26 avril 2019 | International, Aérospatial

Government watchdog finds more problems with F-35’s spare parts pipeline

WASHINGTON — Only about half of the F-35s worldwide were ready to flyduring an eight-month period in 2018, with the wait for spare parts keeping jets on the ground nearly 30 percent of the time, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office.

Over the past several years, the Defense Department has sought to improve mission capable rates by making improvements to the way it and F-35 contractor Lockheed Martin order, stockpile and repair spare parts. However, GAO's findings imply that the situation may have gotten worse.

The GAO's report, released April 25, investigated how spare parts shortages impacted F-35 availability and mission capable rates in 2018, with most data gathered between a May and November sustainment contract period.

“In 2017, we reported that DOD was experiencing sustainment challenges that were reducing warfighter readiness, including delays of 6 years in standing up repair capabilities for F-35 parts at its depots and significant spare parts shortages that were preventing the F-35 fleet from flying about 20 percent of the time,” GAO said in the report.

“According to prime contractor data, from May through November 2018, F-35 aircraft across the fleet were unable to fly 29.7 percent of the time due to spare parts shortages,” it said. “Specifically, the F-35 supply chain does not have enough spare parts available to keep aircraft flying enough of the time necessary to meet warfighter requirements.”

That lack of improvement may make it more difficult for the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps to hit an 80 percent mission capable rate by the end of fiscal year 2019, as mandated by then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis last fall.

The military services stopped providing mission capable rates for aircraft last year, citing operational sensitivities. However, the data put forth by the GAO indicates that progress stagnated in the lead up to Mattis' order.

From May to November 2018, mission capable rates — which measure how many planes possessed by a squadron can perform at least one of its missions — hovered around 50 percent for all versions of the F-35.

But when GAO assessed how many planes were fully mission capable — meaning that they were ready to fulfill all of their mission sets — all variants were far from meeting the 60 percent target. Only 2 percent of F-35C carrier takeoff and landing versions hit the fully mission capable mark, with the F-35Bs slightly better at 16 percent and the F-35A at 34 percent.

The GAO is skeptical that the services will be able to hit the 80 percent mission capable rate goal this year, and it is even more critical of the Defense Department's plans to fund spares in future years.

The department intends to buy “only enough parts to enable about 80 percent of its aircraft to be mission-capable based on the availability of parts.” However, that planning construct will likely only yield a 70 percent mission capable rate at best, the GAO said, because it only accounts for the aircraft on the flight line and not jets that are in the depot for longer term maintenance.

No silver bullet for parts shortage issues

Like all complicated problems, there is no single solution for the F-35 spare parts shortage, which is driven by a number of factors.

GAO indicated that the Defense Department still has “a limited capacity” to repair broken parts, creating a backlog of 4,300 parts still needing to be addressed. Between September and November, it took more than six months to fix parts that should have been repaired in a window of two to three months.

The F-35's much-maligned Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) was designed to be able to track parts and automate the process of generating and expediting work orders, however, GAO notes that the system still requires manual workarounds from users in order to accomplish tasks.

Supply and maintenance personnel cited challenges such as “missing or corrupted electronic spare parts data,” limited automation and problems caused by ALIS's subsystems not communicating with each other properly, it said.

As the F-35 is still a relatively new platform, it has taken time for the program to assess which parts have been failing more often than previously estimated — but that is an area where the Defense Department is making progress, the GAO stated.

“DOD has identified specific parts shortages that are causing the greatest aircraft capability degradation, and it is developing short-term and long-term mitigation strategies to increase the quantity and reliability of these parts,” the report said.

One such component is a coating used on the F-35's canopy to help it maintain its stealth characteristics, which has been found to peel off at an unexpected rate, creating a heightened demand for canopies.

“To address these challenges, the program is looking for additional manufacturing sources for the canopy and is considering design changes,” the GAO stated.

But — somewhat paradoxically — the F-35 has been flying for a long enough time that there is significant parts differences between the first jets that rolled off the production line to the most recently manufactured planes. The GAO found “at least 39 different part combinations across the fleet” on top of variations in software.

“According to the program office, DOD spent more than $15 billion to purchase F-35 aircraft from the earliest lots of production, specifically lots 2 through 5 ... but it faces challenges in providing enough spare parts for these aircraft,” the report stated.

One problem — the cannibalization of F-35 aircraft for parts — is partially user-inflicted.

“From May through November 2018, F-35 squadrons cannibalized (that is, took) parts from other aircraft at rates that were more than six times greater than the services' objective,” the GAO stated. “These high rates of cannibalization mask even greater parts shortages, because personnel at F-35 squadrons are pulling parts off of other aircraft that are already unable to fly instead of waiting for new parts to be delivered through the supply chain.”

During an interview this February, Lt. Col. Toby Walker, deputy commander of the 33rd Maintenance Group, told Defense News that F-35 maintainers at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., had stopped pulling parts off a cannibalized F-35 and had seen some improvements to mission capable rates as a result.

“We're not continually moving parts from one aircraft to another. We're relying on the program to provide our parts,” he said. “It was a very strategic plan to do that to increase aircraft availability by not sitting an aircraft down.”

In a statement, Lockheed Martin said that it had taken key steps to improve parts availability, such as transitioning some suppliers to performance based logistics contracts that incentivize companies to meet certain targets, as well as “master repair agreements” that will allow other suppliers to make longer term investments in their production capability.

“These actions are beginning to deliver results and we're forecasting additional improvement. Newer production aircraft are averaging greater than 60 percent mission capable rates, with some operational squadrons consistently at 70 percent,” the company said.

“From a cost perspective, Lockheed Martin has reduced its portion of cost per aircraft per year by 15 percent since 2015. Our goal is to further reduce costs to $25,000 cost per flight hour by 2025, which is comparable to legacy aircraft while providing a generational leap in capability.”

https://www.defensenews.com/air/2019/04/25/government-watchdog-finds-more-problems-with-f-35s-spare-parts-pipeline

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7 juillet 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - July 06, 2020
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Raytheon Co., Andover, Massachusetts, has been awarded a $6,000,000,000 modification (P00102) to six-year base contract SPRBL1-15-D-0017 with one four-year option period, to add an additional year of performance and increase funding for depot-level repairables and consumable spare parts, as well as repair and engineering services for multiple weapon systems. This modification increases the contract ceiling from $2,000,000,000 to $8,000,000,000. 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 an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with both fixed-price and cost elements. Location of performance is Massachusetts, with a Sept. 27, 2021, ordering period end date. Using customer is the Department of Defense. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 Army working capital funds and other procurement funds as necessary. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. Federal Prison Industries,** doing business as UNICOR, Washington, D.C., has been awarded a maximum $14,220,050 modification (P00006) exercising the second one-year option period of one-year base contract SPE1C1-18-D-1069 with two one-year option periods for physical fitness uniform trunks. This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Locations of performance are Washington, D.C.; Minnesota; Colorado; Louisiana; Kentucky; and New Jersey, with a July 11, 2021, ordering period end date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Melton Sales & Service,* Columbus, New Jersey, has been awarded a maximum $10,093,553 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for transfer transmissions. 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 three-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is New Jersey, with a July 6, 2023, ordering period end date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2023 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Warren, Michigan (SPRDL1-20-D-0117). Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations LLC, doing business as GCR Tire Service, Phoenix, Arizona, has been awarded a maximum $8,709,450 firm-fixed-price requirements contract for M870 series low bed semitrailer wheel pneumatic tires. This was a competitive acquisition with one response received. This is a three-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Arizona, with a July 5, 2023, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2023 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Warren, Michigan (SPRDL1-20-D-0096). NAVY Vigor Marine LLC, Portland, Oregon, is awarded a $133,406,869 firm-fixed-price contract to prepare for and accomplish repair and alteration requirements for USS McCampbell (DDG 85) chief of naval operations scheduled depot maintenance availability. This contract includes options which, if exercised, will bring the cumulative value of this contract to $155,621,173. Work will be performed in Portland, Oregon. USS McCampbell will receive comprehensive modernization for DDG 51 class ships to ensure a mission relevant service life. These improvements will include hull, mechanical and electrical technology insertion; as well as provide critical warfighting improvements, such as upgraded machinery control system, integrated bridge and navigation system (to include physical throttles); advanced galley upgrade; wireless communications and digital video surveillance system upgrade; upgrade to a fiber optic local area network backbone; AEGIS baseline 9 upgrade (that includes updated guns weapons system); enhanced Vertical Launching System; multi-mission signal processor; and Ballistic Missile Defense 5.0 upgrade. Work is expected to be completed by November 2021. Fiscal 2020 operation and maintenance (Navy); and fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $154,319,412 will be obligated at time of award. Funds in the amount of $21,166,210 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. In accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(3), this contract was not competitively procured. The Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Bremerton, Washington, is the contracting activity (N4523A-20-D-0550). Cubic Defense Applications Inc., Orlando, Florida, is awarded a $99,100,000 firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract supports the Surface Training Immersive Gaming and Simulations effort and provides for the development, delivery and total life cycle support of a new virtual environment training system. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida. Life cycle support of the new training systems includes updates, maintenance, upgrades and modifications to surface ship trainers and associated courseware to maintain fleet operational readiness. This system will be one of the pillars under the overall Surface Training Advanced Virtual Environment Program. Work is expected to be completed by July 2025. No funds will be obligated at the time of award, but will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was competitively procured via an electronic request for proposal and six offers were received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity (N61340-20-D-0018). Jacobs/B&M JV, Pasadena, California, is awarded a $99,000,000 maximum amount, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, architect-engineer contract for architect-engineer services. This includes the design, engineering, specification writing, cost estimating and related services at various locations under the cognizance of then Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Pacific. No task orders are being issued at this time. Work will be performed at various Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and other government facilities within the NAVFAC Pacific area of operations, including but not limited to, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands (75%); Australia (15%); Hawaii (5%); and Diego Garcia (5%). The work to be performed provides for the preparation of region/Facilities Engineering Command team; DD Form 1391 project documentation; engineering studies; specifications utilizing the Department of Defense SpecsIntact program; cost estimates utilizing the micro-computer aided cost estimating system (second generation); design and engineering services for functional analysis and concept development; request for proposal (RFP) documentation for design-build projects; and RFP documentation, plans and specifications for design-bid-build projects. The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months and is expected to be completed by July 2025. Fiscal 2018 military construction (planning and design) contract funds in the amount of $10,000 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by military construction (planning and design). This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website and two proposals were received. The NAVFAC Pacific, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, is the contracting activity (N62742-20-D-0002). HDR Environmental, Operations and Construction Inc., Englewood, Colorado, is awarded a $75,000,000 maximum amount, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to conduct marine species monitoring services and implement components of the Navy's Integrated Comprehensive Monitoring Program. No task orders are being issued at this time. The primary geographic area covered by this contract encompasses the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Atlantic and Pacific areas of operations. Additionally, tasks associated with this contract may be assigned anywhere in the world. The work to be performed will obtain services for performance of marine resources monitoring and program management in support of Navy environmental compliance and reporting requirements. Services may include, but are not limited to, literature review and data searches; aerial, shipboard, and/or underwater visual surveys; passive acoustic monitoring; assessments to determine potential impacts from military activities; behavioral studies and controlled exposure experiments; biopsy sampling; tagging and tracking; analysis of data and technical assistance to ensure legal compliance; preparation of necessary reports, consultation packages and permit applications; and management and coordination of complex projects with other Federal agencies, institutions and organizations spanning a wide range of geographic locations. The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months with an expected completion date of July 2025. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) (O&M, N) contract funds in the amount of $5,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by O&M, N. This contract was competitively procured via the beta.SAM.gov website, and two proposals were received. The NAVFAC Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N62470-20-D-0016). Raytheon Missiles and Defense, Tucson, Arizona, is awarded a $34,749,670 modification (P00011) to previously-awarded fixed-price-incentive-firm contract N00019-18-C-1068. This modification provides for the production and delivery of 58 additional Lot 20 AIM-9X Block II all up round tactical missiles (29 for the Navy and 29 for the Air Force); an additional 61 Block II Captive Air Training Missiles (one for the Navy and 60 for the Air Force); an additional 35 all up round containers (12 for the Navy and 23 for the Air Force); and one lot of spares assets for the governments of Finland, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Turkey and Poland. 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Fiscal 2017 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $500 ($500 minimum guarantee for contract) will be obligated at time of award via an individual task order and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities. In accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1), this contract was not competitively procured; there was one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Naval Surface Warfare Center Philadelphia Division, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity (N64498-20-D-0009). ARMY General Dynamics Land Systems, Sterling Heights, Michigan, was awarded a $10,260,921 modification (P00110) to contract W56HZV-17-C-0067 for Abrams systems technical support. Work will be performed in Sterling Heights, Michigan, with an estimated completion date of March 31, 2022. 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3 avril 2020 | International, Naval

U.S. Navy Selects Huntington Ingalls Industries to Provide Logistics Support for Surface Ships and Submarines
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27 novembre 2023 | International, Sécurité

Secretary General: NATO to reaffirm long-term support to Ukraine as Foreign Ministers address urgent security issues
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