13 mai 2022 | International, Aérospatial

Space Force releases plan for testing satellites, ground systems

The Space Force signed off on the new test enterprise vision in March, which calls for an integrated test force and a more robust space test and training range infrastructure.

https://www.defensenews.com/battlefield-tech/space/2022/05/10/space-force-releases-plan-for-testing-satellites-ground-systems/

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  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - March 12, 2020

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

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - March 12, 2020

    NAVY Fluor Marine Propulsion LLC, Arlington, Virginia, is awarded a $1,775,605,000 cost-plus-fixed fee modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-18-C-2130 for naval nuclear propulsion work at the Naval Nuclear Laboratory. Work will be performed in Schenectady, New York (52%); Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (31%); Idaho Falls, Idaho (11%); and Charleston, South Carolina (6%). Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy); fiscal 2019 and 2020 research, development, test and evaluation; and fiscal 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $290,784,372, will be obligated at time of award. Funding in the amount of $207,961,972 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Alliant Techsystems Operations LLC, Northridge, California, is awarded a $164,954,564 modification (P00004) to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-19-C-0049). This modification exercises an option to procure Lot Nine, full rate production of Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missiles (AARGM). This modification includes the conversion of Advanced Guided Missle-88B High Speed Anti-Radiation Missiles into 253 AGM-88E AARGM all up rounds for the Navy, and two Captive Air Training Missiles for the government of Germany. Work will be performed in Northridge, California (80%); and Ridgecrest, California (20%), and is expected to be complete by March 2023. Fiscal 2020 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $159,104,175; fiscal 2019 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $4,599,179; and Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $1,251,210 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. Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., San Diego, California, is awarded an $86,225,713 modification (P00010) to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00019-19-C-1020). This modification exercises options to provide sustainment, engineering, logistics and test support for MQ-4C Triton aircraft mission control and operator training systems. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Maryland (45%); Jacksonville, Florida (25%); Andersen Air Force Base, Guam (20%); and Point Mugu, California (10%), and is expected to be complete by March 2021. In addition, this effort includes procurement of field service representative's technical support to ensure that the MQ-4C unmanned surveillance aircraft are mission-capable for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions supporting early operational capability. Fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $55,500,000; fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $5,813,000; and fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $200,000 will be obligated at time of award, $5,813,000 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Corp., Rotary and Mission Systems, Moorestown, New Jersey, is awarded a $65,008,190 cost-plus-incentive-fee and cost-only modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-19-C-5603 for Ship Self-Defense System combat system engineering support. Work will be performed in Moorestown, New Jersey, and is expected to be completed by June 2022. Fiscal 2020 and 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy); fiscal 2020 and 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy); fiscal 2020 and 2019 other procurement (Navy); and fiscal 2018, 2017 and 2016 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $4,707,191 will be obligated at time of award. Funds in the amount of $727,389 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. R. A. Burch Construction Co. Inc.,* Ramona, California, is awarded $56,433,432 for a firm-fixed-price task order (N62473-20-F-4334) under a multiple award construction contract for the design-build construction of an alert force complex at Travis Air Force Base. Work will be performed in Fairfield, California, and is expected to be completed by May 2022. The work provides design and construction of a new alert force complex, including an alert force and security facility, military strategic and tactical relay facilities and aircraft maintenance repair and storage facilities. The project will construct a low-rise alert force facility with reinforced concrete masonry unit with filled cells for exterior walls, some interior walls, plaster exterior finish, reinforced concrete floors and a sloped standing seam metal roofing system over a concrete roof structure. The project also includes demolishing existing facilities, utilities and site elements, concrete pavement, new overhead tail pipe vehicle exhaust system, new air compressors and additional asphalt drives. Fiscal 2020 military construction, (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $56,433,432 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Two proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N62473-18-D-5852). BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc., Nashua, New Hampshire, is awarded a $12,697,209 modification (P00004) to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-19-C-0052). This modification exercises an option to procure four OE-120B antenna groups, three retrofit kits and three delta installation and checkout kits for the Navy in support of the Air Traffic Control and Landing program office. Work will be performed in Nashua, New Hampshire, and is expected to be completed in May 2023. Additionally, this modification provides for the procurement of two OE-120B antenna groups for the government of Japan. Fiscal 2016 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,892,148; fiscal 2017 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $170,058; fiscal 2018 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $340,116; fiscal 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $5,676,444; fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $834,147; and Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $3,784,296 will be obligated at the time of award, $1,892,148 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. (Awarded March 9, 2020) Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Bethpage, New York, is awarded an $11,467,560 firm-fixed-price and fixed-price incentive (firm target) modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-17-C-6311) for Airborne Laser Mine Detection System/Airborne Mine Neutralization System kits, Common Support Container Kits, and 20ft Reduced Weight Basic Outfitting Assembly to support the Littoral Combat Ship Mission Modules Program. Work will be performed in Portsmouth, Virginia (67%); and Bethpage, New York (33%), and is expected to be complete by November 2022. Fiscal 2020, 2019 and 2018 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $11,467,560 will be obligated at time of award. Fiscal 2018 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $1,363,591 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. T.E. Davis Construction Co.,* Jacksonville, North Carolina, is awarded $9,715,000 for a firm-fixed-price task order (N40085-20-F-4764) under a multiple award construction contract for renovations to four buildings at Camp Johnson, a satellite camp of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, North Carolina, and is expected to be complete by August 2022. The work provides for complete renovation of four buildings, including site work, mechanical systems, plumbing, electrical, finishes, doors, windows, fire protection and incidental related work. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Marine Corps) contract funds in the amount of $9,715,000 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This task order received six proposals. Naval Facilities Engineering Command Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N40085-16-D-6305). Raytheon BBN Technologies Corp., Cambridge, Massachusetts, is awarded a $9,321,564 performance based, cost-plus-fixed-fee, completion contract (N65236-20-C-8009). This contract is for research logistics and supply chain automated reasoning and information fusion, real-time demand forecasting and system resilience assessment. Work will be performed in Cambridge, Massachusetts (67%); Menlo Park, California (13%); Minneapolis, Minnesota (12%); Potsdam, New York (4%); and Tucson, Arizona (4%). Work is expected to be complete by September 2021. The contract will provide a distributed system that learns the logistics enterprise, estimates its operational state and provides predictive analytics to answer key diagnostic and prognostic questions about logistics performance, resilience, flexibility and survivability under a range of what-if scenarios. The contract includes an 18 month base period. Contract funds in the amount of $455,000 will be obligated at the time of award. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The contract was competitively procured by full and open competition under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Strategic Technology Office broad agency announcement (HR0011-19-S-0053) via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with nine timely offers received. The Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic, Charleston, South Carolina, is the contracting activity. Siemens Industry Software Inc., Milford, Ohio, is awarded an $8,651,400 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide various commercially-available Situation, Task, Action, and Results – Computational Continuum Mechanics software and add-on Hierarchical Evolutionary Engineering Design System and Amesim packages in support of the Aeromechanics and Thermal Analysis branch at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD), China Lake, California. Work will be performed at the NAWCWD China Lake, California, and is expected to be completed in March 2025. Fiscal 2020 working capital (Navy) funds in the amount of $269,868 will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1). The NAWCWD China Lake, California, is the contracting activity (N68936-20-D-0008). (Awarded March 9, 2020) AECOM Management Services Inc., Germantown, Maryland, is awarded an $8,161,962 modification (P00004) to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost reimbursable contract (N00019-18-C-1038). This modification exercises options to provide intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support to the U.S. Central Command, the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, and the Commander Task Force 57 in forward deployed locations to support on-going overseas contingency operations. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Maryland, and is expected to be completed in March 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $8,161,962 will be obligated at the time of award, 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. The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is awarded an $8,006,737 modification (P00006) to a previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract (N00019-18-C-1057). This modification exercises an option to continue phase one design maturity, analysis and test planning for the Stand-off Land Attack Missile - Expanded Response (SLAM-ER) production line in support of the government of Saudi Arabia. Work will be performed in St. Charles, Missouri (61%); Indianapolis, Indiana (15%); Melbourne, Florida (9%); Walled Lake, Michigan (8%); Windsor Locks, Connecticut (3%); and various locations within the continental U.S. (4%), and is expected to be completed in March 2020. Additionally, this modification replaces obsolete, nearly obsolete, or uneconomical parts to support production and improve future sustainment as part of the SLAM-ER obsolescence redesign program. Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $8,006,737 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. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Alliant Enterprises LLC, doing business as Alliant Healthcare Products, Grand Rapids, Michigan, has been awarded a maximum $43,750,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for laboratory supplies and wares. This was a competitive acquisition with 15 responses received. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Michigan, with a March 11, 2025, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2025 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2DE-20-D-0007). Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has been awarded a minimum $40,725,593 modification (P00001) to a four-year base contract (SPRTA1-19-D-0001) with one five-year option period adding pricing for the manufacture of B-2 aircraft liner production units. This is a firm-fixed price, indefinite-quantity contract. Locations of performance are Oklahoma, Utah and California, with a Sept. 1, 2023, performance completion date. Using military service is Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. Old North Utility Services Inc., San Dimas, California, has been awarded a maximum $29,083,224 modification (P00250) to a 50-year contract (SP0600-07-C-8258) with no option periods for the water/wastewater utility service charge. This is a fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract. Locations of performance are California and North Carolina, with a Feb. 28, 2058, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2058 Army operations and maintenance funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. C. E. Niehoff & Co., Evanston, Illinois, has been awarded a maximum $11,199,440 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity contract for engine regulators and generators. This is 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 base contract with two one-year option periods. Location of performance is Illinois, with a March 9, 2023, performance completion date. Using military services are Army and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2023 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Columbus, Ohio (SPE7LX-20-D-0084). American Autoclave Co., Jasper, Georgia, has been awarded a maximum $7,425,759 firm-fixed-price contract for gas autoclaves. This was a competitive acquisition with two responses received. This is a one-year, three-month contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Georgia, with a May 22, 2021, performance completion date. Using military service is Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 (non-expiring) defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Richmond, Virginia (SPE4A8-20-C-0001). DEFENSE THREAT REDUCTION AGENCY Booz Allen Hamilton, McLean, Virginia, is issued a contract modification (HDTRA1-16-C-0012-P00036) to exercise Option Period Four line items with a ceiling value of $37,892,180, with an effective date of May 27, 2020. This does not include the value of the unexercised options. This contract is for advisory and assistance services in support of the Program Integration Division of the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. Performance of this contract will take place at Lorton, Virginia; Fort Belvoir, Virginia; and at various locations throughout the world. The anticipated completion date of this option period is May 26, 2021. The contract was a competitive acquisition; the government received one offer. The Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, is the contracting activity. ARMY General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., Poway, California, was awarded a $14,916,728 modification (P00037) to contract W58RGZ-19-C-0027 for instructor operators for the Gray Eagle performance based logistics contract. Work will be performed in Poway, California, with an estimated completion date of April 23, 2024. Fiscal 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 operations and maintenance funds, Army in the amount of $14,916,728 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. BFBC, Bozeman, Montana, was awarded a $12,613,244 modification (P00009) to contract W912PL-19-C-0014 for wall structure on a 100 year flood event assumption for the Yuma 1 bollard wall alignment. Work will be performed in El Centro, California, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2020. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $12,613,244 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Albuquerque, New Mexico, is the contracting activity. (Awarded March 9, 2020) DEFENSE INFORMATION SYSTEMS AGENCY General Dynamics Information Technology, Fairfax, Virginia, was awarded a firm-fixed-price task order (HC1013-20-F-0073) to support the Air Force Air Defense Communication Services (ADCS). The face value of this action is $7,171,537, funded by fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds. The total cumulative value of the order is $14,486,526. This task order was awarded under the competitively awarded, single-award blanket purchase agreement (HC1013-15-A-0004) against General Services Administration's Information Technology Schedule 70 contract for ADCS. The place of performance is throughout the continental U.S., as well as Alaska, Hawaii and Guam. The period of performance for this action is April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021. There are two six-month option periods from April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022. The Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity. *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2110663/source/GovDelivery/

  • Is this the new wave of submerged communications?

    29 août 2018 | International, C4ISR

    Is this the new wave of submerged communications?

    By: Kelsey Atherton The ocean hides what it contains, and it is in that hiding that submarines have their power. Lurking under seas, at first with just enough capability for an attack run and now with the ability to lurk for months at a time, submarines remain power out of reach, unseen until engaged in combat or resupplying in a friendly port. That stealth comes at a cost, however, besides the simple perils of existing underwater. When submerged, submarines are more or less on their own until they resurface again, since radio waves do not travel well through seawater. Or they are for now. New research by MIT, presented at a conference in late August, devised a way for submerged submarines to communicate wirelessly with people on the surface by combining hydroacoustics and acoustic radars. Presently, submarines communicate either across normal radio frequencies when surfaced or through hydroacoustic signals and listening posts underwater that can transmit the messages back to counterparts on shore. Very and extremely low-frequency radio waves can be transmitted in a way that submarines can listen to below the surface, but it's a one-way form of communication, from stations on land to submarines. To get something responsive, with the flexibility to communicate away from static seabed hydrophones, needs something else. Specifically, it needs a way to combine hydroacoustic transmission from the submarine through water that can then be converted into a useful data. “We present a new communication technology, translational acoustic-RF communication (TARF),” write paper authors Francesco Tonolini and Fadel Adib of the MIT Media Lab. “TARF enables underwater nodes to directly communicate with airborne nodes by transmitting standard acoustic signals. TARF exploits the fact that underwater acoustic signals travel as pressure waves, and that these waves cause displacements of the water surface when they impinge on the water-air boundary. To decode the transmitted signals, TARF leverages an airborne radar which measures and decodes these surface displacements.” In testing, they demonstrated that the communication technique can transfer data at standard underwater bitrates up to 400bps, and even do so with surface waves 6.3 inches crest-to-crest, or 100,000 times larger than the surface perturbations made by the acoustic transmitter. Right now, this communication is one-way. While the signal transmitted up from the water produces useful information at the boundary with the air, a signal transmitted through the air downwards would disintegrate on integration with water. This one-way is distinct from previous forms of communication with submarines, however, as it lets the submarine talk without revealing its position to surface sensors. Despite the limitations, and the earlierness of the research, Tonolini and Adlib see a bright future for the technology, as a way to enable a host of new technology in machines. The technology, they write, can enable “many applications including submarine-to-drone communication, deep-sea exploration, and subsea IoT (Internet of Things). https://www.c4isrnet.com/c2-comms/2018/08/28/mit-discovers-way-for-submarines-to-talk-to-drones

  • UAE launches ‘Edge’ conglomerate to address its ‘antiquated military industry’

    7 novembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

    UAE launches ‘Edge’ conglomerate to address its ‘antiquated military industry’

    By: Agnes Helou ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — The United Arab Emirates has launched a government-owned company meant to position the country as a global player in advanced technology that can address the threat of hybrid warfare and streamline the local defense industry. The crown prince of Abu Dhabi and the deputy supreme commander of the UAE Armed Forces, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, led the inauguration ceremony of the new entity, known as Edge. “The solution to address hybrid warfare lies at the convergence of innovations from the commercial world and the military industry. Established with a core mandate to disrupt an antiquated military industry generally stifled by red tape, Edge is set to bring products to market faster and at more cost-effective price points,” said Faisal Al Bannai, CEO and managing director of Edge. With a combined annual revenue of $5 billion, Edge employs more than 12,000 individuals, and it will consolidate a number of companies and other entities totaling 25 subsidiaries. Those subsidiaries include Nimr, AMMROC, Abu Dhabi Ship Building, Al Tariq, Caracal, Emirates Advanced Research and Technology Holding, ADASI, Al Hosn, Al Jasoor, Al Taif, APT, Beacon RED, EPI, ERS, ETS, GAL, Halcon, Horizon, Jaheziya, Knowledge Point, Lahab, Remaya, and Sign4l. Edge will also adsorb Emirates Defence Industries Company, Tawazun Holding as well as Advanced Investments Group. “The conglomerate will manage effectively the five clusters it has, through the chief executive of each entity who will report to the chief executive of the cluster within the conglomerate,” Al Bannai told Defense News. Those five focus areas are platforms and systems; missiles and weapons; cyber defense; electronic warfare and intelligence; and mission support. The executive said ongoing contracts signed by the subsidiaries before Edge's creation will continue as usual. "With respect to new contracts, they will be signed by Edge if they are strategic deals, and others will be signed by the subsidiary entity depending on the type of the contract,” he added. “EDGE will invest extensively across [research and development], working closely with front-line operators to design and deploy practical solutions that address real-world challenges.” Lockheed Martin's Middle East chief executive, Robert Harward, praised the creation of Edge as “a great opportunity for Lockheed Martin and other partners to engage with the UAE in a new and innovative way.” “Today's announcement is indicative of the UAE's growing defense and technology ecosystem,” Harward said. "We look forward to working with Edge and helping them expand their capabilities through effective partnerships.” The conglomerate will develop partnerships with original equipment manufacturers and defense contractors, small and medium enterprises, and academia, according to an Edge news release. The company also said it will seek industry experts and talent from around the globe to help on a wide spectrum of modern product development related to its five clusters. The company also plans to develop technologies that advance autonomous capabilities, IT hardware, the internet of things, advanced propulsion systems, robotics and smart materials, with a focus on artificial intelligence across all its products and services. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/dubai-air-show/2019/11/06/uae-launches-edge-conglomerate-to-address-its-antiquated-military-industry/

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