9 juillet 2018 | International, Aérospatial, C4ISR

Air Force quietly, and reluctantly, pushing JSTARS recap source selection ahead

WASHINGTON — Congress is waging a public battle on the fate of the JSTARS recap program, but behind the scenes, the Air Force is quietly taking steps that will allow them to award a contract for a program that leaders say they don't need.

The service received final proposal revisions for the JSTARS recap program on June 22, confirmed Air Force spokeswoman Maj. Emily Grabowski in a statement to Defense News.

“The Air Force wants to be postured to move forward with JSTARS recap, if required. Therefore, we are continuing source selection while we continue to work with Congress on the way forward,” Grabowski said in a statement.

Usually, the government solicits final proposals and pricing information from competitors just weeks before making a final downselect. Thus, if Congress decides to force the Air Force to continue on with the program, it's likely the service will be able to award a contract in very short order.

The Air Force began the JSTARS recap program as an effort to replace its aging E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System ground surveillance planes with new aircraft and a more capable radar. The initial plan was to buy 17 new JSTARS recap jets from either Boeing, Lockheed Martin or Northrop Grumman.

However, the service announced during February's fiscal year 2019 budget rollout that it preferred to cancel the JSTARS recap program and fund an “Advanced Battle Management System” that would upgrade and link together existing aircraft and drones, allowing them to do the JSTARS mission.

The Air Force's continued source selection efforts are necessary due to Congress, which is split on the issue of whether to continue to the program.

Both Senate defense committees have sided with the Air Force, and would allow it to kill JSTARS recap as long as it continues to fund the current JSTARS fleet. The Senate version of the defense spending bill also includes an additional $375 million to accelerate the ABMS concept with additional MQ-9 Reapers and other technologies.

Meanwhile, the House version of the bill would force the Air Force to award an engineering and manufacturing development contract for JSTARS recap to one of the three competitors, which had been valued at $6.9 billion. However, some lawmakers have said they might be willing to accept a truncated recap program to bridge the way until ABMS is fielded.

“All of the committees understand the need for moving to the advanced battle management system,” Gen. Mike Holmes, head of Air Combat Command, told reporters in June. “If there are disagreements between the committees, it's about whether we can move straight to that and hold onto our legacy JSTARS as a way to bridge until we do that, or do we need to do one more recap of that system”

The timing of final proposal revisions actually puts source selection for JSTARS recap ahead of that of the still ongoing T-X trainer jet program, which as of late June had not reached that stage.

However, Congress will likely need time to resolve the JSTARS recap issue — meaning a contract decision is far from imminent. The House and Senate armed services committees began the conference process in June, which could allow them to reconcile differences in the defense policy bill as early as this summer.

However, only appropriations bills can be used to fund government programs like JSTARS recap, and spending legislation could be stuck in limbo for months past that.

If deliberations stretch out, “the Air Force will continue to assess contract award timelines and approvals. If necessary, the Air Force will request an extension of proposal validity or updated pricing as appropriate,” Grabowski said.

Meanwhile, lawmakers continue to debate the case in the public eye.

In a July 3 editorial for The Telegraph, Republican Rep. Austin Scott, one of the biggest proponents of the recap program, argued that it would be more economical to proceed with JSTARS recap than to continue to do extensive depot maintenance on the legacy aircraft.

“After 10 years of work, the Air Force is considering canceling the JSTARS recap program,” wrote Scott, whose district in Georgia is home to Robins Air Force base, where the JSTARS aircraft reside. “Their arguments do not take into account the significantly improved capabilities and increased capacity that the new aircraft will provide. The Air Force has ignored its own assessments in their recommendation for cancellation.”

https://www.defensenews.com/air/2018/07/06/air-force-quietly-and-reluctantly-pushing-jstars-recap-source-selection-ahead/

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14 novembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - November 13, 2019
NAVY BAE Systems, Jacksonville Ship Repair, Jacksonville, Fla. (N40027-17-D-1001); Colonna Shipyards Inc., Norfolk, Virginia (N40027-17-D-1002); East Coast Repair & Fabrication LLC, Norfolk, Virginia (N40027-17-D-1003); Metro Machine Corp., Jacksonville, Fla. (N40027-17-D-1004); North Florida Shipyards, Jacksonville, Fla, (N40027-17-D-1005); and Tecnico Corp., Chesapeake, Va. (N40027-17-D-1006), are each awarded a maximum-value $270,601,012, firm-fixed-price modification to their respective previously-awarded contracts to exercise Option Year Three for the accomplishment of fixed-priced delivery orders for emergent and continuous ship maintenance availabilities for ships homeported in Mayport, Fla. These six companies will have the opportunity to provide offers for individual delivery orders. Work will be performed in Mayport, Fla., and is expected to be completed by November 2020. No funding will be obligated at time of award. The Southeast Regional Maintenance Center, Jacksonville, Fla., is the contracting activity. East Coast Repair & Fabrication, Norfolk, Va., is awarded a maximum value $83,087,424 firm-fixed-price modification to previously awarded contract N40027-19-D-1001 to exercise Option Year One for the accomplishment of fixed priced delivery orders for docking and non-docking Chief of Naval Operations scheduled availabilities. Work will be performed in Mayport, Fla., and is expected to be complete by November 2020. No funding will be obligated at time of modification. East Coast Repair & Fabrication will have the opportunity to compete on individual delivery orders. The Southeast Regional Maintenance Center, Jacksonville, Fla., is the contracting activity. BAE Systems, Jacksonville Ship Repair, Jacksonville, Fla. (N00024-17-D-1007); Colonna Shipyards Inc., Norfolk, Va. (N40027-17-D-1008); and Metro Machine Corp, Jacksonville, Fla. (N40027-17-D-1009) are each awarded a maximum value $83,087,424 firm-fixed-price modification to their respective previously awarded contracts to exercise Option Year Two for the accomplishment of fixed priced delivery orders for docking and non-docking Chief of Naval Operations scheduled availabilities. These three companies will have the opportunity to provide offers for individual delivery orders. Work will be performed in Mayport, Fla., and is expected to be completed by November 2020. No funding will be obligated at time of award. The Southeast Regional Maintenance Center, Jacksonville, Fla., is the contracting activity. Sedna Digital Solutions LLC,* Manassas, Va., is awarded a $9,340,931 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-18-C-6264 to exercise and fund options for Navy engineering services and required material. Work will be performed in Manassas, Va., and is expected to be completed by December 2020. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy); and fiscal 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $1,660,000 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, DC, is the contracting activity. General Dynamics, Electric Boat Corp., Groton, Conn., is awarded a $7,702,536 cost-plus-fixed-fee, level of effort modification to previously awarded contract N00024-15-C-4305 for the operation, maintenance and protection of the floating dry dock Shippingport (ARDM-4). Work will be performed in Groton, Conn., and is expected to be complete by November 2020. Fiscal 2020 operation and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $1,900,000 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity. 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The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, Special Programs Directorate, Los Angeles AFB, Calif., is the contracting activity. ARMY L3 Fuzing and Ordnance Systems, Cincinnati, Ohio, was awarded a $15,899,762 modification (P00003) to contract W15QKN-19-C-0040 to procure a total of 53,237 Melody II application-specific integrated circuit chips. Work will be performed in Cincinnati, Ohio, with an estimated completion date of June 30, 2021. Fiscal 2020 procurement of ammunition, Army funds in the amount of $15,899,762 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, N.J., is the contracting activity. *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2015992/source/GovDelivery/
26 mars 2019 | International, Aérospatial

Leonardo eyes enhanced firefighting configuration for its C-27J aircraft
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3 juin 2021 | International, Terrestre

US Army’s $5.5B wish list seeks to restore cuts made to protect force modernization
The Army has submitted its Unfunded Requirements List to the Hill that seeks to boost funding to improve military installations, restore delayed procurement of legacy aircraft and vehicle fleets and cover the potential hidden costs of withdrawing from Afghanistan while covering unforeseen contingencies.

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