Nouvelles

The company is using extensive automation and a new generation of high-efficiency gallium nitride materials to accelerate development of the Lower-Tier Air & Missile Defense Sensor, LTAMDS. By SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR.on March 19, 2020 at 7:01 AM WASHINGTON: Last October, the Army gave Raytheon a new kind of contract for a new kind of radar. Originally envisioned as simply an upgrade for the iconic but aging Patriot missile defense system, the Lower-Tier Air & Missile Defense Sensor has evolved into a multi-purpose radar that can share data with multiple kinds of command posts and launchers, not just Patriot, over the Army's new IBCS network. Its components use gallium nitride (GaN), instead of the traditional gallium arsenide (GaS), which means less electrical energy wasted as heat and more pouring out of the radar to detect incoming threats at greater distances. The program also takes a new approach to acquisition, using both the Other Transaction Authority (OTA) and Section 804 Mid-Tier Acquisition processes to shortcut around the cumbersome conventional process known as DoD 5000. Even the manufacturing process uses new forms of automation to speed up the process, helping to meet the Army's ambitious timeline. In this interview, sponsored by Raytheon, the company's Integrated Air & Missile Defense director, Bob Kelley, talks to Breaking Defense about what makes LTAMDS different. Q: What's special about the way the Army and Raytheon are developing LTAMDS? A: I think this is a great example of an Other Transaction Authority and Section 804 type of rapid prototyping program. It's very ambitious to go from a sense-off in the spring/early summer timeframe at White Sands Missile Range in 2019, to fielding radars to US Army soldiers in 2022. It is an ambitious schedule, but thus far we are on or ahead of schedule. I think a lot of that has to do just with the level of collaboration and transparency that you get from these types of acquisition programs. The OTA is a rapid prototyping program. This is not a [standard] 5000-series DOD acquisition program. The Army is looking for an urgent material release in fiscal year '22. And so, you back that up, you've got to deliver radars for testing in '21, and you had contract award in October of '19. Within 4 months of contract award, we had the first main array antenna, the one that goes on the front – there are two smaller ones to the rear. The first large front array is complete. Call it a prototype zero. That will be ready to start running contractor tests on this year. Q: What's your manufacturing process like to build these systems? A: We have our own nationally certified GaN Foundry on our site of our manufacturing facility in Andover, Massachusetts. So we're literally manufacturing the GaN chips about a couple hundred yards away from where we turn those into circuit cards, so that we can make GaN radio frequency elements to go onto the front of a radar antenna. So once those GaN chips are made, they come over to the circuit card assembly line, and from that point on there is very little touch labor. What you have is you have people that are supervising machines that are making these chips. It's not that people can't make great circuit cards, but you're going to be far more efficient and you're going to make a lot more. The machines are calibrated that every single card will be identical. Now, you need the humans there to make sure that it's identically right, not identically wrong, because if the first one's wrong they're all going to be wrong. But we take a lot of steps with a lot of quality control and testing to make sure that those are all done properly. Something else that's new this time around is adding some larger robots to our factory. We literally have a robot taking those circuit cards — that were assembled on a circuit card assembly line by machines — and delivering those circuit cards to another robot, and that robot will put them in place and install them on onto the radar. It allows us to have more identicality throughout the entire manufacturing process, but also to manufacturer these products much faster. A Patriot radar is still a very viable radar on the battlefield today, and we have partners that are purchasing them, but there's a lot of human touch labor on there, because some of the designs are a few decades old. This makes it so that we can create and manufacturer a radar in a much shorter period of time — and that's one of the things that is what's allowing us to go quickly here and meet the Army's ambitious timeline. Q: You mentioned Gallium Nitride – why is your ability to make that for LTAMDS so important? A: From our perspective, it's the power efficiency. So our radar takes power in and then it needs some of that power to power all the internal systems inside the radar: There's a whole bunch of signal processors, there's a cooling system — just like your car, there's all these auxiliary things that have to be operating to make the radar work. Then you're left with an amount of power that you are going to try to turn into radio frequency power, to push out and do things that radars do – detect, identify, classify, discriminate. The ranges and altitudes that you can do that at is a function of the efficiency of your RF transmitters and how much power you're putting in. What you'll see with gallium nitride is the efficiency, the output, the power output efficiency is unparalleled by any technology that's out there today. With the same amount of input power, you can see much further, see much higher and see much clearer. That's important when you want to build a ground-based air defense radar that has to be able to be driven around, that you want to be able to deploy on, say, a C-17 aircraft from the United States to some hotspot in the world. Well, that will limit you on the size that your radar can be. What you want to have is the most efficient radar that you can make, so with that size you can get the most performance and capability out of your radar. And we believe that's what we've done. This is not our first gallium nitride radar we've made. But with the improvements we've made to our gallium nitride over the past five to 10 years, we're calling this next-gen GaN technology. The efficiency on this radar far exceeds the efficiency on any other GaN radars that we produce. The main LTAMDS array is roughly the same size as the array on a Patriot, but provides more than twice the performance of the Patriot that's out there today on the battlefield. Q: What's the importance of the side arrays? Patriot didn't have them. A: The battlefield used to be linear – the good guys were on one side, the bad guys were on the other side – so bad things were going to come at you from generally the way you were facing. Well, the battlefield is nonlinear today. Now I can maneuver these missiles to attack from any direction I want. I know what your capability for sensing is; if I want to stay out of that, go all the way around you and come in from the rear, I can do that to you. You can be attacked by tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, electronic attack in the form of jamming, UAVs, fifth gen fighters. And they can bring them all in the same time and space to overwhelm your sensor capability. It's gotten to the point now, with the evolution of the threat and where the threat is going, that there is a requirement to have 360 degree protection. That's why we ended up with three fixed and staring arrays, so that we are always looking in all directions. Q: It's not just about LTAMDS itself – you also have to make this work with Northrop Grumman's Integrated Air & Missile Defense Battle Command System network, IBCS. A: There's a lot of intersections with IBCS as it gets ready to go into its limited user test, coming up in the next couple of months. This is the first US Army radar that is being designed and manufactured to be a native to the IBCS network. With Patriot and Sentinel, there are these adaptation kits that will adapt those radars and those shooters to the IBCS integrated fire control network. Those kits are not required with this radar: It is being designed and optimized specifically to operate in that network. It was actually part of the requirement: You had to demonstrate that you understood how to do that and make it happen. We get the interface document from the United States government and they say, “This is what you have to interface with.” It's that simple. [Editor's note: IBCS is a Northrop Grumman product, not one of Raytheon's, but the US government owns the necessary data rights and can share the interface control documents with other contractors whose products need to plug in. That's actually a novel approach to contracting and central to the military's pursuit of interoperable open architecture.] This interview transcript was edited for clarity and brevity. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/03/raytheon-robotized-factory-speeds-up-army-ltamds-radar

By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — In a letter to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and acting Navy secretary Thomas Modly, the congressional delegation from Maine has requested quicker payments and relief from contractual obligations for the defense industrial base, including local shipyards, impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. In the letter sent Thursday, the delegation — Republican Sen. Susan Collin and Independent Sen. Angus King, as well as democratic Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden — warn that “the Department of Defense and the Navy must immediately act to protect our nation's defense industrial base, including our nation's shipyards.” Maine is home to Bath Iron Works, owned by General Dynamics, which produces both the Zumwalt and Arleigh Burke class destroyers. The delegation has three key demands. The first is for the department to “work to mitigate cash flow and other financial burdens” on contractors and subcontractors as a result of the outbreak, “to include relief from contracting requirements that are uniquely impacted by COVID-19.” The contract relief being sought involves waiving schedule and price requirements in case delivery times are impacted by loss of workforce due to coronavirus-inflicted travel bans, closures, quarantines or travel restrictions. It could also potentially give cover should a subcontractor be unable to deliver a part on time. Second, to take “any actions possible to accelerate or advance payments or new contract obligations in order to provide immediate stability to the industrial base.” The lawmakers offer to “immediately assist” the department if additional funding or “new legal authorities” are needed to make such sped-up payments possible. And third, the delegation calls for the department to clarify “planning and public guidance to ensure a stable industrial base while also ensuring the health and safety of the defense industrial base workforce” — that is, to make clear what workers must stay at work, and which could potentially work from home. A spokesman for General Dynamics told Defense News earlier this week that they are allowing anyone who can work from home to do so, while curtailing travel and pausing participation in trade shows. “An outbreak of COVID-19 at one of our nation's shipyards or other large defense contractors could truly be devastating to our national defense,” the delegation writes. “We ask you to work with and support industry to take all the necessary protective actions.” King is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, while Collins sits on the appropriations defense subcommittee. Pingree is a member of the House Appropriations Committee while Golden is on the House Armed Services Committee. It is expected that Collins, at least, will be speaking directly to Modly about the issue in the near future. https://www.defensenews.com/coronavirus/2020/03/19/maine-lawmakers-want-contract-relief-quicker-payments-for-industry-to-combat-covid-19-impact

L'Armée de l'air a accueilli deux équipages de Reaper venus d'Espagne, à l'occasion de leur stage de requalification. 33e escadre de surveillance, de reconnaissance et d'attaque. Le 13 mars, l'Armée de l'air française a annoncé avoir participé à la formation de deux équipages de drones Reaper espagnols. Il s'agissait en fait d'un stage de requalification, une procédure courante pour les pilotes de drones, qui s'est déroulé au sein de la base 709 de Cognac-Chateaubernard, qui accueille la 33e escadre de surveillance, de reconnaissance et d'attaque. La 33e ESRA est celle qui met en œuvre les drones Reaper français et forment les équipages à travers l'Escadron de transformation opérationnelle drone (ETOD) 3/33 « Moselle ». Coopération franco-espagnole. Les deux équipages espagnols ont ainsi pu suivre ce stage du 3 au 14 février. Le capitaine Redondo, de l'Ejercito del Aire, a déclaré à cette occasion : « c'est une grande chance pour nous de pouvoir bénéficier du retour d'expérience des pilotes et instructeurs français qui travaillent sur ces drones depuis plus longtemps. Nous avons pu échanger sur nos connaissances et nos missions respectives et sommes reconnaissants d'avoir pu apprendre de leur vécu », rapporte l'armée de l'Air. En effet, la livraison du premier système de drones Reaper à la France remonte à 2013, lequel a immédiatement été employé en Opex, dans le cadre de l'opération Barkhane. Un dispositif différent. La France a ainsi accompagné les deux pilotes et les deux opérateurs capteurs espagnols dans ce stage de requalification, qu'ils ont pu valider à l'issue de deux semaines de formation. Les équipages ont particulièrement travaillé sur les procédures de décollage et d'atterrissage de l'aéronef, sur l'emploi du radar ainsi que sur les différentes procédures d'urgence. Mais alors que les équipages espagnols s'articulent autour de deux personnes, la France adopte une approche différente dans ce domaine, avec un équipage à quatre. « Nous travaillons en équipage de deux personnes et les informations recueillies sont envoyées par satellite pour traitement. L'Armée de l'air française forme quant à elle deux personnes de plus qui intègrent l'équipage : un officier renseignement et un opérateur qui traitent les informations instantanément et sont en liaison directe avec leur commandement », met en avant l'Ejercito del Aire. Une distinction dont la France est fière et qui lui permet de transmettre rapidement un renseignement enrichi auprès des décideurs et du C2 lors des missions Reaper. https://www.air-cosmos.com/article/reaper-des-quipages-espagnols-viennent-se-former-en-france-22777

Par Michel Cabirol Le salon international de défense et de sécurité terrestres et aéroterrestres Eurosatory maintient pour le moment ses dates du 8 au 12 juin. Alors que les organisateurs du salon aéronautique ILA de Berlin ont été contraints d'annuler l'édition de 2020 (13 au 17 mai 2020), le salon international de défense et de sécurité terrestres et aéroterrestres Eurosatory, maintient quant à lui et pour le moment ses dates du 8 au 12 juin au Parc des Expositions de Paris-Nord Villepinte. Le Coges, qui organise Eurosatory, a mis tout son personnel en télétravail. "Nous nous employons à préparer avec soin le salon tout en assurant la sécurité et la protection de tous les participants", a précisé le Coges. Une décision concernant la tenue du salon ou son annulation sera prise avant fin avril. "Nous espérons que cette crise sanitaire sera la plus courte possible ; nul ne sait aujourd'hui comment cette crise va évoluer", a fait observer le Coges. https://www.latribune.fr/entreprises-finance/industrie/aeronautique-defense/defense-le-salon-eurosatory-est-pour-le-moment-maintenu-842676.html

Tony Osborne The UK declared the F-35 operational even though the fleet was suffering from availability, infrastructure, logistics and security issues, auditors have revealed. The UK National Audit Office (NAO) found that the December 2018 initial operating capability (IOC) from land bases was granted with 67 exceptions, with almost one-third of those still yet to be resolved more than a year later. It is not clear on how many criteria IOC (Land) was judged. In its report studying how new capabilities are delivered into front-line operations, the NAO reported that in the run-up to the milestone there had been delays in the provision of synthetic training facilities. This impacted the availability of pilots and maintainers, while operational availability of the aircraft “hampered the ability to deliver training.” The report appears to confirm the reasons behind a 34-day flying break by the UK-based fleet in the late summer of 2018 reported by Aerospace DAILY. Plans to use simulators for training have been frustrated by “technical difficulties and delays in security vetting.” The NAO said the UK Ministry of Defense is able to use exemptions when bringing a new capability into service. Capabilities that do not meet specifications but are deemed good enough would be given an exemption. The NAO also says that IOC acceptance criteria for the F-35 was not finalized “until several years” after business case approval in the second half of 2017. Exemptions arose from “not being able to demonstrate deployability through a planned exercise,” because of aircraft availability, a reliance on contractors for mission support because of a lack of trained Royal Air Force personnel, and a lack of access to mission support training facilities in the U.S. Another challenge was an inability to program aircraft with UK mission data independently of the U.S. This has since been addressed with the opening of the Australian, Canadian and United Kingdom Reprogramming Laboratory (ACURL) at Eglin AFB, Florida, which was declared operational in February. The NAO notes that some 20 of the exemptions had still not been resolved as of last month. But the NAO says the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy have made progress in the areas of training personnel and logistics. The UK now has 15 F-35Bs based in the country flying with front-line unit 617 Sqdn. and with 207 Sqdn, a training unit. Since their arrival to the UK, the aircraft have been deployed to Cyprus and flown operational missions in the Middle East. They also recently took part in a Tier 1 Red Flag exercise with Five Eyes partners Australia and the U.S. A Lockheed Martin spokesman said that while it was for the customer to answer questions concerning IOC, “the F-35 program globally continues to mature, and Lockheed Martin has made significant steps in terms of reliability and aircraft availability, with the global fleet averaging greater than 65% mission-capable rates and operational units consistently performing near 75%.” Questions to the UK Ministry of Defense had not been answered at the time of publication. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/budget-policy-operations/uk-declared-f-35-operational-despite-issues-auditors-say

Reston, Va. March, 19, 2020 -- (BUSINESS WIRE)-- Science Applications International Corp. (NYSE: SAIC) won the Federal Supply Group - 80 Tailored Logistics Support Program contract from the Defense Logistics Agency. The single-award, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract has a ceiling value of $950 million. “We're proud to extend our partnership with the DLA in supporting our warfighters around the world,” said Jim Scanlon, executive vice president and general manager of SAIC's Defense Systems Group. “We're looking forward to bringing our expertise and technical solutions, such as our Integrated Logistics Toolkit and hazardous materials management, to bear to help improve service delivery to the Department of Defense.” On this contract, SAIC will take over supply chain management for the FSG 80 commodity, which includes paints; preservation and sealing compounds; and adhesives. Many of these items have short shelf lives and require temperature-controlled storage. The company will provide services including, but not limited to, procurement, demand planning, inventory and distribution management, shelf-life management, and direct delivery of the commodity to more than 5,000 DOD locations. SAIC's Integrated Logistics Tool kit is a suite of open-source software applications that optimizes performance on large, supply chain management programs. It automates collection of requirements, forecasting demand, and inventory and delivery management and optimization. The toolkit can also identify qualified sources of supply and generate customized reports. It was developed based on business processes and best-in-class methodologies obtained by SAIC's more than 30 years' experience in supply chain management. The contract has a three-year base period of performance with two, two-year options. About SAIC SAIC® is a premier technology integrator solving our nation's most complex modernization and readiness challenges. Our robust portfolio of offerings across the defense, space, civilian, and intelligence markets includes high-end solutions in engineering, IT, and mission solutions. Using our expertise and understanding of existing and emerging technologies, we integrate the best components from our own portfolio and our partner ecosystem to deliver innovative, effective, and efficient solutions. We are 24,000 strong; driven by mission, united by purpose, and inspired by opportunities. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, SAIC has pro forma annual revenues of approximately $7.1 billion. For more information, visit saic.com. For ongoing news, please visit our newsroom. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this release contain or are based on “forward-looking” information within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by words such as “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “guidance,” and similar words or phrases. Forward-looking statements in this release may include, among others, estimates of future revenues, operating income, earnings, earnings per share, charges, total contract value, backlog, outstanding shares and cash flows, as well as statements about future dividends, share repurchases and other capital deployment plans. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risk, uncertainties and assumptions, and actual results may differ materially from the guidance and other forward-looking statements made in this release as a result of various factors. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause or contribute to these material differences include those discussed in the “Risk Factors,” “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Legal Proceedings” sections of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, as updated in any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other filings with the SEC, which may be viewed or obtained through the Investor Relations section of our website at saic.com or on the SEC's website at sec.gov. Due to such risks, uncertainties and assumptions you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. SAIC expressly disclaims any duty to update any forward-looking statement provided in this release to reflect subsequent events, actual results or changes in SAIC's expectations. SAIC also disclaims any duty to comment upon or correct information that may be contained in reports published by investment analysts or others. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200319005042/en/ Lauren Presti 703-676-8982 lauren.a.presti@saic.com Source: Science Applications International Corp. View source version on SAIC: https://investors.saic.com/press-releases/press-release-details/2020/SAIC-Wins-950-Million-Defense-Logistics-Agency-FSG-80-Contract/default.aspx

DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN Construction of the Royal Canadian Navy's new Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships and maintenance of its frigates has been halted because of the novel coronavirus. “We are immediately suspending industrial activities at Halifax Shipyard, Marine Fabricators, and Woodside Industries related to the AOPS construction program and the Halifax-class In-Service maintenance program,” wrote Irving Shipbuilding president Kevin McCoy. “The decision became necessary given the high density of the employee population in certain work areas, high absenteeism, and reduced critical vendor support in materials and services.” Irving will review its decision on a week-by-week basis to assess the latest information about COVID-19, McCoy added. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/construction-of-new-arctic-ships-maintenance-of-frigates-halted-because-of-covid-19

NAVY Barber-Nichols Inc., Arvada, Colorado (N66604-20-D-E001); Booz Allen Hamilton, McLean, Virginia (N66604-20-D-E002); L3 Technologies Inc., Northampton, Massachusetts (N66604-20-D-E003); Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia (N66604-20-D-E004); Leonardo DRS Inc., Melbourne, Florida (N66604-20-D-E005); Lockheed Martin Sippican Inc., Marion, Massachusetts (N66604-20-D-E006); MIKEL Inc., Middletown, Rhode Island (N66604-20-D-E007); Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Annapolis, Maryland (N66604-20-D-E008); Progeny Systems Corp., Manassas, Virginia (N66604-20-D-E009); Foster-Miller Inc., doing business as QinetiQ-NA, Waltham, Massachusetts (N66604-20-D-E010); Raytheon Co., Keyport, Washington (N66604-20-D-E011); Rite-Solutions Inc., Pawcatuck, Connecticut (N66604-20-D-E012); Science Applications International Corp., Reston, Virginia (N66604-20-D-E013); Systems Engineering Associates Corp., Middletown, Rhode Island (N66604-20-D-E014); Sechan Electronics Inc., Lititz, Pennsylvania (N66604-20-D-E015); Sonalysts Inc., Waterford, Connecticut (N66604-20-D-E016); and Systems Planning and Analysis Inc., Alexandria, Virginia (N66604-20-D-E017), are being awarded a $73,730,343 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple-award contract for the procurement of materials and services to design, develop, fabricate, test, install, document and deliver rapid prototype solutions in support of the Undersea Warfare/Undersea Defensive Family of Systems. Work will be performed at the contractors' sites, minimally at government locations and is expected to be completed by March 2023. For these base indefinite-quality/indefinite-delivery, three-year contracts, funding will not be obligated at time of award. A $2,500 minimum guarantee will be executed on each awardee's initial task order. This multiple-award contract was competitively procured with 17 acceptable offers received via the Federal Business Opportunities website. The Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport, Newport, Rhode Island, is the contracting activity. Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Orlando, Florida, is awarded a $48,235,113 single award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N65236-20-D-8012) with provisions for cost-plus, fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price task/delivery orders. This contract is for the procurement of Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) to legacy Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Satellite Communications Gateway Component systems and services. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida, and is expected to be complete by March 2029. These systems support interoperability from tactical-to-tactical (point-to-point, point-to-group/net, group-to-net) satellite communications between MUOS and legacy UHF satellite communication users. In addition, the required services include Satellite Communication Gateway Component Suite B interface development, technical refresh enhancements, training, documentation updates, cybersecurity services, pre-installation test and checkout, implementation/installation and sustainment. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The contract includes a five-year ordering period, a two-year option period and one six-month option to extend services in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.217-8. The option periods, if exercised, will bring the cumulative value of this contract to an estimated $65,214,634. Contract funds in the amount of $25,000 will be obligated at the time of award. This requirement was not competitively procured because it is a sole-source acquisition pursuant to the authority of 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) with only one responsible source. Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic, Charleston, South Carolina, is the contracting activity. Teledyne Defense Electronics LLC, doing business as Teledyne Microwave Solutions, Rancho Cordova, California, is awarded a $34,963,200 firm-fixed-price requirements contract for the repair of traveling wave tubes (model 10 kW) in support of the Advanced Electronic Guidance and Instrumentation System/Combat System. Work will be performed in Rancho Cordova, California, and is expected to be complete by March 2025. This contract includes a five-year base period with no options. Annual working capital funds (Navy) will be obligated as individual task orders as issued, and funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One company was solicited for this sole-source requirement pursuant to the authority set forth in 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), with one offer received. Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity (N00104-20-D-V001). Lockheed Martin Corp. Rotary and Mission Systems, Liverpool, New York, is awarded a $19,413,337 modification to previously awarded contract N00024-13-C-6292 to exercise and fund options for the production of Navy equipment. Work will be performed in Liverpool, New York (66%); Millersville, Maryland (33%); and Marion, Massachusetts (1%), and is expected to be complete by November 2021. Fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $19,413,337 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. CB Tech Services Inc.,* Honolulu, Hawaii (N32253-20-D-0006); Coastal Marine Services Inc.,* San Diego, California (N32253-20-D-0007); Sitta, Paige and Associates Inc.,* National City, California (N32253-20-D-0005); and Pacific Shipyards International,* Honolulu, Hawaii (N32253-20-D-0008), are awarded $13,000,000 for a multiple award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with firm-fixed-price pricing for the procurement of interior decking commercial industrial services at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Hawaii. Work will be performed in the state of Hawai'i and is expected to be completed by February 2025. The four contractors may compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the awarded contracts. The maximum ceiling value for all four contracts is $13,000,000. No funding will be obligated at time of award. This contract was competitively procured with five offers received via the Federal Business Opportunities website. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is the contracting activity. FLIR Systems Inc., North Billerica, Massachusetts, is awarded a $12,133,461 ceiling increase modification to previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00164-18-D-JQ99) for non-warranty repairs, provision item ordering spares, product revisions, upgrades and production systems of the maritime mounted sensor. Work will be performed in North Billerica, Massachusetts, and is expected to be complete by February 2023. The contract will support multiple electro-optic sensor systems to include the following maritime forward-looking infrared, combatant craft forward looking infrared, shipboard infrared sensor systems, sea forward looking infrared. The electro-optic systems are utilized by the Navy, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and U.S. Special Operations Command to carry out assigned missions. These systems provide electro-optical surveillance capability allowing the user to operate in low-light conditions. This contract was awarded on a sole-source basis in accordance with the statutory authority of 10 U.S. Code 2304(c) (1) as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulations 6.302-1, only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $650,000 will be obligated at the time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, Crane, Indiana, is the contracting activity. Colonna Shipyards Inc., Norfolk, Virginia, is awarded an $8,903,875 firm-fixed-price contract for an 80-day shipyard availability for the emergency dry-docking of Navy Ship Spearhead (T-EPF 1). Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia, and is expected to be complete by June 2020. This contract includes an 80-day base period and three options, which if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $9,241,725. Working capital contract funds (Navy) in the amount of $8,903,875 are obligated for fiscal 2020 and will not expire at the end of the fiscal year. The Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Manassas, Virginia; and Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Syracuse, New York, is awarded an $8,759,811 cost-plus-incentive-fee modification to previously awarded contract N00024-09-C-6247 to exercise options for Integrated Submarine Imaging System (for submarine electronic warfare models AN/BLQ-10 and TI-18) kits and spares. Work will be performed in Manassas, Virginia (47%); Syracuse, New York (29%); Chantilly, Virginia (13%); Marion, Massachusetts (7%); and Newport, Rhode Island (4 %), and is expected to be completed by March 2023. Fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $8,759,811 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 Navy Yard, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. (Awarded March 12, 2020) U.S. TRANSPORTATION COMMAND Construction Helicopters Inc., Howell, Michigan, has been awarded a task order modification, HTC711-18-F-R029/P00008, on contract HTC711-17-D-R016 in the amount of $33,995,543. This modification provides continued support of North Atlantic Treaty Organization Air Command-Afghanistan/Combined Security Transition Command. The services provide dedicated rotary wing air transportation to move passengers, cargo and human remains as well as perform casualty evacuation in support of the Afghan Air Force. Work will be performed in the government of Afghanistan. The option period of performance is from March 19, 2020, to March 18, 2021. Fiscal 2020 Afghanistan Security Force funds (Army) were obligated at award of the modification. This modification brings the total cumulative face value of the task order to $101,571,160, from $67,575,617. U.S. Transportation Command, Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity. ARMY R&D Maintenance Services Inc.,* Tulsa, Oklahoma, was awarded a $15,989,749 cost-plus, firm-fixed-price contract for maintenance, repair, minor construction and operations of the Hartwell Lake and Dam project. Bids were solicited via the internet with four received. Work will be performed in Hartwell, Georgia, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 31, 2025. Fiscal 2020 civil investigation funds in the amount of $15,989,749 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah, Georgia, is the contracting activity (W912HN-20-C-5000). Navistar Defense, Melrose Park, Illinois, was awarded an $11,442,992 firm-fixed-price Foreign Military Sales (Iraq) contract for 6x6 and 4x4 general transport trucks, recovery vehicles, and spare parts. Bids were solicited via the internet with five received. Work will be performed in Springfield, Ohio; and Ooltewah, Tennessee, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 28, 2021. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-20-F-0206). *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2117069/source/GovDelivery/

By: Nathan Strout L3Harris is building a new platform that will help analysts in the military use artificial intelligence to identify objects in large imagery data sets. “In general, there's a big challenge with the amount of remote sensing data that's coming down, whether that's from space or airborne assets,” explained Will Rorrer, principal of business development for geospatial at L3Harris Technologies. “So there's lots of imagery and other data types coming down from above, so much so that it really can't be looked at in its entirety — certainly not exploited in its entirety — by traditional means (with) purely human analysts. And so things like counting objects in imagery, monitoring different places, that's where there's a natural adoption of machine learning type of techniques,” he continued. L3Harris officials declined to share who the end customer for their product will be or the exact value of their multimillion dollar contract, which was issued by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center. It's no secret that the Department of Defense and the intelligence community are eager to use artificial intelligence tools to sift through the vast torrent of data created by an ever increasing number of sensors and pick out the most important information for human analysts. For its platform, L3Harris is focusing on creating the training data and workflows that will enable a machine learning tool to process data for the Department of Defense and provide deliverable intelligence. Machine learning platforms are essentially made of three parts: the training data the neural network will learn from, the machine learning algorithm itself, and then how the platform integrates into other Department of Defense systems. L3Harris will be working on what Rorrer calls the front end and the back end of the AI platform. “A lot of AI/ML technologies can be ported into that middle category,” he said. “Neural network applications that have been developed in commercial space can be brought in if we can address the front end and the back end of that in DoD space.” For nearly 30 years, L3Harris has been incorporated advanced modeling and simulation capabilities to test out new payloads and optical systems, using computers to plot out how the atmosphere and other factors will impact their technologies. Now the company plans to use those modeling and simulation tools to develop the training data that will teach a machine learning algorithm how to solve complex DoD problems, such as identifying a threatening object within satellite imagery. “All of that summed up—we make very good fake imagery,” said Rorrer. “ We've taken that technology that was essentially developed for another reason and pivoted (to using it) as a source of synthetic training data for these neural net applications.” Synthetic training data can be especially important for developing DoD or intelligence community AI applications, since there's often not enough real world imagery of the threats they're focused on, said Rorrer. L3Harris believes that they can create fake imagery that looks enough like the real thing that when real imagery is fed into the algorithm it can find the objects it's supposed to. https://www.c4isrnet.com/intel-geoint/2020/03/18/l3harris-is-building-an-ai-tool-to-help-process-geoint/