Acquisition revamp needed to meet demand surges, defense industry says

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  20 mars 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  COVID-19 dampens European exercise, but US Army chief says all is not lost

  By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The new coronavirus pandemic may have dampened the U.S. Army's major division-level exercise in Europe, but the service's chief told Defense News in a March 18 interview that important lessons have already been learned. Defender Europe was slated to be the third-largest military exercise on the continent since the Cold War and was meant to test the Army's ability to deliver a force from forts to ports in the United States and onward to ports in Europe, and from there to operational areas throughout Europe from Germany to Poland to the Baltic states and other Eastern European nations, Nordic countries and even Georgia. The Army began to move troops and equipment into Europe beginning in January, with the meat of the exercise occurring in April and May this year. But as COVID-19 has spread across the globe, with Europe designated as the newest epicenter of the virus, the Army decided last week that it would scale back Defender Europe, according to a statement from U.S. Army Europe. “We have modified exercise Defender Europe 20 in size and scope,” a March 16 statement read. “As of March 13, all movement of personnel and equipment from the United States to Europe has ceased. The health, safety and readiness of our military, civilians and family members is our primary concern.” The Army decided to cancel linked exercises that would have been a part of Defender Europe, which already happen on a regular basis in Europe, to include Dynamic Front, the Army Joint Warfighting Assessment, Saber Strike and Swift Response. The service said it anticipates the armored brigade combat team already deployed to Europe will conduct gunnery and other combined training events with allies and partners as part of a modified exercise, and that forces already deployed to Europe for other “linked exercises” would come back to the U.S. Also last week, U.S. Army Europe announced that its commander, Lt. Gen. Christopher Cavoli, and his staff were exposed to COVID-19 at a land force commanders conference in Wiesbaden, Germany, on March 6. Out of an abundance of caution, the service decided to quarantine those exposed. According to an Army spokesperson, the quarantine has no effect on operations, and the general and his staff continue to carry out duties from an isolated location. Much was riding on Defender Europe when it comes to teaching the Army where it stands in terms of its ability to rapidly deploy a combat-credible force to Europe to support NATO and the U.S. National Defense Strategy. The exercise was also going to help the Army get more clarity on its Multi-Domain Operations concept as it morphs into official doctrine. The service had also hoped to assess through the exercise whether its pre-positioned stock in Europe had the right equipment and was in the right place. The Army made the difficult decision last week to reduce the size and scope of the exercise to “protect our troops,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville said. The service had already deployed roughly 6,000 soldiers and 3,000 pieces of equipment from the U.S. beginning in January in support of the Defender Europe exercise, McConville said, and also deployed a brigade combat team and a division-sized headquarters. The Army also has moved about 9,000 vehicles and pieces of equipment from Army pre-positioned stocks in Europe for the exercise, he noted. “One of the big objectives of this exercise was what we call strategic readiness,” McConville said, “the ability to dynamically employ our forces from the United States, and we were able to demonstrate most of those capabilities. We were able to get our forces over there, we have a draw from the pre-positioned stocks and we're still able to train with our allies and partners, although at much less capability.” Those units that won't be able to train through some of the linked exercises in Europe are already “tactically ready” and could maintain readiness through home station training, McConville added. Lessons learned will directly feed into how the Army crafts its future doctrine and help validate that the service is ready to execute what is laid out in the National Defense Strategy. But the other thing the Army has learned from the spread of COVID-19 and its effects on the exercise is that the service is agile, McConville stressed. “We had to adapt the plan, we were re-missioning some units during the actual deployments; some units may go other places, and that's why this was a very good exercise for us,” he added. For those deployed for the exercise, McConville said that the Army has put in place a rigorous screening process for troops returning home when the exercise is complete, where they will be screened for infection before coming back and then screened again upon return to installations and posts, then quarantined as necessary. While the Army has exercised strategic readiness, testing the ability to move seamlessly from country to country throughout the modified exercise may not get a full shake due to how European countries may choose to handle the pandemic. Border crossing was a challenge in past years. For now, there are too many uncertainties to know whether border crossing and mobility across countries will pose a problem or a challenge for the Army, according to McConville. “Italy was a little ahead of us” in coping with the spread of the virus,” McConville said, “but Europe is probably right along the same lines where we are right now, where leaders are taking a hard look at how they want to try to contain this.” Meanwhile in the Pacific region, where COVID-19 originated and where many countries have been hard hit, the Army was able to complete a recent exercise — Cobra Gold in Thailand, McConville said. The service continues to conduct risk assessment for each upcoming exercise in the theater. The Army is also likely to stick to its plan to focus more largely on a division-sized exercise in the Pacific in 2021 and hold a smaller version of Defender Europe, rather than ramp up the European exercise back up to the intended size for 2020, McConville said. But there are still many unknowns, he added, and the Army will continue to assess its options. https://www.defensenews.com/smr/army-modernization/2020/03/18/covid-19-dampens-european-exercise-but-army-chief-says-all-is-not-lost/

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  15 juillet 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité, Autre défense

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - July 12, 2019

  NAVY DLT Solutions LLC, Herndon, Virginia, is being awarded a multiple-award, firm-fixed-price Department of Defense (DoD) Enterprise Software Initiative (ESI) blanket purchase agreement (BPA) in accordance with the firms General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule contracts. The agreement is part of a multi-reseller/multi-software publisher software category management award for commercial-off-the-shelf software; information technology asset management software; software maintenance support; information technology professional services; and related services in support of DoD ESI and under the direction of Office of Management and Budget, Enterprise Software Category. The software publishers are: Appdynamics, Archibus, Cloudbees, Flexera and Polyverse. The BPA provides for purchase of these products and services by the DoD, U.S. intelligence community and the Coast Guard. The overall estimated value of this BPA category is $820,450,000. The ordering period will be for a maximum of 10 years from July 12, 2019, through July 11, 2029. This BPA is issued under DoD ESI in accordance with the policy and guidelines in the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement, Section 208.74. This BPA will not obligate funds at the time of award. Funds will be obligated as task orders using operations and maintenance DoD funds. Requirements will be competed among the awardees in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 8.403-3(c)(2), and the successful contractor will receive firm fixed-price orders. This BPA was competitively procured via the GSA E-Buy web site among 679 vendors. Four offers were received and four were selected for award. Naval Information Warfare Center, Pacific, is the contracting activity (N66001-19-A-0045). Air New Zealand Gas Turbines, Auckland, New Zealand (N64498-19-D-4028); and MTU Maintenance Brandenburg-Berlin, Ludwigsburg, Germany (N64498-19-D-4029), were both awarded a $70,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity, firm-fixed-priced contract for the commercial depot-level overhaul of up to 24 L0M2500 paired blade turbine gas generators. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division, requires the commercial depot level overhaul of Navy, Coast Guard, Military Sealift Command and Foreign Military Navy LM2500 paired blade turbine gas generators, National Stock Number 2S 2835-01-032-9125. The two contractors may compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the awarded contracts. Work under the Air New Zealand Gas Turbines contract will be completed at the contractor's facilities in Auckland, New Zealand, and is expected to be completed by June 2023. Work under the MTU Maintenance Brandenburg-Berlin contract will be completed at the contractor's facilities in Ludwigsfelde, Germany, and is expected to be completed by June 2023. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the total amount of $5,740,811 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website with three offers received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity. (Awarded July 10, 2019) C&C Power Solutions LLC,* Columbus, Georgia, is being awarded a $65,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price contract to procure, renovate, repower, overhaul and/or repair different power systems within its fleet of power equipment services at Naval Facilities Engineering Command Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center (EXWC) Mobile Utilities Support Equipment (MUSE). Initial seed task order is being awarded at $2,559,924 for a four, 900-kilowatt generator package at EXWC MUSE Port Hueneme, California. Work for this task order is expected to be completed by July 2020. All work on this contract will be performed in Port Hueneme, California, and is expected to be completed by July 2025. Fiscal 2019 other procurement, Navy (OP, N) contract funds in the amount of $2,559,924 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by OP, N. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website and Federal Business Opportunities website with five proposals received. The EXWC Acquisitions Department, Port Hueneme, California, is the contracting activity (N39430-19-D-2124). Palantir Technologies, Palo Alto, California, is being awarded a $27,640,000 fixed-price blanket purchase agreement under the Department of Defense (DoD) Enterprise Software Initiative to provide commercial-off-the-shelf hardware, software and services for DoD, the Intelligence community and the Coast Guard. This one-year agreement includes four, one-year option periods, which if exercised, would bring the potential value of this agreement to an estimated $143,800,000 million. The ordering period of the base agreement will be from July 12, 2019, through July 11, 2020. If all options are exercised, the ordering period will extend through July 11, 2024. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated at the delivery order level using operations and maintenance (DoD) funds. This agreement was non-competitively procured with a brand name justification in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 8.405-6 via a limited source solicitation and publication on the General Services Administration eBuy web site. Naval Information Warfare Center, Pacific, is the contracting activity (N66001-19-A-0044). Mercury Defense Systems Inc., Cypress, California, is being awarded a $22,901,395 cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost reimbursable order (N00421-19-F-6104) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00421-17-G-0001). This order provides for the development, integration, delivery and test of the Radar Air-to-Ground Environment in support of the Integrated Battlespace Simulation and Test Air Combat Environment Test and Evaluation Facility. Work will be performed in Cypress, California (80%); Patuxent River, Maryland (10%); and Edwards Air Force Base, California (10%), and is expected to be completed in July 2022. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $300,000 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Frontier Technology Inc., Beavercreek, Ohio, is being awarded a $13,236,204 cost-plus-fixed-fee task order (N63394-19-F-0041) under previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract N63394-17-D-0003 for providing enterprise product life cycle management integrated decision environment services. Work will be performed in Washington, District of Columbia (80%); and Chesapeake, Virginia (20%), and is expected to be completed by September 2020. Fiscal 2012 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy); and fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (other defense agencies) funding in the amount of $6,722,842 will be obligated at time of award, and $6,122,842 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This task order was not competitively procured. In accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1), this contract was not competitively procured (only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements). The services under this contract cover software development and installation, software configuration management and technical support, software solutions and training. These services are in support of the Affordable System Operation Effectiveness (ASOE) initiatives across the Department of Defense. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division, Port Hueneme, California, is the contracting activity. IAP Worldwide Services Inc., Cape Canaveral, Florida, is being awarded a $10,870,239 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) modification for the exercise of the first option period under an IDIQ contract for base operations services at Naval Support Activity, Annapolis, Maryland. The work to be performed provides for all management, supervision, labor hours, training, equipment and supplies necessary to perform base operating services to include but not be limited to facility investment, service calls, pest control, operation of utility plants, refuse collection, special events and snow and ice removal. After award of this option, the total cumulative contract value will be $31,751,865. Work will be performed in Annapolis, Maryland, and the option period is from August 2019 to November 2019. No funds will be obligated at time of award. Fiscal 2019 operation and maintenance (Navy); and fiscal 2019 Navy working capital funds in the amount of $7,274,602 for recurring work will be obligated on individual task orders issued during the contract period. Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N40080-18-D-0500). Schuyler Line Navigation Co. (SLNC),* Annapolis, Maryland, is being awarded a $10,595,700 (fixed-price for firm period) firm-fixed-price contract with reimbursable elements, for employment in worldwide trade for the transportation and/or prepositioning of cargo by the shallow draft tanker MT SLNC Pax. This contract includes a one-year base period with three one-year option periods and an 11-month option period, which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $51,435,950. Work will be performed in the Western Pacific Ocean (intentions Japan or Korea), and is expected to be completed, if all options are exercised, by Oct. 29, 2024. Fiscal 2019 transportation working capital funds in the amount of $1,765,950 are being obligated at time of award and none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Transportation working capital funds will be obligated in fiscal 2020 and will not expire at the end of fiscal 2020. This contract was a small business set-aside with more than 50 companies solicited via the Federal Business Opportunities website and three offers received. The Navy's Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N32205-19-R-3504). Paradromics Inc.,* Austin, Texas, is being awarded a contract option in the amount of $8,275,758 from a previously awarded cost type of contract. Support includes development of a neural interface system capable of performing continuous, simultaneous full-duplex (read and write) interaction with at least one thousand neurons in regions of the human sensory cortex. This option builds on the designs and prototypes developed from the base award, and provides in vivo animal testing and human studies. This option has a one-year period of performance from July 12, 2019, through July 11, 2020. Work will be performed at the contractor's facilities in Austin, Texas. The option will be incrementally funded at the time of award in the amount of $3,000,000. The original contract was competitively procured via Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) 16-09 “Neural Engineering System Design (NESD).” Forty-one offers were received and six were selected for award. Naval Information Warfare Center, Pacific, is the contracting activity (N66001-17-C-4005). AIR FORCE Sossec Inc., has been awarded a $355,000,000 ceiling increase modification (P0030) to previously awarded firm-fixed-price agreement FA8626-17-9-1000 for the propulsion consortium initiative. Work will be performed at Atkinson, New Hampshire, and is expected to be completed by July 31, 2024. No funds are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Propulsion Acquisition Directorate, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. Textron Defense Systems, Wilmington, Massachusetts, has been awarded a $51,263,809 firm-fixed-price contract modification (P00012) to previously awarded contract FA8204-14-C-0011 for the Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile weapon system multiprobe antenna procurement. Work will be performed at Wilmington, Massachusetts, and is expected to be completed by July 13, 2029. Fiscal 2019 procurement funds in the amount of $4,645,109 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Nuclear Weapon Center, Hill Air Force Base, Layton, Utah, is the contract activity. ARMY The Boeing Co., Mesa, Arizona, was awarded a $96,873,221 modification (P00024) to foreign military sales (United Arab Emirates) contract W58RGZ-16-C-0023 for Apache aircraft integrated logistics support, product assurance and Longbow Crew Trainers. Work will be performed in Mesa, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2024. Fiscal 2010 Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $96,873,221 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. DynCorp International LLC, Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded a $29,311,547 modification (P00251) to domestic and foreign military sales (Slovakia) contract W58RGZ-13-C-0040 for the aviation field maintenance services contract. Work will be performed in Afghanistan, Honduras and Germany, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2019. Fiscal 2010 and 2019 operations and maintenance, Army; and Foreign Military Sales funds in the combined amount of $29,311,547 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Joint Research and Development Inc.,* Stafford, Virginia, was awarded a $25,000,000 hybrid (cost-no-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee and firms-fixed-price) contract for operations, research and technology and program and integration support for the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, Chemical Biological Center's Chemical Biological Applications and Risk Reductions business unit. 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 July 14, 2024. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W911SR-19-D-0008). BAE Systems Ordnance Systems Inc., Radford, Virginia, was awarded a $17,789,259 firm-fixed-price contract to upgrade and rehabilitate the water intake pumps at Radford Army Ammunition Plant. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work will be performed in Radford, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 31, 2021. Fiscal 2019 procurement of ammunition, Army funds in the amount of $17,789,259 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W52P1J-11-G-0002). DEFENSE INFORMATION SYSTEMS AGENCY SES Government Solutions Inc., Reston, Virginia, was awarded a firm-fixed-price task order against the competitive single award blanket purchase agreement (BPA) from General Services Administration's Information Technology Schedule 70 contract for commercial satellite communication services, HC1013-18-A-0002, which was awarded April 13, 2018. The face value of this task order is $7,151,397, funded by fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds. The total cumulative face value of the BPA is $516,700,000 (contract ceiling). Performance will be centralized to the U.S. Central Command, with the BPA representing worldwide coverage. The task order period of performance is four years, consisting of a 12-month base period of July 15, 2019, through July 14, 2020, and three 12-month option periods. The Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity (GS-35F-0328V/HC1013-18-A-0002, HC1013-19-F-0119). *Small business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1903937/source/GovDelivery/

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  27 décembre 2018 | International, Aérospatial, C4ISR

  'Excellent New Year's gift': Putin boasts after testing 'invulnerable' Russian hypersonic missile

  The Kremlin said the Avangard missile successfully hit a designated practice target 6,000 kilometres away from its launch site The Associated Press , Vladimir Isachenkov MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw a test Wednesday of a new hypersonic glide vehicle, declaring that the weapon is impossible to intercept and will ensure Russia's security for decades to come. Speaking to Russia's top military brass after watching the live feed of the launch of the Avangard vehicle from the Defence Ministry's control room, Putin said the successful test was a “great success” and an “excellent New Year's gift to the nation.” The test comes amid bitter tensions in Russia-U.S. relations, which have sunk to their lowest level since the Cold War times over the conflict in Ukraine, the war in Syria and the allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Putin's hopes for repairing ties with Washington under President Donald Trump have fizzled amid investigations into allegations of Trump's campaign ties with Russia, and tensions have escalated as the U.S. administration slapped Russia with new waves of sanctions. The Avangard was among the array of new nuclear weapons that Putin presented in March, saying that Russia had to develop them in response to the development of the U.S. missile defence system that could erode Russia's nuclear deterrent. In Wednesday's test, the weapon was launched from the Dombarovskiy missile base in the southern Ural Mountains. The Kremlin said it successfully hit a designated practice target on the Kura shooting range on Kamchatka, 6,000 kilometres away. “The Avangard is invulnerable to intercept by any existing and prospective missile defence means of the potential adversary,” Putin said after the test, adding that the new weapon will enter service next year with the military's Strategic Missile Forces. When first presenting the Avangard in March, the Russian leader said the new system has an intercontinental range and can fly in the atmosphere at 20 times the speed of sound, bypassing the enemy's missile defence. He emphasized that no other country currently has hypersonic weapons. Putin has said that Avangard is designed using new composite materials to withstand temperatures of up to 2,000 degrees Celsius (3,632 degrees Fahrenheit) that come from a flight through the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds. https://nationalpost.com/news/world/russias-putin-oversees-test-of-hypersonic-weapon