7 mai 2020 | International, Aérospatial

German government asks Lockheed, MBDA to rebid on missile defense system

By: Sebastian Sprenger

COLOGNE, Germany — The German government has given Lockheed Martin and MBDA the go-ahead to bid anew on the TLVS air defense program.

The latest request for a proposal, transmitted Wednesday, is the third iteration after previous attempts to draft a contract failed. If the vendor team decides to pursue the business, a new offer is expected by the summer.

A Lockheed spokesman confirmed receipt of the solicitation but said the company could not comment further.

The program, short for Taktisches Luftverteidigungssystem, is meant to wean Germany off the venerable Patriot air defense weapon. Formerly developed in concert with the United States and Italy, TLVS boasts a 360-degree sensing and shooting capability meant to lower its footprint in the field and allow for intercepts against threats from all directions.

The Germans want a system that grants its military operators maximum national autonomy, meaning the government wants to own the rights to relevant software and hardware without having to consult with Washington to employ or modify the weapon.

That requirement previously turned out to be a major headache in the negotiations with industry, especially relating to the Lockheed-made interceptor known as the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement. It also remains to be seen how firmly Berlin sticks to its guns on the issue in the upcoming round of talks.

News of movement in the prospective multibillion-dollar program comes as the German Defence Ministry announced another major acquisition decision last month that continues to make headlines. The government has proposed a split buy of Eurofighter and F-18 fighter jets to replace its Tornado fleet by 2030, prompting spirited debates among German lawmakers, industry advocates and analysts.

https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/05/06/german-government-asks-lockheed-mbda-to-re-bid-on-missile-defense-system/

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  • Space Force awards contracts worth as much as $1B for new modems

    1 avril 2020 | International, Aérospatial, C4ISR

    Space Force awards contracts worth as much as $1B for new modems

    Mike Gruss The Space Force awarded L3 Technologies and Raytheon's Space and Airborne Systems contracts worth as much as $1 billion for the development and production of new modems that would help with protected satellite communications. The indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts, each worth as much as $500 million, are part of the Air Force and Army Anti-Jam Modem program, which is also known as A3M. The modems would be capable of handling the new Protected Tactical Waveform, which provides anti-jamming communications for warfighters on the battlefield. The program is led by the Army's Program Executive Office Command Control Communications – Tactical and the Space Force's Space and Missile Systems Center. Space Force officials emphasized that they awarded the contract about four months ahead of schedule. In a request for information from 2018, military officials said the modem would be used in the Air Force Ground Multiband Terminal and Army Space Transportable Terminal. The contracts are also expected to include terminals or terminal components to work with the new Protected Tactical SATCOM system, commercial satellites and the Air Force's Wideband Global SATCOM satellites. “We are very excited to be partnering with Raytheon and L3 Technologies Inc. to bring Protected Tactical Waveform anti-jam capability to both Department of the Air Force and Army users,” said Shannon Pallone, senior materiel leader, Tactical SATCOM Division, said in a release. “This was a joint team from the start, a partnership between the Space Force and the Army, and included support from the [National Security Agency].” https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2020/04/01/space-force-awards-contracts-worth-as-much-as-1b-for-new-modems

  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - April 23, 2020

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

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - April 23, 2020

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The Air Force District Washington, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, is the contracting activity (FA7014-20-C-0016). Aviation Training Consulting LLC, Altus, Oklahoma, has been awarded a $7,281,483 firm-fixed-price modification (P00043) to previously-awarded contract FA8621-16-C-6339 for B-52 training system contractor logistics support and training system support center sustainment. The contract modification is for the third increment of the seven year basic contract. Work will be performed at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana; and Minot AFB, North Dakota, and is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2020. Air Force fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds will fund this effort. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $7,281,483. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity. 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MK 41 VLS stores, selects, prepares and launches standard missiles, Tomahawk, Vertical Launch Anti-Submarine Rocket and Evolved Sea Sparrow missiles. Work is expected to be completed by March 2025. This contract combines purchases for the Navy (65%); and the governments of South Korea, Finland and Germany (35%) under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. Fiscal 2018 and 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); and FMS funding in the amount of $29,527,952 was obligated at the 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. (Awarded April 17, 2020) Trijicon Inc.,* Wixom, Michigan, is awarded a $41,218,080 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the remanufacture of Rifle Combat Optics (RCOs). 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Work will be performed in Fairfax, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of March 26, 2023. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test, and evaluation, Army funds in the amount of $83,099,372 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Aberdeen, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W911QX-20-C-0023). Sherwood Aviation,* Opa Locka, Florida, was awarded an $18,636,740 firm-fixed-price contract for overhaul/repair of CH-47 gas turbine engines. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of April 23, 2025. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-20-D-0051). General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., Poway, California, was awarded a $9,943,746 modification (P00044) to contract W58RGZ-19-C-0027 for continuation effort for the Gray Eagle Unmanned Aircraft System. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $9,943,746 were obligated at the time of the award. Work will be performed in Poway, California, with an estimated completion date of April 23, 2021. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Boyer Commercial Construction Inc.,* Columbia, South Carolina, was awarded an $8,686,240 firm-fixed-price contract for national cemetery expansion at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Bids were solicited via the internet with seven received. Work will be performed in Columbia, South Carolina, with an estimated completion date of May 14, 2021. Fiscal 2020 Department of Veteran Affairs funds in the amount of $8,686,240 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Charleston, South Carolina, is the contracting activity (W912HP-20-C-2001). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Robertson Fuel Systems LLC, Tempe, Arizona, has been awarded a maximum $38,784,713 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery requirements contract for aircraft fuel tanks. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Arizona, with an April 23, 2025, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2025 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (SPRRA1-20-D-0034). *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2162978/source/GovDelivery/

  • The Navy is looking at an unmanned helicopter to make its newest ships more lethal — and it just passed the first test

    16 juillet 2018 | International, Aérospatial, Naval

    The Navy is looking at an unmanned helicopter to make its newest ships more lethal — and it just passed the first test

    Christopher Woody The Navy recently completed initial testing of the MQ-8C Fire Scout, an unmanned helicopter capable of carrying three times as much payload as an earlier version. The Navy hopes to deploy the MQ-8C aboard littoral combat ships, augmenting their limited range and firepower. More testing is needed however, and the Navy is still evaluating how the arm the drone helicopter. On June 29, US Navy crews completed the first comprehensive initial operational test and evaluation of the MQ-8C Fire Scout, an unmanned helicopter the Navy hopes will increase the lethality of the service's new littoral combat ships. The aircraft carried out several mission scenarios from the USS Coronado, an LCS commissioned in 2014. The Coronado's crew and members of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 1 performed simulated engagements in order to review the MQ-8C's target-identification, intelligence-gathering, and surface-warfare abilities. The testing showed "cohesion between the surface and aviation platforms," the Navy said in a release published on July 9. "The results, lessons learned, and recommendations reported on following this underway test period are absolutely invaluable to the future of the MQ-8C Fire Scout's mission effectiveness and suitability to perform that mission," Lt. Cmdr. Seth Ervin, leader of the Air Test and Evaluation detachment on the Coronado, said in the release. The testing also looked for ways to simultaneously operate both the Fire Scout and a MH-60S Seahawk manned helicopter onboard an LCS, finding that such operations were possible but required extensive planning and coordination. "It has been challenging and rewarding to be one of the first maintainers afforded the opportunity to take both aircraft aboard the ship. Working together, we made the overall product more functional and efficient for the fleet," Aviation Machinist's Mate Second Class Salvatore Greene, a member of the testing squadron, said in the release. The Coronado previously hosted tests of the smaller MQ-8B, which has been used in Afghanistan to detect improvised explosive devices. The larger MQ-8C, which is based on the Bell 407 manned helicopter, retains the hardware and software for the smaller model but has twice the range and can carry a payload three times bigger. The MQ-8C can also fly for 11.5 hours because the redesign for the Fire Scout program fitted the Bell 407's passenger and cargo spaces with fuel tanks, according to Jane's 360. The MQ-8B was to be equipped with a multimode maritime radar and the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System, consisting of modified 70 mm Hydra rockets fitted with a guidance system. The MQ-8B was limited to three tube launchers, but Capt. Jeff Dodge, the Navy's Fire Scout program manager, told USNI News the service was looking to put seven tubes on the MQ-8C. Limited space aboard the LCS complicates decisions about arming the Fire Scout. The LCS has one magazine that would store all weapons used by aircraft and the ship's own weapon systems. Dodge said in April that the Navy was still deciding how to fit Fire Scout armaments in with the LCS's own weapons. Those complicating factors had effectively put a hold on efforts to arm the MQ-8C until 2023, Dodge said at the time. The MQ-8C can land and takeoff autonomously from any aviation-capable ship and can carry out anti-submarine, anti-surface, mine warfare, and search-and-rescue operations, according to Northrop Grumman. Northrop has also touted the MQ-8C as a range-extender, adding up to 300 miles by providing targeting data for the LCS's over-the-horizon surface missile. The company plans to upgrade the MQ-8C with a new radar and datalink that allow it to send air-to-air and surface targeting information to surface ships. The MQ-8C did its first ship-based flight in December 2014 on the USS Jason Dunham, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. It also did underway-testing aboard the littoral combat ship USS Montgomery in April 2017, when it took its first flight from an LCS. Initial operational testing and evaluation for the MQ-8C began on April 16. Pierside testing focused on maintenance and cyber capabilities will continue on the Coronado through mid-July, the Navy said. Initial operational capability is expected by the end of this year. The Navy hopes to have the MQ-8C aboard the LCS fleet by the early 2020s. http://www.businessinsider.com/navy-mq-8c-fire-scout-unmanned-helicopter-passes-test-to-work-with-lcs-2018-7

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