29 juillet 2024 | International, C4ISR, Sécurité
25 novembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
NAVY
BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair, Norfolk, Virginia, was awarded a $197,452,828, firm-fixed-price contract for the execution of the USS Wasp (LHD 1) fiscal 2021 Chief of Naval Operations scheduled docking selected restricted availability. This availability will include a combination of maintenance, modernization and repair of USS Wasp (LHD 1). This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value to $237,765,941. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by May 2022. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) (97.2%); and fiscal 2021 other procurement (Navy) (2.8%) funding in the amount of $197,452,828 will be obligated at contract award, of which funding in the amount of $191,836,933 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured using full and open competition via the Federal Business Opportunities website with one offer received in response to Solicitation No. N00024-20-R-4404. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-21-C-4404). (Awarded Nov. 20, 2020)
Auxiliary Systems Inc.,* Norfolk, Virginia, is awarded a maximum dollar value $35,423,320 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide alternating current/direct current motors and motor generator sets repair. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia, and is expected to be complete by November 2021 and if options are exercised, work will be completed by November 2025. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $12,000 ($12,000 minimum guarantee per contract) will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This single award contract was procured as a small business set-aside via the beta.sam.gov website with two offers received. The Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N50054-21-D-0001).
Bell Boeing Joint Project Office, Amarillo, Texas, is awarded a $12,861,992 modification (P00004) to cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price order N00019-20-F-0315 against previously issued basic ordering agreement N00019-17-G-0002. This modification exercises options to modify the V-22 aircraft to the government of Japan's unique configuration requirements. Additionally, the modification exercises options for the production and delivery of nine traffic collision avoidance systems, technical support representation and preservation of aircraft post completion of unique modifications. Work will be performed in Stennis, Mississippi (75%); Ridley Park, Pennsylvania (15%); Fort Worth, Texas (5%); and Tokyo, Japan (5%), and is expected to be completed in August 2024. Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $12,861,992 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
Pacific Federal Management Inc.,* Tumon, Guam, is awarded a $10,366,798 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity modification for the exercise of Option Number One for base operating support services at Naval Base (NB) Guam and Naval Support Activity (NSA) Andersen. The work to be performed provides for all labor, supervision, management, tools, material, equipment, facilities, transportation and incidental engineering and other items necessary to accomplish all work to perform ground maintenance and tree trimming services for U.S. military facilities on Guam and NSA Andersen at various locations on Guam, Marianas Islands. After award of this option, the total cumulative contract value will be $19,783,731. Work will be performed in the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Marianas area of operations, including but not limited to, NB Guam (70%); and NSA Andersen, Guam (30%). This option period is from December 2020 to November 2021. No funds will be obligated at time of award. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (O&M) (Navy); and fiscal 2021 O&M (family housing) in the amount of $7,945,193 for recurring work will be obligated on individual task orders issued during the option period. NAVFAC Marianas, Guam, is the contracting activity (N40192-20-D-9000).
IAP Worldwide Services Inc., Cape Canaveral, Florida, is awarded a $9,112,276 recurring/non-recurring services type modification for base operating services at Naval Support Activity Annapolis. The work to be performed provides for all management, supervision, labor hours, training, equipment and supplies necessary to perform base operating services to include, but not limited to, facility investment, service calls, pest control, operation of utility plants, refuse collection, special events and snow and ice removal. Work will be performed in Annapolis, Maryland, with the contract period of Dec. 1, 2020, to Feb. 28, 2021. No funds will be obligated at time of modification award. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance in the amount of $5,833,247 for recurring work will be obligated on individual task orders issued during the contract period. The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Washington, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N40080-20-D-0500).
ARMY
FLIR Unmanned Ground Systems Inc., Chelmsford, Massachusetts, was awarded a $30,100,000 modification (P00007) to contract W56HZV-19-D-0031 for reset, sustainment, maintenance and recap parts to support the overall sustainment actions of the entire FLIR Unmanned Ground Systems family of small, medium and large robots. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 23, 2020. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity.
Norfolk Dredging Co., Chesapeake, Virginia, was awarded a $20,490,500 firm-fixed-price contract to remove dredging material from the Delaware River. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Bellafonte, Delaware, with an estimated completion date of March 22, 2021. Fiscal 2010 civil construction funds in the amount of $20,490,500 were obligated at the time of the award. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity (W912BU-21-C-0007).
AIR FORCE
Busek Co. Inc., Natick, Massachusetts, has been awarded a $20,335,186 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for development of a 1-2 kW Hall Thruster system for a near-term space experiment. This contract provides a contract vehicle the Air Force Research Laboratory, Aerospace Systems and Space Propulsion Division can use to address technical needs for next-generation strategic, tactical and spacecraft propulsion systems. Work will be performed in Natick, Massachusetts, and is expected to be completed Nov. 25, 2023. Fiscal 2021 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $2,559,980 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Test Center, Edwards Air Force Base, California, is the contracting activity (FA9300-21-C-6001).
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Epic Aviation LLC, Salem, Oregon, has been awarded a maximum $11,263,200 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract for jet fuel. This was a competitive acquisition with three responses received. This is an 18-month base contract with one six-month option period. Locations of performance are California and Oregon, with a May 31, 2022, performance completion date. Using customer is Air National Guard. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2022 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia (SPE605-21-D-4527).
*Small business
https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2427044/source/GovDelivery/
29 juillet 2024 | International, C4ISR, Sécurité
14 juin 2023 | International, Naval
Sophisticated tanks and fighter jets are important to shift the balance of power in Ukraine. But water is equally critical.
2 juillet 2019 | International, Sécurité, Autre défense
By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — Production of a component vital to protecting American troops from chemical attacks that can't keep up with need. Key suppliers of aircraft parts that could go bankrupt at any time. A key producer of missile components that closed for two years before the Pentagon found out. These are just some of the key findings of an annual report from the Pentagon judging the greatest risks to the defense industrial sector, underlining that while the overall defense industry continues to bring in massive profits, not all is well among the suppliers of key components that, while small pieces of larger systems, could impact America's ability to wage war. The annual “Industrial Capabilities” report, quietly released May 13 by the Defense Department's Office of Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy, found that despite total dollars spent by the department on weapons and ammunition increasing year over year since 2016, the number of vendors supplying them has decreased. In addition, while the report found generally positive trends for the U.S. defense sector, it did warn that in certain areas, foreign weapon sales are decreasing. For instance, the U.S. saw its market share of global naval weapon exports go from 63 percent in 2007 to just 17 percent in 2017. And from 2008-2017, two reliable buyers of U.S. defense goods — Pakistan and South Korea — saw their U.S. procurement percentages drop. Pakistan went from 31 percent to 12 percent, while South Korea went from 78 percent to 53 percent. This is the first Industrial Capabilities report to be published since the October release of a White House-mandated study on the defense-industrial base. That study concluded, in part, that the government needs to increase use of its Defense Production Act Title III authorities, which allows the government to expend funds to support key production lines that might now otherwise survive. The latest report says that through March 2019, seven presidential determinations were issued to address “key industrial base shortfalls in lithium sea-water batteries, alane fuel cell technology, sonobuoys production, and critical chemicals production for missiles and munitions.” However, details of those agreements, such as how much funding might go toward fixing the issues, were pushed into a nonpublic appendix. Here are the biggest concerns, broken down by sector: Aircraft: The report cites long product and system development timelines, high costs for development and qualification, and limits on production as broad issues in the aircraft sector. Those issues are inherent in major defense programs, but the report also calls out the aging workforce and consolidation among the industrial base, which “has expanded into the sub-tiers of the supply chain, creating additional risks for single or sole source vendors.” As an example, the report notes there are only four suppliers with the ability to manufacture “large, complex, single-pour aluminum and magnesium sand castings” needed to make key parts of military aircraft. These four suppliers face “perpetual financial risk and experience bankruptcy threats” due to the insecure nature of Pentagon funding. “The single qualified source for the upper, intermediate, and sump housing for a heavy-lift platform for the Marines has experienced quality issues and recently went through bankruptcy proceedings,” the report adds. “Without a qualified or alternate qualified source for these castings, the program will face delays, impeding the U.S. ability to field heavy-lift support to Marine Corps expeditionary forces.” Finding qualified software engineers is another issue identified, with the report warning it is “increasingly difficult to hire skilled, cleared, and capable software engineers. As aircraft continue to increase in software complexity, it will become even more important for the sector to hire skilled software engineers.” Ground systems: The report says the Pentagon's plan of incremental updates to existing systems rather than wholesale new designs has created “a generation of engineers and scientists that lack experience in conceiving, designing, and constructing new, technologically advanced combat vehicles.” But the same issues of consolidation and lack of budget stability that showed up in the aircraft sector impact the ground vehicle sector. “Legislation and DoD industrial policy requires DoD to manufacture all large-caliber gun barrels, howitzer barrels, and mortar tubes at one organic DoD arsenal,” the report cites as an example. “There is only one production line at the arsenal for all of these items, and policy modifications to meet demand and surge from overseas have led to a lack of capacity to meet current production requirements.” Shipbuilding sector: When it comes to maritime vessels, the “most significant risks found were a dependence on single and sole source suppliers, capacity shortfalls, a lack of competition, a lack of workforce skills, and unstable demand,” the report found. The lack of competition goes from the highest levels, where four companies control the seven shipyards building military vessels, to the lowest components, such as “high-voltage cable, propulsor raw material, valves, and fittings.” Workforce concerns also dominate the shipbuilding sector. The report cites statistics from the Department of Labor predicting that between 2018 and 2026, there will be a 6–17 percent decrease in U.S. jobs in occupations critical to Navy shipbuilding projects, “such as metal layout (ship-fitting), welding, and casting.” If that is not addressed, a lack of skilled workers “will significantly impact the shipbuilding industry's ability to meet the Navy's long-term demand.” Munitions sector: A major concern in last year's annual report was the future of the U.S. munitions sector, and many of those issues remain in the 2019 version. The report identified “multiple risks and issues, including material obsolescence and lack of redundant capability, lack of visibility into sub-tier suppliers causing delays in the notification of issues, loss of design and production skill, production gaps and lack of surge capacity planning, and aging infrastructure to manufacture and test the products.” As an example, the report points to a voltage control switch, used in ignition devices and flight termination systems for Department of Defense missiles. Several years ago, the foundry that made a key component for the switch was purchased by another foundry, which then decided to close the factory. The Pentagon was not informed until two years after the foundry was closed, at which point “it became evident that the end-of-life buy, which was designed to last from three to five years, would only last six months.” In another case, two key chemicals in solid-fuel rocket motors became obsolete, requiring the DoD to scramble for potential replacements. Chemical, biological and radiological sector: The chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense sector provides protection for war fighters through items like respirators, masks and vaccines. But the report found serious issues regarding the industrial base's ability to provide that capabilities, indicating that Title III authorities might be needed in the near future to maintain production. As an example, the report points to production of ASZM‑TEDA1 impregnated carbon, a defense-unique material with only a single qualified source that, as a result, “precludes assurances for best quality and price.” The carbon is used in 72 chemical, biological and nuclear filtration systems, and the report notes that current sourcing arrangements “cannot keep pace with demand.” The DoD is already using Title III to modernize the production line and try to establish a second source for the material. Soldier systems: The collapse of the American textile market over the last three decades has left the department depending on single sources or foreign suppliers for soldier systems. Additionally, battery production is identified as a potential future issue. “Lack of stable production orders has resulted in lost capability and capacity, increased surge lead times, workforce erosion, and inhibited investments by remaining suppliers. Surge-capacity-limiting constraints occur at several points along the value chain, from raw material to final battery assembly,” the report says. Space systems: Aside from major issues around future threats to space assets from near-peer competitors, the report identifies major industrial base concerns for space as including “aerospace structures and fibers, radiation-hardened microelectronics, radiation test and qualification facilities, and satellite components and assemblies.” Other areas include solar panel development — “There is not enough space business for companies to justify R&D to improve cells without [government] help,” the report says — the erosion of the traveling-wave tube industry, and a lack of suppliers for key parts needed to produce precision gyroscopes needed for spacefaring systems. Electronics: The Pentagon has been sounding the alarm about China's growing power in the printed circuit board market, and this report continues that trend. The United States now accounts for only 5 percent of global production, representing a 70 percent decrease from $10 billion in 2000 to $3 billion in 2015, per the report. Meanwhile, almost half of global production comes from China. https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2019/06/27/here-are-the-biggest-weaknesses-in-americas-defense-sector/