1 décembre 2022 | International, Aérospatial
Aircraft makers lumber toward deal for Europeâs next-gen fighter jet
The Future Combat Air System can proceed, but mistrust and a lack of enthusiasm have colored the program.
31 janvier 2019 | International, C4ISR
What do Cyber Command’s acquisition requests reveal?
By: Mark Pomerleau
U.S. Cyber Command is looking to beef up its main acquisition and capabilities development arm with contractor support.
In a Jan. 25 request for information released on the FedBizOpps website, Cyber Command's J9, or advanced concepts and technology directorate, is seeking feedback on a statement of work to provide front office support. The feedback will help craft the eventual requirements.
Previously, the J9 was known as the Capabilities Development Group. The CDG had a three-pronged mission: planning and synchronizing capability development for the joint cyber force; developing capabilities in order to reduce risk or meet urgent operational needs; and maintaining the command's technical baseline. It was established in 2016 to coordinate, integrate and prioritize cyber tool development and delivery efforts across the services given the joint nature of cyberspace and the need to enable greater synergy across the joint cyber mission force.
CDG was recently redesignated as the J9. This was done to clarify its goals and mission and to better align with Joint Staff and other unified combatant commands — all of which have J9s — a Cyber Command spokesman told Fifth Domain. Cyber Command, stood up in 2009, itself was elevated to a full unified combatant command in May 2018.
As the command is looking to scale up its operations and its capabilities, it is going to need a more robust staff. Experts have noted that the CDG, now J9, has been very stressed over the past few years with a limited staff and burdened by developing tools for current operational needs — namely the fight against ISIS, called Joint Task Force-Ares.
Cyber Command's top acquisition official, Stephen Schanberger, said as recently as September 2018 that the command is in its infancy from an acquisition perspective, adding that the command at the time had one contracting officer, one specialist and a couple of contractors aside from himself in the contracting shop. He did say he expected those numbers to double in the next three months at the time.
Congress granted Cyber Command limited acquisition authority in 2016 following the model of Special Operations Command. It capped acquisition funds at $75 million, sunsetting in 2021.
The thinking at the time, according to congressional staff, was to take a crawl, walk, run approach and see if the command could demonstrate it could properly exercises its limited authority.
Schanberger said they want the command to show Congress it can use the authority in the way it's supposed to and start to stand up the backbone of a contracting organization. This includes being able to put together solicitation packages, plan contracting strategy for years ahead and be able to effectively implement and put out proposals and award them without making a mess.
Schanberger added in September that the command wants a ceiling of $250 million and a sunset of 2025.
In the recent request for information, Cyber Command is seeking a full range of program support, policy support and advisory and assistance services to support the needs of the J9 executive front office, which will assist in long-range planning, development of strategic communications, review of policies and procedures, recommending documentation and policy updates, consulting and reporting.
A few of the specific tasks the document asks contractors to perform include:
- J9 strategy and policy — Contractors should help with interagency coordination, drafting policy, doctrine and concepts, provide long term planning strategy to support the growth and evolution of the command to include manpower, workforce structure, fiscal and acquisition expertise.
- Strategic coordination support — Contractors should work to communicate key command messages, supporting development topics to build awareness of overall cyber goals and objectives and managing logistics for events.
- Legislative preparation.
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28 septembre 2018 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre
Here’s how the Corps could shave about 6 pounds off your body armor
By: Shawn Snow The Corps is in the beginning stages of researching a new, lighter alternative ballistic body armorplate for counterinsurgency style conflicts that is nearly six pounds lighter than the legacy plates. And on Thursday, it held an industry day with 16 companies vying to produce the Corps' latest body armor. The goal is to reduce battlefield fatigue and provide commanders with flexibility on the type of armor protection they decide to carry into combat, according to Keith Pierce, the armor team lead for Infantry Combat Equipment at Marine Corps Systems Command. While the current Enhanced Small Arms Protective, or ESAPI, have been highly effective in saving lives on the battlefield, they weigh nearly a combined 15 pounds, the Corps wants to shave that down to roughly 8.6 pounds for a medium-sized Marine, Pierce said. But don't expect the ESAPI to disappear just yet. The new plates are being crafted for low intensity threat environments like the counterinsurgency style wars that have embroiled American forces for nearly 20 years. While the new plates will “defeat a preponderance of threats” in low intensity conflicts, the ESAPIs will still be “critical in some threat environments,” Pierce explained to Marine Corps Times. But the changes to the new plates are still likely to be minimal. The Corps has decided to keep the same basic shape of the ESAPI, and there's unlikely to be any major changes in materials used to construct the armor plates “The materials for plates haven't had a big tech leap,” Pierce said. “A lot of people are trying to find that next leap.” The Army recently fielded a new plate, but its relatively of the same construction as the ESAPI, according to Pierce. “There may be incremental changes ... like the ceramic improving a little bit,” Pierce explained. But Pierce said he didn't expect any major changes over the next five years. “We are looking at some unique things,” he added. A lot of data and analysis is being pored over, to include assessments of the threat environment by the intelligence community for the construction of the new plates. So far, the Corps has tested a prototype of the lighter plates and found Marines had nearly eight percent faster mobility over the heavier ESAPIs. The new plates — when combined with the new Plate Carrier Gen III system — will reduce a Marine's load burden by a total of eight to 10 pounds, according to Pierce. The Corps expects to award a contract sometime in fiscal 2019 for the lightweight plates, and fielding might kick off in 2020, Pierce said. https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2018/09/27/heres-how-the-corps-wants-to-shave-about-6-pounds-off-body-armor/
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29 juin 2021 | International, Aérospatial
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