Marines want a ruggedized robot mule to patrol with and resupply a squad

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  14 janvier 2019 | International, Terrestre

  Here’s when the Army will pick three companies to build the M16/M4 and SAW replacements for soldiers and Marines

  By: Todd South By the end of this summer, the Army plans to pick three vendors to build prototypes of the weapons that will replace the M16/M4 and the Squad Automatic Weapon for both soldiers and Marines, both in a new, common cartridge. In the coming weeks, officials will release the official “prototype opportunity notice” with detailed expectations of the new weapons family, including not only the new caliber but also what it wants from the weapons' fire control system. Companies will then have between two and four months to submit their samples for Army officials at Program Executive Office Soldier, Crew Served Weapons to evaluate. At the same time, submissions for a SAW replacement, which was part of an earlier effort that helped lead to this approach, will undergo test-firings in July. That will then close the previous prototyping. Once officials select the three vendors in late summer, officials said, they are expected to have 27 months to mature and finalize the weapon. That means the long-awaited replacement for the basic weapons at the core of Army and Marine squad firepower could be ready for troops by 2021. That far outpaces what used to be the norm for acquiring new weapons, Lt. Col. Jason Bohannon, head of PEO Soldier, Crew Served Weapons, told Military Times in a recent interview. That was because the program was approved last year for rapid prototyping. Bohannon said that allowed the program to “jumpstart” weapon and fire control development. Otherwise, the simple requirements approval portion would have taken at least two years. The testing on the first initiative from last year, the SAW replacement, allowed for what Bohannon called an “unprecedented dialogue with the small arms industrial base.” For more than a decade, researchers and industry experts have advocated for an intermediate caliber replacement for the 5.56mm round. Some advocated for simply converting existing 5.56mm rifles to a 6mm caliber with upper receiver swaps. The Army as a whole received a lot of criticism from experts in those areas for continuing on with the 5.56mm, even with enhanced round versions of the caliber. But, Bohannon said that the Army had squeezed out advances not only in the round but also in the weapons platform of the M16/M4, which has seen hundreds of modifications since it first hit units more than half a century ago. For true “leap-ahead” changes, Bohannon said, “You really had to take a systems approach.” Less than a year ago, the search for a replacement caliber was being kept within the intermediate range, anything from 5.56mm to 7.62mm, the existing calibers used in small units. Most saw something in the 6mm range as ideal, based on decades of ballistics research and advocacy. The service narrowed in on the 6.8mm round, but it has kept how that round is delivered up to industry submissions — they're looking for weight savings so polymer, cased telescope, and hybrid materials such as stainless steel, are all on the table. But while it doesn't get as much attention as the new round, the fire control system is likely as important to the new system. For that, officials are expecting the submission to have three fire control capabilities built into one device — a laser range finder, ballistic computer and disturbed reticle. Those are advancements that put basic infantry shooting on par with sniper equipment. And they're not the end of development. The fire control will have to be compatible with the upcoming Enhanced Night Vision Goggle-Binocular, expected to field near the end of the year and with the Family Weapons Sights-Individual system, which includes thermal capabilities and Rapid Target Acquisition that allows troops to shoot around corners and fire quickly from the hip, if necessary. Those capabilities are on a longer timeline, as tech evolves, mostly to avoid strapping too many accessories onto the weapon. To that end, they've built an open architecture system requirement into the fire control so that future features and hardware can work together, Bohannon said. Originally, the Army was looking to start with a SAW replacement and work the rifle/carbine replacement afterward, but that changed with the most recent prototype notice. Following that notice, Brig. Gen. Anthony Potts, who leads PEO Soldier, told Military Times that the new approach is to develop both along the same path, with the same round, so that designers can find the best fit for ammo in both weapons, much like existing M4s and Squad Automatic Weapons both fire the 5.56mm. The first prototype, which will see test firings of weapons systems in July, resulted in five companies being selected. Those companies are: AAI Corporation Textron Systems FN America LLC (two prototypes) General Dynamics-OTS Inc. PCP Tactical, LLC Sig Sauer, Inc. Though they won the right to participate in that first set of submissions and testing, it doesn't mean any of them has a free pass into this next effort. According to the draft prototype notice from October, once production begins, companies will be expected to build at least 200 weapons per month. Within six months of the award, they need to pump out 2,000 weapons a month within three years for a potential total order of 250,000 weapons systems, both NGSW-R and NGSAR, over a 10-year period. That cashes out to $10 million the first year and an estimated $150 million a year for the higher production rate years. https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2019/01/11/heres-when-the-army-will-pick-three-companies-to-build-the-m16m4-and-saw-replacements-for-soldiers-and-marines

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  2 janvier 2020 | International, Naval

  The US military ran the largest stress test of its sealift fleet in years. It’s in big trouble.

  By: David B. Larter WASHINGTON — The U.S. military in September ordered the largest stress test of its wartime sealift fleet in the command's history, with 33 out of 61 government-owned ships being activated simultaneously. The results were bad, according to a new report. In an unclassified U.S. Transportation Command report posted to its website, the so-called turbo activation revealed that less than half of the sealift fleet would be fully prepared to get underway for a major sealift operation in a crisis. “The relatively low ... Qualitative Mission Success Rate indicates the Organic Surge Fleet is challenged to be immediately available for a large-scale inter-theater force deployment without delays/impacts to force closure due to degraded readiness,” the report read. The Dec. 16 report confirms what senior military and transportation officials have been saying for years now: that the sealift fleet is in urgent need of recapitalization if it is to be relied upon to support a large-scale operation overseas. In a crisis, nearly 90 percent of all Army and Marine Corps equipment would be carried by ship. The Navy is on the hook to pay for recapitalization, but it has so far failed to land on a strategy to do so. Overall, 40.7 percent of the 61 ships operated by Military Sealift Command and the Maritime Administration were fully ready to support a major sealift operation. Sal Mercogliano, a merchant marine and current professor at Campbell University who closely follows these issues, said the major equipment casualties are the driving factor that is dragging down readiness. “You had 22 out of the 61 ships in either C-5 or C-4 condition,” Mercogliano said. “C-5 means that you can't even leave the dock; C-4 means you can leave the dock but you are not in any condition to sail any real distance. In my ballpark, that's non-mission capable. So right off the bat you lose 22 of the 61 ships. Then of the 33 that they activated, nine of them had issues. Three of them were C-4 level. “So when you add together the ones that had issues with the ones that couldn't be activated, they're saying you can only really count on about 40 percent of the fleet to active when they are aiming for 85 percent.” Ultimately, the degraded status of the sealift fleet means that combatant commanders won't be able to count on its capacity for logistics support, Mercogliano said. “If you are Indo-Pacific Command, or you are Central Command, and you are counting on a certain amount of square footage available to you, that's going to have huge ramifications,” he added. In recent testimony, INDOPACOM Commander Adm. Phil Davidson said as much, saying his operational plans depend on logistics support. “Clearly recapitalization of our sealift system is going to be critically important, as it's aging out and really has propulsion plants that [are] expiring in capability and our ability to maintain them,” Davidson said. “It's [a] risk to our troops and all of our people that are forward in the region if there is any delay in our ability to deliver the logistics in accordance with the [operation] plans.” Manning concerns In a November interview prior to the compilation of the final report, Maritime Administrator retired Rear Adm. Mark Buzby told Defense News that the test validated the data they had on ship readiness and the Maritime Administration's ability to crew the vessels, which he has long maintained is enough for initial activation but would suffer during a prolonged effort. “I think given the scale of the test, as we've been saying, we are OK for doing initial manning for our ships when they are activated,” Buzby said. “Something that we couldn't test in this fairly short-term activation was the follow-on aspect. “We believe we have plenty of manning to man up the ships initially, get them past the sea buoy and get them on the mission. But the problem is going to manifest itself four to six months down the line when some of them want to rotate. Who is going to be standing on the pier ready to take their place? That's where we have a problem. You just couldn't show that in this activation.” One of the primary issues has been, as Davidson intimated, that many of the plants in the Ready Reserve Force are steam-operated plants, which are all but nonexistent in the commercial world, so it is increasingly difficult to find qualified engineers. Finding steam engineers went well for the turbo activation, Buzby said, but it proved difficult and will only become more so as fewer opportunities to retain updated certifications become available. In a 2018 interview with Defense News, Buzby described a shortage of personnel that would affect the sealift fleet's ability to operate for an extended period of time. The Maritime Administration, part of the Department of Transportation, estimates it has 11,768 qualified mariners with unlimited credentials available to crew the Ready Reserve Force, a number that just exceeds the needed total of 11,678 to operate both the reserve and commercial fleets at the same time. But that comes with a catch: This service is entirely voluntary. “Maritime Workforce Working Group estimates that there are sufficient mariners working in the industry to activate the surge fleet if the entire pool of qualified United States citizen mariners identified by MWWG are available and willing to sail when required,” the report read. “This assumption is of paramount importance given the voluntary nature of mariner service.” Furthermore, that number is just what it would take to activate the ships and temporarily operate them. If the nation needed to sustain a large-scale effort, it would soon begin to falter. “We are about 1,800 mariners short for any kind of long-term sustainment effort,” Buzby said. “We believe we have enough today to activate all the ships we would need to activate. ... But anything less than an all-of-nation effort ... where everyone who went out to sea, stayed at sea, we start to run short of people as we rotate.” https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2019/12/31/the-us-military-ran-the-largest-stress-test-of-its-sealift-fleet-in-years-its-in-big-trouble/

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  4 septembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - September 3, 2019

  AIR FORCE Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia, has been awarded a $445,361,476 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Air Force National Capital Region information technology services. This contract provides a full range of classified and unclassified information technology services in the National Capital Region. Work will be performed in the National Capital Region to include Joint Base Andrews, Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling and the Pentagon, and is expected to be complete by Sept. 2, 2024. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and three offers were received. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $7,522,000 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force, District of Washington Contracting, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, is the contracting activity (FA7014-19-D-A005). GTA Containers Inc., South Bend, Indiana, has been awarded a $9,478,079 contract modification (P00004) to previously awarded FA8533-16-D-0001 for collapsible fuel tank production. The contract modification provides for the purchase of additional quantities of 34 10K collapsible fuel tanks; 171 50K collapsible fuel tanks; and 130 210K collapsible fuel tanks being produced under the basic contract. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $15,102,610. Work will be performed at South Bend, Indiana, and is expected to be completed by Jan. 31, 2021. Fiscal 2018 other procurement funds are being used and no funds are being obligated at the time of delivery order award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity. NAVY Science Applications International Corp., Reston, Virginia, is awarded a $69,929,520 firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-16-C-6425 to exercise Option Year Three for the production of Mk 48 Mod 7 heavyweight torpedo afterbody/tailcone sections, production support material, spares, auto-electrical power source test sets, engineering support, other direct costs and hardware repair services. Work will be performed in Bedford, Indiana (50%); Marion, Massachusetts (29%); Middletown, Rhode Island (16%); and Indianapolis, Indiana (5%), and is expected to be completed by March 2021. Fiscal 2019 weapons procurement (Navy); fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy); fiscal 2018 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); and Foreign Military Sales funding in the amount of $69,929,520 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, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin, Rotary and Mission Systems, Moorestown, New Jersey, is awarded a $50,307,909 cost-plus-incentive-fee modification to previously awarded contract N00024-15-C-5151 to exercise options for ship integration and test of the Aegis Weapon System (AWS) for AWS Baselines through Advanced Capability Build 16. The contract provides for Aegis shipboard integration engineering, Aegis test team support, Aegis modernization team engineering support, Ballistic Missile Defense test team support, Aegis ashore support and AWS element assessments. This contract will cover the AWS ship integration and test efforts for nine new construction DDG 51 class ships and the major modernization of seven DDG 51 class ships. It will additionally cover the integrated combat system modifications and upgrades for all current ships with all AWS Baselines up to and including ACB 16. Work will be performed in Moorestown, New Jersey (49%); Deveselu, Romania (12%); Norfolk, Virginia (8%); San Diego, California (8%); Washington, District of Columbia (7%); Pascagoula, Mississippi (5%); Mayport, Florida (4%); Bath, Maine (3%); and various places each below one percent (4% cumulative), and is expected to be complete by September 2024. Fiscal 2014 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); fiscal 2019 operation and maintenance (Navy); and fiscal 2019 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $4,774,574 will be obligated at time of award and $1,452,864 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Ultra Electronics Ocean Systems, Braintree, Massachusetts, is awarded a $46,679,930 modification to previously awarded contract N00024-18-C-6405 to exercise Option Year One for the production of MK54 MOD 0 lightweight torpedo array kits. This option provides spares, production support material, and related engineering services, hardware support and maintenance of government-furnished equipment. This modification combines purchases for the Navy (23%); the government of Canada (46%); Netherlands (28%); and Norway (3%) under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. Work will be performed in Braintree, Massachusetts (70%); and Lititz, Pennsylvania (30%), and is expected to be completed by September 2022. FMS funding in the amount of $36,031,476; and fiscal 2019 weapons procurement (Navy) in the amount of $10,648,454 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, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N00024-18-C-6405). General Atomics, San Diego, California, is awarded a $33,187,541 cost-plus-incentive-fee, indefinite-delivery/definite-quantity contract for up to two Bearing Support Structure (BSS) inseparable assemblies in support of the Columbia-class program. This contract is for a five-year ordering period and does not include options. Work will be performed in Tupelo, Mississippi, and is expected to be completed by August 2024. Fiscal 2019 National Sea-Based Deterrence Fund (NSBDF) funding in the amount of $12,497,115 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with three offers received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division, West Bethesda, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00167-19-D-0006). Homeland Security Solutions Inc., Hampton, Virginia, is awarded a $10,951,521 firm-fixed-priced modification to previously awarded contract M00264-19-C-0007 to exercise Option Year One. The work to be performed provides program management support, training, human resources services and non-guard security support services to the Marine Corps. Work will be performed in Camp Lejeune/New River, North Carolina (11%); Camp Pendleton, California (10%); Washington, District of Columbia (9%); Cherry Point, North Carolina (8%); Miramar, California (8%); Quantico, Virginia (8%); Camp Smith and Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii (7%); Beaufort/Parris Island, South Carolina (6%); Yuma, Arizona (5%); Barstow, California (5%); San Diego, California (5%); Albany, Georgia (5%); Okinawa, Japan (5%); Bridgeport, California (2%); Blount Island, Florida (2%); New Orleans, Louisiana (2%); and Iwakuni, Japan (2%), and is expected to be completed by September 2020. Fiscal 2019 operation and maintenance (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $10,095,934 will be obligated at the time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Marine Corps Installations, National Capitol Region - Regional Contracting Office, Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting activity. Progeny Systems Corp., Manassas, Virginia, is awarded a $10,688,154 modification to previously awarded contract N00024-18-C-6410 to exercise Option Year Two for the production of MK54 MOD 1 lightweight torpedo proof of design components, test equipment, associated production support material, spares, and engineering and hardware support services. This modification combines purchases for the Navy (99%); and the government of the United Kingdom (1%) under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. Work will be performed in Charleroi, Pennsylvania (70%); Salt Lake City, Utah (26%); and Manassas, Virginia (4%), and is expected to be completed by March 2022. Fiscal 2019 weapons procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $10,680,514; and FMS funding in the amount of $32,306 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, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY General Dynamics Land Systems Inc., Sterling Heights, Michigan, has been awarded an estimated $38,040,445 modification (P00039) to a three-year base contract (SPE7MX-16-D-0100) with two one-year option periods adding vehicle spare parts. This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity contract. Locations of performance are Michigan and South Carolina, with an Aug. 11, 2020, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Columbus, Ohio. General Electric Co., Lynn, Massachusetts, has been awarded a maximum $8,845,490 firm-fixed-price delivery order (SPRPA1-19-F-QH08) against a five-year basic ordering agreement (FA8122-19-G-0001) for compressor casings. 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 47-month contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Massachusetts, with a July 31, 2023, performance completion date. Using military service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 Navy working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ARMY RTI Technologies LLC,* McEwen, Tennessee, was awarded an $18,601,016 firm-fixed-price contract for or the procurement of the M700 time blast fuse. 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 Sept. 2, 2024. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W52P1J-19-D-0086). CACI-ISS Inc., Chantilly, Virginia, was awarded a $10,172,707 modification (P00058) to contract W15QKN-15-C-0049 for the Integrated Personnel and Pay System. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 30, 2019. Fiscal 2018 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $10,172,707 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, New Jersey, is the contracting activity. NW Construction Inc.,* Bozeman, Montana, was awarded a $7,656,775 firm-fixed-price contract for equalizer dam and dike modifications, construction, electrical, controls, and concrete. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed in Fort Hall Indian Reservation, Idaho, with an estimated completion date of June 30, 2021. Fiscal 2019 Bureau of Indian Affairs construction funds in the amount of $7,656,775 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Albuquerque, New Mexico, is the contracting activity (W912PP-19-C-0022). CORRECTION: A $377,006,101 contract award to Southwest Range Services LLC, Las Cruces, New Mexico (W91151-19-C-0008), was announced Aug. 30, 2019, with an incorrect amount of obligated funds. The correct contract obligation amount is $231,230. All other information in the announcement is correct. U.S. TRANSPORTATION COMMAND International Auto Logistics LLC, Brunswick, Georgia, has been awarded a task order modification (P00024) on contract HTC711-14-D-R025 in the estimated amount of $14,950,112. This modification provides continued support of transportation and storage of Department of Defense-sponsored (DoD) shipments of privately owned vehicles belonging to military service members, and transportation of DoD-sponsored shipments of privately owned vehicles belonging to DoD civilian employees. Work will be performed at multiple locations within and outside the U.S. The option period of performance is Sept. 1, 2019, to Sept. 30, 2019. Fiscal 2019 transportation working capital funds were obligated. This modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $942,359,138 from $927,409,026. U.S. Transportation Command, Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity. *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/1950681/source/GovDelivery/