11 juin 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
By: Joe Gould
WASHINGTON ― The Pentagon is facing billions of dollars in pandemic-related claims, which may force it to dip into modernization and readiness accounts if Congress doesn't backfill the money, the department's top acquisitions official said Wednesday.
Testifying at the House Armed Services Committee, Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord reaffirmed the Pentagon's commitment to request supplemental appropriations from Congress, beyond its fiscal 2021 budget of $740 billion. It's been seven weeks since Department of Defense officials first publicly disclosed a request was coming; that request is currently sitting with the White House Office of Management and Budget.
The defense industry claims are expected to be covered by Section 3610 of the coronavirus relief package, among other provisions, Lord said. To give an idea of the scope, one of the major prime contractors told the DoD it and its suppliers could claim as much as $1 billion.
Under Section 3610, the Pentagon and other agencies can reimburse suppliers for expenses to keep workers employed. Under other provisions, contractors can seek reimbursement for leave and DoD-directed purchases of personal protective equipment, cleaning, and costs associated with spacing out workers in factories.
“The department does not have the funding to cover these costs,” Lord said, which she later said were “in the lower end” of “double-digit billions of dollars.”
Lord affirmed the Defense Department would need Congress to pass supplemental appropriations beyond its fiscal 2021 budget during an exchange with HASC ranking member Mac Thornberry, R-Texas.
“Otherwise these contractors are going to have to eat several billion dollars, which could well come at their employees' expense, which this was supposed to help to begin with,” Thornberry noted.
“There's a choice there,” Lord said. “Whether we want to eat into readiness and modernization ― and slow down modernization or readiness on an ongoing basis ― or whether we want to remedy the situation in the next six months or so ... and continue to have the ready forces we need for our national security.”
Though some House Democrats have expressed reservations about the size of the Pentagon's budget request, HASC Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee Chairman Joe Courtney, D-Conn., expressed support, saying: "The intent of Congress needs to be followed up on with an appropriation.”
Courtney called on the DoD to provide Congress the data underlying its request, when the request actually arrives on Capitol Hill, saying it would foster conversation among lawmakers.
The Pentagon has rough calculations, but contractors have not yet filed claims, Lord said, because Congress has not drafted an appropriations bill. She speculated the full extent of the issues will emerge over time.
“I believe they are concerned that they'll get a one-time shot and want to make sure what the entire situation is,” she said. “We believe we understand the lower end of the number.”
9 mai 2024 | International, Sécurité
Achieve regulatory compliance with ease. A permissions inventory enables access recertification, SOD checks, and controlled access to sensitive data.
13 août 2020 | International, C4ISR, Sécurité
Andrew Eversden WASHINGTON — The Defense Information Systems Agency awarded a $106 million contract to Deloitte Consulting to build the Pentagon's artificial intelligence hub's AI development platform, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Aug. 12. The company will “design and build” the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center's Joint Common Foundation, a capability that DoD AI leadership has stated will be integral in developing, testing and fielding AI capabilities. The contract has a one-year base period worth $31 million with three option years through August 2024. Work is scheduled to start Aug. 17, according to Lt. Cmdr. Arlo Abrahamson, spokesperson for the JAIC. “The Joint Common Foundation will provide an AI development environment to test, validate and field AI capabilities at scale across the Department of Defense,” Abrahamson said. “The impact of the JCF will come from enterprise‐wide access to AI tools and data for AI developers across the Department and its partners that will help synchronize AI projects, reduce development redundancy and enable the broad deployment of AI-enabled solutions to the tactical edge where front line operators can benefit from these capabilities.” Deloitte will serve as the lead system integrator for all contractor solutions for the JCF, he said. It will “provide, operate, maintain, secure and enhance the JCF with platforms and tools that can be shared and distributed to end-users across the Department of Defense enterprise,” according to the press release. The Joint Artificial Intelligence Center is the DoD's lead organization on accelerating AI adoption across the department. The center has undertaken several projects since being stood up in 2018, including predictive maintenance and disaster relief work. Its portfolio continues to expand, this year taking on its first lethality project—known as the joint warfighting initiative—and entering the information warfare fight as well. The JAIC also awarded a five-year contract potentially worth up to $800 million to Booz Allen Hamilton in May for work related to the joint war fighting initiative. The award of the JCF contract is an important step as the JAIC continues to mature. For the center, “the end state is an AI development environment that will accelerate the testing, validation and fielding of AI capabilities across the U.S. military,” Abrahamson said. https://www.c4isrnet.com/artificial-intelligence/2020/08/12/deloitte-wins-106-million-contract-with-the-pentagons-ai-hub
25 juillet 2019 | International, Naval
From Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet Public Affairs CINCINNATI, Ohio (NNS) -- The U.S. Navy has approved the commissioning date for the future littoral combat ship USS Cincinnati (LCS 20). The Navy will commission Cincinnati, Oct. 5, 2019 in Gulfport, Mississippi. The commissioning ceremony signifies the acceptance for service and the entrance of a ship into the active fleet of the U. S. Navy. Former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker is the ship's sponsor. As the sponsor, Pritzker leads the time-honored Navy tradition of giving the order during the ceremony to “man our ship and bring her to life!” At that moment, the commissioning pennant is hoisted and Cincinnati becomes a proud ship of the fleet. Indianapolis, Indiana native Cmdr. Kurt Braeckel is the commanding officer of the littoral combat ship. Former Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced LCS 20 would be named for Cincinnati at the Cincinnati Reds baseball game, July 19, 2015. LCS 20 will be the fifth ship in naval history to be named Cincinnati. The first played an integral part in the Civil War; the second enforced neutrality laws during the Cuban Revolution and saw service during the Spanish-American War; the third acted as a patrol and flagship during World War II; and the fourth, a Los Angeles class submarine, was commissioned in 1978 and served during the Cold War. LCS is a highly maneuverable, lethal and adaptable ship designed to support focused mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare and surface warfare missions. The LCS class consists of two variants: the Freedom variant and the Independence variant. Indianapolis is a Freedom variant. The future Cincinnati will be homeported in Naval Base San Diego upon her commissioning. A fast, agile surface combatant, the LCS provides the required war fighting capabilities and operational flexibility to execute a variety of missions; areas such as mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare and surface warfare. https://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=110349&utm_source=phplist3030&utm_medium=email&utm_content=HTML&utm_campaign=Headlines