8 avril 2024 | International, C4ISR

Shield AI to let Hivemind software fly three more aircraft

The company has already folded the autonomous flight software into three classes of quadcopters, the V-Bat drone, the F-16 jet and the MQM-178 drone.

https://www.c4isrnet.com/artificial-intelligence/2024/04/08/shield-ai-to-let-hivemind-software-fly-three-more-aircraft/

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  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - January 29, 2020

    30 janvier 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - January 29, 2020

    NAVY Geocent LLC, Metairie, Louisiana (N66001-20-D-3417); M.C. Dean Inc., Tysons, Virginia (N66001-20-D-3418); McKean Defense Group LLC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (N66001-20-D-3419); Parsons Government Services Inc., Pasadena, California (N66001-20-D-3420); Science Applications International Corp., Reston, Virginia (N66001-20-D-3421); Serco Inc., Herndon, Virginia (N66001-20-D-3422); Systems Technology Forum Ltd., Fredericksburg, Virginia (N66001-20-D-3423); Valkyrie Enterprises Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia (N66001-20-D-3424); and VT Milcom Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia (N66001-20-D-3425), are each awarded a $56,339,692 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple-award contract with cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price and cost (no fee) pricing. Support includes project management, administration, drafting, technical integration, testing, maintenance, engineering, logistics, facilities and security for software and hardware of new and existing command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems and networks. All awardees will have the opportunity to compete for task orders during the ordering period. This two-year contract includes two three-year option periods, which, if exercised, would bring the overall potential value of this contract to an estimated $249,033,405. Work will be performed primarily in the Indo-Asia-Pacific Region and Navy Region Southwest including Hawaii, Guam, Japan, California, Nevada, Washington state, Oklahoma, South Korea, Singapore, Philippines and Australia; and outside this region in Bahrain, Djibouti and Italy. Work will be performed outside the continental U.S. (50%); and inside the continental U.S. (50%) on a full-time basis. The period of performance of the base award is from Jan. 29, 2020, through Jan. 28, 2022. If all options were exercised, the period of performance would extend through Jan. 28, 2028. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated as task orders are issued using operations and maintenance (Navy); and other funding, which may include working capital funds (DoD); Department of Homeland Security funds; and research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds. This contract was competitively procured via a request for proposal (N66001-19-R-0001) which was published on the Federal Business Opportunities website and the Naval Information Warfare Command e-Commerce Central website. Eighteen offers were received and nine were selected for award. The Naval Information Warfare Center, Pacific, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity. Northrup Grumman Systems Corp., Linthicum Heights, Maryland, is awarded a $15,752,580 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to exercise options to previously-awarded contract N00024-15-C-5319 for level of effort engineering services and associated travel to provide continuous support of two AN/SLQ-32(V)Y Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) Block 3 System low rate initial production units. This option exercise is for the continued level of effort engineering services in support of SEWIP Block 3 low-rate initial-production units. SEWIP is an evolutionary acquisition and incremental development program to upgrade the existing AN/SLQ-32(V) electronic warfare system. SEWIP Block 3 will provide select Navy surface ships a scalable electronic warfare enterprise suite with improved electronic attack capabilities. Work will be performed in Linthicum, Maryland, and is expected to be completed by December 2020. Fiscal 2018 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $60,000 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Rockwell Collins Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is awarded an $11,301,660 fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract procures Joint Precision Approach and Landing Systems Airborne Radio Communication ARC-210 Generation 5 radio units for the Navy. Work will be performed in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and is expected to be completed in March 2021. Fiscal 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds for $403,110; and other procurement (Navy) funds for $3,627,990 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. The Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity (N68335-20-D-0006). BAE Systems Technology Solutions & Services, Rockville, Maryland, is awarded a $10,536,004 modification (P00002) to a previously-awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00421-20-C-0003). This modification exercises an option to provide engineering and technical services for integrated communications and information systems radio communications for Navy ships, in support of the Naval Air Warfare Center, Webster Outlying Field, to support the integrated communications and information systems radio communications. Work will be performed in St. Inigoes, Maryland (60%); California, Maryland (30%); Bath, Maine (5%); and Pascagoula, Mississippi (5%), and is expected to be completed in July 2025. Fiscal 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds for $4,000,000 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. ARMY Continental Heavy Civil Corp., Miami, Florida, was awarded a $23,778,240 firm-fixed-price contract for the NASA Wallops Beach Renourishment Project in Accomack County, Virginia. Bids were solicited via the internet with five received. Work will be performed in Wallops Island, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of March 12, 2021. Fiscal 2019 civil construction, Corps of Engineers funds in the amount of $23,778,240 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (W91236-20-C-0002). AECOM Management Services Inc., Germantown, Maryland, was awarded a $17,000,000 modification (000260) to contract W52P1J-12-G-0028 for Army Prepositioned Stock (APS-2) logistics support services in support of maintenance, supply and transportation at Mannheim and Dulmen, Germany. Work will be performed in Mannheim and Dulmen, Germany, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 20, 2020. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $17,000,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity. Vision Point Systems Inc.,* Fairfax, Virginia, was awarded a $13,500,000 firm-fixed-price contract to provide corrosion engineering and logistics technical, analytical, programmatic, research and development, technical assistance, testing, training, and technical writing support for the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVCS) and Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) Life Cycle Management Center (LCMC). Bids were solicited via the internet with four received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 28, 2025. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-20-D-0012). Dawn/Higley JV LLC,* Warren, Ohio, was awarded an $11,458,223 firm-fixed-price contract to repair and renovate interior and exterior of an aircraft maintenance hangar. Bids were solicited via the internet with five received. Work will be performed in Mansfield, Ohio, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 31, 2021. Fiscal 2020 Air Guard sustainment, repair, maintenance in the amount of $11,458,223 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Property and Fiscal Office for Ohio 179th Mission Support Contracting, Mansfield, Ohio, is the contracting activity (W50S8R-20-C-0002). AIR FORCE Technica Corp., Sterling, Virginia, has been awarded a $13,591,345 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to exercise the first option period, Feb. 15, 2020, through Feb. 14, 2021. The contract provides weapon system engineering and maintenance services to include incremental software version development and installation, security patch installations, preventative maintenance, trouble shooting and responsive Tier 1, 2 and 3 support for the Cyberspace Vulnerability Assessment/Hunter (CVA/H) weapon system. Work will be performed in Sterling, Virginia, and is expected to be complete by Aug. 14, 2025. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition. Offerors were solicited under the Network-Centric Solutions (NETCENTS) Network Operations and Infrastructure Small Business contract holders and seven offers were received. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation; operations and maintenance; and procurement funds in the amount of $13,591,345 are being obligated at the time of modification to exercise the first option period. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Cryptologic and Cyber Systems Division, Joint-Base San Antonio-Lackland, San Antonio, Texas, is the contracting activity (FA8732-14-D-0015, task order FA8307-19-F-0098). Starwin Industries LLC, Dayton, Ohio, has been awarded a $9,554,000 firm-fixed price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for F-16 Bugeye radomes. This contract provides for the supply of both left and right Bugeye radomes for the F-16 aircraft. Work will be performed in Dayton, Ohio, and is expected to be complete by Jan. 28, 2026. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition, two solicitations mailed and two offers received. Fiscal 2019 research and development funds (not multiyear) in the amount of $35,872 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, F-16 Division, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8232-20-D-0006). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Lions Services Inc.,** Charlotte, North Carolina, has been awarded a maximum $10,468,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for advanced combat helmet chinstraps. This is a one-year base contract with two one-year options periods. Location of performance is North Carolina, with a Jan. 28, 2021, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE1C1-20-D-B082). * Small business ** Mandatory source https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2069174/source/GovDelivery/

  • General Dynamics Mission Systems Awarded $883 Million Contract to Modernize U.S. Army Training Programs

    12 février 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Terrestre

    General Dynamics Mission Systems Awarded $883 Million Contract to Modernize U.S. Army Training Programs

    Fairfax, Va., February 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - General Dynamics Mission Systems announced today it was awarded a contract for the Army Consolidated Product Line Management Plus (CPM Plus) Program from the Army Contracting Command in Orlando, Florida. CPM Plus is an eight year, single-award, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity, cost-plus fixed-fee/firm-fixed price contract with a ceiling of $883 million. Executing the contract will improve the Army's individual and collective expeditionary training systems at unit home stations and the major Combat Training Centers, including Military Operations on Urban Terrain training sites, live fire and digital ranges and additional training facilities located worldwide. "Modernizing the training experience is one of the Army's six modernization priorities," said Chris Brady, president of General Dynamics Mission Systems. "This award increases the viability, relevancy, and alignment of the Army's current live training systems while bridging to the future Synthetic Training Environment that will be delivered to soldiers worldwide." General Dynamics will focus primarily on the extensive Live Training Transformation (LT2) Product Line, the Common Training Instrumentation Architecture, and the Live Training Engagement Composition for the Project Manager for Soldier Training portfolio within the Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation. The operational focus will be implemented through an agile, capabilities-based organization to evolve the LT2 Family of Training Systems. The intent is to reduce total ownership cost and operational complexity, to increase technology agility and concurrency, and to enable enhanced Soldier training effectiveness. General Dynamics' expanded seamless Product Line Engineering approach will build upon the Project Manager for Soldier Training's investments to extend product line governance, processes and tools supporting new training domains such as Virtual Training Systems and the Synthetic Training Environment. CPM Plus is a follow-on contract to CPM Next, which was awarded to General Dynamics in 2015. General Dynamics Mission Systems is a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD). More information about General Dynamics Mission Systems is available at gdmissionsystems.com. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/general-dynamics-mission-systems-awarded-883-million-contract-to-modernize-us-army-training-programs-301003154.html SOURCE General Dynamics Mission Systems

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

    13 mars 2020 | International, Aérospatial

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

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

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