13 mai 2024 | International, Terrestre
The contract, over four years, with five further 12-month option periods is valued at up to £38 million.
16 novembre 2023 | International, Naval
The Mk 45 gun system will equip the Royal Australian Navy with a common, adaptable gun system that can easily integrate advanced munitions to provide the firepower required to meet...
24 novembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
Jen DiMascio Michael Bruno Lee Hudson Tony Osborne November 20, 2020 One of Joe Biden's last speeches as U.S. vice president focused on nuclear security, touting passage of the New Start Treaty with Russia in 2010 and subsequent reductions in the U.S. stockpile of warheads. Four years later, nuclear modernization and arms control will be among the first major tests he faces when he assumes the presidency in January. Under President Donald Trump, the Pentagon made notable strides in speeding up its cumbersome acquisition system, enabling the military to take better advantage of commercial technologies. The Defense Department also established what it calls “irreversible momentum” toward new space capabilities. But it will fall to the Biden administration to shepherd many experiments in new technologies into actual programs. It will be Biden's task to sell Congress on the idea of Joint All-Domain Command and Control. The new Democratic president could be dealing with a Senate controlled by Republicans, and he faces allies that see the U.S. as a less reliable partner than it was four years ago. He also will have to balance the modernization and readiness of the force within a budget that probably peaked in 2020. Shortly after he is inaugurated, Biden will face the Feb. 5 expiration of the New Start arms control treaty with Russia. His options are to extend the treaty for up to five years, for a shorter time frame or not at all. The Trump administration has been reluctant to agree to a full extension, given Russia's aggressive modernization of nuclear systems not covered by the treaty. Biden's advisors are likely to opt for extending the treaty to allow for more time for negotiations, predicts Matthew Kroenig, deputy director of the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security at the Atlantic Council. Republicans, meanwhile, are likely to be more focused on the threat of advanced weaponry in Russia and China, in particular the growth of strategic nuclear arsenals. Retiring Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee, says he is “particularly concerned about where the Chinese are headed with the size and capability of their nuclear program.” He adds: “Like a lot of things related to the Chinese, we have probably been too complacent.” Such tensions, and a Congress split along partisan lines, could help maintain support for nuclear modernization programs such as development of the next-generation ICBM, the Northrop Grumman Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD), a program some analysts have thought a Biden administration might consider slowing or canceling. “Any serious push to retire the ICBM force and do away with the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent program would not be supported by the Senate,” Cowen analysts say. A Biden administration likely means more of the same for the U.S. industrial base, for better or worse. The U.S. defense budget is expected to remain flat, putting pressure on the Pentagon to find ways to get more bang for its buck and better technologies against peer rivals—at the expense of traditional force structure. “Technology investment is likely to be most important, including network integration, hypersonics, artificial intelligence, long-range strike and missile defense,” Bernstein analyst Doug Harned and his team say. “We expect a lot of activity around integration, but exactly what this means is still ill-defined. Force structure may well come under more pressure. This means lower numbers of troops, aircraft, vehicles, ships, etc.” Downward pressure on force structure would be bad for Lockheed Martin, given its high exposure with the F-35, as well as for General Dynamics' warships and ground vehicles, says the Bernstein team. Northrop Grumman appears well-positioned long-term, based on its lean toward new technologies, but there are some risks around the GBSD. Raytheon Technologies and Lockheed have the highest Middle East exposure among the primes, and military sales there may have some added risk. “Democrats in both the House and Senate want restrictions on [Foreign Military Sales] in the wake of reports that the United Arab Emirates will be allowed to purchase 50 Lockheed Martin F-35s,” the Cowen Washington Research Group observed Nov. 4. “We do not believe a [Republican] Senate will support restrictions. If the sale is going to happen, it will need to be jammed through . . . before Biden takes office.” Like the Obama administration, the Trump team provided growing support for new space technologies. “I believe space will continue to be very, very important,” says Ellen Lord, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment. “I just had a briefing on a lot of [National Reconnaissance Office] projects we work on. And I'll tell you, it is absolutely eye-watering the capability that is being launched here in the next couple of months. . . . I think we have irreversible momentum.” During the Trump administration's final weeks in office, Lord is working to create a trusted capital marketplace, strengthen the defense industrial base and work with Capitol Hill on new ways of purchasing software. The Defense Department is working closely with the interagency Committee on Foreign Investment to block adversaries such as China or Russia from purchasing companies that are critical to U.S. national technology initiatives, she told the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' Ascend conference on Nov. 18. Another focus for Lord's team is rare earth minerals and microelectronics. The bulk of rare earth mineral processing occurs in China, and most microelectronics are manufactured outside the U.S. Chris Brose, who served as policy director for the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), is advocating more radical change to scale up defense innovation, a priority of U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr. “The question for the new administration is going to be: ‘How do you support that vision, and how do you kind of reshape the Air Force, reshape the Space Force and really realign the [national] defense program?'” asks Brose, who is now chief strategy officer for the defense industry startup Anduril. Brose believes that to compete more effectively against advanced military challenges, the Pentagon must rethink how it harnesses new technologies, from the requirements process all the way through the acquisition process. Today's military, he notes, is organized to purchase a platform it has seen in a presentation or read in a white paper. The goal should not be to spend a long time defining requirements and then pay a single vendor to build things such as small satellites, software-defined programs or unmanned systems. One of the Air Force's top modernization priorities is the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS). The challenge with an effort such as the ABMS is that the requirements and concepts of operation are unclear, Brose says, and ABMS demonstrations study different problems each year, making progress tough to discern. Though the Trump administration has experienced extensive turnover among its civilian leadership, it made considerable progress in restoring aircraft fleet readiness. In 2018, then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis—the first of five men in the military's top civilian job in four years—mandated that all tactical aircraft fleets needed to be 80% ready for missions. The Navy drew on techniques from the commercial airline industry to meet that goal within about one year for its Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fleet. The service has since applied the same techniques to improve the readiness of Boeing EA-18G Growlers, and it is beginning to expand the process to its Northrop Grumman E-2D Hawkeyes, with an eye toward the rest of its tactical aircraft, Rear Adm. Shane Gahagan, the Navy's program executive officer for tactical aviation, said at Aviation Week's Military Aviation Logistics and Maintenance Symposium on Nov. 17. While Biden's team will seek to build on that progress, his administration likely will take a markedly less confrontational approach with U.S. allies than Trump, who believes the U.S. has borne too much of the burden to defend Europe. As the Pentagon announced the withdrawal of 12,000 U.S. troops from Germany earlier this year, repositioning them around Europe, Trump placed the blame squarely on Germany, describing the nation as “delinquent” in failing to pay its fair share. NATO members breathed a collective sigh of relief after Biden's election, believing it will pave the way for a relaunch of transatlantic defense relations. But Biden is likely to maintain pressure on European countries to keep defense spending up in light of Russian and Chinese threats and to align with NATO's call for members to spend 2% of their GDP on defense. “Trump seized on the 2% and banged the table. . . . It is broadly true he got the Europeans to take seriously the demand that more should be spent on defense,” says Jonathan Eyal, an associate director at the London-based Royal United Services Institute. The cost of Trump's approach, however, has been “very heavy,” he says, leading to a virtual collapse in the relationship between the U.S. and Germany. Less certain is how a Biden administration will deal with countries that appear to be undermining NATO values. Turkey's oil and gas exploration in waters disputed by neighbor and fellow NATO member Greece have prompted regional tension, not to mention Ankara's actions in Libya, Syria and, more recently, its support of Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict (AW&ST Oct. 12-25, p. 62). Turkey's decision to recently test its S-400 ground-based air defense system purchased from Russia also remains a source of irritation for Washington. The purchase of the S-400 prompted Washington to kick Turkey out of the F-35 program, but Trump opted not to invoke the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act against the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan despite pressure in the Senate. “One can assume that the Biden administration would take the tougher line on Turkey,” Eyal says. “Erdogan is now part of the problem rather than part of the solution.” https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/budget-policy-operations/what-expect-bidens-pentagon
9 juillet 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
ARMY BFBC LLC, Bozeman, Montana, was awarded a $138,335,455 modification (P00005) to contract W912PL-20-C-0002 to modify the existing electrical attributes (closed-circuit TV, linear ground detection system and shelters) on the Barry M. Goldwater Range, Yuma 10/27 design-build border infrastructure project. Work will be performed in Yuma, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of June 29, 2021. Fiscal 2020 military construction (Army) funds in the amount of $138,335,455 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Albuquerque, New Mexico, is the contracting activity is the contracting activity. Venegas JV Inc.,* Ponce, Puerto Rico, was awarded a $45,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract to support the advanced contract initiative for emergency temporary roof repairs for the eastern region of Puerto Rico. Bids were solicited via the internet with eight received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2027. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha, Nebraska, is the contracting activity (W9128F-20-D-0032). Power Instrumentation Services,* Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, was awarded a $45,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract to support the advanced contract initiative for emergency temporary roof repairs for the western region of Puerto Rico. Bids were solicited via the internet with eight received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2027. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha, Nebraska, is the contracting activity (W9128F-20-D-0033). MDJ Contracting Inc.,* Dallas, Texas (W911S7-20-D-0006); Olgoonik Specialty Contractors LLC,* St. Robert, Missouri (W911S7-19-D-0007); Reese Equipment Co. LLC,* Dixon, Missouri (W911S7-19-D-0008); and Vazquez Commercial Contracting LLC,* Kansas City, Missouri (W911S7-19-D-0009), will compete for each order of the $42,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for construction requirements at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Bids were solicited via the internet with 11 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of July 7, 2023. U.S. Army Field Directorate Office, Fort Eustis, Virginia, is the contracting activity. BAE Systems Land and Armaments L.P., San Jose, California, was awarded a $10,066,599 modification (P00140) to contract W56HZV-15-C-0099 for technical support services for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle family of vehicles, the Multiple Launch Rocket System carrier and the M113 Armored Personnel Carrier family of vehicles. Work will be performed in San Jose, California; Sterling Heights, Michigan; and Phoenix, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of July 26, 2021. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test, and evaluation (Army) funds in the amount of $10,066,599 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity. BAE Systems Land and Armaments L.P., San Jose, California, was awarded an $8,488,692 modification (P00138) to contract W56HZV-15-C-0099 for technical support services for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle family of vehicles, the Multiple Launch Rocket System carrier and the M113 Armored Personnel Carrier family of vehicles. Work will be performed in San Jose, California; Sterling Heights, Michigan; Phoenix, Arizona; Temple, Texas; and York, Pennsylvania, with an estimated completion date of July 2, 2021. Fiscal 2018 Army working capital funds; fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Army) funds; fiscal 2018 and 2020 weapons and tracked combat vehicle procurement (Army) funds; and fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Army) funds in the amount of $8,488,692 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity. NAVY MNDPI Pacific JV, Honolulu, Hawaii, is awarded a $99,000,000 maximum amount, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, architect-engineer contract for architect-engineer services for various structural, waterfront and other projects at locations under the cognizance of Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Pacific. No task orders are being issued at this time. Work will be performed at various Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and other government facilities within the NAVFAC Pacific area of responsibility including but not limited to, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands (70%); Australia (10%); Japan (10%); and Hawaii (10%). The work of architect-engineer services include, but are not limited to, the execution and delivery of military construction (MILCON) project documentation (Department of Defense Form 1391); functional analysis and concept development workshops; design charrettes; design-build request for proposal; design-bid-build design contract documents; technical surveys and reports including concept and engineering studies, site engineering investigation, topographic survey, geotechnical investigation, hazardous material survey, munitions of explosive concern survey, hydrographic survey and others; construction cost estimates; collateral equipment buy packages; comprehensive interior design including structural interior design and furniture, fixtures and equipment; and post construction award services. The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months and work is expected to be completed by July 2025. Fiscal 2018 MILCON (planning and design) contract funds in the amount of $10,000 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by MILCON (planning and design). This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website and two proposals were received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Pacific, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, is the contracting activity (N62742-20-D-0004). Appleton Marine Inc.,* Appleton, Wisconsin, is awarded a $23,375,696 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the replacement of up to 35 Navy slewing arm davits (SLADs), associated test reports and spare parts for each SLAD, and 11,300 hours of engineering support services for the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division. Work will be performed in Appleton, Wisconsin (80%); and onboard Navy ships in the following locations: Norfolk, Virginia; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Mayport, Florida; Everett, Washington; San Diego, California; Williamsburg, Virginia; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Yokosuka, Japan; and Rota, Spain (20%), as determined on individual task orders. Work is expected to be completed by July 2025. Fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy) funding in the total amount of $2,256,000 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The contract was competitively procured as a small-business set-aside via the beta.SAM.gov website and two offers were received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity (N64498-20-D-4018). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Valley Apparel LLC, Knoxville, Tennessee, has been awarded a maximum $9,894,000 modification (P00002) exercising the first one-year option period of a one-year base contract (SPE1C1-19-D-1172) with two one-year option periods for working parkas. This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Location of performance is Tennessee, with a July 14, 2021, ordering period end date. Using service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2268131/source/GovDelivery/