4 décembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial, C4ISR

The US Air Force wants to network all its weapons together. Will simulators be included?

By: Valerie Insinna

ORLANDO, Fla. — As the U.S. military prepares for the release of its fiscal 2021 budget request, Air Force leaders have made clear that a massive financial hike is needed for multidomain command-and-control efforts to connect weapon systems across the joint force.

As part of that initiative, it will also be critical for the military to link together simulators so service members can replicate combat on a massive scale, Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Stephen Wilson said during a speech Tuesday at the Interservice/Industry, Training, Simulation and Education Conference.

“I know you spent a lot of time yesterday about how to connect and integrate simulators from across our various weapons systems. I can't overstate how important that is,” he said. “Individual weapon system simulators can help our men and women become proficient tacticians, but it's their ability to integrate and connect that will differentiate us against a peer threat. And no one is going to win alone."

Wilson said the Air Force plans to spend “a lot of money in this next five-year defense plan” on multidomain command and control, but he did not detail how much funding the service might ask for, or whether that sum will include investments in technology to network together simulators.

The service is still in the earliest stages of identifying how to connect its aircraft and space assets with the joint force to fight advanced, near-peer threats like Russia and China. The same goes for its aircraft simulators, which are largely detached from each other.

An Air Force program called Simulator Common Architecture Requirements and Standards, or SCARS, will start to transform the simulation enterprise and make it more interconnected, said Col. Phillip Carpenter, the Air Force's senior materiel leader for the simulators program office.

“It's an effort to make the entire portfolio more modular, more open-system,” he told Defense News in an exclusive interview. “I'm not going to say [SCARS] is the solution to all of our problems,” but it will “help lay that groundwork so that we become much more interoperable across the board.”

Under SCARS, the Air Force wants to create a common, open architecture for its simulators that will impose stricter cybersecurity standards and make it easier for the service to update simulators with new capabilities or threat information. The goal, Carpenter said, is to have a fleet of simulators that can remotely receive software updates, much like a smartphone.

The Air Force released a SCARS request for proposals in December 2018 for a 10-year contract worth up to $900 million, according to Bloomberg. The service intends to award a contract for SCARS in 2020 and has received a lot of interest from industry, Carpenter said.

Carpenter was clear that SCARS — at least how it is currently conceived — will not enable the Air Force to carry out the type of scenarios Wilson spoke about: large-scale, simulated air operations involving simulators of many different airframes. To achieve that, “we need to work on some of the security pieces so that we can allow multilevel security or some of these other aspects that would allow totality of these systems to participate and fight like they would actually fight in a real world,” Carpenter explained.

But Carpenter believes there is potential for other parts of the Air Force — like its space, cyber and intelligence community — or even the other services to adopt SCARS or an architecture that is compatible with it.

“I think there is great potential for SCARS to be more than something for just aircraft simulators,” he said. “If somebody is off building a system outside of our portfolio, if it's built to a common standard, I think that would effectively make all the systems, whether they're in our portfolio or not, more interoperable.”

https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/itsec/2019/12/03/the-us-air-force-wants-to-network-all-its-weapons-together-will-simulators-be-included

Sur le même sujet

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

Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - December 14, 2020
AIR FORCE Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Clearfield, Utah, has been awarded a $185,700,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the A-10 Aircraft Structural Integrity Program (ASIP) Legacy VII. This contract provides for sustaining engineering services of A-10 aircraft. Work will be performed in Clearfield, Utah, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 13, 2030. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $6,480,694 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8202-21-D-0001). Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Linthicum Heights, Maryland, has been awarded a $163,650,543 requirements contract for the supply chain management of the APY-1/2 surveillance radar systems used on Airborne Warning and Control Systems aircraft. The contract provides for repairs, sustaining spares and engineering services relating to the APY-1/2 systems. Work will be performed in Linthicum Heights, Maryland, and is expected to be completed Sept. 9, 2028. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2021 defense working capital funds are being used and no funds are being obligated at the time of the award. The Air Force Sustainment Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity (FA8524-21-D-0006). The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, has been awarded a $79,569,583 firm-fixed-price contract for F-15 Eagle Passive Active Warning and Survivability System low rate initial production. Work will be performed in San Antonio, Texas, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2026. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2020 production funds in the full amount are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8634-21-C-2702). Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., McLean, Virginia, has been awarded a $13,464,704 requirements contract for the repairs, sustaining spares and engineering services relating to the Aircraft Alerting Communication Electromagnetic Pulse system. Work will be performed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is expected to be completed by Sept. 9, 2028. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2021 defense working capital funds will be used with no funds being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Sustainment Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity (FA8524-21-D-0001). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Science Applications International Corp., Fairfield, New Jersey, has been awarded a maximum $90,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for facilities maintenance, repair and operations items. 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 one-year bridge contract with no option periods. Locations of performance are New Jersey, Hawaii, Guam and the Kwajalein Atoll, with a Dec. 14, 2021, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2022 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE8E3-21-D-0004). NAVY Raytheon Missiles and Defense, Tewksbury, Massachusetts, was awarded a $59,414,933 firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee, and cost modification to previously awarded contract N00024-17-C-5145 to exercise options for DDG 1000 ship class integrated logistics support, engineering services and procurement of M5 call servers. The total ship activation (TSA) contract includes mission system activation and hull mechanical and electrical activation efforts to include waterfront integration, activation and test of Zumwalt class mission systems and mission system equipment at the system and subsystem levels; development and conduct of the Zumwalt class TSA test program; personnel, program management, planning, training and other efforts required to effectively support the execution of the Zumwalt class TSA; development and review of design drawings, technical data packages, installation control drawings and change documentation in support of Zumwalt class TSA; and development and implementation of government-approved proposed changes and the implementation of Zumwalt class cybersecurity/information assurance requirements. Work will be performed in San Diego, California (42%); Portsmouth, Rhode Island (27%); Tewksbury, Massachusetts (22%); Bath, Maine (7%); Ft. Wayne, Indiana (1%); and Marlboro, Massachusetts (1%), and is expected to be completed by December 2021. Fiscal 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); fiscal 2021 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy); and fiscal 2021 other procurement (Navy), funding in the amount of 5,489,262 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was procured under the statutory authority of 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1); only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Awarded Dec. 11, 2020) BAE Systems, Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc., Greenlawn, New York, is awarded an $18,003,287 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract provides for the production, test and delivery of up to five Mode 5 capable AN/APX-117A(V) systems; one Mode 5 capable AN/APX-118A(V) system; 308 Mode 5 capable AN/APX-123A(V) common identification friend or foe digital transponder systems; 289 Mode 5 kits; and associated shop replaceable assemblies and repairs incident to modification in support of fixed and rotary winged aircraft for the Navy, Army and non-Department of Defense participants. Work will be performed in Greenlawn, New York (85%); and Austin, Texas (15%), and is expected to be completed in December 2026. No funds will be obligated at time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00019-21-D-0008). Raytheon Missiles and Defense, Tucson, Arizona, is awarded a $17,765,396 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract N00024-16-C-5433 to exercise options in support Evolved SeaSparrow missile design agent, in-service support and technical engineering support services. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona (91%); Hengelo Ov, Netherlands (2%); Raufoss, Norway (2%); Ottobrunn, Germany (1%); Richmond, Australia (1%); and various locations with less than 1% each (3%), and is expected to be completed by June 2021. This contract combines purchases for the U.S. government and other country funds (NATO consortium members, non-Foreign Military Sales (FMS) (99%); and the government of Japan (1%) under the FMS program. Fiscal 2021 other country funds in the amount of $9,772,474 (55%); 2021 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $5,127,125 (29%); 2020 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,354,250 (13%); 2021 research, development, testing and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $399,547 (2%); and FMS (Japan) funds in the amount of $112,000 (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, D.C., is the contracting activity. GBD JV,* Aberdeen, Maryland, is being awarded a $13,000,000 firm-fixed-price modification to increase the maximum dollar value of an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for new paving, paving repair and/or replacement of various types of paving within Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Washington area of responsibility (AOR). The work to be performed provides for new paving, paving repair and/or replacement of various types of paving such as roadways, airfields, sidewalks, curbs, gutters, etc. Other incidental types of work, including but not limited to, demolition, site preparations and site drainage are also included in the scope of work. Paving and associated work may be ordered for industrial, commercial and residential locations indicated with each task order. After award of this modification, the total cumulative contract value will be $63,000,000. Work will be performed in the NAVFAC Washington AOR, including but not limited to, Maryland (40%); Virginia (40%); and Washington, D.C. (20%). The term of the contract is not to exceed 48 months with an expected completion date of April 2021. No funds will be obligated at time of award and funds will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued. Future task orders will be primarily funded by military construction (Navy); operation and maintenance (O&M) (Navy); O&M (Marine Corps); and Navy working capital funds. NAVFAC Washington, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N40080-17-D-0033). Forward Slope Inc., San Diego, California, is being awarded an $11,323,595 modification P00008 to previously awarded requirements-type contract N66001-18-D-0117 to provide command, control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) planning and design services in support of shore installation projects. This one-year modification increases the overall value of the existing contract to $34,867,630. The period of performance is from Jan. 11, 2021, through Jan. 10, 2022. Work will be performed at the contractor's facilities in San Diego, California (50%); and Hawaii (50%). Contract funds will not expire at the end of the fiscal year. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds will be obligated as individual task orders are issued. This contract was originally competitively procured via request for proposal N66001-17-R-0002 published on the beta.SAM.gov website. Eight offers were received and one was selected for award. The Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N66001-18-D-0117). ARMY InSap Services Inc., Marlton, New Jersey, was awarded a $24,507,978 modification (BA0250) to contract W91QUZ-11-D-0017 for enterprise application services support to the Army's Logistics Modernization Program. Work will be performed in Marlton, New Jersey, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 14, 2020. Fiscal 2020 civil consolidated working funds in the amount of $10,394,401 were obligated at the time of the award. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity. Oakland Consulting Group, Lanham, Maryland, was awarded a $12,407,852 modification (BA0236) to contract W91QUZ-11-D-0018 for enterprise application services support to the Army's Logistics Modernization Program. Work will be performed in Lanham, Maryland, with an estimated completion date of March 31, 2021. Fiscal 2020 civil consolidated working funds in the amount of $4,359,142 were obligated at the time of the award. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity. Avion Solutions Inc., Huntsville, Alabama, was awarded an $8,820,564 modification (000337) to contract W31P4Q-18-A-0047 for logistics support for the Unmanned Aircraft Systems project manager's office. Work will be performed in Huntsville, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 31, 2021. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $8,820,564 were obligated at the time of the award. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2446305/source/GovDelivery/
23 août 2018 | International, C4ISR

Here’s how one Army leader sees the future of war
By: Mark Pomerleau The Army of the future will be leaner and that means junior officers will have more responsibility and more capability in their hands, a top Army general said Aug. 21. Lt. Gen. Theodore Martin, deputy commanding general of Training and Doctrine Command, said in future wars a platoon or company may be the unit that takes action. Martin, speaking at the TechNet Augusta conference, said that units have become smaller since World War I. Then, the U.S. military fought with huge field armies. World War II was fought with armies and corps, the Korean and Vietnam Wars were fought primarily with divisions, and the modern counterinsurgency wars have been fought with brigades, Martin said. With a potentially smaller, and leaner, structure, the junior officers that will command these units will have have capability within their power. “The type of assets that now reside at the brigade level, my grandfather ... if he were alive today [he] would be totally flabbergasted by what a colonel can bring to bear on the battlefield under his or her own authorities,” Martin said. Brigades today are led by colonels. In the future, Martin envision a lieutenant who will have grown up in a multidomain world with an education in the Army that is much different than that of today, and which prepared him or her for the future fight. Army leaders will expect that a platoon will take advantage of electronic warfare, cyber and information operations. This could mean the platoon will throw an electronic warfare grenade that will blind enemy mission command systems, jam radios and block similar attacks to keep friendly radios online. Then, as the platoon gets closer to its objective, perhaps they will send an email to the enemy commander saying something like their wife is cheating on them or their bank account has been emptied, as a way to create an additional distraction, Martin said. Martin acknowledged this vignette seems a little far-fetched, but in the multidomain battlefield “that's what we're going to be facing and it's a race to capability,” he said. https://www.c4isrnet.com/show-reporter/technet-augusta/2018/08/22/heres-how-one-army-leader-sees-the-future-of-war/
17 décembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - December 15, 2020
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Thomas Scientific LLC, Swedesboro, New Jersey, has been awarded a maximum $105,820,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for nasopharyngeal swabs. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(2), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 6.302-2. This is a four-month contract with a three-month option period. Location of performance is New Jersey, with an April 24, 2020, ordering period end date. Using customers are Veterans Administration, Indian Health Service, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Defense. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2DP-21-D-0004). Fidelis Sustainability Distribution LLC, Carson City, Nevada, has been awarded a maximum $45,000,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for various robotic surgery systems and associated hardware, software and consumable items. This was a competitive acquisition with 105 offers received. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Locations of performance are Nevada and Illinois, with a Dec. 14, 2025, ordering period end date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2026 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2D1-21-D-0002). Silver Oak Leaf Inc.,** Alpharetta, Georgia, has been awarded a maximum $13,534,957, firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for coats and trousers. This is a two-year base contract with one two-year option period. This was a competitive acquisition with two responses received. Locations of performance are Georgia and Puerto Rico, with a Dec. 14, 2022, ordering period end date. Using military services are Army and Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal year 2021 through 2023 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE1C1-21-D-1407). Innovative Federal Operations Group Inc., Carlsbad, California, has been awarded a maximum $7,557,359 firm-fixed price, definite-quantity contract for disposable protective coveralls. This was a competitive acquisition with seven responses received. Locations of performance are California and Turkey, with a Jan. 14, 2021, performance completion date. Using customer is Federal Emergency Management Agency. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE1C1-21-C-0003). AIR FORCE The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, has been awarded a $46,890,000 firm-fixed-price contract for the F-15 Qatar program. This contract provides for the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) requirement to procure Digital Electronic Warfare System spares for the Qatar Emiri Air Force. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri, and is expected to be completed Aug. 23, 2023. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. FMS funds in the amount of $22,976,100 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8634-18-C-2701). The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, has been awarded a $17,764,388 fixed-price-incentive-firm, cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P00009) to contract FA8634-18-C-2697 for infrared search and track to upgrade the current Air Force design equivalent of the Navy Block II configuration. This contract will retrofit the production ship sets by modifying the Block I Legion Pod with a replacement of the infrared receiver processor with the V3 infrared receiver and V3 processor from the Navy Block II and modified cabling harness within the pod structure. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri, and is expected to be completed October 2022. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2019 National Guard and Reserve equipment defense funds in the full amount are being obligated at the time of award. The F-15 Division Contracts Branch, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. NAVY Saxman One LLC, Manassas, Virginia, is awarded a $50,750,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the Navy Internship and Apprenticeship Programs. This contract provides for the promotion of student internship opportunities such as the Science and Engineering Internship Program (SEAP), the Naval Research Enterprise Internship Program (NREIP), Naval Horizons and other short-term internship programs. The work to be performed includes web site development, provide customer service, increase program awareness, develop virtual training opportunities, provide intern notification, make payment of intern stipends, work with Naval Commands to obtain the proper security paperwork for the intern(s), coordinate internship agreements and provide reports to the Office of Naval Research. Work will be performed in Manassas, Virginia, and is estimated to be completed by Dec. 15, 2025. The total cumulative value of this contract is $50,750,000. Fiscal 2021 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $125,000 are being obligated on a task order on a cost-plus-fixed-fee basis at the time of award. These funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was solicited on a sole-source basis using an Alaska Native Corporation in accordance with 13 Code of Federal Regulations 124.506(b). The Office of Naval Research, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N00014-21-D-4002). CSRA LLC, a General Dynamics Information Technology Co., Falls Church, Virginia, is awarded a $28,092,546 modification to previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract N00039-17-D-0002 to extend network and information technology services being provided under the Outside Continental U.S. Navy Enterprise Network (ONE-Net) contract. The services provided under ONE-Net include service desk support, networks and systems operations support, field services support, information assurance services support, network technical support, business management office support, Tier II/III support, Tier IV support and host based security system support. Work will be performed in various locations outside the U.S. based on the requirement for each task order placed. Work is expected to be completed by September 2021. The total cumulative value of this contract is an estimated $171,828,967. No contract funds will be obligated on the base contract at the time of award. Contract funds will be obligated on individual task orders and will at the end of the fiscal year. This modification extends the period of performance of the contract by adding Option Period Five (Dec. 28, 2020, to June 27, 2021) with a ceiling of $17,717,296; and Option Period Six (June 28, 2021, to Sept. 30, 2021) with a ceiling of $10,375,250, which are both exercised with award of this modification. The contract type of the modification is an IDIQ hybrid contract with firm-fixed-price and cost only contract line item numbers. This contract includes options, which are being exercised at the time of award of this modification. This contract was not competitively procured because it is a sole-source acquisition pursuant to the authority of 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. Bell Textron Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded a $22,791,652 cost-plus-fixed-fee order (N00019-21-F-0228) against previously issued basic ordering agreement N00019-16-G-0012. This order provides engineering and logistics support, procures four resident integrated logistics support detachment computer seats, trailer lease site for flight test engineers, support equipment workaround material and aircraft wiring integration remote terminal and flight control computer test station material in support of Marine Corps (USMC) AH-1Z; the governments of Bahrain and the Czech Republic UH-1Y and AH-1Z production aircraft; and USMC UH-1Y and AH-1Z aircraft modifications and sustainment. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (70%); and Patuxent River, Maryland (30%), and is expected to be completed in February 2022. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $957,796; fiscal 2021 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $703,526; fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $14,842,613; and Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $2,645,319 will be obligated at time of award, $15,800,409 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., Huntington Beach, California, is awarded a $8,000,000 fixed-price incentive (firm target) undefinitized contract modification to previously awarded contract N00024-17-C-6307 for extra-large unmanned undersea vehicle maintenance analyses and logistics products. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia (52%); and Huntington Beach, California (48%), and is expected to be completed by December 2022. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test, and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $4,000,000 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. *Small business **Service-disabled veteran-owned small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2447883/source/GovDelivery/

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