14 février 2024 | International, Terrestre
9 octobre 2019 | International, Aérospatial
What A California Drone Manufacturer is Crafting in Greater OKC
The unassuming, sparsely-furnished manufacturing warehouse adjacent to Oklahoma City's Will Rogers International Airport may not exactly communicate “bustling unmanned systems manufacturer,” but looks can be deceiving.
“Are we the coolest business in Oklahoma City? I think we're the coolest business in the world,” says a confident Steven Fendley, Unmanned Systems Division President of San Diego-based Kratos Defense & Security Solutions. A closer look at what the company is building in the Sooner State—which will soon have that 101,000 square foot warehouse bursting at its seams—might just have you convinced.
In April, as the defense company unveiled its first six unmanned aerial MQM-178 Firejets produced at the same facility, it also announced the coming of the 30-foot Valkyrie, an unmanned aircraft resembling a fighter jet that is capable of long-range flight at high sub-sonic speeds.
“Our target aircraft, jet aircraft, unmanned are used for our military to test their defensive systems and their offensive systems against what otherwise would be an enemy aircraft,” Fendley explains. “Title Ten of the U.S. Code states that there's a requirement to operate any of our development systems against a true threat representative system, not just simply a simulation. These aircrafts are representative threats, from a fighter aircraft perspective, from a bomber aircraft perspective, from a cruise missile perspective. They can replicate any of those threats very effectively and provide a realistic training scenario.”
Currently at just 20 employees, the Oklahoma City venture will scale to 350-550 during the next three-to-five years, from engineering and design functions to manufacturing. The startup operation is focused on integration, assembly, testing, and client delivery for now, but will produce 350 Firejets per year, including all its parts, as early as the end of the year.
For the Valkyrie, its maiden flight was successfully launched in March, signaling the next evolution for Kratos' unmanned aerial tactical systems. "It's basically a manned-aircraft size," Fendley told The Oklahoman. "It has a bomb bay. It can carry ordnance. It can carry sensor systems that allow you to locate the enemy. It's intended to be a wing man."
While Kratos develops its own advanced technology, the aircraft must integrate with several other systems for effective deployment and testing, so the company works closely with the likes of Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, all of which have operations in Greater Oklahoma City (OKC) as well.
“Oklahoma has a very, very high and supportive focus on the aerospace and defense industry,” Fendley says. “There are a lot of elements of the defense industry and the aerospace industry that exist here. What this really does, I think for us, and we're really proud of this at Kratos, I think we're the first to actually bring the integration and production of a complete aircraft system that will roll out and be produced in Oklahoma. We're very proud of that. We're very excited about that. And what it allows us to do is take advantage of all the technologies that exist here.”
An added advantage for Kratos is the proximity to Tinker Air Force Base, the largest single-site employer in Oklahoma with 26,000 military and civilian employees, and home to the nation's largest aircraft and jet engine repair center. The composite work, integration of systems and overall aircraft technology is a shared function between military and private industry, allowing Tinker to cover any overflow capacity for Kratos should the firm need it. Altogether, along with a lower cost structure and more take-home pay for its workers, the combination made the decision to grow in Greater OKC a no-brainer.
But can the same be said for Fendley's boast about his company? Can a manufacturer—one with significant work for the U.S. government—really be considered cool, let alone the “coolest in the world?”
“You know the old saying, an extrovert engineer looks at your shoes, an introvert looks at his own shoes. So it's always hard for engineers to talk about what they do,” Fendley explains. “It's not hard in this case. Look at it, these are jet, unmanned aircraft that look cool, that sound cool, that are fun to build, that are fun to design, and are really, really important to the community, and to the country at large.”
It's hard to argue with that.
https://aviationweek.com/what-defense-aviation-manufacturer-is-crafting-in-greater-okc
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23 avril 2019 | International, Naval
Navy’s First Maintenance Report Calls For More Dry Docks
The Navy on Wednesday released its first naval ship maintenance and modernization plan, underscoring the need for more dry docks because of the disparity between a backlog of repair work and repair shipyards' capabilities. The “Report to Congress on the... https://www.defensedaily.com/navys-first-maintenance-report-calls-dry-docks/navy-usmc/
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4 juin 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité, Autre défense
Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - June 3, 2019
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY HDT Expeditionary Systems Inc., Solon, Ohio, has been awarded a maximum $200,000,000 firm-fixed-priced, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for commercial off-the-shelf shelters and tents. This was a competitive acquisition with one response received. This is a one-year base contract with three one-year option periods. Locations of performance are Alabama, Ohio, Virginia and Kentucky, with a June 4, 2020, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, 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-1158). NAVY Accenture Federal Services LLC, Arlington, Virginia, is awarded a $79,074,099 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide program and project management; support of the Navy Tele-Mentoring Program; system administration; training; communications support; data analytics; tele-radiology; and support of the Health Experts Online Portal and Pacific Asynchronous TeleHealth in support of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. Work will be performed in Falls Church, Virginia (83 percent); San Diego, California (10 percent); Portsmouth, Virginia (2 percent); Camp Pendleton, California (2 percent); Lemoore, California (1 percent); Twentynine Palms, California (1 percent); and Bremerton, Washington (1 percent). The contract will include a 60-month ordering period that will begin July 2019, and is expected to be completed by July 2024. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Defense Health Procurement) (O&MDHP) funds in the amount of $10,000 will be obligated to fund the contract's minimum amount and those funds will expire at the end of fiscal 2019. Subsequent task orders will be funded with the appropriate fiscal year O&MDHP funds. This contract resulted from a full and open competitive solicitation pursuant to the authority set forth in Federal Acquisition Regulation 16.504. The requirement was solicited through the Federal Business Opportunities and Navy Electronic Commerce Online websites, with 11 offers received. Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Norfolk, Contracting Department, Philadelphia Office, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity (N00189-19-D-Z024). Lockheed Martin Sippican Inc., Marion, Massachusetts, is awarded a $56,865,098 firm-fixed-price, cost, and cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract N00024-16-C-6412 to exercise Option Year Three for the production of Mk 48 Mod 7 guidance and control (G&C) sections, Mk 48 Mod 7 Common Broadband Advanced Sonar System (CBASS) Functional Item Replacement (FIR) kits, spares, production support material, and related engineering services and hardware repair support for G&C sections and CBASS kits. Work will be performed in Marion, Massachusetts (88 percent); Braintree, Massachusetts (8 percent); and Lemont Furnace, Pennsylvania (4 percent), and is expected to be completed by March 2021. Fiscal 2019 and 2017 weapons procurement (Navy); Foreign Military Sales; fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy); and fiscal 2018 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $56,865,098 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, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. Communication & Power Industries LLC, MPP Division, Palo Alto California, is awarded a $10,244,971 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity contract for evaluation, repair, rebuild and new manufacture of L-Band Klystron microwave tubes required to support the AN/SPS-49 radar system. Work will be performed in Palo Alto, California, and is expected to be completed by June 2024. Working capital funds (Navy) funding in the amount of $905,658 will be obligated at time of award, and will not expire at the end of the current 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, Crane Division, Crane, Indiana, is the contracting activity (N0016419DWP32). ARMY General Dynamics Mission Systems Inc., Taunton, Massachusetts, was awarded a $36,850,696 modification (0125) to contract W15P7T-10-D-C007 for post-deployment software support services. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of June 1, 2020. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity. TRAX International LLC, Las Vegas, Nevada, was awarded a $17,666,430 modification (P00312) to contract W9124Q-07-C-0504 for mission support services. Work will be performed in White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 31, 2019. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $2,100,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command, White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, is the contracting activity. CORRECTION: The contract announced on May 31, 2019, for DirectViz Solutions LLC (DVS),* Chantilly, Virginia (W91RUS-19-C-0014), was not awarded. No new award date has been set. AIR FORCE AAI Corp., doing business as Textron Systems, Hunt Valley, Maryland, has been awarded a $24,318,602 undefinitized contract action for AC-208 contract logistics support and maintenance training. This contract provides for contractor logistics support and maintenance training for the AC-208 aircraft. Work will be performed at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan, and is expected to be complete by May 31, 2020. Fiscal 2018 Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $7,406,993 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Training Aircraft Division, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8617-19-C-6234). Work Services Corp., Wichita Falls, Texas, has been awarded a $20,805,260 firm-fixed-price modification (P00002) to the previously awarded contract FA3020-18-C-0013 for food services. This contract modification provides full funding for the first option period. Work will be performed at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, and is expected to be complete by June 30, 2020. This modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $36,010,315. Fiscal year 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the full amount are being obligated at the time of award. The 82nd Contracting Squadron, Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, is the contracting activity. *Small business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1864933/source/GovDelivery/