Opinion: New Strategic Imperatives For The Defense Industry

Sur le même sujet

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  20 mars 2024 | International, Terrestre

  First round of Replicator to heavily feature Army systems, Bush says

  Army acquisition chief Doug Bush said the service is the "biggest player" in the first tranche of the Pentagon's Replicator effort.

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  15 octobre 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

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

  NAVY Electric Boat Corp., Groton, Connecticut, is awarded a $434,370,635 contract for lead yard support and development studies and design efforts related to Virginia class submarines. Work will be performed in Groton, Connecticut (94.1%); Newport News, Virginia (4.8%); and Newport and Quonset, Rhode Island (combined 1.1%), and is expected to be complete by September 2020. The contract provides lead yard support for Virginia class submarines that will maintain, update and support the Virginia class design and related drawings and data for each Virginia class submarine, including technology insertion, throughout its construction and post-shakedown availability period. The contractor will also provide all engineering and related lead yard support necessary for direct maintenance and support of Virginia class ship specifications. In addition, the contract provides development studies and design efforts related to the Virginia class submarine design and design improvements; preliminary and detail component and system design; integration of system engineering, design engineering, test engineering, logistics engineering and production engineering. The contractor will continue development studies and design efforts related to components and systems to accomplish research and development tasks, and prototypes and engineering development models required to fully evaluate new technologies to be inserted in succeeding Virginia class submarines. Fiscal 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (SCN) (Navy); and fiscal 2019 research, development, test and engineering (RDT&E) (Navy) funding in the amount of $68,321,021 will be obligated at time of award. Fiscal 2014 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $4,050,000; and fiscal 2019 research, development, test and engineering (Navy) funds in the amount of $7,341,250 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year — fiscal 2018 SCN (38.8%); fiscal 2017 SCN (34.9%); fiscal 2019 RDT&E (10.7%); fiscal 2014 SCN (7.1%); fiscal 2019 SCN (5%); fiscal 2016 SCN (3.4%). This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii) — 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 (N00024-20-C-2120). Space Ground Systems Solutions LLC, West Melbourne, Florida, awarded a $17,082,880 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification to overall ceiling for previously awarded contract (N00173-15-D-2015) for spacecraft engineering, software, research and development services to the Naval Center for Space Technology (NCST). Specifically, the indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) provides support for software engineering development, maintenance, enhancement and configuration management support for all components contained within the Neptune™ software suite under the direction of the NRL Configuration Control Board, and the VMOC™ software framework under the direction of the VMOC™ program management and software engineering teams. Funding will be obligated for each task order and no funds are obligated on the base IDIQ contract. Work will be performed in Washington, District of Columbia (50%); and West Melbourne, Florida (50%), and is expected to be completed by March 2020. The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Rolls-Royce Corp., Indianapolis, Indiana, is awarded a $9,066,270 modification (P00013) to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-17-C-0081). This modification exercises an option to procure three spare AE1107C engines in support of the V-22 Osprey program for the government of Japan. Work will be performed in Indianapolis, Indiana, and is expected to be completed in November 2020. Foreign military sales funds in the amount of $9,066,270 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. ARMY Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Huntsville, Alabama, was awarded a $60,619,031 modification (P00185) to contract W31P4Q-08-C-0418 for engineering, logistics, integration, test and evaluation, and program management activities. Work will be performed in Huntsville, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of March 31, 2021. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $5,000,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. BAE Systems Ordnance Systems Inc., Radford, Virginia, was awarded an $8,309,050 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to incorporate a requirement to stabilize the legacy nitroglycerin area facility at Radford Army Ammunition Plant. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work will be performed in Radford, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2021. Fiscal 2019 procurement of ammunition, Army funds in the amount of $8,309,050 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W52P1J-20-F-0021). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., El Segundo, California, has been awarded a maximum $24,299,972 firm-fixed-priced delivery order (SPRPA1-19-F-LT31) against a five-year basic ordering agreement (SPRPA1-15-G-001Z) for rudders in support of the F/A-18 aircraft platform. 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 seven-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is California, with an Aug. 31, 2026, performance completion date. Using military service is Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2026 Navy working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Belleville Shoe Co.,* Belleville, Illinois, has been awarded a maximum $12,524,036 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Air Force temperate weather, Coyote boots. This was a competitive acquisition with two responses received. This is a one-year base contract with three one-year option periods. Location of performance is Illinois, with an Oct. 10, 2020, performance completion date. Using customer is Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting agency is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE1C1-20-D-1208). *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/1988088/source/GovDelivery/

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  9 avril 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  Could a commercial drone replace the MQ-9 Reaper? The Air Force is considering it.

  By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — The Air Force is looking for a replacement to the stalwart MQ-9 Reaper and intends to explore options ranging from commercial drones built by emerging tech firms to high-end unmanned aircraft, the service's top acquisition official said Tuesday. Will Roper, the Air Force's assistant secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, said the service is working on a study that will inform the fiscal 2022 budget and lay out a path for replacing the MQ-9 Reaper made by General Atomics. "The Reaper has been a great platform for us. Four million flight hours, just undeniable overmatch in a low-end uncontested fight, and it is certainly saving lives,” Roper told lawmakers at a House Armed Services Committee hearing. “But as we look to the high end fight, we just can't take them into the battlefield. They are easily shot down.” The MQ-9 Reaper and its precursor, the MQ-1 Predator, have been the Air Force's workhorse drones in the Middle East over the past two decades, providing both real-time video surveillance and the ability to strike targets. But looking forward, the Reaper is ill-suited to a war with Russia and China while at the same time seen by the Air Force as requiring too much money and manpower to sustain for continued operations in low-threat environments. There likely won't be a single, one-size fits all solution for replacing the MQ-9, Roper said. The Air Force may need drones that “are more high-end, military-unique” systems, and “they'll likely be expensive,” he acknowledged. There may also be room for unmanned attritable aircraft, which are reusable but are cheap enough that they can be shot down in battle without incurring massive financial losses. For lower-end missions, the Air Force sees promise in the emerging unmanned systems market, where new entrants have begun creating long-loiter drones for applications in agriculture, communications and the oil and gas sector. “A lot of companies are targeting that market, not thinking about defense because we've been buying Reapers forever,” Roper said, who added that by buying from promising commercial drone makers, Air Force may be able to influence those companies to keep their supply chains out of China and to incorporate military-specific features — potentially even weapons. “I think if we do the program right on the commercial side, we might be able to bring a new entrant into defense without making them a defense prime,” he said, adding that funding from the Air Force could help a commercial company move from making prototypes to building up a stable production line that could further be grown to manufacture drones on a more massive scale. “Working with the Defense Department, you don't need the kind of production capacity that the globe does. So, we're a pretty good first stop,” he said. However, the Air Force may face an uphill battle in getting Congress to support a plan to replace the Reaper. The service in its FY21 budget request has asked for 24 more MQ-9s before ending the programs of record — a move that would curtail the program from 363 to 337 Reapers. The early shutdown of the line would have major financial implications for General Atomics, said Chris Pehrson, the company's vice president of strategic development, in a February interview with Air Force Magazine. “We're actually going out about 22 months ahead of delivery and procuring the long-lead item parts, ... whether it's [satellite communication] equipment or engines ... to negotiate the best prices and get the best deals for the government,” Pehrson said. “Having the rug pulled out from under your feet at the last minute kind of disrupts all your supply chain investments that you're making.” Top generals in the Middle East and Africa have also raised concerns about the demands for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and privately helped stave off retirements of the MQ-9 by the Air Force in FY21. In its unfunded wish list, U.S. Central Command included additional contractor-flown MQ-9 hours as its number one priority, at a cost of $238 million. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2020/03/12/could-a-commercial-drone-replace-the-mq-9-reaper-the-air-force-is-considering-it