Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - January 13, 2020

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  7 mars 2023 | International, C4ISR

  Northrop Grumman Selected to Enhance Networks for US Air Force

  Northrop Grumman connected previously incompatible links and networks using an Open Mission Systems compliant radio, Resilient Network Controller, machine learning algorithms and gateway technology

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  23 juin 2020 | International, Naval

  With challenges aplenty, Europe’s navies are coming to grips with high-end warfare

  By: David B. Larter WASHINGTON — The former head of the U.S. Navy said in June testimony that as the service grapples with establishing the right type of force, it must account for the degraded capabilities of its allies, hinting at the once substantial Cold War-era European navies. “In my mind [there's] been an over-fixation on the total number of ships as opposed to the nuance numbers of specific types of ships that support viable operational plans,” retired Adm. Gary Roughead, former chief of naval operations, said before the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee. “There's also the need to understand just how small our allied navies have become, and in the past we have always looked to our allies to support us, but those navies are extraordinarily small.” NATO has for years counted on the U.S. Navy as the centerpiece of its maritime forces, with the individual European navies serving as augmenting and supporting forces. And in the post-Cold War era, Europe's navies have focused on low-end missions like counterterrorism and counter-piracy. And that has led to a precipitous decline in naval power available to surge in the event of a high-end conflict. In a 2017 study, the Center for a New American Security found that Europe's combat power at sea was about half of what it was during the height of the Cold War. “Atlantic-facing members of NATO now possess far fewer frigates — the premier class of surface vessels designated to conduct [anti-submarine warfare] ASW operations — than they did 20 years ago,” the study found. Where they collectively had about 100 frigates in 1995, that number hovers at 51 today. “Similarly, these nations had, in 1995, 145 attack submarines — those dedicated to anti-shipping and anti-submarine warfare missions — but that number has plummeted to a present low of 84,” the study found. But with the U.S. increasingly focused on Asia and amid tension within the alliance, Europe is coming to grips with the need to grow its forces and regain high-end capabilities it once had — a realization that also grew out of Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. “Throughout the 1990s, the focus was low-end missions: counter-piracy, counterterrorism, migration, search and rescue,” said Sebastian Bruns, head of the Center for Maritime Strategy and Security in Kiel, Germany. “And they did so with the legacy platforms of the 1980s and 1990s. You know, sending an ASW frigate to fight piracy, well that's not a lot of bang for your buck. “But 2014, that's really the turnaround. I can't think of any European nation that's not on board with modernizing and growing their navies. But the long-lead times and having to replace the legacy units, it just takes a damned long time to turn the ship around.” But an unfortunate side effect of the long-lead times involved in force design — sometimes a decade or more — is that pre-2014 ship designs that are coming into service now are ill-suited for the high-end fight, Bruns said. The prime example of this mission mismatch is Germany's 7,200-ton Baden-Württemberg-class frigate. It began entering service in 2019, but is designed for low-end operations. “They were designed in the 2000s — they even call it a ‘stabilization frigate' — and they're coming online at a time where the German Navy needs them for presence, but they don't have the kind of teeth you'd expect for a 7,000-ton frigate,” Bruns said. “They're really capable for presence and maritime security operations, but of course that's not so much the world we live in anymore.” But new, more advanced frigates are starting to filter into the market. For example, in 2017, France's Naval Group launched a five-hull intermediate air defense frigate program designed to intercept air threats with the Aster 15 and Aster 30 missiles. And in January, the German Navy announced it had hired Dutch shipbuilder Damen to build at least four new MKS 180 frigates — a 9,000-ton ship designed to operate in waters with ice formations in a nod to the renewed competition in the Arctic. Payloads over platforms It's not just new frigate designs that show Europe gradually upping its game. Similar to the track the U.S. Navy has taken in fielding the Naval Strike Missile on its littoral combat ships and the Marine Corps' approach to fielding it as a shore battery, European navies have begun to upgrade their ships' systems in preparation for a high-end fight, said Jeremy Stöhs, a naval analyst who authored the book “Decline of European Naval Forces.” “What we see now is since 2014 the focus is much more on sea control, lines of communication, territorial defense,” Stöhs said. “But because of the long-lead times, it is not just the ships they're building; it's the sensor suites, midlife upgrades, focusing again on sea-denial capabilities.” Countries like the Black Sea and Scandinavian states are investing in anti-ship missiles and shore-based missile systems, he added, whereas a lot of those weapons were disbanded in the 1990s. In 2016, for example, Sweden announced it was fielding coastal batteries with Saab's RBS-15 anti-ship missile to defend its Baltic coast for the first time since 2000. The Franco-British Sea Venom anti-ship missile is being designed to launch from a helicopter such as the U.K.'s Wildcat. It recently passed its first firing trial. The missile is currently designed for small, fast-moving vessels up to Corvette-sized warships. In the Netherlands, the government announced in 2018 that their De Zeven Provinciën-class frigates would be ditching the venerable Harpoon missile for a new, more advanced surface-to-surface missile by 2024. Evolving threat, evolving politics Europe's evolution toward more high-end naval battles in many ways mirrors the United States' own pivot away from wars in the Middle East and Asia. But it's also informed by changing politics. “I'm seeing European navies pivot back to the basics: How do we handle the GIUK [Greenland, Iceland and the United Kingdom] gap? How do we patrol the North Atlantic? Anti-submarine warfare, convoy escort, anti-surface warfare: They are starting to come back to that,” said Jerry Hendrix, an analyst with Telemus Group and a retired Navy captain. “And as you are starting to see the new heavy German designs, they're coming back to focusing on a maritime challenger.” But with this evolution has come a realization of Europe's shortcomings and just how dependent those navies have been on the U.S. for some core capabilities. “They're starting to think about a naval force without the US present,” Hendrix said. “[German Chancellor] Angela Merkel has talked about the need for Europe to start thinking about going its own way. And by the way, I don't think that's a bad thing. I do see the interests on the continent and the U.S. going in different directions.” But a European naval construct without the U.S. would prove challenging, as many countries based their investments on the idea of a shared responsibility, with the U.S. as the main high-end capability provider, said Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at The Hudson Institute. “NATO, in theory, still has the NATO strategic concept where different countries were going to specialize in different capabilities, which led to the Finns and Swedes really embracing amphibious capabilities for small-scale, special operations forces insertion. The Brits and Italians focused on ASW. But without the U.S. acting as the strategic centerpiece, the strategic concept starts to fall apart. “The concept assumes you have someone that has a multimission capability that you can augment, as opposed to: ‘We're going to pull all this together without the U.S. from a bunch of disparate countries with disparate capabilities.' ” That situation means any NATO action with just European nations would need a lot of participation, he said. “Before, if you had just the U.S. and three or four nations participating, you'd have a pretty robust, multimission capability” Clark said. “But without the U.S., you'd need half the alliance to contribute so as to not miss out on key mission areas.” And without the robust U.S. logistics system, countries would have to replace not just the high-end weapons and sensors, but much of the support infrastructure as well. That could mean even more downward pressure on how much capability Europe can bring to bear. “If you have to expend weapons or do extensive resupply or refueling, the whole model starts to break down,” Clark added. “The way the European navies are structured, they don't have this end-to-end capability to deliver on all the support missions as well. “So if they have to invest in a significant combat logistics force, with budgets for defense being limited, that's going to mean their navies will potentially become even smaller.” https://www.defensenews.com/smr/transatlantic-partnerships/2020/06/22/with-challenges-aplenty-europes-navies-are-coming-to-grips-with-high-end-warfare/

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  25 octobre 2018 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - October 24, 2018

  DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Honeywell International Inc., Phoenix, Arizona, has been awarded an estimated $1,036,726,575 firm-fixed-price requirements contract for support of the following platforms: Ground Start Carts, C-130 Auxiliary Power Units (APU), B-2 APU, F-15 components, A-10 APU, E-3 APU, B-1 APU and F-16 turbine power units. 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 three-year, six-month base contract with one three-year option, and one three-year and six-month option period. Using military service is Air Force. Location of performance is Utah, with a July 31, 2028, performance completion date. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2029 Air Force working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPRPA1-18-D-001U). NAVY Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Connecticut, is awarded a $717,410,825 firm-fixed-priced, performance-based logistics requirements contract for logistics and repair support for 98 components in support of CH-53 and MH-53 aircraft weapon replaceable assembly components and their related shop replaceable assembly components. This contract includes a 50-month base period with no options. Work will be performed in Stratford, Connecticut (75 percent); and Cherry Point, North Carolina (25 percent). Work is expected to be completed by December 2022. Working capital (Navy) funds in the amount of $142,662,162 will be issued for delivery order (N00383-19-F-0U00) that will be awarded concurrently with the contract. Fiscal 2018-2022 working capital (Navy) funds will be obligated to fund delivery orders as they are issued, and funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One source was solicited for this non-competitive requirement pursuant to the authority set forth in 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1, with one offer received. Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity (N00383-19-D-U001). Canadian Commercial Corp., Ontario, Canada, is awarded a $27,673,372 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity single-award contract for the Mk 200 Mod 0 Propelling Charge. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of the contract to $74,920,000. This contract involves foreign military sales to Australia and India. Work will be performed by General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems in Quebec, Canada, and is expected to be completed by November 2019. Fiscal 2018 procurement of ammunition (Navy and Marine Corps) funding in the amount of $15,001,914; fiscal 2019 procurement of ammunition (Navy and Marine Corps) funding in the amount of $7,337,384; and foreign military sales (Australia) funding in the amount of $5,334,074 will be obligated on the first delivery order at time of award and will not 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, Indian Head Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division, Indian Head, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00174-19-D-0002). Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Charlottesville, Virginia, is awarded an $18,118,858 firm-fixed-price contract to provide common Integrated Bridge and Navigation Systems (IBNS) for the DDG-51 New Construction Ship Program and DDG-51 Midlife Modernization Program. The IBNS is a hull, mechanical and electrical upgrade and part of the comprehensive plan to modernize the DDG-51 class to ensure the ships remain combat relevant and affordable throughout their life. This contract will serve as the base hardware production contract for IBNS systems. The contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value to $163,963,639. Work will be performed in Charlottesville, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by February 2020. Fiscal 2018 other procurement (Navy); and fiscal 2018 and 2016 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the total amount of $18,118,858 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with one offer received. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N00024-19-C-4101). AIR FORCE KIRA Training Services LLC, Boulder, Colorado, has been awarded a $221,379,030 firm-fixed-price contract for civil engineering services. This contract provides for engineering services, installation management services, facilities/infrastructure maintenance and repair services, emergency management services, and housing management services. Work will be performed at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado, and is expected to be completed by Nov. 30, 2025. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition with 12 proposals received. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $100,134 will be obligated on Oct. 1, 2018. The 10th Contracting Squadron, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado, is the contracting activity (FA7000-19-C-0001). United Launch Services, Centennial, Colorado, has been awarded a $152,429,417 firm-fixed-price contract for Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Delta IV heavy launch services. This contract provides launch vehicle production services for National Reconnaissance Office Launch Mission One. Work will be performed in Centennial, Colorado; and Decatur, Alabama, and the launch will occur in Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida; or Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The work is expected to be completed by June 30, 2021. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2018 missile procurement funds in the amount of $152,429,417 are being obligated at the time of award. Space and Missile Systems Center Los Angeles Air Force Station, California, is the contracting activity (FA8811-19-C-0002). L3 Technologies Inc., Salt Lake City, Utah, has been awarded a $55,382,155 firm-fixed-price, cost-plus fixed-fee, cost-reimbursable contract for the Organic Depot Activation of the MQ-9 communications and data link parts at Tobyhanna Army Depot, Pennsylvania; and Warner-Robins Air Logistics Complex, Georgia. Work will be performed at Tobyhanna Army Depot and Warner-Robins Air Logistics Complex, and is expected to be completed by Oct 21, 2021. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2017 and 2018 aircraft procurement funds in the amount of $44,425,521 are being obligated at time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8620-19-C-2008). DynCorp International LLC, McLean, Virginia, has been awarded a $22,500,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Egypt personnel support services. This contract provides for housing, transportation, security, vehicles and labor to support defense contractor employees and department of defense employees. Work will be performed in Egypt and is expected to be completed by Sept. 24, 2023. This contract involves foreign military sales (FMS) to Egypt and is the result of a sole-source acquisition. FMS funds in the amount of $2,742,237 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8630-19-D-5016). TF Powers Construction Co., Fargo, North Dakota, has been awarded a $12,374,000 firm-fixed-price contract for construction services. Contractor will provide all plant, labor, materials, equipment, supplies and supervision necessary for the construction and renovation of building 541 for the Ground Segment Modernization Program: to replace building systems and construct server rooms, offices, auditoriums and conference rooms, a mission control/operation center, remote equipment control rooms, and substantial communications infrastructure all built to security standards. Work will be performed at Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 12, 2019. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and four offers received. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $12,374,000 are being obligated at the time of award. The 319th Contracting Flight, Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota, is the contracting activity (FA4659-19-C-C001). ARMY HDR Engineering, Omaha, Nebraska (W912UM-19-D-0001); Jacobs Government Services Co., Pasadena (W912UM-19-D-0002); Stanley-WSP JV, Muscatine, Iowa (W912UM-19-D-0003); Tetra Tech Inc., Marlborough, Massachusetts (W912UM-19-D-0004); and Thomas J. Davis Inc.,* Seguin, Texas (W912UM-19-D-0005), will compete for each order of the $100,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for architect and engineer services. Bids were solicited via the internet with 10 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 23, 2023. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seoul, Republic of Korea, is the contracting activity. Norfolk Dredging Co., Chesapeake, Virginia, was awarded a $13,501,500 firm-fixed-price contract for maintenance dredging of the Delaware River. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in New Castle, Delaware, with an estimated completion date of March 13, 2019. Fiscal 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $13,501,500 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity (W912BU-19-C-0002). West Consultants Inc.,* San Diego, California (W912BV-19-D-0001); and Halff Associates Inc., Fort Worth, Texas (W912BV-19-D-0002), will compete for each order of the $8,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for engineering, design, and construction phase services for hydrologic and hydraulic engineering, design, modeling and manual development services. Bids were solicited via the internet with six received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 21, 2021. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa Oklahoma, is the contracting activity. *Small Business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1671864/