News

By: Andrew Chuter LONDON — Britain's Ministry of Defence has been given a £1 billion (U.S. $1.28 billion) spending boost in the Treasury budget announcement Oct. 29, with Chancellor Philip Hammond suggesting the money would be mainly spent on three strategic military programs. Hammond said the additional money would be available in the coming months. Cyber, anti-submarine warfare and the Dreadnought nuclear submarine build program all got named as destinations for the extra cash. “As a former defense secretary myself I understand the immediate pressure our armed forces are facing, so today I will provide £1 billion to cover the remainder of this year and next to boost our cyber, and anti-submarine warfare capacity and to maintain the pace of the Dreadnought program,” Hammond told Parliament. The increase caught many by surprise. Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has been battling with Hammond for months for extra cash, but a massive funding commitment to the National Health Service made new funds toward security seem unlikely. Jon Louth, the director for defence, industry and society at the Royal United Services Institute think-tank in London said the additional funding was good news, but fell well short of what is required. “It's welcome, but comes nowhere near addressing the potential funding gap if you add up all the programs in the equipment plan. It does appear to be a significant increase in percentage terms, although the devil will be in the detail,” he said. The RUSI analyst said the outcome was “better than we expected a few months ago. Politically people will be chalking that up as a win for Williamson in the context of the wider government budget. One billion pounds is a win,” he said. Louth cautioned against getting too hung up on the chancellor's announcement about where the extra cash will be spent. “I suspect when we come to see how the money is used next year it will potentially be a little different from the chancellor's headlines today,” he said. Defense consultant Alex Ashbourne Walmsley of Ashbourne Strategic Consulting said the new money was a “sticking plaster, but it will buy the MoD a bit more time to work out how to do more with less.” Earlier this year the MoD received a total of £800 million in funds to keep the program to build four Trident missile equipped Dreadnought nuclear submarines on track. Some £600 million of that cash came from a £10 billion contingency fund set aside by the government for the Dreadnought program. Ashbourne-Walmsley described the Dreadnought program as a “money pit.” The MoD is trying to bridge a funding gap in its £179 billion 10-year equipment plan. The black hole is put at anywhere between £4 billion and £20 billion by the National Audit Office, the government's financial watchdog. The final figure is dependent, in part, on how effective an ongoing efficiency drive is at the MoD. The MoD budget for this year is £36.6 billion with 15.6 percent of that spent on equipment procurement and 18.7 percent on support. The Conservative government is committed to increasing equipment spending in real terms by 0.5 percent a year until 2020. A long running review, known as the Defence Modernisation Program, has been looking at how British armed forces can adapt and transform to meet the changing and growing military threat, while at the same time balancing the books — an effort that could require capability cuts in several areas. Publication of that report has already been kicked down the road a couple of times. Although Williamson may announce something before the end of the year, analysts and industry executives expect little of substance ahead of a comprehensive spending review due to take place across all government departments next year. Hammond appeared to say as much today when he told Parliamentarians the modernisation review will “form the basis for a comprehensive consideration of defense spending next year.” “The Modernizing Defence Program is increasingly tied into the comprehensive spending review and the 10-year equipment plan in 2019. We might get a whitepaper in late winter or early spring to set up some of the themes but the details won't be out until beyond April,” said Louth. Some industry executives though are starting to wonder if the modernization program could be published even by April. One executive who asked not to be named, said he wondered whether the comprehensive spending plan might be the trigger for a full blown strategic defense review, particularly if Brexit goes badly and the economy takes a big hit. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2018/10/29/uk-mod-gets-budget-boost-of-more-than-1b-with-three-programs-in-mind

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Atlantic Diving Supply Inc., doing business as ADS,* Virginia Beach, Virginia (SPE8EH-19-D-0001); W.S. Darley & Co.,* Itasca, Illinois (SPE8EH-19-D-0002); Unifire Inc.,* Spokane, Washington (SPE8EH-19-D-0003); Mallory Safety and Supply,* Longview, Washington (SPE8EH-19-D-0004); Federal Resources Supply Co.,* Stevensville, Maryland (SPE8EH-19-D-0005); and L.N. Curtis & Sons,* Oakland, California (SPE8EH-19-D-0006), are sharing a maximum $78,000,000 bridge contract under solicitation SPM8EH-12-R-0009 for fire and emergency services equipment. These are firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, 120-day bridge contracts. These were sole-source acquisitions using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. Locations of performance are California, Illinois, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, with a Feb. 27, 2019, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2019 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Califon Systems LLC,** Dallas, Georgia, has been awarded a maximum $20,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for medical equipment, maintenance of medical equipment, and/or spare parts for medical equipment. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. This was a competitive acquisition with 59 responses received. Location of performance is Georgia, with an Oct. 28, 2023, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2023 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2D1-19-D-0003). General Dynamics Land Systems, Sterling Heights, Michigan, has been awarded a $14,334,060 firm-fixed-price contract for distribution boxes. This is a one-year contract with one one-year option. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. Locations of performance are Michigan and Florida, with a Jan. 31, 2020, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Warren, Michigan (SPRDL1-19-C-0009). Honeywell International Inc., Torrance, California, has been awarded a maximum $10,028,200 firm-fixed-price delivery order (SPRPA1-19-F-LH07) against a five-year basic ordering agreement (SPRPA1-14-G-001Y) for heat exchangers. This is a two-year, six-month contract with no option periods. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. Location of performance is California, with an April 29, 2022, performance completion date. Using military service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2022 Navy working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ARMY The Boeing Co., Mesa, Arizona, was awarded a $46,051,155 modification (P00097) to contract W58RGZ-15-C-0017 to complete negotiations on, and take delivery of, undelivered items as well as continue investments in both supply chain management performance and reliability improvements. Work will be performed in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of April 30, 2019. Fiscal 2019 Army working capital funds in the amount of $46,051,155 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. NAVY JLL-Midnight Sun IFMS, LLC,* Kotzebue, Alaska, is awarded a $30,408,548 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for base operations support services at Naval Air Station Jacksonville and outlying areas. The work to be performed provides for base operations support services to include facility investment, other (training pools), utilities management, electrical, wastewater, steam, water, compressed air, base support vehicles and equipment, environmental, and other related services. The maximum dollar value including the base period and seven option years is $236,917,489. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, Florida (99 percent); and outlying areas (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by December 2019. No funds will be obligated at time of award. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy and Marine Corps Reserve); fiscal 2019 Navy working capital funds; fiscal 2019 Defense Health Program; and fiscal 2019 family housing operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $24,099,510 for recurring work will be obligated on individual task orders issued during the base period. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website with five proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southeast, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity (N69450-19-D-1750). Reid Middleton Inc.,* San Diego, California, is awarded a maximum amount $30,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, architect-engineering contract for structural engineering services in the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southwest area of responsibility (AOR). The work to be performed provides for preparation of fully designed plans and specifications for design-bid-build construction projects; preparation of request for proposal packages for design-build projects; structural and/or seismic investigations, studies, evaluations and recommendations for upgrades to existing facilities; anti-terrorism design related to analysis of blast effects and design to prevent progressive collapse; innovative structural system design; technical reviews of government-prepared designs and design-build packages; post construction award services; cost estimating; and coordination of various technical disciplines. No task orders are being issued at this time. Work will be performed at various Navy and Marine Corps facilities and other government facilities within the NAVFAC Southwest AOR including, but not limited to California (87 percent); Arizona (5 percent); Nevada (5 percent); Colorado (1 percent); New Mexico (1 percent); and Utah (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by October 2023. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $5,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by operations and maintenance (Navy and Marine Corps). This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with six proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N62473-19-D-2414). DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY HRL Laboratories LLC, Malibu, California, was awarded a $9,155,987 cost-plus-fixed-fee completion contract for a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) millimeter-wave GaN maturation project. Work will be performed in Malibu, California (97 percent); and Huntington Beach, California (3 percent), with an expected completion date of April 2020. Fiscal 2018 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,208,000 are being obligated at time of award. This contract was a competitive acquisition off the Microsystems Technology Office office-wide broad agency announcement HR001116S0001, with 138 offers received. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HR0011-19-C-0006). *Small Business **Veteran-owned small business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1675408//

NICOLAS RAULINE Les principaux acteurs du secteur voient leur carnet de commandes grimper. Et les dépenses militaires américaines devraient continuer d'augmenter. Si les observateurs sont encore divisés sur l'existence d'un « Trump bump » pour l'économie américaine, le secteur de la Défense est, sans conteste, l'un des premiers bénéficiaires de la politique de la Maison-Blanche. La vague de résultats trimestriels de ces derniers jours en a encore apporté la preuve. Boeing , porté par ailleurs par ses activités dans le transport aérien, a ainsi relevé ses prévisions annuelles, après avoir publié des... Article complet: https://www.lesechos.fr/industrie-services/air-defense/0600054719752-lindustrie-americaine-de-la-defense-profite-a-plein-de-leffet-trump-2217773.php

MONTREAL, Oct. 29, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ - SNC-Lavalin (TSX: SNC) is pleased to announce that the Aurora Engineering Partnership – formed by Qinetiq; Atkins, a member of the SNC-Lavalin Group; and BMT – has been appointed by the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) as their Engineering Delivery Partner (EDP) for Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S). The partnership will help the MOD to cut the costs of their engineering services, while ensuring the UK's Armed Forces receive the best equipment and support. With the Aurora Partnership, the MOD will get access to extensive experience in the defence sector, as well as experience of delivering similar partnerships in other sectors. The Partnership will help DE&S manage these costs, driving effective change and savings through financial discipline and transparent, simplified pricing. "The vision for the EDP is to form a strong and professional engineering partnership with DE&S, enabling agile and efficient outcomes for front line equipment and support," said Dr. Gordon Barr, Managing Director, Aurora Engineering Partnership, QinetiQ. "The Engineering Delivery Partner is a huge opportunity, not only for us but for the UK's defense programs, ensuring it has the right support first time, safely and within budget," added Nick Roberts, President, Engineering, Design and Project Management, SNC-Lavalin. "Working with our partners, we'll focus first and foremost on the outcomes for those on the front line, working collaboratively to drive increased performance and productivity wherever we can." Another key element of the EDP will be driving innovation from across industry and academia. As part of this, Aurora will build a provider network including niche and specialist small to medium sized enterprises (SME) to tap into the best UK expertise. "We are establishing a sustainable provider network that encourages and develops SMEs as a vital part of providing more efficient and innovative services to DE&S," explained Roy Quilliam, Aurora Engineering Director, BMT. "We already have an unprecedented 280 companies registered, of which 70% are SMEs, to provide engineering services to the Aurora Engineering Partnership." For the second quarter 2018, SNC-Lavalin's engineering, design and project management business has delivered a book to bill ratio of 1.2. About SNC-Lavalin Founded in 1911, SNC-Lavalin is a global fully integrated professional services and project management company and a major player in the ownership of infrastructure. From offices around the world, SNC-Lavalin's employees are proud to build what matters. Our teams provide comprehensive end-to-end project solutions – including capital investment, consulting, design, engineering, construction, sustaining capital and operations and maintenance – to clients across oil and gas, mining and metallurgy, infrastructure, clean power, nuclear and EDPM (engineering design and project management). On July 3, 2017, SNC-Lavalin acquired Atkins, one of the world's most respected design, engineering and project management consultancies, which has been integrated into our sectors. www.snclavalin.com About QinetiQ Listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: QQ.L), QinetiQ is a leading science and engineering company operating primarily in the defence, security and aerospace markets. Our customers are predominantly government organisations including defence departments, as well as international customers in other targeted sectors. Visit our website www.QinetiQ.com Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @QinetiQ Visit our blog www.QinetiQ-blogs.com About BMT BMT is an international design, engineering and risk management consultancy, working principally in the defence, energy and environment, marine risk and insurance, maritime transport and ports and logistics sectors. BMT invests significantly in research. Its customers are served through a network of international subsidiary companies. The group's assets are held in beneficial ownership for its staff. Website: www.bmt.org Companies wishing to express an interest in joining Aurora's network of providers can do so at www.auroraengineeringpartnership.co.uk. SOURCE SNC-Lavalin For further information: Media: Daniela Pizzuto, Director, External Communications, 514-393-8000, ext. 54772, media@snclavalin.com; Investors: Denis Jasmin, Vice President, Investor Relations, 514-393-8000, ext. 57553, denis.jasmin@snclavalin.com https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/aurora-partnership-to-help-transform-uk-defence-engineering-services-698877631.html

By: Mark Pomerleau The Navy has selected a company to demonstrate existing technologies for the second increment of the service's multiphase approach to replacing an aging jamming pod. Northrop Grumman has been awarded a $35.1 million, 20-month contract for the Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) Low Band, part of the jamming pods that will be outfitted onto EA-18 Growler aircraft to replace the legacy ALQ-99 jammer. The Navy is splitting the upgrade into three pods to cover respective parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. The order of development for the pods is “Mid-Band (Increment (Inc) 1), Low-Band (Inc 2), and the future High-Band (Inc 3),” which “was determined based on criticality of current and emergent threats,” a Navy spokesmen previously told C4ISRNET in response to written questions. “The NGJ full system capability is comprised of these three standalone programs ... each of which covers a different frequency band and addresses a variety of adversary systems.” Northrop's contract award is part of a demonstrator that will help inform the Navy of how to continue to mature the program for the low-band jammer. “Northrop Grumman will deliver a mature, low-risk and exceedingly capable solution for Next Generation Jammer Low Band that outpaces evolving threats and enables the Navy's speed-to-fleet path,” said Thomas Jones, vice president and general manager, airborne C4ISR systems, Northrop Grumman. “Our NGJ-LB pod provides multimission capability for electromagnetic maneuver warfare. We stand ready to demonstrate advancements in this mission area and deliver ahead of schedule.” The low-band capability will “deliver significantly improved radar and communications jamming capabilities with Open Systems Architecture that supports software and hardware updates to rapidly counter improving threats” contributing “across the spectrum of missions defined in the Defense Strategic Guidance to include strike warfare, projecting power despite anti-access/area denial challenges, and counterinsurgency/irregular warfare,” Navy budget documents have stated. Raytheon is currently on contract for the mid-band portion, which has been dubbed AN/ALQ-249(V)1 by the Navy. https://www.c4isrnet.com/electronic-warfare/2018/10/26/the-navy-is-moving-forward-on-its-next-gen-jamming-pod

NAVY American International Contractors Inc., Arlington, Virginia (N62470-19-D-5000); Bryan 77 Construction JV,* Colorado Springs, Colorado (N62470-19-D-5001); ECC-MEZ LLC, Virginia Beach, Virginia (N62470-19-D-5002); P. & C. Development S.A/Ergotem S.A. JV, Athens, Greece (N62470-19-D-5003); SKE-ICM JV, Viale Venezia, 79/B33074 Fontanafredda (PN) (N62470-19-D-5004); and Zafer Taahhut, Insaat Ve Ticaret A.S., Ankara, Turkey (N62470-19-D-5005), are each awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple award design-build, design-bid-build construction contract for construction and renovation projects located primarily at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti (CLDJ), but also worldwide. The maximum dollar value including the base period and four option years for all six contracts combined is $240,000,000. The work to be performed provides for tasks for general building type projects (new construction, renovations, alterations, demolition, repair work, and any necessary design) including: industrial, airfield, aircraft hangar, aircraft traffic control, infrastructure, administrative, training, retail, food service, dormitory, community support facilities and both vertical and horizontal construction for Department of Defense activities. ECC-MEZ LLC is being awarded the initial task order at $9,990,000 for the construction of an Aircraft Apron Expansion at CLDJ, Djibouti, Africa. Work for this task order is expected to be completed by November 2020. All work on this contract will be performed in Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, Africa, whose area of responsibility includes facilities located in Kenya, Africa, areas managed by the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Europe, Africa and Southwest Asia, but also worldwide. The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months with an expected completion date of October 2023. Fiscal 2018 military construction (Navy); and fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $10,040,000 are obligated on this award; of which $50,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by military construction (Navy); and operations and maintenance (Navy). This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with 18 proposals received. These six contractors may compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the awarded contract. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity. Central Lake Armor Express Inc.,* Central Lake, Michigan, was awarded a $59,369,617 ceiling, firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the production of up to a maximum 65,469 Plate Carrier Generation III – Soft Armor Inserts and data reports. Work will be performed in Central Lake, Michigan, and is expected to be complete by Oct. 24, 2023. Fiscal 2018 operations and maintenance (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $2,220,578 will be obligated on the first delivery order immediately following contract award and funds will before the end of the fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured as a total small business set-aside via the Federal Business Opportunities website with 13 offers received. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting activity (M67854-19-D-1509). (Awarded Oct. 25, 2018) Praescient Analytics LLC,* Alexandria, Virginia, is awarded a $45,279,089 single award, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity, supply and services contract (N65236-19-D-1002) utilizing firm-fixed-price and firm-fixed-price, level-of-effort delivery/task orders. This contract is for the delivery of an advanced analytics technical solution (AATS) software product. Work will be performed in Alexandria, Virginia (95 percent); and Charleston, South Carolina (5 percent), and is expected to be completed by October 2023. Fiscal 2018 and 2019 procurement (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $15,701,990 will be placed on the first delivery order and obligated at the time of award. Funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The single award contract was competitively procured by full and open competition via the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command - Electronic Commerce Central website and the Federal Business Opportunities website, with five offers received. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Atlantic, Charleston, South Carolina, is the contracting activity. Huntington Ingalls Industries San Diego Shipyard Inc., San Diego, California, is awarded a $44,779,160 firm-fixed-price contract for the execution of USS O'Kane (DDG 77) fiscal 2019 Extended Selected Restricted Availability. This availability will include a combination of maintenance, modernization, and repair of USS O'Kane. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $51,505,314. Work will be performed in San Diego, California, and is expected to be completed by January 2020. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy); fiscal 2019 other procurement (Navy); and working capital fund funding in the amount of $44,779,160 will be obligated at time of award, and funding in the amount of $35,141,499 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured using full and open competition via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with three offers received. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N00024-19-C-4406). BAE Systems Technology Solutions and Services Inc., Rockville, Maryland, is awarded $9,532,186 for modification P00021 to previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00030-17-C-0001) to provide systems engineering and integration services in support of Trident II (D5) strategic weapons system, the SSGN attack weapon system, and strategic weapon surety. Work will be performed in Rockville, Maryland (70.6 percent); Washington, District of Columbia (14.7 percent); Kings Bay, Georgia (5.1 percent); Silverdale, Washington (2.7 percent); Norfolk, Virginia (1.5 percent); San Diego, California (1.1 percent); Barrow, United Kingdom (1.1 Percent); Alexandria, Virginia (1.0 percent); Buffalo, New York (0.3 percent); Downingtown, Pennsylvania (0.3 percent); Ocala, Florida (0.2 percent); Pittsfield, Massachusetts (0.2 percent); Montgomery Village, Maryland (0.2 percent); New Lebanon, New York (0.2 percent); New Paris, Ohio (0.2 percent); Wexford, Pennsylvania (0.2 percent); Alton, Virginia (0.2 percent); Springfield, Virginia (0.2 percent); Vienna, Virginia (0.2 percent); and St. Mary's, Georgia (0.2 percent), with an expected completion date of Sept. 30, 2019. United Kingdom funds in the amount of $8,488,977; and fiscal 2019 research and development test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,043,209 will be obligated on this modification. No contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Strategic Systems Programs, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. AIR FORCE Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Herndon, Virginia, has been awarded a $54,626,116 labor hour and cost contract for the Unified Platform Systems Coordinator. This contract provides for continued development, integration, fielding and sustainment for the Unified Platform Program. Work will be performed in San Antonio, Texas, and is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2021. This award is a result of a competitive acquisition and six offers were received. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funds; and operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $2,000,000 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Joint Base San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, is the contracting activity (FA8307-19-F-0002). AAI Corp., Hunt Valley, Maryland, has been awarded a $23,696,816 firm-fixed-price contract for non-developmental contractor-owned and contractor-operated unmanned aerial systems, intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance. This contract provides support force protection efforts at airfields located within U.S. Air Forces Central Command. Work will be performed at Bagram Airfield and Kandahar AF, Afghanistan, with an optional site at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, Jordan, and is expected to be completed by March 27, 2024. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $17,556 are being obligated at the time of award. Total cumulative face value of this contract is $114,064,396. The Acquisition Management and Integration Center, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, is the contracting activity (FA4890-19-C-0002). * Small business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1674381/

By Aaron Gregg Microsoft executives launched a spirited defense of their work with the U.S. military on Friday in a blog post written by company president Brad Smith, who pledged to work with Pentagon as it embarks on a multibillion-dollar effort to build advanced artificial intelligence capabilities into its operations. Amazon.com founder and chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos offered a similar statement last week at a conference in San Francisco hosted by Wired Magazine. “If big tech companies are going to turn their back on the Department of Defense, this country is going to be in trouble,” Bezos said at the conference. (Bezos owns The Washington Post.) The two companies are responding to a broader wave of discontent that has complicated the efforts of Silicon Valley tech companies to work with the military. Search giant Google recently announced it would disallow its advanced algorithms to be used in weapons systems, and separately said it would decline to bid on a $10 billion opportunity to build the Pentagon's departmentwide cloud computing infrastructure. That contract, known as the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or “JEDI” for short, is designed to give the Pentagon access to new weapons capabilities that are enabled by artificial intelligence and cloud computing. Amazon, Microsoft, IBM and Oracle submitted bids by the Oct. 12 deadline, company spokespeople confirmed this week, and the Defense Department is expected to award a contract next year. Amazon is seen as a front-runner because of its earlier work handling classified data for the CIA. The retorts by the executives followed a pair of anonymously written posts on the website Medium over the past month — both of which the site said had been verified by its editorial staff — in which self-described employees of Amazon and Microsoft raised concerns over the tech companies' relationship with the Defense Department. The Post could not independently verify the authenticity of the two Medium posts. A Microsoft spokeswoman said the company could not verify the Medium post's authenticity, and an Amazon spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In a blog post titled “Technology and the U.S. military” that was published Friday on Microsoft's website, Smith wrote that the company would continue to work with the U.S. military while looking for ways to ensure its technology is used responsibly. “To withdraw from this market is to reduce our opportunity to engage in the public debate about how new technologies can best be used in a responsible way,” Smith wrote. "We are not going to withdraw from the future.” Full article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/10/26/microsoft-amazon-pledge-work-with-pentagon-following-anonymous-online-rebukes

DND Ombudsman, Management & Program Consultants, L3 Technologies, Ultra Electronics, CAF/NATO. https://defence.frontline.online/article/2018/5/10562-Who%27s-Where%3F

By: Jessie Bur The Pentagon and General Services Administration released a request for information Oct. 25 for a new unified collaborative cloud solution that will unite the entire defense apparatus under one enterprise contract. The Defense Enterprise Office Solution is the first capability set of three that the Department of Defense plans to use to capture its enterprise collaboration and productivity needs. The DEOS capability set needs include a productivity suite, messaging capabilities, content management systems and collaboration tools. “We operate pretty much in a disparate environment right now, and predominantly on-[premises] for these capabilities. So DEOS will give us an opportunity to tear down some of those barriers, posture us for increased interoperability while taking advantage of what the commercial community has to offer,” said Essye Miller, principal deputy to the DoD chief information officer, at a press roundtable. “From a benefit perspective, for us: real-time upgrades, real-time refresh, real-time access to innovation as our industry partners make them available to us.” The contract will be offered through GSA's IT Schedule 70, which Miller said has matured to the level that was needed to support Non-Classified Internet Protocol Router, Secret Internet Protocol Router and tactical environment needs. “In fact, IT Schedule 70 is the vehicle GSA itself used to procure its own cloud-based email, collaboration and productivity solution,” said GSA Administrator Emily Murphy, adding that GSA is committed to working with vendors who would want to propose through the expedited Schedule 70 FASt Lane program. “Using IT Schedule 70 to help DoD procure an enterprisewide solution for email, productivity and collaboration tools could establish a baseline for GSA to scale up this type of solution across the federal government in the future.” In fact, according to Federal CIO Suzette Kent, the DoD solution moves the federal government forward on initiatives to use and procure scalable cloud solutions across agencies. “When we look at where we were with the report to the president across the federal government, and the intent to leverage as many common solutions for purposes of interoperability, cybersecurity ... and the overall efficiency of how we go after those solutions and the ability to keep those current, this is a really positive collaboration, and something that we're incredibly supportive of,” said Kent. Industry has just over two weeks to respond to the RFI, which closes Nov. 9, and the subsequent request for quotes will likely be released in early 2019, according to officials. The DoD and General Services Administration also plan to hold industry days in early December 2018 to facilitate communication between government and industry on the best way to approach the contract. The award for the eventual contract is planned for sometime in the third quarter of 2019, and would likely be set for approximately 10 years and $8 billion, according to Murphy, though that number could change depending on industry input. The appropriate solution would likely have to be certified at FedRAMP Moderate, said Miller. According to Murphy, GSA and DoD have yet to determine whether a single-award or multi-award contract will best suit the DoD's needs — a debate that proved highly contentious for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud contract that opened for proposals July 26 — and the RFI asks respondents to provide pros and cons for each option. But DoD CIO Dana Deasy said that the DEOS program is part of a Pentagon initiative to bring defense operations into a multi-cloud and multi-vendor environment. “Our intentions are to have a cloud that can serve general purpose computing needs, as well as what I have coined a term as ‘fit-for-purpose' clouds, which could consist of internal clouds or commercial clouds that have a unique fit for purpose,” said Deasy, adding that DEOS would be one such cloud. Because DEOS is one of three collaboration capability sets the agency is looking to fulfill, DoD could end up offering a total of three contracts in that space, according to Miller. https://www.federaltimes.com/acquisition/2018/10/25/dod-seeks-industry-input-on-multibillion-dollar-cloud-collaboration-solution