14 septembre 2023 | International, Terrestre
US State Department approves South Korea to buy 25 more F-35A jets
The potential deal is estimated to be worth more than $5 billion.
8 septembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
DEFENSE HEALTH AGENCY
International SOS Government Services Inc., Trevose, Pennsylvania, was awarded a $960,362,689 single-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, fixed-price task order contract for health care support services by the Defense Health Agency (DHA). This contract supports the TRICARE Overseas Program (TOP) by supplementing the healthcare capabilities and capacities of overseas military treatment facilities and provides healthcare in remote overseas locations. This was a full and open competitive acquisition. The TOP contract is for $19,803,735 operations and maintenance funds for a base year (transition-in) and seven one-year option periods. It provides a wide range of health care support services for TRICARE eligible beneficiaries outside the U.S. and Washington, D.C. The performance completion date is Aug. 31, 2028. The DHA Managed Care Contracting Division, Aurora, Colorado, is the contracting activity (HT9402-20-D-0002). (Awarded Aug 31, 2020)
NAVY
Raytheon Technologies Corp., Pratt and Whitney Military Engines, East Hartford, Connecticut, is awarded a $579,837,316 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, which includes $146,269,941 firm-fixed-price undefinitized line items and $433,567,375 firm-fixed-price, fixed-price-incentive-firm-target, cost-plus-fixed-fee definitized line items. This contract provides unit and depot level F-135 propulsion system spare parts, spare engines and modules in support of the F-135 propulsion initial spares requirements for the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, non-Department of Defense participants and Foreign Military Sales customers. Work will be performed in East Hartford, Connecticut (93%); Indianapolis, Indiana (6%); and Bristol, United Kingdom (1%), and is expected to be completed in December 2024. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00019-20-D-0013).
Bell Textron Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $272,161,641 fixed-price-incentive-firm-target contract for the production and delivery of eight UH-1Y and four AH-1Z helicopters for the government of the Czech Republic. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (60%); and Amarillo, Texas (40%), and is expected to be completed in November 2023. Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $272,161,641 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 2304(f)(2)(e). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00019-20-C-0061).
Advex Corp., Hampton, Virginia (N00164-20-D-GW63); Chesapeake Machining and Fabrication, Baltimore, Maryland (N00164-20-D-GW06); Kodiak Manufacturing, Allison, Pennsylvania (N00164-20-D-GW07); and Merrill Technologies Group, Saginaw, Michigan (N00164-20-D-GW08), will compete for each order of the $50,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple award contracts for machining and fabrication requirements in support of the development, maintenance and sustainment of systems, sub-systems, equipment and components. The Platform and Launch Systems Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane, Indiana, in support of the strategic systems program, requires the establishment of multiple award contracts for the purpose of competing machining and fabrication requirements to manufacture new parts, and major overhaul of existing parts for systems in the operation and sustainment phase of their lifecycle. This acquisition provides support for Trident missile launcher subsystems, fire control and guidance subsystems and navigational subsystems. Work locations will be determined by individual task orders and is expected to be complete by September 2025, and if all options are exercised, work is expected to be complete by September 2030. Fiscal 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $19,250 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. These multiple award contracts were set-aside for small business concerns in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(b)(2). The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, Crane, Indiana, is the contracting activity.
MEB General Contractors Inc., Chesapeake, Virginia, is awarded a $43,681,000 firm-fixed-price contract for construction of dry dock flood protection improvements located at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Virginia. The work includes subsurface cutoff wall for construction of cast-in-place concrete flood wall with manual flood gates, utility valve vaults, Dry Dock 1 and 3 caisson gunwale and seal extension and incidental related work in the small dock area of Norfolk Naval Shipyard. Work will be performed in Portsmouth, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by June 2023. Fiscal 2020 military construction contract funds in the amount of $43,681,000 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the beta.SAM.gov website with six proposals received. Naval Facilities Engineering Command Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N40085-20-C-0063).
Huntington Ingalls Inc., Pascagoula, Mississippi (N00024-20-C-6319); Lockheed Martin Corp., Baltimore, Maryland (N00024-20-C-6320); Bollinger Shipyards Lockport LLC, Lockport, Louisiana (N00024-20-C-6316); Marinette Marine Corp., Marinette, Wisconsin (N00024-20-C-6317); Gibbs & Cox Inc., Arlington, Virginia (N0002420C6318); and Austal USA LLC, Mobile, Alabama (N00024-20-C-6315), are each being awarded a firm-fixed price contract for studies of a Large Unmanned Surface Vessel with a combined value across all awards of $41,985,112. Each contract includes an option for engineering support, that if exercised, would bring the cumulative value for all awards to $59,476,146. The contract awarded to Huntington Ingalls Inc. is $7,000,000; the contract awarded to Lockheed Martin Corp. is $6,999,978; the contract awarded to Bollinger Shipyards Lockport LLC, is $6,996,832; the contract awarded to Marinette Marine Corp. is $6,999,783; the contract awarded to Gibbs & Cox Inc. is $6,989,499; and the contract awarded to Austal USA LLC is $6,999,020. Work will be performed in various locations in the contiguous U.S. in accordance with each contract and is expected to be complete by August 2021, and if option(s) are exercised, work is expected to be complete by May 2022. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount $41,985,112 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. These contracts were competitively procured via Federal Business Opportunities (now beta.SAM.gov) with eight offers received. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.
National Steel and Shipbuilding Co., San Diego, California, is awarded a $35,553,202 fixed-price-incentive modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-19-C-2235 to incorporate Engineering Change Proposal H-004, Forward House Habitability Modification in support of Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB) 6 and ESB 7. This Engineering Change Proposal is applicable to ESB 6 and ESB 7 to modify the existing ESB class berthing requirement to support an additional 100 military crewmembers and is deemed essential to Fleet operational requirements planned for this class of ships. Work will be performed in San Diego, California, and is expected to be completed by January 2024. Fiscal 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $18,511,945 (52%); and fiscal 2018 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $17,041,257 (48%), will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Bath, Detachment San Diego, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity.
Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Moorestown, New Jersey, is awarded a $12,529,557 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract N64267-18-C-0132 to exercise options for Aegis design agent field engineering services. The services include test and evaluation, engineering change development, ordnance and ship alterations, modernization engineering, logistics and technical support, ordnance alterations kit development, integration and test support, AN/SPY-1 series radar antenna refurbishment and Coast Guard deep-water program design agent field engineering support. These services are in support of Aegis-equipped guided missile cruisers and destroyers, allied Aegis-equipped ships and Coast Guard Aegis-configured ships. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia (30%); San Diego, California (30%); Yokosuka, Japan (17%); Wallops Island, Virginia (6%); Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (5%); Pascagoula, Mississippi (4%); Port Hueneme, California (4%); and Rota, Spain (4%), and is expected to be completed by September 2021. Fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,566,205 (75%); and fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $272,303 (25%), will be obligated at time of award and $272,303 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division, Port Hueneme, California, is the contracting activity.
Invicta Defense LLC,* Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $8,064,483 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for transportation management and logistic support services at Naval Support Activities Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. The work to be performed provides for all labor, supervision, management, tools, material, equipment, facilities, transportation and other items necessary to accomplish all work to perform transportation management and logistics support services at Naval Support Activities, Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. The maximum dollar value including the base period and one option period is $22,300,325. Work will be performed at Naval Support Activities, Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, and is expected to be completed by June 2022. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (O&M) (Navy); and O&M (Air Force) in the amount of $8,064,483 are obligated on this award. This contract was competitively procured via the beta.sam.gov with five proposals received. Naval Facilities Engineering Command Marianas, Guam, is the contracting activity (N40192-20-D-7040).
ARMY
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was awarded a $70,000,000 cost-no-fee contract to research and develop a new translational research methodology that leverages autonomy and artificial intelligence to minimize time spent on low-impact, high-time activities. Bids were solicited via the internet with 999 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 3, 2025. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W911QX-20-D-0008). (Awarded Sept. 3, 2020)
Goldbelt Frontier LLC,* Alexandria, Virginia, was awarded a $36,828,500 hybrid (firm-fixed-price, time-and-materials) contract for equipment maintenance and repair and administrative, advisory, inventory and training services at U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command/Defense Health Agency. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 4, 2025. U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, Fort Detrick, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W81XWH-20-D-0062).
SLSCO Ltd, Galveston, Texas, was awarded a $29,177,910 modification (P00007) to contract W912PP-19-C-0018 to provide all labor, material and equipment necessary to design and construct approximately 48.4 miles of three-phase power distribution, lighting and all necessary supports, closed circuit, linear ground detection system and electronic equipment shelters. Work will be performed in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 2, 2021. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $29,177,910 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Albuquerque, New Mexico, is the contracting activity.
Lockheed Martin Missile Fire Controls, Grand Prairie, Texas, was awarded a $23,067,054 modification (P00017) to contract W31P4Q-19-C-0101 for the purchase of production parts for the production of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System launchers. Work will be performed in Camden, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 30, 2023. Fiscal 2019 missile procurement (Army) funds; 2020 United States Marine Corp funds; and 2020 Foreign Military Sales (Romania, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Finland) funds in the amount of $23,067,054 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity.
WHH Nisqually-Garco JV 2,* Olympia, Washington, was awarded a $20,217,000 firm-fixed-price contract for construction of a 29,000 square-foot modified tactical equipment maintenance facility. Bids were solicited via the internet with four received. Work will be performed in Yakima, Washington, with an estimated completion date of May 17, 2022. Fiscal 2019 military construction (Army Reserve) funds in the amount of $20,217,000.00 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville, Kentucky, is the contracting activity (W912QR-20-C-0035).
Kokosing Construction Co.; and O'Brien & Gere JV, Fredericktown, Ohio, was awarded a $10,281,100 firm-fixed-price contract to provide 24/7 construction management services that include extensive water treatment management services and dredging material disposal and related services at the Indiana Harbor & Canal Confined Disposal Facility. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2021. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Chicago, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W912P6-16-D-0004).
Technical and Project Engineering LLC,* Alexandria, Virginia, was awarded a $9,221,888 firm-fixed-price contract to provide computer programming support services to Headquarters, Department of the Army; U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command; U.S. Army Special Operations Command; the Office of the Chief of Army Reserve; Army National Guard; and TRADOC Centers of Excellence. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed in Alexandria, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 6, 2024. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $9,221,888 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W91CRB-20-F-0446).
K&K Industries Inc.,* Junction City, Kansas, was awarded an $8,431,214 firm-fixed-price contract for construction of a maintenance storage facility at Whiteman Air Force Base. Bids were solicited via the internet with eight received. Work will be performed at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2021. Fiscal 2020 military construction (defense-wide) funds in the amount of $8,431,214 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City, Missouri, is the contracting activity (W912DQ-20-C-4009).
Huckstep Holdings Corp., doing business as Techwise,* Colorado Springs, Colorado, was awarded a $7,891,131 firm-fixed-price contract to provide air traffic control service for Fort Bliss, Texas. Bids were solicited via the internet with four received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 4, 2025. The 418th Contracting Support Brigade, Fort Bliss, Texas, is the contracting activity (W911SG-20-D-0002).
Triumph Engine Control Systems LLC, West Hartford, Connecticut, was awarded a $7,697,480 firm-fixed-price contract for the overhaul and repair of fuel engine controls for the CH-47 Chinook. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in West Hartford, Connecticut, with an estimated completion date of July 31, 2021. Fiscal 2020 Army working capital funds in the amount of $7,697,480 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-20-F-0556).
Definitive Logic Corp., Arlington, Virginia, was awarded a $7,090,619 modification (P00004) to contract W912HZ-18-F-0339 to provide all personnel, supervision and services necessary to maintain and integrate the Comprehensive Planning Platform. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 3, 2021. Fiscal 2018, 2019 and 2020 operations and maintenance (Air Force) funds in the amount of $7,090,619 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg, Mississippi, is the contracting activity.
AIR FORCE
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Warner Robins, Georgia, has been awarded an estimated $66,851,248 requirements contract for the supply chain management of the AN/ALQ-155, AN/ALQ-161, AN/ALQ-184 and AN/APN-241 systems. This contract provides for repairs, spares and engineering services for the mentioned systems. Work will be performed at Warner Robins, Georgia, and is expected to be completed Sept. 9, 2028. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2020 defense working capital funds are being used and no funds are being obligated at the time of the award. Air Force Sustainment Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity (FA8524-20-D-0012).
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Herndon, Virginia, has been awarded a $33,394,848 cost-plus, award-fee task order under the Ground Subsystems Sustainment contract to definitize an undefinitized contract action issued for Minuteman III general sustainment. Work will be performed in Ogden, Utah, and is expected to be completed Aug. 31, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $4,177,579 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8214-20-F-0082-PZ0001).
Hamilton Sundstrand Corp., Windsor Locks, Connecticut, has been awarded an estimated $24,296,844 firm-fixed-price requirements contract for the repair and overhaul of augmentor fuel control and augmentor fuel pump located on the F100-PW-229 engine. Work will be performed in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, and is expected to be completed Sept. 3, 2025. This contract includes Foreign Military Sales contract line items and is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Air Force Sustainment Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity (FA8121-20-D-0010).
Benham Design, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (FA4419-20-D-0002); and SLA+Cyntergy JV, Wichita Falls, Texas (FA4419-20-D-0003), have collectively been awarded a multiple year $20,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity architect and engineer contract. This contract provides for architect and engineering Services at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma; and Sheppard AFB, Texas. Work is expected to be completed Sept. 3, 2025, and is the result of a competitive acquisition with seven offers received. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the total amount of $57,990 will be obligated at the time of award. The 97th Contracting Flight Altus AFB, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity.
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY
Campbell Oil Co.,* Elizabethtown, North Carolina (SPE605-20-D-8505, $53,178,404); Petroleum Traders Corp.,* Fort Wayne, Indiana (SPE605-20-D-8526, $31,184,840); Brad Hall and Associates Inc.,* Idaho Falls, Idaho (SPE605-20-D-8512, $14,957,834); and Lykins Energy Solutions,* Milford, Ohio (SPE605-20-D-8514, $12,104,624), have each been awarded a minimum fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract under solicitation SPE605-20-R-0028 for various types of fuel. These were competitive acquisitions with 45 responses received. They are five-year contracts with one one-month option period. Locations of performance are Idaho, Ohio, Indiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina and South Carolina, with a Sept. 30, 2025, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, National Guard, Defense Logistics Agency, Department of Defense, National Aeronautics and Space Administration and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2025 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. (Awarded August 31, 2020)
Akorn Inc., Lake Forest, Illinois, has been awarded a maximum $42,080,784 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for numerous pharmaceutical products. This was a competitive acquisition with one response received. This is a one-year base contract with nine one-year option periods. Location of performance is Illinois, with a Sept. 3, 2021, ordering period end date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 defense warstopper funds. The contracting agency is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2D0-20-D-0011).
Airgas Nitrogen Services LLC, Abita Springs, Louisiana, has been awarded a maximum $17,649,805 firm-fixed-price, requirements type contract for gaseous nitrogen. This was a restricted acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(2), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-2. This is a five-month contract with no option periods. Locations of performance are Louisiana and California, with a Jan. 31, 2021, performance completion date. Using customer is Space Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting agency is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy-Aerospace Energy, San Antonio, Texas (SPE601-20-D-1502).
Stonewin LLC,* Miami, Florida, has been awarded a minimum $14,397,083 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract under solicitation SPE605-20-R-0028 for various types of fuel. This was a competitive acquisition with 45 responses received. This is a five-year contract with one six-month option period. Locations of performance are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina and South Carolina, with a Sept. 30, 2025, performance completion date. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, National Guard, Defense Logistics Agency, Department of Defense, National Aeronautics and Space Administration and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through fiscal 2025 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia (SPE605-20-D-8525). (Awarded Sept. 2, 2020)
CORRECTION: The contracts announced on Aug. 28, 2020, for Petro Star, Inc.,* Anchorage, Alaska (SPE605-20-D-4008, $62,088,432); Delta Western LLC, Seattle, Washington (SPE605-20-D-4002, $32,629,727); Crowley Government Services, Jacksonville, Florida (SPE605-20-D-4005, $26,468,885); and Petro 49 Inc.,* doing business as Petro Marine Services, Seward, Alaska (SPE605-20-D-4009, $15,852,473), under solicitation SPE0600-20-R-0222, were announced with an incorrect award date. The correct award date is Aug. 30, 2020.
*Small Business
https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2337845/source/GovDelivery/
14 septembre 2023 | International, Terrestre
The potential deal is estimated to be worth more than $5 billion.
30 août 2018 | International, C4ISR
By: Kelsey Atherton In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Air Force's Global Positioning System was a continuous target. “Every year [as] we went through the budget cycle the United States Air Force ... tried to kill the GPS program,” Gen. John Hyten, now head of U.S. Strategic Command, said during a 2015 speech. “Why would they kill the GPS program? It's really very simple: ‘Why would we need a satellite navigation system when we have perfectly good [inertial navigation system, or] INS for airplanes? Why would we do it?' Nobody could see the future of what GPS was going to bring to the world.” First developed and launched late in the Cold War, GPS made its combat debut in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm and ever since has informed the movements and targeting capabilities of the Department of Defense. More than that, since GPS signals were opened to the commercial world, everything from road trips to finding new restaurants to the entire development of self-driving cars has hinged around accessing the reliable signals, that let machines and people know exactly where they are in time and space. The whole architecture is simultaneously vital and vulnerable and, in the era of a pending Space Force, an unspoken mandate is that it has never been more important that the United States ensure the signal endures. It is the potential risk of losing GPS, and everything else supported by the satellite network, that serves as the foundation for much of the discussion around a new Space Force. For as long as humans have put objects into orbit, space has been a military domain, but one with a curious distinction from other fighting theaters: while land, sea and air have all seen direct armed confrontation, space is instead a storehouse for sensors, where weapons are vanishingly rare and have yet to be used in anger. “Capabilities that we have built that we now take for granted in the Air Force, the whole [remotely piloted aircraft, or RPA] fleet that we fly, is impossible without space,” Hyten said at another speech in 2015. “You cannot have Creech Air Force Base without space because the operators at Creech reach out and talk to their RPAs via satellite links. Those aircraft are guided by GPS. You take away GPS, you take away SATCOM, you take away RPAs. They don't exist anymore. All those things are fundamentally changed in the Air Force.” Looking over the horizon Missiles remain the most effective way for nations to reach out and mess with something in orbit, and so long as GPS satellites cost around $500 million to build and launch, the cost of destroying a satellite will remain cheaper than fielding satellites. There is a double asymmetry here: not only are the satellites that power the GPS network expensive to build and launch, but the United States relies on this network to a far greater extent than any adversary that might decide to shoot those satellites down. This vulnerability is one reason that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is funding development of networks of smaller satellites, which are individually less capable than existing models but are cheaper to field and replace and will deploy in greater numbers, making destruction by missile a much more expensive proposition. Blackjack, the DARPA program that aims to do this, is focused on military communications satellites first, though the approach may have lessons for other satellite functions. “Better distribution, disaggregation and diversity of space capabilities can make them more resilient against attacks,” said Brian Weeden, director of program planning for the Secure World Foundation. “But the specific answer of how best to do that might be different for each capability. The specific techniques to make [position, navigation and timing, or] PNT more resilient may be different than the techniques needed to make satellite communications more resilient.” Missiles are not the only threat faced by satellites in orbit. An April 2018 report by the Secure World Foundation on Global Counterspace Capabilities details the full spectrum of weapons and tools for disrupting objects in orbit, and also the nations and, in some instances, nonstate actors that can field those tools. The nations with counterspace programs highlighted in the report include China, Russia, the United States, Iran, North Korea and India, all of which (barring Iran) are also nuclear-armed nations. Beyond anti-satellite missiles, which only China, Russia and the United States have demonstrated, the other means of messing up a satellite are the familiar bugaboos of modern machines: electronic warfare, jamming and cyberattacks. “The most important thing is that it's not always about the satellites in space. Space capabilities include the satellites, the user terminal/receivers, and the signals being broadcast between them. Disrupting any one of those segments could lead to loss of the capability,” Weeden said. “In many cases, it's far easier to jam a satellite capability rather than destroy the satellite. And, from a military perspective, the end effect is what's important.” A satellite that cannot broadcast or whose signal cannot overcome the strength of a jammer is a satellite that is functionally offline, and the means to disable satellites extend beyond the traditional strengths of near-peer competitors to the United States and down even to nonstate actors. In 2007, the Tamil Tigers reportedly hacked the ground nodes for a commercial satellite and were able to gain control of its broadcasting capabilities, and in 2008 a set of hackers demonstrated they could eavesdrop on supposedly secure Iridium signals. A decade has passed since those demonstrations, but satellite architectures change slowly, in waves of half-a-billion dollar machines launched over time. Should a vulnerability be found on the ground, there's lag time between how long it can be exploited and how long it can be rendered inert. What happens if the GPS signal stutters out of sync with time? Everything about how GPS works is bound up in its ability to precisely and consistently track time. Knowing where something is depends on knowing when something was. Without the entire network of automatic navigation aids they've built their lives around, people will fumble. Consider what happened for 11 hours on Jan. 26, 2016. “The root cause was a bug in the GPS network,” wrote Paul Tullis in Bloomberg. “When the U.S. Air Force, which operates the 31 satellites, decommissioned an older one and zeroed out its database values, it accidentally introduced tiny errors into the database, skewing the numbers. By the time Buckner's inbox started blowing up, several satellites were transmitting bad timing data, running slow by 13.7 millionths of a second.” Tullis goes on to detail the possibility and plans for a redundant ground-based navigation system that could let GPS-dependent functions of commercial machines keep working, even if a satellite slips out of sync. There is an international agreement to eventually make all signals across the Global Navigation Satellite System (GPS, Galileo, etc.) broadcast compatible civil signals. This would improve the redundancy among day-to-day civilian applications dependent upon GPS, but it would do very little for the military signals. “There is no such compatibility between the military signals of the different constellations,” says Weeden. “In fact, during negotiations with the European Union the U.S. demanded that the Galileo protected/military signal be made separate from the GPS military signal. It is possible to create receivers that can pull in the military signals from both GPS and Galileo, but it's not easy to do so securely.” GPS III, which Lockheed Martin is building, will mitigate some of this when those satellites are on orbit: the new hardware is designed with stronger signals that will make them harder to jam, but that will also require new receivers on the ground. While developers are working on making those new receivers, one way to build in redundancy would be to make GPS receivers that can use both Galileo and GPS military signals, suggests Weeden. That's a technical solution that requires at least some political finesse to achieve, but it's one possibility for making existing infrastructure more redundant. “But there are also other ways to get precision timing and navigation other than from GPS, such as better gyroscopes or even using airborne or terrestrial broadcasts of PNT signals,” says Weeden. “These alternatives are probably not going to be as easy to use or have other drawbacks compared to GPS, but they're better than nothing.” Redundant systems or complementary systems provide a safeguard against spoofing, when a navigation system is fed false GPS coordinates in order to reroute it. Big changes in inputs are easy for humans monitoring the system, say a car's navigation or a drone flying by GPS coordinates, to spot, but subtle changes can be accepted as normal, lost as noise, and then lead people or cars or drones into places they did not plan on going. The next generation of threats Protecting the integrity of satellite communications from malicious interference is the centerpiece of a report from the Belfer Center, entitled “Job One for Space Force: Space Asset Cybersecurity.” The report's author, Gregory Falco, outlines broad goals for organizations that manage objects in space, policymakers, as well as a proposed Information Sharing and Analysis Center for space. These include everything from adopting cybersecurity practices like working with security researchers and encrypting communications to setting up a mechanism for organizations to disclose if their satellites suffered interference or hacking. If the security of GPS is suffering from anything, it is less ignorance of the threat and more complacency in the continued durability of the system as currently operating. “Cybersecurity challenges will only become more substantial as technology continues to evolve and attackers will always find the weakest link to penetrate a target system,” writes Falco. “Today, space assets are that weakest link. Space asset organizations must not wait for policy-makers to take action on this issue, as there are several steps that could be taken to secure their systems without policy guidance.” The fourth domain of space is more directly threatened by threats traveling through the fifth domain of cyberspace than anything else. To the extent that space requires a specialized hand, it is managing from the start to the launch the specific vulnerabilities of orbital assets, and the points at which they are controlled from the ground. Perhaps the way to address that specific problem is a Space Force framed around the physical and cybersecurity needs of satellites. Raytheon is the contractor tasked with building GPS OCX, the next-generation operational control system for the satellite network. After years of delay in the program, Block 0 of the OCX deployed in September 2017, putting in place a system that could manage the launch and early orbit management of the new GPS satellites. Besides managing the satellites, the control system has to ensure that only the right people access the controls, and that means extensive cybersecurity. Raytheon says that, together with the Air Force, the company recently completed two cybersecurity assessments, including a simulated attack by an adversary. While Air Force classification prevents Raytheon from disclosing the results of that test, the company's president of intelligence, information and services, Dave Wajsgras, offered this: “We've built a layered defense and implemented all information assurance requirements for the program into this system. We're cognizant that the cyber threat will always change, so we've built GPS OCX to evolve and to make sure it's always operating at this level of protection.” Ideally, this massive job of protecting GPS will fall to the Space Force. “One of the big drivers for the Space Force is improving the space acquisitions process, and another is developing better ways to defend U.S. military satellites against attack,” says Weeden. “So, in that context, the Space Force debate could impact the future of GPS.” Yet many of the answers to vulnerabilities in space are not found in orbit, and it's possible that shifting the full responsibility for signal security to a body built around managing satellites would miss the ways greater signal redundancy can be built in atmospheric or terrestrial systems. The Army and Navy are funding GPS alternatives, but that funding is minuscule by Pentagon standards. “The United States should take smart steps to make its space force more resilient,” writes Paul Scharre of the Center for New American Security, “but the U.S. also needs to be investing in ways to fight without space, given the inherent vulnerabilities in the domain.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/c2-comms/satellites/2018/08/29/what-will-top-the-space-force-to-do-list
31 janvier 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
By: Jill Aitoro SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — Dual-use technology — that is, tech that can be adapted from the commercial market to serve the needs of the military — is core to the U.S. Department of Defense's innovation strategy. But those willing to put money toward big ideas argue it's the wrong approach. “In terms of how to build a startup and how to scale really fast, you can't have two missions,” said Katherine Boyle, an investor with venture capital firm General Catalyst, during a Defense News roundtable in California. “You can't be a 10-person startup saying: ‘OK, we're going to sell to the DoD, but we're also going to sell to these commercial customers, and it's just going to work out magically.'" For the second year in a row, Defense News hosted the roundtable to dig into Pentagon's efforts to engage with the commercial tech community — this year digging into the challenges and opportunities that come with investment in defense development. To the Pentagon, dual-use technology offers an attractive means of drawing new players into the military fold, while also leveraging the more rapid development that happens on the commercial side. But the model is evolving, said Mike Madsen, director of strategic engagement with the government's Silicon Valley outreach hub Defense Innovation Unit. With DoD, “it takes two years to get to a ‘yes,' when a lot of companies need a ‘no' in 30 days because they don't have the capital,” he said. “So we flipped it. Now we start with the DoD problem set and take it out to industry. And we've lowered a lot of the barriers to entry — we negotiate [intellectual property] for each contract, we negotiate auditability, we move quickly. We look to award prototype contracts in 60 to 90 days.” The approach also attempts to rebalance the gradual shift in research and development investments in the last couple of decades. As noted by Tom Foldesi, DIU's commercial engagement director, one-third of worldwide R&D was tied to the Department of Defense in the 1960s. That percentage has since tanked to 3.7 percent. A separate business line allows R&D to continue to iterate to the next generation of technology so the DoD can “go back to the cookie jar” and tap into the technology to solve future problems, Foldesi said. But to Trey Stephens, a partner at venture capital firm Founders Fund and a co-founder and executive chairman of Anduril Industries, the model ensures the large, traditional defense contractors continue to dominate as the small businesses only “dabble in defense.” It also means the DoD won't bear sole responsibility for the economic growth of these small tech startups. “Where I'm not on board is where a traditional defense company is being asked by the government to integrate dual-use capabilities as a way to prevent that oligopoly from being shaken,” he said. “We have to break this oligopoly. We can only do it if we find companies that are willing to own their responsibility for execution on programs.” To be clear, Stephens acknowledged cases where commercial technology companies can be primes. Lawsuit aside, he's “on board” with awarding the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure contract to a commercial business — Microsoft — “because the capability is similar enough.” Microsoft was awarded the Pentagon's JEDI cloud contract, but Amazon Web Services has asked a federal court to block the department and the company from beginning work on the project, according to a Jan. 13 court filing. In terms of new capabilities, Stephens advocates for turning the model on its ear: Enable startups to first development a solution to a problem faced within the DoD, then turn that around and sell it to commercial industries. “The commercial industry is oftentimes looking to the government for aspirational solutions to some of its hardest problems, whereas the inverse doesn't really work,” he said. General Catalyst, which counts The Honest Company, Snapchat and Airbnb among its portfolio of companies, has invested in two pure-play defense companies: Anduril, and Palo Alto machine-learning company Vannevar Labs. The latter is developing a product that would bring natural language-processing technologies to support counterterrorism missions. “We actually think this is a better model,” Boyle said. “If you're scaling rapidly, you have to be very focused on your customer set. And if you're going to have to sacrifice a customer, even if you're a multibillion-dollar company, you're going to sacrifice the one who's moving the slowest. And that's usually the government.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/smr/cultural-clash/2020/01/30/silicon-valley-investors-to-dod-dual-use-tech-is-a-bad-strategy/