Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - January 20, 2021

Sur le même sujet

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  12 mars 2019 | International, Aérospatial

  Air Force offers glimpse of new, stealthy combat drone during first flight

  By: Kyle Rempfer The XQ-58A Valkyrie demonstrator, a long-range, high-subsonic unmanned combat air vehicle, completed its inaugural flight Tuesday at Yuma Proving Grounds, in Arizona. The Air Force's fleet of current drones, such as the MQ-9 Reaper, are basically giant gas bags that fly — able to loiter for long periods above friendly forces in order to provide armed overwatch and intelligence. But the airspace over future battlefields will likely not be permissive, and so new drones will need to be developed. XQ-58A Valkyries were developed under the low-cost attritable aircraft technology program — meaning they're cheap and can be lost in combat without too much concern. The drone and its derivatives are anticipated to perform a range of missions, including suppression of enemy air defenses, offensive and defensive counter-air maneuvers, nap-of-the-earth or terrain masking flight and high-altitude flying. The Valkyrie appears to come with a stealthy, low radar signature design, meaning it may be able to be paired with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in a manned-unmanned configuration. When entering enemy airspace filled with counter-air systems, the Valkyrie could conceivably soak up enemy fire or even attack enemy positions and aircraft. The F-35 has been touted by the Air Force chief of staff as the “quarterback of the joint team," and not simply another stealth aircraft. The fifth-generation fighter is expected to come with a suite of information fusion capabilities, enabling its pilot to process information and coordinate on the battlefield like never before. Full article: https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2019/03/08/air-force-offers-glimpse-of-new-stealthy-combat-drone-during-first-flight

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  11 juin 2018 | International, Aérospatial

  US Navy officially inducts Triton UAV into service

  Gareth Jennings, London - Jane's Navy International The US Navy (USN) has officially commenced operations of its Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton Broad Area Maritime System (BAMS) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), it was announced on 1 June. A ceremony to formally induct the high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) UAV into service with Unmanned Patrol Squadron (VUP)-19 – the navy's first unmanned patrol squadron – was held the previous day at Naval Base Ventura County in Point Mugu, California. VP-19 now has two Triton UAVs, which are housed in specially constructed to facilities designed to accommodate their nearly 40 m wingspans. With this milestone, VP-19 will undertake training and trials ahead of the platform's inaugural overseas deployment, which will be to the Pacific island of Guam later this year. For this and later deployments, the Triton will operate in concert with the manned Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime multimission aircraft. The MQ-4C Triton has been developed from the Block 30 RQ-4N naval variant of the RQ-4 Global Hawk HALE UAV to provide the USN with a persistent maritime intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capability in support of a full range of military operations. Designed for high-altitude, long-endurance ISR tasks, the Triton has a range of about 2,000 n miles and, with an endurance of 24 hours, will be able to cover more than 2.7 million sq miles in a single mission. Its payload primarily comprises the AN/ZPY-3 multifunction active-sensor radar. The USN has established the infrastructure to train its Triton operators at Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville in Florida. Operators undergo training under the supervision of Patrol Squadron (VP) 30 at the 11,600 m2 Integrated Test Center (ITC), which is also used for the training of P-8A Poseidon and P-3 Orion crews. http://www.janes.com/article/80602/us-navy-officially-inducts-triton-uav-into-service

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  21 juin 2019 | International, Terrestre

  Following protest, US Army awards 6th contract for upgunned Stryker design

  By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army has awarded a sixth contract to EOS Defense Systems USA, Inc. to develop a design to integrate a new weapon system on a Stryker combat vehicle. The service originally announced it was awarding contracts to five companies, but following a protest filed by EOS, it reevaluated the company's proposal and determined it too should receive a contract, according to the Stryker project manager, Col. Glenn Dean, who spoke to Defense News in an interview this month. The company protested the Army's original decision through Army Contracting Command; upon review, Dean said, it was learned the proposal had not been “accurately assessed.” The sixth award was made June 5 and posted to the Federal Business Opportunities website. The Army made no follow-up announcement regarding the contract. EOS is an Australian-owned company focused on precise, remote weapon systems. The Army awarded $150,000 contracts to five companies on May 23 under its Stryker Medium Caliber Weapons System (MCWS) lethality program: General Dynamics Land Systems Kollsman, Inc. Leonardo DRS Raytheon Pratt & Miller Engineering and Fabrication, Inc. Defense News first reported in May that the Army had decided — after upgunning some of its Stryker vehicles with a 30mm cannon — that it would proceed to outfit at least three of its six brigades of double V-hull A1 Stryker infantry carrier vehicles with the more powerful guns and would hold a competition to acquire that weapon system. The companies have to come up with integration designs using a government-furnished XM813 gun on a government-furnished Stryker DVH A1 hull. The Army was prepared to award six contracts and had the money to bring EOS into the effort, Dean said. Despite the late award, EOS was able to jump into the effort and participated in contractor training on the Stryker and the 30mm cannon, which took place earlier this month, so the companies could take possession of the government-furnished equipment. The MCWS program will be carried out in two phases, which will culminate in equipping a Stryker DVH A1 brigade in fiscal 2022, according to the Army. As part of the design study, competitors will build a production-representative vehicle. The second phase will be a full and open competition to award a production contract. Draft requests for proposals will be released to industry beginning in fall 2019. The two phases, as well as fielding, are expected to take 39 months total — a short timeline. While the Army plans to initially procure three brigade sets of the Stryker MCWS DVH A1 — a total of 83 vehicles per brigade — the service could procure systems for additional brigades at future decision points, the Army said. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2019/06/20/following-protest-army-awards-6th-contract-for-upgunned-stryker-design/