orlando, Florida, was awarded a $100,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for architecture and engineering design services. Bids were solicited via the internet with 13 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of July 14, 2030. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City, Missouri, is the contracting activity (W912DQ-20-D-4000). Bechtel National Inc., Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $35,709,723 modification (P00184) to contract W52P1J-09-C-0012 for the increased permitting requirements request for equitable adjustment at Pueblo Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot Plant as a result of additional work in the sample management office, waste plan analysis and odor monitoring. Work will be performed in Pueblo, Colorado, with an estimated completion date of July 12, 2020. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation, Army funds in the amount of $35,709,723 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. LLC, Oak Brook, Illinois, was awarded a $10,723,250 firm-fixed-price contract for coastal storm risk management work. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Southampton, New York, with an estimated completion date of March 31, 2020. Fiscal 2018 flood control and coastal emergencies, civil works funds in the amount of $10,723,250 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, New York, is the contracting activity (W912DS-20-C-0006). NAVY Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Syracuse, New York, is awarded a $19,330,296 firm-fixed-price modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-19-C-6269 to exercise options for the procurement of eight multi-function modular masts for new-construction Virginia-class submarine Block V hulls. Work will be performed in Nashua, New Hampshire (70%); and Syracuse, New York (30%), and is expected to be completed by September 2023. Fiscal 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $19,330,296 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. Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Arizona, is awarded a $9,075,931 firm-fixed-price delivery order (N00019-20-F-0499) against a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00019-15-D-0034). This delivery order provides for repair and sustainment services for 155 high-speed anti-radiation missiles in support of the Air Force, the government of Morocco and the government of Turkey. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona, and is expected to be completed in December 2020. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Air Force) funds in the amount of $8,824,266; and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) funds in the amount of $251,665 will be obligated at time of award, $8,824,266 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This order combines purchases for the Air Force ($8,824,266; 97.2%); and FMS customers ($251,665; 2.8%). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2058353/source/GovDelivery/

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