27 mars 2024 | International, Aérospatial
6 juillet 2020 | International, Aérospatial
US Air Force awards another batch of contracts to build new battle management system
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force on July 1 announced its second round of Advanced Battle Management System contracts, a series of awards to 18 companies worth up to $950 million apiece.
Each of the winning companies will receive indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity awards worth $1,000 to start with, but will have the chance to win additional funding over the next five years for the products that will make up the ABMS family of systems.
The Air Force views ABMS as its primary vehicle to accomplish what the U.S. military is calling Joint All Domain Command and Control, or JADC2. The goal of JADC2 is to transform the often-stovepiped nature of current weapons systems by rapidly fielding technologies that will allow sensors and shooters to share data securely and instantly.
“Just like the Internet of Things, our Air and Space Force platforms will only be as effective as the data they can access, machine-to-machine,” Will Roper, the Air Force's assistant secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, said in a statement.
“To field a complex set of capabilities at digital speeds requires a different, more innovative acquisition strategy,” he said. “With ABMS, we are adopting best practices from the private sector to get capabilities into the hands of the warfighter years ahead of traditional approaches.”
With the Air Force projecting to spend $3.3 billion on ABMS over the next five years, not every contractor will receive funding up to each contract's $950 million ceiling, or even close to that. Instead, each contract is meant to establish a list of companies that can respond to future ABMS solicitations, said Air Force spokesman Capt. Clay Lancaster.
The 18 contractors include: Accenture Federal Services; Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.; Black River Systems; Booz Allen Hamilton; CAE USA Mission Solutions; Cubic (GATR Technologies); Global Air Logistics and Training; Leidos; Mercury Defense Systems; Metron; NetScout Systems; Octo Consulting Group; Omni Fed; Rincon Research Corporation; Rise8; SAIC; Strategic Mission Elements; and Wind River Systems.
An additional 28 companies also won indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contracts in late May. To get an IDIQ contract, companies had to submit general cost and technical information about their products, Lancaster said.
Each $1,000 award would allow each firm to prepare a more comprehensive presentation as the Air Force details what it's looking for under each of the ABMS product lines, which include applications for fusing and sharing data, a cloud-network, items like government-owned software-defined radio, and apertures and devices like smartphones and tablets that can be used to receive classified data.
“There will be follow-up technical discussions where the government can inform vendors in more detail what we're looking for, and vendors can let the government know what they have to offer,” Lancaster said.
“After that, a series of focused solicitations will be announced across multiple categories and made available to vendors that are on the IDIQ. Vendors will then submit specific proposals against these solicitations. The government will review these solicitations and award task orders to support technology development and then integrate these technologies into ABMS product lines and potential participation in ABMS onramps.”
Instead of a traditional acquisition program, where a service comes up with requirements and then companies compete to build it, the Air Force intends to hold “ABMS onramps” multiple times per year to experiment with existing technologies and test whether they'd work in an operational environment —allowing commanders to weigh in and pick which capabilities are funded and when. The service held the first demonstration in December 2019.
The second onramp, which was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has been rescheduled for late August and will simulate an attack on U.S. space assets. U.S. Space Command, U.S. Northern Command and U.S. Strategic Command are to participate in the simulation.
The third demo, scheduled for September, will involve U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and U.S. Space Command.
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20 janvier 2021 | International, Naval
Thales NS50 Radar to equip the Belgium Navy and the Royal Netherlands Navy Next Generation Mine Counter Measures Vessels (MCMV)
January 18, 2021 - The navies of Belgium and the Netherlands rely on Thales, Naval Group and KERSHIP shipyard to equip the 12 next generation Mine Counter Measures Vessels with NS50 radars for Air & Surface Surveillance with Fire Control capabilities. Through this contract for its new NS50 radar, Thales is proud to serve both the navies of Belgium and the Netherlands through the next generation MCMV contract with Kership - a joint venture between Naval Group and Piriou. The NS50 radar introduces a complete and high level of self-protection capability against air and surface threats for high value ships. The NS50 radar is a game changer: it is the world's first compact multi-mission 4D AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array) radar available in the market for smaller vessels offering both Air and Surface surveillance with missile and Gun Fire control. The NS50 provides for the first time a complete and superior level of self-protection capability against air and surface threats for this category of high value MCM vessels. A strategic choice for small to medium vessels, the NS50 offers dual functions between air and surface surveillance and fire control. The nature of threats faced by Navies has never been more varied nor more challenging, ranging from next generation anti-ship missiles, robotic warfare and swarm attacks, to electronic warfare (jamming) as well as, overall, having to operate in a simultaneously conventional, asymmetric and hybrid threat environment. Time and quality of information are critical when facing this new array of unpredictable simultaneous threats. The NS50 provides maximum time on target for forces to evaluate the threat and take countermeasures while, at the same time, understanding what is around them to safeguard the ship and to protect their own allied forces. The NS50 is the world's most compact, affordable 4D multi-function naval radar in the market. It offers superior air and surface detection, tracking and classification performances providing highly accurate 4D target information required for rapid acquisition by short-range “fire and forget” Surface-to-Air-Missile Systems as well as fire control of ship-borne artillery against surface targets. It can defend against Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), low slow flying object, surface targets and in combination with small to medium caliber gun system. A fully software-defined sensor, the NS50 features a modular and scalable hardware architecture, making it equally suitable for combat boats, Offshore Patrol Vessels, MCMVs, auxiliaries and various other platforms. No other radar in this class up offers the NS50's flexibility and range of features, which are similar to those that do equip larger sized ships. Its full digital design implies that upgrades are possible at any moment and at any place and that, software modifications are simple for integrating new features. The NS50 meets today's cybersecurity requirements. The NS50 is part of the NS family of radars already operational within the Royal Netherlands Navy, providing enhanced situational awareness and contributing to regional stability in various parts of the world. “Navies are facing more complex, smaller, agile and faster moving simultaneous threats. The compact NS50 is a game changer – it brings the benefit of multi-mission air and surface surveillance, as well as fire control to combat boats, MCM vessels, OPA's and various other platforms. We are proud to work with Naval Group and Kership and supply an innovative radar to the Belgium and Netherland Navies for operational advantage”. Serge Adrian, Senior Vice-President Surface Radar activities, Thales. View source version on Thales Group: https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/group/journalist/press_release/ns50-radar-equip-belgium-navy-and-royal-netherlands-navy-next
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24 septembre 2023 | International, Aérospatial, Terrestre, C4ISR
Canadian military sets stage for purchase of drones and Hellfire missiles; program could cost up to $5 billion
The procurement program could cost up to $5 billion.