Nouvelles

By Mark Pomerleau U.S. Cyber Command nearly doubled the amount of money it issued in defense contracts between fiscal years 2018 and 2019, according to figures provided in written testimony to Congress. In 2019, the command awarded $74.9 million through 81 contracting actions, Gen. Paul Nakasone, the command's leader told the House Armed Services Committee March 4. Those figures are up from the 32 contracts valued at $43 million in fiscal year 2018 that Nakasone provided in testimony in February 2019. Congress gave Cyber Command limited acquisition authority in 2016 following the model of Special Operations Command. It capped acquisition funds at $75 million per year, with a clause that is scheduled to sunset in 2021. However, some members of Congress questioned whether it needed $75 million. Nakasone lauded the role of DreamPort, a public-private partnership in Columbia, Maryland created by Cyber Command to engage with businesses, in increasing the aperture of organizations it works with. “Over the past 18 months, Dreamport has allowed the Command to engage more than 1,000 private companies, educate over 1,000 military personnel on innovative technologies, and involve more than 350 students and interns from 65 colleges and high schools on STEM initiatives,” he wrote. “It has been home to Cyber Command's effort to begin implementing the principles of zero-trust networking on the military's networks. Dreamport also hosted the public-private collaboration that resulted in kits that help enable the Cyber National Mission Force to conduct Hunt Forward operations. The traditional ways of doing business would have been too cumbersome and too slow. Dreamport is key to the command's ability to engage in public-private partnerships at the unclassified level.” Nakasone also told the committee in his written statement that the command has hired its first command acquisition executive responsible for leading the organization's acquisitions and to develop capabilities for the joint cyber force. In total, the command requested a $636 million budget for 2021, compared to the $596 million it used in fiscal year 2020. The executive is largely responsible for procuring and developing capabilities under what Cyber Command calls the Joint Cyber Warfighting Architecture, which was established in the last two years to guide capability development priorities. These capabilities fall under five buckets; Common firing platforms to be used at the four cyber operating locations of the service cyber components. These platforms will be worked into a comprehensive suite of cyber tools; Unified Platform, which will integrate and analyze data from offensive and defensive operations with partners; Joint command and control mechanisms for situational awareness and battle management at the strategic, operational and tactical levels; Sensors that support defense of the network and drive operational decisions, and; The Persistent Cyber Training Environment, which will provide individual and collective training as well as a way to rehearse for a mission. The Army is managing PCTE on behalf of Cyber Command and the joint force. The cornerstone of this architecture is the command's data tool called Unified Platform. Nakasone told the House Armed Services Committee that Unified Platform is starting to come online and over the next year it will be the central focus of building the architecture allowing the force to store data and conduct worldwide operations. Budget documents from the Air Force, the service procuring Unified Platform on behalf of Cyber Command and the joint cyber force, for fiscal year 2021 indicate flat funding for the tool for 2021 as compared to 2020. https://www.fifthdomain.com/dod/cybercom/2020/03/09/cyber-command-doubled-its-contract-spending-in-the-past-year/

By: Sebastian Sprenger COLOGNE, Germany — Germans and Americans remain far apart on defense issues, ranging from when to use the military, how much to spend on defense and which country poses a bigger challenge — Russia or China — according to a new study unveiled Monday. “Three years into a turbulent period of American-German relations, with Donald Trump at the helm of American foreign policy and Angela Merkel leading Germany, there continues to be a wide divergence in views of bilateral relations and security policy between the publics of both countries,” said a Pew Research Center study published in cooperation with Koerber Stiftung, a German think tank. The two organizations each polled about 1,000 adults in September 2019 in the United States and Germany. Also included in the data are results from Pew's “global attitudes” survey conducted in both countries during the spring and summer of 2019. The results are unlikely to surprise anyone following trans-Atlantic relations, but they put into perspective why deep-seated differences persist in crafting a more coherent political show of force between the two nations. While roughly 80 percent Americans believe that using military might is sometimes necessary to maintain order in the world, Germans were almost split evenly on the same question, with a slight majority disagreeing. On the question of defending a fellow NATO ally against Russia in the event of a conflict, 6 in 10 Americans said the United States should help, whereas 6 in 10 German respondents said their country should not get involved. At the same time, Germans saw the United States high up in the list of key foreign policy allies, much higher than Americans viewed Germany. Asked to name their most or second-most important partner, 42 percent of Germans mentioned the United Sates, surpassed only by the their top choice of France, at 60 percent. For Americans, the British ranked highest on the same question, at 36 percent, followed by China (23 percent), Canada (20 percent) and Israel (15 percent). “One area of convergence is the broad support in both the U.S. and Germany for more cooperation with France and Japan. And similar majorities in the U.S. and Germany want to cooperate more with China,” the study read. As for cooperation with Russia, “Germans are almost twice as likely as Americans to want greater collaboration,” it added. When it comes to defense spending, 35 percent of Americans felt that Europeans should up their military budget, with 50 percent saying it should stay the same and 9 percent saying it should decrease. In 2017, the share of Americans wanting an increase was 45 percent. In Germany, the acceptance for defense budget increases has grown since 2017, when only 32 percent of those polled voiced support and 50 percent wanted it to remain the same. In 2018, 43 percent of respondents supported an increase. At the mid-February Munich Security Conference, much was made about the European Union's need to “learn to use the language of power,” as Josep Borrell, the bloc's defense and foreign policy chief, put it. That, of course, would cost money. Germans have traditionally frowned upon that kind of talk, though there is an increasing awareness of geopolitical perils in the wake of Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, Jeffrey Rathke, president of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University, said in an interview last month. “Germany has been able to get by with its rhetorical response to the deteriorating security environment,” he said. “Now it's increasingly obvious that that is no longer enough.” While the country has significantly upped its defense spending, sensitizing the public for operational contributions to Europe's security will be a crucial next step for this government and the next, Rathke argued. The Pew and Koerber figures point to a generational change in the general attitudes of Germans and Americans about one another. “Despite these divergences in opinion, young people in both countries have more positive views of the U.S.-German relationship,” the study read. “In the U.S., for example, 82 percent of people ages 18 to 29 say the relationship is good, compared with 73 percent of those ages 65 and older. Similarly, in Germany, four-in-ten young people say relations with the U.S. are good, compared with only 31 percent of those 65 and older.” Notably, the two countries' militaries enjoy a much closer level of cooperation than the political discourse suggests, especially during the Trump administration, a fact that officials in both countries keep stressing when the tone between Berlin and Washington turns particularly icy. “There is an instinctive perception in the German public to defense matters anchored in Europe and the trans-Atlantic alliance,” Rathke said. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/03/09/poll-germans-americans-far-apart-on-use-of-military-defense-spending/

By: Christina Mackenzie PARIS – France's spectacular 72 percent jump in weapons' exports in the 2015-2019 period from five years prior is largely thanks to two companies: Dassault Aviation and Naval Group. The first of those companies sold Rafale fighters to Egypt, India and Qatar, while the second has become the most successful exporter of warships in the world — if one includes orders — selling submarines to Brazil and India, frigates to Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates, and mine-sweepers to Belgium and the Netherlands. A report released on March 9 by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute notes that “French arms exports reached their highest level for any five-year period since 1990 and accounted for 7.9 percent of total global arms exports in 2015-19.” Diego Lopes Da Silva, a SIPRI researcher adds: “The French arms industry has benefited from the demand for arms in Egypt [which accounted for 26 percent of France's defense exports], Qatar and India [14 percent each].” Both politicians and defense industry leaders in France have understood that without exports they cannot afford to provide France's own armed forces with the most innovative and high-performing weapons. Furthermore, buying weapons from the United States brings red tape, including requirement for congressional authorization on all foreign military sales, which can delay the process and some argue shackle France's sovereignty. In the words of Hervé Guillou, the out-going CEO of Naval Group, “no European country can maintain the competitivity of its defense industry based on just its own domestic market.” https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/03/10/heres-whats-behind-frances-72-jump-in-weapons-exports/

By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army plans to conduct a shoot-off to evaluate the best options for a future indirect fires protection capability to defend against rockets, artillery and mortars as well as cruise missile and drones, according to a report sent to Congress and obtained by Defense News. The shoot-off that will take place at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, is fashioned much in the same way the Army recently conducted its “sense-off” to choose a new air and missile defense radar that will replace the sensor in the Army's current Patriot system, Brig. Gen. Brian Gibson, who is in charge of the Army's air and missile defense modernization effort, told Defense News in a March 9 interview. The Army has been trying to formulate its enduring Indirect Fires Protection Capability Increment 2 (IFPC Inc 2) system for several years. It purchased two Iron Dome batteries, produced through a partnership between Rafael and Raytheon, to serve as an interim solution for cruise missile defense. The acquisition was congressionally mandated. Those batteries will be delivered by the end of the year, Gibson said. The enduring system will defeat subsonic cruise missiles with an objective requirement to defeat supersonic variants as well as group two and three UAS and RAM threats, according to the report. The Army's Sentinel A3 and future A4 version will serve as the radar for IFPC, and its command-and-control system will be the Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System, or IBCS, which is also the brains for the Army's future Integrated Air and Missile Defense system that will replace Patriot. The intention for IFPC is to protect critical fixed or semi-fixed assets and is intended to be a more mobile solution than one that would suffice at a forward operating base, Gibson described, and it will fill in gaps between tactical short-range air defense and strategic air and missile defense such as the Patriot and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System. The Army's analysis, according to the report, included looking at solutions both from the Israel Missile Defense Organization and from U.S. industry. It determined, when considering integration with IBCS and Sentinel as well as the possible schedule, that risks exist for both the U.S. and Israeli solutions. “Given the assessed risks with the potential enduring IFCP Inc 2 solutions, the Army requires additional performance data against IFPC Inc 2 threats,” the report stated. “The Army will use a competitive process consisting of two phases to reduce program risk, while considering cost and schedule parameters.” In the first phase, industry will participate in a shoot-off demonstration using proposed launcher and interceptor solutions integrated into IBCS and Sentinel. IBCS is entering a limited-user test in May after struggling through a previous limited-user test several years ago. The system has been delayed for various reasons and likely won't reach initial operational capability until the third quarter of fiscal 2022. Sentinel A4 is also not operational, so the shoot-off will use the less capable A3 variant. Following the shoot-off, the Army will evaluate proposals and data from the event, analyzing digital simulation data to make a “Best Value determination” to pick one vendor to move forward, according to the report. The shoot-off is planned for the third quarter of FY21. The Army aims to deliver initial capabilities by FY23. To make a determination on the way forward, the Army conducted analysis for an enduring IFPC solution in FY19 to include taking technical data from its Expanded Mission Area Missile program of candidate interceptors. The verification phase evaluated Raytheon's Low-Cost Active Seeker as well as its SkyHunter interceptor (the U.S. variant of Rafael's Tamir missile used in Iron Dome) and Lockheed Martin's Miniature Hit-to-Kill missile. All three of the interceptors were characterized as possible candidates for an IFPC interceptor. The Army originally planned to develop and field its own multimission launcher as part of the enduring IFPC solution but canceled that program in favor of finding a more technologically mature launcher. The service evaluated whitepapers for IFPC launchers and determined that those proposed required further development, prototyping and integration work to be used as a dedicated IFPC component, according to the report. The analysis also found the Iron Dome launcher and Tamir interceptor's performance “is highly reliant” on its own battle management system and multimission radar, and the report determined that “for Iron Dome's launcher and Tamir interceptors to be a viable option for Enduring IFPC Inc 2, the [battle management and weapons control] and [multimission radar] functions require transferring into the Army's IBCS.” And current data provided from the Israeli organization has not included component-level models such as the missile seeker, missile guidance and control, and missile fusing needed to verify that the launcher and missile would work with IBCS, the report stated. “The tightly coupled nature of Iron Dome components within the Iron Dome architecture and a lack of sufficient technical data requires further development, prototyping and integration in order to provide a potential Enduring IFPC Inc 2 capability,” the report noted. Through analysis, the service determined that the U.S.-based Expanded Mission Area Missile candidates met range and maneuverability requirements and would be able to tie into Sentinel A3 by FY23 and A4 by FY25. The Tamir interceptor's performance data proves its effectiveness when used within the Iron Dome system, but since data is lacking, it's uncertain how well it might perform when linked through IBCS to the Sentinel radar. Tamir, however, is likely to perform similarly to the LCAS missile, according to the report. While analysis shows that the interceptors are “likely” to meet enduring requirements, the shoot-off demonstration will “increase the Army's confidence in interceptor performance within the AIAMD architecture,” the report states. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/03/09/army-to-conduct-shoot-off-for-future-indirect-fires-protection-capability/

ARMY Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Connecticut, was awarded a $525,371,067 contract modification (P00131) to exercise an option for the Army MY IX Program Year 4, Lot 44, requirement of 38 UH-60M Army aircraft, and to exercise an option for two UH-60M FMS green aircraft. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Stratford, Connecticut, with an estimated completion date of June 30, 2022. Fiscal 2010 special and fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement, Army funds in the amount of $525,371,067 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-17-C-0009). Dyncorp International LLC, Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded a $46,897,900 modification (P00037) to contract W58RGZ-19-C-0025 for aviation maintenance services. Work will be performed in Iraq and Afghanistan with an estimated completion date of July 15, 2020. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $46,897,900 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Vencore Labs Inc., Basking Ridge, New Jersey, was awarded a $14,547,132 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the research and development effort for Autonomous Defensive Cyber Operation, tactical networks and communications. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, with an estimated completion date of March 9, 2025. Fiscal 2021 research, development, test and evaluation, Army funds in the amount of $14,547,132 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W56KGU-20-C-0010). NAVY L3 Harris Technologies Inc., Rochester, New York, is awarded a $383,247,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the purchase of radio systems with National Security Agency certified Type 1 encryption, radio ancillaries, provisioning kits and required documentation for the procured High Frequency (HF) radio systems. Work will be performed in Rochester, New York. The proposed contract will provide for the procurement of L3 Harris portable HF receiver transmitters (RF-300H-MP man pack systems); vehicle-based HF systems (based around a RF-300H-MP); transit case HF systems (based around a RF-300H-MP); their ancillary components and instructor training for the Program Manager of Communications Systems. Work is expected to be complete by March 2025. Fiscal 2020 procurement (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $89,255,452 will be obligated on the first delivery order immediately following contract award. Funds will not expire at the end of current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured and was prepared in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1(a)(2) and 10 U.S. Code § 2304(c)(4). The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting activity (M67854-20-D-2029). Jacobs EwingCole JV, Pasadena, California, is awarded a $79,000,000 firm-fixed-price modification to increase the maximum dollar value of an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for multi-discipline architect and engineering services. Funds will be used for large projects under the military construction program within Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southwest's area of responsibility (AOR). Work will be performed at various Navy and Marine Corps facilities and other government facilities within the NAVFAC Southwest AOR, including but not limited to: California (87%); Arizona (5%); Nevada (5%); Colorado (1%); New Mexico (1%); and Utah (1%). The work to be performed provides for preparation of design-bid-build construction contract packages; site investigations; cost estimates; post construction award services; preparation of request for proposals for design-build projects; studies and reports related to the design of new facilities; technical reviews of government-prepared designs and design-build packages; preparation of planning and programming support documents; coordination of various technical disciplines; and identification and abatement methods for existing hazardous materials. Work is expected to be complete by November 2022. After award of this modification, the total cumulative contract value will be $178,000,000. No contract funding is obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued; task orders will be primarily funded by military construction (Navy). Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N62473-18-D-5801). Tetra Tech Inc., Norfolk, Virginia, is awarded a $78,000,000 cost-plus-award-fee modification to increase the maximum dollar value of an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for comprehensive long-term environmental architect-engineering services on Navy and Marine Corps installations at sites in the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Atlantic. Work will be performed primarily in New York (31%); Florida (24%); Pennsylvania (8%); Virginia (6%); Rhode Island (5%); Texas (4%); South Carolina (4%); Mississippi (3%); Indiana (2%); Maine (2%); Massachusetts (2%); New Jersey (2%); Illinois (1%); Connecticut (1%); Arizona (1%); Minnesota (1%); Washington, District of Columbia (1%); Washington (1%); and New Hampshire (1%). The work includes architectural and engineering services to provide program management and technical environmental services in support of the Department of the Navy's Environmental Restoration Program, Munitions Response Program and other similar programs at Navy and Marine Corps activity in the area of responsibility covered by NAVFAC Atlantic. After award of this modification, the total cumulative contract value will be $278,000,000. Work is expected to be complete by July 2021. No funds will be obligated at time of award; funds will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued. Task orders will be primarily funded by environmental restoration (Navy). Naval Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N62470-16-D-9008). Cornell Howland Hayes Merryfield (CH2M) Hill Inc., Englewood, Colorado, is awarded a $54,000,000 cost-plus-award-fee modification to increase the maximum dollar value of an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for comprehensive long-term environmental architect and engineering services on Navy and Marine Corps installations at sites in the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Atlantic area of responsibility. Work will be performed primarily in Puerto Rico (35%); California (18%); Virginia (15%); Washington (12%); North Carolina (8%); Maryland (7%); Mississippi (3%); and Washington, District of Columbia (2%). The work includes architectural and engineering services to provide program management and technical environmental services in support of the Department of the Navy's Environmental Restoration Program, Munitions Response Program and other similar programs at any Navy and Marine Corps activity in the area of responsibility covered by NAVFAC Atlantic. After award of this modification, the total cumulative contract value will be $362,000,000. Work is expected to be complete by January 2021. No funds will be obligated at time of award; funds will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued. Task orders will be primarily funded by environmental restoration (Navy). Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N62470-16-D-9000). BAE Systems, Information and Electronic Systems Integration, Nashua, New Hampshire, is awarded a $12,697,209 modification (P00004) to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-19-C-0052). This modification exercises an option to procure four OE-120B antenna groups, three retrofit kits and three delta installation and checkout kits for the Navy in support of the Air Traffic Control and Landing program office. Additionally, this modification provides for the procurement of two OE-120B antenna groups for the government of Japan. Work will be performed in Nashua, New Hampshire, and is expected to be completed in May 2023. Fiscal 2016 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,892,148; fiscal 2017 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $170,058; fiscal 2018 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $340,116; fiscal 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $5,676,444; fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $834,147; and Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $3,784,296 will be obligated at the time of award, $1,892,148 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. (Awarded March 9, 2020) Bell Boeing Joint Project Office, Amarillo, Texas, is awarded a $9,460,780 modification (P00008) to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order (N00019-18-F-0016) against basic ordering agreement N00019-17-G-0002. This modification provides additional funding to support non-recurring engineering for supportability analysis, interactive electronic technical manual and technical directive requirements necessary for the V-22 Nacelle (combat aircraft) Improvements Phase One Program. This modification supports Navy, Air Force and the government of Japan. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (84%); Ridley Park, Pennsylvania (5%); Patuxent River, Maryland (4%); Fort Walton Beach, Florida (4%) and Amarillo, Texas (3%). Work is expected to be complete by May 2021. Fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $5,846,466; fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement (Air Force) funds in the amount of $744,575; fiscal 2018 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,311,555; fiscal 2018 aircraft procurement (Air Force) funds in the amount of $647,119; and Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $911,066 will be obligated at time of award, $1,958,674 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Concurrent Technologies Corp., Johnstown, Pennsylvania, is awarded a $7,771,574 modification to exercise Option Period Two under previously awarded contract (GS00Q14OADU112) task order (M95494-18-F-0016). This modification provides for support services in efforts to meet Marine Corps' energy reliability and resilience requirements for utility distribution systems and various energy security positions supporting headquarters, regions and installations. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia (40%); Camp Lejeune, North Carolina (12%); Okinawa Prefecture, Japan (12%); San Diego, California (11%); Quantico, Virginia (10%); Bridgeport, California (4%); New River, North Carolina (3%); Cherry Point, North Carolina (3%); Barstow, California (3%); Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan (1%); and Pohang, Republic of Korea (1%). Work is expected to be complete by March 2021. If all options are exercised, work will continue through March 2023. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $7,771,574 will be obligated at the time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Marine Corps Installations Command Headquarters Contracting Office, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE THREAT REDUCTION AGENCY Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia, issued a contract modification (HDTRA1-17-C-0019-P00021) to exercise Option Period Three with a ceiling value of $34,485,270 time-and-materials contract and does not include the value of the unexercised options. This contract is for scientific and technical services in support of various projects under the Biological Threat Reduction Program. Work will be performed at various locations throughout the world. The anticipated completion date is May 13, 2021 (Option Period Three); this contract includes one additional 12 month option that would end on May 13, 2022, if exercised. The contract was a competitive acquisition; the government received 11 offers. The Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Cooperative Threat Reduction, Contracting Office, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY System High Corp., Chantilly, Virginia, has been awarded a $24,731,784 modification (P00025) to previously awarded task order HR0011-17-F-0001 for program security services. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the task order to $93,368,570 from $68,636,786. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia, with an expected completion date of March 2021. Fiscal 2019 research and development funds in the amount of $6,841,516; and fiscal 2020 research and development funds in the amount of $15,982,751 are being obligated at time of award. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Direct Energy Business LLC, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been awarded a maximum $24,551,424 fixed-price, requirements contract to supply and deliver retail electricity and ancillary/incidental services. This was a competitive acquisition with seven offers received. This is a two-year contract with no option periods. Locations of performance are Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts, with a May 1, 2022, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy and Coast Guard. Using customers are solely responsible for funding and will utilize fiscal 2020 through 2022 operations and maintenance funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia (SPE60420D8003). AIR FORCE James Talcott Construction, Great Falls, Montana, has been awarded a $15,077,162 firm-fixed-price contract for hangar renovation. This contract provides for the renovation of an existing three-bay hangar to facilitate the bed down of the new MH-139 helicopter at Malmstrom Air Force Base (AFB), Montana. Work will be performed at Malmstrom AFB, Montana, and is expected to be complete by Sept. 30, 2021. This award is the result of a 100% small business set-aside competitive acquisition and five offers were received. Fiscal 2020 operational and maintenance funds in the full amount are being obligated at the time of award. The 341st Contracting Squadron, Malmstrom AFB, Montana, is the contracting activity (FA4626-20-C-0017). U.S. TRANSPORTATION COMMAND Ernst & Young LLP, New York, New York, has been awarded a firm-fixed-price and labor hour modification for task order HTC711-19-F-D015 on contract GS00F290CA in the amount of $9,236,783. This modification provides continued non-personal services to assist U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM)/TCJ8 in accounting and financial operations and sustainment of audit readiness in compliance with generally accepted accounting principles as well as provide a broad spectrum of systems support across the USTRANSCOM enterprise. Work will be performed at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. The option period of performance is from April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021. Fiscal 2020 transportation working capital funds – operations funds were obligated at award. This modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $12,701,441 from $3,464,658. U.S. Transportation Command, Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE INFORMATION SYSTEMS AGENCY CORRECTION: An announcement included on March 9, 2020, for a firm-fixed-price task order to General Dynamics Information Technology, Fairfax, Virginia (HC1013-20-F-0073) has not yet been awarded. https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2107920/source/GovDelivery/

“This was a tough decision,” association president Carter Ham told Breaking Defense, but with over 6,000 people expected to gather in close quarters, “I am confident this is the right decision.” By SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR. UPDATED with McConville, Jette, Quad-A statements WASHINGTON: The Association of the US Army has cancelled its annual winter conference in Huntsville, Ala. Scheduled for next week, the Global Force Symposium & Exhibition is the latest major event shut down as a precaution against the contagious COVID-19 coronavirus, which Army researchers have been mobilized to combat. The virus has shut down parts of the F-35 fighter supply chain and caused the Pentagon to restrict travel and implement social distancing measures. “Sydney, we have truly enjoyed having the Global Force Symposium and Exhibition in Huntsville over the past several years, so this was a tough decision,” retired Gen. Carter Ham, AUSA's president and CEO, told me in an email this morning. “Last year, about 6,400 people attended. But, out of concern for the health and safety of the expected attendees and exhibitors, I am confident this is the right decision.” UPDATED Army leaders scheduled to speak at the conference were quick to signal their support for AUSA. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/03/coronavirus-ausa-cancels-huntsville-conference

Before manned aircraft enter hostile airspace, three different types of drones – long-range, tactical, and miniaturized – will rip open the seams in the enemy's defenses. By SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR. WASHINGTON: As Russian and Chinese-made anti-aircraft weapons become ever more lethal, human pilots are, quite literally, the last thing the Army wants to send into harm's way. Before the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft makes its first probe into enemy airspace, and long before the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft carries troops deep into hostile territory, a whole array of unmanned aircraft will scout out the enemy defenses, deceive their radars, and strike vital points. In fact, much of this drone technology should be available years before the manned FARA and FLRAA aircraft enter production, which means it can help the Army's existing helicopters survive an increasingly dangerous world. “What we have to do is improve our stand-off and our survivability with the introduction of some technology that will be available prior to the actual FVL [Future Vertical Lift] platform,” said Maj. Gen. David Francis, the commander of the Army's Aviation Center at Fort Rucker, Ala. That includes a new Long-Range Precision Munition – the Army's buying the Israeli Spike missile as an interim solution, but that may not be the permanent one – and a whole family of mini-drones known as Air-Launched Effects (ALE), because they can be launched from the missile racks on both future and existing helicopters. “Those combined, we think, will keep us very, very competitive in that [air defense] environment until we get the increased speed and survivability of our Future Vertical Lift platforms,” Francis told me during an interview. Replacing Shadow & Predator Air-Launched Effects aren't the only drones the Army's Future Vertical Lift task force is developing. The most immediate effort is a competition to replace the aging RQ-7 Shadow, which requires a runway, with a new Future Tactical Unmanned Aerial System (FTUAS), which will take off and land vertically like a helicopter, from wherever soldiers need it. FTUAS also needs to be quieter, so the enemy can't hear it coming as easily, and to require less support equipment, so the Army can more easily deploy it to a war zone more and keep it working in harsh conditions. The service originally selected two companies to provide demonstration aircraft, then decided to double the number to four. This year, samples of all four types are going to operational Army combat brigades, which will try out the different designs and provide feedback that helps the service shapes its final, formal requirement. Three of the contenders – Arcturus UAV's Jump 20, L3 Harris Technologies' FVR-90, and Textron's Aerosonde HQ – share a similar configuration, something we've never seen on a full-size manned aircraft. Each of them has wings and a pusher propeller in back for forward flight, but also quadcopter-style mini-rotors for vertical takeoff and landing. The fourth, equally unconventional design is Martin UAV's V-Bat, a “tail-sitter” that has a single large fan for both vertical and forward flight, changing from one mode to the other by simply turning 90 degrees. Just as FTUAS will replace the Shadow, the Army also wants to replace its long-range Grey Eagle – a variant of the iconic but venerable Predator – with a new Advanced Unmanned Aerial System. The service has revealed very little about what it's looking for in the Advanced UAS, however. Air-Launched Effects & Missiles The most innovative of the Army's future drones, however, is definitely the Air-Launched Effects family, because ALE doesn't replace any existing unmanned aircraft. It's altogether new. As computers simultaneously shrink and grow more powerful, it becomes possible to build drones small enough for a person or another aircraft to carry – and to make them smart enough that they can operate largely autonomously, without a human being to provide constant direction by remote control. Those advances make possible a radically new kind of operation — a single manned mothership launching a flock of mini-drones to scout ahead and provide a host of what the military blandly calls “effects,” from decoying the enemy with fake transmissions to jamming their radars to blowing them up. That combination of new technology and new tactics, in turn, could dramatically improve the chances of Army aviators to survive and prevail in future wars. “When we look at ALE and Long-Range Precision Munition,” said Brig. Gen. Walter Rugen, the Army's FVL director, “what we're finding, in our modeling and our experimentation at Yuma last year, is you really generate that stand-off and overmatch against threats....We can stay outside their weapon engagement zone, and put effects on them.” In the time-honored military framework where you “find, fix, and finish” an enemy, Rugen told me in an interview alongside Gen. Francis, “Air-Launched Effects are what is going to find and fix these threats, and then what the long-range precision munition is going to do is finish that threat.” The Army's budget request for fiscal year 2021 includes $152 million to field Israeli armsmaker Rafael's Spike NLOS (Non-Line Of Sight) missile to three Combat Aviation Brigades. “We're currently projecting that it would be an FY'22 initial [operational capability,” Rugen told me. “But that's just our initial increment of the Long-Range Precision Munition. We will follow that on with more detailed requirements to fix some of the challenges that we see already with Spike [and] improve upon that capability.” To make all this work, however, the Army needs more than new missiles and mini-drones. It also needs a digital communications system that can rapidly pass data between manned and unmanned aircraft, not through slow and error-prone humans, but near-instantly from machine to machine. The electronic architecture to make that possible is the subject of the next story in this series. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/03/fvl-attack-of-the-drones

Tewksbury, Mass., March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - The U.S. Army awarded Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) a $551 million contract to begin production of the combat-proven Patriot™ air and missile defense system for the Kingdom of Bahrain. The contract was awarded on January 31, 2020. "Raytheon's Patriot provides the Kingdom of Bahrain and 16 other countries around the globe with a combat-proven system that protects citizens, infrastructure and armed forces from a broad spectrum of threats," said Tom Laliberty, vice president of Integrated Air and Missile Defense at Raytheon's Integrated Defense Systems business. "Patriot works, has saved countless lives, and will continue to do so for many years because the system is constantly tested, modernized, upgraded and improved to stay ahead of the advancing threat." Raytheon's Patriot is the most advanced tactical air and missile defense system in the world, providing protection against a full range of advanced threats, including aircraft, tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles. About Raytheon Raytheon Company, with 2019 sales of $29 billion and 70,000 employees, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, civil government and cybersecurity solutions. With a history of innovation spanning 98 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration, C5I® products and services, sensing, effects, and mission support for customers in more than 80 countries. Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. Follow us on Twitter. Note to Editors The 17 Patriot Nations are: United States of America The Netherlands Germany Japan Israel Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Kuwait Taiwan Greece Spain Republic of Korea United Arab Emirates Qatar Romania Sweden Poland Kingdom of Bahrain Media Contact Mike Nachshen +1.520.269.5697 idspr@raytheon.com SOURCE Raytheon Company View source version on Raytheon: http://raytheon.mediaroom.com/2020-03-09-Raytheon-awarded-551-million-US-Army-contract-to-begin-production-of-Patriot-TM-for-the-Kingdom-of-Bahrain

Haifa, Israel, March 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ: ESLT) (TASE: ESLT) ("Elbit Systems") announced today that the U.S. Air Force (USAF) has awarded its subsidiary, Elbit Systems of America LLC. ("Elbit Systems of America"), a firm-fixed-price contract with a ceiling of approximately $471 million over a 10-year period, to equip F-16 aircraft of the U.S. Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command, with pylon-based infrared missile warning systems. The contract includes an initial order valued at approximately $17 million. The work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas. About Elbit Systems Elbit Systems Ltd. is an international high technology company engaged in a wide range of defense, homeland security and commercial programs throughout the world. The Company, which includes Elbit Systems and its subsidiaries, operates in the areas of aerospace, land, and naval systems, command, control, communications, computers, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance ("C4ISR"), unmanned aircraft systems, advanced electro-optics, electro-optic space systems, EW suites, signal intelligence systems, data links and communications systems, radios and cyber-based systems and munitions. The Company also focuses on the upgrading of existing platforms, developing new technologies for defense, homeland security and commercial applications and providing a range of support services, including training and simulation systems. For additional information, visit: https://elbitsystems.com/, follow us on Twitter or visit our official Facebook, Youtube and LinkedIn Channels. This press release may contain forward?looking statements (within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and the Israeli Securities Law, 1968) regarding Elbit Systems Ltd. and/or its subsidiaries (collectively the Company), to the extent such statements do not relate to historical or current facts. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions about future events. Forward?looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions about the Company, which are difficult to predict, including projections of the Company's future financial results, its anticipated growth strategies and anticipated trends in its business. Therefore, actual future results, performance and trends may differ materially from these forward?looking statements due to a variety of factors, including, without limitation: scope and length of customer contracts; governmental regulations and approvals; changes in governmental budgeting priorities; general market, political and economic conditions in the countries in which the Company operates or sells, including Israel and the United States among others; differences in anticipated and actual program performance, including the ability to perform under long-term fixed-price contracts; changes in the competitive environment; and the outcome of legal and/or regulatory proceedings. The factors listed above are not all-inclusive, and further information is contained in Elbit Systems Ltd.'s latest annual report on Form 20-F, which is on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward?looking statements speak only as of the date of this release. Although the Company believes the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements contained herein are reasonable, it cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance or achievements. Moreover, neither the Company nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update its forward-looking statements. Elbit Systems Ltd., its logo, brand, product, service and process names appearing in this Press Release are the trademarks or service marks of Elbit Systems Ltd. or its affiliated companies. All other brand, product, service and process names appearing are the trademarks of their respective holders. Reference to or use of a product, service or process other than those of Elbit Systems Ltd. does not imply recommendation, approval, affiliation or sponsorship of that product, service or process by Elbit Systems Ltd. Nothing contained herein shall be construed as conferring by implication, estoppel or otherwise any license or right under any patent, copyright, trademark or other intellectual property right of Elbit Systems Ltd. or any third party, except as expressly granted herein. Contacts: Company Contact: Joseph Gaspar, Executive VP & CFO Tel: +972-4-8316663 j.gaspar@elbitsystems.com Rami Myerson, Director, Investor Relations Tel: +972-77-2948984 rami.myerson@elbitsystems.com David Vaaknin, VP, Head of Corporate Communications Tel: +972-77-2946691 david.vaaknin@elbitsystems.com IR Contact: Ehud Helft Gavriel Frohwein GK Investor Relations Tel: +1-646-688-3559 elbitsystems@gkir.com View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/elbit-systems-us-subsidiary-awarded-a-contract-by-the-us-air-force-to-supply-missile-warning-systems-301019529.html