Northrop Grumman and LIG Nex1 to Collaborate on Electronic Warfare Systems for Korea

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  18 novembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial

  An entrepreneurial space race could benefit Space Command

  By: Nathan Strout Officials at the newly re-established U.S. Space Command are structuring the organization to take better advantage of commercial space innovations, said Maj. Gen. Stephen Whiting, one of the command's leaders. The Combined Force Space Component Command, which plans space operations, has been working on creating so called “combat development divisions” to seek out and integrate new commercial technologies. Two weeks ago, U.S. Space Command dedicated a full-time position at its Combined Space Operations Center to foster greater cooperation between the military and commercial businesses on space operations. The move is necessary because the reality facing the Department of Defense is that funding for space ventures is increasingly taking place in the private sector, Whiting said. In response to this shift, military space leaders have been tasked with increasing information sharing and collaboration with commercial space operators. That effort started with the establishment of a commercial integration cell, a special group within the Combined Space Operations Center focused on maintaining strong interaction with commercial satellite owner/operators who provide services to the military. Inspired by the success of the cell, U.S. Space Command established a full-time position that will work with companies to make follow-on agreements, codify procedures and explore creating additional CIC-like groups to encompass other areas of space operations such as space situational awareness. Whiting serves as the head of the Combined Force Space Component Command and as the deputy commander of Air Force Space Command and spoke at the Mitchell Space Breakfast Series Nov. 15. U.S. Space Command has also had to adapt to new acquisition models designed to harness commercial innovation, Whiting said. The command is working to form small teams focused on scouting for new technologies, based on the Combat Development Divisions pioneered by Special Operations Command. Brig. Gen. Wolf Davidson, who is Whiting's No. 2 and the head of 14th Air Force, is leading the effort to adapt those models to space operations. These efforts are already bearing fruit. The Combat Development Divisions have helped stand up the DoD's first development platform for building and hosting cloud-native military software applications. The Combat Development Divisions have also been working with the Space and Missile Systems Center and the Air Force Research Laboratory to conduct the Air Force Space Pitch Days, an attempt to bring venture capital-style funding to space acquisitions. “I believe they will not only improve CFSCC's ability to innovate, they will also help our enterprise navigate through the uncertainty and technology disruption of the entrepreneurial space race, bringing down costs, schedule and performance risk to our enterprise along the way,” Whiting said. “We consider this to be a critical task and priority for U.S. Space Command and I think it will continue to be a strategic imperative for our future." These changes are fueled by a shift in space innovation from the government sector to the private sector, explained Whiting. “Since the launch of Sputnik up until the beginning of the last decade, research and development for space technology was almost exclusively funded by nation-states,” said Whiting. "This pattern was not only true for the United States, but for foreign nations as well. But in the past 10 years alone, the number of space companies receiving private, non-government funding has grown from 24 to more than 375.” That's an increase of 1,500 percent in privately funded space organizations, and Whiting said that trend would continue. That means that unlike in the past, innovation for space technologies will happen more in the commercial sector than within the government. “This explosion of innovation also means the calm, predictable environment we enjoyed after the Cold War is decisively over. We have entered a new space race ― an entrepreneurial space race ― and it will pull our enterprise out of its predictable and comfortable state into one that's ambiguous, complex and highly unpredictable," Whiting said. In order to harness that innovation, the military needs to be more open, responsive and collaborative with commercial companies. “It's not going to be enough for countries to outpace each other with exclusively state-sponsored campaigns anymore. Instead, nations will gain the upper hand by harvesting the emergent capabilities of their commercial industry, by unlocking the asymmetric advantage of commercial space operations seamlessly integrated with military space operations. Nations that do not do this run the risk of being left behind, of not being able to capitalize on their indigenous talent," said Whiting. https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2019/11/15/an-entrepreneurial-space-race-could-benefit-space-command/

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  7 août 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - august 06, 2020

  NAVY Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Moorestown, New Jersey, was awarded a $65,283,976 fixed-price-incentive and firm-fixed-price contract for fiscal 2020 Aegis modernization, new construction of guided missile destroyers and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) production requirements. This contract combines purchases for the Navy (96.9%); the Kingdom of Spain (2.3%); and the government of Japan (0.8%), under the FMS program. Work will be performed in Moorestown, New Jersey (70%); Clearwater, Florida (29%); and Owego, New York (1%). This procurement covers the production and delivery of multi-mission signal processor equipment sets; Aegis Combat System support equipment; and electronic equipment fluid coolers and kill assessment system 5.1 equipment. This contract action also provides MK 6 Mod 0 equipment for the government of Japan and the Kingdom of Spain FMS requirements. Work is expected to be completed by November 2024. Fiscal 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy); fiscal 2020 defense-wide procurement; and FMS case funding in the amount of $65,283,976 will be obligated at the time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. In accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) and (c)(4), this contract was not competitively procured (only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements). The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Awarded July 31, 2020) Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $20,630,000 not-to-exceed, cost-plus-fixed-fee, undefinitized order (N00019-20-F-0078) against previously issued basic ordering agreement N00019-19-G-0008. This order procures various materials required for the 30P05 capability upgrade to all fielded pilot and maintenance training systems in support of the F-35 Program for the Navy, Marines, Air Force, non-Department of Defense (DOD) participants and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida (95%); and Fort Worth, Texas (5%), and is expected to be completed by December 2021. Fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $7,620,000; non-DOD participant funds in the amount of $1,310,000; and FMS funds in the amount of $1,385,000 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 Korte Construction Co., St. Louis, Missouri, was awarded a $34,420,210 firm-fixed-price contract to design and construct a two-story 72,140 square-foot Joint Simulation Environment facility at Edwards Air Force Base. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed at Edwards AFB, California, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 31, 2022. Fiscal 2020 military construction (defense-wide) funds in the amount of $34,420,210 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles, California, is the contracting activity (W912PL-20-C-0030). Iron Mountain Solutions Inc.,* Huntsville, Alabama, was awarded a $15,541,629 modification (000148) to contract W31P4Q-17-A-0001 for technical support for the Utility Helicopter Project Office. Work will be performed in Huntsville, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 8, 2021. Fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Army); operations and maintenance (Army); research, development, test and evaluation (Army); other procurement (Army); and Foreign Military Sales (United Arab Emirates) funds in the amount of $15,541,629 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. AIR FORCE Rockwell Collins Inc., Collins Aerospace, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been awarded a $14,000,000 firm-fixed-price modification (P00007) to contract FA8102-16-D-0005 for services and supplies in support of modernization, expansion and depot-level contractor logistic support. The contractor will provide support for Scope Command's High Frequency Global Communications System in support of Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard requirements. Work will be performed in Richardson, Texas, and is expected to be completed Aug. 30, 2021. This option exercise is the result of a sole-source acquisition. The estimated cumulative contract value is $70,000,000. No funds are being obligated at the time of the award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado, has been awarded a $9,682,027 contract for the Defense Experimentation Using Commercial Space Internet (DEUCSI) Call 002 Vendor Flexibility effort. This contract seeks to establish the ability to communicate with Air Force platforms via multiple commercial space internet constellations using common user terminal hardware elements. Work will be performed in Westminster, Colorado, and is expected to be completed April 17, 2022. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition under the DEUCSI Advanced Research Announcement Call 002. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $4,536,000 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8650-20-C-9320). *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2303639/source/GovDelivery/

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  24 mars 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Pentagon loosens cash flow for industry, more measures likely coming

  By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has opened up cash flow for the defense industry, the latest in a series of moves from the department to combat economic damage brought about by the new coronavirus pandemic. In a memo released Sunday, the department announced that progress payment rates for defense items under contract will increase from 80 percent of cost to 90 percent for large businesses, and from 90 percent to 95 percent for small businesses. The move will allow industry to receive more cash up front than under normal circumstances. The order was signed by Kim Herrington, acting principal director for defense pricing and contracting at the Department of Defense. In a statement, spokesman Lt. Col. Mike Andrews called the move “an important avenue where industry cash flow can be improved." The Defense Contracting Management Agency “will work on mass modifications to contracts where applicable (vs one by one) using DCMA authorities,” Andrews said. “In addition, the Department is accelerating payments through several means to prime contracts and directing prime contracts to expedite payments to subcontractors.” The increase in cash flow was sought by both industry and supporters in Congress. An increase in early payments was one of the requests made by the Maine delegation to Defense Secretary Mark Esper last week. The Pentagon plans to return to normal operations once the national emergency caused by COVID-19 has passed. Notably, the announcement of the move included a warning that “it is especially important to understand that during this crisis the [defense-industrial base] is vulnerable to adversarial capital, we need to ensure companies stay in business without losing their technology.” Over the last two years the department has focused on ensuring Chinese investment is limited in the defense-industrial base. The move comes after the DoD issued guidance to industry that defense contractors are considered “critical infrastructure” under a Department of Homeland Security definition, which should allow contractors to continue to work even if local governments issue orders to freeze work, as has happened in New York and San Francisco. However, that guidance was advisory in nature and does not have the full legal authority that industry leadership had sought, per a Friday letter to Esper from the Aerospace Industry Association. “Recent DHS and USD (A&S) memoranda have been helpful on a case-by-case basis, but they are advisory in nature and not legally binding; to establish stability for our operations across the nation, the federal government should legally establish national security programs and our workforce as essential,” read the letter, signed by AIA head Eric Fanning; Northrop Grumman CEO Kathy Warden; and Kelly Ortberg, special adviser to the Office of the CEO of United Technologies. In an investors note, analyst Roman Schweizer of Cowen noted: “These new policies provide clarity on issues companies have been concerned about, but we do not think they alleviate all of industry's concerns nor do they eliminate all the disruption. But they are positive signs that DoD will help mitigate reasonable impact.” More efforts are likely to emerge in the coming days, including new measures from the Small Business Administration and its small business emergency loan program to help protect small key defense suppliers who are particularly vulnerable at this time. Major defense industry partners are also seeking relief in fulfilling contract milestones that could be impacted by the outbreak. “We encourage DoD to publish regulatory authority requiring contracting officers to consider financial relief as part of requests for equitable adjustments for measures we take in response to COVID-19,” the AIA letter read. “This includes relief related to bans, closures, quarantines and other travel restrictions, the loss of public infrastructure and public transportation, restricted access to resources and tools, and other public safety restrictions.” On Friday, the Acquisition and Sustainment division of the Small Business Office reached out to the defense industry's small businesses and is working with the Small Business Administration and its small business emergency loan program to help protect these companies. https://www.defensenews.com/coronavirus/2020/03/23/pentagon-loosens-cash-flow-for-industry-more-measures-likely-coming/