21 septembre 2022 | International, Naval
Just 36% of ship availabilities will finish on time this year despite a pair of initiatives meant to boost performance at shipyards.
27 septembre 2021 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR
The $740 billion defense authorization bill draft now awaits compromise work with the Senate, with a goal of final passage later this year.
10 mars 2020 | International, Naval
By: David B. Larter WASHINGTON — In a move with sweeping consequences for the U.S. Navy's battle force, the service is canceling plans to add 10 years to the expected service lives of its stalwart destroyer fleet, a cost-savings measure that would almost certainly hamper plans to grow the size of the fleet. In written testimony submitted to the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Navy's Assistant Secretary for Research, Development and Acquisition James Geurts said performing service life extensions on Burkes designed to bring them up from 35-year hull lives to 45 years was not cost-effective. “Service life extensions can be targeted, physical changes to specific hulls to gain a few more years, or a class-wide extension based on engineering analysis,” the testimony read. “The Navy has evaluated the most effective balance between costs and capability to be removing the service life extension on the DDG 51 class.” The Navy's destroyers are the workhorses of the fleet, with sailors spending an average of one in every four days underway, the highest rate in the fleet, according a recent report from Defense News' sister publication Navy Times. The decision to ax the service life extensions for the Arleigh Burke class comes after years of assurances from Navy leaders that the destroyers would be modernized with an eye to growing the fleet over the coming decades. Navy leaders have offered assurances that the fiscal 2021 budget continues to grow the fleet despite its significant cuts to shipbuilding and existing force structure, but it is unclear how the fleet will continue to grow past the next five years if service life extensions on the earliest Burkes don't go forward right away. It would also seem to have significant impact on the current push from acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly to grow the fleet to 355 ships in a decade. In its FY20 30-year shipbuilding plan, the Navy said extending the lives of the Arleigh Burkes was an imperative to growing the fleet to a battle force of 355 ships. Instead, the cancellation of the service life extensions means that between 2026 and 2034, the Navy is slated to lose 27 destroyers from its battle force. Those losses would compound the impact of cutting 10 ships from the five-year projections in the FY21 budget, including five of the 12 proposed Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyers from the FY20 budget and a Virginia-class attack submarine. The Defense Department has yet to submit its FY21 30-year shipbuilding plan, which means that it's impossible to tell how the Navy thinks these cuts would affect its total ship count in the years when it would lose Burkes at a rate of more than three per year. But the Burke retirements would begin in 2026 or 2027, years just after the service completed shedding 13 cruisers from its fleet, leaving just nine of the Navy's largest combatants in the fleet. In a statement, Capt. Danny Hernandez, spokesman for Geurts, said there are a lot of variables in getting the fleet to its goal of 355 ships, but that the Navy's top priority is keeping the recapitalization of its retiring Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines on track. “Like Navy leaders have stated during testimony, the tradeoffs were complex to get the right balance,” Hernandez said. Service lives According to a Naval Sea Systems Command document obtained by Defense News in 2018, the earliest Arleigh Burke destroyers — 27 so-called Flight I and early Flight II destroyers — have an expected hull life of 35 years. The lead ship, the Arleigh Burke, was commissioned in 1991, meaning its hull life is up in 2026. DDG-51 through DDG-78 — the Flight I destroyers — were commissioned between 1991 and 1999. Later models — Flight IIA — have 40-year hull lives. In 2018, then-Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Warfare Systems Vice Adm. Bill Merz told USNI News that there were distinct advantages to upgrading the entire class, and that instead of just a combat systems modernization aimed at boosting ballistic missile defense systems, the ships would get the full hull and mechanical upgrades that would extend the ships out to 45-year service lives. “This is an HM&E [hull, mechanical and electrical] extension, but every destroyer is already in the modernization pipeline, so every destroyer will be modernized,” Merz said. “The modernization they receive that's already programmed may carry them through. “Obviously the threat's going to get a vote on that, but one of the beauties is instead of doing an individual ship-by-ship extension and extending the entire class, now we have the visibility to actually plan for that. We can pace it, plan it, fund it efficiently instead of one-and-done, one-and-done, one-and-done. We can be a lot more deliberate about how we handle this class.” In testimony that year, Merz said ballistic missile defense was the biggest requirement driving the retention of the DDGs to 45 years. Compounded with cuts to the Flight III destroyers, it seems likely that the Navy by 2034 will have a significantly reduced ballistic missile defense capability with at least 32 fewer ballistic missile defense-capable destroyers in the fleet, if this budget is enacted. When asked during its FY21 budget rollout if cutting five Flight III DDGs corresponds to a reduction in demand for ballistic missile defense-capable ships, Navy budget director Rear Adm. Randy Crites told reporters it was a decision based “strictly [on] affordability.” The Navy has in recent years declared the Arleigh Burke hull design maxed out, with the Flight III being packed to the gunwales with power and cooling to support the inclusion of Raytheon's SPY-6 air and missile defense radar. Future combatants will have to accommodate more power generations and storage to support systems such as laser weapons and rail guns. The excess electrical power capacity in the Ford-class aircraft carrier, for example, is one of the main reasons the Navy considers the new class valuable even as aircraft carriers become more vulnerable to high-speed, anti-ship missiles. Bryan Clark, a retired submarine officer and senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, said the cuts were a necessary step. Clark recently authored a study with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments that called for canceling the DDG service life extensions. “It's crazy to throw good money after bad for a bunch of ships you say you don't need,” Clark said. “I think the Navy is coming to grips with the fiscal realities; the unsustainable nature of their current plan; and the recognition it is going to have a need for fewer large surface combatants in the future and needs to husband its resources to build a larger fleet of smaller surface combatants. Those are going to be the bulk of the distributed force they intend to have.” https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2020/03/07/destroyers-left-behind-us-navy-cancels-plans-to-extend-service-lives-of-its-workhorse-ddgs/
11 novembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
AIR FORCE The Boeing Co., Defense, Space & Security, St. Louis, Missouri, has been awarded a $9,800,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for F-15 support for Saudi Arabia. This contract provides for modernization and sustainment of the F-15 Saudi fleet to include such efforts as hardware, software, and interface design, development, integration, test, subsystem and structural component production and installation of future modifications and enhancements to the F-15 Saudi weapon system as well as product support. Work will be performed in St. Louis and as separately specified in individual task and delivery orders and is expected to be completed by November 2025. The ordering period for this contract is five years from the date of contract award plus an option for an additional five year ordering period. This contract involves Foreign Military Sales (FMS) to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Initial delivery order FA8634-21-F-0015 will be awarded concurrently in the amount of $1,032,649 using FMS modification and development type 4F funds. The F‐15 Division Contracts Branch, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8634‐21‐D‐2703). The 3M Co., St. Paul, Minnesota, has been awarded a $37,460,947 firm-fixed-price modification (P00003) to contract FA8638-20-C-0046 for the production capacity expansion for N95 respirators undefinitized contract action (UCA). This modification definitizes the UCA. Work will be performed in Aberdeen, South Dakota, and is expected to be completed April 30, 2021. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2020 other procurement funds in the full amount are being obligated at the time of award. This modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $125,460,947. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia, has been awarded a $10,319,026 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for Pulsed and Continuous Wave Innovation for Integration and Effects Research (PACIFIER). This contract provides for enhanced experimental and predicative capabilities to address existing and emerging laser systems and to quantify the effects of high power continuous-wave lasers interacting with a variety of materials and targets. Work will be performed at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, and is expected to be completed Sept. 30, 2025. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and three offers were received. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,800,233 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Research Laboratory, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, is the contracting activity (FA9451-20-C-0026). (Awarded Sept. 29, 2020) KIDDE Technologies Inc., Wilson, North Carolina, has been awarded a $7,800,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the manufacture of fire cartridge extinguishers. This contract provides for supply of fire cartridge extinguishers for F-35, E-8, E-3, and KC-10 aircraft. Work will be performed in Wilson, North Carolina, and is expected to be completed Dec. 31, 2026. This contract involves sales to Joint Partner Nations and Foreign Military Sales countries and is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2021 Joint Strike Fighter funds in the amount of $97,986 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8213-21-D-0001). NAVY RAMSys GmbH, Ottobrunn, Germany, was awarded a €35,324,329 and $35,634,345 firm-fixed-price modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-18-C-5403) for fiscal 2021 German Navy requirements for Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) MK 49 Guided Missile Launching Systems (GMLS), and associated shipboard hardware and spares. The RAM Guided Missile Weapon System is co-developed and co-produced under an International Cooperative Program between the U.S. and Federal Republic of Germany's governments. RAM is a missile system designed to provide anti-ship missile defense for multiple ship platforms. This contract is to procure material, fabricate parts, assemble, test, and deliver RAM MK 49 GMLSs and spares. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona (33%); Ulm, Germany (26%); Roethenbach, Germany (16%); Louisville, Kentucky (12%); Ottobrunn, Germany (10%); and Schrobenhausen, Germany (3%), and is expected to be completed by June 2028. German cooperative funds in the amount of €35,324,329 and $35,634,345 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured under the exception 10 U.S. Code 2304(c) (4), International Agreement. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Awarded Nov. 5, 2020) KBR Diego Garcia LLC, Houston, Texas, is awarded a $61,307,522 modification for the exercise of Option Three under an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for base operating support services at U.S. Navy Support Facility, Diego Garcia. After award of this option, the total cumulative contract value will be $240,038,950. The work to be performed provides for general management and administration services; command and staff (information technology services, information technology support and management, telephone services, telecommunication services, antenna maintenance); public safety (fire protection and emergency services); air operations (ground electronics, airfield facilities, and passenger terminal and cargo handling); port operations; supply (supply services and petroleum, oil and lubricant management and operations, and ship's store service activities); morale, welfare and recreation support; galley; bachelor quarters; facilities support (facility management, facility investment sustainment, restoration and modernization, custodial, pest control, integrated solid waste management, grounds maintenance, and pavement clearance); utilities (electrical, compressed gases, wastewater, steam, hot water and demineralized water and potable water); base support vehicles and equipment; and environmental to provide integrated base operating services. Work will be performed in Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory, and is expected to be completed by November 2021. No funds will be obligated at time of award. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy and Air Force); and fiscal 2021 non-appropriated funds in the amount of $42,801,266 for recurring work will be obligated on individual task orders issued during the option period, of which $42,801,266 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Far East, Yokosuka, Japan, is the contracting activity (N62742-17-D-3600). Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Linthicum, Maryland, is awarded a $33,921,325 cost-plus-fixed-fee job order with a two-year period of performance, to procure supplies, services, and repairs for the AN/ALQ-218 and AN/ALQ-240 systems and their variants. Work will be performed at the Baltimore, Maryland facility and will be completed by November 2022. Contract funds in the amount of $40,000 will be obligated at the time of contract award. Obligated funding is fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement, Navy. In accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1), this contract was not competitively procured; only one responsible source and no other sources will satisfy agency requirements. The contracting agency is Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, Crane, Indiana (N0016421GWS42). Hornbeck Offshore Operators LLC, Covington, Louisiana, is awarded a $9,176,100 firm-fixed-price contract for the Undersea Rescue Command support vessel HOS Dominator in the Eastern Pacific vicinity of San Diego, but may be employed worldwide. This vessel shall function as offshore support vessel primarily for the U.S. West Coast. The vessel's primary mission shall be to support Navy submarine rescue utilizing the Navy Submarine Rescue Chamber Flyaway System, Assessment Underwater Work System, and the Navy Submarine Rescue Diving and Recompression System, including training. The vessel may also serve as escort for submarine sea trials, as well as a diving platform utilizing existing and developing portable diving systems, and other missions as required by the Navy and permitted by the vessel's certifications and classifications. The contract also contains four unexercised options which, if exercised, would increase cumulative contract value to $44,245,122. Work is expected to be completed by November 2025. Fiscal 2021 working capital funds (Navy) in the amount of $6,787,800 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the beta.SAM.gov website, with four proposals received. The Navy's Military Sealift Command Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N32205-21-C-4115). ARMY Turner Construction Co., New York, New York, was awarded a $34,050,240 firm-fixed-price contract for construction of a new aircraft hangar facility at Redstone Arsenal. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2022. Fiscal 2020 military construction, Army funds in the amount of $34,050,240 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W91278-21-C-0006). *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/article/2411921/source/govdelivery/