General Dynamics rolls out new TRX ground robot at AUSA

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  24 février 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - February 20, 2020

  NAVY Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Baltimore, Maryland, was awarded a $233,036,890 firm-fixed-price undefinitized contract action for the procurement of Mk 41 Vertical Launching System vertical launcher module assemblies, modernization kits and spare components. This contract combines purchases for the Navy (74%) and the governments of Korea (18%), Finland (4%), and Germany (4%) under the Foreign Military Sales program. Work will be performed in Baltimore, Maryland (40%); Indianapolis, Indiana (36%); Farmingdale, New York (9%); Saginaw, Michigan (5%); Waverly, Iowa (2%); Thomaston, Connecticut (2%); Chaska, Minnesota (2%); St. Peters, Missouri (1%); Hampstead, Maryland (1%); Santa Rosa, California (1%), and Peachtree City, Georgia (1%), and is expected to be completed by March 2025. Fiscal 2018, 2019 and 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) and foreign military sales funding in the amount of $46,607,377 was obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with one offer received. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N00024-20-C-5310). (Awarded Feb. 14, 2020) Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. a Lockheed Martin Co., Stratford, Connecticut, is awarded an $11,967,528 modification (P00003) to a cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order (N00019-19-F-2972) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-19-G-0029). This modification provides non-recurring engineering to replace existing subsystems, such as the Data Transfer Unit, Defense Electronic Countermeasure System and ARC-210 radio, with the CH-53K production aircraft. Non-recurring engineering efforts include investigation, systems engineering support, risk analysis, integration development, weight impact, publication updates including maintenance, training, update tooling and qualification testing. Work will be performed in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (55.82%); Stratford, Connecticut (35.7%) and Fort Worth, Texas (8.48%), and is expected to be completed in August 2021. Fiscal 2018 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $11,967,528 will be obligated at time of award, all of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Bath Iron Works, Bath Maine, is awarded an $8,462,959 fixed-price incentive (firm target) modification to previously awarded contract N00024-14-C-2305 to exercise an option for accomplishment of post-delivery availability work items for Guided Missile Destroyer 118. Work will be performed in Bath, Maine (93%), Brunswick, Maine (6%), and other locations below 1 % (collectively totaling less than 1%) and is expected to be completed by February 2021. Fiscal 2013 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) and fiscal 2013 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $8,462,959 will be obligated at time of award and funding in the amount of $1,962,124 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. AIR FORCE Dark Wolf Solutions LLC, Chantilly, Virginia, has been awarded a $75,000,000 blanket purchase agreement for cyber innovation services. This award was made from GSA Professional Services Schedule number: GS-00F-086GA. The contractor is a Phase III, Small Business Innovation and Research program participant. The location of performance is Hill Air Force Base, Utah. The work to be conducted includes software penetration testing and adversarial assessment. The work is expected to be complete by Oct. 19, 2020. Fiscal 2020 research development test and evaluation funds in the amount of $7,093,286 are being obligated at the time of award via task order FA7014-20-F-0041. Air Force District of Washington, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, is the contracting activity (FA7014-20-F-0041). Williams Aerospace & Manufacturing (formerly Merex Aircraft Co.), a Kellstrom Defense company, has been awarded a $40,000,000 ceiling indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the acquisition of A-10 Speed Brake assemblies. This contract provides for upper and lower left speed brakes assembly and upper and lower right speed brakes assembly. Work will be performed in Camarillo, California, and is expected to be complete by February 2026. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and three offers were received. Consolidated sustainment activity group working capital funds in the amount of $10,501,432 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Sustainment Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8212-20-D-0001). Chemring Energetic Devices Inc., Downers Grove, Illinois, has been awarded a $24,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for supply of various Cartridge Actuated Devices/Propellant Actuated Devices for various U.S. and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) aircraft. Work will be performed in Downers Grove, Illinois, and is expected to be completed by August 2027. The contract involves foreign military sales to Greece, Taiwan, Thailand, Switzerland, Uruguay, India, Saudi Arabia, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Belgium, Denmark, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, South Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Turkey, Poland, Bahrain, Tunisia, Egypt and The Netherlands. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Air Force fiscal 2018 funding in the amount of $1,882,272; Air Force fiscal 2019 funding in the amount of $1,065,552; U.S. Navy fiscal year 2019 funding in the amount of $134,032; Foreign Military Sales funding in the amount of $2,539,705 are being obligated at the time of award under delivery order FA8213-20-F-2525. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8213-20-D-0002). C. Martin Company Inc., North Las Vegas, Nevada, has been awarded a $7,462,086 option exercise modification (P00007) to previously awarded contract FA8601-18-D-0004. This modification provides for the exercise of an option for additional facility and equipment support under the basic contract. The location of performance is Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The work is expected to be completed by March 31, 2021. Fiscal 2020 research development test and evaluation funds are being obligated shortly after award on a task order. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $21,941,348. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Stonewin LLC,* New York, New York, has been awarded a minimum $59,678,523 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract for marine gas oil. This was a competitive acquisition with 41 responses received. This is a 56-month base contract with one six-month option period. Locations of performances are Alabama, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Texas and South Carolina, with an Oct. 31, 2024, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Coast Guard and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2025 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia (SPE608-20-D-0350). EMIT Corp., Houston, Texas, has been awarded a maximum $20,000,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for hospital equipment and accessories for the Defense Logistics Agency electronic catalog. This was a competitive acquisition with 104 responses received. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Texas, with a Feb. 19, 2025, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2025 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2DH-20-D-0030). ARMY K S Ware & Associates LLC, Nashville, Tennessee, was awarded a $12,500,000 firm-fixed-price contract for value engineering services. Bids were solicited via the internet with seven received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 19, 2025. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth, Texas, is the contracting activity (W9126G-20-D-0012). *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2089858/source/GovDelivery/

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  30 juillet 2019 | International, Aérospatial

  RAF Retiring Reaper In 2024, Paving Way For Protector

  By Tony Osborne LONDON—Britain is planning to retire its General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft systems in 2024 as the Royal Air Force transitions to its new Protector platform. Although Royal Air Force (RAF) officers have not detailed when the first of the new Protector aircraft will arrive, there will be a transition as crews retrain from Reaper onto Protector, with the Reaper complementing the Protector on operations, Wing Commander Judith Graham, the RAF's Protector Program Manager, told Aerospace DAILY at the Royal International Air Tattoo earlier this month. “Reaper is an extraordinarily valuable capability for the UK government, so we don't want there to be a capability gap,” Graham said. The plan for avoiding a capability gap between Reaper and Protector suggests that a significant number of Protectors will have entered service by the time the Reaper is retired. The UK currently has 10 MQ-9 Reapers that it purchased as an urgent operational requirement for operations in Afghanistan. Today, they operate over Iraq and Syria, but none are destined for use in UK airspace. Work also is underway to select the site for a new facility at RAF Waddington, UK, from which the Protector fleet and the UK's new E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning aircraft will be operated. Graham said the facility needs “to be ready for Protector by the end of 2021,” suggesting that first Protector deliveries could take place in 2022. Britain plans to centralize its Protector operations from Waddington, resulting in the UK presence at Creech AFB, Nevada being scaled down. Because of the Protector's ability to self-deploy and perform autonomous landing and take-off, there also is a significantly reduced need for forward-based personnel to land the aircraft at forward-operating locations, further reducing the personnel burden. The UK currently is planning to buy 16 Protectors, a derivative of General Atomics' self-developed, certifiable SkyGuardian platform, which has been redesigned to pave the way for it to meet military airworthiness requirements. As a result, the aircraft now features an all-weather capability with an electro-expulsive de-icing system that blows the ice off the leading edges of the wings and Y-stabilizers. General Atomics also has increased the fatigue life and damage tolerance of the aircraft and produced flight-critical software certifiable to the DO-178 standard. British Protectors will be armed with the Raytheon Paveway IV laser-guided-bomb and MBDA Brimstone air-to-ground missile. There also are plans to fit it with Leonardo's Sage Electronic Support Measures system. The aircraft will also be equipped with General Atomics' Lynx synthetic aperture radar, but there are studies to look at installing a larger radar, such as Leonardo's Seaspray surface-search radar. Work on the integration of such a radar, which could allow the Protector to support the UK's new P-8 Poseidon in the maritime patrol role, is being scoped but is not yet funded. RAF officers are working alongside General Atomics at its San Diego, California, facility as part of a combined test team to pave the way for the platform's certification by the UK Military Aviation Authority, which the RAF hopes will allow the aircraft to fly in non-segregated airspace for training and support to national authorities. They are hoping to do this even without the immediate installation of General Atomics internally developed sense-and-avoid radar. The RAF's Protectors will be compatible, but not immediately equipped, with the active electronically scanned array radar, but Graham said work was underway with the UK's newly renamed Strategic Command (formerly Joint Forces Command) to understand the requirement for the radar, and test and evaluation work was underway. Officials state that the radar likely will be introduced as part of the full operational capability for the platform. The UK also will use the General Atomics Advanced Cockpit ground control station, which uses a similar flight management system to the Beechcraft King Air 350. Under current plans, the British Protectors will be flown by a crew of three—a pilot, a sensor operator and a mission intelligence coordinator. Rather than flying the aircraft from inside transportable containers, the seven ground control stations will occupy a permanent building with room for expansion. There also will be scope to add an additional mission specialist, should a particular mission require it, officials say. https://aviationweek.com/defense/raf-retiring-reaper-2024-paving-way-protector

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  6 juillet 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  Boeing Defense And Space’s Leanne Caret: ‘We’re Owning Our Mistakes’

  Jen DiMascio Joe Anselmo Michael Bruno Steve Trimble July 01, 2020 Leanne Caret, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space and Security, spoke via teleconference with Aviation Week editors in the run-up to what would have been the Farnborough Airshow. AW&ST: In addition to the turnover among Boeing executives, the company's stock and reputation have taken a beating in the past year. How is Boeing a different company today than it was 18 months ago? I am confident in the Boeing Co., and we have an enormously bright future. It's because of the incredible women and men who work for this company and bring their best every day. We have become a very introspective company, very pragmatic. We're owning our mistakes, and we're committing to address those. That is the centerpiece of what you have to do to have trust, especially in an industry as critically important as ours is, where people are flying and using our products every day, whether commercially or defending nations and allies. How has COVID-19 affected the goals that Boeing Defense set at the start of the year? The defense industry has been deemed mission-essential. We need to make certain we're continuing to deliver product to our customers, we keep our supply base healthy, and we all have an eye to the future. I really appreciate the partnership and conversations we've had with the Pentagon. You've heard [Boeing CEO/President] David Calhoun mention that, after what has happened in the commercial aerospace market, the defense business is important to the Boeing Co.—has been and always will be. After COVID-19, what does the future hold for defense spending? We have a very pragmatic view of the future. I don't anticipate significant budget increases. We have always planned that at some point we could see a regression in defense budgets. Wall Street is expecting about a 2% increase in revenue for Boeing over the next couple of years. That is on the lower end of where your peers are. They are in the mid-single digits. What rate of growth do you see? I think it's important to note where we are in the life cycle of many of the products in our portfolio. Where you will continue to see opportunity for us as we move into production on some of those key franchise programs that we won a few years ago is the [T-7 advanced trainer, MQ-25 unmanned carrier-based refueling aircraft and MH-139 helicopter]. We're all going to see the marketplace adjust as a result of COVID-19. Around the world, we've already seen some delays and some very large competitions that have been slighted because customers are having to assess where they are. I want our team to have as its centerpiece meeting our customers' needs and expectations, and I believe that the outcome of that will be growing the business and strong financial performance. Many big programs are coming down the line, such as the Low-Cost Attritable Aircraft, the Advanced Battle Management System, the Next--Generation Air Dominance or the Future Vertical Lift programs. The Pentagon is emphasizing procurement with more control over intellectual property, fewer hooks into the sustainment phase and more competition. How will Boeing adapt to that over time? Will it require fundamental changes? In the last decade, we were focused on redefining how we designed and built aircraft. We were anticipating that the customer was going to commoditize the type of product that we have traditionally built. We have a foundation in model-based systems engineering to bring the collective best from industry together, so that when a system is in the field, we have developed it with maintainers in mind. That's where our build process has really paid off. In 2016, we had not won the T-7 or MQ-25 contracts or certainly not had any thought of the F-15EX yet. All three of those used this concept, which is to use advanced engineering and design toolsets to address the customer's vision. We placed our bets on changing the way we did business, and we have positioned ourselves nicely. Please update us on the KC-46. Where do things stand with the foreign object debris (FOD) situation? I'm not going to be happy until we're perfect, and we're not perfect yet. My focus is to make sure we don't deliver any aircraft with FOD to the U.S. government. If that means I need to hold back a delivery because a member of our team identified an issue, we're going to do the right thing. The most important thing is to deliver a perfect product to the customer. I think it is a testament to the steps that we have taken that we will not pass a defect to our customer. It speaks to the culture change that we have instituted over the last 1.5 years. Quite frankly, we have used KC-46 as the bully pulpit to redefine what we want to do as a company, and I'm really proud of the team for leading the way. Is Boeing on track for fixing the KC-46's remote vision system (RVS) in fiscal 2023? We are looking to demonstrate RVS 1.5 later this summer. It is a building block to what we call RVS 2.0. We have put in place a standard and an agreement that we are all aligned around, that really transcends what the original contract anticipated in terms of RVS. What we are incorporating posi-tions this fleet for not only a leap forward in technology but for autonomous operations in the future. We are on track in this partnership with the U.S. Air Force and the Air Force Research Laboratory. And yes, the timeline is in 2023. What is the outlook for selling F-18s internationally, given the potential for pandemic-related budget reductions in the future? We've secured a number of orders with F-18s that have kept our production line hot. Coupled with that, we're doing the service life modernization program with the U.S. Navy, where we're bringing every one of the aircraft back through and increasing capabilities that eventually will include Block 3 capabilities. We have seen signs that campaigns in Canada, Finland, Germany, India and Switzerland are sliding a bit to the right. None of them have been, to my knowledge, canceled or stopped. One of the things that we've seen them dealing with is the impact of COVID. Many times, they have the budget, but the budget may go out a longer period of time. Or right now they are impacted by staff shortages. These are some big opportunities, and I think the F-18 is positioned nicely, both from the aspects of an acquisition cost and the cost per flying hour. What is the outlook for the F-15? We just did our F-15 Qatar flight a few weeks back. We have continued to demonstrate the ability of the F-15 with our Saudi and Qatari customers and the U.S. Air Force. We're really excited about that opportunity, and it won't be your grandma's F-15. Boeing is a bit late on delivering the Space Launch System (SLS), and it was left out of NASA's competition to build a lunar lander. What are you doing to turn those programs around? On Space Launch Systems, I am really proud of the team for the amazing capabilities they developed with the world's largest rocket. She's sitting on the stand at Stennis Space Center. After watching how this team has battled through the COVID crisis, I'm looking forward to having a hot-fire [test] later this year. Early on, we struggled on SLS from an execution phase. There were also different challenges from a funding perspective and other things. Over the course of the last 1.5-2 years, the team has been hitting its milestones and commitments. On the civil space side, SpaceX beat Boeing to the punch on the first Commercial Crew mission. Are you looking to change your approach? On Starliner, we did not execute the full mission profile, and the right thing to do is to refly. I think that's the right decision, and the teams are focused on that. Our partnership with NASA dates back more than 60 years, and we're incredibly proud of this heritage. But our future isn't defined by our past. It's about making certain that we can continue to innovate and deliver today. This year marks 20 years for the International Space Station. I just couldn't be more thrilled for the team as Doug [Hurley] and Bob [Behnken] were able to join the other astronauts aboard this station. Human space exploration is not for the faint of heart. It changes mankind. We are going to continue to be a great partner, and we're going to continue to advocate for everyone's success when it comes to human space exploration—because it is that important for all of us. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/boeing-defense-spaces-leanne-caret-were-owning-our-mistakes