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  30 mars 2021 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Contracts for March 29, 2021

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  31 juillet 2018 | International, Aérospatial

  The US Air Force’s top acquisition exec talks hypersonic prototypes and more

  By: Valerie Insinna FARNBOROUGH, England — Will Roper took the job of assistant secretary of the U.S. Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics in February, but he's likely better known for his prior gig as head of the Pentagon's Strategic Capabilities Office. As the first-ever director of the new SCO, Roper drew attention for projects that used off-the-shelf tech to prototype new capabilities like swarming drones. Now he's turning his eye toward making sure the Air Force quickens the pace in which it acquires new weapons, focusing especially on prototyping as a method to push the service toward a solution on a faster timeline, he told Defense News in a July 16 interview at Farnborough Airshow. What current programs involve prototyping? We've got a whole set of programs that we're accelerating, and what I love about our acceleration is that there's no rhyme or reason to what type of program they are. Some of them are sustainment programs like putting a new engine on the B-52. Others are more traditional prototype efforts like hypersonics where we're doing an advanced weapon acceleration. Others are software, where we're accelerating F-22 software drops, our protected [satellite communications] delivery. The good news about this is it doesn't appear that there is [only] one type of program that's able to be accelerated. The difference is that we're not using traditional [Department of Defense] 5000 [acquisition principles]. Instead we're using the new authorities from Congress, and all they encourage us to do is to tailor the way that we acquire the system to the specific needs of what we're buying. And that sounds completely obvious. You ought to do something specific to the needs of what you're buying. But if you look at the 5000 process, which is traditional acquisition, it has more of a generic approach. And in that generic approach, there are a lot of steps that don't make sense for all systems. So we're just cutting those out, and that's where the acceleration is coming in. How are you prototyping new B-52 engines? Aren't there off-the-shelf systems already available? There are. That's what we want to use. The question is: How do you go out and do that acquisition? If you do it a traditional way, you'll spend years doing studies, [with] the government pretending it knows enough about those commercial engines to make a decision to pick one and go field it. If we were a company, we would know that we don't know enough about those engines without getting our hands dirty, without getting some grease on our hands and sleeves. So they would go out. They would downselect to a top set of vendors, have each one create a digital twin of their engine, do the digital representation of its integration on their aircraft, fly them off against each other, determine which one will give you the most fuel savings and then pick the engine based on the one that saves you the most money overall. By: Valerie Insinna So, a simulated flyoff? Exactly. So in the accelerated acquisition paradigm, which uses the 804 authority, we don't have to go the 5000 route of doing years of study. We can do it like a commercial company. And what I love about this example is that it's not just faster, it's about three-and-a-half to four years faster in total time. It's also better because we'll be making the decision with a lot more data than we would if we were staring at a wad of paper that was analysis but not actual simulation. This is an example of what tailoring means and what it gets you. This approach may not apply to other programs, but it makes a ton of sense for this one. So that's what we're developing right now, is buying a commercial engine the way a company would. Buying and integrating it the way a company would, not a military. What's the schedule? We're working the acquisition plan right now. I've approved it for one of our 804 accelerations, so we'll use the new authorities. I've given this guidance to the program office. Let's go do a digital twin flyoff the way that industry would, and I'm just letting them work the details before we approve and get started. But it's a great example; a digital twin flyoff is pretty cool. You wouldn't think putting a new engine on the B-52 would be a cool program. You would expect the hypersonics program would be where all the cool kids would go. But in my view, there's a lot of great engineering and great acquisition to be done in all programs, and what's been awesome about being in this job is I'm seeing innovation across the Air Force, not just in the high-tech programs you'd expect. The light-attack experiment is obviously one example where you're doing this prototyping and experimentation. Some in Congress want to give you money in fiscal 2019 to buy planes, but the Air Force hasn't even figured out whether to turn this into a program of record. Do you have the contractual authorities to make that happen? I think we can do it using new authorities that Congress gave us in the last National Defense Authorization Act. Light attack is a great example of being able to move into an authority called “middle-tier rapid procurement fielding.” The requirement is that it's something that you need to be able to buy off the shelf with only a little upfront development in six months total. And light attack is a great example of doing experiments to make sure that you understand the ability of existing planes to do a mission we need to do, and then moving into an acquisition decision which is based on buying a currently available product. I'm confident as we go through all of the light experiment data — we're doing that right now — that any of the options we look at, I'm confident none of them will be 100 percent perfect, but that's exactly what's wrong with acquisition today. We pursue 100 percent solutions until we get them. Light attack is a great example of realizing that we can get 90 to 95 percent today at a lower cost, and since we've gone out and flown before we bought, I think we have a much better chance of doing this acquisition with confidence, that what we give the operators will do the mission and be sufficient. By: Valerie Insinna You mentioned hypersonics as another area that involves prototyping. Can you say more about that? Hypersonics is an area that I'm very passionate about. I feel like we need to not fall behind any country in this domain. And it was an area, coming in from SCO, I really wanted to dive into these prototyping efforts and see is there anything that we can do to speed them up. And in fact, there is. This is another example of another program where the rapid authorities appear to make a big difference on how quickly you can go. But the big difference is really shifting the program so that it embraces the potential for failure. You saw this a lot from me at my last job. Failure is very much an option, and as a matter of fact, if we're going to fail and we do it early in a program, we've probably learned something valuable that we need to understand before progressing. Hypersonics is a program where I would expect us to get out and learn a lot as we test. So rather than taking time to ensure that your tests are checking the box of something you're confident you can do, you compress the schedule to go out and make the test focused on learning something. Just that difference in mindset takes years out of our hypersonics program. We're hoping to [get to initial operational capability] within three to four years, and all of that is due to doing it as an experimental test program vice a long compliance period. Are you speaking of the hypersonic weapons program that Lockheed Martin recently won? We just awarded a contract to Lockheed, and that will be the vehicle that we use to fund this. Are you relying on digital prototyping or physical demonstrators? It will be all [of them]. Hypersonics is a new regime for weaponry, so we very much want to have digital models that we believe. So getting in the wind tunnel so that we can go out and simulate flights before we do them. But because this is a pretty exotic domain of physics in terms of pressures and temperatures, we're going to need to get out and fly and test [real prototypes]. [Information technology is] very important that we're instrumenting our flight bodies so that we're collecting data. There's nothing that I'm telling you that's peculiar to this program — this is pretty common for any envelope-pushing program. I think the big difference in hypersonics now versus a couple of years ago is just shifting to a test focus and embracing the potential for failure as a spectacular learning event or whatever word you want to use as a good name for failure. It's a great failure of our English language that there's no word that means “good failure.” We say we need to embrace failure. We don't often do it because it still comes with a stigma, and that's one of the things I'm really hoping to do in this job. I'm looking for those people to take smart risks, to go out to be daring, and my job is going to be to give them top cover, applaud them and reward them when they do because we're going to need that across the Air Force if we're going to speed up. Can you give me a status update on T-X? On T-X, we're going through source selection, so we're hopeful we'll get through that — should be in the fall. The fall? We had been hearing summer. I guess, if September is summer — I guess September is technically summer. End of summer is still fair based on where we are now. With JSTARS, I understand the Air Force is still doing source selection as Congress figures out the path forward. Will it be ready to announce in short order if you are forced to move forward on the program? We're hoping that we can shift to the new [advanced battle management system] ABMS program because if we're going to deal with a contested environment, we are going to have to learn to take things that used to be integrated, complicated system that are high-value targets, and break them up into less contestable targets that can work together. I don't view that as particular to JSTARS; it's something we need to learn how to do writ large. I view it as an architecture challenge that the Air Force has to pick up if we're going to learn how to do distributed systems. I would like to be able to do it for JSTARS because I think it's a great candidate. If Congress does require us to do the recap, we're making sure that we have not dropped the ball on doing that. But we are hoping to be able to shift to the future concept. As an SCO director and former program manager, I would love to manage that program. I think there will be a lot of things to learn and tryn and it definitely needs to be a program where we embrace failure up front and prototype because there's going to be a lot of learning to do about how do you make things work together as a team. We get a sense of how commercial industry is solving it, and I imagine we can use a lot of their lessons learned, but probably not all of them. It sounds like the ABMS architecture is still being worked through as far as what will fit in that and how. I'd say it's an architecture at this point. And that's unusual for a program when, if you were in my job, you're getting tasked like, “I need a new airplane, I need a new sensor pod,” and you get a list of how well it has to perform. ABMS is more [like], you're given a mission and your can choose how to allocate the requirements for that mission across a system of systems. So it's not the mission requirements — you're doing the design requirements. And you can just imagine one designer saying: “I'm going to collect a lot of data from nose to the edge. I'm going to do a massive amount of processing at the middle.” I bet you'd get high performance that way, but you'd have huge communication challenges. Another designer might say: “I'm going to put my processing on the edges themselves, so I'm not dependent on getting to that central node.” You probably have more graceful degradation if you have one of those nodes taken out. But you might give up performance. This is a real architecture problem, and acquisition historically does not do architecture. When we need to build something, we don't allocate it across systems of systems. In the future, it looks like we're going to have to start doing that. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/farnborough/2018/07/27/the-us-air-forces-top-acquisition-exec-talks-hypersonic-prototypes-and-more/

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  10 juillet 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - July 09, 2020

  NAVY Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $56,100,000 not-to-exceed, undefinitized contract modification (P00018) to previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract N00019-19-C-0010. This modification provides systems integration engineering support and procures long lead material to ensure the ASQ-239 electronic warfare/countermeasures production capability remains on track to meet Lot 17 deliveries. This modification provides for the continuation of Block 4 electronic warfare development without creating a gap in engineering resources in support of the Navy, Air Force and non-Department of Defense (DOD) participants. Work will be performed in Nashua, New Hampshire (85%); and Fort Worth, Texas (15%), and is expected to be completed by December 2020. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $6,986,000; fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Air Force) funds in the amount of $6,986,000; and non-DOD participant funds in the amount of $3,026,680, 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. Liberty JV,* Yuma, Arizona, is awarded a $40,000,000 maximum amount, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity architect-engineering contract for environmental restoration projects at various locations in the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Northwest area of responsibility (AOR). No task orders are being issued at this time. Work will be performed at various government installations within the NAVFAC AOR including, but not limited to, Washington (75%); Alaska (22%); Idaho (1%); Montana (1%); and Oregon (1%). The work to be performed provides for environmental restoration services under the Defense Department's Environmental Restoration Program, which includes the Installation Restoration Program and Munitions Response Program, complies with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, and supports the Navy and Marine Corps base realignment and closure effort and similarly complex local and state environmental investigations. The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months and work is expected to be completed by July 2025. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $1,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by environmental restoration (Navy). This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website and four proposals were received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Northwest, Silverdale, Washington, is the contracting activity (N44255-20-D-5006). Jacobs-EwingCole JV, Pasadena, California, is awarded a $29,944,543 firm-fixed-price task order (N62473-20-F-4714) under an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for post-award design services (PADS) and post-construction award services (PCAS) to support multiple construction projects related to the fiscal 2020 and 2021 military construction (MILCON) earthquake recovery and repair program at Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS), China Lake, California. The task order also contains one unexercised option, which if exercised, will increase cumulative task order value to $36,456,778. Work will be performed in Ridgecrest, California. The work to be performed provides for PADS and PCAS for various fiscal 2020 and 2021 MILCON and repair projects; 18 MILCON projects; and 25 repair projects will be constructed at NAWS China Lake as a part of the earthquake recovery program. The contractor will provide architect-engineer services to address any post-award design and construction related issues for the MILCON and repair projects. The contractor will also provide assistance to the government during the development of responses and requests for information from the contractors performing the construction effort for the projects. Work is expected to be completed by April 2024. Fiscal 2020 MILCON (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $29,944,543 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One proposal was received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N62473-18-D-5801). Salient CRGT Inc., Fairfax, Virginia, is awarded a $21,984,298 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, single award contract to provide support with program management, program planning and execution, Joint Staff actions process training, Actions Division customer service help desk services, strategic planning and analysis assistance, correspondence management and communications and editorial functions in support of the Joint Staff Actions Division. The contract will include a 60-month base ordering period, with no option period. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia (85%); Fairfax, Virginia (10%); and Suffolk, Virginia (5%). The ordering period will be completed by July 2025. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (O&M) (Defense-wide) (DW) funds in the amount of $10,000 will be obligated to fund the contract's minimum amount and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Subsequent task orders will be funded with the appropriate fiscal year O&M, DW funds. This contract was competitively procured with the solicitation posted through Navy Electronic Commerce Online and beta.SAM.gov website and 15 offers were received. The Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Norfolk, Contracting Department, Philadelphia Office, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity (N00189-20-D-Z023). Lockheed Martin, Baltimore, Maryland, is awarded a $16,345,048 firm-fixed-price contract for the refurbishment of rocket motors and thrust vector control used on vertical launch assemblies for anti-submarine rocket assisted torpedoes. If the option is exercised, the work will be completed by July 2023, bringing the total value of the contract to $30,630,048. Work will be performed in Baltimore, Maryland (44%); Dulles, Virginia (29%); and Owego, New York (27%). The base period of this contract is expected to be completed by October 2022. Weapons procurement funds (Navy) in the full amount of $16,345,048 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One company was solicited for this sole-source requirement pursuant to the authority set forth in 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1) and one offer was received. The Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity (N00104-20-C-K045). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY AM General LLC, South Bend, Indiana, has been awarded a maximum $44,095,015 firm-fixed-price requirements contract for High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle diesel engines with containers. 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 three-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Indiana, with a July 8, 2023, ordering period end date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2023 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Warren, Michigan (SPRDL1-20-D-0118). Marlex Pharmaceuticals Inc., New Castle, Delaware, has been awarded a maximum $9,274,712 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for various pharmaceutical products. This was a competitive acquisition with one response received. This is a one-year base contract with nine one-year option periods. Location of performance is Delaware, with a July 8, 2021, ordering period end date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 Warstopper funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2D0-20-D-0008). ARMY VS2 LLC, Alexandria, Virginia, was awarded a $36,672,648 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for logistics support services (maintenance, supply and transportation) at Fort Benning, Georgia. Bids were solicited via the internet with nine received. Work will be performed in Chattahoochee, Georgia, with an estimated completion date of July 8, 2025. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $2,077,440 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W52P1J-20-F-0305). Manson Construction Co., Seattle, Washington, was awarded an $8,330,800 firm-fixed-price contract for dredge work in the Mississippi River. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed in Venice, Louisiana, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 30, 2021. Fiscal 2020 civil operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $8,330,800 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans, Louisiana, is the contracting activity (W912P8-20-C-0030). DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY IT Concepts Inc., Vienna, Virginia, was awarded a $26,308,755 labor-hour contract (HHM402-20-C-0038) to develop, update, sustain, operate and enhance a software tool capability to be used by members of the acquisition, requirements, operational and intelligence communities to support and aid in the identification of intelligence requirements, management of priorities, planning and production of intelligence products, enterprise data analytics, communication and other associated processes. Work will be conducted in Vienna and Charlottesville, Virginia, with an expected completion date of June 2025. Fiscal 2020 operations and management funds in the amount of $1,023,586 are being obligated at time of award. This contract was awarded through an 8(a) set-aside and five offers were received. The Virginia Contracting Activity, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. AIR FORCE Innovative Scientific Solutions Inc., Dayton, Ohio, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $20,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity modification (P00005) to contract FA8650-13-D-2343 for advanced propulsion concepts and cycles research and development. Work will be performed in Dayton, Ohio, and is expected to be completed June 18, 2022. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,750,000 are being obligated at the time of award under task order FA8650-17-F-2009. Total cumulative face value of the contract is not-to-exceed $64,560,000. Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Beavercreek, Ohio, has been awarded a $7,687,489 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for Infrared Radiation Effects Laboratory (IRREL) operation and improvements program. The objective of this effort is to provide radiometric and radiation characterizations of focal plane arrays (FPAs) and associated devices. The effort includes developing innovative techniques to advance the state of the art in the characterization of infrared and visible FPAs and associated devices. These innovative techniques include the development of characterization and analytical techniques, test hardware and operational and test procedures that advance the experimental capabilities of the IRREL. Work will be performed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is expected to be completed Oct. 10, 2025. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition with one offer received. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $150,000 are being obligated at time of award. The Air Force Research Laboratory, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, is the contracting activity (FA9453-20-C-0015). *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2269384/source/GovDelivery/