Russia tries to jolt its sluggish Su-57 warplane production

Sur le même sujet

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  19 juillet 2023 | International, Aérospatial

  F-35 delivery delays to cost Lockheed hundreds of millions in 2023

  Software problems with the F-35's Technology Refresh 3 upgrades prompted the Pentagon to halt deliveries of the newest fighters.

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  8 février 2021 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Opinion: Why The Future Will Not Be Virtual

  Steven Grundman The COVID-19 pandemic has accustomed us to living in the virtual world and hearing speculation about the ways in which our actual lives may never resume as before. Microsoft founder Bill Gates recently said he believes “over 50% of business travel and over 30% of days in the office will go away.” Explaining why the pandemic-induced surge in virtual house calls is likely to endure, Harvard's Dr. Thomas Delbanco concedes: “There are times when doctors, nurses or therapists really need to see you—no question about it. But there are also times when they really don't.” It was against the backdrop of such head-turning New Year's predictions that I spent the holidays reading about the Cold War and forming a nostalgic rebuttal to those prophesies of Zoom. At the start of my professional life, I led a surveillance platoon of the U.S. 1st Armored Division (1st AD), which was deployed to defend the “Frontier of Freedom” in the towns surrounding Nuremberg, West Germany. So it was that after cracking open Fulda Gap: Battlefield of the Cold War Alliances, I quickly thumbed forward to Chapter 7, “A Personal Perspective from Platoon Leader to Army Group” by Gen. (ret.) Crosbie Saint, who had commanded the 1st AD during my service in it. Saint's reflections transported me back to 1984 and the pastoral beauty of the Bavarian Oberpfalz, where we were actively preparing to fight a third world war. Prominent among the preparations Saint recounts was the terrain walk, a compulsory practice of every officer leading a maneuver unit regularly to traverse the ground where his troops would deploy, battle book in hand, mastering the contours of the landscape and envisioning his squads' movements in the General Defense Plan. Saint writes ardently about how “repetitive terrain walks at multiple command levels to analyze and become expert in exploiting the terrain for tactical purposes” gave the U.S. a decisive advantage over the vast armies of the Warsaw Pact. The still-clear memory of then-Lt. Grundman's own terrain walks along the monikered kill zones in my battle book—The Kemnath Bowl, Erbendorf Fire Trap, et al.—prompted me to wonder if the marvels of a virtual reality simulation would leave as indelible a mark. I doubt it. While the adoption of videoconferencing for commodity conversation is no doubt here to stay, the premium work of enterprise leadership must remain incarnate. Just as the experience of looking out from a ridgeline engages all the senses, strategic vision flows from an intuitive integration of time and space that no telemediation can fully activate. Beyond the battlefield lay other terrain walks affirming my conviction. In April 1993, just three weeks on the job as chief executive of an IBM teetering on insolvency, Lou Gerstner launched Operation Bear Hug, which directed each of the company's 250 most senior executives to visit at least five key customers over the following three months to learn why IBM had lost their trust. Years later, Gerstner wrote that Bear Hug made manifest what came to be the motive force of IBM's acclaimed transformation: “[W]e were going to build a company from the outside in and . . . the customer was going to drive everything we did in the company.” Gerstner invested this practice of deep listening to customers with the same strategic importance Saint attributed to a lieutenant's intimacy with the sight lines of his firing positions. Operation Bear Hug was a terrain walk. One of the trade secrets of my career as a business consultant to the aerospace industry is never to pass up an invitation to take a plant tour. No matter how near it is to your next flight's departure, when asked “Wanna see the shop?” the right answer is always “Of course.” When, a decade ago, I toured SpaceX's Hawthorne, California, headquarters and observed Elon Musk sitting at his desk among the busy cubicles of 30-something engineers gutting out their work in T-shirts, I instantly understood how the company's garage-shop culture could revolutionize the staid business of space launch. Years earlier, the clinical attention to workers' safety I saw at the bustling CFM56 jet engine plant in Villaroche, France, told me more about the success of the GE-Safran joint venture than even its impressive financials. So, too, did I need actually to feel the cavernous quietude in an antique defense factory to appreciate the true meaning of the sunk-cost fallacy. The aerospace plant tour is often a terrain walk. To all you leaders who, like me, find the progressively virtual world unsettling (and with apologies to a certain light lager's ad campaign), I say, “Find your terrain walk.” Once we again are free to move about, go physically to the crucible of what creates value for your enterprise and open your senses. Only from that vantage will you see truly into its future. The views expressed are not necessarily those of Aviation Week. https://aviationweek.com/aerospace/manufacturing-supply-chain/opinion-why-future-will-not-be-virtual

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  17 décembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - December 11, 2020

  AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Corp., Fort Worth, Texas, has been awarded a ceiling $900,000,000 firm-fixed-price, time-and-materials, over-and-above, cost-reimbursement contract to stand up a continental U.S.-based contractor facility to perform depot-level maintenance and aircraft modification services in support of the F-16 aircraft. Support will include all aircraft modifications, unplanned drop-in maintenance, time compliance technical orders, scheduled inspections and contract field team support. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and four offers were received. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $1,402,952 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8232-21-D-0005). General Atomics Inc., Poway, California, has been awarded a $305,188,639 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for Reaper (MQ-9) contractor logistics support. This contract provides for program management, contractor filed service representative support, depot repair, depot maintenance, sustaining engineering support, supply and logistics support, configuration management, tech data maintenance, software maintenance and inventory control point/warehouse support for the MQ- 9. Work will be performed in Poway, California, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2022. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $65,406,872 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity (FA8577-21-C-0001). Raytheon Co., Marlborough, Massachusetts, has been awarded a $29,224,207 modification (P00097) to contract FA8705-14-C-0001 for production of initial spares under already established contract line item numbers 0007, 0008, and 0009 for Global Aircrew Strategic Network Terminal. Work will be performed in Marlborough, Massachusetts, and is expected to be completed by July 31, 2023. Fiscal 2019 other procurement funds in the amount of $4,108,105; and fiscal 2020 other procurement funds in the amount of $25,116,102, are being obligated at time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $588,307,659. The Air Force Material Command, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity. GRP Paving and Construction, Tewskbury, Massachusetts, has been awarded a $25,862,782 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide repair/replacement of roadways, curbing and sidewalks. This will include the required demolition and earthwork at various locations throughout Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts; Sagamore Hill Electronics Research Annex, Hamilton, Massachusetts; Fourth Cliff Recreation Annex, Humarock Massachusetts; Cape Cod Air Force Station, Sagamore, Massachusetts; Patriot Golf Course, Bedford Massachusetts; and New Boston Air Force Station, New Boston, New Hampshire. Work is expected to be completed by December 2025. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $2,500 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom AFB, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity (FA2835-21-D-0002). The Boeing Co., Colorado Springs, Colorado, has been awarded a $9,156,355 modification (P00005) to contract FA8823-20-C-0001 to exercise an option for systems engineering and sustainment support for the Wideband Global Satellite Communications constellation. Work will primarily be performed in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and this option is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2021. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance funds in the full amount are being obligated at the time of award. The Space and Missile Systems Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, is the contracting activity. NAVY The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is awarded a $109,155,844 firm-fixed-price order (N61340-21-F-0002) against previously issued basic ordering agreement N00019-19-G-0002 to procure P-8A training systems for the government of New Zealand. This order procures one Operational Flight Trainer (OFT) with one OFT Brief/Debrief Station (BDS); one Weapons Tactics Trainers (WTTs) with one WTT BDS; one 10-seat flight management systems trainer electronic classroom; one 10-seat mission systems desktop trainer electronic classroom; one training system support center; one scenario generation station; one virtual maintenance trainer; one maintenance support cabinet; and one 10-seat maintenance electronic classroom. Additionally, this order provides for software, books and other publications, contracts, logistics, engineering and management technical assistance required for the development, production, test and in-country delivery, installation and inspection of the training systems. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri (36%); Tampa, Florida (23%); Long Island, New York (12%); Ohakea, New Zealand (10%); San Francisco, California (8%); Huntington Beach, California (5%); Seattle, Washington (3%); and Jacksonville, Florida (3%), and is expected to be completed in January 2024. Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $109,155,844 will be obligated on this award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center, Training Systems Division, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity. Bechtel Plant Machinery Inc., Monroeville, Pennsylvania, is awarded a $104,518,407 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract N00024-19-C-2112 for Naval Nuclear Propulsion Components. Work will be performed in Monroeville, Pennsylvania (99%); and Schenectady, New York (1%). Fiscal 2021 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $47,478,413 (46%); 2020 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $45,375,262 (43%); and 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $11,664,732 (11%), 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, D.C., is the contracting activity. Raytheon Missiles and Defense, Marlborough, Massachusetts, is awarded a $82,710,850 cost-plus-fixed fee and cost only modification to previously awarded contract N00024-19-C-5501 to exercise the options for Air and Missile Defense Radar AN/SPY-6(V) integration and production support efforts. Work will be performed in Marlborough, Massachusetts (64%); Kauai, Hawaii (18%); Portsmouth, Rhode Island (8%); Moorestown, New Jersey (7%); Fair Lakes, Virginia (2%); and San Diego, California (less than 1%), and is expected to be completed by December 2021. Fiscal 2017 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $17,309,691 (47%); 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $8,846,577 (24%); 2021 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $5,620,778 (15%); 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $3,412,405 (9%); 2018 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,587,256 (4%); and 2016 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $50,000 (1%), 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 Navy Yard, D.C., is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $68,162,655 modification (P00023) to cost-plus-incentive-fee order N00019-19-F-2474 against previously issued basic ordering agreement N00019-14-G-0020. This modification adds scope to procure additional Technical Refresh 3 (TR3) test assets to allow for test laboratory upgrades and for test aircraft modifications. This modification will result in the procurement and delivery of TR3 system laboratory and flight test assets for the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and non-Department of Defense (DOD) participants. Work will be performed in Melbourne, Florida (98%); and Fort Worth, Texas (2%), and is expected to be completed in March 2023. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Air Force) funds in the amount of $21,000,000; fiscal 2021 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $4,000,000; and non-DOD participant funds in the amount of $881,107 will be obligated at time of award, $21,000,000 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. MHI Ship Repair and Services – Norfolk (MHI), Norfolk, Virginia, was awarded a $57,134,922 firm-fixed-price contract for the execution of the USS Oak Hill (LSD 51) fiscal 2021 selected restricted availability (SRA). This availability will include a combination of maintenance, modernization and repair of the USS Oak Hill (LSD 51). This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $71,850,462. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by July 2022. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy); and fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $57,134,922 will be obligated at time of award, and funding in the amount of $51,832,242 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. In an effort to stabilize the industrial base for maintenance, a sole-source justification has been made in the industrial mobilization justification and approval, in accordance with the requirements of 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(3). The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-21-C-4408). (Awarded Dec. 9, 2020) The Lockheed Martin Corp., Rotary and Mission Systems, Mitchell Field, New York, is awarded a $43,591,084 cost-plus-incentive-fee and cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification (P00011) to previously awarded and announced contract N00030-20-C-0045 for the U.S. and United Kingdom (U.K.) to provide Strategic Weapon System Trident Fleet support, Trident II SSP Shipboard Integration (SSI) Increment 8, SSI Increment 16, Columbia class and U.K. Dreadnought class Navigation Subsystem development efforts. Work will be performed in Mitchell Field, New York (47%); Huntington Beach, California (36%); Clearwater, Florida (9%); Cambridge, Massachusetts (6%); and Hingham, Massachusetts (2%), with an expected completion date of Nov. 30, 2023. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $81,400 will be obligated; and shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $43,509,684 will be obligated. No funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was a sole-source acquisition in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) and (4). The Strategic Systems Programs, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. Manu Kai LLC,* Honolulu, Hawaii, is awarded $37,000,000 for a bridge contract (N00604-21-D-4009) as a bridge action for previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract N00604-09-D-0001 with both cost-plus-award-fee and fixed-price-award fee line items for range operations support and base operations support services. This contract includes one three-month performance period with no option periods. Work will be performed at the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Island of Kauai, Hawaii. Work begins January 2021, and is expected to be completed by March 2021. Subject to the availability of funds, fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance funds (Navy) in the amount of $1,700,000 will be obligated at the time of award to fund the contract's minimum amount, and funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was a sole-source pursuant to the authority set forth in 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1). The requirement was posted to the Navy Electronic Commerce Online and the beta.SAM.gov websites as a 100% 8(a) set-aside requirement, with one offer received. The Naval Supply Systems Command, Fleet Logistics Center, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $36,547,389 modification (P00037) to previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract N00019-18-C-1048. This modification adds scope to provide additional intermediate level maintenance capabilities in support of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter for the Navy and the Marine Corps. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida (30.8%); Cedar Rapids, Iowa (30.1%); El Segundo, California (25.5%); Fort Worth, Texas (9.1%); Grand Rapids, Michigan (2.6%); and Endicott, New York (1.9%), and is expected to be completed in October 2023. Fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $36,547,389, all of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. M.C. Dean Inc., Tysons, Virginia (N66001-21-D-0030); Science Applications International Corp., Reston, Virginia (N66001-21-D-0031); Serco Inc., Herndon, Virginia (N66001-21-D-0032); Systems Engineering Support Co., San Diego, California (N66001-21-D-0033); and VT Milcom Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia (N66001-21-D-0034), are each awarded an $18,925,685 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee, multiple-award contract to provide production management, integration and fabrication and system and component procurement for network integration engineering facility production services. Technical services include basic research, end-to-end system design, prototype development, systems engineering, integration, deployment and life cycle support of command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems. This one-year contract includes four one-year option periods which, if exercised, would bring the potential value of this contract to an estimated $116,019,918. All work will be performed in San Diego, California. The period of performance of the base award is from Dec. 11, 2020, through Dec. 10, 2021. If all options are exercised, the period of performance would extend through Dec. 10, 2025. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Fiscal 2021 funds will be obligated as task orders are issued using operation and maintenance (Navy); Department of Defense working capital funds; other procurement (Navy); research, development, test and evaluation (Navy); and shipbuilding and conversion (Navy). This contract was competitively procured via a request for proposal (N66001-20-R-0030) published on the beta.SAM.gov website. Six offers were received and five selected for award. The Naval Information Warfare Center, Pacific, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity. L3 Harris Technologies Inc., Anaheim, California, is awarded a $13,999,957 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification (P00036) for new procurement options under previously awarded and announced contract N00030-18-C-0001. The work will provide services and support for flight test instrumentation (FTI) systems. Work will be performed in Anaheim, California (55%); Cape Canaveral, Florida (28%); Washington, D.C. (6%); Bremerton, Washington (3%); Kings Bay, Georgia (3%); Barrow-in-Furness, United Kingdom (3%); Laurel, Maryland (1%); and Silverdale, Washington (1%), with an expected completion date of Sept. 1, 2023. Fiscal 2021 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $8,694,024; fiscal 2021 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,647,388; and fiscal 2021 United Kingdom funds in the amount of $1,025,720, are being obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract modification is awarded to the contractor on a sole-source basis under 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) and was previously synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities (now beta.SAM.gov) website. The Strategic Systems Programs, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. Scientific Research Corp., Atlanta, Georgia, is awarded a $12,129,112 modification (P00007) to previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price contract N00039-18-D-0006. The modification will allow for the completion of C4I system of systems testing, integration and installation services being performed onboard USS George Washington (CVN 73) under task order N00039-19-F-0017. The ceiling increase will allow for the completion of services onboard CVN 73 during its Chief of Naval Operations-directed refueling and complex overhaul maintenance availability currently ongoing. This action does not extend either the ordering period of contract N00039-18-D-0006 or the current period of performance of the CVN 73 task order N00039-19-F-0017. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia (90%); and Charleston, South Carolina (10%). The current period of performance for the order remains unchanged ending in September 2022. Fiscal 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) in the amount of $6,000,000 will be obligated at time of award of this modification and funds will not expire at the end of the fiscal year. This sole-source modification was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) - only one responsible source (Federal Acquisition Regulation subpart 6.302-1). The Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity. ARMY Manhattan Construction Co., Arlington, Virginia, was awarded an $87,562,320 firm-fixed-price contract for the design-bid-build construction of a 281,075 square-foot operations center building. Bids were solicited via the internet with eight received. Work will be performed in Richmond, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 21, 2023. Fiscal 2020 military construction (defense-wide) funds in the amount of $87,562,320 were obligated at the time of the award. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (W91236-21-C-2019). Mission Essential LLC, New Albany, Ohio, was awarded a $15,669,134 modification (P00004) to contract W50NH9-20-C-0008 for linguist services in support of U.S. Africa Command. Work will be performed in New Albany, Ohio, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 14, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operation and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $1,470,000 were obligated at the time of the award. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity. Textron Aviation Inc., Wichita, Kansas, was awarded an $11,396,670 firm-fixed-price contract for a King Air 250 aircraft. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Wichita, Kansas, with an estimated completion date of June 13, 2022. Fiscal 2021 Foreign Military Sales (Panama) funds in the amount of $11,396,670 were obligated at the time of the award. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-21-C-0004). SRCTec LLC, Syracuse, New York, was awarded a $9,222,754 hybrid (cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price) contract for procurement of hardware and services to address the system sustainment needs for the Counter Radio-Controlled Improvised Explosive Device Electronic Warfare Duke Family of Systems. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Syracuse, New York, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 10, 2021. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $9,222,754 were obligated at the time of the award. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W56KGY-21-F-0013). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Gexa Energy LP, Houston, Texas (SPE604-21-D-8008, $41,038,553); and TXU Energy Retail Co., Irving, Texas (SPE604-21-D-8010, $14,444,141), have each been awarded a firm-fixed-price, requirements contract under solicitation SPE604-20-R-0409 to supply and deliver retail electricity and ancillary/incidental services. These were competitive acquisitions with six responses received. These are three-year contracts with no option periods. Location of performance is Texas, with a Jan. 31, 2024, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Air Force, Navy, Navy Reserves, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Air National Guard, and Department of Agriculture. Using customers are solely responsible to fund this contract and vary in appropriation type and fiscal year. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. DEFENSE COUNTERINTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY AGENCY iWorks Corp., Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $16,686,139 firm-fixed-price contract (HS0021-21-C-0002) for the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA). The contract provides for seamlessly vetting personnel for access, preserving the adjudicative decision and identifying and mitigating insider threat risk. Work will be performed in and around Fort George G. Meade, Maryland. This contract will be funded with fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance funds. The anticipated period of performance includes one 12-month base period and four 12-month option periods. The estimated lifecycle award value is $86,835,820. This requirement was synopsized on the government-wide point of entry website as a single-award, small business set-aside on Nov. 20, 2018. As a result, all small businesses were solicited and four offers were received. DCSA Acquisition and Contracting, Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting activity. *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2444963/source/GovDelivery/