5 août 2021 | International, Aérospatial

US-based aerospace company Bell Textron has unveiled design concepts for new HSVTOL aircraft systems for military applications.

US-based aerospace company Bell Textron has unveiled design concepts for new HSVTOL aircraft systems for military applications.

https://www.airforce-technology.com/news/bell-textron-design-concepts-hsvtol-military-aircraft/

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  • U.S. Army Flexes New Land-Based, Anti-Ship Capabilities

    21 octobre 2020 | International, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR

    U.S. Army Flexes New Land-Based, Anti-Ship Capabilities

    Steve Trimble Lee Hudson Finding ever new and efficient ways to sink enemy ships is usually assigned to the U.S. Navy and, to a lesser extent, the Air Force, but not anymore. Though still focused on its primary role of maneuvering against land forces and shooting down air and missile threats, the Army is quietly developing an arsenal of long-range maritime strike options. As the Army carves out an offensive role in the Pentagon's preparations for a mainly naval and air war with China, service officials now seek to develop a capacity for targeting and coordinating strikes on maritime targets with helicopter gunships in the near term and with long-range ballistic missiles by 2025. The Project Convergence 2020 event in September focused the Army on learning how to solve the command and control challenge for a slew of new land-attack capabilities scheduled to enter service by fiscal 2023. The follow-on event next year will expand to include experiments with the Army's command and control tasks in the unfamiliar maritime domain. “I think we have a long way to go in terms of partnering with the Navy for some of the maritime targeting [capabilities],” says Brig. Gen. John Rafferty, the Army's cross-functional team leader for Long-Range Precision Fires. “And I think that'll be a natural evolution into Project Convergence 2021,” Rafferty says, speaking during the Association of the U.S. Army's virtual annual meeting on Oct. 15. The Army operates a small, modest fleet of watercraft, including logistics support vessels and Runnymede-class large landing craft, but service officials have been content to respond to attacks on enemy ships at sea with the Navy's surface combatants and carrier-based fighter squadrons. Last year, the Air Force also revived a maritime strike role by activating the Lockheed Martin AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile on the B-1B fleet. But the Army's position has changed. The AH-64E Capability Version 6, which Boeing started developing in 2018, includes a modernized radar frequency interferometer. The receiver can identify maritime radars, allowing the AH-64E to target watercraft at long range for the first time. Meanwhile, the Defense Department's Strategic Capabilities Office started working in 2016 to integrate an existing seeker used for targeting ships into the Army Tactical Missile System (Atacms), which is currently the Army's longest-range surface-to-surface missile at 300 km (162 nm). Beginning in fiscal 2023, the Lockheed Martin Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) is scheduled to begin replacing the Atacms. The Increment 1 version will extend the range of the Army's missiles to 500 km. A follow-on Increment 2 version of PrSM is scheduled to enter service in fiscal 2025, featuring a new maritime seeker now in flight testing by the Army Research Laboratory. “As we begin to develop the PrSM [Increment 2] with the cross-domain capability against maritime and emitting [integrated air defense system] targets, obviously we'll be partnering with the Navy on that,” Rafferty says. Targeting ships from land-based artillery systems is not unique to the Army. The U.S. Marine Corps plans to introduce the Raytheon-Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile, firing the ground-based anti-ship cruise missile from a remotely operated Joint Light Tactical Vehicle. To strike a moving target at ranges beyond the horizon, the Army needs more than an innovative new seeker. A targeting complex linking over-the-horizon sensors with the Atacms and PrSM batteries is necessary. Moreover, the Army will need to adapt command and control procedures to an unfamiliar maritime domain. The annual Project Convergence events offer a laboratory for the Army to prepare the targeting and command and control complex before new weapons enter service. With the Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon, a medium-range ballistic missile and PrSM also set to enter service in the next three years, the Army is seeking to adapt quickly. Last month, the Army used the first prototype of the Tactical Intelligence Targeting Access Node ground station. An artificial intelligence (AI) program named Prometheus sifted through intelligence information to identify targets. Another AI algorithm called SHOT matched those targets to particular weapons with the appropriate range and destructive power. An underlying fire-control network, called the Advanced Field Artillery Data System, provided SHOT with the location and magazine status of each friendly weapon system. A process that would otherwise take minutes or even hours dwindled—in an experimental setting—to a few seconds. The first Project Convergence event last month focused on the Army's traditional mission against targets on land. The next event will seek to replicate that streamlined targeting process against ships possibly hundreds of miles away. These experiments are intended to help the Army familiarize itself with new tools in the command and control loop, such as automated target-recognition systems and targeting assignments. The event also helps the Army dramatically adapt, in a few years, institutional practices that had endured for decades. “In order for a bureaucracy to change, [it has] to understand the need, and we have to create the use case in order for a bureaucracy to change,” says Gen. Mike Murray, the head of the Army Futures Command. “I think in Project Convergence, what we're able to demonstrate to the senior leaders in the army will further help drive that change.” In a way, the Army is seeking to achieve in the maritime domain a networked sensor and command and control system that the Navy introduced to its fleet nearly two decades ago. To improve the fleet air-defense mission substantially, the Navy's Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) generally develops a common, shared database of tracks from the multiple airborne, surface and subsurface sensors available to a carrier battle group. But the Navy also is building on the CEC standard. In 2016, a Lockheed F-35B demonstrated the ability to develop a target track of an over-the-horizon enemy warship. The track information was sent via the CEC to a launcher for a Raytheon SM-6. Although primarily an air- and missile-defense interceptor, in this case the SM-6 demonstrated an anti-ship role. A follow-on development SM-6 Block 1B is expected to optimize the weapon system as a long-range, anti-ship ballistic missile with hypersonic speed. More recently, the Navy has been quietly experimenting with its own series of Project Convergence-like experiments. Known as the Navy Tactical Grid experiments, the Navy and Marine Corps organized a series of demonstrations in fiscal 2019, according to the latest budget justification documents. Building on the common operating picture provided by the CEC, the Navy Tactical Grid is possibly experimenting with similar automation and machine-learning algorithms to streamline and amplify the targeting cycle dramatically. A new initiative is now replacing the Navy Tactical Grid experiments. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday tapped Rear Adm. Douglas Small, the head of Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, to lead the effort known as Project Overmatch. Small must provide a strategy, no later than early December, that outlines how the Navy will develop the networks, infrastructure, data architecture, tools and analytics to support the operational force. This includes linking hundreds of ships, submarines, unmanned systems and aircraft. “Beyond recapitalizing our undersea nuclear deterrent, there is no higher developmental priority in the U.S. Navy,” Gilday wrote in an Oct. 1 memo that revealed the existence of Project Overmatch. Aviation Week obtained a copy of the document. “I am confident that closing this risk is dependent on enhancing Distributed Maritime Operations through a teamed manned-unmanned force that exploits artificial intelligence and machine learning.” While Small is tasked with creating the “connective tissue,” Gilday directs Vice Adm. James Kilby, deputy chief of naval operations for warfighting requirements and capabilities (N9), with accelerating development of unmanned capabilities and long-range fires, Gilday wrote in a separate Oct. 1 memo outlining the details of Project Overmatch. Kilby's assessment must include a metric for the Navy to measure progress and a strategy that appropriately funds each component. His initial plan is also due to Gilday in early December. “Drive coherence to our plans with a long-term, sustainable [and] affordable view that extends far beyond the [future years defense plan],” Gilday wrote. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/missile-defense-weapons/us-army-flexes-new-land-based-anti-ship-capabilities

  • Saab acquires BlueBear

    31 août 2023 | International, Aérospatial, C4ISR

    Saab acquires BlueBear

    BlueBear employs 65 employees at their site outside Bedford, England with a turnover of £8 million in 2022.

  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - December 13, 2019

    16 décembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

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

    ARMY BAE Systems Land & Armaments LP, York, Pennsylvania, was awarded a $249,152,760 modification (P00042) to contract W56HZV-17-C-0001 for the Self-Propelled Howitzer and carrier, ammunition, tracked vehicles and their associated support under the production contract to build and deliver M109A7s and M992A3s. Work will be performed in York, Pennsylvania, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 31, 2023. Fiscal 2018 and 2019 other procurement, Army funds in the amount of $249,152,760 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, is the contracting activity. Palantir USG Inc., Palo Alto, California, was awarded an $110,814,893 other transaction agreement contract for numerous databases across the Army enterprise integrated on one platform. One bid was solicited via the internet with one bid received. Work will be performed in Washington, District of Columbia, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 15, 2023. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $32,545,300 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, New Jersey, is the contracting activity (W15QKN-20-9-P001). Conco Inc.,* Louisville, Kentucky (W15QKN-20-D-0003); and Delfasco LLC,* Afton, Tennessee (W15QKN-20-D-0004), will compete for each order of the $46,200,000 firm-fixed-price contract for manufacture, inspect, test, and deliver metal containers and covers for the M231 and M232 series for the Modular Artillery Charge Systems. 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 Dec. 12, 2024. U.S. Army Contracting Command, New Jersey, is the contracting activity. Alabama Department of Rehabilitation, Montgomery, Alabama, was awarded a $32,150,000 firm-fixed-price contract for full food service operations of an Army dining facility, receiving, storing, preparing, requisitioning, and serving food. 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 June 13, 2025. U.S. Army Mission Installation Contracting Command, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, is the contracting activity (W9124J-20-D-0005). Lockheed Martin Corp., Orlando, Florida, was awarded a $15,547,894 modification (P00084) to contract W31P4Q-15-C-0102 for the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile production line for a rate ramp increase of 50 to 100 missiles per month. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida, with an estimated completion date of March 30, 2022. Fiscal 2018 and 2019 procurement of ammunition, Army funds in the amount of $15,547,894 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. AM General LLC, South Bend, Indiana, was awarded a $15,118,831 firm-fixed-price Foreign Military Sales (Jordan) contract for hardware support to reset and upgrade a fleet of 200 M998 High Mobility Multi-Wheeled Vehicles. One bid was solicited via the internet with one bid received. Work will be performed in Amman, Jordan, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 13, 2020. Fiscal 2020 Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $15,118,831 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-20-C-0037). Primus, Beltsville, Maryland, was awarded an $8,782,763 firm-fixed-price contract for cold and hot aviation refuel and defuel services, personnel, management, parts, supplies, transportation and vehicles/trucks. One bid was solicited via the internet with one bid received. Work will be performed in Daleville, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of June 16, 2020. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $5,000,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Mission Installation Contracting Command, Fort Eustis, Virginia, is the contracting activity (W9124G-20-C-0004). NAVY Noresco LLC, Westborough, Massachusetts, is awarded firm-fixed-price task order (N3943020F9905) at $169,331,394, under a multiple award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for energy conservation measures at Naval Submarine Base New London, Groton, Connecticut. The work to be performed provides for the construction, operations, and maintenance of energy conservations to improve energy efficiency and reliability, which include energy management control system upgrades, combined heat power and micro-grid expansion, lighting upgrades, and steam distribution improvements. Work will be performed at Naval Submarine Base New London, Groton, Connecticut, and is expected to be completed in 21 years by December 2040. No funds will be obligated with this award, as private financing obtained by the contractor will be used for the 36-month construction (i.e. implementation) phase of the project. Five proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center, Port Hueneme, California, is the contracting activity for the task order. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, Golden, Colorado, is the contracting activity for the basic contract (DE-AM36-09GO29039). Raytheon Co., Integrated Defense Systems, Marlborough, Massachusetts, is awarded a $123,532,573 firm-fixed-price and cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-19-C-5112) to exercise options for fiscal 2020 production of AEGIS Weapon System Fire Control System (FCS) MK 99 equipment, AEGIS modernization production requirements, and associated engineering services. These services are in support of DDG 51 Class Flight III destroyers and the Spanish navy's F-110 program. This modification also covers the production of the AEGIS BMD Kill Assessment Ordnance Alteration (ORDALT) Kits and Solid State Switch Assembly (SSSA) Special Test Equipment (STE). The AMOD program fields combat system upgrades that will enhance the Anti-Air Warfare (AAW) and Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) capabilities of AEGIS equipped DDG 51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. Work will be performed in Andover, Massachusetts (81%); Marlborough, Massachusetts (10%); Chesapeake, Virginia (3 %); Portsmouth, Rhode Island (3%); San Diego, California (2%); and Burlington, Massachusetts (1%), and is expected to be completed by April 2023. Foreign Military Sales; fiscal 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy); and fiscal 2020 defense wide procurement funding in the amount of $123,532,573 will be obligated at the 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. Anchor Innovation, Inc.,* Virginia Beach, Virginia (N00167-20-D-0001); Auxiliary Systems Inc.,* Norfolk, Virginia (N00167-20-D-0002); Colonna's Shipyard Inc.,* Norfolk, Virginia (N00167-20-D-0003); Fairlead Boatworks Inc.,* Newport News, Virginia (N00167-20-D-0004); Gryphon Technologies LC, Washington, District of Columbia (N00167-20-D-0005); Q.E.D. Systems Inc.,* Virginia Beach, Virginia (N00167-20-D-0006); and United States Marine Inc.,* Gulfport, Mississippi (N00167-20-D-0007), are awarded a combined maximum $43,109,222 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple-award contract for watercraft industrial services and supplies in support covering all phases of watercraft total life cycle to include construction, proof of design, model development and realization, fabrication, modernization, repair, overhaul quality assurance, and testing of the Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division Detachment Norfolk, Combatant Craft Division. The contractor shall perform in a wide variety of locations both within the continental U.S. and outside the continental U.S. (OCONUS). The expected work distribution by performance location includes Mid Atlantic U.S. (60%); Southwest U.S. (15%); U.S. Gulf Coast (2%); Northwest U.S. (2%); Northeast U.S. (1%); other/OCONUS (20%). OCONUS locations typically include, but are not limited to Bahrain, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Spain, Italy, Horn of Africa, Guam, Japan, Hawaii and Alaska. Work is expected to be complete by December 2022. Fiscal 2020 service cost center (Navy) funding in the total amount of $12,000 will be obligated at time of award to meet the minimum guarantee under each contract and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with seven offers received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division, Detachment Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity. John C. Grimberg Co. Inc., Rockville, Maryland, is awarded a $27,830,000 firm-fixed-price contract for the construction repair of a solid state electronic devices laboratory at Naval Research Laboratory. The work to be performed will repair Building 74, including conversion of existing high bay storage into laboratory spaces, and will repair Building 81. Repair work in Building 74 includes replacement and repair of structural and architectural systems including steel framing, second floor assembly, roof, windows, doors, exterior finishes, exterior egress stairs, elevator, partitions, interior finished, laboratory facilities and abatement of hazardous materials. The renovation also includes replacement of mechanical and electrical systems including controls, chilled water system, air handling system, fire protection, clean room and laboratory systems (water, gas, ventilation, pressurization, and filtration), lighting, power and electrical distribution. Repairs in Building 81 will replace deteriorated components while additional construction will alter the building height to accommodate specialized equipment. Work will be performed in Washington, District of Columbia, and is expected to be completed by January 2022. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $27,830,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website with two proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N40080-20-C-0004). Arete Associates Inc.,* Northridge, California, is awarded a $17,561,860 firm-fixed-price modification to a previously-awarded contract (N61331-18-D-0012) to exercise Option 2, to provide Coastal Battlefield Reconnaissance and Analysis (COBRA) Block I systems. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona (35%); Destin, Florida (35%); and Santa Rosa, California (30%), and is expected to be completed by July 2022. No funding will be obligated at time of award. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City Division, Panama City, Florida, is the contracting activity. Noresco LLC, Westborough, Massachusetts, is awarded a $16,988,494 firm-fixed-price task order (N3943020F9903) under a multiple award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, energy savings performance contract at Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads, Norfolk, Virginia. The work to be performed provides for the design, construction, and installation of energy conservation measures for boiler plant improvements, water and sewer conservation systems and water resiliency. The work also provides for performance period services consisting of measurement and verification, operations and maintenance, and repair and replacement services. Work will be performed at Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads, Norfolk, Virginia, and is expected to be completed in 22 years by December 2041. No funds will be obligated with this award, as private financing obtained by the contractor will be used for the 24-month construction (i.e. implementation) phase of the project. Nine proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center, Port Hueneme, California, is the contracting activity for the task order. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Golden, Colorado, is the contracting activity for the basic contract (DE-AM36-90GO29039). AIR FORCE Pinnacle Solutions Inc., Huntsville, Alabama, has been awarded a $21,395,866 modification (P00049) to previously awarded FA8621-16-C-6281 for support of the KC-10 training system. This contract modification provides for the exercise of Option Year Four. Work will be performed at Travis Air Force Base, California; Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey; and the Training System Support Center in Fairfield, California, and is expected to be complete by Dec. 31, 2020. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $105,964,368. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $14,965,279 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. Edaptive Computing Inc., Dayton, Ohio, has been awarded a $14,865,271 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for research and development of the Joint Federated Assurance Center Trust Lab Enterprise effort. This effort seeks to enhance, deploy, transition, and support decision-aiding tools for the Air Force Research Laboratory Joint Federated Assurance Center trust laboratory research and development of analysis, design and verification tools to promote trusted systems engineering for integrated circuits electronics. Work will be performed at Dayton, Ohio, and the work is expected to be completed by March 13, 2024. This award is the result of a non-competitive acquisition. Fiscal 2020 research and development funds in the amount of $12,500,000 are being obligated at time of award. The Air Force Research Lab, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8650-20-F-1956). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Ultrax Aerospace Inc., Lees Summit, Montana, has been awarded a maximum $13,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for spares/repairs in support of the UH-60 Black Hawk Helicopter Automated Flight Control line replaceable units. 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 base contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Montana, with a Dec. 12, 2024, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2025 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland (SPRBL1-20-D-0004). DEFENSE FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING SERVICE Kearney and Company PC, Alexandria, Virginia, is being awarded a labor-hour contract option with a maximum value of $10,721,966 for audit services of the Defense Health Program (DHP). Work will be performed in various locations including the DHP headquarters in Falls Church, Virginia, as well as other federal locations in Texas, Ohio, Indianapolis, Maryland, Colorado, New York, and Maine, with an expected completion date of Dec. 31, 2020. This contract is the result of a competitive acquisition in which two bids were received. This award brings the total cumulative value of the contract to $36,598,260. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, defense wide funds in the amount of $10,721,966 are being obligated at the time of this option award. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Contract Services Directorate, Columbus, Ohio, is the contracting activity (HQ0423-17-F-0096). *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2040280/source/GovDelivery/

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