21 janvier 2021 | International, Aérospatial

Just hours before Biden’s inauguration, the UAE and US come to a deal on F-35 sales

By:

WASHINGTON —The United Arab Emirates on Jan. 20 signed off on a deal to purchase up to 50 F-35 joint strike fighter aircraft and 18 MQ-9 Reaper drones from the United States.

According to Reuters, which broke the news, the agreement was one of the final acts of the Trump administration, occurring just an hour before President Joe Biden was inaugurated.

A source with knowledge of the situation confirmed separately to Defense News that the U.S. and UAE officials on Wednesday signed a letter of agreement, which solidifies the terms of a foreign military sale between two nations.

The departments of State and Defense did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The agreement delineates the cost of the aircraft, technical specifications and the schedule for F-35 deliveries to the UAE, people familiar with the deal told Reuters. Those sources could not confirm when the first F-35 is due to be delivered to Abu Dhabi, but stated that an initial proposal stipulated 2027 as one possible date.

The UAE deal was previously estimated at a $23.37 billion value, including 50 F-35A fighters worth $10.4 billion, 18 MQ-9B drones worth $2.97 billion, and $10 billion worth of air-to-air and air-to-ground munitions.

Those dollar totals are expected to shift around during further negotiations with F-35 prime contractor Lockheed Martin and MQ-9 maker General Atomics.

It's unclear whether the incoming administration will seek to undo the deal. Biden's pick for secretary of state, Antony Blinken, told reporters in late October that the sale is “something we would look at very, very carefully,” due to U.S. obligations to preserve Israel's qualitative military edge.

In December, the Senate rejected an attempt to block the sale, with Republicans largely voting to preserve the deal. The first vote concerned the drones and munitions and failed 46-50, while the second concerned the F-35s and fell 47-49.

Aaron Mehta and Joe Gould in Washington contributed to this report.

https://www.defensenews.com/global/mideast-africa/2021/01/20/just-hours-before-bidens-inauguration-the-uae-and-us-come-to-a-deal-on-f-35-sales

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  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - February 11, 2019

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

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - February 11, 2019

    U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND Institute of Applied Engineering Inc. (IAE), University of South Florida (USF), Tampa, Florida, was awarded an $85,000,000 maximum indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (H92405-20-D-0001) in support of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) for access to applied research and advanced technology development. USSOCOM will collaborate with IAE to conduct research, hardware and software development, test and evaluation, demonstration, prototyping, and limited system production. Additionally, IAE will facilitate access to USF education and training resources. The work will be performed in Tampa and is expected to be completed by Feb. 9, 2025. The contract was awarded through other than full and open competition. USSOCOM headquarters, Tampa, Florida, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Feb. 10, 2020) L3Harris Technologies Inc., Clifton, New Jersey, was awarded a $48,715,001 modification on an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-incentive-fee, and cost reimbursable contract (H9224120D0001) for the Suite of Integrated Radio Frequency Countermeasures program for U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). This modification for program management, contractor logistics support, field service representatives and travel raises the contract ceiling to $50,000,000. The majority of the work will be performed in Clifton, New Jersey. This contract is a non-competitive award in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302.1. USSOCOM headquarters, Tampa, Florida, is the contracting activity. NAVY Tekla Research Inc.,* Fredericksburg, Virginia, is awarded an $82,999,168 cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost reimbursable, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract provides test and evaluation engineering, prototyping, and integration of warfare systems into Navy aircraft and aviation systems. In addition, this contract provides developmental test and evaluation of lab, ground, and flight-testing of newly installed or developmental systems and/or modifications to fleet-deployed systems as well as data gathering to support potentially new systems, improve existing systems, and experimentation and testing of prototypes. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Maryland (96.5%); China Lake, California (1%); Point Mugu, California (1%); Norfolk, Virginia (1%); and Lakehurst, New Jersey (0.5%), and is expected to be completed in March 2025. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was a small business set-aside, competitively procured via an electronic request for proposal; two offers were received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00421-20-D-0024). The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri is awarded $19,271,301 for a firm-fixed-priced delivery order N00383-20-F-0AY0 under a previously awarded basic ordering agreement (N00383-18-G-AY01) for the repair of various avionics equipment used on the F/A-18 aircraft. Work will be performed in Lemoore, California (99%); and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1%). Work will be completed by December 2022. Annual working capital funds (Navy) in the full amount of $19,271,301 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 sole-source 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. AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Corp., Fort Worth, Texas, has been awarded a $67,584,243 firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (PZ0010) to contract FA8615-16-C-6048 for upgrading F-16s for the government of Singapore. Work will be performed at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Fort Worth, Texas; and in Singapore. This contract is expected to be completed by June 30, 2023, and is a Foreign Military Sales acquisition for the government of Singapore. This contract was a sole-source acquisition, and the total cumulative face value of the contract is $1,008,584,243. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. Cyber Systems & Services Solutions, Bellevue, Nebraska, has been awarded a $17,590,503 firm-fixed-price and cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P0009) to contract FA8773-18-D-0002 to exercise Option II for Defensive Cyber Realization, Integration, and Operational Support (DCRIOS) services. Work will be performed at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, and is expected to be completed Feb. 28, 2021. This modification is the result of a competitive acquisition and seven offers were received. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $10,934,344.00 are being obligated at the time of award. The 38th Contracting Squadron, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, is the contracting activity. ARMY Great Lakes Dredge & Deck Co. LLC, Old Brook, Illinois, was awarded a $17,573,575 firm-fixed-price contract for maintenance dredging of Baltimore Harbor and York Spit Channel, Chesapeake. Bids were solicited via the internet with four received. Work will be performed in Chesapeake, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 9, 2020. Fiscal 2020 cost-share and civil operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $17,573,575 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W912DR-20-C-0006). Safariland LLC, Casper, Wyoming, was awarded an $8,944,506 firm-fixed-price contract for a 12-gauge, direct-fire, low-hazard, non-shrapnel producing shell. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 11, 2025. U.S. Army Contracting Command, New Jersey, is the contracting activity (W15QKN-20-F-0161). Midwest Construction Co.,* Nebraska City, Nebraska, was awarded a $7,310,007 firm-fixed-price contract for levee rehabilitation. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Papillion, Nebraska, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2020. Fiscal 2019 civil flood control and coastal emergencies funds in the amount of $7,310,007 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha, Nebraska is the contracting activity (W9128F-20-C-0012). *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2081595/source/GovDelivery/

  • iBASEt s’associe à Amazon Web Services pour lancer une plateforme de fabrication Cloud dédiée au marché de l’Aérospatiale et de la Défense

    17 juin 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Autre défense

    iBASEt s’associe à Amazon Web Services pour lancer une plateforme de fabrication Cloud dédiée au marché de l’Aérospatiale et de la Défense

    POSTED BY: AEROMORNING La plateforme conçue par iBASEt et hébergée gr'ce au Cloud Amazon offre une infrastructure de fabrication moderne, une amélioration de l'évolutivité et une réduction du coût de possession LE BOURGET (France), le 13 juin 2019 – iBASEt, fournisseur de solutions logicielles industrielles (MES/MMO, MRO, gestion de qualité et fournisseurs) annonce sa collaboration avec Amazon, dans le cadre du programme Usine intelligente d'AWS. Objectif : le lancement sur AWS d'une suite logicielle de fabrication numérique créée par iBASEt, basée sur le Cloud et dédiée aux fabricants du secteur de l'aérospatiale et de la défense. En coopération avec AWS, iBASEt fournit aux constructeurs de l'aérospatiale et de la défense une plateforme permettant d'exploiter des services natifs afin de créer et déployer rapidement toutes sortes d'applications et de gérer leurs mises à jour plus efficacement. Cette solution offre aux constructeurs du marché de l'Aérospatiale et de la Défense une visibilité et un contrôle accrus de leurs opérations avec un coût de possession réduit, une plus grande sécurité, une meilleure gestion des performances, une résolution des problèmes, des mises à jour logicielles automatiques et une mise en œuvre simplifiée, dans un secteur à la fois complexe et fortement réglementé. Sung Kim, directeur de la technologie chez iBASEt explique : « En travaillant avec AWS, sur la plateforme commerciale, nos clients bénéficieront d'un environnement Cloud capable d'accroître l'efficacité et le contrôle de leurs opérations de fabrication, mais aussi de leur continuité numérique. Conférant une puissante infrastructure, le Cloud permet d'exploiter toute une gamme de services natifs afin d'adapter différentes technologies de façon homogène, reliant les opérations et la gestion de la maintenance dans un flux de données intégré à la chaîne de valeur et au cycle de vie du produit ». Josef Waltl, directeur du segment mondial des logiciels industriels chez Amazon Web Services déclare : « Nous nous réjouissons de compter iBASEt dans notre réseau de partenaires AWS. La société iBASEt rejoint ainsi une liste de partenaires APN (AWS Partner Network) stratégiques, spécialisés dans les logiciels industriels. Ensemble, et au bénéfice des constructeurs de l'Aérospatiale et de la Défense, nous allons pouvoir conjuguer la puissante plateforme d'iBASEt dédiée aux processus de fabrication modernes aux avantages d'AWS Cloud. La solution de fabrication d'iBASEt tirera parti des meilleures pratiques d'AWS en matière de sécurité et de haute disponibilité, dans un environnement Cloud qui offre un déploiement rapide reposant sur des processus automatisés ». Le programme Usine intelligente d'Amazon aide les entreprises à se concentrer sur l'optimisation de leurs opérations de fabrication, sans se soucier de l'infrastructure nécessaire. Cette approche repose sur les services Cloud AWS IoT, l'Edge Computing (ou traitement des données à la périphérie), les data lake ainsi que des outils d'analyse avancés. L'objectif est d'améliorer les opérations de fabrication en capturant, harmonisant, analysant, visualisant et exécutant les silos de données de l'usine. Résultat : une amélioration des principaux indicateurs de performance tels que la qualité, la production et le taux de rendement global. AWS accompagne également les industriels dans l'utilisation de l'intelligence artificielle et de l'apprentissage automatique pour établir des analyses prédictives en temps réel. iBASEt a récemment annoncé la signature d'un accord avec la société aérospatiale Lockheed Martin (NYSE : LMT). En effet, le constructeur américain a choisi la suite logicielle de fabrication numérique d'iBASEt comme système d'exécution de la fabrication pour sa division aéronautique, laquelle conçoit et construit des avions militaires. Salon du Bourget iBASEt sera présent au 53ème Salon International de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace du 17 au 23 juin 2019 stand B86. Le Salon du Bourget, événement centenaire, est le plus grand et le plus ancien salon aéronautique et spatial au monde. Depuis son lancement, le salon a été au cœur de l'évolution du marché mondial de l'aéronautique, dont il est devenu au fil des ans le plus important lieu de rencontre. A propos d'iBASEt iBASEt est l'un des principaux fournisseurs de solutions logicielles pour les industries complexes et hautement réglementées, telles que l'aérospatiale et la défense, les dispositifs médicaux, le nucléaire, l'équipement industriel, l'électronique et la construction navale. Le logiciel iBASEt de fabrication numérique rationalise et intègre les systèmes de gestion des opérations et d'exécution de production (MES/MOM), de maintenance, réparation et révision (MRO) et de gestion de qualité pour la production et de fournisseurs (EQMS). iBASEt est utilisé par plusieurs organisations industrielles leaders dans le cadre de leurs projets de fabrication numérique de produits. http://www.aeromorning.com/blog/ibaset-sassocie-a-amazon-web-services-pour-lancer-une-plateforme-de-fabrication-cloud-dediee-au-marche-de-laerospatiale-et-de-la-defense/

  • Expand missile defenses during the pandemic, don’t cut them

    6 mai 2020 | International, Aérospatial

    Expand missile defenses during the pandemic, don’t cut them

    By: Rebeccah L. Heinrichs Rogue states are taking advantage of the American preoccupation with the COVID-19 pandemic. North Korea may test another long-range missile according to the head of U.S. Northern Command, Gen. Terrence O'Shaughnessy. He warned Congress in March that the North Korean regime is still a serious threat and is improving its missile program. And last week, Iran's Revolutionary Guard successfully launched a satellite into space. This was the first for the terrorist paramilitary group, though not the first for the regime. The pandemic is likely to prompt Congress to reassess, cut and redirect spending, but safeguarding the American people from missile attack is an essential service the government cannot afford to scale back. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Rob Soofer said at a recent Hudson Institute event: “[T]oday we are in an advantageous position vis-a-vis North Korea. Forty-four ground-based interceptors. Gen. O'Shaughnessy has complete confidence that the system will work and we can address the threat. Then the question is: Can we wait until 2028?” The Trump administration intends to deploy in 2028 the Next Generation Interceptor, or NGI, meant to handle far more complicated missile threats than what the Ground-based Midcourse Defense, or GMD, system was initially designed to do. Still, as Dr. Soofer explained, threats develop at an unpredictable pace, and so the Pentagon is pushing for initiatives to bolster defense in the meantime. Those initiatives will require serious bipartisan cooperation while concurrently developing the NGI and pursuing other advanced capabilities meant to dramatically increase the ability of the missile defense architecture. It's a tall order, but critical, nonetheless. First, and to be clear, the Pentagon has not yet embraced this step due to its determination to focus on NGI. But Congress should invest in more than just sustaining the current GMD system; it should improve it by adding 20 GBIs to the already fielded 44. The silos will be prepared for the additional numbers since, in 2017, President Donald Trump called for adding more deployed GBIs considering the heightened North Korea missile threat. The Pentagon began work on preparing for their delivery but never emplaced GBIs into those silos because Pentagon officials canceled the Redesigned Kill Vehicle. The Pentagon had anticipated the Redesigned Kill Vehicle for the nation's new GBIs. After evaluating the resources and time it would take to restart the production line of the Capability Enhancement II interceptors or to rapidly develop an improved kill vehicle that leverages new technology, the Pentagon should choose the most cost-effective solution. Recall, the Capability Enhancement II was the kill vehicle that performed well in the last complex flight test, which was the first salvo engagement of a threat-representative intercontinental ballistic missile target by GBIs. Regardless of the option the Pentagon would choose, the result would be a near-term enhanced capability by either increased capacity at a minimum, or an increased capacity with improved kill vehicles on 20 of the 64 at best. Either would be a much better scenario than keeping the backbone of homeland defenses stagnant while we anticipate the NGI in 2028. But that is not all the country should do. It should also move forward with steps the Pentagon has embraced. Those steps include improving the discrimination radar capability in the next few years so GMD can better detect and characterize the evolving threat, and deploying other existing systems to bolster GMD. Utilizing current systems with impressive testing records against missiles shorter than ICBM range as part of a layered homeland defense is called the “underlay.” As a key component of the underlay, Congress has directed the Pentagon to test the Aegis SM-3 IIA interceptor against an ICBM target. Unfortunately, because of the pandemic, the Missile Defense Agency's planned flight tests will be delayed, including for the SM-3 IIA. The threats facing the country will not wait for the end of the pandemic, and the Pentagon should reconsider that delay. As soon as the country can test the system, and if it is a success, it would be wise to prepare to deploy Aegis SM-3 IIA as the threat requires. If there is an ICBM attack against the U.S. homeland, a GBI would have the first shot at the incoming missile while it's in its midcourse phase of flight; and if an enemy missile gets through, and the Aegis SM-3 IIA is positioned correctly, it could have another shot at the missile as it begins its descent. There has been some concern about whether Russia or China have legitimate claims that bolstering homeland defense in this way is destabilizing. But no evidence supports these claims, and, as Dr. Jim Miller, an Obama-era undersecretary of defense for policy, said at a recent Hudson event: “We cannot and must not give Russia or China a veto over the United States' ability to defend ourselves from North Korea and Iran. That is an absolute no-go for any administration.” Another system that is a natural candidate for the underlay is the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense air defense system. Embracing that concept as well, Dr. Miller said: “It makes sense for certain contexts. And if you're looking at a shorter-range missile and a relatively small footprint of coverage, THAAD has a real chance to contribute in that. To me, that's certainly the case for Guam and Hawaii.” But what about cost? That's the $10 billion question — a question that happens to be valued at more than the current president's budget requires for the Missile Defense Agency. The budget request that Congress is currently considering for the MDA is roughly $9.2 billion, noticeably less than previous years, even as the role of missile defense is supposed to be expanding in the country's National Security Strategy. There is no margin for cutting the budget. Congress should rally around this mission and budget, and it should increase funding to sufficiently make these necessary improvements in the near term without paying for them by sacrificing investments like NGI for the not-so-distant future. It can do that without tipping the scale much more than $10 billion this year. That is eminently reasonable given the pressure every government department will feel after the sudden spending splurge due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rebeccah L. Heinrichs is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute where she specializes in nuclear deterrence and missile defense. https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/commentary/2020/05/05/expand-missile-defenses-during-the-pandemic-dont-cut-them/

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