21 janvier 2019 | International, Aérospatial
By: Valerie Insinna
WASHINGTON — The start of a competition to provide light-attack aircraft for the U.S. Air Force has been postponed for the foreseeable future, as the service decides the way forward for additional experiments, the Air Force's No. 2 civilian said Friday.
The Air Force started evaluating light-attack plane offerings in 2017 and was set to release a request for proposals in December 2018 to potentially lead to a program of record. But the service is not ready to commit to a program just yet, and wants to continue the experimentation phase, Under Secretary of the Air Force Matt Donovan told reporters after an Air Force Association event.
"We're going to broaden the scope a little bit,” he said, potentially alluding for the possibility of new aircraft types to enter the competition.
Asked if this meant the two aircraft positioned by the Air Force as potential contenders for a contract — the Sierra Nevada Corp.-Embraer A-29 Super Tucano, and the Textron AT-6 Wolverine — were no longer in the running, Donovan responded: “We're not excluding anything.”
The Air Force's decision is a somewhat surprising one. The light-attack experiment began with four aircraft involved in flight tests at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico: the A-29 and AT-6, but also Textron's Scorpion jet and L3's AT-802L Longsword.
The AT-6 and A-29 moved onto the second phase of experiments in 2018, which were mostly centered around the planes' maintainability and network capability.
When the Air Force put out a draft RFP later that year, the solicitation stated that Textron and the SNC-Embraer partnership were “the only firms that appear to possess the capability necessary to meet the requirement within the Air Force's time frame without causing an unacceptable delay in meeting the needs of the warfighter.”
If the Air Force is considering alternative aircraft, it's unclear what requirements are driving that search or whether a new entrant has caught the service's eye.
Some foreign companies, namely South Africa's Paramount Group and Czech aerospace firm Aero Vodochody, have expressed interest in competing for U.S. light-attack aircraft contracts. And it's possible the T-X trainer jet, for which the Air Force chose Boeing to build, could be modified for a light-attack role.
But for the last six months, Air Force acquisition officials have firmly suggested the A-29 or AT-6 would be the only options under consideration going forward.
“The whole way we got to where we're at, we put out an invitation to participate, and we only had two that met all of the criteria that we were looking for,” Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch, the service's top uniformed acquisition official, said in July.
“We experimented with those, and they performed well enough that we did another phase, and those are the only two that we invited in [for phase two]. So at this point right now I'm seeing it as a competition between two airplanes.”
If the Air Force is seeking more data from the current entrants or wants to conduct further demonstrations, the exact nature of those future experiments are also unclear — though Donovan said more information about the path forward would be released this year.
Although Friday's announcement doesn't shut a door on the light-attack aircraft program, it does highlight the difficulties of rapid acquisition.
In 2016, Gen. Mike Holmes, then the Headquarters U.S. Air Force's top requirements official and now the head of Air Combat Command, spoke with Defense News about the prospect of dedicating funds to flight test a range of off-the-shelf light-attack planes.
The thought was that buying a low-cost, easy-to-maintain aircraft could effectively accomplish low-end missions in the Middle East at a lower expense than other Air Force planes, and that buying several hundred of such aircraft could also help the service absorb and train more pilots.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Goldfein repeatedly spoke about seeing a potential light-attack aircraft program as a way to increase interoperability with air forces that couldn't afford an F-15 or F-16, but who would benefit from commonality with American-operated platforms.
More than two years later, Donovan said the Air Force is still learning, and hinted that perhaps there was not enough buy-in among international partners.
“Did we meet the cost targets that we're aiming for? What's the market out there for coalition partners? Are there a lot of folks interested in that, or is there something else?” he said.
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ARMY DDB Chicago Inc., Chicago, Illinois, was awarded a $4,000,000,000 hybrid (cost, cost-plus-award-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee, and firm-fixed-price) contract for services in support of the U.S. Army Marketing and Advertising Program. Bids were solicited via the internet with five received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 18, 2028. U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command, Fort Knox, Kentucky, is the contracting activity (W9124D-19-D-0001). Tetra Tech-Maytag Aircraft Corp., Pasadena, California, was awarded a $10,252,498 modification (0007 03) to contract W912DY-13-G-0010 for maintenance and minor emergency repair of equipment and appurtenances. Work will be performed in Jacksonville, Florida; Fort Worth, Texas; Tallahassee, Florida; Mayport, Florida; Panama City, Florida; New Orleans, Louisiana; Parris Island, South Carolina; Pensacola, Florida; Quantico, Virginia; Albany, Georgia; Milton, Florida; Andros Island, the Bahamas; and Guantanamo, Cuba, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 15, 2019. Fiscal 2019 defense working capital funds in the amount of $10,252,498 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntsville, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Threat Tec LLC,* Hampton, Virginia, was awarded an $8,215,050 modification (P00003) to contract W9124E-18-D-0002 for training support services. Bids were solicited via the internet with seven received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 24, 2019. U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command, Fort Polk, Louisiana, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Pacific Unlimited Inc., Barrigada, Guam, has been awarded a maximum $288,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for full food-line distribution. This is a 90-month contract with no option years, but three tier periods. This was a small business set-aside with two responses received. The maximum dollar amount is for the life of the contract. Location of performance is Guam, with a May 20, 2026, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and the Guam Department of Education. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 defense working capital funds. The contracting agency is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE300-19-D-4045). WGL Energy Services Inc., Vienna, Virginia (SPE604-19-D-7503; $68,917,749); Direct Energy Business Marketing LLC, Iselin, New Jersey (SPE604-19-D-7500; $28,236,905); UGI Energy Services Inc., Reading, Pennsylvania (SPE604-19-D-7501, $9,110,525) and Enspire Energy LLC, Chesapeake, Virginia (SPE604-19-D-7504, $8,626,448), have been awarded a fixed‐price with economic‐price-adjustment contract under solicitation SPE604-18-R-0405 for natural gas. These were competitive acquisitions with eight offers received. These are two-year base contracts with six‐month option periods. Locations of performance are Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, District of Columbia, and Virginia, with a March 31, 2021, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, National Guard, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. NAVY Vista Outdoor Sales LLC – Federal Cartridge Co., Anoka, Minnesota, is awarded a $41,181,315 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for 5.56mm ball, carbine, barrier ammunition. This ammunition is designed to defeat intermediate barriers such as auto windshields and doors while providing sufficient terminal performance. Work will be performed in Anoka, Minnesota, and is expected to be completed by November 2023. Fiscal 2019 procurement of ammunition (Navy and Marine Corps) funding in the amount of $219,981 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with one offer received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, Crane, Indiana, is the contracting activity (N00164-19-D-JN58). IMSAR LLC,* Springfield, Utah, is awarded a $9,952,769 cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price delivery order (N6833519F0016) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N6833518G0015). This order provides for the procurement of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase III work that derives from, extends, or completes an effort performed under SBIR Topic AF112-144 entitled “Advanced Radar Concepts for Small (Tier I/II) Remotely Piloted Aircrafts.” Research and development will be performed in Springfield, Utah, and is expected to be completed in November 2019. Fiscal 2018 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy); and fiscal 2018 procurement (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $9,952,769 are being obligated on this award, $5,332,588 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity. Iridium Satellite LLC, Tempe, Arizona, is awarded a $9,141,484 cost-plus-fixed-fee option modification to previously-awarded contract N00178-17-C-0001 to continue to support commercial satellite-based network services for the Department of Defense in the areas of satellite, ground node, user equipment/terminal software and hardware development, integration and testing. This award is a follow-on requirement to procure continued communication support services that may be implemented for use in tactical, operational and strategic-level activities. Work will be performed McLean, Virginia (50 percent); and Tempe, Arizona (50 percent), and is expected to be completed by November 2019. Fiscal 2018 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funding in the amount of $300,000 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively awarded, in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) - only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, Dahlgren, Virginia, is the contracting activity. *Small business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1695728/source/GovDelivery/