23 avril 2019 | International, Terrestre
By: Jen Judson
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army plans to take another year to pick an Active Protection System for its Stryker combat vehicle, according to the military deputy to the Army acquisition chief.
The service is already fielding the Rafael-made Trophy APS on its Abrams tank and has picked IMI's Iron Fist for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle — both as interim systems until the Army can develop an advanced future system — but it had to go back to square one when its attempt to outfit Stryker with Herndon, Virginia-based Artis LLC's Iron Curtain system failed.
The Army put out a request for possible systems to be qualified as an interim solution on the Stryker. Officials ultimately chose a Rafael and DRS team and a Rheinmetall and UBT team to participate in a live-fire rodeo last November to see if either system might work.
But while it was believed a decision would come soon after, Lt. Gen. Paul Ostrowski testified at an April 2 Senate Armed Services Airland Subcommittee hearing that it would take another year to make a decision.
“We have two companies that are in the process of competing for [APS on Stryker]. One is a venture between ... Rafael and DRS and the other is Rheinmetall and UBT, so we are in the process of going through that,” Ostrowski said. “It's going to take about a year, quite frankly, in order to put those systems on the vehicles, characterize them and make a determination as to whether or not to move forward with either one of the two vendors.”
Ostrowski added the service had asked each team to provide blueprints and to build their non-developmental APS systems to fit on Stryker. “They are in the process of doing that build,” he said.
“And once the build is put on the vehicle, it's then a matter of testing in order to ensure that it works,” Ostrowski said, which is not unlike the process the Army went through to characterize and qualify APS systems on both Abrams and Bradley.
Israeli company Rafael and DRS submitted its Trophy VPS — a lighter version of Trophy — for the rodeo. Germany-based Rheinmetall partnered with Unified Business Technologies, based in Michigan, and submitted its Active Defense System — now renamed StrikeShield.
During the rodeo, participants did not perform a full installation of their systems on the vehicle. Instead, they set up test rigs in front of Strykers or hung their system off a Stryker in the evaluation.
Following the rodeo, the idea was to select one, possibly two systems, to begin some sort of installation characterization on a platform deemed most appropriate for the APS system, Col. Glenn Dean, the Army's Stryker program manager who is also in charge of the interim APS effort, told Defense News in October 2018.
Meanwhile, Ostrowski said the Army bought 88 Iron Fist systems for Bradley in 2019 and planned to buy another 36 in the FY20 budget. The service is on a path to field four brigades of Abrams with Trophy by FY21.
The Army is also developing its own Modular Active Protection System, which is seen more like a digital integrated backbone that will be designed with an open-system architecture so that vendors can bring radars, optical sensors and hard- or soft-kill effectors and plug them in, according to Ostrowski.
The important thing is “to get a capability out there first. . . . Now it's just a matter of moving beyond that,” he said.
5 janvier 2023 | International, Aérospatial, C4ISR
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Wednesday proposed new rules to make licensed radio spectrum in the 5 GHz band for the rising number of unmanned aircraft systems, or drones, in use.
17 janvier 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
ARMY Caddell Construction Co. (DE) LLC., Montgomery, Alabama, was awarded a $143,514,000 firm-fixed-price contract for the construction of an airmen training complex dormitory, a dining and classroom facility, supporting facilities, a free standing equipment building, a weapons cleaning pavilion, running track, exercise pads and parking lots. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work will be performed in San Antonio, Texas, with an estimated completion date of June 8, 2021. Fiscal 2019 military construction funds in the amount of $143,514,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth, Texas, is the contracting activity (W9126G-19-C-0001). IICON Construction Group LLC,* Colorado Springs, Colorado, was awarded a $15,179,720 firm-fixed-price contract for construction of a National Guard readiness center. Bids were solicited via the internet with five received. Work will be performed in Fort Carson, Colorado, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 31, 2020. Fiscal 2017 military construction funds in the amount of $15,179,720 were obligated at the time of the award. National Guard Bureau, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (W912LC-19-C-0001). CORRECTION: The contract announced on Jan. 15, 2019, for $474,084,062 to BAE Systems Land & Armaments LP, York, Pennsylvania, has not been awarded. No award date has been determined at this time. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Puerto Rico Apparel Manufacturing (PRAMA) Corp.,** Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, has been awarded a maximum $11,648,229 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for various types of coats and trousers. This was a competitive acquisition with seven responses received. This is a one-year base contract with four one-year option periods. Location of performance is Puerto Rico, with a Jan. 10, 2024, estimated performance completion date. Using military services are Army and Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2024 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE1C1-19-D-1127). Alamo Strategic Manufacturing,*** San Antonio, Texas, has been awarded a maximum $8,550,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity contract for knee and elbow pads. This was a competitive acquisition with two responses received. This is a one-year base contract with two one-year option periods. Locations of performance are Texas and Puerto Rico, with a Jan. 30, 2020, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (SPE1C1-19-D-1122). NAVY Gilbane Federal, Concord, California, is awarded a $10,966,383 firm-fixed-price modification to previously awarded contract (N39430-15-D-1634) to decrease the value of the contract for the cleaning, inspection and repair of Fuel Storage Tanks 305, 307, and 308 at Defense Fuel Support Point (DFSP) Tsurumi, Japan. Work on Tanks 305, 307, and 308 is being removed from the contract due to contractor performance problems. After award of this modification, the total cumulative contract value will be $6,426,985. Work will be performed in Tsurumi, Japan, and is expected to be completed by March 2019. Fiscal 2016 defense working capital (Defense Logistics Agency) contract funds in the amount of $10,966,383 are de-obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center, Port Hueneme, California, is the contracting activity. Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Co., Stratford, Connecticut, is awarded $7,026,164 for cost-plus-fixed-fee modification P00017 to a previously awarded fixed-price-incentive-firm/cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00019-16-C-0048). This modification provides for Automated Logistics Environment software maintenance operating systems and obsolescence avoidance in support of the low rate initial production CH-53K aircraft. The work will be performed in Stratford, Connecticut, and is expected to be completed in October 2021. Fiscal 2018 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $7,026,164 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. *Small Business **Economically disadvantaged women-owned small business in historically underutilized business zones ***Small disadvantaged business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1733689/source/GovDelivery/
11 avril 2024 | International, Terrestre
The Navy is trying to make unmanned systems a more normal part of daily operations, even as experimentation continues to refine concepts of operations.