6 mars 2024 | International, Aérospatial

India plans to spend $3 billion on space. Can it catch up to China?

A top Indian general says the military cannot remain dependent on foreign constellations.

https://www.defensenews.com/space/2024/03/06/india-plans-to-spend-3-billion-on-space-can-it-catch-up-to-china/

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  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - October 29, 2020

    30 octobre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - October 29, 2020

    AIR FORCE The Boeing Co., Seattle, Washington, has been awarded a $342,120,528 firm-fixed-price modification (P00009) to contract FA8609-18-F-0006 for KC-46A Aircraft 3 and 4 for Japan. This modification provides for the exercise of an option for an additional quantity of two KC-46A Japan aircraft being produced under the basic contract. Work will be performed in Everett, Washington, and is expected to be completed June 30, 2023. Foreign Military Sales funds in the full amount are being obligated at the time of award. The total cumulative face value of this contract is $800,972,411. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. The Raytheon Co., Tucson, Arizona, has been awarded a $192,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) field team and lab support. This contract provides support for the AMRAAM system development test activities to include laboratory management, field-team test support, testing and analysis. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona; Fort Worth, Texas; St. Louis, Missouri; Seattle, Washington; Edwards Air Force Base, California; Hill AFB, Utah; and Eglin AFB, Florida, and is expected to be completed Sept. 30, 2030. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) funds in the amount of $479,372; and fiscal 2021 RDT&E funds in the amount of $800,000 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Eglin AFB, Florida, is the contracting activity (FA86785-21-D-0030). Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Northridge, California, has been awarded a $75,006,130 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, requirements contract for common munition built-in-tester reprogramming equipment (CMBRE) system. This contract provides for the program management support, sustaining engineering, repairs, consumable parts depot, and production of CMBRE systems, initial spares kits and associated items belonging to the CMBRE configuration. Work will be performed in Northridge, California, and is expected to be completed Oct. 29, 2026. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2021 operations and maintenance funds will be used and obligated via an individual delivery order against the contract as requirements are made known. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity (FA8533-21-D-0001). ARMY Eli Lilly and Co., Indianapolis, Indiana, was awarded a $312,500,000 firm-fixed-price contract for procurement of monoclonal antibody therapeutic LY-CoV555. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Indianapolis, Indiana, with an estimated completion date of June 30, 2021. Fiscal 2021 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funds in the amount of $312,500,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W911QY-21-C-0016). (Awarded Oct. 27, 2020) Astrazeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, Wilmington, Delaware, was awarded a $286,927,159 firm-fixed-price contract for the delivery of 200 million doses of AZD1222 vaccine for COVID- 19. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in West Chester Township, Ohio; and Albuquerque, New Mexico, with an estimated completion date of June 30, 2021. Fiscal 2021 other procurement (Army) funds in the amount of $286,927,159 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Newark, New Jersey, is the contracting activity (W15QKN-21-C-0003). (Awarded Oct. 28, 2020) DEFENSE FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING SERVICE KPMG LLP, McLean, Virginia, is being awarded a maximum $224,033,259 labor hour contract for audit services for the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General audits of the Army financial statements. Work will be performed in McLean, Virginia, with an expected completion date of Dec. 31, 2021. The contract has a one-year base period with four individual one-year option periods, and is the result of a competitive acquisition for which three quotes were received. Fiscal 2021 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $43,696,323 are being obligated at the time of the award. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Contract Services Directorate, Columbus, Ohio, is the contracting activity (HQ0423-21-F-0005). Ernst and Young LLP, New York, New York, is being awarded a maximum $98,142,615 labor hour contract for audit services for the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General audits of the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) financial statements, with an expected completion date of Dec. 31, 2021. The contract has a one-year base period with four individual one-year option periods, and is the result of a competitive acquisition for which two quotes were received. Subject to availability of funding, fiscal 2021 operations and maintenance (DLA) funds in the amount of $18,838,861 will be obligated when funds are available for this contract. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Contract Services Directorate, Columbus, Ohio, is the contracting activity (HQ0423-21-F-0010). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY WGL Energy Services Inc., Vienna, Virginia (SPE604-21-D-8005, $84,270,116); Reliant Energy Northeast LLC, Houston, Texas (SPE604-21-D-8004, $48,256,472); AEP Energy Inc., Chicago, Illinois (SPE604-21-D-8000, $15,924,871); MP2 Energy NE LLC, The Woodlands, Texas (SPE604-21-D-8003, $15,124,148); and Dynegy Energy Services (East) LLC, Cincinnati, Ohio (SPE604-21-D-8006, $9,060,198), have each been awarded a firm-fixed-price, requirements-type contract under solicitation SPE604-20-R-0408 to supply and deliver retail electricity and ancillary/incidental services. These were competitive acquisitions with nine responses received. They are two-year contracts with no option periods. Locations of performance are Illinois, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington, D.C., Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and Ohio, with a Dec. 31, 2022, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Army Reserve, Argonne National Laboratory, Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory, U.S. National Arboretum, Naval Research Laboratory, National Institutes of Health, Department of Veterans Affairs, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Communication Support System Group, National Agricultural Library, Army Corps of Engineers, Defense Intelligence Agency, Defense Information Systems Agency, Defense Logistics Agency, Defense Contract Management Agency and other federal civilian agencies. Using customers are solely responsible for funding this contract and vary in appropriation type and fiscal year. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Raytheon Co., Marlborough, Massachusetts, has been awarded a $9,455,861 firm-fixed-price delivery order (SPRMM1-21-F-DK02) against five-year basic ordering agreement SPRMM1-18-G-DK01 for electronic switches. 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 35-month contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Massachusetts, with a Sept. 30, 2023, performance completion date. Using military service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 Navy working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. (Awarded Oct. 27, 2020) Raytheon Co., Tucson, Arizona, has been awarded a maximum $9,008,686 firm-fixed-price, one-time buy, requirements contract for cooler reservoirs used in the Air to Air Stinger weapon system parts. This was 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 29-month contract with no option periods. Locations of performance are Arizona and India, with a Nov. 30, 2022, performance delivery date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (SPRRA2-20-C-0039). Burlington Industries LLC, Greensboro, North Carolina, has been awarded a maximum $8,134,668 modification (P00006) exercising the second one-year option period of a one-year base contract (SPE1C1-19-D-1112) with four one-year option periods for wool, serge, sponged mothproof cloth. This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Location of performance is North Carolina, with a Nov. 4, 2021, ordering period end date. Using military service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2022 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NAVY Bowen Engineering Corp., Indianapolis, Indiana, is awarded an $83,424,684 firm-fixed-price contract for construction of an underwater launch test facility at Naval Support Activity, Crane, Indiana. The work to be performed provides construction of a new underwater launch test facility, to include a launch test pit, operational support building, warehouse building, water treatment building, mechanical and electrical building, waste staging area, electrical substation and other site improvements. This contract contains an option which, if exercised, would increase the cumulative contract value to $84,624,684. Work will be performed in Crane, Indiana, and is expected to be completed by August 2022. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $3,882,001 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the beta.SAM.gov website, with five proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N40085-21-C-0009). Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $73,844,598 modification to previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract N00019-20-C-0037. This contract modification exercises an option to provide continued F-35 development lab infrastructure activities as well as recurring administration, maintenance and preparation of the F-35 laboratories to test developed configurations across the F-35 platform. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in October 2021. Fiscal 2021 operations and maintenance (Air Force) funds in the amount of $15,128,657; fiscal 2021 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $7,564,329; fiscal 2021 operations and maintenance (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $7,564,329; and non-Department of Defense participant funds in the amount of $6,664,984 will be obligated at time of award, $30,257,315 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity Dyncorp International LLC, Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $60,040,851 modification (P00046) to previously awarded firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost reimbursable contract N68936-17-C-0052. This modification exercises an option to provide organizational level aircraft maintenance and logistics support on aircraft, systems, subsystems, aircrew systems, search and rescue equipment and support equipment for P-3 Orion, C-130 Hercules, F/A-18 Hornet, E/A-18 Growler, AV-8B Harrier II, H-60 Seahawk and E-2D Hawkeye aircraft in support of the Naval Test Wing Pacific Command. Work will be performed in China Lake, California (50%); Point Mugu, California (40%); Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii (2%); Naval Air Station, Lemoore, California (2%); Patrick Air Force Base, Florida (1%); Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico (1%); Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, Maryland (1%); Marine Corps Air Station, Yuma, Arizona (1%); Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar, California (1%); and North Island, California (1%), and is expected to be completed in October 2021. Working capital (Navy) funds in the amount of $46,709,814 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Division, China Lake, California, is the contracting activity. Aircraft Readiness Alliance LLC,* Anchorage, Alaska, is awarded a $56,339,955 modification (P00016) to previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract N68936-17-C-0081. This modification exercises an option to provide depot level maintenance services for aircraft, aircraft engines, associated systems, equipment, components and materials. These services may involve rework of existing aviation end items, systems and components and the manufacture of items and component parts that are otherwise not available, modernization, conversion, in-service repair and disassembly for AV-8B, C-130, C-2, E-2, EA-6B, F/A-18, H-1, H-53, H-60, MQ-8, P-3, P-8, F-35 and V-22 aircrafts in support of Fleet Readiness Center Southwest. Work will be performed in San Diego, California (79.5%); Lemoore, California (8.5%); Camp Pendleton, California (3.4%); Yuma, Arizona (2.4%); Miramar, California (2.2%); Whidbey Island, Washington (1.7%); Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii (1%); Nellis, Nevada (1%); and Fallon, California (0.3%), and is expected to be completed in October 2021. Fiscal 2021 working capital (Navy) funds in the amount of $20,073,043 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Division, China Lake, California, is the contracting activity. Vigor Marine LLC, Portland, Oregon, is awarded a $17,861,520 modification to previously awarded contract N00024-19-C-4447 to support USS Chosin (CG 65) extended dry-docking selected restricted availability. This modification will provide production work in the superstructure for various interior spaces to USS Chosin (CG 65) during the performance of the extended availability at Vigor Shipyard, Seattle, Washington. Work will be performed in Seattle, Washington, and is expected to be completed by October 2021. Fiscal 2021 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $17,861,520 will be obligated at the time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Everett, Washington, is the contracting activity. Detyens Shipyard Inc., Charleston, South Carolina, is awarded a $10,884,056 firm-fixed-price contract for a 75-calendar day shipyard availability. The work to be performed provides for services for the post shakedown availability and dry-docking of the expeditionary fast transport USNS Puerto Rico (T-EPF 11). The contract also contains nine unexercised options, which if exercised, would increase cumulative contract value to $13,039,037. Work will be performed in Charleston, South Carolina, and is expected to be completed by April 2021. Fiscal 2021 working capital contract funds (Navy) in the amount of $10,884,056 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 two proposals received. The Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N32205-20-C-4088). Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Syracuse, New York, is awarded a $7,659,000 cost-plus incentive-fee modification to previously awarded task order N00024-19-F-6201 under indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract N00024-19-D-6200 for the design, prototyping and qualification testing for the Technical Insertion-20 AN/BLQ-10 electronic warfare system. Work will be performed in Syracuse, New York, and is expected to be completed by February 2021. Fiscal 2021 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) in the amount of $7,659,000 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-19-D-6200). *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2399096/source/GovDelivery/

  • SECNAV: Ford Issues Due To Cost Cap, Explains Timeline

    4 novembre 2019 | International, Naval

    SECNAV: Ford Issues Due To Cost Cap, Explains Timeline

    By Rich Abott | The Secretary of the Navy today said the cost cap on the first Ford-class aircraft carrier helped lead to problems resulting in delays to the advanced weapons elevators (AWEs) and explained the government's issues and changing strategy with the shipbuilder. Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer said on Wednesday at a Heritage Foundation press roundtable that the Navy and shipbuilder/AWE builder Huntington Ingalls Industries [HII] planned to build a test elevator site, similar to the electromagnetic advanced landing system (EMALS) located in Lakehurst, N.J. The Navy has used Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst to test the General Atomics advanced arresting gear (AAG) and EMALS hundreds of times before testing them on the first new carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78). “Then we had the cost cap come in. And as [HII president and CEO] Mike Petters can say, you know fine, the cost cap comes in and no one builds the land site elevator. We had to cut costs somewhere. Sometimes we're our own worst enemy,” Spencer said. In February, the Navy said it would start building the AWE land-based test site, after the fact, in Philadelphia (Defense Daily, Feb. 20). Spencer said he thinks about it and wonders if anyone was expecting there to be second and third order effects of a cost cap. “You don't get anything for free and you're not going to drive quality by cost cap. We have to start thinking differently when we go to cost control.” Spencer also further illuminated the Navy's work with HII on the elevators. Last week, he strongly criticized the company after delays on the AWEs, saying the Navy's faith and confidence with HII senior management on the project were very low (Defense Daily, Oct. 25). On Monday, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition James Geurts said the Navy-HII team's output on the elevators has been much better in the last few months and he was cautiously optimistic on progress of the Ford elevators (Defense Daily, Oct. 29). Spencer said in fall 2018 the Navy was finalizing the HII elevator plan. The company gave him a chart that said all 11 AWEs would be tested and certified by the end of the planned post-shakedown availability (PSA), which was then planned for July 15. He said HII management reported high confidence of this timeline while Naval Reactors told him due to throttle and bearing issues the PSA would likely be pushed into September or October, “so I had more margin there. Did I feel confident? Completely confident.” Then, in January, Spencer said he made a bet with President Trump that the AWEs would be finished with the PSA or he could be fired (Defense Daily, Jan. 8). Spencer explained this was meant to rally the shipbuilders. “What we weren't seeing down there was the spring in the step of the people on the waterfront, to be very frank with you. It was business as usual. So we said ok, here's a rally point, we're going to commit to this.” However, in May 2019 he said HII management “goes oops, here we are, elevators aren't going to be ready until the end of 2020, possibly 2021. And that's when I went, do they really know what they're doing?” Spencer called that a moment of inflection and called Thomas Fargo, chairman of the board of HII, asking if the board knew what was going on with management “because out trust and confidence on this specific project of the elevators has eroded significantly.” While Spencer said Fargo said yes, there were continued frustrations on the government side. “That's when Hondo [Geurts] and I said let's get a tiger team down there and let's take this over as the general contractor and HII can sub to us. And that's basically what's happened this last 3 months.” Spencer said he went to the president and, after explaining the situation, was told “it's a complex system, keep knocking down the dragons.” When asked if these lessons would apply to future ships, Spencer said the Navy wants to avoid a cost cap for the lead ship in a new class like upcoming guided-missile future frigate, FFG(X). “We have to have an open discussion on first of class. Now, these are proven designs so it's going to be a little different, but we are adjusting it here and there and yes we should expect some hiccups,” he continued. “Expectation management, I think, is key.” Going forward, Spencer argued perhaps the Navy should make requirements for ships more flexible. He compared the Navy's process to the airline industry, which requires an airplane that can fit a certain number of people to transport them a certain amount of miles and has few change orders, then examines the options. However, the government has shrunk the competitive base so far that contractors agree to following requirements but only if the government takes 60 to 100 percent of the risk. “In some cases, you'd love to say should we change requirements to requests? Because if in fact you're a shipbuilder, why should I definitively lock you in if you have better ideas? Where is the flow to say if you want to get here you might want to consider this, which his 80 percent of the solution versus I will drive to 100% of your solution but the cost is going to be up here?” Spencer said he understands it is difficult to change requirements because they serve a definite purpose but wondered at what cost and percent mission capability can the government make a compromise compared to the current inflexibility. Relatedly, Spencer said he has “medium confidence” that a recent $197 million reprogramming request to Congress to fund more Ford fixes will be enough, simply because “first of classes is tough.” “I'd be remiss if I said that was the last, to be very frank. I'd rather have the option to say we're going to come for more than saying no we're capped off now. I feel good on what we're finally learning on the end of this birthing process,” Spencer said. https://www.defensedaily.com/secnav-ford-issues-due-cost-cap-might-need-money/navy-usmc/

  • Defense Agency Wants To Acquire UAS Services For Use In Disaster Relief

    22 janvier 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Sécurité

    Defense Agency Wants To Acquire UAS Services For Use In Disaster Relief

    By Calvin Biesecker The Defense Department's agency charged with providing logistics support to warfighters is seeking information from vendors capable of providing unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) that can deliver food and water to people in remote areas following a disaster. The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) in an information request lists key capabilities and requirements for its UAS needs as part of a forthcoming acquisition for the services in the East and Gulf Coasts of the U.S. “This is in support of Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support's Subsistence Contingency Operations and Natural Disaster relief efforts,” the DLA says in a Jan. 10 Request for Information on the government's FedBizOpps site. In addition to supporting warfighters with their supply needs, DLA also provides support to the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which supports disaster response to U.S. states and territories. Support for FEMA is “becoming more routine,” a DLA spokesman told Defense Daily on Thursday. The DLA announcement doesn't specify a specific event or series of disasters that is driving the need for remote delivery of food and water by UAS but it does follow a series of dramatic storms and wildfires over the past 16 months. In particular, Hurricane Maria, which hit the U.S. Virgin Islands on Sept. 19, 2017, and Puerto Rico the day after. Maria impacted 100 percent of the populations of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Caribbean islands of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are both U.S. territories located a 1,000 or more miles from Florida. The devastation in Puerto Rico made deliveries of relief supplies difficult. “Hurricane Maria severely damaged or destroyed a significant portion of both territories' already fragile critical infrastructure,” FEMA said in a July 12, 2018 after-action report on the 2017 hurricane season. “Maria left Puerto Rico's 3.7 million residents without electricity. The resulting emergency response represents the longest sustained air mission of food and water delivery in Federal Emergency Management Agency history.” Rather than acquire the systems outright, DLA wants a contactor that can provide the delivery services through a “turnkey deployment” based on a performance-based concept of operations developed as part of a research effort. Capabilities must be in place within one to two days of an event, the agency says. It also says the drones must be non-developmental and be able to operate beyond visual line of sight in austere conditions. Payloads on the UAS will weigh between 250 and 500 pounds and “typically” consist of cases of bottled water, Meals-Ready-to Eat, and other related operational items that will be released remotely without damage to the supplies. For the deployments, the drones must be able to operate from maritime vessels to land, land to sea vessel, and land to land. DLA says that sea-based operations “will be coordinated with the U.S. Coast Guard.” In the late summer of 2017, before Maria hit, Texas was hit by Hurricane Harvey, which was followed by Hurricane Irma, which slammed into Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Harvey affected 30 percent of the population in Texas and Irma affected 85 percent of the combined populations of Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Around the same time the three storms hit the U.S. and its territories, another hurricane interfered with maritime operations in the Caribbean Sea and FEMA also supported California's response to “some of the most devastating wildfires to ever impact the state,” the after-action report said. The DLA wants responses to its Request for Information by Jan. 25. The agency said the timing of the release of the Request for Proposals is unknown as is the ultimate amount of the eventual procurement pending the completion of market research. https://www.rotorandwing.com/2019/01/18/defense-agency-wants-acquire-uas-services-use-disaster-relief/

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