10 septembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial
Steve Trimble September 09, 2020
The U.S. Army has revealed a mysterious new payload called Blasphemy for the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. MQ-1C Gray Eagle.
The name of the payload appeared in public for the first time on a presentation slide displayed by a panel of Army unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) program managers during the virtual AUVSI Defense Systems conference on Sept. 9.
Blasphemy appeared as one of several payloads listed on the slide, but no other information about it was provided. When asked a follow-up question during the question-and-answer period seeking details about the new payload, the Army program manager demurred.
“I think we're going to skip that one,” said Lt. Col. David Benjamin, the Army's product development manager for the MQ-1C program.
The slide showed the Blasphemy payload loaded on to the same pylon as the Multi-Function Electronic Warfare (MFEW) pod. The Army plans to deploy the MFEW-Air Large pod on the MQ-1C next year, but hasn't before revealed any plans for a payload called Blasphemy.
The slide showed a list of “integrated capabilities” for the MQ-1C in fiscal 2020.
18 octobre 2021 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
The AUSA annual conference is where Army and defense leaders drop big news, and 2021 was no exception. Here are a few major headlines you shouldn't miss.
29 juillet 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
U.S. TRANSPORTATION COMMAND James J. Flanagan Shipping Corp., Beaumont, Texas, has been awarded a $144,135,422 firm-fixed-price contract (HTC711-20-D-R050). The contract provides stevedoring and related terminal services at ports in Beaumont, Corpus Christi, and Port Arthur, Texas. The contract period of performance is from Oct. 3, 2020, to Oct. 2, 2025. Fiscal 2020 transportation working capital funds were obligated at award. U.S. Transportation Command, Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity. NAVY Teledyne Brown Engineering Inc., Huntsville, Alabama, is awarded an $83,647,556 cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost reimbursable indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract provides research and development support services for the Medical Modeling and Simulation Planning Tools Sustainment, Enhancement and Application program for the Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, California. Work will be performed in Huntsville, Alabama (80%); and San Diego, California (20%), and is expected to be completed by August 2026. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. The initial task order for $8,853,470 for the base period of performance will be awarded with fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Defense Health Program) funding of $296,551, which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year; and fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funding of $4,359,068, which will not expire. The balance of the task order will be incrementally funded. The total value of the initial task order for the base period and one option year, if exercised, is $17,918,761. This contract was competitively procured via the beta.SAM.gov website and one offer was received. The Naval Medical Logistics Command, Fort Detrick, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N62645-20-D-5008). L-3 Communications Integrated Systems L.P., Waco, Texas, is awarded a $20,102,664 modification (P00053) to previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract N00019-15-C-0093. This modification exercises options for the installation of auxiliary power units, digital red switch systems and Family of Beyond Line-of-Sight Terminals/Presidential National Voice Conferencing modifications and associated support on two E-6B Mercury aircraft. Work will be performed in Waco, Texas, and is expected to be completed by July 2021. Fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds for $20,102,664 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. Caterpillar Defense Products, Peoria, Illinois, is awarded an $18,233,057 time and material, firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for engineering, logistics and program management services. Work will be performed at Caterpillar's facilities and fleet concentration areas in the continental U.S. and shipboard locations outside of the continental U.S. according to each task order to be assigned. It is estimated that 80% of the work will occur at the contractor's facilities and 20% of the work will occur at government facilities. The services under this contract will provide enhanced life cycle manager, management and in-service engineering agent support services for Navy, Military Sealift Command and Coast Guard engine lines under Caterpillar's cognizance in order to augment the effectiveness of critical diesel engine programs, including diesel readiness system and diesel maintenance system, by engaging with a primary diesel engine original equipment manufacturer Caterpillar. The contract will have a five year ordering period and work is expected to be completed by July 2026. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the total amount of $204,510 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured 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, Philadelphia Division, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity (N64498-20-D-4035). Lockheed Martin Corp., Owego, New York, is awarded an $18,100,000 modification (P00015) to previously awarded firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract N00019-19-C-0013. This modification provides non-recurring efforts and modifies three Lot 14 MH-60R helicopters to the initial India configuration in support of the MH-60R modification program for the government of India. Work will be performed in Owego, New York (95%); and Stratford, Connecticut (5%), and is expected to be completed by March 2022. Foreign Military Sales funds for $18,100,000 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. Progeny Systems Corp., Manassas, Virginia, was awarded an $18,063,794 cost-plus-fixed-fee level of effort and cost-only modification to previously awarded contract N00024-18-C-6265 to exercise options for engineering and technical services for Navy submarines that will include software development, commercial off-the-shelf products and hardware and software integration. Work will be performed in Manassas, Virginia (65%); Middletown, Rhode Island (25%); and San Diego, California (10%). The supplies under this contract, Small Business Innovative Research Topic N96-278, will lead to the development of new designs that will replace obsolete subsystems, provide recommendations to reduce acquisition life cycle costs and improve reliability. The scope of work will involve the application of engineering disciplines required to analyze, design, fabricate and integrate hardware and software solutions for commercial off-the-shelf based subsystems that collectively provide capabilities to Naval platforms. Work is expected to be completed by July 2021. Fiscal 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); and 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funding in the amount of $2,637,309 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. (Awarded July 24, 2020) The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., Baltimore, Maryland, is awarded a $13,833,549 firm-fixed-price task order (N40085-20-F-5948) under a multiple award construction contract for repairs and improvements to the industrial wastewater treatment plant at Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point, North Carolina. Work will be performed in Havelock, North Carolina. The work to be performed provides for improvements and repairs to the industrial wastewater treatment plant; repairs to process equipment including the influent flow meter; grit removal system; primary clarifiers; equalization basins; scum pumps; up-flow clarifiers; continuous treatment facility; chemical ventilation systems; sludge dewatering system; construction of a new effluent Parshall flume; new sludge storage tank; and chemical storage tanks. Repairs to structural components include the chemical tote area, various equipment pads, concrete tank patching and handrails. Repairs to the existing electrical and process control systems include new conduit, wire and site lighting. Site improvements include drainage issue correction and the repair and upgrade of fences around the complex. Work is expected to be completed by July 2022. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Marine Corps) contract funds in the amount of $13,833,549 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Three proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Mid-Atlantic, Cherry Point, North Carolina, is the contracting activity (N40085-20-D-0036). Military and Federal Construction Co.,* Jacksonville, North Carolina, is awarded a $10,823,608 firm-fixed-price task order (N40085-20-F-5918) under a multiple award construction contract for repairs to the bachelor enlisted quarters (BEQ 4313) at Marine Corp Air Station, Cherry Point, North Carolina. Work will be performed in Havelock, North Carolina. The work to be performed provides for improvements and repairs to BEQ 4313, including interior components and surfaces; concrete cantilever breezeways; windows and doors; interior and exterior walls; vanities and head accessories; floor coverings; stair trends; building exterior; electrical panels and subpanels; arc fault breakers; light fixtures; the fire suppression system; water supply; waste and vent piping; plumbing piping and fixtures; and the parking lot. Work is expected to be completed by February 2022. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Marine Corps) contract funds in the amount of $10,823,608 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Four proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Mid-Atlantic, Cherry Point, North Carolina, is the contracting activity (N40085-16-D-6303). Alpha Marine Services LLC, Galliano, Louisiana, is awarded a $9,754,990 firm-fixed-price contract for the time charter of seven tractor-like tugs in support of Navy bases at Kings Bay, Georgia; and Mayport, Florida. This contract includes a 12-month base period, four 12-month option periods and a six-month option period, which, if exercised, will bring the cumulative value of this contract to $55,177,663. Work will be performed in Kings Bay (50%); and Mayport, Florida (50%), and is expected to be completed by July 2025. Working capital funds (Navy) in the amount of $9,754,990 are obligated for fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2021 and will expire at the end of the fiscal years. The Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N32205-20-C-3511). Global, a 1st Flagship Co.,* Newport Beach, California, is awarded an $8,912,327 modification to cost-plus-fixed-fee contract N00024-17-C-4404 to exercise Option Period Three. This contract includes options which, if exercised, will bring the cumulative value of this contract to $60,737,344. Currently, the total value of the base, Option Period One, and Option Period Two is $41,290,787. The contract is to acquire services and material necessary to support and maintain all vessels assigned to the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Inactive Ship Maintenance Office, Bremerton, Washington. Work will be performed in Bremerton, Washington, and San Diego, California. This option exercise is for services and material necessary to operate and maintain all vessels assigned to the NAVSEA Inactive Ship Maintenance Office, Bremerton, Washington. Services include receipt, inspection, survey, maintenance and disposal of vessels. In addition, the contractor may perform structural, mechanical and electrical repairs. Work is expected to be completed by August 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $2,651,310 will be obligated at the 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. ARMY BFBC LLC, Bozeman, Montana, was awarded a $57,738,442 modification (P00014) to contract W912PL-19-C-0014 to design and construct approximately nine miles of three-phase power distribution, lighting, closed-circuit television camera, linear ground detection system and shelters for the Barrier Wall Project. Work will be performed in Yuma, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of June 29, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $57,738,442 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Albuquerque, New Mexico, is the contracting activity. Amentum Services Inc., Germantown, Maryland, was awarded a $15,000,000 modification (000271) to contract W52P1J-12-G-0028 for Army prepositioned stock logistics support services in support of maintenance, supply and transportation at Mannheim and Dulmen, Germany. Work will be performed in Mannheim, Germany, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 20, 2020. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $15,000,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity. Ad HOC Research Associates,* Havre de Grace, Maryland, was awarded an $11,040,092 firm-fixed-price, single award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide support for the Cyber Battle Lab, Capabilities Development Integration Division, Futures and Concept Center, Army Futures Command development and experimentation in support of all areas of cyber electromagnetic activities to include cyberspace operations, electronic warfare, Department of Defense Information Network-Army (DODIN-A), and information operations. Bids were solicited via the internet with 12 received. Work will be performed at Fort Gordon, Georgia, with an estimated completion date of July 27, 2025. No funding was obligated at time of award. Funding will be obligated by delivery orders under the contract. Mission and Installation Contracting Command-Fort Gordon, Fort Gordon, Georgia, is the contracting office (W91249-20-D-0006). Kiewit Infrastructure South, Omaha, Nebraska, was awarded a $7,015,443 firm-fixed-price contract to restore the North Jetty at Ponce de Leon Inlet, Volusia County, Florida. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed in Ponce de Leon, Florida, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 10, 2022. Fiscal 2020 civil construction funds in the amount of $7,015,443 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity (W912EP-20-C-0008). AIR FORCE Hologic Inc., Marlborough, Massachusetts, has been awarded a firm-fixed-price, undefinitized contract action with a price ceiling of $7,597,607 to build and validate equipment used in manufacturing of COVID-19 testing consumables intended to expand domestically manufactured test availability in the U.S. The contractor will provide all necessary personnel, supervision, management, tools, equipment, transportation, materials and any other items or services necessary to meet the deliverables in accordance with the contract, as well as with commercial and local standards. Work will be performed in San Diego, California; Marlborough, Massachusetts; and Menomonie and Somerset, Wisconsin, and is expected to be completed Jan. 31, 2021. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition under Unusual and Compelling Urgency authority. Fiscal 2020 other procurement funds in the amount of $423,522 were obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8641-20-C-0002). (Awarded July 25, 2020) *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2291605/source/GovDelivery/
18 novembre 2019 | International, C4ISR
By: Mark Pomerleau Department of Defense officials routinely talk about the need to more fully embrace machine learning and artificial intelligence, but one leader in the Marine Corps said those efforts are falling short. “We're not serious about AI. If we were serious about AI we would put all of our stuff into one location,” Lt. Gen. Eric Smith, commander of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command and the Deputy Commandant for Combat Development and Integration, said at an AFCEA Northern Virginia chapter lunch Nov. 15. Smith was broadly discussing the ability to provide technologies and data that's collected in large quantities and pushed to the battlefield and tactical edge. Smith said leaders want the ability to send data to a 50-60 Marine cell in the Philippines that might be surrounded by the Chinese. That means being able to manage the bandwidth and signature so that those forces aren't digitally targeted. That ability doesn't currently doesn't exist, he said. He pointed to IBM's Watson computer, noting that the system is able to conduct machine learning and artificial intelligence because it connects to the internet, which allows it to draw from a much wider data pool to learn from. Military systems aren't traditionally connected to the broader commercial internet, and thus are limited from a machine learning sense. “We have stovepipes of excellence everywhere from interagency, CIA, NSA. The Navy's got theirs, Marine Corps' got theirs, everybody's got theirs. You can't do AI when the machine can't learn from one pool of data,” he said. Brown noted that he was not speaking on behalf of the entire department. Pentagon leadership has come to similar conclusions. Top officials have noted that one of the critical roles the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud program will do is provide a central location for data. “The warfighter needed enterprise cloud yesterday. Dominance in A.I. is not a question of software engineering. But instead, it's the result of combining capabilities at multiple levels: code, data, compute and continuous integration and continuous delivery. All of these require the provisioning of hyper-scale commercial cloud,” Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan, director of the Joint AI Center, said in August. “For A.I. across DOD, enterprise cloud is existential. Without enterprise cloud, there is no A.I. at scale. A.I. will remain a series of small-scale stovepipe projects with little to no means to make A.I. available or useful to warfighters. That is, it will be too hard to develop, secure, update and use in the field. JEDI will provide on-demand, elastic compute at scale, data at scale, substantial network and transport advantages, DevOps and a secure operating environment at all classification levels.” Overall, Smith said that industry should start calling out DoD when policies or technical requirements hinder what it can offer. “If we're asking for something that is unobtanium or if our policies are keeping you from producing something we can buy, you've got to tell us,” he said https://www.c4isrnet.com/artificial-intelligence/2019/11/15/one-way-for-the-pentagon-to-prove-its-serious-about-artificial-intelligence/