20 mars 2023 | International, Terrestre
The country wants new vehicles and weapons to meet capability targets pledged to NATO.
10 novembre 2021 | International, Aérospatial
Spain has no interest in the American F-35 fighter jet and is solely committed to the Future Combat Air System that it is pursuing with France and Germany, a defense spokeswoman told Reuters.
31 janvier 2019 | International, C4ISR
By: Mark Pomerleau U.S. Cyber Command is looking to beef up its main acquisition and capabilities development arm with contractor support. In a Jan. 25 request for information released on the FedBizOpps website, Cyber Command's J9, or advanced concepts and technology directorate, is seeking feedback on a statement of work to provide front office support. The feedback will help craft the eventual requirements. Previously, the J9 was known as the Capabilities Development Group. The CDG had a three-pronged mission: planning and synchronizing capability development for the joint cyber force; developing capabilities in order to reduce risk or meet urgent operational needs; and maintaining the command's technical baseline. It was established in 2016 to coordinate, integrate and prioritize cyber tool development and delivery efforts across the services given the joint nature of cyberspace and the need to enable greater synergy across the joint cyber mission force. CDG was recently redesignated as the J9. This was done to clarify its goals and mission and to better align with Joint Staff and other unified combatant commands — all of which have J9s — a Cyber Command spokesman told Fifth Domain. Cyber Command, stood up in 2009, itself was elevated to a full unified combatant command in May 2018. As the command is looking to scale up its operations and its capabilities, it is going to need a more robust staff. Experts have noted that the CDG, now J9, has been very stressed over the past few years with a limited staff and burdened by developing tools for current operational needs — namely the fight against ISIS, called Joint Task Force-Ares. Cyber Command's top acquisition official, Stephen Schanberger, said as recently as September 2018 that the command is in its infancy from an acquisition perspective, adding that the command at the time had one contracting officer, one specialist and a couple of contractors aside from himself in the contracting shop. He did say he expected those numbers to double in the next three months at the time. Congress granted Cyber Command limited acquisition authority in 2016 following the model of Special Operations Command. It capped acquisition funds at $75 million, sunsetting in 2021. The thinking at the time, according to congressional staff, was to take a crawl, walk, run approach and see if the command could demonstrate it could properly exercises its limited authority. Schanberger said they want the command to show Congress it can use the authority in the way it's supposed to and start to stand up the backbone of a contracting organization. This includes being able to put together solicitation packages, plan contracting strategy for years ahead and be able to effectively implement and put out proposals and award them without making a mess. Schanberger added in September that the command wants a ceiling of $250 million and a sunset of 2025. In the recent request for information, Cyber Command is seeking a full range of program support, policy support and advisory and assistance services to support the needs of the J9 executive front office, which will assist in long-range planning, development of strategic communications, review of policies and procedures, recommending documentation and policy updates, consulting and reporting. A few of the specific tasks the document asks contractors to perform include: J9 strategy and policy — Contractors should help with interagency coordination, drafting policy, doctrine and concepts, provide long term planning strategy to support the growth and evolution of the command to include manpower, workforce structure, fiscal and acquisition expertise. Strategic coordination support — Contractors should work to communicate key command messages, supporting development topics to build awareness of overall cyber goals and objectives and managing logistics for events. Legislative preparation. https://www.fifthdomain.com/dod/cybercom/2019/01/30/what-do-cyber-commands-acquisition-requests-reveal
1 avril 2020 | International, Aérospatial
By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — The Air Force on Monday logged another critical technical flaw for the KC-46 tanker, this time revolving around excessive fuel leaks. Under its contract with the service, KC-46 manufacturer Boeing is responsible for paying for a fix to the problem, Air Force spokeswoman Capt. Cara Bousie said in a statement. “The Air Force and Boeing are working together to determine the root cause and implement corrective actions,” she said. “The KC-46 program office continues to monitor the entire KC-46 fleet and is enhancing acceptance testing of the fuel system to identify potential leaks at the factory where they can be repaired prior to delivery.” The problem was first discovered in July 2019, but the Air Force did not say why the issue had been escalated to Category 1 status — the designation given to problems with a significant impact on operations or safety. The service also did not immediately comment on questions about what sort of receiver aircraft were most involved with the deficiency or the severity of the problem. A Boeing spokesman said that the Air Force had discovered 16 aircraft in need of repair, and that seven have already been fixed. “The KC-46 fuel system is equipped with redundant protection for fuel containment. In some cases with this issue, aircraft maintenance crews are finding fuel between the primary and secondary fuel protection barriers within the system,” the company said in a statement. Boeing is working with “utmost urgency” to address the problem and implement a fix to the remaining aircraft, the statement said. A Boeing spokesman added it would take about 10 days to retrofit each aircraft at the rapid response depot facility in San Antonio, Texas. The fix was also being incorporated into production line in Everett, Wash., which is currently undergoing a temporary suspension due to COVID-19. The latest Category 1 deficiency brings the total up to four: The tanker's remote vision system or RVS — the camera system that allows KC-46 boom operators to steer the boom into a receiver aircraft without having to look out a window and use visual cues — provides imagery in certain lighting conditions that appears warped or misleading. Boeing has agreed to pay for potentially extensive hardware and software fixes, but the Air Force believes it will system won't be fully functional until 2023-2024. The Air Force has recorded instances of the boom scraping against the airframe of receiver aircraft. Boeing and the Air Force believe this problem is a symptom of the RVS's acuity problems and will be eliminated once the camera system is fixed. Boeing must redesign the boom to accommodate the A-10, which currently does not generate the thrust necessary to push into the boom for refueling. This problem is a requirements change by the Air Force, which approved Boeing's design in 2016. Last year, Boeing received a $55.5 million contract to begin work on the new boom actuator. Boeing's fixed-priced firm contract for the development of the KC-46 has a $4.9 billion ceiling that leaves the company responsible for any expenses billed in excess of that amount. So far, the company has paid more than $3.5 billion of its own money to fund corrections to ongoing technical issues. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2020/03/31/the-air-forces-kc-46-tanker-has-another-serious-technical-deficiency-and-boeing-is-stuck-paying-for-it/