How the Navy can lean in to software superiority

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  19 janvier 2021 | International, Aérospatial

  Key Upgrades Mark 2021 As Turnaround Year For KC-46A

  Guy Norris As progress accelerates on a key visual system redesign, a wing refueling pod certification and the hopes for more international sales, Boeing believes its troubled KC-46A tanker program has finally turned a corner. Marking a shift away from more than three years of delays, challenges and frustration for the U.S. Air Force, the program's brighter outlook builds on two agreements announced between Boeing and the service last April. The first covered the redesign and retrofit of a fully compliant boom operator remote vision system (RVS), at no cost to the government, while the second released $882 million of withheld payments to Boeing for previous noncompliance in 33 KC-46A deliveries. “That was a real turning point, and it's been extremely collaborative since then,” says Boeing KC-46A Vice President and General Manager Jamie Burgess. “That's really been cultivated by the agreement that we reached on the new RVS system,” he says, acknowledging the change to the relationship with the Air Force. “For a while, we were at a bit of an impasse in terms of what needed to be done to address the Air Force's concerns. There's a lot of hard work left to go, but it's been a really long relationship now,” he adds. Boeing is working on a two-phase approach to correct the well-documented RVS deficiencies that were revealed during flight tests. These defects mostly center on the oversensitivity of the aft-looking camera system to direct sunlight, which led to image issues in the hybrid 2D-3D video feed to the boom operator. “The first phase is really just intended to address that distortion piece of it, and that's primarily a software change that's being implemented now,” Burgess says. The fix, dubbed the enhanced RVS, “digitally addresses the distortion around the edges of the picture,” he adds. The fix will also make viewing the system “more comfortable for the operator when looking through the 3D glasses,” says Sean Martin, KC-46A global sales and marketing leader, referring to the stereoscopic eyewear required for the system. “It makes the image more like what they are used to seeing in real life.” The second phase, and the subject of the Air Force agreement, is RVS 2.0. Described by Burgess as “a full technological refresh of the system,” the revised package will include new cameras, new displays, a light-detection and ranging (lidar) system and all new supporting computing infrastructure. The redesigned aerial-refueling operator station will feature much larger 40-in. displays compared with the current 24-in. screens, giving the position “much more of a kind of home theater feel to it,” Burgess says. The image will remain in 3D but will be presented in color and 4K resolution. The Air Force has also opted for a collimated mirror projection method over an LCD option, “so we are working with them to mature that design,” the manufacturer adds. In collaboration with the Air Force, Boeing completed the RVS 2.0 system readiness review in December and remains on track to hold the preliminary design review in the second quarter. The system is due to be fielded around late 2023 or early 2024. The redesign will also be provisioned for semi-autonomous or autonomous aerial refueling (AAR), satisfying a long-term capability vision of both the Air Force and Boeing. “The computing-system upgrade will be able to handle the processing for future automation,” Burgess says. “In parallel, we're working toward developing all of the computing algorithms that will be required to track the receiver [aircraft] using machine-learning-type software. We will feed that into our boom control laws, so that it can go find the receptacle on that receiver,” he adds, referring to the KC-46A's fly-by-wire controlled boom. The algorithm development work builds on the company's long-running collaboration with the Air Force Research Laboratory on autonomous refueling as well as other related efforts, such as the unmanned MQ-25 tanker for the U.S. Navy. “We have a lab now where we're developing those algorithms that we can move into KC-46 when the Air Force has a requirement for it,” Martin says. “We want to bring the capability to them, but we haven't received a requirement from them that says they need that. But we're working on it, and we're committed to it.” Boeing says the end is also in sight for another issue that has overshadowed the tanker development: the long-delayed certification of the Cobham-developed wing air-refueling pods (WARP). The wing-mounted pods, along with a centerline station, form part of the tanker's hose-and-drogue system, which can deliver up to 400 gal. of fuel per minute, compared with 1,200 gal. per minute for the boom. All KC-46As are provisioned at delivery to carry the pods, but in line with Boeing's initial decision to pursue both military and civil certification for the tanker and its systems, the aircraft cannot be operationally equipped with the system until the FAA approves the WARPs. The pods performed well during flight testing, but “the FAA has required a tremendous amount of testing in order to certify them,” Burgess says. “Similar pods have flown for years on other military aircraft, but they have never been FAA-certified.” Although Cobham seriously underestimated how much work would be required for FAA certification, Burgess says: “We're at the very end of that testing and are just about done.” FAA approval is expected for the pod by the end of the first quarter. Previously, all certification work related to pods was concerned with ensuring that carriage of such systems was safe and would not affect the control and safe landing of the aircraft. “Now we had to look at certifying it to operate, so all the components—such as the ram air turbine on the front of the pod—had to be cleared for safe use,” Martin adds. “That's been the challenge for them, and they've done a great job stepping up to it.” Another ongoing area of modification is revising a valve for the boom actuation system to correct a refueling issue specific to the Fairchild Republic A-10 attack aircraft. “The boom flies down and telescopes out to connect with the receiver aircraft, which pushes the boom up into a nominal refueling position,” Burgess says. At altitude, the A-10 with wing stores was only able to generate a force of about 650-lb. thrust resistance compared with the international standard of 1,400 lb. to which the boom was designed. “We're changing the actuation system to make it just require less force to push it up,” Burgess says. “That's currently going through the critical design review with the Air Force.” He adds that the first qualification units are now being assembled. “We're also building up for a big full-scale lab test, and so that's well underway.” Boeing is also preparing to design, develop and test a secure communications system, dubbed the Pegasus Combat Capability Block 1 upgrade, and expects to receive a contract for the enhancement package this year. The Air Force is studying which elements to include in the upgrade, and that puts the KC-46A on a path to play a potentially wider role as a battlespace communications node. But Boeing adds that a wing-mounted, podded, radio-frequency countermeasures system is not currently in the Block 1 suite. With 42 tankers delivered by the end of 2020 and the firm orderbook bolstered by a $1.6 billion contract for the sixth production lot covering an additional 12 aircraft, Boeing is focused on maintaining a smooth assembly flow despite the disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic. The process includes rigorous new quality controls introduced after a series of discoveries of foreign object contamination caused the Air Force to temporarily suspend accepting the aircraft in April 2019. “It's no secret that we realized that we had an issue as far as foreign object debris [FOD] on airplanes,” Burgess says. “We stopped the production line, and we stopped deliveries for a while and put in place a number of controls. There's a whole lot of work that goes on in the factory around what we call ‘clean as you go.' At the end of the shift, there is a cleanup to make sure that the airplanes that roll out of the factory are perfectly clean.” The decontamination focus continues when airframes are rolled from the factory into the nearby Everett Modification Center, where all the military equipment is installed. “We do a complete FOD sweep of the airplane when it enters and again when it leaves to go to the delivery center,” Burgess says. “The aircraft delivering today are very clean. It's been a big cultural shift for the program.” Production is currently split roughly evenly between commercial 767-300F freighters and KC-46A variants—a divide that sustains the line at about three airframes per month. With the latest order, confirmed on Jan. 12, Boeing is now on contract for 79 tankers out of an intended total of 179. The firm orderbook is expected to grow again to 94 when the Air Force awards the next contract for a further 15 aircraft under production Lot 7, which legislators approved in December. Although program delays held up initial deliveries to the Air Force until January 2019, Burgess says the subsequent flow of operational aircraft to four bases marks an unprecedented pace for any recent modern weapons system. “I'm not aware of any other major military program that's done this,” he adds. “We delivered 28 in 2019. We'll do 14 this year.” Boeing maintains the flexibility to introduce slots into the production skyline for international sales, the first of which is to Japan. The aircraft, the first of four that the Japan Self-Defense Force has ordered, is due to make its first flight sometime this quarter. The U.S. Congress has also approved the sale of eight aircraft to Israel, and Boeing is pursuing other prospects in Southwest Asia and the Middle East, particularly in Qatar. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/aircraft-propulsion/key-upgrades-mark-2021-turnaround-year-kc-46a

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  1 février 2021 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - January 29, 2021

  ARMY KBRwyle Technical Solutions LLC, Columbia, Maryland, was awarded a $78,252,029 modification (000286) to contract W52P1J-12-G-0061 for maintenance, supply, transportation and other logistics functions for the Army Prepositioned Stock-3 Charleston Afloat program. Work will be performed in Goose Creek, South Carolina, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 14, 2022. Fiscal 2010 operation and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $12,000,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity. High Desert Support Services, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was awarded a $54,000,000 modification (P00034) to contract W9124B-18-C-0004 for operations support services at Fort Irwin U.S. Army Garrison. Work will be performed in Fort Irwin, California, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 31, 2022. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $4,172,214 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army 418th Contracting Support Brigade, Fort Irwin, California, is the contracting activity. GP Strategies Corp., Columbia, Maryland, was awarded a $40,671,032 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for life cycle logistics support and chemical demilitarization training facility operations and maintenance to facilitate the mission of the Chemical Materiel Training Facility at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. 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 15, 2026. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W52P1J-21-D-0015). ACC Construction Co. Inc., Augusta, Georgia, was awarded a $31,229,066 firm-fixed-price contract for construction of a consolidated mission complex at Warner Robins Air Force Base. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed at Warner Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 23, 2023. Fiscal 2017 and 2020 military construction (defense-wide) funds in the amount of $31,229,066 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville, Kentucky, is the contracting activity (W912QR-21-C-0009). The Boeing Co., Mesa, Arizona, was awarded a $20,333,921 modification (P00070) to contract W58RGZ-16-C-0023 for long lead integrated logistics support, initial spares package and peculiar ground support equipment for the Royal Moroccan Air Force. Work will be performed in Mesa, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2024. Fiscal 2010 Foreign Military Sales (Morocco); and 2019 and 2020 aircraft procurement (Army) funds in the amount of $20,333,921, were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Corp., Orlando, Florida, was awarded a $15,925,901 modification (P00026) to contract W31P4Q-18-C-0130 to develop a second source for the qualification and facilitization of the Electromechanical Control Actuation System for the Hellfire missile. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 28, 2021. Fiscal 2019 procurement of ammunition (Army) funds in the amount of $3,625,819 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Vectrus Systems Corp., Colorado Springs, Colorado, was awarded a $15,785,417 modification (P00059) to contract W91RUS-17-C-0010 for information technology services to support the mission of the 2nd Theater Signal Brigade. Work will be performed in Germany and Italy, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 31, 2022. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $11,768,377 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Oshkosh Defense LLC, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, was awarded a $15,261,587 modification (P00079) to contract W56HZV-20-C-0050 to exercise available options for Marine Corps procurement of vehicles and kits for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle family of vehicles. Work will be performed in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 31, 2022. Fiscal 2021 Foreign Military Sales (Macedonia, Slovenia and Montenegro) and 2021 USMC procurement funds in the amount of $15,261,587 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity. Pond Constructors Inc., Peachtree Corners, Georgia, was awarded a $9,468,778 firm-fixed-price contract to maintain and repair petroleum systems and facilities. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work will be performed in Anchorage, Alaska; Fairbanks Alaska; Delta Junction, Alaska; Shemya, Alaska; King Salmon, Alaska; Pohakuloa, Hawaii; Honolulu, Hawaii; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Ewa Beach, Hawaii; and Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 31, 2022. Fiscal 2021 revolving funds in the amount of $9,468,778 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntsville, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W912DY-21-F-0025). AIR FORCE Teradyne Inc., North Reading, Massachusetts, has been awarded a $78,232,776 firm-fixed-price requirements contract for the purchase of Versatile Diagnostic Automatic Test Station (VDATS) kits. The VDATS is an organically designed test station with open architecture and virtual modular equipment extensions for instrumentation technology. The VDATS consists of standardized, commercially available test equipment, components and software. There are two configurations of VDATS, the Digital Analog (DA)-1 and DA-2. Currently, these configurations support the A-10, B-1, B-2, B-52, C-5, C-17, C-130, E-3, E-8C, F-15, F16, F-22, H-53, H-60, KC-135 MC-4, MQ-9, Navy ships and UH-1 weapon systems. This contract will consist of five ordering periods with a period of performance of Feb. 1 2021, through Dec. 31, 2025, and work will be performed in North Reading, Massachusetts. No funds are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Sustainment Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity (FA8571-21-D-0001). Lockheed Martin, Owego, New York, has been awarded a $64,266,809 supply contract for F-16 Foreign Military Sales (FMS) mission planning. This contract provides for the development, integration, test and delivery of the Joint Mission Planning System Unique Planning Component/Mission Planning Environment software updates. Work will be performed in Owego, New York, and is expected to be completed by January 2029. This contract involves FMS to Slovakia, Bulgaria, Taiwan, Morocco, Greece, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Slovenia and Thailand. This award is the result of a directed-source acquisition. FMS funds in the amount of $17,172,548 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity (FA8730-21-C-0001). Taitech Inc., Dayton, Ohio, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $31,587,310 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (FA8650-21-D-2400) for technology for sustained supersonic combustion (TSSC). The mission of TSSC is to provide research and development for investigation of basic concepts, components, sub-systems, and diagnostics, for high-speed air breathing propulsion systems, airframe structures and internal/external aerodynamics including integration into air vehicles, weapons and launch systems. Work will be performed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and is expected to be completed by February 2028. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and four offers were received. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $75,000 will fund the initial task order at time of award. Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity. (FA8650-21-F-2402) Technica Corp., Sterling, Virginia, has been awarded a $22,040,950 cost-plus-fixed-fee task order (FA8307-19-F-0098) for weapon system engineering and maintenance services to include incremental software version development and installation, security patch installations, preventative maintenance, trouble shooting and responsive Tier 1, 2 and 3 support for the Cyberspace Vulnerability Assessment/Hunter weapon system. Work will be performed in Sterling, Virginia, and is expected to be completed Aug. 14, 2025. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and seven offers were received. Fiscal 2021 research, development, test and evaluation funds; fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance funds; and fiscal 2021 Air National Guard procurement funds, in the full amount are being obligated at the time award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, is the contracting activity (FA8732-14-D-0015). Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., McLean, Virginia, has been awarded a $21,744,548 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P00032) to contract FA8750-17-F-0105 for enterprise exploitation and information assurance. This contract modification provides for additional hours to facilitate development of electro-optical emerging data sources as part of the Assured Cyber Enterprise for the Intelligence Community Program. Work will be performed in McLean, Virginia, and is expected to be completed Sept. 28, 2021. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $74,381 are being obligated at the time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $71,427,681. Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome, New York, is the contracting activity. Walga Ross Group, Topeka, Kansas, has been awarded an $8,575,943 firm-fixed-price contract, to repair/replace heat, ventilation and air conditioning to Building 2210 located on Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. The work is expected to be completed June 13, 2022. This award is the result of Tribal/American Native Corp. set aside. Non-expiring Depot Maintenance Activity Group funds in the full amount are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Sustainment Center, Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity (FA8137-21-C-0009). NAVY Rolls-Royce Corp., Indianapolis, Indiana, is awarded a $72,874,164 firm-fixed-price modification (P00024) to previously awarded contract N00019-17-C-0081. This modification exercises an option to procure 33 production AE1107C V-22 Osprey engines; 14 for the Marine Corps and 19 for the Navy for production of MV-22 and CMV-22 tiltrotor aircraft. Work will be performed in Indianapolis, Indiana, and is expected to be completed in December 2022. Fiscal 2021 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $39,749,544; fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $11,041,540; and fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $22,083,080 will be obligated at the time of award, $22,083,080 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. La Playa Inc. of Virginia,* Chesapeake, Virginia (N64498-21-D-0002); Life Cycle Engineering Inc.,* North Charleston, South Carolina (N64498-21-D-0003); Q.E.D. Systems Inc.,* Virginia Beach, Virginia (N64498-21-D-0004); Epsilon Systems Solutions Inc.,* Portsmouth, Virginia (N64498-21-D-0005); and Continental Tide Defense Systems Inc.,* Wyomissing, Pennsylvania (N64498-21-D-0006), are awarded a combined $67,512,167 cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the procurement of support services for the Navy's air conditioning and refrigeration systems on all types of military vessels and small crafts. Each awardee will be awarded $2,200 (minimum contract guarantee per awardee) at contract award. Work will be assigned according to individual delivery orders and is expected to be completed by February 2027. It is estimated that work will be performed on the West Coast (41%); outside the continental U.S. (31%); and the East Coast (28%), at the following locations: Norfolk, Virginia; Mayport, Florida; Bremerton, Washington; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Yokosuka, Japan; Bahrain; United Arab Emirates; San Diego, California; Groton, Connecticut; Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Seattle, Washington; and Guam. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance funding in the amount of $11,000 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. All other funding will be made available at the delivery order level as contracting actions occur. This multiple award contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website with five offers received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity. Bering Global Solutions LLC,* Anchorage, Alaska, is awarded a maximum-value $44,636,195 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for base operations support services to be performed at Naval Support Activity Northwest Annex, Chesapeake, Virginia. Work will be performed in Chesapeake, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by September 2029. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $4,387,967 for recurring work will be obligated under the initial task order at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Work on the initial task order is expected to be completed by March 2022. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website with five proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N62470-21-D-0006). The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., Baltimore, Maryland, is awarded a $32,070,700 firm-fixed-price task order (N400-85-F-4540) under previously awarded multiple-award construction contract N40085-19-D-9070 for the construction of design-build project P224 Operations Support Facility and P999 Training Facility at Joint Expeditionary Base, Little Creek, Virginia. P224 will design and construct an operations support facility. The project includes all pertinent site preparations and site improvements, mechanical and electrical utilities, telecommunications, emergency generator, landscaping, drainage, parking and exterior lighting. Built-in equipment includes equipment cages, passenger/freight elevator, lockers and emergency generator. P999 will design and construct an operations training facility, to include administrative spaces with both private and open offices, open workstations, conference rooms, cage rooms to secure personal belongings, shower rooms and supporting spaces including server rooms, mechanical rooms, restrooms, break rooms, janitor closets and circulation spaces. Work will be performed at Joint Expeditionary Base, Little Creek, Virginia Beach, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by December 2023. Fiscal 2021 military construction funds in the amount of $32,070,700 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Five proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity. The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Cambridge, Massachusetts, is awarded a $23,185,000 option under modification P00012 to previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract N0003020-C-0004 to provide guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C) subject matter expertise and resources to explore and evaluate current maturing concepts and technologies to enable follow on, full-scale development of strategic guidance, navigation, and control solutions for the Second Life Extension (D5LE2) of the Trident II (D5) Strategic Weapon System. This contract also provides research and development into new and alternate GN&C technologies and concepts to support alternate and developing strategic systems programs missions. Work will be performed in Cambridge, Massachusetts (100%), with an expected completion date of Sept. 30, 2021. The contract will be incrementally funded with fiscal 2021 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $5,423,823 and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was a sole-source acquisition pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1). Strategic Systems Programs, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is being awarded $19,680,950 for a firm-fixed-priced delivery order N00383-21-F-AY04 under previously awarded basic ordering agreement N00383-18-G-AY01 for the repair of various avionics equipment used on the F/A-18 aircraft and AV-8B aircraft. Work will be performed in Lemoore, California (99%); and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1%). Work will be begin February 2021, and will be completed by December 2023. Fiscal 2021 working capital funds (Navy) in the full amount of $19,680,950 will be obligated at the time of award and funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One source was solicited for this non-competitive requirement pursuant to the authority set forth in 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1) and one offer was received. Naval Supply Systems Command, Weapon Systems Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity. East Coast Repair and Fabrication LLC, Portsmouth, Virginia, is awarded a $12,131,903 firm-fixed-price contract for a 50-calendar day shipyard availability. The work to be performed provides services for the mid-term availability of the fleet replenishment oiler USNS Kanawha (T-AO 196). The contract also contains five unexercised options, which if exercised, would increase cumulative contract value to $13,566,323. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by April 19, 2021. Fiscal 2021 working capital contract funds (Navy) in the amount of $12,131,903 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the beta.SAM.gov website with four proposals received. The Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N32205-21-C-4008). Lockheed Martin Space, Titusville, Florida, is awarded a $10,952,454 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P00006) to exercise options under previously awarded contract N00030-20-C-0100 for Trident II (D5) deployed systems support. Work will be performed in Denver, Colorado (40.1%); Bangor, Washington (17.9%); Kings Bay, Georgia (8.8%); Magna, Utah (8.2%); Oak Ridge, Tennessee (7.3%); Washington, D.C. (6.3%); Sunnyvale, California (5.6%); Cape Canaveral, Florida (3.5%); and other various locations (less than 1% each, 2.3% total). Work is expected to be completed Sept. 30, 2025. Fiscal 2021 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $7,907,204; and fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,500,000 are being obligated on this award, $1,500,000 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract is being awarded to the contractor on a sole-source basis under 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) and was previously synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities website. Strategic Systems Programs, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. Martin-Baker Aircraft Co. Ltd., Uxbridge, United Kingdom, is awarded an $8,764,364 firm-fixed-price contract for the manufacture of 581 explosive cartridges kits and 1,116 each of different explosive cartridges used in the Martin-Baker US16E ejection seat in F-35 aircraft for the Joint Strike Fighter program. The contract does not contain a provision for an option quantity. All work will be performed in Uxbridge, United Kingdom, and work is expected to be completed by October 2022. The total value of $8,764,364 will be obligated at the time of award. Funding sources include fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (O&M) (International Partner Funding) funds (31%); fiscal 2021 O&M (Air Force) funds (22%); fiscal 2021 procurement (Air Force) funds (18%); fiscal 2021 procurement (Marine Corps) funds (8%); fiscal 2021 procurement (Navy) funds (5%); fiscal 2021 O&M (Marine Corps) funds (5%); fiscal 2021 O&M (Navy) funds (3%); Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Japan funds (3%); FMS Israel funds (3%); FMS Belgium funds (1%); and FMS Korea funds (1%). Funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One source was solicited for this non-competitive requirement under authority 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c) (1), with one offer received. Naval Supply Systems Command, Weapon Systems Support, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity (N00104-21-C-K014). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY DRS Network & Imaging Services, Melbourne, Florida, has been awarded a maximum $55,678,715 firm-fixed-price, requirements base subsumable contract to repair and return Bradley weapon system parts. This is a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1 (a)(2). This is a nine-year contract with repricing occurring every three years. Location of performance is Florida, with a Jan. 28, 2030, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2021 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (SPRRA2-21-D-0014). U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND Rockwell Collins Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received a ceiling increase modification in the amount of $12,797,070 to an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (H92241-17-D-0004) to provide life-cycle contractor support and hardware for the Common Avionics Architecture System, Cockpit Management System, Airborne Mission Network, Secure Real Time Video and Aircraft Management Systems. This modification raises the contract ceiling to $43,529,330. The majority of the work is being performed in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and ordering periods will end in July 2022. This modification was a non-competitive award in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. U.S. Special Operations Command, Tampa, Florida, is the contracting activity. *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2487798/source/GovDelivery/

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  8 août 2022 | International, C4ISR

  US Army to collaborate with SpaceLink on tactical communications network

  The cooperative research and development agreement allows the organizations to share facilities, intellectual property and expertise to '€œelevate solutions for both the warfighter and industry,'€ the company said in a statement.