9 mai 2023 | International, Naval
L3Harris, BigBear.ai partner on autonomy for surface vessels
The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps are betting big on uncrewed technologies — whether that's in the air, on the water or beneath the waves.
21 octobre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
Estimate of new nuclear missiles to replace Minuteman 3 arsenal increases to $95.8B
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has raised to $95.8 billion the estimated cost of fielding a new fleet of land-based nuclear missiles to replace the Minuteman 3 arsenal that has operated continuously for 50 years, officials said Monday.
Robert Burns
The estimate is up about $10 billion from four years ago.
The weapons, known as intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, are intended as part of a near-total replacement of the American nuclear force over the next few decades at a total cost of more than $1.2 trillion.
Some, including former Defense Secretary William J. Perry, argue that U.S. national security can be ensured without ICBMs, but the Pentagon says they are vital to deterring war. The Trump administration affirmed its commitment to fielding a new generation of ICBMs in a 2018 review of nuclear policy.
“The ICBM force is highly survivable against any but a large-scale nuclear attack,” the review concluded. “To destroy U.S. ICBMs on the ground, an adversary would need to launch a precisely coordinated attack with hundreds of high-yield and accurate warheads. This is an insurmountable challenge for any potential adversary today, with the exception of Russia.”
The current fleet of 400 deployed Minuteman missiles, each armed with a single nuclear warhead, is based in underground silos in Montana, North Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska. Their numbers are governed in part by the 2010 New START treaty with Russia, which is due to expire in February. Russia wants to extend the treaty but the Trump administration has set conditions not accepted by Moscow.
The U.S. also is building a new fleet of ballistic missile submarines to replace the current Ohio-class strategic subs; a new long-range nuclear-capable bomber to replace the B-2 stealth aircraft; a next-generation air-launched nuclear cruise missile; and a new nuclear command and communications system. It also is working on updated warheads, including an ICBM warhead replacement for an estimated $14.8 billion
The nuclear modernization program was launched by the Obama administration and has been continued by President Donald Trump. Democrat Joe Biden has said that if elected in November he would consider finding ways to scale back the program.
The Pentagon's $95.8 billion cost estimate for the Minuteman replacement was first reported by Bloomberg News. The Pentagon provided the estimate to Congress last month but had, until Monday, refused to release it publicly.
Last month the Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $13.3 billion contract for engineering and manufacturing development of the new missiles. The total “lifecycle” cost, including operating and sustaining the missiles over their expected lifetime into the 2070s, is set at $263.9 billion.
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15 octobre 2019 | International, Aérospatial
ImSAR LLC wins $$7.2M contract for work on RQ-21A unmanned aerial systems
ByEd Adamczyk Oct. 11 (UPI) -- ImSAR LLC was awarded a $7.2 million contract for work on payload systems and communications packages of the RQ-21 Blackjack unmanned aerial system. The cost-plus-fixed fee delivery order against a previous ordering agreement calls for work to be executed by October 2020, the Defense Department announced Thursday. The RQ-21 Blackjack is 8.2 feet long, weighs 134 pounds and has a wingspan of 15.7 feet. It can carry a payload of up to 39 pounds, and is used primarily for forward reconnaissance. Introduced in 2014, it was designed by Insitu, a Boeing Co. subsidiary. The contract with the U.S. Navy is in support of a Phase III Small Business Innovation Research program effort named "Advanced Radar Concepts for Small Remotely Piloted Aircraft." ImSAR, headquartered in Springville, Utah, will provide research, development, procurement and sustainment of the AN/DPY-2 split aces payload systems and communications relay package aboard the RQ-21A. The SBIR program is coordinated by the U.S. Small Business Administration to aid small businesses conduct research and development for future U.S. government needs, with a goal of technical innovation through investment of federal research funds. https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2019/10/11/ImSAR-LLC-wins-72M-contract-for-work-on-RQ-21A-unmanned-aerial-systems
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19 novembre 2021 | International, C4ISR, Sécurité
DoD SBIR/STTR Component BAA Pre-Release: Army SBIR BAA 21.4, Topics A214-045 through A214-51
The DoD Small Business and Technology Partnerships Office announces the pre-release of the following Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) topics: Army SBIR 21.4 SBIR Topic A214-045: “Graph Neural Networks (GNN) for UxS Collaborative Agent Control,” published at https://sam.gov/opp/178e0311b4d04df2bf25025d5c99473d/view SBIR Topic A214-046: “Synthetic RF Training Data Generation,” published at https://sam.gov/opp/fa78f3dd832249ec925b092246c8ed0f/view SBIR Topic A214-047: “Height of Burst scoring through Machine Learning,” published at https://sam.gov/opp/e94aafd959174ec2882511ace4c3e939/view SBIR Topic A214-048: “Machine Learning (ML) for Breach Routing,” published at https://sam.gov/opp/f8c317353e0547f5b139fb87016075af/view SBIR Topic A214-049: “Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) for Radio Frequency (RF) Modulation Recognition,” published at https://sam.gov/opp/84a904f180234f85bc861a604844c8d8/view SBIR Topic A214-050: “Natural Language Processing+,” published at https://sam.gov/opp/a27caede2da442ce86ec6f52c2aa13f1/view SBIR Topic A214-051: “Asynchronous Neuromorphic Digital Readout Circuit for Infrared Cameras for Autonomous Target Acquisition and Autonomous Vehicles,” published at https://sam.gov/opp/b8c670091b7947ca99658c48f62e0621/view IMPORTANT DATES: November 16, 2021: Topics pre-release November 16, 2021: Topic Q&A opens to questions November 30, 2021: Topics open, begin submitted proposals in DSIP December 21, 2021: Topic Q&A closes to new questions at 12:00 pm ET January 4, 2022: Topics close, full proposals must be submitted in DSIP no later than 12:00 p.m. ET Full topics and instructions are available at the links provided above.