20 mars 2020 | International, Terrestre, C4ISR
WASHINGTON: The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) wants commercial vendors to submit prototypes for the Army's planned mobile ground station that can fuse sensor data from multiple ISR satellites — including both national security and commercial — into a common operational picture for battlefield commanders.
While this solicitation, released late yesterday, focuses on space-based sensors, ultimately the Tactical Intelligence Targeting Access Node (TITAN) is envisioned as a “unified” ground station that can take data not just from satellites, but also from high-altitude, aerial and terrestrial ISR sensors to provide targeting data directly to Army Long-Range Precision Fires (LRPF) networks.
The Army describes TITAN as a “scalable and expeditionary intelligence ground station.” It is envisioned as a critical enabler of Army all-domain operations command and control.
The satellite terminal is the first step in what will be a modular development of the TITAN terminal's capabilities over time — with a goal to deploy and initial operating capability early in fiscal 2022, as Brig. Gen. Rob Collins, Army program executive officer for intelligence, electronic warfare and sensors, explained at the giant Association of the United States Army (AUSA) show in October,
DIU's Space Portfolio Director Steve Butow explained in an email that the prototype ground stations should be “capable of rapidly and semi-autonomously tasking, receiving, processing, exploiting, fusing, and disseminating space based sensor data to provide networked situational awareness and direct tactical support to Army commanders at echelon.”
One of the key goals is “to reduce sensor to shooter latency.” Latency is the term of art to describe the time it takes to send information from the satellite to the user on the ground.
The prototype ground stations — which as with all DIU projects are envisioned to be rapidly fielded — must be capable of “rapid deployment to diverse operational environments via strategic lift and once deployed, be capable of rapid setup, tear down, movement, and assembly to meet operational commander's needs.” They also must be able to function “for a reasonable period of time” through “any loss of non-local communications or networks.”
American contractors have until April 3 to put forward a proposal. Proposed prototypes “should include everything required to operate during a designated exercise(s) and demonstration(s) as well during real world operations, including the vehicle/trailers, power generation/conditioning, antennae, communications/network hardware/software (to include line of sight and beyond line of sight), processing hardware/software, and analytical hardware/software,” the solicitation states.
Further, prototypes should be able to store and process data from multiple commercial providers. This means that the “access node should be a modular, open systems architecture, making it easy to upgrade software/firmware, analytics/algorithms, and ingest additional data streams as commercial vendors and national data become available.” This includes being able to store and process both classified and unclassified data.
The project will run for 24 to 30 months, and will include the delivery of at least two and as many as six working prototypes. They must be ready for immediate testing and evaluation in a theater exercise.
DUI is looking at two phases. Phase 1 includes the “development, integration, testing, accreditation and delivery” of two prototypes by January 2022. Phase 2 “includes the testing, assessment, and refinement of the prototype systems based upon participation in and feedback from several exercises and evaluations,” both in the US and theaters abroad. Phase 2 also includes the option of delivering up to four additional prototype systems.
DIU generally uses Other Transaction Authorities as a contracting vehicle, as will this program.
The solicitation notes that DoD is “also pursuing a separate parallel effort for the objective TITAN ground station design to accommodate Aerial and Terrestrial sensors as well.” Thus, the contractor(s) chosen will need to work ensure designs for the satellite terminal can be integrated with, and that all the software is transportable to, that design via agreements with the other companies involved.
The Army issued a Request for Information on Dec. 4 about technologies to enable the “objective” TITAN terminal that can integrate all types of ISR sensors. That RFI was updated on Dec. 18.
The RFI explains that TITAN eventually will replace the Army's current Tactical-Intelligence Ground Station, Operational-Intelligence Ground Station, Advanced Miniaturized Data Acquisition System Dissemination Vehicle and Remote Ground Terminal. It also must be “to operate at Brigade, Division, Corps, and Field Army echelons, in vehicles and shelters organic to the formation,” the solicitation said.
According to a Q&A transcript of the Army's Dec. 4 industry day on TITAN, the service currently sees potential deployment platforms: a larger version for integration with on one variant of the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) with a shelter; and a smaller one to be integrated on “a four-seater tactical vehicle — either a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) or a Humvee.
What is unclear is how this DIU effort relates to the earlier sole-source award to Peraton for the Satellite Ground Terminal (SGT) Prototype, that on the face of it is being designed to do exactly the same thing. Under that Nov. 19 award, which supports the Army's Tactical Exploitation of National Capabilities (TENCAP) program, Peraton was to develop a fully-tested prototype to the Army within 20 months. SGT is expected to transfer up to 1,000 times more satellite data to operators than currently possible, according to Peraton.
Queries to the Army, DIU and Peraton about this were not answered at press time.
https://breakingdefense.com/2020/03/diu-seeks-prototype-sat-terminal-for-army-all-domain-ops
6 octobre 2021 | International, Terrestre
David Marsh, the MoD's director of project delivery, was named as the senior official responsible for one of Britain's most high-profile military programs in a letter released by the department and the government's Infrastructure and Projects Authority.
27 décembre 2018 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
NAVY Oceaneering International Inc., Chesapeake, Virginia (N64498-19-D-0001); Huntington Ingalls Inc., Newport News, Virginia (N64498-19-D-0002); and General Dynamics Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut (N64498-19-D-0003), are being awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity multiple award contracts with firm-fixed-priced ordering provisions for Submarine Safety (SUBSAFE) and Level I engineering and technical services in the amounts of $827,674,072; $874,341,811; and $1,110,350,671, respectively. This requirement is for management and technical services for the support installation, troubleshooting, repair, and maintenance of main and auxiliary weapons, as well as hull, mechanical and electrical equipment for various Submarine, SUBSAFE and Level I Material work onboard SSN 21 Class (Seawolf Class); SSN 688 Class (Los Angeles Class); SSBN/SSGN 726 Class (Ohio Class); and SSN 774 Class (Virginia Class) submarines. These contracts will primarily support large submarine maintenance and modernization programs and/or critical-path ship changes/alterations that are accomplished in Navy Chief of Naval Operation availabilities, dry-dock selected restricted availabilities, engineered refueling overhauls, depot modernization periods, and continuous maintenance availabilities. Work is expected to be performed at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia; Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington; and Naval Submarine Base King's Bay, King's Bay, Georgia. The work under this contract will contain a five-year ordering period and is expected to be completed by December 2023. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the total amount of $300,000 ($100,000 per contract) will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This funding represents the guaranteed contract minimum for each contract award. These contracts were competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with four offers received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is the contracting activity. Huang-Gaghan JV Two, * Alexandria, Virginia (N40080-19-D-0001); LLB Enterprises LLC, * Stafford, Virginia (N40080-19-D-0002); Argus-CJW JV LLC, * Leesburg, Virginia (N40080-19-D-0003); Signature-Renovations LLC, * Capital Heights, Maryland (N40080-19-D-0004); Snodgrass JV, * Annapolis, Maryland (N40080-19-D-0005); and JCMCS,* Washington, District of Columbia (N40080-19-D-0006), are each awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple award construction contracts for mechanical - construction projects located primarily within the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Washington area of responsibility (AOR). The maximum dollar value including the base year and four option years for all six contracts combined is $99,000,000. The work to be performed provides for construction services. The contractor shall provide all labor, supervision, engineering, materials, equipment, tools, parts, supplies and transportation to perform all work described in the specifications. Huang-Gaghan JV Two is being awarded task order 0001 at $2,942,286 for the seed project A-59 new mechanical room and central hot water system, at Naval Research Laboratory Washington, District of Columbia. Work for this task order is expected to be completed by January 2019. All work on this contract will be performed primarily within the NAVFAC Washington AOR to include District of Columbia (40 percent); Virginia (40 percent); and Maryland (20 percent). The term of the contract is not to exceed 24 months, with an expected completion date of January 2020. Fiscal 2019 supervision, inspection, and overhead; and fiscal 2019 Navy working capital funds in the amount of $2,942,286 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by military construction (Navy); operations and maintenance (Navy and Defense Logistics Agency); and Navy working capital fund. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with 18 proposals received. These six contractors may compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the awarded contract. Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Raytheon Co., Integrated Defense Systems, Marlborough, Massachusetts, was awarded a $72,463,134 firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost-only undefinitized contract action for the production of Aegis Weapon System fire control system MK 99 equipment, Aegis Modernization production requirements, and associated engineering services. Work will be performed in Andover, Massachusetts (66 percent); Marlborough, Massachusetts (16 percent); Chesapeake, Virginia (13 percent); Portsmouth, Rhode Island (3 percent); San Diego, California (1 percent); and Burlington, Massachusetts (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by April 2022. Fiscal 2018 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); fiscal 2018 other procurement (Navy); and fiscal 2018 defense wide procurement funding in the amount of $22,975,534 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1). The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N00024-19-C-5112). (Awarded Dec. 21, 2018) KBE Building Corp., Farmington, Connecticut, is awarded a $30,188,219 firm-fixed-price contract for construction of a medical and dental clinic at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. The work to be performed provides for the construction of a new free-standing medical and dental clinic consisting of two occupied stories with a shared two-story waiting area. The facility will replace the existing clinic, and will encompass Medical Homeport, optometry, undersea medicine, dental, and mental health, as well as pharmacy, radiology, ancillaries, support and administrative space. Supporting facilities construction will include all site utilities, site preparation, site improvements, paving (parking and roadways) and access roads. Work will be performed in Kittery, Maine, and is expected to be completed by January 2021. Fiscal 2017 defense military construction, medical funds in the amount of $30,188,219 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website with two proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N4008519C9072). General Dynamics Mission Systems, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, is awarded $28,957,961 for contract modification P00030 to a previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00030-16-C-0005) for sustainment of the U.S. and United Kingdom (UK) SSBN fire control system, the U.S. SSGN Attack Weapon Control System, including training and support equipment. Also included is the missile fire control for the U.S. Columbia-class and UK Dreadnought-class Common Missile Compartment program development, through first unit UK production, and Strategic Weapon Interface Simulator. Work will be performed in Pittsfield Massachusetts (90.5 percent); Bremerton, Washington, (3.6 percent); Kings Bay, Georgia (2.7 percent); Dahlgren, Virginia (1 percent); Cape Canaveral, Florida (0.9 percent); Portsmouth, Virginia (0.9 percent); and the United Kingdom (0.4 percent), with an expected completion date of Sept. 30, 2023. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $20,139,048; and United Kingdom funds in the amount of $2,726,000 are being obligated on this award. Funds in the amount of $20,139,048 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $5,183,913; and United Kingdom funds in the amount of $909,000 will be obligated. Funds in the amount of $5,183,913 will expire at the end the current fiscal year. Strategic Systems Programs, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, is awarded a $26,448,121 cost-plus-award-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost, and firm-fixed-price contract for planning yard efforts such as engineering, technical, planning, ship configuration, data and logistics efforts for DDG 1000-class destroyers post-delivery and in-service life cycle support, and shock qualification test and analysis. The planning yard will provide DDG 1000 class technical, engineering and support, including emergent technical problem investigation and resolution; shock qualification test and analysis; maintenance and modernization planning; integrated logistics support; configuration data management; maintenance, repair and/or overhaul availability planning and scheduling; modernization planning and scheduling; industrial yard/facility planning and scheduling and material orders; and fabrication and kitting. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $86,703,677. Work will be performed in Bath, Maine (92 percent); Gardena, California (1 percent); Atlanta, Georgia (1 percent); Muscatine, Iowa (1 percent); Patterson, New Jersey (1 percent); Saratoga Springs, New York (1 percent); and other locations below one percent (3 percent); and is expected to be completed by December 2023. Fiscal 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); and fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funding in the amount of $25,611,651 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was procured via a limited competition under the authority of 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1), with two offers received. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N00024-19-C-2322). Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Arizona, is awarded a $17,011,832 modification to previously awarded contract N00024‑17-C-5420 to exercise an option for providing Zumwalt capability and design agent support to the STANDARD Missile-2. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona (47 percent); Andover, Massachusetts (33 percent); Mountain View, California (12 percent); San Diego, California, (3 percent); Chandler, Arizona (2 percent); Hudson, New Hampshire (2 percent); Redmond, Washington (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by March 2022. Fiscal 2017 and 2018 weapons procurement (Navy); and foreign military sales funding in the amount of $16,951,832 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. CORRECTION: A contract modification awarded Dec. 20, 2018, to Ameresco Select Inc., Framingham, Massachusetts, for $17,961,208 (N4740899F4117), was announced with an incorrect cumulative value. The correct total cumulative value after award of the modification is $121,374,022. ARMY SOS International LLC, Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $191,225,021 firm-fixed-price contract for base life support and security services. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work will be performed in Taji, Iraq, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2023. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance; and military personnel appropriations funds in the amount of $83,044,481 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W52P1J-19-C-0010). The Boeing Co., Mesa, Arizona, was awarded a $49,210,651 firm-fixe-price Foreign Military Sales (Qatar) contract for Maintenance Augmentation Team services for the Qatari Air Force AH-64E aircraft. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work will be performed in Mesa, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of July 31, 2024. Fiscal 2018 operations and maintenance Army funds in the amount of $49,210,651 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-19-C-0008). AIR FORCE Alliant Techsystems Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, has been awarded a $36,570,512 firm-fixed-price modification (P00045) to contract FA8106-16-C-0004 that exercises Option Year Three for contractor logistic support. This contract provides the Iraqi Air Force's Cessna 208 fleet and the 208/172 Trainer fleet with contractor logistic support. Work will be performed in Iraq and is expected to be completed Dec. 31, 2019. This contract involves 100 percent foreign military sales to Iraq and is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity. U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND Rockwell Collins Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been awarded a $35,000,000 contract modification for an existing non-competitive single award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (H92241-15-D-0001) to provide post-deployment software support for the Common Avionics Architecture System. This modification increases the contract ceiling amount from $107,328,000 to $142,328,000. Each individual task order will be funded with procurement; research, development, testing and evaluation; and operations and maintenance appropriations, as appropriate, from the correct fiscal year at the time of obligation. This contract is not multiyear. Ordering periods will end on Nov. 30, 2019. This contract was awarded through noncompetitive procedures in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. U.S. Special Operations Command, Tampa, Florida, is the contracting activity. *Small business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1721253/
23 mai 2019 | International, Naval
By: Sebastian Sprenger COLOGNE, Germany – The Belgian defense ministry has awarded a consortium led by France's Naval Group a nearly €2 billion contract to deliver mine-hunting ships and drones to the navies of Belgium and the Netherlands, according to the shipbuilder. The announcement on Wednesday came after the customary review period by the Belgian legislature had passed. The Brussels government announced in March that it planned to select Belgium Naval and Robotics, a joint venture of Naval Group and ECA Group, to produce 12 vessels equipped with around 100 drones for the two countries. Six vessels will go to Belgium, the other six to the Dutch. Finding and disabling sea mines is a key mission for the two neighboring countries. Their navies are configured mainly to defend territorial waters and the nearby English Channel, which allows passage to the North Sea. The offer by Naval Group and ECA Group leans heavily on undersea drones to deal with the treacherous weapons. The ships will be built to launch and recover the ECA Group's “Inspector 125” unmanned boats, which carry various autonomous underwater drones for finding mines and setting them off from a safe distance. The contract is expected to last 10 years, according to a consortium statement. An initial three-year development phase is to be followed by a production stage, putting the first system in the water by 2024. The two companies hope that the high-profile deal will generate additional sales elsewhere in the world. “The Belgian and Dutch navies being a reference in mine warfare within NATO, the choice of our consortium is a major asset for export,” a statement reads. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2019/05/22/naval-group-led-team-gets-2-billion-mine-hunter-contract-for-belgian-dutch-navies