We are lost in the woods on acquisition reform

Sur le même sujet

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  23 novembre 2018 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - November 21, 2018

  NAVY Stratascor LLC, Virginia Beach, Virginia, is awarded a $210,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, fixed-price contract for command, control, communications, and computer system afloat operations and sustainment support for capabilities aboard the Military Sealift Command (MSC) fleet of ships, and the MSC network operations centers. This contract includes a five-year ordering period. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia, and is scheduled to commence Jan. 1, 2018, and is expected to be completed Dec. 31, 2023. Navy working capital funds and U.S. Transportation Command working capital funds in the amount of $500,000 will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured, with proposals solicited via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with five offers received. The Navy's Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N3220519D1000). Thales Defense and Security Inc., Clarksburg, Maryland, is awarded a not-to-exceed $13,999,410 for undefinitized contract action delivery order N00383-19-F-AQ00 under previously awarded basic ordering agreement N00383-17-G-AQ01 for repair of 58 dome sonars in support of the H-60 airborne low frequency sonar system. Work will be performed in Clarksburg, Maryland (50 percent); and Brest, France (50 percent). Work is expected to be completed by November 2020. Working capital funds (Navy) in the amount of $10,499,557 will be obligated at the time of award and funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One firm was solicited for this non-competitive requirement under authority 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), with one offer received. Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity. PAE Applied Technologies LLC, Arlington, Virginia, is awarded a $12,473,525 cost modification to previously-awarded contract N66604-05-C-1277 for Hurricane Matthew repairs to the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC). AUTEC is the Navy's large-area, deep-water, undersea test and evaluation range. Underwater research, testing and evaluation of anti-submarine weapons, sonar tracking and communications are the predominant activities conducted at AUTEC. This modification increases the total value of the contract to $800,549,247. Work will be performed on Andros Island, Commonwealth of the Bahamas, and is expected to be completed by September 2019. No funding will be obligated at time of award, as work has been incrementally funded with fiscal 2017 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funding. The Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport, Newport, Rhode Island, is the contracting activity. Offshore Service Vessels LLC, Cut Off, Louisiana, is awarded a $10,493,750 firm-fixed-price contract with reimbursable elements for the West Coast Naval Special Warfare submarine support vessel MV Alyssa Chouest. This vessel will be utilized to launch and recover submersibles, divers and small craft. This contract includes a 12-month base period, three 12-month option periods, and one 11-month option period. If all options are exercised this would bring the cumulative value of the contract to $54,238,356. Work will be performed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and at sea, and is expected to be completed July 9, 2020. If all options are exercised, work will continue through June 8, 2024. Fiscal 2019 Navy working capital funds in the amount of $2,415,000 will be obligated at the time of award, and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with 50 plus proposals solicited via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with six offers received. The Navy's Military Sealift Command Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N3220519C3518). URS Group Inc., Morrisville, North Carolina, is awarded a $10,010,000 modification on a firm-fixed-price task order under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N62470-13-D-6022) for phase one of Hurricane Michael repairs for stabilization and repairs to multiple buildings at Naval Support Activity Panama City. The work to be performed provides for removal of carpet, walls, windows and other unsalvageable items due to water penetration, clean-up of roofing materials and tarping of rooftops to mitigate further water intrusion. Repairs include roof replacement, roof decking, and sealing roof penetrations. The repairs also include correction of architectural, structural, plumbing, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, fire protection, electrical deficiencies and any other incidental related work as found due to the hurricane. After award of this modification, the total task order value will be $21,510,000. Work will be performed in Panama City, Florida, and is expected to be completed by September 2019. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $10,010,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southeast, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Noble Supply and Logistics, Rockland, Massachusetts, has been awarded a maximum $75,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, 192-day bridge contract for maintenance, repair, and operations support in the Central Command Area of Responsibility. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification using 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. Locations of performance are Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, with a June 1, 2019, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and other federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriate is fiscal 2019 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE8E319D0002). AIR FORCE CACI NSS Inc., Colorado Springs, Colorado, has been awarded a $63,267,131 fixed-price-incentive firm-target modification (P00068) to contract FA8823-16-C-OOOC for support of Consolidated Air Force Satellite Control Network (AFSCN) modification, maintenance and operations. The modification exercises the second option period effective Nov. 22, 2018. This contract provides for continued operations and maintenance at AFSCN mission locations, AFSCN factory compatibility testing and phase-in sustainment activities for same systems. Work will be performed at tracking stations in Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory; U.S. Territory of Guam; Ka'ena Point, Hawaii; New Boston Air Force Station, New Hampshire; Thule AFB, Greenland; Vandenberg AFB, California; Bordon and Hants, United Kingdom; and Eastern Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Work is expected to be completed by May 21, 2024. Fiscal 2019 operations maintenance funds in the amount of $40,267,131 are being obligated at the time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $165,067,247. Space and Missile Systems Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, is the contracting Activity. Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., Littleton, Colorado, has been awarded a $16,113,613 definitization (P000012) to previously undefinitized contract FA8204-18-C-0009 (P00005) to implement security classification guide changes. Work will be performed in Littleton, Colorado, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 3, 2020. Fiscal 2018 research and development (3600) funds in the amount of $50,215 is being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Nuclear Weapon Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity. The Boeing Co., El Segundo, California, has been awarded a $13,965,639 modification (P00110) for the Wideband Global Satellite (WGS) communication system, mitigation and anti-jam effort and additional strings. This effort will provide the WGS system with increased resilience. Work will be performed in El Segundo, California; and Colorado Springs, Colorado, and is expected to be completed by Feb. 28, 2021. Fiscal 2018 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $13,965,639 are being obligated at the time of award. Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, California, is the contracting activity (FA8808-10-C-0001). CORRECTION: The $489,924,430 contract (FA8620-18-C-1000 PZ0004) announced on Nov. 19, 2018, to Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, San Diego, California, for the Japan Global Hawk Program was actually awarded on Nov. 20, 2018. ARMY Guyco Inc., Lampasas, Texas, was awarded a $57,538,500 firm-fixed-price contract to revitalize and renovate barracks. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed in Fort Hood, Texas, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 21, 2021. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $57,538,500 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth, Texas, is the contracting activity (W9126G-19-C-0008). Canadian Commercial Corp., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, was awarded an $18,742,500 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of strip stock and ground side and wheel side rubber materials. 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 Nov. 22, 2021. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W911RQ-19-D-0018). AMG JV, Leesburg, Virginia,* was awarded a $9,820,000 firm-fixed-price contract for renovation of an administration building. Bids were solicited via the internet with nine received. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 12, 2020. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Army) funds in the amount of $9,820,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (W91236-19-C-0005). U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND Insitu Inc., Bingen, Washington, was awarded a maximum $18,000,000 modification (P00018) for an existing non-competitive, single award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (H92222-16-D-0031) for mid-endurance unmanned aircraft systems (MEUAS 1.5B) intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) services. An increase of $18,000,000 to a ceiling of $250,000,000 prevents a gap in ISR services until all task orders are transitioned to the current competitive MEUAS III contracts. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $18,000,000 are available for obligation as needed. U.S. Special Operations Command, Tampa, Florida, is the contracting activity. *Small business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1696664/source/GovDelivery/

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  29 mai 2020 | International, Naval

  Support Swells For New Indo-Pacom Funding; Will Money Follow

  The National Defense Strategy called the Indo-Pacific the DoD's priority theater. “But all of us also recognize that strategy is budget and budget is strategy, and the budget numbers have not supported, to date, the Indo Pacific's role as the primary theater.” By PAUL MCLEARYon May 29, 2020 at 4:01 AM WASHINGTON: Two prominent senators and a top Pentagon official have come out in support of a new fund aimed at boosting the Indo-Pacific command's logistic, training, and missile-defense missions. The Pacific initiative will have to contend with the federal government's massive COVID-19 response and an exploding federal debt, however, some of which may be countered by the increasingly acrimonious relations with China. The idea of a funding package that would build training ranges across the Pacific and beef up missile defense systems in Guam and Hawaii was proposed in April by Indo-Pacom commander Adm. Philip Davidson, who sent a plan to Congress for $20 billion in funding between 2021 and 2026 to bulk up the US presence in the region. The plan received some bipartisan support on Capitol Hill, and will now find its way into the debate hammering out the 2021 budget markup this summer, Sen. Jim Inhofe, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said Thursday. In a joint op-ed with the top Democrat on the committee Sen. Jack Reed, the duo wrote that “with the stakes so high, the time for action is now. That's why this year we intend to establish a Pacific Deterrence Initiative in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021.” The fund will “focus resources on key military capabilities to deter China. The initiative will also reassure U.S. allies and partners, and send a strong signal to the Chinese Communist Party that the American people are committed to defending U.S. interests in the Indo-Pacific.” In a Thursday video conference hosted by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, Heino Klinck, deputy assistant Secretary for East Asia said he also supports the idea, while acknowledging that “it'll be a slog” to get the enhanced funding through Congress while so many other funding priorities are competing for federal dollars. “Obviously, when the National Defense Strategy came out it very clearly stated that the priority theater is for us the Indo-Pacific,” he said. “But all of us also recognize that strategy is budget and budget is strategy, and the budget numbers have not supported, to date, the Indo Pacific's role as the primary theater.” Part of the reason for that has been the Trump administration's inability to extricate itself from ongoing wars in the Middle East, including the fight against ISIS and ongoing tensions with Iran that led to thousands more US troops, aircraft, and aircraft carriers heading to the Middle East over the past year. There have been some signs that the Pentagon is looking to shift focus, however. On Thursday, the USS Mustin destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of Woody Island in the Paracel Island chain, where China maintains an airfield although the island is claimed by two other countries and has landed bomber aircraft in the past. The Mustin's pass by was the third time in the past month that American ships have challenged Chinese claims to the Paracel and Spratly islands, and the third since March. US B-1 bombers have also flown over the South China Sea recently, and earlier this month, two Navy ships sailed into the middle of a simmering dispute between China and Malaysia in the South China Sea, while being trailed by a shadowing Chinese warship. The Littoral Combat Ship USS Montgomery and supply ship USNS Cesar Chavez sailed close to a Malaysian drillship, the West Capella, a signal to Chinese warships who spent weeks harassing the vessel in international waters illegally claimed by Beijing. These and “other organic decisions that have come out of the [Pentagon] have demonstrated that we're putting more and more resources into the Indo-Pacific,” Klinck said. “I think the president's intent of reducing our footprint in the Middle East and in Central Asia will also lead to additional resources being available for the Indo-Pacific,” he added, “so I think the trend lines are positive, but it will be a slog particularly now in this COVID environment as resources are even tighter.” Davidson's original proposal called for $1.6 billion in the fiscal 2021 budget submitted earlier this year, and $18.4 billion between 2022 and 2026. The biggest funding recommendation is $5.2 billion over the five-year projection for investments in 360-degree air and missile defense systems, long-range precision fires, and ground- and space-based radars. Davidson also identified as “my number one unfunded priority,” the Homeland Defense System-Guam. It's not clear what the overall contours of the Inhofe-Reed plan might be, but they suggest it will have “the aim of injecting uncertainty and risk into Beijing's calculus, leaving just one conclusion: ‘Not today. You, militarily, cannot win it, so don't even try it.'” House Armed Services Committee leaders have also expressed bipartisan support for the idea, with chairman Adam Smith publicly backing the idea, though he hasn't disclosed any detailed plans. Ranking member Mac Thornberry has suggested finding $6 billion in the 2021 budget on things like air and missile defense systems and new military construction in partner countries. That kind of new spending would likely face an uphill battle finding approval across parties and committees with their own priorities, and with flat budget projections going forward, money will be tighter than in previous years. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/05/support-swells-for-new-indo-pacom-funding-will-money-follow

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  16 septembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Autre défense

  Opinion: How To Break Exponential Pentagon Cost Growth

  James Chew The recently published viewpoint “Can the Pentagon Spend More Smartly?” (AW&ST Aug. 31-Sept. 13, p. 58) highlights the consequences of increased dependence on technology to maintain an edge. In fact, the core issue of the exponential growth in cost associated with the linear growth in technology capability is highlighted in Norman Augustine's 1982 book Augustine's Laws. Specifically, two of “Augustine's laws” focus on what needs to be avoided within the Defense Department acquisition community. One of the laws states: “In the year 2054, the entire defense budget will purchase just one aircraft. This aircraft will have to be shared by the Air Force and Navy three and a half days each per week, except for leap year when it will be made available to the Marines for the extra day.” Additionally, the book highlights the Defense Department's growing dependence on electronic systems with this law: “After the year 2015, there will be no airplane crashes. There will be no takeoffs either, because electronics will occupy 100% of every airplane's weight.” Even if these laws seem outlandish, the book's underlying lessons still ring true today. For decades, the Pentagon was the driving force behind the development of microelectronics until, interestingly, the commercial sector ultimately ended up in the driver's seat. To share a little history, the Army-funded Micromodule project was the precursor of the integrated circuit and the Very-Large Scale Integration project created today's electronic design automation companies and resulted in the development of multichip wafer fabrication technology. The fact is, today's microelectronics technology would not exist, or would almost certainly be less sophisticated, if not for a few brave and visionary Defense Department project officers. The electronics industry is likely the most visible and significant example of a commercial market that not only transitioned from but significantly advanced technology developed by the U.S. military. Without the government investment, the device on which I am writing this article, and the one on which you are reading it, would perhaps not exist. There are lessons to be learned from both the public and private sectors, and best practices from each can certainly be applied cross-functionally to optimize outcomes. For example, the commercial electronics industry has enabled electronic systems companies to develop high-quality, sustainable and modernizable products on a “can't-miss-Christmas” schedule. Much of the industry's success is due in large part to an adherence to “first-pass success” and the computational software tools and processes that enable it. These tools and processes have been developed by companies that invest significant portions of their annual sales—some up to 40%—into research and development (that is “IR&D” to you in the Pentagon) and are a result of the intense competition within the unforgiving consumer electronics market. These tools and processes, which have institutionalized the product development practice of “emulate before you fabricate,” make up the foundation of on-schedule, on-cost product development. The best-case scenario is that the current Defense Department and defense industry electronic development process matches up with the commercial electronics development process, where they both seek to achieve “first-pass success.” Even if all things were equal, which they aren't, the commercial timeline would still be around 30% that of the defense timeline. Eliminating the need for prototype hardware and the associated tests and reworks is a major reduction in design time and cost. So, after so many years of funding research into electronic design and development, why have the Defense Department and defense industry turned away from the commercial processes that stemmed from that investment? Why aren't these processes being adopted? Congress appreciates that transitioning to commercial electronics best practices is the basis for the much-desired firm, fixed-price acquisition. The fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, reinforced by the fiscal 2021 Defense Appropriations Act, has an entire section on transitioning to commercial electronics best practices. Program offices and some individuals within the defense industrial base are seeking to better understand the commercial industry-proven way to design electronics that reduce design schedules by at least 70%, producing “first-pass success” electronic system designs that are immediately sustainable and agilely modernizable. The answer is out there—adopt commercial best practices to save time and money. With nontraditional companies entering the picture (what's the name of that space company?), the public sector should have plenty of motivation to implement tools and processes that are prevalent and successful in today's private sector. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/budget-policy-operations/opinion-how-break-exponential-pentagon-cost-growth