4 juin 2021 | International, Terrestre
US Army chooses winner to build its new Stryker gun system
The Army has chosen who will build its Medium Caliber Weapon System for the Stryker combat vehicle.
19 mai 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
Citing TransDigm, DoD seeks new acquisition powers, and trade groups oppose
By: Joe Gould
WASHINGTON ― Four defense industry trade associations “strongly oppose" a handful of Pentagon-backed procurement reform proposals that they say would harm the defense industrial base, and they're asking Congress to reject them.
Two of the proposals aim at controversial pricing practices used by TransDigm by requiring contractors to submit cost information for commercial items and by requiring contracting officers to conduct a commercial item determination for every procurement. Others would set a preference for performance-based contract payments and authorize the Defense Department to release or disclose detailed manufacturing or process data.
The May 6 protest letter came from the Acquisition Reform Working Group — made up of the National Defense Industrial Association, American Council of Engineering Companies, the Computing Technology Industry Association and the Information Technology Industry Council — to the the House and Senate armed services committees. It comes as the panels were readying their drafts of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act.
The Pentagon has worked to monitor its network of suppliers from the economic shocks associated with the coronavirus pandemic and to protect suppliers by using emergency funding from Congress to speed payments and improve cash flow along the supply chain.
The trade groups noted they represent “thousands of small, mid-sized, and large companies in addition to hundreds of thousands of employees that provide goods, services, and personnel to the Department of Defense,” and said the four proposals a “could have significant consequences for the defense industrial base.”
Congress focused ire at TransDigm last year after the Defense Department's Inspector General found for $26.2 million in parts the military bought from TransDigm, it earned $16.1 million in excess profit. Transdigm was the only manufacturer of the majority of the parts, which let it set the market prices even for competitively awarded parts.
Though DoD has argued its contractors need new latitude to make commercial item determinations and obtain cost or pricing information to prevent the excessive pricing TransDigm was accused of, the trade groups argue the TransDigm's actions weren't facilitated by an inappropriate reliance on improper commercial item determinations, or insufficient access to pricing data.
“As illustrated by the TransDigm Group, Inc's pricing practices, generally once a conversion to a commercial product or commercial service is made, it is common for prices to increase and subsequent contracting officers find it difficult to obtain data necessary to determine price reasonableness and negotiate fair and reasonable prices on behalf of the taxpayer,” the department said in its proposal.
Another proposal would require a contractor to submit uncertified cost information for commercial item proposals or contracts less than $2 million. The idea behind the reform is DoD wants to be able to get more insight into the costs of sole-source items and put itself in a more favorable position to negotiate with sole-source companies.
Congressional hearings on TransDigm's excessive pricing showed Defense leaders need the authority to obtain the data “to the extent necessary to determine price reasonableness is paramount in ensuring that such excessive pricing practices are curtailed.”
But the trade groups argue that levying the new regulations would “add a significant barrier to commercial item acquisition, reduce information sharing, further burden the system, and impede—rather than enable—the delivery of capabilities to the warfighter at the ‘speed of relevance'—all with little to no added protection for the government or the taxpayer."
The trade associations also opposed DoD's legislation to set a preference for performance-based contract payments. The groups said a DoD proposal to “recouple” total performance-based payments to total cost incurred would reverse Congress's previous work to emphasize performance over cost and contradict a spate of defense acquisitions rules.
DoD's argument is that it shouldn't be reimbursing a contractor more than its actual costs, or it “would result in negative levels of contractor investment,” and create a disincentive for contractors to deliver.
Another disputed proposal would let DoD release detailed manufacturing or process data, or DPMD, pertaining to privately funded commercial or noncommercial items outside of the government to third parties seeking to compete against the original equipment manufacturer. It's the latest episode in a running game of tug-of-war between industry and DoD over intellectual property.
While Congress has in recent years prodded DoD to set intellectual property strategies early in acquisition programs and negotiate for IP rights on a case-by-case basis, the trade groups argue the proposal would give DoD “an automatic default authority” and “eliminate the possibility of a negotiated solution.”
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3 août 2020 | International, C4ISR
Pentagon CIO says the department’s cloud efforts are more than just JEDI
Andrew Eversden WASHINGTON — The Pentagon's top IT official provided an update July 30 on a wide range of ongoing initiatives underway at the department as it continues to grapple with a remote workforce amid the coronavirus pandemic. Chief Information Officer Dana Deasy highlighted several ongoing projects related to artificial intelligence, big data and cloud computing, while also discussing the department's Commercial Virtual Remote Environment that's allowed nearly 1 million Department of Defense employees to collaborate while working from home Here's a roundup of what Deasy told reporters: Cloud developments The Defense Department has struggled for more than a year to procure its enterprisewide cloud, known as the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, a platform DoD leadership has continuously said will break down data silos and enhance artificial intelligence capabilities. But, as Deasy has stated repeatedly, JEDI is not going to be the DoD's only cloud. “Cloud has always been much more than JEDI,” Deasy said. Work on the JEDI cloud, which was awarded to Microsoft in October last year and subsequently protested by Amazon Web Services, is on hold after a federal judge issued an injunction earlier this year upon determining it was likely the DoD erred in its evaluations of the two tech companies' proposals. The DoD is taking corrective action on the award, with Deasy saying the department intends to re-announce the winner “probably sometimes towards the very end of August, barring any last minute, unforeseen additional issues that are raised.” In the meantime, the DoD has stamped the Air Force's Platform One cloud offering as an enterprise service, giving DoD components a certified place to go for DevSecOps, Deasy said. “What the big message there was, we actually for the first time had designated a cloud across DoD that could be used for a common way of doing DevSecOps,” he said. AI and JADC2 The Joint Artificial Intelligence Center is pivoting to focus on Joint All-Domain Command and Control, a Pentagon-led effort to connect sensors and shooters. Through its Joint Common Foundation, Deasy said, the JAIC has tools and capabilities to develop AI capabilities at scale. “That has now allowed us as we've matured to say: ‘What we've always known we really need to ... get JAIC focused on is the joint all-domain space,‘ ” Deasy said, adding that the center is looking at joint fires, the electromagnetic spectrum and strategic mobility. The JAIC, he said, is working on a cognitive assistant to deliver commanders relevant data from the hoards of information that come from the battlefield to quicken decision-making. But he added that the JAIC will expand into other areas of joint all-domain operations. “JADC2 is made up of a bunch of different areas ... including electromagnetic spectrum, how do we move forces, how do we target,” Deasy said. “But right now it's all about how do you take streams of information and allow the machine and human to interact together to make better decisions.” The new chief data officer In June, the DoD announced that former Special Operations Command chief data officer Dave Spirk would become the DoD's new CDO. Deasy told reporters July 30 that Spirk will focus on “strengthening data governance, interoperability, and data protection across the department,” which he went on to describe as a “major effort.” “The chief data officer is on a directed, 90-day listening tour where he is talking to senior leaders in the Pentagon, war fighters and at the combatant commands, industry and academia to assess the overall department's progress,” Deasy said. “At the conclusion of the 90-day tour, Dave will provide a written assessment with a plan of action.” Deasy added that a DoD data strategy will be released “in the coming months.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/it-networks/2020/07/31/pentagon-cio-provides-updates-on-several-it-initiatives/
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7 octobre 2020 | International, Terrestre, Sécurité
Beijing North Vehicle Group Corporation unveils lightweight tracked AFV
Gabriel Dominguez The Beijing North Vehicle Group Corporation, a subsidiary of the China North Industries Group Corporation (Norinco), has released video footage showing a new lightweight tracked armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) reminiscent of the German Army's Wiesel air-transportable vehicle. In a promotional video released on its WeChat page on 1 October, the company showed the small AFV – the designation of which was not disclosed – being test-driven in September by employees in a plateau area at an undisclosed location. Several other larger AFVs of multiple types were also shown in the video undergoing tests at different locations. The video, which was released to mark the 71st anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, shows that the small tracked AFV features four roadwheels per side, a drive sprocket at the front of the hull, a large idler at the rear, and two return rollers supporting the track. https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/beijing-north-vehicle-group-corporation-unveils-lightweight-tracked-afv