Egypt becomes the first international customer for MBDA’s VL MICA New Generation surface-to-air system

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  23 janvier 2020 | International, Aérospatial, C4ISR

  The Air Force tested its Advanced Battle Management System. Here’s what worked, and what didn’t.

  By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — The first field test of the U.S. Air Force's experimental Advanced Battle Management System in December was a success, with about 26 out of 28 capabilities showing some semblance of functionality during a recent exercise, the service's acquisition chief said Tuesday. But the service will seek to be more ambitious during a second demonstration in April, which will focus on space and bring in elements from U.S. Space Command and U.S. Strategic Command, said Will Roper, the Air Force's assistant secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics. "I am thrilled to say that 26 out of 28 things work. That is too high of a success rate at this point in time, but I'll take it. We should be taking more risk than that,” he told reporters during a roundtable. The three-day test took place at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and involved a potential cruise missile attack on the United States simulated by QF-16 drones. Through the exercise, Air Force F-22 jets, Air Force and Navy F-35 fighters, the Navy destroyer Thomas Hudner, an Army unit equipped with the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, as well as special operators shared data in real time in ways the services cannot currently do in an operational environment. What will ABMS eventually look like? That's still a mystery, even to the Air Force, which wants to test different solutions for connecting platforms, crunching data and sending it to other assets with the goal of eventually fielding what works and abandoning what doesn't. “We gave the team the goals of: Pull what you can together in three and a half months to see how far we can stretch, how quickly we could achieve something,” said Air Force chief architect Preston Dunlap, who manages the ABMS effort. “We were quite happy actually, even with 10 percent solutions.” Here's a rundown of some notable successes so far, as well as major failures: The F-35 and F-22 were able to stealthily exchange data. Despite the two jets having advanced “sensor fusion” capabilities, the Air Force's two most advanced fighters can't really talk to each other. The F-35 uses the Multifunction Advanced Data Link, or MADL, to securely share sensitive information with other F-35s, while the F-22 has its own data link, the Intra-Flight Data Link, or IFDL. Even using a non-stealthy connection to share information has its limitations: While the F-35 can both transmit and receive data via the Link 16, which meets NATO standards, the F-22 currently can only receive data. However, the first ABMS test showed hopeful signs for fifth-generation fighter communication. The demonstration involved radio systems — built by F-35 prime contractor Lockheed Martin as well as Northrop Grumman, which manufactures key structures and mission systems for the aircraft, including MADL, Dunlap said. The demo also included Honeywell-made antennas built to speak across both MADL and IFDL, he added. Those systems were integrated onto a ground based rig that “look[ed] like a big piece of hardware with radios on it,” according to Roper. Then, the F-35 and F-22 flew over the system, exchanging data by bouncing it back-and-forth from the ground-based radios, Dunlap said. He noted that the test verified that existing technology can be used to overcome three obstacles: translating the F-35's MADL to the F-22's IFDL; moving data across the different frequencies; and securing the communication. "It was really herculean,” Dunlap said. "[The contractors] were excited by the speed of the acquisition team to get the ball going." During the next ABMS demo in April, the Air Force plans to stretch the capability by putting the translation system inside the unmanned Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie for flight-based testing. “I also challenged the team to expand the amount of information translated between the different platforms so they can take advantage of new information on the displays,” Dunlap said. An AC-130 gunship connected with SpaceX's Starlink constellation. Although Dunlap did not provide much detail on this element of the exercise, he confirmed that the AC-130 was able to pass data through the constellation of small, high-bandwidth commercial internet satellites. The Air Force has shown interest in connecting its platforms to commercial broadband satellites through its Global Lightning experiment. A demonstration with Starlink and the KC-135 tanker aircraft is in the works, and the service also plans to evaluate equipment from Iridium, OneWeb and L3Harris. The Air Force created a cloud-based application for command and control. Typically, the service performs command and control from air operations centers — physical buildings where analysts sit in front of computers with specialized software that provides data from multiple assets, Dunlap said. Changes to software don't necessarily happen automatically, and they may require assistance from information technology experts. In the ABMS exercise, the Air Force demonstrated a cloud-based battle management and situational awareness application for the first time. It used a “CloudOne” system to host data up to the secret level, which will be a formative system underlying ABMS, Dunlap said. Both Amazon and Microsoft are involved in standing up the CloudOne technology, but Roper said the Air Force could use the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure contract vehicle for CloudOne if JEDI winner Microsoft provides better rates. The robot dogs were a swing and a miss. U.S. Special Operations Command brought the robots that are capable of augmenting surveillance operations to the ABMS field test, but operators couldn't figure out how to connect them with the other platforms involved in the exercise. “We had some robot dogs — apparently those exist — that can go and do patrol. We were never able to patch their feeds in,” Roper said. There's hope for cybernetic canines becoming part of ABMS in the future though. Roper added that the ABMS team would be welcome to try to integrate the robots in future exercises. https://www.c4isrnet.com/air/2020/01/22/the-us-air-force-tested-its-advanced-battle-management-system-heres-what-worked-and-what-didnt/

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  9 décembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - December 06, 2019

  NAVY Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, Linthicum, Maryland is awarded a $188,995,364 modification for the firm-fixed-price portion of a previously-awarded contract (M67854-19-C-0043). This modification is for the purchase of six Gallium Nitride full-rate-production systems and associated travel in support of Program Executive Officer Land Systems, Quantico, Virginia. Work will be performed in Linthicum, Maryland, and is expected to be complete by April 4, 2023. Fiscal 2020 procurement (Marine Corps) funds for $188,995,364 will be obligated at the time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The contract modification was not competitively procured. The base contract was prepared in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1 and 10 U.S. Code § 2304(c)(1). The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting activity (M67854-19-C-0043). Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $153,392,916 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to a previously-awarded contract (N00019-19-C-0074). This modification procures special tooling and special test equipment required to meet current and future F-35 Lightning II low-rate initial production as well as full-rate production rates. Work will be performed in Rome, Italy (29.9%); Redondo Beach, California (24.4%); Fort Worth, Texas (21.3%); Clearfield, Utah (10.4%); Marietta, Georgia (6.9%); Samlesbury, United Kingdom (3.7%); Papendrecht, Netherlands (0.9%); Irvine, California (0.7%); Williston, Vermont (0.6%); Helena, Montana (0.5%); Kongsberg, Norway (0.4%); and Amityville, New York (0.3%), and is expected to be completed in December 2023. Fiscal 2018, 2019 and 2020 aircraft procurement (Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps); non-U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) international partners; and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) funds in the amount of $153,392,916 will be obligated at time of award, $39,892,893 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This modification combines purchases for the Air Force ($55,841,076; 36%); Navy ($51,887,772; 34%); Marine Corps ($22,286,205; 15%); non-U.S DoD international partners ($17,564,488; 11%); and FMS customers ($5,813,375; 4%). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Syracuse, New York, is awarded a $21,381,819 cost-plus-incentive-fee delivery order under a previously-awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract N00024-19-D-6200 for the procurement of long-lead-time material for two Virginia Block V hulls, one Virginia installation and checkout kit, one pre-production unit and associated hardware assets to support environmental qualification testing. This effort will award the procurement of Navy equipment. Work will be performed in Syracuse, New York, and is expected to be completed by December 2020. Fiscal 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding for $21,381,819 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. Rockwell Collins Simulation and Training Solutions, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is awarded a $12,819,390 modification (P00015) to a previously-awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N61340-17-C-0014) to procure additional in-scope work and technical data to refurbish and update the E-2D Hawkeye Integrated Training System-III at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia, and is expected to be completed in May 2021. Fiscal 2018, 2019 and 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy-AP, N) funds in the amount of $12,819,390 will be obligated at time of award, $9,615,568 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year — fiscal 2018 AP, N: $9,615,568; fiscal 2019 AP, N: $1,436,802; and fiscal 2020 AP, N: $1,767,020. The Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity. Austal USA, Mobile, Alabama, is awarded a not-to-exceed $9,198,875 fixed priced incentive firm target (FPI(F)) undefinitized contract action modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-19-C-2227 for the immediate procurement of long-lead-time material, engineering and production to support changes to the arrangement of the 02 and 03 Levels on Expeditionary Fast Transports (EPF) 13 and 14. The EPF class provides high speed, shallow draft transportation capability to support the intra-theater maneuver of personnel, supplies and equipment for the Navy, Marine Corps and Army. Work will be performed in Mobile, Alabama, and is expected to be complete by November 2021. Fiscal 2018 and 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy-SCN) funding for $4,599,438 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year -- fiscal 2018 SCN (62%); and fiscal 2019 SCN (38%). The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Invicta Global, LLC, * Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded an $8,683,299 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for facility support services at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, District of Columbia. The maximum dollar value including the base period and six option years is $62,498,327. The work to be performed provides for all management, supervision, labor, materials and equipment necessary to provide facility support including facility investment, facility management, integrated solid waste management and pavement clearance. Work will be performed in Washington, District of Columbia, and is expected to be completed by June 2027. No funds will be obligated at time of award. Fiscal 2020 Navy working capital fund, (Navy) contract funds for $6,732,669 for recurring work will be obligated on an individual task order issued during the base period. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website with six proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N62470-20-D-0002). U.S. TRANSPORTATION COMMAND UNCOMN LLC, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois (HTC711-20-D-D001), has been awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, firm-fixed-price and labor-hour line items, with an estimated amount of $175,701,170. The contract provides enterprise architecture, data and information technology engineering services for the U.S. Transportation Command, Air Mobility Command and the Surface Deployment and Distribution Center. Work will be performed at Scott AFB, Illinois. The contract's ordering period is Dec. 6, 2019, to Dec. 5, 2024. Fiscal 2020 transportation working capital funds were obligated at award for the minimum guarantee. Operations and maintenance; transportation working capital funds and research, development, test and evaluation funds may be obligated at task order execution. U.S. Transportation Command, Directorate of Acquisition, Scott AFB, Illinois, is the contracting activity. ARMY Riptide Software,* Oviedo, Florida, was awarded a $43,000,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for target modernization and Targetry Range Automated Control and Recording system. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 2, 2027. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity (W900KK-20-D-0004). General Dynamics Land Systems, Sterling Heights, Michigan, was awarded a $12,456,918 cost-plus-fixed-fee foreign military sales (Kuwait) contract for contractor logistics services, maintenance training and technical assistance. One bid was solicited via the internet with one bid received. Work will be performed in Kuwait City, Kuwait, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 5, 2023. Fiscal 2018 Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $12,456,918 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-20-C-0031). Smiths Detection, Edgewood, Maryland, was awarded an $11,734,549 modification (P00013) to contract W911SR-18-C-0033 for aerosol vapor chemical agent detector systems. Work will be performed in Edgewood, Maryland, with an estimated completion date of May 29, 2020. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $2,861,673 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity. AIR FORCE L3 Technologies Inc., Communication Systems, West, Salt Lake City, Utah, has been awarded a $17,933,366 contract for the Defense Experimentation Using Commercial Space Internet (DEUCSI) Call 002 Vendor Flexibility effort. This contract seeks to establish the ability to communicate with Air Force platforms via multiple commercial space internet constellations using common user terminal hardware elements. Work will be performed at Salt Lake City, Utah, and is expected to be complete by Aug. 31, 2022. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition under the DEUCSI Advanced Research Announcement Call 002. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $4,130,000 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8650-20-C-9313). BlueForce Inc., Hampton, Virginia, has been awarded a $15,683,635 firm-fixed-price, Option 1 modification (P00003) to previously-awarded contract FA3002-19-F-A045 for continued support for the Royal Saudi Air Force English language training outside the continental U.S. program. Work will be performed at King Abdul Aziz Air Base, Saudi Arabia, and is expected to be completed by Jan. 3, 2024. This contract involves 100% foreign military sales to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $28,009,060. Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $15,683,635 are being obligated at the time of award. The 338th Specialized Contracting Squadron, Joint Base San Antonio, Randolph, Texas, is the contracting activity. Northrop Grumman Space & Mission Systems Corp., San Jose, California, has been awarded a $13,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity for Airborne Signals Intelligence Payload (ASIP) efforts. This contract provides for solutions for diminishing manufacturing sources and material shortages, systems integration lab and cybersecurity support, upgrades to meet routine requirements identified via Air Force IMT 1067 modification proposals and engineering change proposals that are logical follow-ons to maintain and upgrade the ASIP sensor. Work will be performed at Sacramento, California, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2020. This award is the result of a sole source acquisition. No funding is being obligated at the time of the award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8620-20-D-3025). BAE Systems Technology Solutions & Services Inc., Rockville, Maryland, has been awarded a $12,608,102 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract modification (P00003) to previously-awarded contract FA8109-18-D-0005 to exercise Option Two. The contract modification extends the contract term for an additional 12 months in order to continue providing diminishing manufacturing sources and material shortages support for Air Force and non-Air Force users supporting the Air Force, to proactively reduce mission capability impacts to improve logistics support and weapon system sustainability. This effort will help assure all required parts and materials supporting Air Force-managed weapon systems are available within acceptable production lead times and will reduce the overall cost of ownership of the weapon systems by facilitating economical diminishing manufacturing sources and material shortages resolutions costs, reducing the number of reactive solutions, minimizing any delays in organic depot-level repair, as well as contractor repair and by improving weapon system availability. Work will be performed at Hill Air Force Base, Utah; Robins Air Force Base, Georgia; Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma; and Fort Walton Beach, Florida; and is expected to be completed by June 20, 2021. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $37,386,305. Fiscal 2020 and 2021 consolidated sustainment activity group engineering funds will be obligated on any individual task orders issued during the option two performance period. The Air Force Sustainment Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity. Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Herndon, Virginia, has been awarded a $9,947,673 contract for the Defense Experimentation Using Commercial Space Internet (DEUCSI) Call 002 Vendor Flexibility effort. This contract seeks to establish the ability to communicate with Air Force platforms via multiple commercial space internet constellations using common user terminal hardware elements. Work will be performed at San Diego, California, and is expected to be completed by November 2021. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition under the DEUCSI Advanced Research Announcement Call 002. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $3,633,549 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8650-20-C-9315). *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2034460/source/GovDelivery/

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  17 septembre 2023 | International, Terrestre

  At London arms fair, global war fears are good for business | Reuters

  As Russia's Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met this week to discuss what analysts believe will be a deal for an exchange of weapons, the West's leading companies were descending on Europe's biggest arms show in London.