28 août 2020 | International, Naval

US Navy wants to create a ‘hardware factory’

WASHINGTON — A new request for information from the U.S. Navy outlines the service's interest in launching a “hardware factory and hardware pipeline” to keep its fleet computing platforms up-to-date.

According to an Aug. 25 request posted by the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), the sea service wants the factory as part of a broader effort to “architect, implement, and migrate” to a universally managed, infrastructure as a service environment for the sea service's surface fleet. NAVSEA wants the pipeline and factory ready for use no later than fiscal 2023.

The Navy wants to use the hardware factory and hardware pipeline concept to use agile development to accelerate the development of its computing infrastructure. The new model is part of the Navy's effort to transition away from technology insertions and move toward continuous hardware refreshes aboard its current and future surface fleet.

The request is for a program called Future Integrated Combat System Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Computing Infrastructure (FICS-CI), managed by NAVSEA's Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems.

“The Navy envisions a transition to a HW Factory and HW Pipeline Process continuously delivering IaaS to pace technology, eliminate obsolescence, and enable continuous design and development of [computing infrastructure] solutions that meet ship needs with minimal deviation from commercial standards and practices,” the RFI states.

The program is part of an effort by the NAVSEA's PEO IWS to migrate systems to a “common, scalable intermittently connected edge cloud architecture” using IaaS to enable platform as a service. NAVSEA wants to deploy the computing architecture to large and small combatants, aircraft carriers, amphibious ships, and “other related programs including U.S. Coast Guard, AEGIS Foreign Military Sales, and proposed future ship classes.”

The RFI lists several interest areas for the Navy: systems engineering; IaaS design and integration; technical data packages; production; diminishing manufacturing sources and material shortages, hardware, and software version release tracking; and integrated logistics support, maintenance and operations training.

“The HW Factory and HW Pipeline will streamline component selection, qualification, integration, life cycle support and training for the Fleet, leading to accelerated infrastructure development and fielding,” the RFI states. “The Navy envisions a continuous CI refresh cycle rapidly delivering improved Lethality, Combat Capability and Capacity to the Surface Navy Fleet to confront an increasing array of Strategic, Operational, and Tactical Challenges.”

https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/it-networks/2020/08/27/us-navy-wants-to-create-a-hardware-factory/

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  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - January 22, 2019

    23 janvier 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - January 22, 2019

    NAVY AAR Government Services Inc., Wood Dale, Illinois (N61340-19-D-1000); ACET JV LLC,* Waldorf, Maryland (N61340-19-D-1001); Adams Communication & Engineering Technology Inc., Waldorf, Maryland (N61340-19-D-1002); Aircraft Readiness Alliance,* Anchorage, Alaska (N61340-19-D-1003); The Boeing Co., Jacksonville, Florida N61340-19-D-1004); The Boeing Co., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (N61340-19-D-1005); DynCorp International, Fort Worth, Texas (N61340-19-D-1006); INNOVAIR LLC,* Chesapeake, Virginia (N61340-19-D-1007); Kay and Associates Inc., Buffalo Grove, Illinois (N61340-19-D-1008); L-3 Communications Integrated Systems LP, Waco, Texas (N61340-19-D-1009); L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace LLC, Madison, Mississippi (N61340-19-D-1010); Leidos Innovations, Gaithersburg, Maryland (N61340-19-D-1011); M1 Support Services, Denton, Texas (N61340-19-D-1012); M7 Aerospace LLC, San Antonio, Texas (N61340-19-D-1013); Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Herndon, Virginia (N61340-19-D-1014); PAE Aviation and Technical Services LLC, Arlington, Virginia (N61340-19-D-1015); Rockwell Collins, Cedar Rapids, Iowa (N61340-19-D-1016); Sunrise Beach Corp., doing business as M2 Services Corp., Allen, Texas (N61340-19-D-1017); URS Federal Services, Germantown, Maryland (N61340-19-D-1018); and Yulista Standard Aero (JV),* Huntsville, Alabama (N61340-19-D-1019), are each awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts. These contracts provide for logistics services for the Contracted Maintenance, Modification, Aircrew and Related Services (CMMARS) Program in support of aviation platforms of various Navy and Air Force type/model/series aircraft, inter-related systems, subsystems, and services. CMMARS will provide contractor logistics services for fixed-wing, rotary-wing, unmanned aircraft vehicles, and lighter than air vehicles, as well as integrally related systems and weapon systems. Logistical support to be provided includes logistics functions and maintenance tasks required to keep U.S. and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers aircraft ready, available, and operating worldwide. CMMARS may be used for platforms at all phases of the acquisition life cycle. The estimated aggregate ceiling for all contracts is $12,599,999,930, with the companies having an opportunity to compete for individual orders. Work will be performed at various afloat and ashore locations inside the continental U.S. (99 percent); and outside the continental U.S. (1 percent), and is expected to be completed in January 2024. No funds are being obligated at time of award; funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. These contracts were competitively procured via an electronic request for proposals; 21 offers were received. The Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $542,225,679 firm-fixed-price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for ancillary mission equipment (AME) and associated AME initial spares in support of Lot 13 F-35 Lightning II aircraft for the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, non-U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) participants, and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in May 2023. Fiscal 2018 and 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force,); non-U.S. DoD participant, and FMS funds in the amount of $437,333,989 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N0001919D0015). Rolls-Royce Corp., Indianapolis, Indiana, is awarded $35,672,562 for modification P00007 to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-17-C-0081). This modification exercises an option to produce and deliver 17 AE1107C engines in support of the V-22 aircraft, to include one engine for the Marine Corps, eight engines for the Navy, and eight engines for the government of Japan. Work will be performed in Indianapolis, Indiana, and is expected to be completed in May 2020. Fiscal 2018 and 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy);and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) funds in the amount of $35,672,562 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This modification combines purchases for the Navy ($18,885,474; 53 percent); and the government of Japan ($16,787,088; 47 percent) under the FMS program. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Coastal Marine Services,* San Diego, California (N55236-19-D-0001); and Thermcor,* Norfolk, Virginia (N55236-19-D-0002), are each awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple award contracts with a five-year base ordering period to provide pipe lagging onboard Navy ships vessels within a 50-mile radius of San Diego, California. These contracts have an overall combined maximum ceiling value of $7,142,499. These two companies will have an opportunity to compete for individual delivery orders. Work will be performed in the vicinity of San Diego, California, and is expected be complete by January 2024. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $7,000 ($3,500 for minimum guarantee per contract) will be obligated under each contract's initial delivery order and expire at the end of the current fiscal year. These contracts were competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with three offers received. The Southwest Regional Maintenance Center, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity. ARMY BAE Systems Land & Armaments LP, York, Pennsylvania, was awarded a $474,084,062 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for system technical support, sustainment system technical support, depot maintenance support, field service representatives, systems engineering, program management, engineering management, quality management, configuration management, logistics support, and software management and maintenance for the M109 Family of Vehicles. One bid was solicited via the internet with one bid received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 21, 2025. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-19-D-0040). General Dynamics C4 System Inc., Taunton, Massachusetts, was awarded a $26,767,467 firm-fixed-price contract for replenishment spares for the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical. One bid was solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 23, 2020. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W15P7T-19-F-0030). Elbit Fort Worth Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded a $24,360,089 firm-fixed-price contract for the Common Helmet Mounted Display. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 21, 2024. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-19-D-0035). Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co., Oak Brook, Illinois, was awarded a $14,136,343 modification (P00015) to contract W912BU-15-C-0054 for dredging and rock removal. Work will be performed in Chester, Pennsylvania, with an estimated completion date of March 15, 2019. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $14,136,343 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity. Facility Services Management Inc.,* Clarksville, Tennessee, was awarded a $13,241,456 firm-fixed-price contract to plan, manage, perform operations and maintenance for the Department of Public Works functions in facility maintenance, water, fuel, sewage plant operations, land resource utilization, family housing maintenance, and Real Property maintenance activity supply management. Bids were solicited via the internet with 11 received. Work will be performed in Fort Huachuca, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 31, 2024. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $1,270,261 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W9124A-19-C-0002). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Ready One Industries Inc.,** El Paso, Texas, has been awarded a maximum $186,375,600 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Joint Service Lightweight Integrated Suit Technology (JSLIST). This is a one-year base contract with an 18-month ordering period and no option periods. Location of performance is Texas, with a July 22, 2020, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. 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-N057). Atlantic Diving Supply, doing business as ADS,* Virginia Beach, Virginia (SPE8EG-16-D-0023); Berger Cummins JV, Washington, District of Columbia (SPE8EG-16-D-0024); Caterpillar, Mossville, Illinois (SPE8EG-16-D-0025); Inglett and Stubbs International,* Atlanta, Georgia (SPE8EG-16-D-0026); and Texas Power and Associates,* Dallas, Texas (SPE8EG-16-D-0027), are sharing a maximum $90,000,000 modification (P00005) to a five-year contract for generators and associated supplies. These are firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, 160-day bridge contracts. Locations of performance are Virginia; Washington, District of Columbia; Illinois; Georgia;and Texas, with a July 1, 2019, performance completion date. Using customer is Federal Emergency Management Agency. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 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Quantum Spatial Inc., Petersburg, Florida (FA4452-19-D-A001); Geographic Information Services Inc., Birmingham, Alabama (FA4452-19-D-A002); Booz Allen Hamilton, McLean, Virginia (FA4452-19-D-A003); Woolpert Inc., Dayton, Ohio (FA4452-19-D-A004); and KFS LLC, Huntsville, Alabama (FA4452-19-D-A005), have been awarded multiyear indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts with a combined cumulative face value of $46,564,206. These contracts will provide geospatial tasks and support functions for improved shared situational awareness and decision making across the various echelons of military hierarchy including individual level, installation level, and management headquarters level. Support may include technical assistance at Headquarters Air Force, field operating agencies, numbered Air Forces, main operating bases and reach-back support to forward deployed military personnel at forward operating locations, as well as a surge capability to quickly respond to wartime, contingencies and manmade or natural disasters. Work is expected to be completed by Jan. 21, 2024, and will be performed at various bases throughout the Air Force. These contracts are the result of a competitive acquisition and seven offers were received. Funds will be obligated on individual task orders. The 763d Specialized Contracting Squadron, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity for the multiyear indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts. However, individual task orders will be decentralized. Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Herndon, Virginia, has been awarded a $44,428,104 service firm-fixed-price, cost-reimbursable contract in support of the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node E-11A platform maintenance requirement. This contract provides for logistics product support for four E-11A modified Bombardier BD-700 Global aircraft, as well as subsystems and support equipment in support of overseas contingency operations. Work will be performed in Kandahar, Afghanistan; and Maryland, and is expected to be completed by Jan. 23, 2020. This award is a result of a competitive acquisition, and two offers were received. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in amount of $44,428,104 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity (FA8726-17-C-0011). *Small business **Mandatory source https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1737551/source/GovDelivery/

  • Foreign defense companies want in on US Army modernization efforts

    27 juin 2018 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR

    Foreign defense companies want in on US Army modernization efforts

    By: Jen Judson and Sebastian Sprenger PARIS, France — The U.S. Army has honed in on six modernization priorities, none of which can afford to linger in a sluggish acquisition process as threats grow in sophistication and the battlefield grows more complex, which has piqued the interest of many foreign companies, who are banking on having an increased chance at playing in the U.S. market due to the pace at which the Army wants to prototype and procure capabilities. At European defense conference Eurosatory, several companies unveiled not just paper or miniature model concepts but actual capabilities targeting the top two priorities: The Next-Generation Combat Vehicle (NGCV) and Long-Range Precision Fires (LRPF). The Army announced last fall that it would establish a four-star command to tackle its modernization priorities in short order. They are LRPF, NGCV, Future Vertical Lift, the Network,Air-and-Missile Defense and Soldier Lethality, in that order. And since that announcement, the service has set up cross-functional teams to focus on each priority. Many leaders of the CFTs said earlier this year that they planned to prototype capabilities within just a few years and get them into the hands of soldiers. Next-gen combat vehicles The U.S. Army's first stab at building prototypes for what it intends to be an innovative, leap-ahead NGCV and its robotic wingman will be ready for soldier evaluations in fiscal 2020 with a follow-on prototypes expected in 2022 and 2024. Germany's Rheinmetall Defence revealed its new Lynx KF41 infantry fighting vehicle at Eurosatory on June 12 with an eye toward the U.S. market. The company pulled out all the stops including a 10:00 a.m. champagne toast to christen the vehicle. It's sometimes the case, at a unveiling, for the vehicle to just be a non-functioning, life-size model to convey the concept, but Rheinmetall made it clear the vehicle being shown is real. The company has publicly available footage of the vehicle's rigorous test campaigns. Executives at Rheinmetall told Defense News it believes the stars could be aligned for a successful pitch of the Lynx vehicle to the U.S. Army. Due to its modular design, a few hours of work can turn the Lynx into anything from a medium tank to a battlefield ambulance. Ben Hudson, head of the company's vehicle systems division, hopes the feature will be an interesting proposition for the U.S. Army's NGCV. “We are highly interested in it, and we have been below the radar for a little for the last couple of years while we've delivered this,” Hudson told Defense News following the unveiling. “We don't want to deliver a PowerPoint, we want to deliver a real vehicle, and we have shown this to some people in the U.S. Army and I think it is fair to say there is some genuine interest for the U.S. to look at this vehicle as a serious competitor for the Next-Generation Combat Vehicle.” When asked how Rheinmetall might become involved in that collaboration, Hudson said there have been a lot of changes over the past several months as the Army's new cross-functional team under its new Futures Command moves forward with efforts to bring an NGCV capability online. “All I can say is the next six months for that program are going to be very interesting, and we look forward to things that may occur early next year. That's all I can really say about that for now,” he said. What's still missing, however, is an official U.S. partner company that could give the bid an American face and manage domestic production. Such teaming is practically mandatory these days, and Hudson said there is no shortage of suitors. “We've had significant interest from U.S. companies at Eurosatory over the last couple of days,” he said. “We've had a lot of people interested in partnering with us because we don't only have a concept, we've got a real vehicle and turret for the program.” Israeli company Rafael didn't have a dramatic unveiling at the show, but told Defense News that it was developing and testing a 30mm weapon station outfitted with its Trophy active protection system as an all-in-one system. The Army is outfitting several brigades worth of Trophy APS on its Abrams tanks. The turret can be purchase with our without the Trophy system, Rafael's Michael L. told Defense News at the show. Michael's last name has been withheld for security reasons. One customer is buying more than a hundred 30mm weapon stations, he said. And while Rafael is envisioning the possibility of its 30mm turret and APS system being a good option for outfitting upgunned Strykers going forward, it's also setting its sights on becoming involved in NGCV prototyping with its work in flexible turret design as well as in its long history fielding APS capability. But not every leading tank manufacturer outside of the U.S. is clamoring to get involved in the U.S. combat vehicles market. In the case of Germany's Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and its French partner Nexter, executives believe the odds of selling entire vehicles to the American armed forces are dim. “We play a role in the U.S., we are selling in the U.S., but not on a system level,” KMW boss Frank Haun said during an interview at Eurosatory. Mayer, his Nexter counterpart, added that “political reasons” and the “industry landscape” make it difficult for outsiders to break into a market tightly controlled by domestic players. In Haun's experience, arms sales to the U.S. have the highest chance of succeeding when there is little money at stake. “Whatever is under the radar of senators and congressmen will work,” he said. U.S. defense contractors have significant influence in Congress thanks to traditional lobbying campaigns targeting both Democrats and Republicans. In addition, many large companies employ workers in plants across the United States, which means lawmakers from those areas are eager to ensure a continued flow of defense money to the contractors. Long-range precision fires The U.S. Army will demonstrate LRPF technology from a precision-strike missile to hypersonics and ramjet capabilities within the next couple of years, according to the service's LRPF CFT. In the near future, the service is looking at how it will evolve its current M109A7 self-propelled howitzer — or the Paladin Integrated Management — into extended-range cannon artillery. At the same time, a competition is ongoing to build a new LRPF capability that replaces and surpasses the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS). Norwegian ammunition company Nammo unveiled what it's calling an “extreme range” artillery concept using ramjet propulsion that it hopes will meet the emerging LRPF requirements for a variety of countries, including the United States. Nammo has combined its experience in both ammunition and rocket-propulsion technology, and it's merging those capabilities to create an artillery shell capable of reaching more than 100 kilometers in range without changing the gun on a standard 155mm howitzer, according to Thomas Danbolt, company vice president of large caliber ammunition, who spoke at Eurosatory, one of the largest land warfare conferences in Europe. The company displayed a model of the artillery shell at the exposition and plans to test several LRPF capabilities in the coming years, particularly its new extreme-range artillery projectile. The projectile will go through a flight demonstration in the 2019 or 2020 time frame, according to Erland Orbekk, company vice president for ramjet technology, which coincides with the Army's LRPF CFTs tentative plans to test ramjet and hypersonics capabilities as early as 2019. Swedish company Saab has also teamed up with Boeing to develop a Ground-Launched Small-Diameter Bomb (GLSDB) and announced at the show that the pair had demonstrated — in cooperation with the U.S. Army Aviation & Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC) — its capabilities for ground forces during a test fire where the laser-enabled weapon launched and then tracked and engaged a moving target at a distance of 100 kilometers. The range ultimately will be closer to 150 kilometers. The partnership allows for the team to easily tap the U.S. market as well as international customers interested in improving rocket artillery capability, according to Boeing's Jon Milner, within the company's direct attack weapons international programs division. Milner said Boeing and Saab would continue to assess what customers want. The U.S. Army has made it clear it needs longer range artillery in order to avoid being out-gunned and out-ranged by adversaries, but also a lot of NATO countries are interested in the capability because of NATO mandates which creates a significant international market for the weapon. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/eurosatory/2018/06/26/foreign-defense-companies-want-in-on-us-army-modernization-efforts/

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