25 juin 2019 | International, Aérospatial
When the Navy's F-35C Joint Strike Fighter embarks on its first carrier deployment in 2021, it's expected to take with it a pinpoint-accurate landing system that purports to make the terror of night approaches and high sea-state traps all but a thing of the past.
Raytheon announced this week that the Navy awarded a $234.6 million contract for a low-rate initial production of 23 of its Joint Precision Approach and Landing Systems, or JPALS -- enough to outfit every carrier and L-class amphibious assault ship with the technology. The contract also will include retrofitting three earlier systems that had been installed, a Raytheon executive said.
Delivering to the Navy will start late next year, and installation will begin shortly thereafter, retired Navy Rear Adm. C.J. Jaynes, Raytheon's JPALS technical executive, told Military.com this week. The work is expected to be completed by August 2023, according to a published contract announcement.
The system, which uses shipboard-relative GPS to guide planes in for landings and communicates with the aircraft from the deck of the carrier up to 200 nautical miles out, is accurate within 20 centimeters, or about 8 inches, Jaynes said.
"It hits the third wire every time," she said. "It's [reliable in] all-weather and all sea states, including Sea State 5 (waves of roughly 8 to 12 feet)."
For Navy pilots, catching the third of four wires on tailhook landings (or the second of three wires) has historically been a game of skill and precision that becomes orders of magnitude more difficult in the dark or in low-visibility weather conditions.
Marine Corps F-35B pilots, who use the aircraft's vertical-landing configuration to put it down on the smaller flight decks of amphibious ships, face the same problems. And those issues may actually be exacerbated by a number of F-35-specific issues pending resolution.
The custom-made, $400,000-per-unit helmet that F-35 pilots wear -- a piece of technology that allows them to "see through" the plane via a display for better situational awareness -- features symbology that emits a green glow, interfering with pilots' vision in low-light conditions. A video that emerged in 2017 showed an F-35 pilot landing "in a fog" on the amphibious assault ship America at night, his vision obscured by the helmet display. A recent Defense News report highlighted another issue with the helmet display at night that obscures the horizon.
JPALS, which has already deployed in an early-development version with F-35Bs aboard the amphibious assault ships Wasp and Essex, would decrease reliance on visibility for accurate landings. Another F-35C-installed tool, Delta Flight Path, will keep aircraft on a steady glide slope for carrier landings, reducing inputs and corrections required from pilots.
Early reports from the JPALS deployments with the Marines have been extremely positive, Jaynes said.
"The pilots absolutely love it. It's been 100 percent accuracy, always available, they haven't had any issues at all," she said. "We know they have not had to abort any missions due to weather or due to sea state."
Raytheon is now pitching an expeditionary version of JPALS, easily transportable and designed to guide aircraft to safe landings on bare airfields. The whole system can fit in five transit cases, be transported by C-130 Hercules, and be assembled within 90 minutes, Raytheon says.
The Navy's future tanker drone, the MQ-25 Stingray, will also be JPALS-equipped; Jaynes said Raytheon is in talks with the service now about selling expeditionary JPALS for the MQ-25 program for shore-based tanker landings at locations like Norfolk, Virginia, or Point Mugu, California.
Meanwhile, she said, the Marine Corps is considering buying a single expeditionary JPALS system for testing in order to develop a concept of operations to employ it.
But "the closest customer outside of MQ-25 is actually the U.S. Air Force," Jaynes said.
"They'd be able to move their aircraft possibly every 24 to 48 hours and do island-hopping in the Pacific. We're going over to [United States Air Forces in Europe -- Air Forces Africa] in July to talk with them about the system," she said.
3 novembre 2021 | International, Aérospatial
Contrairement à l'US Air Force, le F-35 n'a pas vocation à constituer l'épine dorsale de l'aviation embarquée de l'US Navy étant donné que celle-ci n'en a commandé 273 exemplaires auprès de Lockheed-Martin. Aussi, elle s'appuie essentiellement sur le F/A-18 Super H
19 juin 2019 | International, Naval, Autre défense
by Jackson Barnett The U.S. Coast Guard is seeking input on an IT infrastructure consolidation plan that will help migrate part of its system to the cloud to ensure operators around the world have access to critical networks. The request for sources is the first step in what appears to be a plan for the Coast Gaurd to contract with the private sector on IT infrastructure transformation. The idea is to shift IT services to an “Infrastructure Managed Services” model, one that would contract out infrastructure services to private companies to assist in cybersecurity and network optimization. The move spawned from the Coast Guard's fiscal 2018-22 Strategic Plan, which calls for greater cyber strength and efficient IT infrastructure. “The security environment is also affected by the rising importance of the cyber domain – where adversarial nation states, non-state actors, and individuals are attacking our digital infrastructure and eroding the protections historically provided by our geographic borders,” the strategic plan states. The challenge to secure and re-structure the Coast Guard's networks and IT infrastructure span global operations, different security classifications and many data centers, according to the request. The networks support more than 54,000 users worldwide at 823 global sites. The current networks are based on a slew of Microsoft operating systems, some more than a decade old. The Coast Guard has been watching the development of Department of Defense's JEDI cloud contract, Adm. Karl Schultz said in August. Now, the Coast Guard hopes to migrate some of its data to the cloud while keeping some of it on the government servers it operates. “USCG recognizes it must partner with Industry” the request states. https://www.fedscoop.com/coast-guard-cloud-it-consolidation-procurement/
27 août 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
NAVY Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded $2,426,326,544 for modification P00002 to previously awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract N00019-19-D-0015 F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter initial spares for the Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, non-U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) participants, and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. Spares to be procured include global spares packages, base spares packages, deployment spares packages, afloat spares packages and associated consumables. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (24.4%); El Segundo, California (9.1%); Owego, New York (8.6%); Samlesbury, United Kingdom (7.2%); Cheltenham, United Kingdom (6.2%); Nashua, New Hampshire (5.8%); Torrance, California (5.5%); Orlando, Florida (4.9%); Cedar Rapids, Iowa (3.7%); San Diego, California (3.6%); Phoenix, Arizona (3.1%); Melbourne, Florida (3.1%); Irvine, California (2.5%); North Amityville, New York (2.4%); Windsor Locks, Connecticut (2.2%); Baltimore, Maryland (2.2%); Papendrect, The Netherlands (1.9%); Rolling Meadows, Illinois (1.8%); and Alpharetta, Georgia (1.8%). All orders are expected to be placed no later than December 2020. No funds will be obligated at time of award, funds will be obligated on individual delivery orders as they are issued. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Co., San Diego, California, is awarded a $1,077,009,532 fixed-price-incentive modification to previously awarded contract N00024-19-C-2235 for the procurement of detail design and construction of Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB) 6 and ESB 7, as well as definitization of ESB 6 long lead time material, pre-production and engineering support. Work will be performed in, San Diego, California (57.9%); Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (6.0%); Santa Fe, California (5.9%); Beloit, Wisconsin (4.8%); Crozet, Virginia (4.5%); Mexicali, Mexico (3.1%); and various other locations, each accounting for less than 2% (17.8%), and is expected to be complete by January 2025. This contract includes options, which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $1,626,008,493, and be complete by January 2025. Fiscal 2019 and 2018 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $1,004,317,973 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with U.S. Code 2304(c) (1) – only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Caterpillar Defense, Peoria, Illinois, is awarded a $54,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with firm-fixed-price task order for the Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) supporting the Navy's expeditionary force fleet of Caterpillar Heavy Construction Civil Engineering Support Equipment (CESE) at Naval Base Ventura County, Port Hueneme, California. The purpose of this contract is to provide a SLEP for the heavy construction CESE (motorized and non-motorized), special military construction and commercial support equipment, mineral products and plant facility equipment and power production equipment to support the Navy and other Department of Defense components worldwide. This contract contains an option which, if exercised, will bring the contract value to $65,000,000. Work will be performed in Port Hueneme, California; and Gulfport, Mississippi, installations, and is expected to be completed August 2020. If the option is completed, work will continue through February 2025. Funds will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued. Task orders will be funded by fiscal 2019 other procurement (Navy) funds. Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center, Port Hueneme, California, is the contracting activity (N39430-19-D-2123). RAFAEL Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., Haifa, Israel, is awarded a $13,336,344 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a five-year ordering period for intermediate level and depot level test equipment, spare parts, fixturing, repairs, training, engineering services and material support services to establish organic U.S. government I-Level and D-Level Toplite family of electro-optic sights. Work will be performed in Haifa, Israel, and is expected to be complete by August 2024. Fiscal 2019 weapons procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $4,407,485 will be obligated at the time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract is awarded on a sole-source basis in accordance with the statutory authority of 10 U.S. Code 2304(c) (1) as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1 - only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane, Indiana, is the contracting activity (N00164-19-D-JQ77). ARMY Raytheon Co., McKinney, Texas, was awarded a $534,000,000 hybrid (cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price) contract for Horizontal Technology Integration Second Generation Forward Looking Infrared (2GF) Commander's Independent Thermal Viewer (CITV), azimuth drive assemblies, azimuth drive armor caps and rings, spares, and engineering services. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 23, 2026. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W909MY-19-D-0015). MD Helicopters Inc., Mesa, Arizona, was awarded a $50,440,584 modification (P00024) to Foreign Military Sales (Afghanistan) contract W58RGZ-17-C-0038 for logistics support for the Afghanistan Air Force MD-530F aircraft fleet. Work will be performed in Kabul, Afghanistan; and Mesa, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2020. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 Afghanistan Security Forces, Army funds in the amount of $50,440,584 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Black & Veatch Special Projects Corp., Overland Park, Kansas (W912DY-19-D-0014); AECOM Services Inc., Boston, Massachusetts (W912DY-19-D-0015); and Zapata Group Inc., Charlotte, North Carolina (W912DY-19-D-0016), will compete for each order of the $49,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for architectural and engineering services. Bids were solicited via the internet with seven received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 22, 2024. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntsville, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Burns & McDonnell Engineering Co. Inc., Kansas City, Missouri, was awarded a $9,800,000 firm-fixed-price contract for pre-design investigation and design services for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, San Carlos Irrigation Project, power transmission infrastructure improvements located in Coolidge, Arizona. Bids were solicited via the internet with six received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 22, 2024. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles, California, is the contracting activity (W912PL-19-D-0009). WASHINGTON HEADQUARTERS SERVICES Signature Renovations LLC, Capital Heights, Maryland, has been awarded a $100,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. The work to be performed provides various design-build/bid-build construction services at the Pentagon and the surrounding Pentagon Reservation. No funds will be obligated at time of award. Fiscal 2019 Pentagon Reservation Maintenance Revolving Fund will be obligated on individual task orders issued during the contract period. Work performance will take place in Arlington, Virginia. The expected completion date is Aug. 23, 2023. Washington Headquarters Services, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HQ0034-19-D0018). DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY Science Applications International Corp., McLean, Virginia, has been awarded a maximum $48,000,000 modification (P00087) exercising the second two-year option period of a three-year base contract (SPE5EY-14-D-0562) with two two-year option periods and one three-year option period for supply chain management of industrial hardware used in aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul. This is a firm-fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-quantity contract. Locations of performance are Virginia, North Carolina, Florida and California, with a Sept. 30, 2021, performance completion date. Using military service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. B&H International LLC,* Bakersfield, California, has been awarded a maximum $10,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for computer subassemblies in support of the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical Increment 2 system. 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 five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is California, with an Aug. 22, 2024, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2024 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland (SPRBL1-19-D-0071). AIR FORCE Booz Allen Hamilton, McLean, Virginia, has been awarded an $8,004,263 modification (P00005) to contract FA4890-17-F-3042 for Cyber Command readiness inspection. This contract will support at 15 U.S. Air Force bases in the continental U.S. The contract modification provides for the exercise of an option for an additional year of cyber security support services under the multiple year contract. Work will be performed in accordance with the performance work statement and is expected to be completed by Sept. 24, 2020. Air Combat Command, Acquisition Management and Integration Center, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, is the contracting activity. Next Century Corp.,* Annapolis Junction, Maryland, has been awarded a $7,607,221 cost-plus-fixed-fee/completion type contract for Multimodal Open Interfaces for Reasoning by Artificial Intelligence software prototype system. This contract provides for an integrated platform that hosts algorithms developed by Technical Area 1 (TA1) and TA2 Knowledge-directed Artificial Intelligence Reasoning Over Schemas performers. Work will be performed in Falls Church, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by May 22, 2024. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and 35 offers were received. Air Force Research Laboratory/RIKE, Rome, New York, is the contracting activity (FA8750-19-C-0105). *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/1943009/source/GovDelivery/