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  6 septembre 2018 | International, Naval

  US Navy must be able to compete in ‘gray zone’ conflict, says top service officer

  By: David B. Larter WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy has to be able to confront great powers in areas short of open warfare, the service's top officer said Wednesday at the second annual Defense News Conference. China and Russia have employed tactics to harass neighbors and challenge the U.S. Navy, from the former's island building projects in the South China Sea to the latter's harassment of U.S. forces at sea, which it has used to score political points with its population. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson told the crowd that competition with other great powers has to be seen on a spectrum and that the Navy must compete in all realms to stay ahead. “This competition is [defined] by a spectrum,” Richardson said. “You've heard terms like ‘gray war,' ‘competition below the level of conflict': All of these sorts of phrases try to grasp at this very smooth spectrum, from competition all the way to conflict. Our response to that going forward is going to be key to ensure that we are not only competitive but ahead. It's not sufficient to be competitive, we want to be winning.” The Navy has to be competitive in all its warfare domains to achieve the objectives laid out in the recent National Defense Strategy, spearheaded by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, that moves the military away from low-end counterterror operations and refocuses on high-end conflict. Full article: https://www.defensenews.com/smr/defense-news-conference/2018/09/05/us-navy-must-be-able-to-compete-in-gray-zone-conflict-says-top-service-officer

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  14 novembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - November 13, 2019

  NAVY BAE Systems, Jacksonville Ship Repair, Jacksonville, Fla. (N40027-17-D-1001); Colonna Shipyards Inc., Norfolk, Virginia (N40027-17-D-1002); East Coast Repair & Fabrication LLC, Norfolk, Virginia (N40027-17-D-1003); Metro Machine Corp., Jacksonville, Fla. (N40027-17-D-1004); North Florida Shipyards, Jacksonville, Fla, (N40027-17-D-1005); and Tecnico Corp., Chesapeake, Va. (N40027-17-D-1006), are each awarded a maximum-value $270,601,012, firm-fixed-price modification to their respective previously-awarded contracts to exercise Option Year Three for the accomplishment of fixed-priced delivery orders for emergent and continuous ship maintenance availabilities for ships homeported in Mayport, Fla. These six companies will have the opportunity to provide offers for individual delivery orders. Work will be performed in Mayport, Fla., and is expected to be completed by November 2020. No funding will be obligated at time of award. The Southeast Regional Maintenance Center, Jacksonville, Fla., is the contracting activity. East Coast Repair & Fabrication, Norfolk, Va., is awarded a maximum value $83,087,424 firm-fixed-price modification to previously awarded contract N40027-19-D-1001 to exercise Option Year One for the accomplishment of fixed priced delivery orders for docking and non-docking Chief of Naval Operations scheduled availabilities. Work will be performed in Mayport, Fla., and is expected to be complete by November 2020. No funding will be obligated at time of modification. East Coast Repair & Fabrication will have the opportunity to compete on individual delivery orders. The Southeast Regional Maintenance Center, Jacksonville, Fla., is the contracting activity. BAE Systems, Jacksonville Ship Repair, Jacksonville, Fla. (N00024-17-D-1007); Colonna Shipyards Inc., Norfolk, Va. (N40027-17-D-1008); and Metro Machine Corp, Jacksonville, Fla. (N40027-17-D-1009) are each awarded a maximum value $83,087,424 firm-fixed-price modification to their respective previously awarded contracts to exercise Option Year Two for the accomplishment of fixed priced delivery orders for docking and non-docking Chief of Naval Operations scheduled availabilities. These three companies will have the opportunity to provide offers for individual delivery orders. Work will be performed in Mayport, Fla., and is expected to be completed by November 2020. No funding will be obligated at time of award. The Southeast Regional Maintenance Center, Jacksonville, Fla., is the contracting activity. Sedna Digital Solutions LLC,* Manassas, Va., is awarded a $9,340,931 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-18-C-6264 to exercise and fund options for Navy engineering services and required material. Work will be performed in Manassas, Va., and is expected to be completed by December 2020. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy); and fiscal 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $1,660,000 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, DC, is the contracting activity. General Dynamics, Electric Boat Corp., Groton, Conn., is awarded a $7,702,536 cost-plus-fixed-fee, level of effort modification to previously awarded contract N00024-15-C-4305 for the operation, maintenance and protection of the floating dry dock Shippingport (ARDM-4). Work will be performed in Groton, Conn., and is expected to be complete by November 2020. Fiscal 2020 operation and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $1,900,000 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity. AIR FORCE ManTech International Inc., Fairfax, Va., has been awarded a $32,266,994 modification (P00017) exercising Option Year One to the previously awarded contract FA8819-18-C-1001 for security support. This modification provides for the exercise of an option for the sensitive compartmented information (SCI)- and Special Access Program (SAP)-level security services to the Space and Missile Systems Center and Air Force Space Operational Units. Work will be performed at Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif.; Vandenberg AFB, Calif.; Peterson AFB, Colo.; Schriever AFB, Colo.; Buckley AFB, Colo.; and Kirtland AFB, N.M., and is expected to be complete by Nov. 16, 2020. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and three offers were received. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $374,000,000. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 research and development funds in the amount of $3,000,000 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, Special Programs Directorate, Los Angeles AFB, Calif., is the contracting activity. ARMY L3 Fuzing and Ordnance Systems, Cincinnati, Ohio, was awarded a $15,899,762 modification (P00003) to contract W15QKN-19-C-0040 to procure a total of 53,237 Melody II application-specific integrated circuit chips. Work will be performed in Cincinnati, Ohio, with an estimated completion date of June 30, 2021. Fiscal 2020 procurement of ammunition, Army funds in the amount of $15,899,762 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, N.J., is the contracting activity. *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2015992/source/GovDelivery/

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  21 août 2018 | International, Aérospatial, Naval

  The Navy's Fighter Shortage Is Finally, Slowly Improving

  By Kyle Mizokami The U.S. Navy's horrible fighter availability rate is gradually improving thanks to increased funding for fighter maintenance. At one point in 2017, just one in three F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters was available, a number that's increased to nearly half of all fighters. The problem is in large part due to past budget shortfalls and delayed introduction of the F-35 fighter jet. The U.S. Navy has 546 F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornet fighters, larger, beefier, slightly stealthier versions of the original F/A-18 Hornet. Aircraft readiness rates, or the percentage of aircraft ready for deployment, should typically be north of seventy five percent, depending on type of aircraft, the complexity of the aircraft systems, and the age of the fleet. In 2017, the Navy's Super Hornet fleet hovered around 30 percent readiness, a shockingly low number the service blamed on minimal maintenance budgets and non-stop operations. The Navy struggled to place flight-capable aircraft with squadrons deploying on aircraft carriers. On the outside things looked fairly normal, as carriers went to sea with flight decks filled with Super Hornets. Behind the scenes however non-deployed squadrons suffered, acting as spare parts donors for deployment-bound ships. This cascading effect had negative implications for stateside squadrons and pilot training. According to DefenseNews, Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer cited increased maintenance budgets over the past two years as a major part of the turnaround, allowing the service to fund repairs and spare parts. The service also streamlined maintenance processes, avoiding duplication and increasing efficiency. The maintenance crisis was caused by several problems. The high demand for strike fighters, particularly for combat operations against the Islamic State, increased the amount of wear and tear on the Super Hornet fleet. Super Hornets also act as aerial refueling tankers, increasing flight hours and wear and tear on the platform. Meanwhile the Navy struggled to operate within the budget mandated by the 2011 Budget Control Act that trimmed federal spending. Making matters worse, so-called "continuing resolutions" passed during times of budget bickering to keep government going were an inefficient means of spending money and played havoc with the Pentagon's budget. Another problem that indirectly cause the crisis: a delay in the introduction of the U.S. Navy's version of the Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35C. The F-35C, meant to replace older F/A-18C Hornet fighters, is now at least three years behind schedule. As the chart above illustrates, the Navy originally expected the F-35C to be initial operations capable—when the first Navy squadron is at least partially combat-capable—in late 2015. That date has gradually slipped to late 2018 or early 2019. On the outside things looked fairly normal, as carriers went to sea with flight decks filled with Super Hornets. Behind the scenes however non-deployed squadrons suffered, acting as spare parts donors for deployment-bound ships. This cascading effect had negative implications for stateside squadrons and pilot training. According to DefenseNews, Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer cited increased maintenance budgets over the past two years as a major part of the turnaround, allowing the service to fund repairs and spare parts. The service also streamlined maintenance processes, avoiding duplication and increasing efficiency. The maintenance crisis was caused by several problems. The high demand for strike fighters, particularly for combat operations against the Islamic State, increased the amount of wear and tear on the Super Hornet fleet. Super Hornets also act as aerial refueling tankers, increasing flight hours and wear and tear on the platform. Meanwhile the Navy struggled to operate within the budget mandated by the 2011 Budget Control Act that trimmed federal spending. Making matters worse, so-called "continuing resolutions" passed during times of budget bickering to keep government going were an inefficient means of spending money and played havoc with the Pentagon's budget. Another problem that indirectly cause the crisis: a delay in the introduction of the U.S. Navy's version of the Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35C. The F-35C, meant to replace older F/A-18C Hornet fighters, is now at least three years behind schedule. As the chart above illustrates, the Navy originally expected the F-35C to be initial operations capable—when the first Navy squadron is at least partially combat-capable—in late 2015. That date has gradually slipped to late 2018 or early 2019. As a result of this delay, the Navy was forced to extend the lives of five squadrons of older -C model Hornets while it waited for the F-35C. That work added to the burden of Navy maintenance units already working to keep Super Hornets flying. In addition to the Navy's maintenance work, Boeing is set to take 40 to 50 Super Hornets a year and upgrade them to the new Block III configuration. DefenseNews says this will also bring the jets in the worst shape back to flying condition. In the long term F-35C production should ease the burden on the Super Hornet community, as the fifth generation fighter will eventually equip half of the strike fighter squadrons deployed on U.S. Navy carriers. The executive branch's 2019 defense budget also plans for an additional 110 Super Hornets over five years. Finally, the Navy plans to acquire a small fleet of MQ-25 Stingray unmanned aerial refueling aircraft to take over tanking duties from the overworked strike fighters. Full article: https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a22778556/us-navy-fighter-shortage-progress