News

By: Jessie Bur A recent Department of Defense memorandum indicates that the agency wants to pursue multiple commercial cloud vendors as it attempts to modernize its IT and data infrastructure, though a single provider will still have singular influence over the agency's “general purpose cloud.” “DoD is driving toward an enterprise cloud environment that is composed of a general purpose cloud and multiple fit-for-purpose clouds,” the memorandum to Congress, released Feb. 4, said. “In addition, it should be recognized that the Department will still need non-cloud data center capability for applications that are not suited for the cloud. Over time, with the adoption of an enduring enterprise cloud strategy, the non-cloud environment should become smaller.” That general purpose slot will be filled by the awardee of the $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure contract, which has been criticized for its single-award intent as giving the winner an outsized control of the defense cloud market. Many companies vying to support the Pentagon's cloud requirements claimed that the odds were stacked in Amazon's favor. The approach spurred protests and a lawsuit in fact. According to the memorandum, the fit-for-purpose environment will be made up of the Defense Information Systems Agency's milCloud suite, as well as other unnamed vendors. Throughout the cloud migration process, DoD will stick to four guiding principles: War-fighter First — any cloud solution must at all times address the needs of improving lethality while not jeopardizing the safety and mission of American war fighters. Cloud-Smart, Data-Smart — cloud solutions must streamline transformation and embrace modern capabilities while enhancing data transparency and visibility. Leverage Commercial Industry Best Practices — the cloud strategy should promote competition and innovation while preventing lock-in of one particular solution or technology. Create a Culture Better Suited for Modern Technology Evolution — the strategy will need to create a culture of learning and innovation while discouraging custom, federated approaches. This approach to commercial cloud is not entirely unexpected, as DoD Chief Information Officer Dana Deasey said during an October 2018 press event for the Defense Enterprise Office Solution cloud contractthat the agency would be delineating between general purpose and fit for purpose contracts. "This marks a milestone in our efforts to adopt the cloud and also in our larger efforts to modernize information technology across the DOD enterprise," Deasy said in a statement on the memo to Congress. “A modern digital infrastructure is critical to support the war fighter, defend against cyberattacks and enable the department to leverage emerging technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence.” The new strategy also means that DoD will move away from a cybersecurity posture that focuses on perimeter defense and instead prioritize the protection of data and systems. “DoD will produce a unified cybersecurity architecture that addresses cloud and the needs of classified and unclassified missions and data. The capabilities will be tested and assessed independently and frequently to ensure that cybersecurity attributes remain effective against developing threats,” the memo said, adding that the CIO will determine the command and control requirements between the agency and the cloud service providers. Cloud contracts will also likely include requirements for training and workforce development to ensure that DoD can develop the expertise necessary to use and protect their new cloud environments. And any potential migrations to cloud will have to come with thorough evaluations of legacy DoD applications. “It is imperative that DoD has a cloud strategy to ensure that legacy applications are not moved to cloud without properly re-architecting them to make use of the data, security, resiliency and application advantages that cloud provides,” the memo said. “Additionally, DoD should independently test and assess cloud network security to verify security compliance and incident response and review all contractor and third-party testing results to ensure that performance and security monitoring are sufficient.” https://www.federaltimes.com/it-networks/cloud/2019/02/04/dod-to-officially-pursue-a-multi-vendor-cloud-strategy

COURTNEY LINDER To prepare the armed forces for the “future battlefield” of 2028 or 2035, the U.S. Army is setting up shop at Carnegie Mellon University. On Friday, the Army officially activated its new Artificial Intelligence Task Force at the National Robotics Engineering Center in Lawrenceville before a crowd of politicians and researchers from nearly a dozen universities. The task force will become a national network of experts in academia and private industry, building out solutions that the Army can use not only on the battlefield but also in rescue missions and in protecting civilians. CMU is the home base, but the task force will eventually include other partners. “At the end of the day, I'd rather not fight a war,” said Mark Esper, secretary of the Army. “And so, if we can master AI ... then I think it will just really position us better to make sure we protect the American people.” He said during the Iraq war, many soldiers died on simple runs from Kuwait City to Baghdad on a daily basis. “If I could have had fewer soldiers in vehicles and had a convoy led using artificial intelligence ... think of all the lives that could have been saved,” he said. General John Murray, Commander of the Army Futures Command, which is geared toward modernizing the military, said that in the near-term, he can imagine facial recognition technology could aid in combat. Other areas of interest include technological advances in AI, robotics, and even hypersonic missiles that travel much faster than the speed of sound. When adversaries have uniforms on, he said, it's easy to tell who's the enemy. When those enemies are dressed in plain street clothes, it's much harder. With facial recognition, the military can become more precise in selecting targets. Still, there are ethical considerations to keep in mind when designing technology that could ultimately disarm or kill. When asked if the university had set up an ethics committee before partnering with the Army, CMU President Farnam Jahanian did not directly answer but offered that academia has a duty to use its knowledge for national defense. “One of the important benefits of having this task force be based here is that it's going to give us the ability to have discussions about AI and other emerging technologies and ethical applications of these technologies, both in a military context as well as a civilian context,” he said. Mr. Jahanian was careful to note that faculty members are free to work on only the research that they feel drawn to; they are not told which applications to focus on. If they feel an ethical tug-of-war in their minds, they can opt not to participate. CMU has a long history of contracting with the Department of Defense and many breakthrough technologies — including autonomous vehicles — have benefited from defense dollars. Some of these advancements, Mr. Jahanian said, are not geared toward killing at all. The university has created flexible robots that can maneuver through rubble and send a live feed to recovery specialists to aid in search and rescue missions. They've built statistical and data mining techniques to more accurately predict when military vehicles require maintenance, saving time and money. Machine learning and computer vision can even help diagnose and treat depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Financials between the Army and CMU were not disclosed, but Mr. Jahanian said funding from the Army will not only go to CMU but also to other partners that eventually sign on. “Winning on the future battlefield requires us to act faster than our enemies while placing our troops and resources at a lower risk,” Mr. Esper said. “Whoever gets there first will maintain a decisive edge on the battlefield for years to come.” Courtney Linder: clinder@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1707. Twitter: @LinderPG. https://www.post-gazette.com/business/tech-news/2019/02/01/army-ai-task-force-cmu-carnegie-mellon-university-robotics-pittsburgh-farnam-jahanian/stories/201902010012

The CDA Institute, in collaboration with the 13thDefence and Security Economists Workshop, hosted two panel discussions on the themes of Building Security and Defence in the Canadian Economy and a discussion of the book Small Wars, Big Data, published by Princeton University Press in 2018. This morning of roundtables brought both scholars and practitioners together for a stimulating session of dialogue on the challenges of generating the economic capacity needed to protect Canadians wherever they might be and the role that empirical data can play in shaping military strategy and defence policies in asymmetric conflicts. The CDA Institute provided student rapporteurs for the event whose summaries of the proceedings follow. https://cdainstitute.ca/building-security-and-defence-in-the-canadian-economy-and-small-wars-big-data/

Over the past decade, the cyber security of elections and democratic institutions has become a critical issue both at home and globally. Canadian elections have proved to be relatively robust so far. Be that as it may, in 2017 Canada's Communications Security Establishment reported a series of major threats to the country's electoral system, including media manipulation and data privacy. Moreover, the urgency of addressing cyber security is clear from incidences of interference in countries as diverse as the United States, Kenya, Estonia and Latvia. This day-long workshop sponsored by the Royal Military College of Canada, SERENE-RISC, the CDA Institute and the Telfer School brought scholars and experts in the field together at the University of Ottawa to explore the range of security challenges posed by new and emerging technology, what solutions are out there and what role Canada's defence community can play in combating these new threats. The CDA Institute provided rapporteurs to record the day's proceedings and their summaries can be found here. https://cdainstitute.ca/17931/

Leonardo will deliver a range of new equipment to NATO JEWCS, the Alliance agency which supports armed forces training to face hostile electro-magnetic conditions Equipment will cover air, land and maritime domains and also includes a capability for training crews to defend against anti-ship missiles Leonardo's range of contracts in support of NATO signal a leadership position in a number of areas. This leadership position is driving sustainable growth, as laid out in the Company's 2018-2022 Industrial Plan Leonardo has signed a contract worth approximately €180M to provide new electronic warfare training equipment for the NATO Joint Electronic Warfare Core Staff (JEWCS). Leonardo was selected in an international competition and will incorporate technology from partners Cobham and Elettronica. The contract was placed by the UK Ministry of Defence as the host nation for NATO JEWCS, which is based at the Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) in Yeovilton. Equipment will be delivered in tranches over the next 4 years from Leonardo's Electronic Warfare (EW) centre of excellence in Luton, UK. NATO JEWCS is the Alliance agency responsible for the high-tech world of electronic warfare. When NATO forces go on operations, they can expect the enemy to try and disrupt their radars, GPS and communications. Therefore, to train realistically, it is important that NATO Forces experience these effects and practice how to counter them. Part of NATO JEWCS's remit is to improve armed forces training by simulating the effects of an enemy's latest electronic warfare equipment during exercises, creating a ‘hostile environment' in which to train. To deliver the service, NATO JEWCS deploys high-tech EW equipment at training sites around Europe, allowing armed forces to practice their skills in areas such as electronic surveillance and electronic countermeasures while facing true-to-life attempts to disrupt their activity. In delivering this support, it is important that the EW effects being simulated are state of the art, keeping pace with opposing forces' latest tech developments. Leonardo is Europe's leading provider of electronic warfare technology and training and will be providing representative equipment across three domains: air, land and maritime. In the air, highly capable and flexible pod-based EW systems will be supplied for deployment on aircraft, alongside a NATO Anti-Ship Missile Defence Evaluation Facility (NASMDEF). NASMDEF comprises a set of pods that can be installed on aircraft to simulate anti-ship missiles. They allow forces to train in the use of ‘soft-kill countermeasures' which are used to protect ships from incoming threats. Cobham will be Leonardo's principle sub-contractor for these elements. For land and maritime applications, fully ruggedised shelters and vehicles will be provided, equipped with modular and flexible EW simulators, stimulators and jamming equipment. Elettronica will act as Leonardo's principal sub-contractor for these elements. Leonardo's electronic warfare expertise includes designing and manufacturing protective and ISR (Intelligence Surveillance and Recconaisance) equipment for UK and allied aircraft such as the Eurofighter Typhoon and AW159 helicopters, delivering specialist EW training at its Academy in Lincoln and investing in the development of the latest generation of countermeasures such as the anti-IED ‘Guardian' system for troops on the ground and the ‘BriteCloud' decoy for fighter jet pilots. This contract to upgrade electronic warfare equipment is just the latest example of Leonardo's on-going provision of security technology and expertise to NATO. Leonardo is the Alliance's cyber security mission partner, working with the NATO Communications and Information Agency to protect more than 70,000 Alliance users around the world from cyber-attacks. The Company has also provided a significant amount of equipment and support for the NATO Air Command and Control System (ACCS). In October 2018, Leonardo received the NATO Science and Technology Organization's (STO) Scientific Achievement Award for its contributions to the development of a promising new approach to modelling, simulation and training. Leonardo has also provided over 50 air defence radars to multiple Alliance member countries under the NATO Security Investment Programme (NSIP) and has delivered its ‘Guardian' counter-IED (improvised explosive device) systems to protect NATO vehicles operating in Afghanistan. https://www.leonardocompany.com/en/-/nato-protezione-elettronic-warfare-training-academy

February 1, 2019 – Ottawa, Ont. – National Defence/Canadian Armed Forces The Department of National Defence is investing in defence research and development to produce innovative solutions to surveillance challenges facing the Canadian Armed Forces' (CAF), particularly in Canada's North. In support of this, Member of Parliament for York Centre Michael Levitt, on behalf of Defence Minister Harjit S. Sajjan, announced today that the Department of National Defence, through Public Services and Procurement Canada, has awarded two contracts to Raytheon Canada Limited and the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies' Space Flight Lab (UTIAS SFL) under the All Domain Situational Awareness (ADSA) Science & Technology (S&T) Program for a total of $46.2 million. Raytheon Canada Limited has been awarded a contract for $31.2 million for the construction of transmit and receive electronics for a study of over-the-horizon radar detection at long range. A contract for $15 million has also been awarded to UTIAS SFL for the development of a prototype of a multipurpose microsatellite equipped with state-of-the-art sensor technology for air and maritime surveillance. As outlined in our defence policy Strong, Secure, Engaged, the ability to conduct leading-edge research and development in satellite and radar technologies plays a critical role in supporting the CAFs capabilities, particularly in remote locations such as Canada's Arctic. Surveillance solutions such as these improve our access to accurate and timely information, enabling the CAF and our partners to better collect, understand and disseminate information and intelligence, and support our ability to succeed on operations at home or abroad. These systems will support our government's ability to exercise sovereignty in the North, and provide a greater awareness of safety and security issues, as well as transportation and commercial activity in Canada's Arctic. In addition, solutions achieved under the ADSA program will contribute to joint efforts between Canada and the United States to modernize elements of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Quotes “Our government understands that science and innovation are crucial in solving some of our most complex defence and security challenges. Through these contracts, the Department of National Defence is taking the next step to solving our surveillance challenges in the Arctic. We are proud to be partnering with Raytheon Canada and the Space Flight Laboratory to produce innovative solutions that will help to protect Canada's North.” The Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan Minister of National Defence Quick facts The UTIAS SFL microsatellites being developed will allow for quick and timely detection and identification of surface or airborne targets. This is expected to improve the reliability of the detection and identification performance, leading to improved situational awareness for the CAF and our partners. Upon successful completion and testing of the prototype, two additional microsatellites will be built to create a small formation. These will then be launched for demonstration and testing. The primary objective of the Raytheon project is to demonstrate the feasibility of sky-wave radar technology for the detection of air targets at all altitudes beyond the radar's horizon. This involves reflecting signals off of the ionosphere and back to a receiving station located beyond the line of site. Once operational, the system will be used in conjunction with other systems to further understand the effect of the Aurora Borealis on target detection beyond the horizon. The ADSA S&T Program aims to leverage innovative science & technology expertise from other government departments, academia, industry and allies, to identify, assess and validate technologies in support of air and maritime surveillance, particularly in the North. Through a five-year investment of $133M through to 2020, the ADSA S&T Program is supporting the development of options for enhanced domain awareness of air, maritime surface and sub-surface approaches to Canada, in particular those in the Arctic. National Defence's science and technology organization, Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC), is the national leader in defence and security S&T. DRDC provides the defence S&T community, the Canadian Armed Forces and other government departments, as well as the public safety and security communities, with the knowledge and technology advantage needed to defend and protect Canada's interests at home and abroad. Associated links All Domain Situational Awareness S&T Program Strong, Secure, Engaged https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/news/2019/02/government-of-canada-announces-contract-awards-for-research-and-development-in-support-of-arctic-surveillance.html

A key ingredient in effective teams – whether athletic, business, or military – is trust, which is based in part on mutual understanding of team members' competence to fulfill assigned roles. When it comes to forming effective teams of humans and autonomous systems, humans need timely and accurate insights about their machine partners' skills, experience, and reliability to trust them in dynamic environments. At present, autonomous systems cannot provide real-time feedback when changing conditions such as weather or lighting cause their competency to fluctuate. The machines' lack of awareness of their own competence and their inability to communicate it to their human partners reduces trust and undermines team effectiveness. To help transform machines from simple tools to trusted partners, DARPA today announced the Competency-Aware Machine Learning (CAML) program. CAML aims to develop machine learning systems that continuously assess their own performance in time-critical, dynamic situations and communicate that information to human team-members in an easily understood format. “If the machine can say, ‘I do well in these conditions, but I don't have a lot of experience in those conditions,' that will allow a better human-machine teaming,” said Jiangying Zhou, a program manager in DARPA's Defense Sciences Office. “The partner then can make a more informed choice.” That dynamic would support a force-multiplying effect, since the human would know the capabilities of his or her machine partners at all times and could employ them efficiently and effectively. In contrast, Zhou noted the challenge with state-of-the-art autonomous systems, which cannot assess or communicate their competence in rapidly changing situations. “Under what conditions do you let the machine do its job? Under what conditions should you put supervision on it? Which assets, or combination of assets, are best for your task? These are the kinds of questions CAML systems would be able to answer,” she said. Using a simplified example involving autonomous car technology, Zhou described how valuable CAML technology could be to a rider trying to decide which of two self-driving vehicles would be better suited for driving at night in the rain. The first vehicle might communicate that at night in the rain it knows if it is seeing a person or an inanimate object with 90 percent accuracy, and that it has completed the task more than 1,000 times. The second vehicle might communicate that it can distinguish between a person and an inanimate object at night in the rain with 99 percent accuracy, but has performed the task less than 100 times. Equipped with this information, the rider could make an informed decision about which vehicle to use. DARPA has scheduled a pre-recorded webcast CAML Proposers Day for potential proposers on February 20, 2019. Details are available at: https://go.usa.gov/xE9aQ. The CAML program seeks expertise in machine learning, artificial intelligence, pattern recognition, knowledge representation and reasoning, autonomous system modeling, human-machine interface, and cognitive computing. To maximize the pool of innovative proposal concepts, DARPA strongly encourages participation by non-traditional proposers, including small businesses, academic and research institutions, and first-time Government contractors. DARPA anticipates posting a CAML Broad Agency Announcement solicitation to the Federal Business Opportunities website in mid-February 2019. https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2019-01-31

By: Ben Werner Defense officials routinely tout the hypersonic weapons they hope to develop and field, but Raytheon's leadership sees anti-hypersonic defensive technology as the better long-term business bet. Raytheon is very interested in expanding its hypersonics business, especially hypersonics defense capabilities, Raytheon chief executive Tom Kennedy said during a Thursday conference call with Wall Street analysts. “We think the hypersonic defense market is larger than the hypersonic market,” Kennedy said. There is a market for creating an offensive hypersonic attack system, Kennedy said. However, developing a hypersonics defense system involves creating the sensors used to track incoming hypersonic weapons and creating a vehicle that can successfully intercept the incoming projectile. Raytheon considers developing hypersonic technology a crucial part of its Missile Systems business's ability to compete for future government contracts. With 2018 sales of $8.3 billion, Raytheon's Missile Systems business is the largest division by sales, representing about 30 percent of Raytheon's total $27.1 billion in sales for the year, according to the company's recently filed fourth quarter financial report. In 2019, Raytheon expects the Missile Systems business to record sales of between $8.9 billion and $9.1 billion. In the meantime, Kennedy said Raytheon is pleased with the rollout of its new Naval Strike Missile (NSM). The Navy awarded Raytheon a $14.8-million contract for the first order of NSM, which will be used by both the Freedom and Independence variants of the Littoral Combat Ship. The contract has options that would total $847.6 million. “Our goal with NSM is to replace the existing domestic and international inventory of Harpoon and other international surface-to-surface missiles, making this another multi-billion franchise opportunity for the company,” Kennedy said. Raytheon also is marketing its Standard Missile-3 Block IIA missiles, which Kennedy said are the only such missiles that can be fired from land or sea and intercept a missile in space. The SM-3 Block IIA was jointly developed by the U.S. and Japan. “The SM3 Block IIA is ready for production,” Kennedy said. https://news.usni.org/2019/02/01/40831

ARMY General Electric Aviation, Lynn, Massachusetts, was awarded a $517,375,800 cost-plus-incentive-fee and firm-fixed-price contract for the engineering and manufacturing development phase of the Improved Turbine Engine Program. Two bids were solicited via the internet with two bids received. Work will be performed in Lynn, Massachusetts, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 1, 2024. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $130,000,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-19-C-0003). Ravenswood Solutions Inc., Fremont, California, was awarded a $39,906,590 firm-fixed-price contract for procurement of hardware components making up two FlexTrain multi-mission instrumentation systems, along with Orion software licenses. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work will be performed in Fremont, California, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 13, 2019. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $39,906,590 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity (W900KK-19-C-0018). Lockheed Martin Corp. Missile and Fire Control, Dallas, Texas, was awarded a $24,969,700 cost-plus-incentive-fee Foreign Military Sales (Japan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Netherlands, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, Germany and Republic of Korea) contract for Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target, Advanced Capability-3 and Missile Segment Enhancement. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Dallas, Texas, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 31, 2020. Fiscal 2018 and 2010 Foreign Military Sales; and other procurement, Army funds in the combined amount of $24,969,700 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-19-F-0196). Raytheon Co., Andover, Massachusetts, was awarded a $19,471,861 modification (P00026) to Foreign Military Sales (Qatar, Kuwait, Japan, Republic of Korea, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, Luxembourg, Saudi Arabia, Romania and Sweden) contract W31P4Q-17-C-0042 for Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target missile support center, missile assessments, testing, recertification, and repair activities. One bid was solicited via with one bid received. Work will be performed in Andover, Massachusetts, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 31, 2020. Fiscal 2019 Foreign Military Sales; and operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $19,471,861 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Oshkosh Defense LLC, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, was awarded a $9,020,518 modification (P00183) to contract W56HZV-15-C-0095 for Joint Light Tactical Vehicle trailers, kits, systems engineering and program management. Work will be performed in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, with an estimated completion date of April 30, 2021. Fiscal 2019 procurement, Marine Corps; and other procurement, Army funds in the amount of $9,020,518 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, is the contracting activity. NAVY Andromeda Systems Inc.,* Virginia Beach, Virginia, is awarded a $41,977,403 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide engineering support services and associated engineering technical services in support of the Fleet Readiness Center South East's In-Service Support Center. Work will be performed at the Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville, Florida (90 percent); Seattle, Washington (2 percent); Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (2 percent); NAS Oceana, Virginia Beach, Virginia (1.5 percent); NAS Whiting Field, Milton, Florida (1.5 percent); Marine Corps Air Station, Beaufort, South Carolina (1.5 percent); NAS Corpus Christi, Texas (1.5 percent), and is expected to be completed in January 2024. Fiscal 2019 working capital funds (Navy) in the amount of $5,000 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposals as a 100 percent small business set-aside; seven offers were received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity (N6134019D0006). DRS Laurel Technologies, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, is awarded a $21,537,760 firm-fixed-price modification to previously awarded contract N00024-18-C-5395 to exercise options for production of the AN/SPQ-9B radar systems and associated equipment. This modification is for the production of five AN/SPQ-9B radar systems; five combat interface kits; three digital signal processor upgrade kits; and three periscope detection and discrimination upgrade kits. The AN/SPQ-9B provides Navy ships the capability to detect and track low-flying, high-speed, small Radar Cross Section anti-ship missile targets in heavy clutter environments. Work will be performed in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and is expected to be complete by April 2021. Fiscal 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); and fiscal 2019 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $21,537,760 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 Navy Yard, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin – Rotary and Mission Systems, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, is awarded $10,939,237 for cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order N00019-18-F-2684 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-15-G-0057). This delivery order provides for the management, sustainment, and upgrade of the Tactical Tomahawk Weapons Control System software product baseline and the required system and software documentation for the Navy and the government of the United Kingdom. Work will be performed in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania (98 percent); and Patuxent River, Maryland (2 percent), and is expected to be completed in January 2020. Fiscal 2019 other procurement (Navy); fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy); fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds; and foreign military sales funds in the amount of $10,939,237 will be obligated at time of award, $1,361,805 of which will expire at the end of the fiscal year. This order combines purchases for the Navy ($8,687,257; 79.4 percent); and the government of the United Kingdom ($2,251,980; 20.6 percent) under the Foreign Military Sales program. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND The Boeing Co., Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, was awarded a maximum $39,038,317 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (PZ0003) for an existing cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (H92241-18-F-0022) for finalization of four new-build MH-47G rotary wing aircraft. This action is required to satisfy an urgent need to sustain U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) heavy assault, rotary wing aircraft in light of increased SOF operational demands. Fiscal 2018 procurement, defense-wide funds in the amount of $15,817,890; and fiscal 2018 aircraft procurement, Army funds in the amount of $23,220,427 shall be obligated at time of modification award. The funds are multiyear. The majority of the work will be performed in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania. The delivery order number is W91215-16-G-0001. U.S. Special Operations Command, Tampa, Florida, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Aurora Industries LLC,* Camuy, Puerto Rico, has been awarded a maximum $30,507,300 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for jackets, extreme cold/wet weather, GEN III. This is an 18-month base contract with one one-year option period. This was a competitive acquisition with four responses received. Location of performance is Puerto Rico, with an Aug. 1, 2020, performance completion date. Using military services are Army and Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE1C1-19-D-1133). Coachys & Associates LLC,** Roswell, Georgia, has been awarded a maximum $28,390,500 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for jackets, extreme cold/wet weather, GEN III. This is an 18-month base contract with one one-year option period. This was a competitive acquisition with five responses received. Locations of performance are Georgia and Tennessee with an Aug. 1, 2020, performance completion date. Using military services are Army and Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE1C1-19-D-1134). Ohio Ordnance Works Inc.,* Chardon, Ohio, has been awarded a maximum $26,141,125 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for receiver cartridge's. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. This was a competitive acquisition with four responses received. Location of performance is Ohio, with a Feb. 1, 2024, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2024 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Warren, Michigan (SPRDL1-19-D-0050). Saft America, Valdosta, Georgia, has been awarded a maximum $7,920,163 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity contract for storage batteries. This is three-year base contract with two one-year option periods. This was a competitive acquisition with two responses. Location of performance is Georgia, with a Jan. 31, 2022, performance completion date. Using military service is Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2022 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Columbus, Ohio (SPE7LX-19-D-0082). JLG Industries Inc., McConnellsburg, Pennsylvania, has been awarded a maximum $7,572,265 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for atlas rough terrain forklift transmissions and diesel engines. 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 three-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Wisconsin, with a Feb. 1, 2022, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2022 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Warren, Michigan (SPRDL1-19-D-0020). AIR FORCE Valdez International Corp., Colorado Springs, Colorado, has been awarded a $26,262,042 firm-fixed-price modification (P00010) to contract FA8773-17-C-0002 to exercise Option II for Air Force Information Network support services. Work will be performed at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia; Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado; Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland; Scott Air Force Base, Illinois; Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio; and Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, and is expected to be completed Feb. 2, 2020. This modification is the result of a competitive acquisition and 11 offers were received. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $26,262,042 are being obligated at the time of award. The 38th Contracting Squadron, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity. Scientific Research Corp., Atlanta, Georgia, has been awarded a $10,000,000 modification (P0009) to increase the ceiling on contract FA7037-15-D-0001 for the Digital Integration Combat Engagement program. The contractor will perform systems engineering and analysis supporting the research, development, security and accreditation, integration and evaluation of new intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance sensor, data link and tasking, collection, processing, exploitation, and dissemination. Location of performance will be determined on individual task orders is expected to be completed by Feb. 29, 2020. No funds are being obligated at the time of award. Acquisition Management and Integration Center-Detachment 2, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE INFORMATION SYSTEMS AGENCY Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. (BAH), McLean, Virginia, was awarded a hybrid firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification to exercise Option Year 4. The face value of this action is $10,621,332.98 and incrementally funded by fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $2,655,333; and fiscal 2019 research, testing, development and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,283,307. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $49,940,116. Performance will be at Defense Information Systems Agency and contractor facilities. Proposals were solicited via the General Services Administration (GSA) Alliant Government-Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC), and only one proposal from BAH, the incumbent contractor, was received from all GSA Alliant GWAC contract holders proposals solicited (approximately 58). The current action, modification P00056, is to exercise the last option year for the period of performance of Feb. 4, 2019, to Feb. 3, 2020. Award will be made on Feb. 1, 2019, with performance to begin on Feb. 4, 2019. The Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity (HC1047-15-F-0005 P00056). WASHINGTON HEADQUARTERS SERVICES Tecolote Research Inc., Goleta, California, has been awarded a $7,718,193 firm-fixed-priced contract. The contract is to procure services for management of the Department of Defense's cost data collection repository, the Cost Assessment Data Enterprise (CADE), used by analysts to develop cost estimates for major acquisition programs. Work performance will take place primarily in Arlington, Virgina ; Goleta, California; and Tacoma, Washington. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $5,564,914; fiscal 2019 research, development, test, and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,216,061; fiscal 2019 Defense Acquisition Workforce Development funds in the amount of $680,218; and fiscal 2019 Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration funds in the amount of $257,000 are being obligated on this award. The expected completion date is Feb. 2, 2020. Washington Headquarters Services, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (GS-00F-052CA). *Small Business **Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1746786/source/GovDelivery/