Australian subs to get sonar boost

Sur le même sujet

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

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - July 23, 2019

  DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Innovation Associates Inc., Johnson City, New York, has been awarded a maximum $450,000,000 firm‐fixed‐price, indefinite‐delivery/indefinite‐quantity contract for automated pharmaceutical equipment, accessories, maintenance and training under the Patient Monitoring and Capital Equipment Program. This is a five-year base contract with one five‐year option period. This was a competitive acquisition with 36 responses received. Location of performance is New York, with a July 22, 2024, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2024 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2D1‐19‐D‐0017). Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Connecticut, has been awarded a maximum $9,804,501 firm-fixed-price delivery order (SPRPA1-19-F-C15B) against basic ordering agreement SPRPA1-17-G-C101, for H-53 hydraulic fluid tanks. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a one-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Connecticut, with a Sept. 30, 2020, performance completion date. Using military service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 Navy working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ARMY ASNA, Santa Ana, California (W911QY-19-D-0045); and Mills Manufacturing Corp.,* Ashville, North Carolina (W911QY-19-D-0046), will compete for each order of the $249,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for the purchase T-11 Personnel Parachute System. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of July 22, 2019. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity. North Carolina Division of Services for the Blind, Raleigh, North Carolina, was awarded a $42,289,265 firm-fixed-price contract for full food services to be provided at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Bids were solicited via the internet with five received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of July 31, 2024. U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, is the contracting activity (W9124J-19-D-0014). NAVY GCR-MDI LLC,* Pinehurst, North Carolina, is awarded an $8,014,356 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for base operations support services at Naval Submarine Base, Kings Bay, and outlying areas. The work to be performed provides for base operations support services to include custodial, pest control, integrated solid waste management, grounds maintenance and landscaping, pavement clearance, and other related services. The maximum dollar value including the base period and four option years is $40,320,917. Work will be performed in Kings Bay, Georgia (99%); and outlying areas (1%), and is expected to be completed by September 2020. If all options are exercised, work will continue through September 2024. No funds will be obligated at time of award. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy); fiscal 2020 Defense Health Program; and fiscal 2020 family housing operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $7,527,488 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 three proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southeast, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity (N69450-19-D-1725). *Small Business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1914030//

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  1 octobre 2018 | International, Terrestre

  With an increasing footprint in the Arctic, the Corps may need a new snow vehicle

  By: Shawn Snow The top Marine has been steadily increasing the Corps' footprint in the arctic region, preparing Marines for a fight in extreme cold-weather environments as the U.S. defense strategy shifts toward near-peer threats. It's an oft repeated remark by Commandant Gen. Robert B. Neller that the cold weather business is something the Corps hasn't done for some time. And it certainly shows in some of the equipment the Corps uses in Norway, like the nearly 40-year-old Cold War relic over-the-snow vehicle, the Bv206. The Corps has been rapidly replacing its cold-weather gear to include skis, pack frames, boots and shelters. And now, a new over-the-snow vehicle could be on the horizon for the Marines. One potential replacement for the aging Bv206 could be BAE's BvS10, which is already in use by Marines in Norway, who have been training on the British variant of the BvS10 known as the Viking. The BvS10, while predominantly suited for the Arctic region, is actually an all-terrain vehicle that can also traverse mud, swamp, gravel or even water. The tracked vehicle, which can carry 11 to 12 troops, has a ground pressure less than the human foot, according to Keith Klemmer, BAE's U.S. BvS10 representative. The low ground pressure spread across the tracks gives the vehicle superior mobility in a multitude of terrains, especially snow. And for military operations, the BvS10 can mount the Ma Deuce .50 caliber machine or even the Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station, which affords troops the ability to engage targets from the protections and confines of the vehicle. Speaking of protection, the armor plating on the BvS10 can withstand small-arms fire and the RPG-7, Klemmer said. The Bv-S10 can operate in temperatures ranging from -50 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit and boasts an impressive range of nearly 200 miles, according to Klemmer. While the Corps is prepping for its fourth six-month rotation to Norway, it's only been recently that the Corps and the U.S. military has once again focused on the Arctic and European theaters. For the past twenty years, the desert terrain of the Middle East has garnered the attention of the Corps and as a result, the military's fleet of over-the-snow vehicles have taken a back seat in priority. But with a renewed spotlight on the Arctic region, and a Marine footprint that is expected to double in Norway in the coming months, the time may be ripe to upgrade the Corps' suite of snow vehicles. And the U.S. military is showing interest. In early June, the Army posted a request for information, or RFI, to industry leaders for what it has dubbed the Joint All Weather All Terrain Support Vehicle, or JAASV. According to the RFI, the Army wants its future tracked snow vehicle to operate in temperatures between -50 and 115 F. And the Army wants a multi variant vehicle that can carry troops, serve as an ambulance, or a command system. The BvS10 fits much of that description. The main cab can serve as a command node, while the back cab can transport nearly eight troops. The rear cab also has the ability to flip up and serve as an ambulatory vehicle. “The JAASV shall be a tracked vehicle that has excellent on and off-road mobility in extreme cold temperatures, deep snow, rugged uneven terrain, thick brush or forest, soft wet ground, rivers, streams, and lakes, and mountainous terrain,” the RFI reads. The Army also wants the JAASV to be air mobile by CH-47, UH-60 and C-130. And while this RFI was submitted by the Army, the Corps has a tracked record of partnering with the Army on a number of procurement projects. The Corps hasn't made a decision yet to upgrade its snow vehicles, but the Marines are increasingly becoming focused on the Arctic domain and its forces are already learning how to operate partner forces' BvS10s in the region. https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2018/09/28/with-an-increasing-footprint-in-the-arctic-the-corps-may-need-a-new-snow-vehicle

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  20 septembre 2019 | International, Terrestre

  Tank-killing missile tests ‘Europe First’ weapons policy

  By: Sebastian Sprenger COLOGNE, Germany — The defense chiefs of France, Belgium and Cyprus have signed an agreement to pursue a common anti-tank missile meant for wider adoption in Europe — an effort that puts the spotlight once again on accusations of protectionism in defense programs here. The three defense ministers inked the cooperation deal for the Beyond-Line-of-Sight Land Battlefield missile project on the sidelines of a meeting of European defense chiefs in Helsinki, Finland, in late August. The goal is to develop a new “family” of missiles for integration on an “extensive variety of platforms,” according to the official project description. It would be operated by a “dedicated users' club” under a common European doctrine for such weapons. Pan-European missile company MBDA has claimed the project as its own since officials announced it under the Permanent Structured Cooperation framework, or PESCO, in fall 2018. The vendor wants to sell its Missile Moyenne Portée, or MMP, to other armies besides the French, eyeing a far-reaching partnership with Belgium on ground vehicles as a potential avenue. Aside from being handed a potentially lucrative market on the continent, products or concepts picked as PESCO leads can win sizable funding contributions from common coffers like the envisioned €13 billion (U.S. $14 billion) European Defence Fund, or EDF. MBDA executives have danced around the question of how they came to be the quasi-incumbent for the missile project, arguing that the company is the only eligible manufacturer because the weapon is wholly developed and made in Europe. At the same time, company officials coyly painted the selection of the MMP weapon as a decision still up in the air. That is because there is a formal solicitation process under the European Defence Industrial Development Programme with a closing date of Sept. 20. The process envisions weapons trials sometime in 2020 or 2021 funded by the European Union, according to an MBDA spokesman. “The next step is that we hope to achieve this trial campaign and demonstrate the capability to inform future acquisitions from European nations,” the spokesman told Defense News. The problem is, however, that several other European nations already have a different weapon in their arsenals: a variant of the Spike missile, made by Israel's Rafael and sold in Europe by Germany-based Eurospike. Over the summer, Estonia moved to buy the weapon under a €40 million deal, becoming what Rafael said is the 19th user within NATO and the EU. Germany, which seeks to drive Europe's new defense posture alongside France, also relies on Spike — both the man-portable and the vehicle-mounted variants. Eurospike officials at the DSEI defense trade expo in London, England, last week complained about being left out of the nascent European missile program. While the Spike weapon is entirely produced in Germany, it is based on Israeli technology, resulting in what one company executive in London estimated to be an overall ratio of roughly 70 percent European and 30 percent Israeli. According to still-emerging rules for access to European defense projects, only members of the European Economic Area are eligible for EDF funding and collaboration-inducing mechanisms promised by PESCO. As it stands, Britain — after it leaves the EU — and its wares likely would be in, but the Israel connection means the Spike missile is out. For now, Eurospike officials said they are closely watching the process. “I can't imagine that they will just take the market by storm,” one executive said of MBDA and its missile offering. With its industrial infighting, the anti-tank weapons serve as something of a test case for whether common projects set up under EU auspices can truly serve the purpose of increasing collaboration among member states. Industry insiders suggest that the raft of existing PESCO efforts — covering everything from battlefield communications to future naval platforms to ground vehicles — comes with a built-in potential for turf battles. In the end, it seems a good number of PESCO projects come with a vendor team pushing a specific product under the banner or European unity. And as the dust of Euro enthusiasm settles, insiders say, vendors that weren't part of the initial project considerations are bound to find out that defense cooperation on the continent is also about winners and losers. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2019/09/19/tank-killing-missile-tests-europe-first-weapons-policy/