Turkey sought Eurofighters after uncertainty over U.S. F-16 buy -source | Reuters

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

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - November 15, 2019

  AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Corp., Littleton, Colorado, has been awarded a ceiling amount of $3,329,600,000 single award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for combined orbital operations, logistics and resiliency support services. This contract provides for operations, sustainment and enhancement activities to support the Advanced Extremely High Frequency, Milstar and Defense Satellite Communications System III programs. Work will be performed at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado; Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado; and Sunnyvale, California, and is expected to be completed by Nov. 30, 2029. This award is the result of a sole source acquisition. No funds will be obligated on the basic contract and the type of funding will be obligated on subsequent task and delivery orders. The Space and Missile System Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, is the contracting activity (FA8823-20-D-0001). Raytheon Co., Largo, Florida, has been awarded an $86,756,767 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the Presidential and National Voice Conferencing (PNVC) Integrator contract. The PNVC capability is a new requirement for use by the president of the United States (POTUS), secretary of defense, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, combatant commanders and other senior leaders. The POTUS and national leadership require worldwide, secure, survivable voice conferencing capability that supersedes and improves upon the existing Milstar Survivable Emergency Conferencing Network system. The PNVC capability will incorporate improved voice quality, reduced latency, high availability, increased number of subscribers and a new conference management capability for the user community. Work will be performed at Marlborough, Massachusetts, and is expected to be completed by September 2024. This award is the result of a sole source acquisition. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $2,000,000 are being obligated at the time of the award. The Family of Advanced Beyond Line-of-Sight Terminals Contracting office, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity (FA8735-20-C-0001). Bismark Construction Corp., Newark, New Jersey, has been awarded a $17,108,605 modification (P00009) to previously awarded contract FA4484-16-D-0003 for maintenance and repair services requirement contract. This modification provides for the exercise of Option Four for the period of performance Nov. 16, 2019, through Nov. 15, 2020. Work will be performed at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, and is expected to be complete by Nov. 15, 2020. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $85,540,325.00. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds will be used and no funds are being obligated at the time of award. The 87th Contracting Squadron, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity. AT2 LLC, Severn, Maryland, has been awarded a $14,495,776 modification (P00010) to previously awarded contract FA4890-18-C-0008 for Air Combat Command and Air Force Global Strike Command Primary Training Ranges operations and maintenance support services. This contract provides for operating materials and supplies of range threat, scoring and feedback systems. Work will be performed at Dare County Range, North Carolina; Poinsett Range, South Carolina; Grand Bay Range, Georgia; Avon Park Range, Georgia; Snyder Range, Texas; Belle Fourche Range, South Dakota; Holloman Ranges, New Mexico; Mountain Home Ranges, Idaho; and Guam Range, Guam. Work is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2022. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $13,871,092 are being obligated at the time of award. Headquarters Air Combat Command, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, is the contracting activity. NAVY Bechtel Plant Machinery Inc., Monroeville, Pennsylvania, is awarded a $913,536,186 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-19-C-2114 for Naval Nuclear Propulsion Components. Work will be performed in Monroeville, Pennsylvania (69%); and Schenectady, New York (31%). Fiscal 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $584,866,256 will be obligated at time of award and funding will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. No completion date or additional information is provided on Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program contracts. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Bechtel Plant Machinery Inc., Monroeville, Pennsylvania, is awarded a $483,735,911 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-16-C-2106 for Naval Nuclear Propulsion Components. Work will be performed in Monroeville, Pennsylvania (66%); and Schenectady, New York (34%). Fiscal 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $483,735,911 will be obligated at time of award and funding will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. No completion date or additional information is provided on Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program contracts. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Raytheon Co., Integrated Defense Systems, San Diego, California, is awarded a $61,531,220 indefinite-quantity/indefinite-delivery contract for Global Positioning System-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Service (GPNTS) software support. GPNTS is used to receive, process and distribute three-dimensional position, velocity, acceleration, attitude, time and frequency in the formats required by shipboard user systems. The software support will include development, integration and test of improvements, correction of deficiencies, preparation and delivery of engineering interim/final software builds and inputs for the GPNTS software requirements and configuration baseline. The contract includes a base ordering period of five years, with a subsequent three-year option and a final two-year option for a total of 10 years should all options be exercised. The option periods, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $100,345,487. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $3,407,044 will be placed on contract and obligated at the time of award. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Work will be performed in San Diego, California, and is expected to be completed by November 2024. If all options are exercised, work could continue until November 2029. This contract was competitively procured with two offers received via the Commerce Business Daily's Federal Business Opportunities website and the NAVWAR e-Commerce Central website. The Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N00039-20-D-0021). Bechtel Plant Machinery Inc., Monroeville, Pennsylvania, is awarded a $31,801,007 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-19-C-2115 for Naval Nuclear Propulsion Components. Work will be performed in Monroeville, Pennsylvania. Fiscal 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $31,801,007 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. No completion date or additional information is provided on Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program contracts. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. General Dynamics Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut, is awarded a $24,103,730 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract N00024-18-C-2101 to exercise an option for engineering and technical design effort to support research and development concept formulation for current and future submarine platforms. Work will be performed in Groton, Connecticut, and is expected to be complete by October 2020. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funding in the amount of $175,000 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, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Progeny Systems Corp.,* Manassas, Virginia, is awarded a $9,855,080 firm-fixed-price and cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for services and hardware systems in support of the Undersea Warfare Decision Support Systems (USW-DSS) Command and Control program. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $50,711,886. Work will be performed in Manassas, Virginia (79%); Norfolk, Virginia (11%); Keyport, Washington (8%); Charleroi, Pennsylvania (1%); and San Diego, California(1%), and is expected to be completed by November 2020. If all options are exercised, work will continue through November 2024. Fiscal 2019 other procurement (Navy); and fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funding in the amount of $3,752,402 will be obligated at time of award and funding in the amount of $807,804 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. In accordance with Section 1709 of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act that modifies 15 U.S. Code 638(r)(4), this Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase III contract is being awarded to Progeny Systems Corp., the same firm that received the SBIR award. USW-DSS provides a common set of integrated cross-platform and command decision support tools to enable integrated USW operations. The contract award is a follow-on to contract N00024-14-C-5209 for production and modernization of USW-DSS systems developed under the prior SBIR Phase III Contract. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N00024-20-C-5213). Pacific Federal Management Inc.,* Tumon, Guam, is awarded a $9,093,633 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for base operating support services at Naval Base Guam and Naval Support Activity Andersen. The maximum dollar value including the base period and four option years is $48,494,711. The work to be performed provides for all labor, supervision, management, tools, material, equipment, facilities, transportation and incidental engineering and other items necessary to accomplish all work in ground maintenance and tree trimming services for United States military facilities on Guam at various locations on Guam and Northern Marianas Islands. Work will be performed in the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Marianas area of operations, including but not limited to, Naval Base Guam (70%); and Naval Support Activity Andersen, Guam (30%), and is expected to be completed by November 2024. No funds will be obligated at time of award. Fiscal 2020 operation and maintenance (O&M), (Navy); and fiscal 2020 O&M, (family housing) contract funds in the amount of $6,707,564 for recurring work will be obligated on individual task orders issued during the base period. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website with two proposals received. NAVFAC Marianas, Guam, is the contracting activity (N40192-20-D-9000). ARMY Walsh Federal JV, Chicago, Illinois, was awarded a $77,308,000 firm-fixed-price contract to procure services for the design and construction of an 87,620 square foot Joint Regional Confinement Facility. Bids were solicited via the internet with seven received. Work will be performed in Tacoma, Washington, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 1, 2022. Fiscal 2017 and 2018 military construction, Army funds in the amount of $77,308,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle, Washington, is the contracting activity (W912DW-20-C-0002). Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co., Oak Brook, Illinois, was awarded a $13,700,000 modification (P00018) to contract W912BU-15-C-0054 for dredging plants to remove the variety of material encountered in dredging. Work will be performed in Chester, Pennsylvania, with an estimated completion date of March 15, 2020. Fiscal 2020 operation and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $13,700,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Rolls-Royce Corp., Indianapolis, Indiana, has been awarded a maximum $67,076,432 requirements contract for supplies related to the upgrade of the T-56 engine from series 3.0 to series 3.5. 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 five-year base contract with one five-year option period. Location of performance is Indiana, with Sept. 30, 2024, performance completion date. Using military services are Air Force and Navy. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2024 defense appropriated funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Richmond, Virginia (SPE4AX-20-D-9405). Avon Engineered Fabrications, Picayune, Mississippi (SPE7MX-20-D-0015); and SMR Technologies Inc., Fenwick, West Virginia (SPE7MX-20-D-0016), are sharing a maximum $40,328,925 firm-fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract for landing craft air cushion skirting systems. This was a competitive acquisition with two responses received. These are three-year base contracts with two one-year option periods. Locations of performance are Mississippi and West Virginia, with a Nov. 14, 2022, performance completion date. Using military service is Navy. 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 (SPE7MX-20-D-0015). Peckham Vocational Industries,** Peckham, Michigan, has been awarded a maximum $8,673,0560 modification (P00008) exercising the second, one-year option of a one-year base contract (SPE1C1-18-D-N029) with two, one-year option periods for the GEN III, Layer II, Mid-Weight Drawer. This is a firm-fixed-price contract. Location of performance is Michigan, with a Nov. 21, 2020, performance completion date. Using military services are Army and Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. *Small Business **Mandatory source https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2018396/source/GovDelivery/

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  18 août 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  CEO of Boeing’s defense wing talks stumbling blocks, from KC-46 to COVID

  By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — When Boeing Defense, Space and Security CEO Leanne Caret dials into our hourlong interview on Aug. 4, she comes prepared with 15 minutes worth of opening statements that include thoughts ranging from the company's performance during the coronavirus pandemic to the state of the KC-46 tanker program. She knows she has a lot to cover, and a lot to answer for. Caret stepped into the top Boeing defense job in 2016, after the American company lost a lucrative contract for the U.S. Air Force's next-generation bomber. Questions about Boeing's future as a producer of fighter jets — and the prominence of its defense business — lingered as the end of the F-15 and F/A-18 production lines loomed in the near future. Now the tables have turned. With COVID-19 devastating the travel industry and eradicating near-term sales opportunities for commercial airliners, Boeing's defense sector finds itself as the company's model pupil. “One of the questions that I get a lot is, how has that changed the expectations for me and for our defense and space business?” Caret told Defense News. “And I wanted to just anticipate the question and share that, you know, as I see it, the company's expectations of our business are the same as always. We need to perform consistently, and we need to perform well. And while our progress may be viewed through a different lens for a period of time, the expectations of how we do our job and what we deliver haven't really changed.” Under Caret's leadership, Boeing has logged a number of major wins, including contracts for the T-7A trainer jet and the Grey Wolf helicopter for the Air Force, as well as the Navy's MQ-25 drone. New orders for a block upgrade of the Super Hornet aircraft resuscitated that production line, and in July the company got its first order for the Air Force's F-15EX jet. “I mean, how many people a few years ago would have placed a bet that we'd be building new F-15s? I say, few to none,” she said. But amid this progress, the company has met stumbling blocks. Most prominently, the KC-46 has been hampered by a list of technical issues, including foreign object debris found in the jets and a dispute with the Air Force over the camera system that allows the boom operator to refuel other aircraft. A deal on a fix for the latter problem was agreed to in April after more than a year of negotiations. “I think we've turned the corner. I really do,” Caret said. “What I want you to know from me is I want every KC-46 delivered to be perfect. We're not there yet. But we're aligned with the Air Force, and our road map is sound.” This interview with Caret was edited for length and clarity. The COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing, and there could be a second wave approaching. With that in mind, what is the health of Boeing's defense business? Where are you seeing challenges? It's not unique to Boeing, but our workforce — think about this — they have masks on, safety glasses, bump caps, vests, gloves, 6-feet proximity. This environment that they're working in, it's just hard. We are still right in the middle of the pandemic. You'll see states that have different protocols. From a Boeing Company position, our goal is to make certain that our employees are safest at work. Click here to see the Defense News Top 100 list. One of our biggest lessons learned is the quick benefit you can have from minimizing contact and quarantining. So when a case is identified, we do an entire trace of where the individual has been so that we can quarantine those who are potentially at risk, and then also make certain that they have the ability to go get the testing. Every employee, we've made sure they have thermometers and masks as we continue to bring folks back in. We're making certain that we have lots of really great cleaning details, and folks just focused on easing the anxiousness of our teams because day in day out this is really hard. As you talk about the fall and the worry about the flu — we don't have a vaccine yet for COVID, and then you are dealing with the compounding effects of schools not being in session. We have not had a respite from this. How is the health of your second-tier suppliers and below that? Are you concerned there could be delays in getting parts, components or subsystems that Boeing needs as we head into the fall? We've already seen delays. Think about what we went through in both Mexico and India. We have suppliers in both of those countries. And again, this is not unique to Boeing. As they were going through their shutdowns and their quarantines, it impacted, many times, their production rates. And so that is where we have really a great cross-sharing of information occurring. One big focus for us has been making sure we've been aggressive in making certain that they have cash flow, they have liquidity. We've actually hosted events with the Small Business Administration for our supply base. On one level, it's making certain that we help them get what they need. We also adjust how we do business so it makes it more efficient. A great example of that is how we're doing virtual inspections now. We have teams go out and inspect parts and do different things like that. We now do them with videos and cameras so that we don't slow the supply base down. Anywhere where we can do advances and allow our supply base to do advanced delivery, we're doing that as well. What's been the impact of pauses at your defense production lines in Puget Sound, Washington, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania? Will Boeing be able to deliver all of the military aircraft that was the books for 2020? So for instance, with the Army, we actually did slow down the pace of Apache [attack helicopter] final assembly due to some supply chain impacts resulting from COVID. And most of those came from our efforts with our JV [joint venture] with [Indian defense company] Tata. But there is some realism in what you're talking about. Now, I'm not seeing drastic changes at this point. But to your earlier point, we haven't gotten to the fall yet. So we're all being very pragmatic. We're being very cognizant of prioritizing what our customers need and making certain that we can support them. And then we just assess it on a case-by-case basis. And I'll defer to the services to let them publish any changes that have been agreed to or not. Is the worst over for Boeing's defense business, or is there concern that a second wave of COVID-19 could cause a more dramatic impact? I mean, let's be honest: If nothing else, we know the flu always hits hard in the fall/early winter time frame. So there's a compounding effect there. And so we are planning for another resurgence, but we have the benefit of what we've already been through, and a disciplined approach for how we manage it. That's really going to aid us. I'm not going to predict, other than to say we are better positioned now to handle a resurgence than we were when the thing first started. Under your leadership, there was a realigning of some of Boeing's business divisions involved in the defense sector. But given that the operating environment has changed, do you anticipate more restructuring or changes in leadership? I think any good leader always looks at: Do you have the right structure for the business environment and for the market? And we made some very specific decisions when I first came into this role about flattening the organization, taking out layers, reducing. We were extremely top heavy. We eliminated a lot of that. I feel very comfortable. I'm not predicting anything significant. Do you expect an impact on foreign military sales because of the global economic downturn or because countries are trimming defense spending? Absolutely. The industry is already seeing that nations have been affected by spending on COVID similar to the U.S., and they're having to go look at their timelines. We have not seen any cancellations. But we have seen some acquisitions and some contracts pushed to the right. Now, you also know that many of our international deals take — you know, they're years in the making anyways. But I think it's only pragmatic for us to look at it through the lens that they're going to face the same pressures the U.S. does in terms of spending decisions. And so that's why we really need to be flexible and we need to be innovative. Over the past few years, Boeing has bid very aggressively on a number of defense programs like MQ-25 and T-X. Considering Boeing's commercial business now faces a number of financial challenges, was that a bad move? What sort of impact will that have on Boeing as a whole over the next couple years? Will Boeing continue to employ the same bidding strategy? I actually remain very confident in the investments we made on both the MQ-25 and the T-7. There was a lot of commentary back at that time about how much we invested. We had already redesigned, reimagined, how are we going to use advanced modeling and simulation and digital twins. And so those investments, in terms of how we design and build, I think have paid off not only for those programs you mentioned, but for the F-15EX for the air power teaming system and for everything that follows. It wasn't just about the bid. We evolved ourselves in terms of how we did the work, not just the offering. And that was really the true differentiator. I think that enabled us to win. Going forward, I think you will see — as we're delivering these aircraft and additional orders come in — that it was exactly the right thing to do. So the investments Boeing made in advanced manufacturing processes and digital engineering make you confident these programs won't be a repeat of the KC-46 program? It is my goal to never have a repeat of tanker, and that was the headset that I've gone into with pretty much every decision that we make. It started with how we design and how we build, to your point, and how we sustain over the long term. We had to go prove out those advanced technologies, and we spend our investment dollars wisely to be ready to go pursue this. So these are not the same; these programs aren't even in the same ballpark. With flight testing ongoing for an interim version of the KC-46′s remote vision system, called RVS 1.5, when do you expect the Air Force to make a decision on adopting that? We're still waiting for that. They participate in the flight testing. As a matter of fact, we had [then-Chief of Staff of the Air Force] Gen. [Dave] Goldfein out in Seattle. He was with me just a couple of weeks ago. We're getting real pleased with the feedback. I think you've heard [Air Force acquisition executive] Dr. [Will] Roper's comments about it, and [he's] really pleased with the path that we're on. But that'll be an Air Force decision, and so I will defer to them on that. The Air Force will award a Ground Based Strategic Deterrent contract in August, and Boeing did not bid because of complaints with how the competition was run. Is Boeing still looking at its legal options? Is it considering a protest? We made the decision to not bid on GBSD due to what I was concerned about with the process, and I'll just leave it at that. What do you see as the sales potential for F-15EX? We are already getting inquiries. We're very excited, and they are nations that you would not be surprised about. Are you satisfied that the Navy is committed to MQ-25? What kind of future do you see for that program? We're absolutely thrilled with the partnership with the U.S. Navy. And you probably saw that in April they increased the quantity to a total of seven. So we're well on track to what we were working with in our assumptions when we bid on the program. We have completed nearly 30 flight hours to date, and what [Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition James] Geurts saw while he was out there [at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in St. Clair County, Illinois], was the aerial refueling store already mounted under the wing of the aircraft. As as we get back into flight testing later this year, we'll be able to collect more performance data. https://www.defensenews.com/top-100/2020/08/17/ceo-of-boeings-defense-wing-talks-stumbling-blocks-from-kc-46-to-covid/

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  9 avril 2018 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR

  Military Times Crash Database

  Through multiple Freedom of Information requests, Military Times obtained data for every Class A through Class C aviation mishap that has occurred since fiscal year 2011. More than 7,500 records were obtained. An analysis of the data shows manned warplane accidents have spiked nearly 40 percent since 2013, the year the mandated budget cuts known as sequestration took effect. The records can be searched by aircraft type, base, fiscal year and location. Military Times has published a searchable database that includes more than 7,500 individual records for military aviation mishap reports for the fiscal years 2011 through 2017. An analysis of the data shows that manned warplane accidents have spiked nearly 40 percent since 2013, the year the mandated budget cuts known as sequestration took effect. The data was obtained through multiple Freedom of Information requests and includes every Class A through Class C aviation mishap. The records can be searched by aircraft type, base, fiscal year and location. https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/04/06/military-times-aviation-database/