Nouvelles

OKLAHOMA CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Acorn Growth Companies, a private equity firm investing exclusively in aerospace, defense and intelligence, announced today the investment and controlling interest in Robbins-Gioia, a market leader in providing unique systems modernization and enterprise solutions focused on enhancing capabilities and improving performance and readiness for the federal government and industry. “Our investment in Robbins-Gioia represents our ongoing commitment in supporting the nation's requirements to modernize, streamline and secure its information technology architecture,” said Rick Nagel, managing partner of Acorn Growth Companies. “Robbins-Gioia's expertise in complex, enterprise-wide systems modernization, as well as the deeply embedded nature of its proprietary software products in critical military MRO systems have positioned the company for strong future growth. As the federal government continues to focus on systems modernization and warfighter readiness, we expect Robbins-Gioia will continue to deliver thought leadership and innovative solutions in support of these missions.” Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, Robbins-Gioia was the first firm to specialize in systems modernization solutions for the federal government and industry – transforming how they deliver and maintain readiness. The firm has evolved to be globally recognized for delivering purpose-built solutions to diverse challenges in business and government that modernize, secure and make its information technology architecture more efficient and effective through managed services, management consulting and innovative software tools, including The Jaguar Family of Advanced Scheduling Tools (JFAST™). JFAST is Robbins-Gioia 's premier suite of software tools for planning, analysis and management of complex, mission-critical activities for defense organizations. Robbins-Gioia enables the readiness of some of the nation's most critical military assets – keeping aircraft flying and ships sailing, using its JFAST scheduling systems. “We're excited to be partnered with Acorn Growth Companies,” said Brad King, CEO of Robbins-Gioia. “Acorn has a strong track record of success investing in and enabling the growth of companies within aerospace, defense and intelligence. With its tremendous network and planned investments in our people, processes and products, we see this partnership with Acorn as a key driver in the achievement of our vision to be the leader in delivering modernization and transformation for the federal government and similarly complex enterprises.” Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. About Robbins-Gioia Founded in 1980, Robbins-Gioia was the first firm specializing in program management services for the federal government. Today, they are the market leader in providing unique systems modernization and enterprise solutions focused on enhancing capabilities and improving performance and readiness for the federal government and industry. They deliver purpose-built solutions to diverse challenges in business and government through managed services, management consulting and software tools including JFAST™, RG's premier suite of software tools for planning, analysis, and management of complex, mission-critical activities for defense organizations. www.teamrg.com Acorn Growth Companies is a middle market private equity firm focused exclusively on Aerospace, Defense and Intelligence. Acorn invests solely in operating companies that strive to enhance global mobility and protect national interests. Acorn has a formidable reputation in the industry and is recognized for its deep understanding of the aerospace & defense markets, with proprietary access to the best companies within these sectors. With operational expertise and its ability to lead and manage investments through variable economic and industry cycles, Acorn works in tandem with management to build its portfolio companies into significant market leaders. AcornGrowthCompanies.com https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190805005409/en

This month, DARPA will bring a demonstration version of a secure voting ballot box equipped with hardware defenses in development on the System Security Integrated Through Hardware and Firmware (SSITH) program to the DEF CON 2019 Voting Machine Hacking Village (Voting Village). The SSITH program is developing methodologies and design tools that enable the use of hardware advances to protect systems against software exploitation of hardware vulnerabilities. To evaluate progress on the program, DARPA is incorporating the secure processors researchers are developing into a secure voting ballot box and turning the system loose for public assessment by thousands of hackers and DEF CON community members. Many of today's hardware defenses cover very specific instances or vulnerabilities, leaving much open to attack or compromise. Instead of tackling individual instances, SSITH researchers are building defenses that address classes of vulnerabilities. In particular, SSITH is tackling seven vulnerabilities classes identified by the NIST Common Weakness Enumeration Specification (CWE), which span exploitation of permissions and privilege in the system architectures, memory errors, information leakage, and code injection. “There are a whole set of cyber vulnerabilities that happen in electronic systems that are at their core due to hardware vulnerabilities – or vulnerabilities that hardware could block,” said Dr. Linton Salmon, the program manager leading SSITH. “Current efforts to provide electronic security largely rely on robust software development and integration, utilizing an endless cycle of developing and deploying patches to the software firewall without addressing the underlying hardware vulnerability. The basic concept around SSITH is to make hardware a more significant participant in cybersecurity, rather than relegating system security only to software.” Under the SSITH program, researchers are exploring a number of different design approaches that go well beyond patching. These include using metadata tagging to detect unauthorized system access; employing formal methods to reason about integrated circuit systems and guarantee the accuracy of security characteristics; and combining hardware performance counters (HPCs) with machine learning to detect attacks and establish protective fences within the hardware. One team from the University of Michigan is developing a novel security approach that changes the unspecified semantics of a system every 50 milliseconds. Currently, attackers continuously probe a system to locate these undefined sections and, over time, are able to create a system map to identify possible hacks. By changing the construct every 50 milliseconds, attackers do not have enough time to find those weaknesses or develop an accurate representation of the system as a whole. To evaluate the hardware security concepts in development on the SSITH program, DARPA – working with Galois – is pursuing a voting system evaluation effort to provide a demonstration system that facilitates open challenges. The program elected to use a voting system as its demonstration platform to provide researchers with an accessible application that can be evaluated in an open forum. Further, the topic of election system security has become an increasingly critical area of concern for the hacker and security community, as well as the United States more broadly. “DARPA focuses on creating technologies to enhance national defense, and election system security falls within that remit. Eroding trust in the election process is a threat to the very fabric of our democracy,” noted Salmon. While protecting democracy is a critical national defense issue, SSITH is not trying to solve all issues with election system security nor is it working to provide a specific solution to use during elections. “We expect the voting booth demonstrator to provide tools, concepts, and ideas that the election enterprise can use to increase security, however, our true aim is to improve security for all electronic systems. This includes election equipment, but also defense systems, commercial devices, and beyond,” said Salmon. During DEF CON 2019, the SSITH voting system demonstrator will consist of a set of RISC-V processors that the research teams will modify to include their SSITH security features. These processors will be mounted on field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and incorporated into a secure ballot box. Hackers will have access to the system via an Ethernet port as well as a USB port, through which they can load software or other attacks to challenge the SSITH hardware. Since SSITH's research is still in the early stages, only two prototype versions of the 15 processors in development will be available for evaluation. “At this year's Voting Village, hackers may find issues with the processors and quite frankly we would consider that a success. We want to be transparent about the technologies we are creating and find any problems in these venues before the technology is placed in another venue where a compromise could be more dangerous,” said Salmon. Following DEF CON 2019, the voting system evaluation effort will go on a university roadshow where additional cybersecurity experts will have an opportunity to further analyze and hack the technology. In 2020, DARPA plans to return to DEF CON with an entire voting system, which will incorporate fixes to the issues discovered during the previous year's evaluation efforts. The 2020 demonstrator will use the STAR-Vote system architecture, which is a documented, open source architecture that includes a system of microprocessors for the voting booth, ballot box, and other components. It also includes a verifiable paper ballot, providing both digital and physical representations of the votes cast within the booth. “While the 2020 demonstrator will provide a better representation of the full attack surface, the exercise will not result in a deployable voting system. To aid in the advancement of secure election equipment as well as electronic systems more broadly, the hardware design approaches and techniques developed during the SSITH program will be made available to the community as open-source items,” concluded Salmon. https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2019-08-01

Boeing investment accommodates V-22 fuselage production and MV-22 modification program Allows Ospreys to be delivered with higher quality, efficiency and improved safety PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 1, 2019 — Boeing [NYSE: BA], the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy celebrated the transformation of a 350,000-square-foot facility outside Philadelphia into a modern factory where company employees will build fuselages for the V-22 tiltrotor aircraft and modernize the MV-22 fleet for the Marines. “Boeing's $115 million investment supports U.S. and international demand for the unrivaled capabilities of the V-22,” said David Koopersmith, vice president and general manager, Boeing Vertical Lift. “We started this project two years ago in a mothballed building. Now, it is a state of the art manufacturing center for the only in-service tiltrotor aircraft in the world.” The new factory will improve safety and productivity, lower operating costs, and reduce Boeing's environmental impact. It will be home to the Common Configuration – Readiness and Modernization (CC-RAM) program that standardizes the Marine Corps Osprey fleet by upgrading previously built aircraft to the new Block C configuration. The factory will also house fuselage production for Navy, Air Force, Marines, and international Osprey customers. “The V-22 readiness program is our number one priority,” said U.S. Marine Corps Col. Matthew Kelly, V-22 Joint Program Manager. “The CC-RAM program is key in meeting our readiness goals and returning capable and reliable aircraft to Marine units around the world.” Boeing employs approximately 4,600 people in Pennsylvania and supports 16,000 direct and indirect jobs in the commonwealth. https://boeing.mediaroom.com/2019-08-01-Boeing-Marines-Navy-Celebrate-115-Million-V-22-Facility

NEWPORT NEWS, Va., Aug. 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE: HII) announced today that its Newport News Shipbuilding division has received a $290 million contract modification from the U.S. Navy to continue planning for the refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) of the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74). The contract funds the second and third years of planning, long-lead-time material procurement, shop fabrication, shipboard inspections, and facilities readiness for the RCOH. As part of the planning contract, Newport News also will perform some shipboard work, which will take place in Norfolk. The initial year of planning was funded at a base value of $187.5 million. “The second and third year of planning is important to the overall success of a project of the magnitude of an RCOH,” said Chris Miner, Newport News' vice president of in-service aircraft carriers. “This contract allows us to continue our critical planning for each step of the process so we're ready to begin execution when the ship arrives in the first quarter of 2021.” Stennis will be the seventh Nimitz-class carrier to undergo a major life-cycle overhaul at Newport News, representing 35 percent of all maintenance and modernization completed during its service life. An RCOH is an extremely complex engineering and construction project that involves more than 680 suppliers from 40 states providing material and services critical to the overhaul process. Once completed, a recapitalized carrier is capable of supporting current and future warfare doctrine and continuing to operate as the centerpiece of the Navy's fleet and national defense for another 25 years. About Huntington Ingalls Industries Huntington Ingalls Industries is America's largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of professional services to partners in government and industry. For more than a century, HII's Newport News and Ingalls shipbuilding divisions in Virginia and Mississippi have built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. HII's Technical Solutions division provides a wide range of professional services through its Fleet Support, Mission Driven Innovative Solutions, Nuclear & Environmental, and Oil & Gas groups. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII employs more than 41,000 people operating both domestically and internationally. For more information, visit: HII on the web: www.huntingtoningalls.com HII on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HuntingtonIngallsIndustries HII on Twitter: twitter.com/hiindustries CONTACT INFORMATION Duane Bourne Manager of Media Relations (757) 380-3581 Duane.A.Bourne@hii-co.com https://newsroom.huntingtoningalls.com/releases/photo-release-huntington-ingalls-industries-continues-planning-for-mid-life-refueling-overhaul-of-uss-john-c-stennis-cvn-74

IQALUIT, NU, Aug. 2, 2019 /CNW/ - Canadians across the country rely on the critical services of the Canadian Coast Guard to protect mariners and the marine environment, and to ensure the safe and efficient movement of ships that are key to our vibrant economy. With continued growth in commercial shipping and with climate change already affecting our communities, demands on the Coast Guard continue to grow. The Coast Guard provides critical icebreaking services to ensure commercial ships and ferries have access to Canadian ports during the winter time, and supports summer re-supply activities in Canada's Arctic. To ensure the Coast Guard can continue to deliver these essential services, today, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, announced that the Coast Guard will be procuring six new program icebreakers to replace its current aging fleet of icebreakers. Minister Wilkinson also announced, on behalf of the Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility, that the Government of Canada is officially launching a competitive process, through an Invitation to Qualify, to add a third Canadian shipyard as a strategic partner under the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS). This new shipyard will build the new program icebreakers for the Coast Guard. Coast Guard program icebreakers are essential to Canada's economy by supporting year-round marine trade in Eastern Canada, the St. Lawrence waterway and the Great Lakes. They enable eastern Canadian ferries to operate during the winter time, and are critical to Canada's commercial fisheries. The program icebreakers are also used to provide service to Canada's northern residents by supporting the annual re-supply of goods to Canada's Arctic communities and their industries. Quotes "The Canadian Coast Guard saves lives at sea, maintains safe shipping, enables an otherwise ice-choked economy, protects the marine environment and supports Canadian sovereign presence in the Arctic. Demands on the Coast Guard will only grow as the impacts of climate change become more frequent and intense. By adding the new program icebreakers to renew the fleet, we are ensuring the women and men of the Canadian Coast Guard have the equipment they need to deliver icebreaking services in the Arctic, on the St. Lawrence waterway and on Canada's East Coast." The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard "This is an important undertaking with another significant investment to back it up, and it means even more jobs, more opportunity and more economic development right across the country, while ensuring our Canadian Coast Guard has the ships it needs to do its important work. Together with our partners, we are renewing Canada's federal fleet, advancing Canadian technological innovation and supporting jobs across Canada." The Honourable Carla Qualtrough Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility Quick facts Through the Invitation to Qualify, the Government of Canada will establish a short list of pre-qualified shipyards that will be eligible to submit a formal proposal to become the third strategic partner under the NSS, joining Irving Shipbuilding Inc. and Seaspan's Vancouver Shipyards. Interested suppliers have 15 days, starting today, to respond to the Invitation to Qualify. On May 22, 2019, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the Government of Canada is investing $15.7 billionto renew the Coast Guard fleet, with up to 16 Multi-Purpose Vessels to be built at Seaspan's Vancouver Shipyards and two new Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships to be built at Irving Shipbuilding Inc. To date, the Government of Canada has awarded more than $11.4 billion in NSS-related contracts across the country. The Government of Canada's NSS is a long-term, multi-billion-dollar program focused on renewing the Canadian Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Navy fleets to ensure that Canada's marine agencies have the modern ships they need to fulfill their missions, while revitalizing Canada's marine industry, creating good middle-class jobs and maximizing economic benefits across the country. Related products Backgrounder – Canadian Coast Guard's new icebreakers Backgrounder – Canada's National Shipbuilding Strategy – Process to add a third shipyard Associated links National Shipbuilding Strategy Prime Minister announces renewal of Canadian Coast Guard fleet Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Facebook SOURCE Public Services and Procurement Canada For further information: Marielle Hossack, Press Secretary, Office of the Honourable Carla Qualtrough, 819-997-5421; Media Relations, Public Services and Procurement Canada, 819-420-5501, media@pwgsc-tpsgc.gc.ca; Jocelyn Lubczuk, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, 343-548-7863, Jocelyn.lubczuk@dfo-mpo.gc.ca; Media Relations, Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, 613-990-7537, Media.xncr@dfo-mpo.gc.ca Related Links www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/government-of-canada-announces-construction-of-new-icebreakers-for-canadian-coast-guard-821197891.html

KEY WEST, Fla., Aug. 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Navy commissioned USS Billings (LCS 15) – the nation's eighth Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) – in Key West, Florida. This milestone places the ship, built by the Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) -led team into active service. "Billings was designed to operate and adapt to a rapidly changing environment," said Joe DePietro, vice president of Small Combatants and Ship Systems at Lockheed Martin. "She is equipped and ready for today's threats and easily modifiable to meet the threats we may not even be aware of yet. Our team is confident Billings will be what the Navy needs when the fleet needs it." Unique among combat ships, LCS is designed to complete close-to-shore missions and is a growing and relevant part of the Navy's fleet. It is fast — capable of speeds in excess of 40 knots. It is automated — with the most efficient staffing of any combat ship. It is lethal — standard equipped with Rolling Airframe Missiles (RAM) and a Mark 110 gun, capable of firing 220 rounds per minute. It is flexible — with 40 percent of the hull easily reconfigurable, integrating capabilities like the Longbow Hellfire Missiles, 30mm guns, and manned and unmanned vehicles targeted to meet today's and tomorrow's missions. "Having now commanded two freedom class LCS variants, I would like to report that these ships are truly impressive and will fit well in the niche they have been designed for," said LCS 15's Commanding Officer, Commander Nathan Rowan. "They are fast, maneuverable, and their weapon systems are some of the most accurate I've witnessed on any platform of which I've previously served." There are seven ships in various stages of production and test at Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Wisconsin, where the Freedom-variant LCS is built. The next Freedom-variant in the class is LCS 17, the future USS Indianapolis, which was delivered in late July. "On behalf of the proud 2,000 men and women who transform flat steel into a fast, agile surface combatant," said Jan Allman, CEO of Fincantieri Marinette Marine, "we are honored to support the U.S. Navy, and we congratulate the outstanding crew of the USS Billings." Multimedia assets are available here: Social media video: https://vimeo.com/351803068 B-roll: https://vimeo.com/351805414 Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/143371902@N04/albums/72157710070352016 For more information, visit www.lockheedmartin.com/lcs. https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2019-08-03-U-S-Navy-Commissions-Littoral-Combat-Ship-15-Billings

By: Melanie Marlowe Next week, people from across the missile defense community will gather at an annual symposium in Huntsville, Alabama, to consider how to adapt U.S. missile defense efforts to the challenge of renewed competition with Russia and China. A centerpiece of their discussions will be the emergence of advanced hypersonic missile threats and what to do about them. Over the past few years, the Pentagon has prioritized the development of offensive hypersonic strike weapons, with billions of dollars in contracts already awarded for each of the major military services to acquire hypersonic strike missiles of their own. The counter-hypersonic mission, however, received surprisingly short shrift in recent defense budgets, with progress on hypersonic defense thus far piecemeal and halting. Some leading military officials charged with procuring hypersonic strike missiles have said that defending against hypersonic missiles is too hard, so we shouldn't even try. That short-sighted approach is at odds with the vision of newly confirmed Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, who stated to Congress that he will advocate hypersonic missile defense, to include the development of new sensors, interceptors, and advanced command-and-control systems. Public commentary on hypersonic threats has been somewhat hyperbolic. Yes, hypersonics are fast — five or more times the speed of sound — but that's slower than many ballistic missiles. Aerodynamic maneuver makes for a less predictable flight path, but this also means that atmospheric friction would remove the kind of decoys that might accompany a ballistic reentry vehicle. Whether a boosted glide vehicle, a scramjet cruise missile or a maneuverable quasi-ballistic missile, hypersonics pose a complex air defense challenge, but they are not invulnerable. The strategic significance of hypersonics is nevertheless quite real. Today's Patriot, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense and Aegis defenses protect American carrier groups and ground forces against aerial and ballistic missile attack. Designed to go around or under those defenses, hypersonics are a more sophisticated means to hold forces at risk, and thereby undermine our broader defense goals and alliance system. Even if the United States catches up with the Chinese and Russians on hypersonic strike, our adversaries' ability to hold U.S. carriers and forward bases at risk will push back U.S. forces. They could certainly also be used to target the American homeland, but the more urgent threat is regional. Passive defense only goes so far — ships can only go so fast, and air bases cannot be moved. Active defenses must be part of a balanced strategy. The first priority here is a space sensor layer. Unlike ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles fly at lower and changing altitudes, are harder to see, and travel an uncertain flight path. Current early warning satellites can detect the launch of boost-glide vehicles but are unsuited to tracking them during the glide phase. Today's surface-based ballistic missile radars would only be able to spot a weapon once it crosses the horizon. Only space sensors can provide birth-to-death, fire-control quality tracks for hypersonic missiles. Unfortunately, recent budget requests have been rather tepid in their commitment to space sensors. The administration's 2020 request virtually divested the program, and for the second year in a row the Missile Defense Agency listed the space sensor layer as its No. 1 unfunded priority. Thankfully, Congress seems to be in the process of restoring $108 million to return the program to the MDA to move out on development this year. The second element of hypersonic defense is interceptors. Although existing interceptors may well be improved, Secretary Esper has affirmed that new interceptors will have to be developed that are better suited to the mission's stressing thermal and high-maneuver environment. The MDA's third-highest unfunded priority for 2020 — $720 million for hypersonic defense — seems unlikely to be restored this year, but should be restored in the 2021 budget. Directed-energy weapons could potentially target hypersonic threats in their cruise phase or jam them in their terminal phase, but the mission's complexity will almost certainly require both kinetic and nonkinetic effectors. The most challenging element will be developing a command-and-control architecture that ties everything together. A long-range hypersonic glide vehicle of significant range could cross continents and multiple combatant commands. Even with better interceptors and an adequate sensor layer, information and fire-control solutions must be developed and rapidly passed to commanders. The Command and Control, Battle Management, and Communications network that supports the Ballistic Missile Defense System may be the foundation of such an architecture, but more dramatic upgrades will be required. The advent of the hypersonic era is central to the efforts by Russia and China to counter U.S. power projection in the world. The Pentagon's recent focus on hypersonic strike is necessary but insufficient. It falls now to congressional leadership and those assembling the 2021 budget to rebalance it with a more appropriate mix of hypersonic strike and defense. https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/commentary/2019/08/02/hypersonic-threats-need-an-offense-defense-mix/

AIR FORCE HEBCO Inc., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has been awarded an $80,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for A-10 technical order sustainment. This contract provides for 10 years of non-personal technical services in support of technical order sustainment activities by providing technically accurate and up-to-date digital technical data. Work will be performed at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Clearfield, Utah, and is expected to be complete by Aug. 1, 2030. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $445,739 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8202-19-D-0003). The Boeing Co., Seattle, Washington, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $55,500,000 undefinitized contract action modification (P00177) to the previously awarded, FA8625-11-C-6600, for KC-46 engineering, manufacturing and development contract. This modification is for the system level hardware and software critical design review of the boom telescope actuator redesign. Work will be performed at Seattle, Washington, and is expected to be completed February 2021. Fiscal 2018 research and development funds in the amount of $20,845,672 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. Rockwell Collins Simulation & Training Solutions, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been awarded a $40,219,702 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for E-8 Aircrew Training Device sustainment. This contract provides for contractor logistics support and training system support center operations of the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System Aircrew Training Device. Work will be performed at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia; and Sterling, Virginia, and is expected to be complete by Aug. 3, 2029. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2019 Air National Guard operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $3,556,865 are being obligated on the first delivery order at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity (FA8529-19-D-0001). Raytheon Co. Space and Airborne Systems, McKinney, Texas, has been awarded a $23,817,657 contract for two prototype High Energy Laser Weapon Systems (HELWS). This award provides for outside continental U.S. (OCONUS) field assessment for purposes of experimentation including, but is not limited to, 12 months of in-field operation by Air Force personnel against unmanned aerial systems threats. Work will be performed OCONUS and is expected to be completed by Nov. 1, 2020. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2018 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $23,817,657 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8650-19-9-9326). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY C&C Produce Inc.,* North Kansas City, Missouri, has been awarded a maximum $48,000,000 firm-fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for fresh fruits and vegetables. This was a competitive acquisition with three responses received. This is a 36-month contract with no option periods. Locations of performance are Kansas and Missouri, with a July 30, 2022, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Air Force, and Department of Agriculture schools and reservations. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2022 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE300-19-D-P345). ARMY NTVI Enterprises LLC,* Falls Church, Virginia (W9127S-19-D-6001); Global Engineering & Construction LLC,* Renton, Washington (W9127S-19-D-6002); KJS Support Services JV LLC,* Fort Worth, Texas (W9127S-19-D-6003); and Royce Construction Services LLC,* Reston, Virginia (W9127S-19-D-6000), will compete for each order of the $45,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for mechanical infrastructure repair services. Bids were solicited via the internet with 10 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 1, 2022. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Little Rock, Arkansas, is the contracting activity. American Ordnance, Middletown, Iowa, was awarded a $43,351,782 modification (0003 28) to contract W52P1J-16-D-0050 for M795 155mm projectile load assemble and pack. Work will be performed in Middletown, Iowa, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2022. Fiscal 2017, 2018 and 2019 procurement of ammunition, Army funds in the amount of $43,351,782 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE INFORMATION SYSTEMS AGENCY HGSNet LLC, Vienna, Virginia, was awarded a Direct 8(a), firm-fixed-price contract, HC1084-19-C-0006, for development, deployment and sustainment (DD&S) services. These services include requirements analysis, software engineering, systems integration and interoperability, data engineering and management, test, deployment, and development, security and operations (DevSecOps), cloud, infrastructure engineering and transitioning systems to operations in support of the National Background Investigations System. The place of performance will be at the contractor's location in Vienna, Virginia. The contract ceiling is $21,932,725 funded by fiscal 2019 research, development, testing and evaluation funds; and operations and maintenance funds. The proposal was solicited via email to HGSNet LLC. The period of performance consists of one one-year base period and one six-month option period. The period of performance for the base year is Aug. 5, 2019, through Aug. 4, 2020, and the option period follows through to Feb. 5, 2021. The Defense Information Technology Organization, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity. Kapili Services LLC, Orlando, Florida, was awarded a Direct 8(a), firm-fixed-price contract, HC1084-19-C-0005, for system engineering and technical assistance (SETA) support services. The face value of this action is $18,095,364 funded by fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds. The total cumulative value of the contract is $18,095,364. Performance will be at the contractor's facility located in Orlando, Florida. The proposal was solicited via email to Kapili Services LLC. The period of performance consists of one one-year base period and two one-year options. The period of performance is for the base year is Aug. 5, 2019, through Aug. 4, 2020, and the option years follow consecutively through Aug. 4, 2022. The Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity. NAVY The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is awarded $8,905,835 for modification P00023 to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract, N00019-16-C-0032, to continue software development efforts for calendar year 2019 in support of the Next Generation Jammer. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri, and is expected to be completed in December 2019. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $8,905,835 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. *Small Business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1924880/source/GovDelivery/

By C. Michaela Judge, Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic Public Affairs CHARLESTON, S.C. (NNS) -- The Land Systems Integration (LSI) Division at Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Atlantic continues to be an enterprise leader in Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) for their work on land systems modernization and integration. MBSE is an engineering approach that utilizes a common, digital tool suite allowing all team members – from engineer to sponsor – to have awareness, line-of-sight and an understanding of the interaction between the various moving parts across the systems engineering and project lifecycle. LSI's Vehicular Technology Transition (VTT) team incorporates the full range of MBSE techniques into their systems engineering projects to support the Marine Corps and has had great success in continuing this approach in their daily work. “What makes LSI and our team specifically successful is the depth of knowledge in implementation of using the MBSE Tool Suite,” said Tim Turner, VTT team lead. “Our engineering work isn't radically different than any other engineering groups across the Command; it's how we're putting the data in the system and making it transparent to everyone that needs to have access to it.” Though engineers have been performing systems engineering in some capacity for decades, using this model-based approach provides an added advantage to deliver effective and timely solutions to the warfighter. “Our MBSE Tool Suite is a set of seamlessly integrated engineering lifecycle management tools that work together as one,” said Jacob Witmer, VTT team Military GPS User Equipment (MGUE) project lead. “We use these tools to manage requirements and architectures, plan projects, track changes, manage quality, and provide an enterprise library management system where you catalog, organize, use, reuse, manage, and report on any type of software, technology, or business asset.” In the vehicle transition domain, the VTT team utilized MBSE techniques to solve real-world challenges for the warfighter. Most recently, they used MBSE to conduct global positioning system (GPS) integration work conducted on the Joint-Light Tactical Vehicle, the MGUE Program's lead platform. “When we look at all of the people our team has to work with on this integration project, we have to manage a lot of different data, to include where the trucks are manufactured, where GPS is managed, the performance level of the GPS card, the truck integration and more,” said Witmer. “There are a lot of players, managing a lot of data in a lot of different formats from different geographic parts of the country. That's really what the MBSE Tool Suite is designed to do – manage, connect and link the data to see how they impact each other.” One cost-avoidance benefit of using the MBSE Tool Suite, in time and man-hours, includes the ability to quickly build reports. “We can build 150-page project requirements documents in three minutes because the data is already in the Tool Suite,” said Ryan Longshore, VTT team technical lead. “There is an investment in time and energy upfront in loading the data, but a report that would take 30 to 90 days is done in a matter of minutes and everything from that project is captured in the report.” The team's use of MBSE is not only essential to connecting and maintaining data across a project, but also a necessary resource in developing physical models and solutions in a fraction of the time previously needed to fulfill a warfighter requirement. “Our team works within the Systems Integration Laboratory (SIL) to design and test on multiple vehicular platforms,” said Turner. “The lab allows us to execute MBSE across all team functions, from mission thread to risk analysis or program management.” The team maintains physical models for all of the vehicle platforms they support. When a requirement from a sponsor arrives, the team can use tools within the SIL to design and print a three-dimensional piece of hardware and test it on an existing model before they touch a physical vehicle. The team conducts engineering, mechanical and software-related integration testing and design work all within the laboratory. “It's all about testing upfront, learning upfront, failing faster and learning from it and moving on and improving on the design,” said Turner. As the team designs and tests within the lab, they also update the MBSE Tool Suite is to capture lessons learned, integration challenges and real-time project data for all team members to access. “The beauty of the suite being so integrated is that it doesn't matter what type of systems engineering methodology a project uses, the tools can be tailored to meet a myriad of engineering processes and organizing the data by methodology saves countless hours in digging around trying to find historical artifacts,” said Witmer. The team can now complete an integration project that previously took 18 to 36 months as quickly as six to nine months, without sacrificing quality, thanks to the value of MBSE. With VTT and other teams reaping the benefits of MBSE, NIWC Atlantic created a training and workforce development path to work toward a Command-wide adoption of this method. Communities of interest, industry engagements and training events on MBSE methods are a few of the efforts implemented to date. The VTT uses these training approaches, to a smaller-scale, to continue to encourage MBSE implementation and help employees understand the power of using a model-based approach to apply agility in executing warfighter solutions. “We're seeing the benefits and through MBSE my team has the flexibility to fail fast and learn a lot upfront,” said Turner. The team's success with the MBSE Tool Suite is a Command-wide example of how the transparency and connectivity of engineering data help to provide integration solutions to NIWC Atlantic customers with a high confidence of success. As a part of Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, NIWC Atlantic provides systems engineering and acquisition to deliver information warfare capabilities to the naval, joint and national warfighter through the acquisition, development, integration, production, test, deployment, and sustainment of interoperable command, control, communications, computer, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, cyber and information technology capabilities. https://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=110447